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TWENTY-SIX
188 Trading Post
July 5th
Morning
so don't worry, I'm alright, I just need to do some things before I come back. Hope you're all doing well back in N.A., tell Allison I said 'hi', and love you lots!
En
"There," En said to herself, pushing the cap back onto the ball point she'd used to write her letter with. She'd been out in the Mojave for a while now, and even though her folks knew she could take care of herself, and that a delay of a few days wasn't that big a deal, it was high time she kept them a bit updated on what had happened. She'd left out the shooting and the head trauma (they'd be able to see that for themselves when they returned), but she did mention Sunny, Ringo, Melissa (with a somewhat different explanation for her presence), Meyers and Leza. She'd understated Meyers' age somewhat, to stop her parents from thinking she was on the road with some creepy old guy (well, she was, but he wasn't creepy towards her), and in general she'd painted the most favourable picture of her companions that she could. She still hoped that Sunny and Ringo at least came back to New Arroyo with her, at least if Sunny could stop being so damn needy all the time.
The sun had come up about an hour ago, when she'd started writing, and during that hour, the morning chill had turned into warmth, and then heat, and the single crumpled-up ball of paper at her feet had turned into a pile. She never really had been good at writing the right words on the first go. Her back hurts from sitting on the sidewalk, bent over her paper, but that was no biggie. At least the pain in her head was tolerable. There'd been another episode, but no one had seen it, thankfully. Early in the morning when she'd just started writing. She'd had to take a stick of gum to get the taste of bile out of her mouth.
"Hey. Writing a book?"
The voice that came from behind her belonged to the woman Melissa had, in her own words 'hit it off with', the Hispanic looking girl with the robe and the scarf over her hair. Veronica. She sat down next to En, holding a water bottle. "Is it about ninja pirate zombie vampires?"
"No, no, just letting my parents know I'm alright," En said. "You know, so they don't get worried."
"Right." She looked off into the distance and took a swill from her water bottle. "Parents, huh? Do they actually let you scoot around the Wastes all on your own?"
En shrugged. "Sure. They know I'm responsible."
"Responsible enough to get yourself shot," Veronica said, grinning.
"Hey, that was outside of my own will. Melissa not awake yet?"
Veronica held out her water bottle to En, who politely declined. As she did so, she hoped the woman didn't think En said no because she was afraid of catching the gay disease. "No, she's awake but dead tired, so she's gonna rest some more." Veronica took a breath. "The wounds on her are pretty brutal. Looks like she danced with an acid-covered epileptic deathclaw."
"Yeah," En said quietly. "I know."
"Anyway, she's decided to stay and rest a bit." With a lopsided grin, she added, "we didn't get much sleep tonight."
"I'll bet. So are you two... serious?"
Veronica threw her head back and laughed. "Serious? What ever gave you that idea?"
Wait, what? "Uh... when you um, have sex with someone, doesn't that mean you're like, together and stuff?"
She laughed again. "It does you a lot of credit that you think that way, but no, it was fun for a night, but no strings attached."
What, so she'd just used Melissa as a temporary lust-slaker? That would be pretty heartless. "Veronica… Melissa's my friend and I don't like it when people take advantage of my friends?"
She smiled and put her hand on top of En's. "That's real nice of you, sweetie, but don't worry, no one's taking advantage. Melissa feels the same way."
Huh. Well, that was that, then. "So you're not in love?"
She shrugged and looked out at the Wastes. "Nope, just both in need of some human warmth. I prefer just having fun, no strings attached. Melissa's great, but we're not in love."
For some reason En had the desire to ask, "Ever been in love?"
Veronica grinned at her. "Ever been nosy?"
"All the time."
A slight sadness stole over her, a sudden, jarring contrast with her usual playful smile and mischievous eyes. "I was once, but that's a long story. Let's just say it's something I'll never have again, and something I can't ever replace."
"I'd like to listen if you'd like to talk?"
