She felt the trailer lurch as she rolled out of the bed, sheets and all, into the wall. "FUCK!" Ridly parked the trailer and ran back to the bedroom.
"You all right?" he asked as he help Rayne untangle herself from the wall. She nodded, throwing the sheets back onto the bed, before looking towards him.
"Where the hell are we?"
"Well I'm not sure, but I think we're close to New Reno. You gonna be awake for the next couple of hours?"
"Yeah, I'm fine for a few days." She said, looking towards him. "You figured out my computer system Rids?" I'm proud of you." She said, walking out into the kitchen.
"Actually, I've been doing everything manually, but I'm glad you're up so now I can catch some Z's." Ridly sat down on the bed and removed his boots.
"You could have woken me up Rids...I would have started things up for you so you didn't have to do it the hard way." She said, looking towards him. "Night." She smiled, before turning off the trailer, and then starting it up automatically in the computer room. Ridly lay down with his hands behind his head and fell asleep, he had fitful dreams of weird helicopters and strange sense of loss, the sequence ended with a pretty cool explosion in the middle of the ocean. Rayne opened the trailer door, the water that had found its way inside poured out as she climbed up to the roof, the trailer still moving. They were close to New Reno all right...she grinned a bit, before opening the hatch to the bedroom, and jumping down to the floor. Ridly awoke with a start.
"WHA... Oh it's you Rayne you startled me." She laughed, and threw a dagger between his legs, smirking.
"You're losing your touch my dear...if I was a raider well...you might not be having kids..." She laughed, and then walked out of the room. "We're almost in Reno!"
"I might just swear off women altogether if this keeps up," Ridly mumbled under his breath. "Can't wait to be back in Reno, wonder if I'll have to shoot my way out again…"
"Again!" Rayne said, looking back towards him. "What do you mean AGAIN...what did you do...are you still in trouble?"
"Probably, I got into some mess with some important people and they tried to make me lie down and play dead." Rayne sighed.
"Oh okay, that means we get to have fun trying not to get seen by spies of these very important people..." She said, as the trailer kept rolling in. She walked into the computer room, and the trailer shifted courses, and rolled behind an outpost building.
"Worried about spies I ain't; it's the general citizens that make me cautious. Oh and about the sex, plenty here just FYI." Ridly picked up his pack and put on his torn combat leather.
"Oh goody, I'm in need of that." She chuckled a bit, and found her own pack, and started putting guns, daggers, and other equipment into it. "What's up with the citizens?"
"They'll either take one look at me and either start screaming or start shooting," Ridly shrugged and remembered the wound in his shoulder. "Guess this is as good a place as any to do a little shopping." Rayne raised an eyebrow, and slung her pack over her shoulders, wincing a bit when it grazed her arm.
"Why not."
"They have some pretty nice places if you know where to look." Ridly stepped out into a surprisingly nice day.
"Ridly is that you?" Came a voice near some ruined cars.
"Oliver, nice to see you, how've you been?" Rayne smirked a bit, hopping out of the trailer, and into sunshine. She pulled her hair back into a bun, and looked towards the man.
"Old friend of yours eh?"
"Small world ain't it?" Ridly said with a smile.
"Ridly you should have seen the mess you caused, bodies everywhere, I can't believe you've got the balls to show up after all that, and with a woman to boot!"
"Hi, this woman came of her own free will." She said, fake sweetness dripping from her voice, as she looked towards the man, and then to Ridly. "What did you do..."
"Well...I sort of inspired a gang battle..." Ridly said sheepishly.
"BATTLE! Ha! Old Ridly here plum started a war." Oliver was grinning from ear to ear. "It was a sight to behold, and I would have, if I hadn't been busy running for my life. Ridly was working odd jobs for the two big bosses in town, shot both of them and blamed it on the other. I'm surprised any of them survived but you should have seen Ridly run when the shooting started, he was dead middle too!" Rayne only sighed.
"Dear lord..." She said softly, before looking towards Oliver. "Oh believe me, I've seen him in the middle of a fight, it's entertainment. Has a new boss sprung up already?" She asked, starting to walk towards him.
"Well some of the old boys survived but nobody's sure who's running the town no, we're all just doing our part ma'am," Oliver smiled at her.
"Oh god here it comes," Ridly mumbled.
"I say lady, you have some of the most beautiful eyes..." Oliver moved closer to Rayne. Rayne smiled sweetly, looking towards him, and then punched him hard right between the eyes.
"Thank you Oliver, I appreciate that."
"What the hell was that for?" Oliver yelled as he stumbled back holding his face.
Ridly couldn't keep from laughing.
"I should have warned you about her, she's a viper."
"I'll say she is. OW!" Oliver was chuckling a little now. Rayne only laughed, and looked towards him.
"I'm sorry, it's a reflex hon." She said, before looking towards Oliver. "You know a place where I can get a decent drink without getting hit on that much?" Oliver nodded but didn't open his mouth.
