-Three-Card Bounty Pt. 2-

"Howdy, young ladies! Here fer a lil' bounty hunting'!?" The mysterious person spoke in some accent that was exactly like Victor's. His tail of his long sleeved, tan trench coat waved slightly through the gently breeze while his knee high, black boots scuffed on the tan dirt. His upper trench coat is opened, showing a dark gray, turtle neck shirt along with light gray pants in which the bottom part of it is in the black boots. His hair is gray and long that is tied in a pony tail with some on the sides of his face. His skin tone is fair, with a little noticeable facial hair on their upper, sides and under the lip and along the jawline. He even has eye patch on his right eye, and a cigarette in between his lips.

Natalie ran to my side with her shotgun still in her hands. "Who are you, friend or foe? If you are foe, you better have a good reason why you decided to waltz over into our business!" Natalie raised her gun with the barrel pointed at the stranger's head.

The guy raised his fingerless glove covered hands up, one of them having a pistol in the right hand. "Whoa, now hold on there, young lady! I didn' scuff my soles a long way just fer shootin' people who aren' either Fiends or those two timin' bull headed pansies. I'm here to collect a bounty, or bounties on some wanted crooks in this here territory. And I heard from one o' ya fellers that ya searchin' for Violet."

"Exactly!" I said, putting my laser rifle in the holster. "We are in as a little unit sent by Major Dhatri back in Camp McCarran to get the heads of Violet, Nephi, and Cook-cook, and they have to be intact."

The stranger took a puff of smoke from his cigarette and blew it into their air above him. "Well, blow sand on me an' call me a desert, I am lookin' for those specific three fer the past two weeks. I am on a bounty huntin' excursion fer the rootin' tootnis renegades of the wastes, collectin' their heads or wrangle 'em to the ranch." He spun the pistol with his finger before putting it in the small holster on his right hip. "The Round Up Ranch to be exact."

"Never heard of anything like that." Veronica said, walking towards me and Natalie while her face is facing the stranger. "So, you are consider a bounty hunter? What's your take in the business? Do you work alone, or is there other people who do bounty hunting like you?"

"Not to mention you haven't introduce yourself to us." I said, crossing my arms over my torso.

The stranger chuckled, taking one more puff of smoke before dropping it to the ground and extinguishing it with his boot. "My, my, where are my manners, young ladies!" He bend his upper part of his body down, like he is doing a little bow. "I don't tell anybody my real name, but I go by my code name: Duster." He lifted his upper body back up straight. "Reason behind the name is due to wraglin' with my opponent on the dust. And I never wash myself until the job is done with caps in hand."

Veronica was the first one to make a disgusted sound. "Ugh, no wonder why you smell like brahmin pies from a mile away. Hygiene at a periodic bases is good for the mind and body, body most importantly. Plus, smoking is bad for your health."

Duster chuckled in a carefree way. "Ah, you young broads sure know how to keep this man entertained. If I had my caps in my hand, I'd prob'ly have a room rented and show ya a good time!" He gave us a wide grin.

The three of us just stared blankly at his 'invitation'. But, for one thing, I don't think we buy it one bit. "So, you decide to spend all if your hard earn caps and bring in a completely random stranger to a smelly little room and sleep with her?" Veronica spoke.

"Well, with a little buckin' the she-brahmin for eight seconds and hogtail outta sight," Duster spoke. "hate to stick aroun' for the cattle's hooves to imprint my back. Bounty collecting ain't gon' to collect 'emselves ya know, or someone from the Ranch will take the bounty." He gave out a slight chuckle. "We're all competitive when it comes t' wanted rascals, even ones with a high price o' caps on their heads. So, whatdya say we handle this here bounty business together, split the profit in fours!"

I scoffed, shaking my head in an unpleasant way. "Look, Duster. Me, Natalie, and Veronica here will take care of ourselves and handle the job. Though we would like to handle the bounty collecting just us three women, but with one person short..." I stopped, clenching my hands after reminding myself about Craig. I shift my gaze at another direction, displeased about the horrific scene back at their camp. "I wish he can be here to help..."

