And here I am again. Thanks for the reviews! I'm trying my best with the text, english isn't my first language so I might never get it perfect, but I do think it's fairly readable.
Anyway, enjoy chapter 11!
„That's some outpost." Was Ashleys comment as they entered Mojave Outpost, which was only two buildings surrounded by chain-link fence.
"Yeah, it's not too big, but heavily frequented, since it's the border post between California and the Mojave." Joan replied as they walked through the gate in the fence and entered the first building, which consisted of a lot of desks
They approached the large counter with a soldier behind it.
"Hello, I'm Major Knight, can I help you with something?" The soldier asked them.
"Actually yes, we need a place to sleep for the night." Joan said.
"Then you're in the wrong building, food and shelter are managed by Lacey in the barracks next door. This is administration." Knight said.
"Alright, but we also need someone who can check our weapons out and do repairs if necessary. I have basic knowledge about weapon maintenance, but I can't compete with trained professionals if it comes to that." Ashley said.
"That's more like it, I'm the person you're looking for. Since you're planning to stay overnight anyway, you can leave your gear with me and get it back in the morning. Repairs are not for free tho." Knight said.
"Of course not, we're good on caps so that shouldn't be much of a problem." Ashley said.
"Good then, what weapons are we talking about? I see you got quite an arsenal." Knight said, looking at all the weapons Ashley had strapped to her body.
"Of course, yeah. We got three pistols, a forty-five, a nine and a ten, a ten mil SMG, a laser pistol and a laser rifle, a 12 gauge, a forty-four lever-action and a five-five-six assault rifle. " Ashley said while they both placed their weapons on the counter.
Knight whistled and checked all the weapons briefly, unloading them and handing the ammo back to Joan and Ashley.
"Don't need the ammo for repairs. They all look rather good, I will be done by morning, you can pick 'em up then." Knight said.
Ashley and Joan thanked him and went back outside, where it was dark already. They walked around the administration building and entered the barracks, which greeted them much friendlier, with the smell of food, alcohol and cigarettes.
The bar wasn't really frequented, there were just the bartender cleaning glasses and a woman drinking whiskey. They sat down next to her and the bartender walked over.
"Well I'll be damned, new faces, finally! I'm Lacey, what can I get you?" Lacey asked.
"A water for me." Joan said
"Whiskey, and we also need a place to sleep for the night." Ashley said.
"Okay, that's 8 caps each. We have a few spare beds, too, they're 20 caps a night per person." Lacey said and gave them their drinks.
"Sounds good, we'll take it." Ashley said and handed Lacey the right amount of caps.
"Good lord Cass, another one? That was your third already!" Lacey said to the unknown woman who had just waved her empty bottle towards her, apparently her way of ordering a new one.
"I'm not paying you to lecture me Lacey, now just give me another bottle, will ya?" The woman responded.
"Nope, that's enough for a day, sober up." Lacey simply answered and went back to cleaning glasses.
The woman grumbled and turned to Ashley.
"Twenty caps for your whiskey!" She said.
"What?" Ashley laughed.
"You heard me, I give you twenty caps for that whiskey!" She repeated.
"I don't think so, you look like you got enough already. That much alcohol will eventually kill you." Ashley said.
"And so will travelling the wasteland with a caravan and I can't do that anymore, so I only have whiskey to kill myself, come on, just give it to me!" She said.
"Ah, so drowning sorrows it is, huh? I'm Ashley by the way, this is Joan." Ashley said and pointed to Joan, who nodded towards the woman.
"I'm Cass, and yes, drowning sorrows it is." Cass said.
"So what happened? And what kind of name is Cass?" Ashley asked.
"Actually it is Rose of Sharon Cassidy, but I prefer Cass." Cass said with a slightly annoyed look.
"I can see why. Now, what happened that you try to drown yourself in whiskey?" Ashley asked again.
"Lost my caravan to some raider bastards, it's completely destroyed. Got word of it two days ago, I was stuck here so I couldn't help them, now I got nothing but the stuff I have on me. And pretty soon I will have to sell my clothes to buy food." Cass said.
"Offering me twenty caps for half a glass of whiskey won't help your cause, you know?" Ashley said.
"No shit, I don't have anything else to do and no other place to go, so I drink." Cass said, frowning.
"You could come with us." Joan suddenly said. Both Ashley and Cass looked at her in surprise.
"Seriously? What makes you think I'd come with you?" Cass asked.
"You obviously don't like it here and I had the impression that traveling the wasteland is something you enjoy. So you could get out of here and we'd have someone that knows the region. It's a win-win situation." Joan said.
"Where are you going anyway?" Cass asked.
"No specific destination, we're trying to find someone, so we're following all the clues we get." Joan said.
"Hmm, it'd certainly be nice to get out of here…" Cass said, thinking.
"Before you make any decisions, let me intervene. What can you bring to the group, besides your knowledge of the wasteland? That is nice for sure, but it doesn't help in combat." Ashley said.
"I'm good with shotguns and pistols, guns in general, but I also pack a punch in hand to hand combat." Cass said.
"Works for me, the more the merrier, I can't think of a reason why you couldn't come with us. One condition tho…" Ashley said.
"Oh great, conditions!" Joan said sarcastically, which earned her a glare from Ashley.
"Yes, conditions! Don't get drunk when we're out." Ashley said.
"No problem, I'm not addicted or something. But if we happen to get to Vegas, you can't stop me from getting hammered." Cass said.
"Alright. Oh and I won't take you along with that two hit wonder you got on your back." Ashley said and pointed at the double barreled shotgun slung on Cass' back.