"The man learns fast. I'll give him that," Ridly chuckled. They followed Oliver to nice casino that had once said 'Desperado' but most of the letters were missing, it also had a fair number of bullet holes in it too. She looked towards the place, and whistled a bit.
"Man Rids, you sure did a number on this town..." She said, before entering the place.
"Hey I wasn't the one doin' the shooting." Ridly watched her walk in and sit down, Oliver caught his eye and raised and eyebrow, Ridly only shrugged and walked in. She looked towards the barkeep, and ordered a drink, and looked towards Ridly as he walked in. She noticed the whole room go silent, and sighed. NOT a good thing...definitely not a good thing. Ridly waved at the room.
"Hi everybody!" They all returned to what they were doing except a few who walked out. Ridly sat down next to Rayne and said," Two shots of your best and make it quick, troubles a brewin'." Rayne looked towards him, and sighed.
"Alright...when you were here...how many people were dead before you got out?" She asked him, taking one of the shot glasses and downing it. Ridly downed the other and paid the barkeep.
"Only half, or there about."
"Only!" She shouted, looking towards the bartender. "Another round please." Before turning towards him. "Dear lord Ridly...we're gonna get, wait, no, I'm sorry, YOU're going to get slaughtered."
"Only if people hold grudges that long." Ridly was felling pretty cocky. She looked around once, seeing the hatred in some peoples glares, and then back to him. "Yeah...looks like it."
"Well if that's the case then we'd best be prepared, come on." Ridly paid the barkeep for Rayne's second drink and walked out the door. Rayne sighed, and drank the second one, before going out to meet him.
"Now if he's still alive, there should be a gun runner on the other side of the city. This way." Ridly motioned for Rayne to follow. Rayne sighed, and followed him, adjusting her pack a bit.
"Is there a reason we need guns?"
"DEFENSE, oh and he sells other things, armor, tools, etc." Ridly's eyes moved back and forth looking for any signs of trouble.
"We HAVE guns..." She pointed out, following him. "You're getting all jumpy again."
"We have guns yes, but we don't have the biggest guns, trust me I've seen some pretty nice hardware, from both ends."
"Alright." She said softly, following after him, and looking up to see that he was leading them towards a building. "And how do you know if this gun runner isn't also pissed of at you?"
"I don't, but the guy's a sleaze; he'll sell to anybody." She only laughed a bit, and looked around seeing a few eyes peeking out at her in mild confusion, either that or lust. She only growled, turning back around to Ridly.
"Ah look, he hasn't left town." Ridly stopped in front of a nice looking brick building with the sign 'New Reno Arms' nicely stenciled on the wall. "If you look close enough you can see the bullet holes, let's go in shall we?" She looked towards the building once or twice, before following him in.
"Why not." The inside was a dump; shelves stacked with various junk. Ridly strolled in.
"Boy, you've got a lot of balls coming back here." Ridly turned and spied the store owner.
"That's funny…people have been saying that to me all day. What's new?"
"Besides having to repaint my shop because of what you did, nothing much. You gonna buy or just browse?"
"We were thinking of buying, let's see what you've got." The owner pulled a sheet off a table to reveal shotguns, assault rifles, various pistols, plenty of ammo for all three, a bazooka, and a mini-gun. Rayne instantly walked towards the bazooka.
"Ooh...momma likes this one..." She said softly, picking it up, and hefting it onto her shoulder. "Oh yes she does.." Rayne grinned, and set it down, looking to Ridly. "Can we get this one?"
"If you wanna buy it be my guest," Ridly was looking as some of the pistols lying on the table. "Ooh I've always wanted one of these!" Ridly hefted the pistol, it was bigger than his SMG by some amount. "Rayne catch!" He tossed it to her. She caught it, smiling a bit.
"This would suit you well hon. I'd get the SMG and you'd keep this one." She smirked, sliding the clip open.
"That, my friends, is a SIG Sauer 14mm semi-auto; in excellent condition I might add." said the shop owner.
"It's great, how much?" Ridly asked.
"Oh, about $2,680 sound right."
"Whoa, that's too steep even for me," Ridly said and motioned for Rayne to put the gun down.
"Aww...couldn't we just kill him and take all the guns?" She said softly, looking towards the man. "Then we could have all the fun we want..."
"Rayne just put it down," Ridly said and picked up 10mm pistol.
"Alright." She said softly, putting the gun down, and looked towards the owner. "And how much does Big Ben cost?" The owner chuckled.
"Much more than mister Ridly can afford I'm afraid."
"What about armor?" Ridly asked.
"If you can't afford the guns you definitely can't afford the armor."
"Rats, well I guess we'll just take some ammo then." Ridly picked up some clips for his pistol. "Hey Rayne you got any of those M9's on you?" Rayne nodded, looking towards the man, and handed him the guns and the ammo.
"Yep."