"I'm sure you can put the pieces of the puzzle together yourself. I'm homosexual, and the Brotherhood and homosexuality don't mix well. When that…" a fierce tension came around her mouth and she stopped herself, closed her eyes for a second and rephrased, "When they found out about me and Christine, Elder Elijah had me… promoted to scout, sending me out of the bunker. It was supposedly a reassignment, but in reality it was purely and simply punishment."
En knew the Brotherhood were stuck-up, but 'promoting' someone away for being gay? She'd never imagined that. "So is the Brotherhood that homophobic?" The trading post had been quiet up 'til now, but a few traders emerged from their shacks and slowly shuffled to the picnic tables for breakfast. The girl who'd tended bar yesterday evening came out of her shack moments later, looking cheerful as she put her STP-cap on.
Veronica tossed her empty water bottle away. "Oh no, it wasn't homophobia or bigotry, it was simply… the Brotherhood are small in number, and procreation is essential. Gays and lesbians make for poor birth rates."
"Wow. What happened to uh…"
"Christine? Last I heard, she was whisked away to the CoS, that's the Circle of Steel, a subgroup of which I can't tell you any more. But she could have gone anywhere from there. Wherever it was, it was away from me, that much is certain."
"That sucks. You must hate the Brotherhood."
"No, no!" she said hastily. "Don't get me wrong, I love the Brotherhood, it's in my blood and always will be. It's just that…" she thought for a moment. "Just because I love them, doesn't mean some of them aren't assholes."
"I'm… sorry to hear that."
Veronica looked like she was tempted to say something as she looked back at the shacks where En's group slept in, but then apparently decided otherwise. "It's alright. You?"
"Me what?"
"Ever been in love?"
She hugged her knees and looked up at the sky. "I am, kinda. Someone back home. Doesn't matter though, he's probably hooked up with someone else about now."
Veronica chuckled and rose. "Well, if you need some rival's nose broken, let me know. I'm gonna score some breakfast-to-go and then I need to go on a scavenging run. Tell Melissa I had a great time, will you?"
"What, you're not going to say goodbye?"
She looked at the shack she'd shared with Melissa and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her robe. "Nope, not a fan of goodbyes. See you around some time?"
En got up too, brushing the dust off the back of her pants. "Yep. Take care, okay?"
"I will. You too."
"M-hm."
With that, the woman walked off toward the bar, took a lunch box the cap-girl placed on the bar for her, raised her hand at En briefly, and disappeared between the shacks.
Strange woman.
Breakfast sounded like a great idea, but they were completely out of caps. Watkins had blown them all on booze. En grinned to herself as she thought of the hangover the silly blonde would doubtless be having right now, probably even feeling it in her sleep. Served her right for boozing like a madwoman yesterday.
She heard a clap and saw Meyers coming towards her, wringing his hands. "Mornin', little lady. I trust you've already ordered an extra-large breakfast."
"If only," En said. "We're shit outta caps."
Meyers harrumphed in the direction of Watkins' place of residence. "Kids these days."
"I'm more a kid than she is," En echoed what Sunny had said to her the day before yesterday while she dropped the letter to her folks in the Mojave Express drop box.
"Welp," Meyers said, his good cheer unflagging despite the lack of breakfast, "I'll have to nourish the mental sheriff then." With that, he went back to his shack, came out with a book, and sat down in the hot morning sun.
Sunny and Ringo were next to emerge, followed by a casual-acting Melissa who couldn't hide the stars in her eyes entirely, and finally Watkins, her face even more pale than usual and her eyes bloodshot, holding her head.
After a brief breakfast consisting of the last of Ringo's coffee and many remarks with double meanings at Melissa's address, they set out for Boulder City, and hopefully, towards the answers En had waited so long for. Part of her was eager to seek out the confrontation, but she knew expeditions like those rarely had a perfect conclusion.
Watkins spent the first half hour of the walk complaining, but as she sweated out her hangover, she gradually reverted to her old self. Melissa, despite her vandalised face, walked with a smile on her face, answering questions absently, lost in what must be fond memories of her night with Veronica. Sunny and Ringo kept to themselves as always, Cheyenne trotting beside them, and Meyers was honest to God reading a book as he walked. What a maniac.