"Well it's all I have, that and my combat knife. And I don't have the caps to get a better one!" Cass defended herself.
"Relax, I got you covered, but we'll talk about that tomorrow morning, now I need sleep. " Ashley said and walked over to her bed for the night.
"Is she always like that?" Cass asked Joan.
"Like what?" Joan asked.
"So…bossy." Cass said, which caused Joan to giggle.
"No, just sometimes. I only know her two days myself, but I think she's actually pretty nice under that rough surface." Joan said, looking over at Ashley who was in the process of getting her armor off. "And she's a total badass if it comes to fighting." She added.
"Now that you mention it, what does she mean by I got you covered, is she gonna buy me a weapon?" Cass asked.
"I have no idea, guess we'll find out in the morning." Joan said, shrugging.
"Guess we should also go to bed, huh?" Cass said after a little while.
"Yep, I was just about to do that. See you in the morning, nice to have you with us." Joan said and hugged Cass, much to her surprise.
"Well umm, yeah, goodnight." Cass said, obviously a little uncomfortable.
When Joan woke up in the morning, Ashley was already out of bed and sitting at the bar, eating a bowl of cereal.
"Morning, lazy-ass! Finally up?" Was Ashleys first comment.
"What do you mean finally? It's 7 am for god's sake, you really need to lighten up a little." Joan answered, moving out of bed and over to the bar as well, ordering some cereal for herself.
"We need to start early if we want to catch up with our target." Ashley said.
"Okay okay, you're right!" Joan said, rolling her eyes.
"After breakfast we get our weapons. Where's Cass?" Ashley said.
"She's right here." Came the answer from Cass, who just walked over to them with messy hair and an expression that practically screamed hangover.
"You look hung over." Ashley said.
"I'm fine, just need a good breakfast." Cass answered.
"Good, you do that and meet us outside, we're gonna get our gear in the meantime." Joan said.
After they finished their cereal, Ashley and Joan quickly put on their armor and went into the next building to Major Knight.
"Ah, the heavily armed travellers, good morning." Knight said as they entered.
"Morning, how's it looking Major?" Ashley said.
"Most of your weapons were in pristine condition. But the SMG and the nine millimeter needed some new parts, they were pretty worn out. I cleaned everything and changed the necessary parts. That's a 100 caps total." Knight said as he was putting the weapons on the counter.
"Alright, here you go. Thanks for the work." Ashley said and counted the caps out.
"I also got a little offer for you." Knight said after taking the caps.
"What kind of offer?" Ashley asked.
"Your assault rifle there, it's a pre-war model, those are very rare. I got a box full of attachments that are made for this kind of weapon. They don't fit to our rifles so we can't use them, so I figured you may want to buy some of it." Knight said.
"Sounds interesting, what kind of attachments are we talking about?" Ashley asked.
"Various flashlights, laser sights, optics, forward grips in all shapes, silencers and even a grenade launcher." Knight said.
"A grenade launcher?" Ashley asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, forty millimeter, single shot, reloadable. Handles like your common grenade rifle, just that it's mounted under your rifle barrel."
"Sounds good, I take it. I also take a light and a silencer. I don't have time to zero in new optics, so I'll stay with my iron sights. I'd also like two boxes of shotgun ammo and a box of .357 rounds. How much is that all?" Ashley said.
"Totals in at another 200 caps. I also put in two grenades for the launcher, can't spare more." Knight said.
Once again, Ashley counted out the needed caps and Knight installed the purchased modifications. When he was finished he handed the rifle to Ashley and put the purchased ammo on the counter along with two 40 millimeter grenades.
Ashley quickly familiarized herself with the grenade launcher and loaded one of her grenades in it.
"The Flashlight needs power. You put in a single cell from a standard laser pistol clip, but the one that's in there shouldn't get empty in this lifetime." Knight explained.
After that Ashley and Joan took a minute to load and holster all their weapons and then went back outside where they met Cass, who was now wearing a brown leather jacket and a cowboy hat.
"There you are, thought you left without me." She said.
"Wouldn't do that." Joan said with a grin.
"Here, yours." Ashley said and handed her recently acquired shotgun to Cass, who took it with a smirk.
"Nice piece, thanks!" Cass said, admiring the weapon.
"Don't mention it, I already got two rifles and Joan isn't really a gun type, she prefers lasers. Here, take the ammo and oh, almost forgot, you might need a pistol, too." Ashley said and handed Cass the revolver she took from the convict leader along with the entire shotgun and .357 ammo.
"Thanks, I think now I'm combat effective. I already sold my old double barrel to Lacey Where are we headed now?" Cass said and put the revolver into her belt.
"Nipton is next, although we just move through there, didn't plan on staying. Novac is the next real lead." Ashley said.
"Nipton, huh? Ranger Ghost told me she saw smoke rising from there, but didn't know what it was about." Cass said.
"When was that?" Joan asked.
"Just yesterday afternoon. It really doesn't have to mean anything, could be a giant bonfire or something, but we should be careful." Cass said.
"We will, thanks for the info, now let's head out, I wanna make good time today, maybe reach Novac before nightfall." Ashley said and already started walking.
Joan and Cass quickly catched up and they left Mojave Outpost towards Nipton, where they still saw smoke rising.
"Guess it's not a bonfire, huh?" Cass said.
"Yeah, that much smoke can't be a good sign. Maybe we should go around it?" Joan said.
"We shouldn't go off the road if we can avoid it and Nipton is the fastest way to Novac, we're going through, even if it means guns blazing." Ashley said and chambered her rifle.