"No Rayne, keep the ammo, just the guns," Ridly instructed.
"Well these are nice pistols Ridly, did you a rob military base?"
"See told ya," Ridly smiled at Rayne. "Nope, some very unhappy Raiders did though." She took the ammo back and shrugged, fiddling around with the bazooka. "You know...with a few adjustments this would be an awesome flame-thrower," She said softly, looking towards the shop owner.
"A bazooka is a bazooka, let's keep it that way ok? Besides with the proper ammo, a bazooka is much more effective than a flame-thrower," Ridly said. "Come on lets go."
"Oh Ridly are you sure you don't want to buy this pistol? How about I give you a free sample?" Ridly spun around to see the owner pointing the 14mm pistol at his head. Rayne sighed, looking towards him.
"Can I kill him...PLEASE?" She said softly, drawing her handmade gun and shooting him once in the heart, once in the stomach and twice in the head. The owner crumpled to the floor with a surprised look on his face.
"Rayne…you had to ask?" Ridly wiped his brow and then moved to retrieve the pistol from the dead owner.
"I wasn't sure if you wanted to do it or not..." She said, "opening" the case and taking the ammo from the bazooka.
"Be careful with those rockets, there are only two of them, do not waste." Ridly had searched the body of the owner and come up with the pistol, about $4000, and a few stims. "Nice haul."
"Very nice...take the Sig." She said, motioning for the gun on the floor as she lifted the bazooka onto her shoulder. Ridly tossed some stuff from his pack and filled it with all the 14mm ammo in the store. Ridly then began to examine the other weapons on the table.
"Are you an assault rifle or shotgun type of girl?" he asked Rayne.
"Hello...Assault rifle." She said, looking towards the riffle, and picking it up, loading it and, putting the rest of the ammo in her pack. "Go get yourself some armor." Ridly grabbed the combat shotgun and all the ammo, then he moved to the door to the back.
"I wonder what's back here?" Ridly opened the door and was attacked by three very angry looking canines. Rayne's eyes widened.
"Well, curiosity killed the cat." She said, taking one of the pistols out of the case and shooting all three dogs with it. Just as she killed the dogs, Ridly let loose with a spray of buckshot, seven shells few into the air. Ridly lying in a pile of chunked dog meat, looked at Rayne and smiled.
"Did you know this thing has a selector switch on it?" Rayne rolled her eyes and looked towards him.
"Don't be surprised if you find yourself with a huge bazooka shaped welt the next time you wake up." She said, before looking towards him. "Can we go now?"
"Not yet let me check the back rooms first." Ridly said as he reloaded the shotgun. He stood and brushed off some of the dog chunks and walked into the back room. After a good deal of noise and stuff falling over Ridly shouted: "Rayne come here quick!" She walked into the back room, looking towards him. "What Rid...ooh..."
"Which do you prefer?" Ridly said holding up shiny suits, "Combat Armor or Combat Armor?"
"Ick..." She said looking towards the thing. "If my mom was here she'd kill me for putting that on...you realize this right? It's SHINING like the sun."
"There brand new never been worn, great stuff, stops armor piercing .223 ammo at a hundred yards. Try it on it's form fitting," Ridly thrust one of the suits at her. She twitched once, putting her pack down.
"IT sparkles..." She said softly, looking up to him. "It...Bloody...sparkles..."
"It will get duller once we get into some fights, but it will keep you alive along time." She sighed, and pulled the thing on, putting her pack back over her shoulder.
"Fine." Ridly whistled.
"Damn that looks good on you!" He stripped out of his old combat leather and put on the armor. "Ooh comfy!" She growled once.
"Watch it." Ridly looked confused.
"What? It's a compliment, the armor enhances your natural beauty...and those curves." She looked towards him, and rolled her eyes.
"Enough." She said simply, and grabbed the assault rifle. "Enough about my curves..."
"But I like your curves..." Ridly was grinning like an idiot. "I'm sorry, I'm acting like an ass, lets go." She only laughed, and started walking out, past the dog chunks, and out the front, looking at the bazooka one last time.
"Should I take it now, or are we coming back for it?"
We'll come back for it, if I have to I'll run through a hail of bullets for your new baby." Ridly said with a grin. Rayne laughed, and picked up the assault rifle.
"Alright then...let's go." Ridly put on the helmet that came with the armor and followed Rayne out the door.
"How do I look?" Ridly put his hands on his hips and posed. Rayne looked towards him and smiled. "Mahvelous Dahling." She grinned, putting hers on, and looking out through the screen. "Where to?" Ridly thought for a moment, "hmm, we could always go gamble some of our hard earned cash?"
"In this?"
"What are you worried about, your appearance? With the guns and the armor, they'll think we're just a couple of mercs looking for a fight."
"Fine fine...I don't see why you want to gamble..." She laughed looking towards him. "You're horrible at cards."
