It didn't feel natural for Casey to be moving along the Mojave at such a slow pace. She could get to the Mojave Outpost in two or three days at this pace, but she didn't really mind. It was good to have some company for once, that wasn't Orin's grunting as he walked or Lucy's insistence on irritating Casey until she was tempted to christen her new blade by slicing off her ears. Veronica, instead, was upbeat the entire journey. She said hi to every traveller they passed, and pet every single dog. She got excited when she saw a pregnant dog sitting on a wagon, and asked the owner when the puppies were due. The owner had looked at Casey, almost for assistance, but Casey just shrugged. Veronica also made sure to stop and look at every building they came across, and listened if someone was calling for help. Casey just kept walking most times, and Veronica always caught up.
They made camp two miles off the main roads in the late afternoon. Casey was tired and was already lying down in her bedroll, while Veronica had produced a book from her bag and started writing.
"You keep a diary?" Casey held back her amusement.
"Journal," Veronica said matter-of-factly.
"… Is there a difference?"
"Diaries are for little girls who want to write down their feelings, their hopes and dreams and what boys they like. I write down my travels and the people I meet."
"Sounds like fun," Casey mumbled and put her gun and blade beside her to quickly grab in case she needed them.
"Hey, I want to be remembered," Veronica said, "In case I die, I want someone to find the journal and read all the cool stuff I did."
"Can I see?"
"Nope. Not finished yet."
"Well, yeah. It's only finished when you're dead."
Veronica stopped writing and turned to Casey, "That's deep, man."
Casey laughed and shook her head, "Not really. You could run out of pages first."
"You don't write stuff down?"
"Not really," Casey shrugged, "My life isn't very interesting."
"Well… When's your birthday?"
"Sometime in January," Casey shrugged, "2261."
"You don't know your own birthday?" Veronica sighed in annoyance, "Come on, when is it? I need to put in it your page."
"I honestly can't think of it right now. Just relied on mom to tell me when it was, I was too busy."
"I don't believe you," Veronica somehow thought it was funny, "Come on, you never got excited for your birthday?"
"I got excited at Christmas. Birthdays aren't really a thing in the NCR. Well… Mom was interested but Dad was against celebrating something as dumb as that. We didn't have much in the way of gifts anyways, mostly got BB gun rounds or some toy Dad would find when he was out on patrol in other places in the Mojave."
"That's really sad."
"Thank you, Veronica. Can I sleep now?"
"Come on, I don't know much about you."
"What do you want to know?"
"What did you do as a kid?"
"Played with the other kids," Casey yawned, "Hunted with my Dad… Learned to shoot… Learned to be a good soldier… I played baseball a lot. Mostly field, I could never hit or throw that well."
"I've got your job down as a Hunter, want me to change that?"
"No, it's fine," Casey shook her head, "What about you?"
"I'm a Brotherhood member," Veronica frowned.
"I mean your childhood," Casey said.
"A little like yours actually, except I actually know when my birthday is. August 1st 2254."
Casey was surprised at the age difference. Veronica looked younger than twenty-six, and acted younger too.
"But… yeah. I had my friends, but we weren't like most kids from here. I know how to read, how to write and I'm pretty good at math, but that's the thing. I can't brag about that out here, because nobody cares. Reading and writing will get me a job, sure, but I don't need one out here. I was good at taking stuff apart and putting it back together, though."
"I was the fastest runner where I lived, from when I was at least 14," Casey told the sky, which was turning from orange steadily into black, "Dad's friend told me that I would do well in a battle if I kept my wits together, said I probably could outrun a bullet if I was at full speed."
"That why you're a courier?"
"Not so much anymore," Casey shrugged, "I can run for a long time, but nobody can run at full speed for a day, at some point you're going to break. Courier seemed like it was too boring, and I can't be a soldier anymore."
"Sounds boring to me."
"That's why you're in the BoS?" Casey smirked.
"It isn't that bad. NCR are dicks to us, but that's about it."
"I wasn't like that with you, was I?"
"You're being that way now," Veronica chuckled, "You won't tell me your birthday."