"He?" Duster spoke. "Who's he, boyfriend of yours?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" I protested, twisting my head quickly back to Duster. I jabbed my right index finger a Craig's beret on my head. "This beret belong to him, a 1st Recon sniper of the NCR. And he's a damn good sharp shooter." I dropped my arm and sighed. "Well, he's a former, but he's the one not to betray the ones he use to fight along side."

I saw Natalie nodded, agreeing with me. "That's true. Just recently, a Legion spy under NCR uniform planted a bomb in a monorail train, and he shoved himself along with 1st Recon into the train before it sent out, only to have it explode seconds later..."

"Oh, pardon my intrusion, ladies." Duster's voice grew sympathetic. "I bet that was that explosion that echoed throughout the open wasteland. I'm so sorry about your friend's death." All was quiet in our little group, until Duster huffed out sharply. "Young ladies, I meant this as a gentleman and not some womanizer or anything' of such sort. But, I would like t' ask if I can accompany you three in the hunt for the three targeted Fiends. I promise to leave ya three with th' reward."

"Hmm..." Veronica pondered, placing her left index on her chin. "What's in it for us? We've just only met each other for about...4.43 minutes. Even shorter than my introductory." A giggle escaped her.

Me and Natalie groaned. "Brotherhood, this is serious!" Natalie spoke. "How will we know if he is useful to us on our objective at hand!? Sure he shot one Fiend dead, but would it take just a .32 pistol to take care of the three wanted Fiends?"

Duster chuckled, echoing through the area that almost made us jump out of our skin. "Ah, ya lil' NCR soldiers don' know th' way of gun-slingin' here in th' wastes, like a confused brahmin trailin' their way back t' the herd with no direction. Folks o' the Ranch don' call me Quick-Snap Duster fer nothin'! My gun-slingin' abilities 're as fast as a Bloatfly launchin' their spikes at ya, and I've handled convicts and scoundrels with good ol' Iron Shot here!" He brought out his small gun, twirling it vertically with his middle right finger before grasping its handle. "Ev'ryone in the Ranch names their gun they've chosen t' use."

I felt perplexed. If he says about this 'gun-slinging' are true, maybe he should prove it to us. "Okay, Duster." I said, resting my hands on my hips. "If you say that your abilities are true, why not show us instead of standing in front of us and giving us a speech about it. If we can see that you are useful with you pistol, you can come as long with us in the bounty hunting quest."

"What!?" My two female companions glared at me, like I just made a bad decision.

Duster curled the left corner of his lips up to a satisfied grin. "Say no more, ma'am!" With a quick snapp of his pistol, the rolling barrel extended out to the left. Duster dug his hand in his coat pocket, with a little jingling sound, he brought out six small bullets and insert one by one into the barel. "Find me a herd o' runnin' Fiends and let me git t' work!" Duster slapped the barrel back into the gun and gave it a few spins.

"Maybe if we go find Violet and eradicate her dogs," Veronica suggested. "that will be good for you to show us how you can use your pistol. But, apparently we have run into a dead end."

A finger of Duster's is held up instantly after Veronica stated our predicament. He skid his boots around to our left and began walking forward. He waved a hand at us, gesturing us to follow him. "I know this here territory like the back o' my hand. Ya see, I use t' be one of 'em chem junkies about fifteen years ago."

"You were!?" We took our guns out, Veronica getting into her attack stance.

Duster spun around and held his arms forward with his palms open, waving for us to stop. "Whoa, holster yer guns, ladies! I said I use t' be one of 'em, not sayin' I'm one still. If ya hear me out, I'd tell ya!" All was silent between the four of us. We released the unwanted tension with us and put our weapons back on our holsters. "Good, now I don' want all of ya to be twitchy like a mantis, all I'm just tellin' ya 'bout my days before I join the bounty huntin' business. I was thirteen when I left my folks, rebellious at that time. Livin' in the wastes alone was pretty difficult if ya ask me. I filled myself with too much of 'em chems to release th' pain of loneliness out in th' open field. I was twenty years old when I joined the Fiends."