"No, I play to lose; and only in strip poker," Ridly grinned as he walked up the street. She laughed, following him as she slung the assault rifle over her back. "So you let me win eh?" She said, catching up with him.
"Or are you just ashamed to admit you lost...a lot...to a girl?"
"The first time I lost, the second time, well you had some pretty good hands but in the end I let you win. I don't regret it either, the reward was pretty nice." She smiled.
"Was it...did you have fun rubbing me down?"
"And then some." Ridly smiled back. She laughed, and looked up to a casino.
"There look good?"
"Yep that's fine, here you take $1,000 and I'll keep the rest; double the playing field and cause more damage that way." She nodded, and walked into the casino, the gun at her back as she walked up to the poker table. That was her game hands down, she got her money changed into chips, and looked towards the dealer. "We're going to have fun tonight..." As Ridly walked by he said.
"Watch her, she has a habit of drawing from the discard pile." Ignoring curious glances, Ridly hit the Blackjack table. The dealer raised an eyebrow dealing the cards. Rayne only chuckled, and got her cards, throwing out two as she went. She wondered who'd have the bigger win. Ridly played a few rounds of blackjack and then wandered off to the roulette table. Rayne played with a few of her chips absently, looking at all the angry glares directed her way, including the dealer. She only smirked behind the helmet...not her fault her dad told her how to play to win.
As Ridly played the roulette table one of the guards, dressed in a traditional gangster outfit, tapped him on the shoulder, Ridly had a short discussion with the man before following him into the back room.
Rayne looked towards her hand, throwing down two cards, and picked up another, smirking a bit before going around the table. Two people folded, and it was down to her, two other guys, and the dealer. She looked towards them, and put down her hand, smiling.
"Royal flush boys." She said easily, and they both dropped their hands. Both of them lost. She looked towards the dealer, who simply pushed the chips near her. She smiled...that was easy. A several gunshots resounded through the casino; everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the door to the back room. A few seconds later Ridly strolled out as guards rushed in.
"Damn it Rids..." She whispered softly under her breath, and took her chips, got them cashed, and looked to him. "Let's go?"
"Nah, I didn't do it this time." Ridly was very cool and calm, a second later two guards walked out carrying a dead man, which they promptly dumped on the sidewalk outside. She raised an eyebrow, and looked towards him.
"How much did you get so far?"
"I think I have a little over $3,500. You?"
"$6,450.."
"Cleaned out did you, well these might come in handy," Ridly handed Rayne 10 gold chits. She smiled, looking at them.
"Where'd you get those from?" She said, looking towards them, and taking her helmet off, looking towards it. "They genuine?" Ridly stuck a thumb over his shoulder at the back room.
"High Stakes; they don't like us anymore."
"No? Because we're cleaning up, or because of what just happened?"
"Because we've hit way over our limit." Ridly pointed at the 10 gold chips, "Those are worth about $1000 each." She smirked, looking towards him.
"Nice..." She said, and looked towards him. "Is this a kind of 'Here's your money and leave' kind of deal?"
"More or less, yeah. Let's go turn those babies in and split." She nodded, and looked towards him.
"Right then." She said, and started walking towards the change machines, when she felt someone grab her ass. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Urge to kill rising..." Ridly saw, whirled, and smashed his fist into her assailant's face, breaking many of the bones. She winced a bit, and looked towards him.
"You didn't have to hit him THAT hard!" She said, looking towards the man as he fell off his chair.
"Sorry, reflex," Ridly said. He took the chips from her hand, quickly deposited them and grabbed her hand. "Let's go." She only smiled sympathetically at the man before nodding to Ridly, and walking out of the place. Ridly hurried down the street until he thought they were far enough away. "Well now what should we do?"
"Umm...wait for gunfire?"
"I hope not," Ridly said with a grin.
"Should we go get some food?" She said, looking towards him.
"Sound like a plan, those microwave dinners are really starting to get to me." Ridly got his bearings and led the way up the street. She smiled a bit, and walked to the restaurant.
"Please tell me it's not Italian," She said softly, looking up at the only building in town that seemed not to have holes in it.
"Hello and what can I get for you?" said the man behind the counter. Ridly glanced at Rayne, smiled and said:
"Two Brahmin burgers please." Rayne looked towards the man, and smiled genuinely, before turning to Ridly.
"Brahmin burgers?"
"Burgers, good too. Could you make mine with everything on it." She nodded a bit, and then looked towards Ridly.
"I haven't had a burger in forever..." Ridly smiled.
"You've been by yourself for too long, you're lucky I let you come with me." Rayne raised an eyebrow.
"If it weren't for me, you'd be halfway to Marrie's with a pack full of food that was ready to eat you." Ridly laughed out loud and tapped Rayne on the arm. "By now I would have given up and shot myself." She smiled back at him, and nodded.
"If it weren't for you I'd probably still be in town, lonely as all hell." She smiled back, as two burgers were served to them. Her eyes widened. "Wow..." Ridly paid for the food and munched.