"I swear, I don't know. I don't keep track of the days," Casey shrugged, "I don't act like a Bear, do I?"
"You're as humourless as a Bear, but you aren't a bully," she seemed to assure her. She shut her book and lay down to sleep, "You're very… blunt."
"I was trained to be," Casey breathed out a sigh but couldn't help but laugh at herself, "Damn… I'm boring, aren't I?"
"You're… what? Eighteen years old?"
"Seventeen."
"You have time to blossom a personality. Trust me, I'll help you."
"Hey!"
Veronica raised her hands in a mock surrender, "I'm sorry. Don't rehabilitate me."
Casey grinned and tossed a small rock at her.
"I surrender!" Veronica laughed, "I don't want to go to California!"
Casey rolled her eyes and Veronica seemed pleased with herself.
"I'm gonna go to sleep," Veronica huddled underneath her blankets, "Good night, Case."
"Night."
…
They got up at dawn and ate breakfast while they walked. Casey started to feel uneasy after a few hours and was convinced that she was having another one of her episodes. She started to fall behind Veronica and strained her ears to listen for something. She could sense it, and only when they walked up to higher ground could she hear it.
"Wait up," Casey shot her palm out to block Veronica. She heard the whistling and crouched down. The explosion wasn't that far away, maybe a mile or two. She walked up a nearby hill and spotted a mass of dots in the distance, with the occasional burst of grenades.
"This is a running theme with us, isn't it?" Veronica sighed and dug binoculars from her bag.
"What're you looking for?" Casey frowned.
"How far the battle goes," Veronica frowned, "Looks like a couple of patrol groups clashed together. This doesn't look that great."
"We'll go around," Casey said, pointing at the main road a few miles west of the battle, "We just need to keep on the main roads, we'll be fine."
They heard the whistling of a missile in the air. Veronica gasped and when Casey turned to ask what the problem was she had shoved Casey onto the ground. Her chin banged against the dirt and her teeth nipped her tongue. She lifted her head and saw the dirt ahead of them explode.
"Get back!" Casey shouted, scrambling to her feet and running back. Veronica helped to hoist her up and almost dragged Casey's feet forward as she tried to move back.
"Take cover here," Casey changed the momentum to her favour and dragged Veronica to the slope o the hill. She slid down after her when she felt the earth shake again as another artillery shell exploded above them.
"Must think that we were snipers," Veronica shouted while pellets of dirt and rock rained against the hill they lay on.
Casey had her arms over her head and only looked up a few seconds after the debris had stopped.
"We have to move," she said urgently, "If NCR shot those rockets they'll be sending people in to investigate."
Veronica nodded and they backtracked their steps and gave the battle a wide birth. With a steep mountain between them and the battle, Casey finally managed to relax. Something seemed odd about her chin as the minutes passed on. She reached up and brushed her thumb across it. Her chin throbbed in an uncomfortable pain and her thumb came away bloody from when Veronica shoved her onto the ground.
"Sorry," Veronica said quietly.
"Don't worry about that," Casey shrugged it off dismissively and knelt down. Veronica helped to wash her chin clean and Veronica examined the wound, "You've got rocks in there."
Casey sighed in annoyance. Goodsprings was an hour's walk away, she'd have to stop and get patched up. This meant running into Sunny, who would see that she was hurt and get that worried look on her face. She didn't want to get patched up at the Outpost, and she absolutely didn't want to leave those rocks in her chin for too long.
They took the hours walk to Goodsprings mostly in silence. She got to Doc Mitchell's clinic and got the rocks picked out of her chin. The old man spent the time questioning her about the Thorn and seemed genuinely interested. He looked at Casey's blade and had a childlike joy towards the thing. Sunny came in a few minutes after Casey was patched up. Cheyenne had been running towards the clinic, barking and wagging her tail. Doc opened the door and the dog bounded in, jumping up and lapping at Casey's face.
"I was going to see you," Casey said while Sunny sat down beside her.
Casey told her everything about what had happened, and made excuses about why she hadn't been writing. She'd been on trips, she'd been in training, she'd been doing so and so. Sunny just listened patiently.
