Hours went by.
Once the thumping outside stopped, Niner and Boone began debating whether they ought to chance peeking outside or not. Arcade was seated at one of the terminals cleaning his LAER, and Sandra had plopped onto the floor beside Raul's chair.
"So..." Raul turned to Sandra. "Just, uh, out of curiosity..."
"Yeah?" Sandra said.
"What made you fight your way up here, really? You can be honest with me. Was it for loot, or a bounty, or...?" Raul wondered.
Sandra stared at him. This was something she used to experience all the time. People would be confused whenever she'd try to help them free of charge. Most people didn't understand that kind of selflessness, and they acted as if it was completely alien to them.
"It was for you." Sandra told him truthfully. "I just... acted on impulse. It sounded like you needed help, so..."
A throaty laugh escaped from Raul's mouth.
"Well shit, I'd all but given up in here. Didn't really count on a random act of kindness getting me out, but hell, I'll take it." He cackled.
Sandra peered upwards and met his gaze, then immediately looked away. It was difficult for her to maintain eye contact with Raul. He looked nothing like Charon, but his eyes... those faded blue eyes... they were the same as her old best friend's.
"You think we're safe to leave?" Niner asked everyone. "I gotta piss..."
"Not yet." Arcade answered. "It's gotten quieter, but I don't think they've fallen asleep yet. We killed a lot of their people. They're understandably still riled up, I'll bet. They've stopped looking, but they're still waiting for us to come out of wherever we're hiding."
"Might as well get comfortable, then." Boone said, placing his rifle against the wall and sitting on the floor. "I need a nap."
The others began to nest on the floor in the most comfortable ways they could.
Sandra isolated herself in the corner and slipped another jet inhaler from her satchel. It was her last one. Hopefully, they'd get out of this situation soon enough for them to resupply on chems at the nearest trader.
Arcade's back hit the wall, and he slid into a sitting position beside her.
"So..." He said quietly. "I'm no good at this friendship support type stuff, but... I think we should talk."
Sandra didn't say anything. She merely glanced at the others. Nobody was close enough to hear them, and they all seemed uninterested in any case.
"The... the jet." Arcade began. "I've got to ask. Why?"
"Do you have a problem with the chems?" Sandra asked.
"I'm a doctor, and I know what they do to people if they're taken habitually." Arcade replied. "And I don't want to get in your business, really I don't, but I've noticed that you're taking it more and more lately."
"Why do you care?" Sandra said, suddenly feeling defensive.
"Well, pardon me, but I thought the whole reason you wanted me to tag along was to help everyone in the Mojave however we could. It doesn't really make sense to exclude you from 'everyone,' I don't think." Arcade remarked. "The coward in me wants to ignore your obvious developing addiction, but... the activist in me wants to smack you upside the head and tell you how wrong this is."
"I... need it." Sandra told him, rubbing the red inhaler with her thumb as she stared at it.
"I know it feels that way, but we can break you from it."
"No, it's not like that..."
"It's an addiction, Sandra."
"I know, but it's not as physical as you think."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. I take it... because... it keeps me awake." Sandra informed. "I need to be awake most of the time."
"Why?" Arcade asked her, leaning closer and giving her a thoughtful overlook. "Why do you need to be awake?"
Sandra couldn't look at him.
How weird, she thought. Charon had the same addiction when I met him, and I broke him of it. How ironic...
"I... have nightmares." Sandra revealed. "I just... wake up in a panic sometimes. It's just easier if I don't sleep very much."
Then, something happened that made Sandra's heart skip.
Arcade slipped his hand over hers, and he gently took the inhaler from her grasp.
"I usually give patients a sleep aid to help with this, but I don't have them readily available anymore. So... I'd suggest you take a few swigs of rum from that flask of yours, lie down, and get a few hours of shuteye. Your eyes are bloodshot, and you're even losing weight. Living without sleep will eventually kill you, and jet is only going to speed up that process." Arcade explained in a soft, comforting voice.
"Why are you..." Sandra mumbled.
"Because I care." Arcade said. "I care a lot. It's a curse, I'm afraid. Here..."
He slid off his Followers overcoat and folded it into a pillow-like shape, then placed it on the floor beside Sandra.
"Get some sleep." Arcade told her. "Please."
Sandra considered arguing with him, but there was no point. Instead, she curled up on his folded coat as he instructed. The coat was still warm, and she found his scent oddly soothing.
For the first time in a very long time, she drifted into an undisturbed slumber.
When morning came around, Boone and Niner were hunched against the door with their ears pressed against it. They were listening very intently, trying to determine how many of the mutants were outside, and where they were.
Raul was lying on his makeshift bed, and Sandra had tried to cover herself with Ulysses' sleeveless duster. Arcade was lying parallel to her, his head resting atop his folded overcoat as well as hers, his arms folded together in an attempt to trap in warmth, and his glasses hanging halfway off his face. When Sandra's eyes drifted open, she came face to face with the back of Arcade's head, his hairs poking at her nose.
"There's only two of them..." Boone determined, holding up his rifle. "We can take two, no problem."
"Right mate, but uh... the one called Tabitha is gonna be pretty raffled." Niner replied. "She's ticked about us stealing her pet mechanic, so she's the one we gotta watch out for, yeah?"