"Actually you'd probably be dead, or worse; those raiders can be a mean bunch." She nodded, and looked towards the burger.
"It's huge..." She said softly, picking up the burger, and taking a bite. Her eyes closed. "Damn...it's been a while." Ridly snickered as he took another bite.
"Told you they were good."
"Doesn't hurt that I haven't had a burger in at least 4 years..."
"True enough, hey can we have a couple beers?" The cook nodded and got them two beers, "Thank you señor," Ridly said paying for the drinks. She took another bite, and then looked towards him.
"I have money you know...you don't have to pay for everything..."
"You keep that and if I run out we can use your share." Ridly smiled at her from behind the helmet. Rayne only nodded, looking towards her.
"I have about 40,000 stocked away somewhere on that trailer." She said thoughtfully, taking another bite.
"You just have to find it first," Ridly said through a mouthful of burger. She laughed, looking towards him.
"Eat with your mouth closed hon, I like this burger, it doesn't mean I want it over my face." Ridly sprayed some at her for effect,
"Well I never..." She looked towards him, wiping a bit off.
"That's...disgusting." She said, taking the pickle on the side of Ridly's plate, and throwing it at him. Ridly laughed and tossed a tomato at her. Her eyes widened. Ridly could only laugh, he tried to take a bite and began to cough.
"Rids?" She said softly, looking towards him. "Don't tell me you're choking.." Ridly shook his head, and spit some burger on to his plate.
"It's when I'm not coughing that you should worry," he rasped. The beers made their way to the table, and she looked towards him.
"Drink." She said, looking towards him with mild concern on her face. "That's what you get for laughing at me."
"Hey you were the one who threw the pickle," he said after taking a healthy swig of his beer.
"That's because you spit burger chunks at me!"
"Well if you hadn't of made a comment about it I wouldn't have so there." She stuck out her tongue, and then took another bite, making sure to spray him back with it.
"Well if you couldn't take constructive criticism." Ridly laughed and wiped off the some of the spray that landed on him. Rayne smirked, finishing off her burger, and looking at him.
"No wonder you had the balls to show up back here...I'd come back too."
"Yeah well, I do sort of like this place," Ridly said.
"Hey Ridly I want to talk to you!" shouted a familiar voice from outside. Rayne looked towards the man, and smiled.
"Looks like you've got some more old friends who want you..." She said softly, finishing off her beer.
"Nah that's Oliver, probably afraid to come near you!" Ridly grinned as he stood up and walked out.
"I didn't hit him that hard!" She said, pouting a bit, before walking outside with him, leaving a tip.
"Yeah Oliver, what is it you want to talk to me about?" Ridly asked scanning the group of five, they were all pretty well armed.
"I have orders to bring you to the boss...unharmed." Rayne walked out, her eyes widened.
"Oliver...you bloody moron..." She whispered, looking towards them. "Then what are all the guns for?"
"We're here to take you in, to see the boss." Oliver repeated firmly.
"Might I ask who this 'boss' is?"
"Vinchenso."
"That wouldn't haven to be Marty Vinchenso, son of Matthew?"
"The same."
"We'll crap."
"What'd you do." Rayne said, walking next to him. "Was Matthew one of the bosses you killed?"
"Yep, well I guess we'd better go see what old' Martin has to say." Ridly shrugged.
"I'm going with you...and don't think anything you say will persuade me into not doing so." She said, looking towards him.
"I hadn't planned on it, I may need the extra gun getting out," Ridly whispered. "All right Oliver, you snake; take me to your boss." She nodded, and looked towards Oliver, her eyes glittering with hate.
"When we get out I want him." She said, looking towards Oliver.
"You wish, sweet thing," Oliver said with a sneer, "This way Ridly." Oliver's crew surrounded them as he led them to another big casino, past the guards and up to the top floor.
Her eyes blazed as she walked next to Ridly, her eyes locked on Oliver the whole time. He was so dead when they got out of here. "How badly will this guy be pissed off at you?"
"Honestly, I'm still wondering why I'm sucking air. If he wanted me dead Oliver could have shot me at any time, no this is something bigger than revenge."
"Hn..." Rayne said softly, looking towards the door Oliver was leading them to. "I don't like the way this feels Rids." Her eyes wandered over the men, before looking back to him.
"Neither do I," Ridly said as they were led into Vinchenso's office.
"Since I don't care how you've been and I'm sure you really don't want to be here, I'll get to the point. What the hell is this?" Vinchenso slid a metal box across the desk to Ridly, it had some kind of electrical port on one end.
"I honestly have no idea."
"Try again, smart ass." Rayne picked it up, playing with the electrical port a bit, before smirking.
"Gimme your letter thingy and I could figure it out in ten."
"Look Vinchenso, what the hell does this have to do with me?" Ridly asked.