"I've missed you," Sunny said quietly, "Where are you headed?"
"Mojave Outpost."
"Casey, that isn't a good idea."
"I have a civilian ID," Casey said and sat up, "I'm going to be fine, I'm only…"
"You're only what?"
"I'll only be there for the night, if we can't reach the place before the afternoon."
"You won't be able to." Sunny shook her head, "Legion's been spotted a few miles away from Nipton. You know where Nipton is?"
"Sin Suburbia," Casey nodded in agreement. Her parents had told her to not go through Nipton, and to stay away when she was old enough to enlist and be on vacation days. "There are more brothels than houses, more alcohol than water, more sins than the dirt that runs through the street," her father had warned her when Casey had heard a few soldiers talking about it.
Casey, being a young and impressionable ten year old, had thought that the idea of going to Nipton was reserved for only "bad" soldiers. Veronica, of course, was fascinated. When Sunny left her after Casey said they would be back tomorrow afternoon, Veronica was desperate to go.
"Why do you want to go? What's wrong with you?"
"I just want to talk to the people there," Veronica said, "I won't do anything, I've never met…. Y'know… a prostitute before."
Casey burst out laughing, "Is that a dream of yours?"
"I'm not going to use one," Veronica said defensively, her cheeks going red, "And, I want to gamble. Come on, I'll buy you a drink."
"I don't drink. And the Legion-"
"I will scout out the area before we go inside," Veronica droned in annoyance, "Of course you don't drink. You worry too much, a drink wouldn't kill you."
"I worry too much? How did I get this?" Casey said and pointed at her chin, "You're being stupid."
"It's a mile out from the Mojave Outpost, maybe less. If the Legion is attacking the city, then NCR will be there to take it out, right?"
"Fine. I'll walk up to the Mojave Outpost, you stay at Nipton and 'talk' to the prostitutes."
…
They walked at a brisk pace, with one eye over their shoulder to see if any armies were approaching behind them. Doc Mitchell had attached some bandages to Casey's chin, and it itched in the sun with sweat. The bandage was quickly left behind when they passed the sign signalling Mojave as being two miles away. The Mojave Outpost, like the tower in the Strip, was a land mark for clueless civilians. One NCR ranger shaking hands with a desert ranger showed the gateway to California. The two figures towered and could easily be spotted for miles, the best way to make sure you were walking south, if you were never told how to tell direction by the sun.
Casey's eyes cautiously scanned the landscape, and they stopped when they smelt it. Casey opened her mouth to talk but Veronica already spoke up, "Something's burning," she said, "And it's not barbeque."
Casey kept low to the ground and crawled up a hill. Smoke, tall, dark clouds of smoke. Casey's throat closed and she scrunched her eyes tight.
Don't think about home, she thought to herself, her fingers gripping the dirt, Don't think about Mom. Don't think about her. Not now.
She didn't visit her mother. What kind of a person was she? She'll come back tomorrow, and say sorry until her voice went hoarse.
"Oh man…" Veronica gasped. She grabbed her binoculars and peered through the scopes.
"What do you see?"
"I don't see anything. I want to get closer."
"Are you stupid?!" Casey almost squeaked, "Are you trying to get us killed?"
"Stay behind if you want," Veronica shrugged, "I thought that they gave those swords out to brave people."
"Brave doesn't mean stupid, you idiot," Casey sighed, "There's prostitutes in Freeside and the Strip."
"You're good with a gun, aren't you?" Veronica seemed to ignore her.
"Yeah I'm good with a gun."
"Well draw your gun and keep an eye on me."
:"I can't go in there," Casey said. She felt like she was going to throw up. Her heart was in her throat, her stomach was in knots, and she could barely breathe. She wanted to sit down, or better yet curl up into a ball and sleep.
"Smoke and fire ain't your thing?"
Casey shook her head.
"Why not?"
"I don't want to talk about it," she rushed out. Her fingers trembled at her side.
"OK, we don't have to go. Do you… need a second?"
The smell… she needed to get away from the smell. She'd smelt it before and never wanted to smell it again. She'd been around hundreds of camp fires, but none of them gave her that smell.