"That looks like Boulder City," Ringo pointed out as Sunny squinted at the collection of ruined houses ahead. Didn't look like the kind of thing a guy with a suit like Benny's would hole up in for long. En felt her heart sink as she realized he'd probably be long gone already. Because Boulder City looked like nothing more than a ghost town, good enough for the occasional raider passing through, or for a bum to sit and drink his booze for a day, but nothing more.
Sunny seemed to be thinking the same thing En was. "I suppose we'll have to look for clues instead of hoping we'll run into your buddy, huh?"
En was determined not to let it ruin her good cheer. "He might be there, spending his days laughing at the beggars."
"Well, we'll see when we get there," Ringo merely said. "NCR did a number on this city when they fought off the Legion in the battle of Hoover Dam."
So that was what had turned this town into nothing more than a ruin. "How'd that happen?"
"NCR and the Legion both want control over Hoover Dam," Ringo explained. "It's obvious why, anyone who holds the Dam can power half the Wastes. The Legion outnumbered the NCR troops, so NCR command came up with a plan."
"Because that's what NCR boys do," Melissa said bitterly, her memories of last night suddenly far away. "Make plans and ignore the collateral damage."
En winced when she anticipated Ringo fulminating at Melissa again, but to her surprise he merely sighed and said, "Yeah. The best laid plans and all that."
"So," Sunny asked, shifting the subject back to Boulder City, "the NCR lured the Legion here and blew the city to high heaven, didn't they?"
Ringo nodded. "Pop went the weasel. Most Legion bastards were blown to bits, the rest scattered and ran. Caesar had his second-in-command tarred, set on fire, and thrown into a ravine… or so they say. Probably just legend."
"Pretty sure it's not a legend," Meyers joined the conversation. "And if it is, it's a lively one. I heard that story all the way up to my place when I was still sheriff. Often means it actually happened."
"So, the Legion went kaboom, huh?" Watrkins said, not wanting to be left out.
"And a lot of civilians lost their homes or were blown up with them," Melissa added.
"No, Melissa," Ringo said with a glare. "They were evacuated."
A large stone monolith was the welcoming monument to Boulder City, and at its foot sat an NCR Trooper smoking a cigarette, his service rifle on the ground next to him.
"Great," Melissa muttered, stopping abruptly. "More NCR. If you wanna ask these… people for directions, you do it without me. I'll be here when you're done."
"You're not coming?" En asked.
"No." Then she asked Ringo, "Got a durry?"
With a sigh, Ringo fished the pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and let her take one. "Come on, miss En. Let's go find your shooter."
"I'm staying too," Watkins said, going to stand next to Melissa. "Not that I don't wanna help and all, but NCR and Brotherhood are enemies. It's kinda high treason."
"Yeah," Meyers echoed. "I'm gonna go read my book behind that wall there." Sheepishly, he added, "Still a convicted criminal by NCR law."
"Uh… okay," was all En could say.
As they left the others behind, Melissa and Watkins remaining where they stood, and Meyers acting casual as he walked back to a concealed area, Sunny called out to them, "And no hanky panky, you two."
Watkins' face scrunched up, "Ew, no!", which prompted a laugh from Melissa.
The trooper sitting at the base of the monolith rose hastily and flicked his cigarette away. He was young, with rust-coloured hair cut in military style. On his chest was a name plate saying KOWALSKI. "Morning. You might want to turn back, people." He stooped and scratched Cheyenne under the chin, and the dog permitted herself to enjoy the attention.
"Why?" En asked.
The soldier pointed his thumb at the town centre, looking up, pinching his eyes closed against the sun. "Got a hostage situation going on. Two of our soldiers got taken and we're trying to negotiate, but so far it's with weapons drawn."
"Who's holding the hostages?" Sunny asked.