"It's got your name on it, take a look," Vinchenso tossed a small, book sized object at Ridly. Ridly opened the cover, on the inside in the top left corner the words PIPBOY 2000 words were stenciled, Ridly turned it over, on the back his name was carved into the casing.
"What the hell?" Rayne shifted a bit...she really wanted to see what was inside it, and no one was listening to her...usually a bad combination, she looked down, and tried unscrewing the lid with her fingers.
"Here, Rayne, let me plug it into the slot on this thingy," Ridly held up the PIPBOY and pointed to the matching opposite port. She only muttered, sitting down in a chair.
"Fine..." She said, looking towards it. "I'd rather take it apart to see what it does..." She said, waiting for something to happen as he plugged it in. Ridly plugged the PIPBOY into the box and found the on button, on the screen were two options, one said play and the other said erase. Ridly hit the button that corresponded to the play option, the screen went blank before the face of a man in his late 50s appeared on screen. Rayne looked towards it.
"Fun...holographic and everything." She said softly, looking towards it. "Something tells me he's got a message for ya." On the screen the old man cleared his throat.
"This is my account of the incident involving a group calling themselves the Enclave. My name is Ridly, my account begins in a small tribal village called Arroyrro..." The tape went on at some length about Ridly's search for a "Garden of Eden Creation Kit" the subsequent destruction of Arroyrro and the encounters with the Enclave. At the end of the tape a messaged appeared "Recorded in Vault City vault, main computer."
"Now that you know what I'm talking about would care to explain who the old geezer is?" Rayne raised an eyebrow at the holotape, and then back to Ridly, and then to the boss looking a bit anxious sitting in his seat. She took the holotape off the desk, and started opening it up. Vinchenso's men drew their weapons.
"Oh no you don't missy, that's a very important piece of technology and it might be worth something to somebody."
"Rayne, Vinnie has a point; that could be important." Ridly said. "Where did you get that tape?"
"Like I'm going to hurt something this beautiful." She said, looking inside. "I'm just trying to find a serial number, so I can figure out how old the bloody thing is." Inside were a large amount of wires and panels, but no serial number. Vinchenso looked worried.
"Could please tell your lady friend to put it back together, I don't want it damaged. If you must know I got it off a caravan from Vault City. And you didn't answer my question."
"No; as a matter of fact I've never seen either of these things before." She sighed a bit, closing it and sealing it back up, before easily sliding it back on to Vinchenso's desk.
"There ya go slick." She said, muttering before standing up.
"Well, now that we've cleared things up, boys take them out of my office...in body bags." Vinchenso's men opened fire on Rayne and Ridly. Ridly took two rounds in the chest, (thank God for the combat armor) he grabbed the PIPBOY and the holotape off the desk, picked Rayne up by the waist and hauled ass out the door.
"Daahhhh." She said softly, taking a gun out of her bag, and shooting backwards into the room, dropping at least four guys before the door closed shut. "You can put me down now!"
"Right." Ridly dropped her, rather roughly, and drew is shotgun, "I think it's time we said goodbye to Reno."
"Agreed." She said, easily getting her bearings, as she tore down the stairs, hearing the door open again and shots ring out. She slid into the hallway, and saw Oliver standing at the door. "Hello ass." She said, taking a gun to his head, and pulling the trigger, smiling as she heard the squeak before his brain shot out the other side, and kept running. Ridly followed her at a slightly slower rate, making sure to spray each room with shells, when he came upon Oliver's corpse he emptied the shotgun for effect and broke into a full run. She finally made it outside and to a safe place to hide until Ridly caught up, brushing a couple bullets out of her armor.
"Thank your ugly looking armor." She smiled a bit, and then started running again when she saw Ridly.
As they reached the exit Ridly felt that something was very wrong, as he looked about he realized that everyone on the street was carrying a gun and looking very unhappy to see him still breathing. Suddenly he heard breaking glass and looked up at the building across the street, the residents were making room for their weapons, and just before he took another step, the whole city began shooting at them!
"Ridly...I swear to god...I'm going to kill you." She said, and took out two guns, having another one close. "Hate to hurt people...like living more." She said softly, and tore down the street shooting, taking out people as she saw them. Ridly ran for his damn life, bullets ripped up pavement and the people on the street, who were also shooting at him.
"Make for the trailer and start 'er up I'm going for the new toy!" Ridly yelled and punctuated his remark by emptying his shotgun at no one in particular.
"I'll pick you up once ya get there!" She said, continuing to make her way through the city, throwing the guns into another pocket of her pack as she emptied the clips, pulling out another set, and going through them as well to make it to her trailer. She opened the door, and slammed it shut, breathing hard as she ran to the back, started the computers at 90, and straight for the guns shop. Anyone in her way was very, very stupid.