"Let's just-"
"Who won the lottery?!" a voice screamed.
Casey turned and Veronica shot a hand out and rested it against Casey's stomach and stood in front of her.
They saw a man, jogging towards them and practically dancing from one side of the road to the other. His arms were spread wide, and he seemed to gaze up at the sky. He was covered in filth, and had a reddish brown stain on his shoulder. He looked down from the sky and saw Veronica and Casey.
"Hey! You!"
"Do you have a- you do," Veronica looked down and snatched the gun from Casey's hip and pointed it at the ground.
"I won the lottery!" he shouted as he got within a couple of dozen feet.
"Did you come from Nipton?" Veronica asked, one hand still on Casey.
"Nipton? Yeah, I won the lottery!"
"He's insane," Casey sucked in the air between her teeth.
"I'm not crazy! How would you act if you won the lottery?"
"Might be a stick up," Veronica said urgently, "He's a Powder Ganger."
"Pft! Powder Ganger's?! I'm done with them! Ungh! Smell that air!"
It smells like death, Casey thought.
"What's going on in Nipton? What's with the smoke?"
"Who gives a crap! I won the lottery! Urgh!" he bent over, fists clenched and his feet pounding up and down against the dirty road, "I've never felt so good in my life! You two don't want to bang, do you?"
"Not today," Veronica said, lightly pushing Casey back, "I think you should run to Primm, spend your winnings."
"Can't blame me for trying!" he grinned.
"Wait- when did you win the lottery?"
"About five minutes ago," he grinned, "I'm gonna follow your advice… so long!"
"What the hell…" Casey frowned.
"Wait- is the place safe?"
"Oh. Yeah! Yeah it's safe now," the guy looked over his shoulder as he jogged away.
"Have you heard of a lottery system? What town has money lying around to give to drunken idiots like that?" Veronica frowned as she started to walk forward again.
"Only the Strip, I think," Casey said uneasily.
Veronica took a few cautious steps forward and Nipton started to get closer and closer.
"I'm going to go to the Outpost, this is crap," Casey shook her head, "This is really stupid."
"Something's wrong…" Veronica trailed off.
"Nothing gets past you," Casey whispered irritably with fear still in her voice, "Let's go. Let's just go to the Outpost. This place is screwed up. We'll wait until tomorrow, when the NCR's gone in."
"Yeah that's a good idea…" Veronica nodded and lowered her binoculars, "We'll come back tomorrow."
Casey kept at a decent jog despite her churning stomach. The smell was awful, and it was still in her nose when they were one mile away. The statue got closer and closer until it loomed over the both of them and became lit by a couple of high powered spot lights. Night would be setting in soon. Generators roared as they struggled to power the lights, and the place was alive with activity. Casey sucked in the smell of cooking meat and was relieved when the tightness in her throat started to ease. A dog jogged up to her and started sniffing at her pant leg. She scratched behind the dog's ear and smiled, "Hey boy."
The dog licked her hand and she crouched down to give the dog a proper pat.
"Are you two from Nipton?"
Casey looked up and saw a soldier not much older than her in front of them, gun in hand.
"No," Casey shook her head, "We've come from the north."
"Have you come through Nipton? There's no access to the Mojave Outpost at this current time until the situation there has been resolved."
"No, didn't want to go near it," Casey said while slightly exaggerating her accent, "We only saw the smoke, what happened?"
The soldier's face softened when he recognised Casey's accent, "Stay away from Nipton. Legion raided it this morning. So far we haven't found any survivors."
Casey glared at Veronica, who swallowed heavily and looked the other way.
"What's your business here?"
"Letters to home," Casey forced a smile, "It's important business. My father's sick and wants to see his brother before the end. If we could just…"
"No problem. If you're a citizen you're always welcome here. Are you enlisted?"
"About to be, I promised my Dad he'd see me in uniform before he passed," Casey nodded. She spoke the words before she thought about them, and she realised that her father had made her promise the same thing when she was younger. She tried to shake the feeling off while she spoke again.
"We should probably get some good food before it gets too busy. I always hated the taste of MRE's," Casey took a few steps forward and the soldier stepped aside to let her past.
