NINE – Ambush

The group continued to trudge northwards, the mood having lightened considerably from earlier. They chatted together as they walked along the deserted highway 95, in high spirits. Jacob was looking forward to what he may find next - he had never had a better sense of adventure back where he came from, it was all very exciting. Goris had cheered up immensely; Jacob guessed that he never had anyone to confess his feelings to until now. However, there was still a very faint steely quality to his eyes that remained, and Jacob guessed it would probably stay that way until the very end.

"I'm really sorry for your loss, Goris" said Kate, after a brief lapse of conversation.

"Thank you, Kate." replied Goris, and from what Jacob could tell, he took it to heart. "If it is any consolation, there may be others out there somewhere."

"Really?" asked Jacob.

"Yeah, I did have offspring afterwards." replied Goris. Jacob had to inwardly laugh at his strange choice of words – he had always been very formal, but recently he was starting to talk like a normal person. Jacob guessed that sort of thing happened through lack of social contact.

Jacob noticed a problem. "But how is that possible?" he asked, cautiously.

"Err…" hesitated Goris, thinking of a way to phrase what he was about to say next. "We are biologically compatible with 'normal' Deathclaws, and it is a process I do not intend to repeat; do I have to go into details?" he finally said, humorously.

"No, not really." replied Jacob, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. It must have been degrading as hell, but Jacob guessed it was a matter of survival. "How did you know that your children will be like you, though?"

"Every single one of them shared my intelligence, for some reason. I don't know if it was down to plain luck or something else." he replied. "Do we really have to continue talking about this?"

"Funny, I never knew Deathclaws could be so embarrassed about something."

"I never knew humans could ask so many questions." Goris countered, with his trademark grin.

They continued to share stories and chat until they passed an old car that was sitting in a pool of very shallow, stagnant water. "Look at that." said Kate, pointing. "Must have gone off the road."

Goris seemed to take an interest in this, as he broke from the group and beckoned them to follow him. "This brings back memories." he said to nobody in particular as he made his way towards the wreck.

"What is it?" said Jacob, bemused. Very strange for him to take an interest in a piece of junk like that. Jacob didn't pay any attention to the pools of water, as his trusty leather boots were so thick they had withstood years of punishment. He could see Kate skirting around them out of the corner of his eye, her footwear not so adequate.

"I used to travel with a human a long time ago; He used to own one of these machines... A Highwayman, I think he called it."

"A working car?" replied Jacob, incredulous. "How did he get that?"

"But how did you even fit inside it?" asked Kate, before Goris had the chance to answer.

"I sat on the trunk." replied Goris with a smirk, happily reminiscing. "I cannot remember how he came to possess it, however." Opening the wreck's trunk lid, Goris accidentally snapped the supports, which had become rusted through after years of disuse. Shrugging slightly, he rested the lid against the car and observed the trunk's contents. "He did that too." he noted.

The trunk had a fair number of microfusion and small energy cells stored away inside it. "What is the point of that?" asked Kate.

"They can be used as a form of fuel. After we ran out in the desert on one occasion, my friend decided to keep a reserve in case it happened again. I would presume it was common practice."

"Wow, my uncle used to have a motorcycle." said Kate. "It was an old one though - he kept it fuelled on alcohol." Kate smiled to herself, imagining the freedom a set of wheels could give.

"What can you tell me about this person?" Jacob asked Goris, keen to hear more.

"He was a tribal called 'the chosen one'. He arrived at our vault looking for a Garden Of Eden Creation Kit to save his village, and my pack was happy to provide. However, shortly afterwards we discovered that the Enclave had abducted his people, and destroyed mine..." Goris trailed off, but then resumed with an air of pride in his voice. "We swore an oath of vengeance against the Enclave, and eventually destroyed them."

"You destroyed the Enclave?" Jacob repeated, dumbstruck. What a strange twist of fate to land such a distinguished individual in his company. If it had come from anyone else, he would not have believed them.

Goris seemed flattered for a moment. "I wouldn't say that, my friend deserves the credit." he replied, sheepishly.

The group moved on, but barely an hour had passed until they could hear gunshots further up the road. Rushing closer, they found a caravan that seemed to have fallen into some kind of ambush. Upon closer inspection, Jacob could make out the NCR uniforms of the caravan guards taking cover behind the highway dividers, and instinctively reached for his pistol - he wasn't going to stand by and watch.

"Stay here!" he shouted out towards Kate and Goris before sprinting to the caravan's aid - it would be too dangerous to bring them along. As he got closer, he felt a bullet hit a nearby concrete divider with an alarming cracking sound. Closing the distance between himself and the nearest NCR soldier with his head down, he tried to get an idea of what was going on.

"Need a hand?" called Jacob over the racket of automatic weapons and yelled orders, taking cover behind the rusted hulk of a car.