Ridly made for the gun shop, he hit the front door very very hard and it became a surfboard for ten feet, Ridly's body reminded him very angrily of his chest wound. Ridly rubbed his shoulder as he picked himself up, he made for the supply table. He found the bazooka, loaded it, attached it to his pack and stuffed the other rocket in. Then Ridly's eyes found the mini-gun and he couldn't help but stare as bullets ripped through the shop. He made a split second decision, attached the mini-gun to his pack, loaded up with as much ammo as he could carry at full run and sprinted out the door. A hail of bullets greeted him as ran of the trailer. Rayne opened the door, seeing Ridly get nearer to the trailer.
"IN NOW!" She shouted, the trailer coasting by him as she slowed it down. Ridly grabbed for the door, hoped to god it wouldn't snap off and swung himself into the trailer, depositing his armful of ammo all over the floor.
"GUN IT!" She nodded, as the thing sped back up, and went up to 100, seeing a decreased group of people standing at the city limits, still shooting.
"What in HELL is wrong with that town?" Ridly was too out of breath to answer as he lay panting among his pile of ammo. Rayne sighed, dropping down to a chair, and rolling Ridly a can of beer, putting her head down and sighing. "Ugh...running..."
"Well…at least…we're alive!" He said between breaths.
"BARELY!"
"I'm sorry I didn't realize…that the entire town wanted to kill me…" Ridly was starting to get his breath back.
"You killed off half the town and initiated a drug war the LAST time you were there...wouldn't you want to kill someone who'd done that to your town?" She said, draining the beer. Ridly opened his beer and took a small swig before going back to breathing. She pulled herself back up, and nudged the uninjured shoulder of Ridly.
"Gimme the holo thingy..."
"You're not going to take it apart are you?" He said, raising an eyebrow questioningly at her.
"No, at least not until I know I can put it back together." Ridly fished the holotape out of his combat armor and slid it across the floor to Rayne. She nodded to him, and put it on the table, but stood up, and slowed the trailer down, before sitting back down. Ridly sat up and sucked on his beer.
"What are you going to do?"
"Figure out where the hell that message came from..."
"Didn't it say it came from Vault City, I think that's the place a ways northeast of here."
"I know it came from Vault City. But I stayed there a while. They aren't anywhere near advanced enough to think this up."
"Well they have laser turrets and a bloody Vault! I think they can handle a simple recording."
"Not on holo." She said, and then looked towards there. "We're going there next, I've set a course already." She said, looking towards him. Ridly gave up and lay back down on the ammo.
"Go on to bed, I'll clean up the ammo and put it in a bag for you later alright?" She said, looking towards him once more, before starting to work on the holotape. Ridly stood and dropped his pack on the floor and topped it with his helmet. Then he headed back for some well earned sleep.
After two hours and still no way to determine ANYTHING she growled, pushing it onto the floor.
"Stupid thing..." Ridly looked at her in amusement.
"No luck huh?" She growled, looking at the still perfect holotape, and growled.
"It's mocking me."
"When we get to Vault City we can ask around, maybe they know the guy who made it."
"I'm going to stay in that city 'til I know everything."
"I doubt they'll tell you anything...'less your a citizen." Ridly was now in deep thought.
"ID's can be forged." She shrugged, looking towards the bazooka. "You got ma baby!"
"Yeah I got your baby, I did say I'd run through a hail of bullets for you." Ridly's eyes weren't on the bazooka but on the mini-gun.
"What are you going to do with that thing." She said, looking towards the mini-gun, sitting next to the bazooka. Ridly shrugged and wandered over to the gun, he unclipped it from his pack and hefted it.
"This baby's solid." Ridly was grinning from ear to ear. She only nodded, looking towards him.
"Well...I've given up trying to figure it out, let's do something."
"I can't wait to test this thing out...uh what do you want to do?" Ridly put the mini-gun down and looked at Rayne. She shrugged, and looked towards him, slipping out of her combat armor, and putting it in the bedroom.
"Something that doesn't involve thought."
"Uh...I don't have any ideas sorry." She sighed, and looked towards him, and then towards the bed.
"Lord." Ridly raised an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She looked towards him, and then ups to the roof.
"I can't believe I'm going to do something this stupid. Again."
"Huh?"
"Roof."
"What about the roof, you want to go up on the roof?" Ridly was totally confused.
"Roof." She said softly, climbing onto the counter, than up to the roof, looking towards him. "Up hon." Ridly followed her up on the counter and stuck his head out.
"What are we gonna do on the roof?"
"We are going across the desert at 70-ish...right?" She said, sliding an extra piece of metal or two out from under their bindings.
"Yeah so?" Ridly's eyes began to water from the wind against his face. She looked down to the ground, and then towards a couple bungee cords she had on the roof, that were connected to the board, and to the ladder on the roof. Rayne looked towards him.
"One time...I got really really bored."
"You're not serious?" Ridly's eyes widened in a mix of fascination and terror.
"So very serious."
"Ok, I'm here how does it work?"
"Slide off the trailer and try not to let go of the board." She said, looking towards him.