"Yeah, pretty soon you'll be eating tinned yukka," he chuckled while Casey started walking forward.
"You want to get some dinner in that bar?" Veronica pointed. Casey took in a breath and nodded, "Yeah, sounds good."
…
The bar smelled like the product of 50 active NCR soldiers huddled in a building that old. It reeked of booze, sweat, dirt and smoke. Casey didn't care, she was brought up in it, but Veronica looked slightly intimidated.
"I thought I found you in a trading post," Casey smiled.
"Trading posts aren't this condensed," Veronica had to shout above the noise.
Casey didn't see any wanted posters with her name on them, and she began to relax. The place was hazy with smoke, the kind of smoke that didn't bother her. She was around Californians, traders, soldiers and civilians alike. Casey sat down at the bar and was slightly put off at the amount of confidence she had when she saw the bar tender smiling at her to serve her.
"What're you having?" he asked cheerfully.
Casey was tempted to order something with alcohol in it, and she was pretty sure her ID said she was around eighteen, but she didn't want to vomit all over the floor in front of Veronica, and have her write it down in that stupid journal of hers. Instead she just ordered a Sarsaparilla, and cringed at the humoured smirk on the bar tender's face when he turned his back to serve her. Veronica ordered as well, this time ordering a beer.
"That have any rum in it?" a voice shouted beside her when Casey's drink was served.
Casey turned and saw a woman offering out her flask, "I'll put some in."
"No thanks," Casey waved the woman off politely.
"It doesn't have anything crap in it," the woman waved her own hand off and took a swig for herself.
"Thanks but no thanks," Casey shook her head then took a drink of her Sarsaparilla. Veronica, however, leaned forward and extended her beer, "Sure."
The red head nodded and topped Veronica's drink off. Veronica took in a few gulps and coughed, "Damn. That's a burn."
"Not for the faint of heart," the woman agreed. Casey frowned. The woman wasn't smiling, probably was the only one in the bar that wasn't. She sat amongst a mass of shouting, rowdy people and looked a lot like the people that weren't in uniform. She had a confident air about her, with a straw hat hung carefully over her eyes, like a gambler does when he doesn't want people to see their face. She had jeans like Casey's, dirty with holes in them. Her jacket was Brahmin hide, and judging by the amount of dirt and stains on it looked like it had been dragged across the country. She was older then her, by at least ten years. She sat alone, so she couldn't be a trader. Casey was prepared to just leave the woman to her business, but Veronica asked for a refill.
"I'm Cass," she told Veronica while she poured rum into the glass.
Veronica introduced herself and Casey. Casey's eyes widened when Veronica stupidly went by their real names, and not the names on their ID, but she didn't say anything. She instead took a drink from her bottle to hide her panic.
"Can we switch seats?" Veronica asked Casey.
Casey obliged and ordered her dinner, a big pile of noodles with Brahmin bits inside. Her stomach growled when it was brought to her, and her mood escalated when she only paid five caps for it. She looked over to talk to Veronica, who was busy talking to Cass. While she was comfortable with where she was, she started to get bored as the minutes rolled on.
"You ready to go?" Casey shouted in her ear above the shouting and music.
Veronica looked up at her and shook her head, "Fifteen more minutes?"
"I need to get to Goodsprings by tomorrow afternoon, we need to go to bed soon," Casey said awkwardly.
"What's your story, kid?" Cass took a shot of whiskey and leaned toward Casey with aggression in her voice and anger in her eyes.
"Leave her alone," Veronica glared at Cass, but her smile didn't fade, "She wants to go and visit her mother, she was buried at Goodsprings."
"Oh," Cass' back straightened and her aggression melted into embarrassment, "Shit… I'm sorry."
Casey glared at Veronica, "You didn't have to tell her that."
"Hey, I understand. My parents are gone to," Cass said awkwardly, "Your Dad still around?"
"He's gone too," Casey scratched at her lip and averted their eyes, "He burned to death, not too long ago."
"Shit…" Cass sighed. Her fingers drummed against the worn wood on the bar and she chewed at her bottom lip, "What happened? Just an accident?"