"They're across the road, among the boulders!" the soldier shouted back. Jacob felt seriously ill-equipped; his pistol was all he had. Still, he wasn't going to let that stop him. Peeking up from cover, he began to tag targets. Around four of them were ducking in and out of cover; all of them were oddly dressed, wearing a strange kind of plumed armour in red and black colours. Something told him they were much more than just a band of crazies though, they seemed to emanate a purpose and a sense of professionalism.

Not that it was going to matter in the next few moments anyway. Jumping out of cover with all his concentration focused down his gunsight, he let loose his first shots. He cursed at the inaccuracy of his pistol at such an extreme range, but it looked like he got a good hit on one of them, who doubled back as the round penetrated his torso armour.

Jacob ducked under cover just in time as a retaliatory hail of bullets ricocheted off the car, gritting his teeth as the metallic sound reverberated inside his head. Damn, these guys were good.

As he rose again after reloading, he saw one of the aggressors get hit in the arm just as he was firing himself, letting his shots go wide into the air and dramatically falling backwards. Jacob emptied another cylinder towards the attackers, and out of sheer luck managed to hit one directly in the forehead, the .223 round passing straight through to the other side, decorating the boulder directly behind with blood and brain matter.

It was obvious that the attackers were outmatched in terms of skill and numbers, but they still refused to give up. "They must have some kind of death wish." thought Jacob as he reloaded, the adrenaline pumping through his veins and making his hands shake. Jacob cursed as his beloved pistol broke, the cylinder refusing to close. Despite his best attempts to fix it, all he could do was sit behind cover as the battle came to an end.

"Man down!" yelled one of the troopers as Jacob got his breath back. Getting to his feet, he could see the figures of Goris and Kate rushing towards him as he trotted over to the downed soldier. He was in serious pain, having taken several bullets to the shoulder - but it looked like his armour stopped the worst of the damage in terms of penetration wounds. There was still some degree of blood that had spread across his uniform, however.

As he was tended to, Jacob was approached by what he assumed to be the commanding officer of the squad of troopers. "That was incredibly brave, what you just did there."

"It's not like I could stand and watch!" Jacob replied cheerily, glad to be alive.

"I would give you a reward, but it's against regulations…" said the trooper as he noticed Goris and Kate approach. "Are you a private military company? I'm sure we can work our way around somehow."

A mercenary? Now there's an idea. "I'm afraid not, we are just travellers on our way north."

"I see…" the trooper seemed to be thinking for a moment, but then turned towards the corpse of a Brahmin that had been mown down in the fighting. He returned to Jacob with a light machine gun slung across his arms, and presented it to Jacob. "We won't be able to carry it anymore, anyway."

"I can't accept that, it's too much!" exclaimed Jacob.

"If you want it to fall into the hands of the next person who walks by, sure." replied the trooper.

"Alright, alright – pass it here." said Jacob as the trooper passed the bulky weapon into his hands. He weighted the weapon in his arms – he wasn't that skilled with guns this big, but he enjoyed the rush of testosterone that came with it. "I'll find a use for it." He thought as he slung it across his back, the muzzle pointing up over his shoulder.

After saying goodbye to the caravan, the trio decided to inspect the bodies of the attackers - Something told Jacob they were more than just bandits. "That was reckless, Jacob." scolded Kate as they made their way towards them at a brisk walk.

"I couldn't just watch." replied Jacob "They were NCR."

"They threw me out of my home."

"I know… But they keep the roads clean from people like these." said Jacob, pointing at the bodies as they approached. "Be careful, some of them may still be alive."

Kate seemed to recognise them. "That's the Legion all right."

"But why do they dress like that?"

"I don't know." replied Kate, standing over the body of the Legionary that Jacob had killed with a headshot, baulking slightly at the sight.

Jacob searched the bodies and found a hunting rifle in reasonable condition. Picking it up by the strap, he slung that over his shoulder as well, adding to the weight of the items already on his back. "Let's go." he said finally, nodding in the direction they were originally headed.

"Please don't do that again, Jacob." said Goris all of a sudden.

Jacob looked at him quizzically over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"If something had happened to you, how would we feel?"

"But I couldn't just watch." repeated Jacob. "They were NCR."

"And neither could we, yet you asked us to." responded Goris. "You are a friend." His deep voice wasn't angry, more like it was concerned. He genuinely cared about Jacob's welfare.

Goris had a point – Jacob was reckless. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. If your patriotism calls for it, then who am I to say otherwise? Just don't go in there alone again."

That wasn't what Jacob was expecting at all, he thought Goris was concerned about him nearly throwing his life away. "We go in together?" he replied, uncertainly.

"We go in together." he reiterated, smiling.

As Jacob, Goris and Kate made their way northwards, it gave Jacob time to think about what the trooper said. Becoming a mercenary would be a great way to put his skills to use, and he was no stranger to combat. Goris would likely relish the opportunity; the only question would be if Kate was keen on the idea.

Jacob's thoughts were interrupted when Kate suddenly spoke as they came over the crest of a hill. "That is… A dinosaur?"

Indeed it was, a giant statue could be seen through the haze, sat near a highway intersection and surrounded by a small village. At last, somewhere to rest.