"You go first," Ridly insisted, "I'm not that crazy." She smirked a bit, and kicked herself off the trailer, landing on the sand and leaving a trail behind her as she was carted along by the trailer, smirking a bit, and looking up at Ridly. Ridly shrugged and sat to watch. She looked at him, standing up a bit once getting her balance.
"Come on Rids!" Ridly smiled and mimicked what Rayne had done.
"Hey this is cool." He coughed slightly. "I just wish there wasn't so much dust." She nodded, looking out towards the horizon.
"Turn sideways." She said, before looking towards him. "Works a bit." Ridly did so.
"Hey you're right." She smiled a bit, and looked towards him, sitting down on the board, before looking out to the sunset.
"It's actually perfectly safe, it just looks dangerous." She shrugged, before closing her eyes. "Sometimes I get bored of doing things ordinary."
"I can tell." Ridly sat down beside her and admired the desert flying past.
"Do you like this life?" She asked softly, looking towards the sand flying below her.
"What do you mean?" Ridly asked looking at her.
"Doing what you do? Living this way? You know, back when...it was normal...at least...I...I have dreams." She said softly. "Do you like how things are now...and I'm not talking about the fallout or stuff like that...I mean...do you like how free it is..."
"Well I like being able to do what I want but, yeah. Sometimes I wish I could settle down. I vaguely recall life before the bombs, but nothing specific." Rayne only sighed, looking back towards Ridly, before closing her eyes.
"I think I like it better this way..."
"Well it's better than some, at least we're not mutants living in hiding from others."
"I couldn't do that." She said softly, looking towards him. "I'd shoot myself."
"No kidding…but some people seek out an existence, I just chose to do it wandering from town to town doing whatever needs to be done."
"Including killing."
"Well, I'll defend myself when I have to, and then there are those people who deserve to die..."
"I know I know, I wasn't accusing you of anything, I've killed people too...every once in a while I've enjoyed it...I'm just saying...nowadays...anything is possible...literally ANYTHING..."
"It's funny; with the NCR expanding things should be getting safer but instead more and more dangers are popping up." Ridly again let his gaze drift to the desert.
"No one wants to be tied down anymore...the whole world's gone anarchist...they don't WANT limits..." She said, smiling a little before closing her eyes.
"Not only are the raiders becoming more powerful but there have been reports of strange animals, even stranger than the two headed, six legged monstrosities that already plague the wastes." She looked towards him, and nodded, letting her fingers trace trails behind them in the sand.
"Well...mutant genes breeding with mutant genes...it IS possible." She said softly, and then a faint smile crossed her face. "Who knows, maybe we'll be offered a job as part or a crack team or raider extinguishers..."
"Heh, I could get into that, if we live long enough..."
"Well...as long as we don't piss anyone ELSE off...and stay away from the people that we have, we should be fine, you know...minus the random raider encounters..."
"Random...right. Say, why did you come with me, the adventure, the fame...?"
"The utter boredom?" She smiled, looking at him. "I think going with you would be a new thing for me, ya know? Besides that one raider attack I told you about, my life after the shelter had been pretty uneventful...when I saw you again, I said, well...at least I won't be as bored anymore..."
"Ain't that the truth, though sometimes I feel like I'm putting you in more danger than I should, maybe I should find a nice place..."
"I'm FINE Rids." She smiled looking towards him. "You baby me too much you know that? Just because you're a couple months older than me doesn't mean I don't know how to protect myself."
"I know you know how to protect yourself. It's just that...I've lost a lot of good friends...to...to the wastes...and I..." His eyes closed as he looked down. "I don't want to lose you..."
"You won't." She smiled looking towards him. "I promise you...I'm a tough cookie, and I'll be fine...I've lasted this long haven't I?"
"Well yeah but...I seem to attract a lot of bad people..." She shrugged a bit, looking towards him.
"We'll meet my enemies eventually...lord knows I have them..." She said, looking towards him. "I worked as a thief for awhile in a Mafia town closer to the border."
"Oh…so you've had a problem too?" Ridly smiled. She smiled a bit.
"We both have an undying attraction towards trouble."
"Amen to that. I really only have one question." She looked towards him, and smiled.
"Shoot."
"How do we get off this thing?" She laughed a bit, looking up at the ropes attached to the ladder which was hanging over Rayne's head.
"Climb up the rope." She said, looking towards the bungee cords, and climbing up. Once she got to the top, she pulled her board up with her. Ridly followed and did the same.
"You're right, that was relaxing, but I would like to take a rest; let's go inside shall we?" She looked towards him.
"I'm going to stay out here for a little while longer." She said softly, looking towards him. "Go ahead and get some rest." Ridly nodded and climbed back down into the trailer and headed back to the bedroom.
Rayne looked out to the sky, lying down against the roof of the trailer, before smiling, looking out to the stars, her eyes closing as she felt herself drift away.