"Dad got burned up in a gang attack, Mom got burned up but… short of it was that some NCR guys killed her."
"And you eat with these people?"
"Not much choice tonight," Casey felt like she had a thick blanket on her shoulders weighing her down and making everything seem darker and more difficult. She wondered if she would ever shake that feeling when she talked about her parents.
"So your parents are dead, and you ain't looking for the guy who did it?" Cass frowned.
"Don't have the resources or the mental instability," Casey muttered, "I'm not rotting in jail or getting shot by firing squad for acting stupid. Call me stupid all you want."
"You got Veronica with you," Cass smirked, nudging Veronica's shoulder with hers, "She looks like she can fend for herself."
"Against most things," Veronica smiled at her and nudged her back.
Casey rubbed her forehead with her fingers and sighed irritably.
"Hey," Cass sighed and leaned across from Veronica to look at Casey. Casey looked down and saw Cass' flask glint from the lights in the bar, "Take a shot. Veronica's been drinking it all night. It's just rum. Makes you feel better."
Casey sighed heavily and took the flask. She took a tiny sip and felt the rum run down her throat. She barely swallowed it before she exploded into a coughing fit.
Veronica slapped Casey's back and couldn't help but laugh, "Burns, doesn't it?"
Casey wiped her mouth and rubbed her throat, "I'm gonna go to bed."
"Aw don't be that way," Cass said playfully, "Nobody likes their first drink."
Casey felt embarrassed and awkwardly scratched behind her head, "No, it's not that. I'm just tired. V, I need some money to pay admission for the barracks."
"I'll be with you in a minute," Veronica waved her off. She reached into Casey's bag and grabbed Casey's money pouch. She burrowed her hand clumsily inside and drew out a few caps, "This should cover it."
Casey took the caps and frowned at the pouch, "You know, that's my money…"
"I know. I'll be with you in a couple of minutes. Your money pouch is next to mine; I just want to finish my drink. I'll bring your pouch and mine with me."
"You better pay for your drinks with you money," Casey warned.
"I'm not that much of a dick," Veronica said defensively.
"Listen to her, kid," Cass grinned, "People can pick money out of your pockets easy. It's better to leave everything in your bag."
"Fine," Casey walked outside and crossed the outpost. She reached the civilian barracks and met the guy standing in front, "Hey, how much?"
"Fifteen," he nodded, standing away from the door.
"I'm a civilian," Casey said, showing her card.
"Picked it up from the accent. Still fifteen, though."
"I only have twelve."
"Sorry, can't help you."
"Aw come on, man. Three caps, I'll pay you tomorrow."
"No dice. Come up with the money or find a place at Nipton."
"Nipton's burned to the ground."
"Then try Primm."
"Yeah, thanks," Casey said bitterly.
Casey walked back into the bar and groaned at Veronica and Cass' empty chairs.
"You have to be kidding me," Casey groaned, "Bartender, where did the two girls go?"
The guy serving drinks shrugged carelessly, "Don't know, kid. You expect me to keep tabs on everyone in here?"
Casey walked back outside and rounded the buildings, searching for them. She walked back into the bar and frowned, "Are there rooms in here?"
"Three, seventy five caps each."
"Seventy fi- do you know who takes a room?"
"Not my job. Guy who sorts out rooms for the night's gone home. Everyone else gets in the barracks."
"Is there no way to see who rented a room for tonight?"
"Confidential information, kid."
"Why?"
"Because I got better things to do then look for the book," he grunted, "Listen, if you have someone in there that you want to see, get up early tomorrow morning and catch them before they leave. My hands are tied."
"No, you're just lazy."
"My shift ends in ten minutes, kid. I don't want to end it knocking on occupied doors and getting yelled at because we have a lost kid," he leaned forward and glared at Casey, "So, go to the barracks, kid, and leave me alone."
"Fine," Casey turned around and walked back outside. Still in a tired daze, she stumbled back out and hid behind the mess hall. She sat against the wall and when she opened her eyes again the sun was in her face and someone was kicking her.
Casey opened one eye and looked up.