"Yeah." Boone nodded. "They're just outside the door. On the count of three. One..."
They both raised their guns.
"Two..."
They tightened their grasps, their fingers barely grazing the triggers.
"THREE!"
Boone undid the lock, and Niner kicked the door open.
Outside, as predicted, was a massive nightkin wearing heart shaped glasses and a very hideous blonde wig. Beside her was another nightkin holding a sledge hammer, and before either of the giants could make their move, Boone and Niner unleashed their attack.
The sound of bullets startled Sandra, Arcade, and Raul all awake.
By the time all three of them were on their feet, the last of the nightkin had hit the ground dead.
"Thursday - wha - hah? What happened?!" Arcade stammered as he fumbled outside. "Holy... oh... holy crap..."
"YES!" Boone and Niner both rejoiced, delivering another loud highfive to each other.
"Huh. Guess that means we're free to leave." Raul said with a shrug. "I'll go grab my bag..."
Sandra grinned. Boone and Niner were getting along famously as of late. Hopefully, it would stay that way.
They all began the walk down Black Mountain, and this time, it was much quieter.
"Hoh' man, that was nuts." Niner said. "Ah man, I could use some steady after that. You up for a hit, Six?"
"Uh..." Sandra responded. "No, not right now."
"More for me." Niner pressed a needle into his arm, then tossed the syringe aside. "Mmmm... oh yeah, that's nice."
"That stuff will kill you faster than radiation is killing me." Raul said to Niner. "Think about that. That chem kills faster than radiation. What does that tell you...?"
"Tells me you never learned how to have fun and enjoy life." Niner replied with a laugh. "Am I right, Six? Am I right?"
Sandra didn't reply.
"So, anyway... who are you?" Arcade asked Raul. "Are you sticking around, or do we need to escort you somewhere? We're supposed to be looking for the Brotherhood, but we got sidetracked when we heard you on the radio. Do we need to put our plans on hold?"
"Nah, I'm game to go where ever you're all going." Raul replied. "I've got nowhere special to be. Anywhere's better than being Tabitha's property."
Sandra pulled a scoped 44 magnum from her bag and handed it to Raul.
"I found that in the Sierra Madre." Sandra told him. "I just haven't gotten around to selling it yet. You'll make better use of it than me, though."
"Oh yeah." Raul examined the revolver. "Oh yeah, this is perfect..."
Once they all reached the road again, daylight had taken over the world completely, though it was still difficult to see through the occasional mound of sand in the air. They were right beside Quarry Junction, and the place was shrouded entirely in sandstorms.
"Well... we could keep going until we reach Sloan, but I'm not sure if they'd have enough room for us in the barracks." Arcade suggested. "It's a small place. Still, it's not like we have any real leads on the Brotherhood's location. We're just going on sightings and rumors. Maybe we could ask around Sloan, see if anyone's seen..."
Arcade trailed off, his eyes fixating on the road leading north. He stared over Sandra's shoulder, his mouth dropping open.
Everyone spun around, all of them wondering what Arcade was staring at.
In the sand clouds, four human shaped figures emerged from further down the road. At first, Sandra thought they might have been a group of NCR soldiers or rangers, but when they got closer, she spotted the sporty red armor, the tribal skirts, and the dog's head worn by the leader of the frumentarii.
Boone and Arcade were the first to draw their weapons.
Vulpes Inculta marched forward in a seemingly calm manner, glaring at Sandra from behind his goggles.
"I've been on your trail for nearly two months now." His voice was low, dark, more menacing than Sandra remembered it, and it quivered ever so slightly with each syllable he spoke. "You... you're responsible. You're the one who killed Lord Caesar."
Sandra gulped. This didn't seem like the same person she met in Nipton, or on the strip. Vulpes was usually very calm, very mysterious, and very composed. But now, he seemed off somehow. Less restrained. Less contained. The frumentarius' anger could have been radiating from his body. She could almost feel it.
"What're you talking about?" Sandra asked. "I didn't kill anybody. Last time I was in the Fort, I left with the platinum chip, and Caesar was still alive."
"A man doesn't just drop dead of his own accord." Vulpes took a step forward. "You showed up in my Lord's camp, and only minutes after you leave, a sniper kills him. A sniper that we were never able to find. I'm not a dimwitted fool, so don't take me for one. I know you orchestrated his assassination. You will die for your crimes against the Legion."
Sandra bit her lip. Vulpes had his ripper on one hip and a pistol on the other, while his three followers carried only rippers and machetes. Between all of them, they only had one firearm, yet they seemed to be very sure of themselves, very certain that they could kill Sandra's team of fully armed companions. She didn't doubt their fighting abilities, but did they really plan to withstand a barrage of bullets and laserfire? Did they consider themselves to be inhumanly strong? Or was Vulpes' planning and leadership simply lacking due to his jarred state of mind? Sandra couldn't know for sure.
"Hey fuckwad." Boone said, aligning his scope with Vulpes' chest. "My name is Craig Boone, husband of Carla Boone. I'm the one who blew off Caesar's head, and I'm goddamn proud of it. You monsters can only destroy so many families before it comes back to haunt you."
"Oh, really..." Vulpes advanced, his hand tightening around the handle of his ripper. "Well... Craig Boone... my name is Revenge, and I'm here to save my name."