"What made you get into a different road away from the Fiends?" Natalie asked. "Did they try to kill you?"

"Oh, ya damn tootin' they try to kill me!" Duster spoke. He stopped at a huge building with two double doors in front of him in between two barrels with fire in it.. "Be cautious, everyone." He said, changing the subject. "We don' know if those chem junkies are guardin' the door, always arm ya'self whenever nessecary!" Duster slowly twisted the knob on one of the doors and pushed it gently. It creaked a bit, but we don't hear any voices on the other side. Duster poked his head through the small opening for a better view. "Alright, cone on!" Duster snuck the door with the door opened a little wider to let the three of us in.

I surveyed the area, seeing how most of the building is devastated. Some parts of the building are tipping slightly, making it look like a huge slab of concrete is about to fall on us. "Shit, just looking at this building gives me a queasy feeling that it might squish us into a pancake! Are you sure this place is safe to enter, Duster!?" I took out the little switch blade Natalie gave me, making the knife part spring out of the side of the handle.

"Been through this hundreds o' times." Duster murmured, very cautious on not attracting attention. "Come, stay close." He crouched down and briskly crept through the perimeter towards the wide doorway yards from us. We got to the left side of the opening, hearing some people talking behind us. "Okay, I hear two Fiends behind us." He raised his pistol up. "Time to clean up and sober up the wastes!" He slowly peeked through the edge before waving his hand for us to to to the right of the opening. "Stay hidden an' watch what I do."

Natalie, Veronica, and I all looked at each other with an eyebrow raised. I was the one that shrugged my shoulders and stealthily made my way to the other side of the doorway. "I hope he knows what he's doing..." I whispered to my other two companions, who got right behind me but made sure they have room to see Duster's show.

Duster smirked and ran through the opening, making himself known to the two Fiends. "Hey, junkies!" He yelled, pulling his pistol forward to the Fiends. "Come and get me!" He just stood still with pistol out as the Fiend with a long stick started charging at him. The female Fiend is just mere inches from Duster when his other hand swiftly tapped the hammer back and shot the Fiend continuously. Six shots were fired at an astounding time of two seconds that killed the Fiend.

I could've sworn my jaw has dropped down to the gravel below me at his swift pistol shooting skills. "Shit, he's not lying!" I said to the two companions behind me.

"Alright, ladies!" Duster bellowed out, reloading the bullets into his pistol barrel. "Care t' join in on the standoff? Got five of 'em right behind me!" He fired off two shots at the second Fiend's head, making him stumble to the ground.

We got up and ran to maintain out stance with Duster against the flock of Fiends. Two of them are using long range weapons consist if lasers and some green orbs launching at us. The other three have melee weapons, charging at us with it. I ran forward to one of the Fiends grasping a pipe. "I may not have my hunting knife, but this little sharp one is just as good!" I ducked just as soon as the Fiend swung his pipe at me and struck him on the upper right hip. Unsheathing the knife from him, while his cries of pain echoed in the area, I took the opportunity to grab his face and thrust the knifer down jugular.

"Whoa! Well I'll be an alert cazadore on a hot day!" Duster whistled, firing off three more speed rounds at another Fiend in which Veronica punched its head out of its shoulders. "Nice use o' knife handlin', red head!" He complemented, referring to me.

I glared at the other Fiends meters away from me as I knocked the dead Fiend away from me. Natalie knelt down on one knee and focused on the Fiend to the right. She took only one shot at it, but clicking noises were heard in her shotgun. "Aw great! I need to reload!" Her hands began to shake as she hesitantly try to search in her pocket for more ammo.