"Hey," an officer grunted and kicked Casey harshly in the leg, "Get moving."
Casey rubbed the side of her face tiredly, "Waiting for someone…"
"Yeah yeah," the soldier grunted, "You've had enough to drink, go to the barracks or start walking, but get off my base."
Casey sat upright, too tired to glare at the officer.
"What did I say?" the officer growled.
Play innocent, Casey told herself as she rubbed her eyes, "But the barracks were full and outside is dangerous when you're alone…"
"Did you steal any food?"
"No… I just want to go home to California."
"War's not done yet, kid. You sign yourself up and you'll be home before next Christmas."
"I just want to see my Mom and my Dad again," Casey murmured.
"Tough shit maggot!" he suddenly shouted. Casey jolted awake and jerked her head up to look at him.
"You think the Legion is going to give two Brahmin shit maggots about the fact you want Mommy and Daddy? On your feet!"
Casey jumped up and clicked her heels together, head held high like she had done thousands of times before.
"You are an NCR soldier, grub! You are not homeless! You will not cry! What are our words?"
"A safe people is a strong people, sir!" Casey shouted.
"Damn fucking right! Are the citizens of the New Californian Republic and the maggots in Nevada safe?!"
"No sir!"
"Are you going to protect those people?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"The farmers, the workers, the railroad builders. Can they rely on you to watch their ass from Legion mongrels?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"Are you going to suck up your bullshit crying and fight for your freedom?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"Good! Now get your ass to the recruitment booth and sign up, asshole! I want you at drill training in two hours!"
"Yessir," Casey nodded sharply.
"Get out of my sight!"
Casey ran around the corner before slowly down into a walk. It was nothing different to a typical afternoon since she was a little kid, some guy shouting in her face when she failed to do a push up at the speed he liked, or even when she easily beat the other runners in sprints, being called "the best of the worst". Casey didn't care, she never really did when it came from a Bear's mouth. Her mother told her to pay attention to the instructor, but she never got offended or motivated by any of it. She didn't understand why some of the kids cried when they were called maggots or pieces of dirt, or useless. Probably because their mothers coddle them too much, she remembered thinking.
Lucy's doing the exact same thing to you, you idiot, Casey scolded herself while she walked for the main office, Be a grown up. She just wants to get under your skin.
Whereas the people who trained her when she was younger wanted something different from what Lucy had in mind for her. Every NCR soldier was born and bred to believe that they were the "protectors of the workers". Until the Legion threat it wasn't that big of a deal, but when the Legion did clash with them every senior military officer drooled. Officers and higher boasted that recruitment rates had almost tripled, and all it took were a handful of posters with an evil looking bull and a scared young girl. "You're strong enough to protect your little brothers, your sisters, the elderly and the disabled," they would say, "God gave you strength. Use it."
Casey walked up to the front desk and handed the letter in. She showed her ID and paid the six cap fee, and the letter was sent away without another word. Casey was in a foul mood when she walked into the bar, and it didn't get better when she saw Veronica sitting at a booth, though she was relieved that she didn't run off with all of her money. Veronica's neck almost snapped to look at the door when it closed and she got up to rush over to her. She looked like hell. Her skin was a sickly pale, her lips dry with wide, bloodshot, baggy eyes.
"I've been looking for you," Veronica gasped, "Are you OK?"
Casey was stunned at Veronica's appearance and gripped her shoulder as if it could keep the older girl steady, "What's happened? Are you alright?"
"I was… drunk. I'm so sorry, I thought you would be sleeping in the barracks."
It took a few seconds for Casey to realise how much Veronica looked like some of the guys she grew up with after a night of heavy drinking. Her sympathy quickly ran out, "Barracks were full, and you had my money anyway. Do we even have money?"
"Yes," Veronica said defensively and pointed at the bags at the booth, "I counted it this morning. I didn't spend any of your money, you can count it all yourself."
"Good. What happened to you? Did you pass out or something?"
"Something like that," Veronica sighed and rubbed her head, "Can I talk to you about something?"
"I'm not in the mood," Casey muttered and tapped her fingers against the bar to get the bar tender's attention, "Brahmin steak and gecko egg sandwich, please."
Veronica made a funny noise and she rushed off for the bathroom. Casey's breakfast was served and she started eating. She looked beside her and jumped when she saw Cass sitting beside her.
"Morning, kid," Cass yawned and stretched out, "Where's Veronica?"
"Hung over and throwing up in the bathroom," Casey muttered and took a bite from her sandwich.
"Lightweight," Cass chuckled. Cass looked scruffy, her reddish brown hair tussled and her clothes wrinkled.
"Where did you sleep last night? I thought that you'd have spent all your money on booze."
"I always have some money. Don't worry, I paid for the room."
"Uh huh," Casey sighed, "Why didn't you tell me about the room? I was sleeping on the floor outside."
"Pardon?"
"Well if you were buying two hotel rooms Veronica could have at least offered for me to sleep on the couch of one room, I would have even split the cost. It was cool for you to pay another seventy five for the room, though."
"I only needed to pay seventy five."
"Seventy five?" Casey rubbed her eyes tiredly as she tried to figure the entire situation out. Math wasn't her strongest skill but she was sure that the guy said seventy-five per room, not seventy-five "Where did Veronica sleep?"
"Um…"
Casey's eyes widened and almost choked on her food in surprise.
"Took you a while to figure it out," Cass chuckled, "You guys aren't together, are you?"
"No," Casey coughed and reached for her Sarsaparilla, downing a few gulps to clear her throat.
"That's good," Cass sighed in relief and slapped Casey's shoulder, "Why're you so shaken up?"
"What's wrong?" she heard Veronica's concerned voice behind her.
"Kid figured it out," Cass shrugged.
"What're you doing not dropping off some of my money so I have somewhere to sleep before you have a hook up?" Casey whispered angrily.
"I thought you had enough," Veronica sighed, "I'm so sorry, I seriously thought that you were sleeping in the barracks. I was planning on following you… but Cass told me she had a room and I guess I told myself that you'd be fine."
Casey rubbed her eyes, "It wouldn't have hurt just to check I was alright before you ran off to do that."
"Is there something wrong with that?" Cass asked somewhat defensively.
"I don't care about what or who you want to do, just give me my money to sleep somewhere first."
Cass smacked her hand against the table, "Shit, I forgot one of my bags. I'll be back soon, alright?"
"Yeah, sure,: Veronica smiled.
Veronica waited until Cass left before turning to Casey, "I'm so sorry. I was super drunk, it's not even an excuse I feel really bad about it. But… listen… before we got too drunk… she told me about something. I don't think that you heard her, you seemed to be off in your own world. ."
"She's pregnant."
"No."
"She's a man."
"No! She owns a caravan company, and she lost contact with one of her groups a couple of days ago."
Casey groaned and rested her head against the desk, "Uh huh."
"Please," Veronica winced, "She knows the road it was on, all we need to do is just go with her."
"So she wants us to follow her across backwards Nevada, all on our own, to investigate a potential caravan robbery? That didn't sound suspicious to you?"
"She didn't ask. She was drunk and complaining about it. I offered for us to help."
"Listen, I come from a settlement of men who like their drink. Trust me, that girl can handle her liquor. She got into your pants, don't let her into our money."
"You're really bitter."
Casey glared at her, before shrugging, "You're probably right about that. If you want to go, be my guest, I'm not stopping you in the end. I think it's a really bad idea, and I'm not going, but if your gut trusts her, then you go."
"Don't be that way."
"Hey, it was your idea to go into Nipton, and look at how well that went. I'm going back to the Thorn."
"You said that you wanted to find the guy who killed your mother. What if he's the one torching the caravans?"
"NCR's got better things to do than torch crappy caravan routes."
"So you're going to walk home by yourself? Please, Case. I have a good feeling, I promise."
"You've had a night's worth of good feelings," Casey sighed, "Fine. I'll do it if we can stop back at Goodsprings on the way."
"That's fine. Thank you, I promise, I'll pay you two hundred caps when we get back."
"Uh huh," Casey couldn't help but laugh at her own stupidity, "I'm sure you will."