I saw Duster walked past me when he put on some brass color rings that are attached to each other with spikes on the knuckles. "Lemme handle 'em cowards! I haven' used my brass knucks in a long time!" With his fists armed and ready with the spikes on top, he moved forward at a brisk pace, nearly dodging almost all if the green orbs and red lasers that were coming towards his way. Several burn marks on his outfit and arms didn't slow him down as he thrust his fist at the first Fiend's neck, making blood pour down its neck.

The of us women stared at him from a great distance, making sure we don't end up in his sights as his next target. "H-Holy schmoly!" Natalie whimpered. "I hate to be punched on the neck by those spiked brass knuckles if I were a Fiend." She held onto her shotgun and eyed Duster, who punched the same Fiend on the face.

"Nighty night, ya chem bastards!" Duster yelled, tossing the first Fiend down and uppercutted the second Fiend on the jaw line. "Enjoy..." He grabbed the Fiend's neck. "your life" he readies his fist behind himself. "in hell!" With a swift punch on his enemy's face, the Fiend slumped down, showing his face barely unrecognizable. Duster dropped the Fiend down before grabbing a bottle and opened it, pouring the liquid over the brass knuckles to wash away the excess blood.

"Hmm," Veronica made a sound. "I thought I was the one that always punches my enemies like they punching bags. But that really does take dust off of my shoulders..." Without looking or moving one inch, Veronica punched an oncoming Fiend with a small knife on the face, making the neck of the Fiend having a snapping sound from there impact.

Duster came near the three of us as soon as he took his sdpiked brass knuckles off of his hands, placing them in his coat pocket. "Sorry 'bout my lil' dance number back there. I was train t' beat an enemy senseless 'til they're dead or the face is like a scarred ghoul's face." A little white cigarette was pulled from his ear as he used the barrel with the fire in it to ignite the end part. He puffed a few times to get the cigarette going before taking a deep puff of smoke and blew it into the air. "So, how 'bout that agreement, red head? Mind I join along the huntin' for the Fiend's heads? I showed ya my skills, pretty quick an' some unknown

Natalie placed her shotgun in the holster and ran up to Duster's side. "You're gun-slinging skills are amazing Duster!" She cheered, bouncing IP and down in one place. "Hey, maybe you can teach me a few pointers on how to reload and shoot as quick as you! Please, please, please!" She grabbed and held on Duster's left arm.

Veronica began laughing and walked over to the two. "Or maybe you we can do some warm up punches and teach some techniques along the way. I know a maneuver or two that'll just get you going and punching like crazy!" She punched Duster's gut. "But even for a woman-hopping, smoking, begger looking guy, you sure got surprises underneath those sleeves."

Duster wheezed and coughed from Veronica's punch on his gut. "Th-Thanks..." He stood up, coughed one more time before shifting his head at my direction. "I hope ya not gon' t' be the only lady who would rather disapprove me. I like to hear your take on what ya witness."

I smiled slightly at him. Yeah, Duster sure is one hell of a swift gunslinger and a hard puncher, but something within me somehow feels really different about this. I just can't put my finger on it for some reason. "Alright, I guess you did prove your usefulness. Might as well accompany us on our bounty hunting."

"Yeeee-haw!" Duster cheered, thrust his right fist into the air. "Thank you, young ladies! I hope ya won't regret your decision. Violet's lil' refuge is not that far from here! I'll take ya there in no time."

While the three are cheering and talking, I looked away at the opposite direction, having some unknown feeling eating away inside myself. I should feel happy about a new member joining along in our mission, but why do I feel all...down? I thought to myself. I went to move my hand up and ruffle my shaggy red hair a not, but I felt there soft, velvet touch of Craig's beret on my head. But, then it hit me, hit me deep within my subconscious that I figured out the problem to my negative emotions. Is...is it because Craig is not around? I pondered to myself. I noticed the three companions of mine are waiting for me to go to them so we can find our first target. "Let's go get Violet!" I declared, and that's when all four of us high tail on north, following Duster to our first wanted target.