En's heart leapt as he said, "Bunch of Great Khan rabble. We caught them squatting here, wanted to take them into custody, but they snatched two of our members, and held them at gunpoint. The lieutenant doesn't want to let them leave, and the Khans won't give back our soldiers. So it's an impasse. Been going on for days now." He suddenly remembered himself and said stupidly, "I shouldn't be telling you this."
"I think we can help," Ringo said. "One of our companions is a former Great Khan. She might get these people to see reason."
"Why would you want to help? Assuming you even could?"
"These Khans have information that I desperately need," En told him. "I really need to talk to them, so if we can get them to work something out with you, so much the better right?"
"Uh… if you wanna try, you'll need to talk to the el-tee. I'm not supposed to tell you any of this, let alone encourage you."
"Alright thanks. Where's your lieutenant, trooper?" Ringo asked.
"Head straight into town, squad's camped out in front of the scene. You can't miss it."
"Thanks," En said. Then she gestured to Melissa and Watkins that they were heading into town. Melissa stamped out her cigarette and they got moving.
A squad of NCR troopers was huddled behind a waist-high wall, two of them intently observing whatever lay behind it. As En and the others approached, one of the troopers got up and hustled bent-over towards a standing soldier, only rising when he was behind suitable cover to give his report or whatever it was he had to do. They exchanged a few words, the standing trooper nodded and the other ran back to the wall. Melissa again abruptly stopped as they approached, Watkins only remembering that she had to stop too after seeing Melissa halt.
"Civilians? Stay behind cover so you don't get your faces shot off." They were more than safe on the path they were taking, but it seemed he just had to say it nonetheless.
"Uh, hi," En greeted. She was always clumsy talking to soldier types. They had these codes and formulae that she was never really comfortable using.
Ringo noticed her awkwardness and said, "Lieutenant. Private Kowalski was kind enough to inform us of your situation. Maybe we can help?"
"Help?" the lieutenant scoffed. He looked to be around forty, with a weathered face and a goatee that was atypical for NCR soldiers. Didn't soldiers always have to be clean-shaven? Then again, these men were probably far from any form of command, and what command there was had bigger fish to fry than some lieutenant's facial hair. His name plate said MONROE. "This is a military problem. No civilians. Go on, shoo."
"The manners on you," Sunny shot back. "You'd think someone who's been cowering behind a wall with his entire squad for days would welcome any help he can get."
"Cowering?" the lieutenant snapped, his upper lip curling back. "You picking a fight, civilian?"
Sunny seemed unimpressed and shrugged. "Just telling it like it is."
"Easy there," Ringo tried to defuse the situation. "We're all a bit high strung. Let's just talk and see what can be done."
"Why are you even interested in helping?" Monroe asked, agitated.
"Because there's something we need to know, and those Khans are the only people that can tell us," En said, hoping to calm things down a little. "They won't shoot us on sight, right? I mean, we're obviously not NCR."
Ringo nodded. "Khans are halfwits, but they won't open fire on unarmed civilians."
"Bet you don't dare say that in front of Melissa," Sunny goaded.
With a shrug, Ringo said, "She knows what I think about her little outfit."
"Ex-outfit," En interjected. "And anyway, that's not important right now. Thing is, mr. Monroe, we c – "
"Lieutenant Monroe," the other cut her off.
"Uh… sorry. Lieutenant Monroe." She took extra care to make the title sound sarcastic. "One of my friends is an ex-Khan. I think if anyone can make sure everyone leaves alive, it's her."
Monroe frowned at her, trying to think of a way to accept her help that didn't involve admitting they were getting absolutely nowhere.
"They're your troopers, Lieutenant," Ringo nudged. "I'd say their lives come before your pride?"
That did it. The Lieutenant straightened himself and stammered, "Ah, uh, well, I… of course. And where is this friend of yours?"
"Over there," En pointed out. "Waiting at a distance."
"Hmph. I'll bet. Even if she is ex-Khans, I don't think the hate will ever go away." En could swear Monroe's features became a little bit less hard. "But that's ancient history, I suppose."
En had heard several times about an occurrence that had taken place between the NCR and the Khans, but there had never been the opportunity to ask. "What happened between the NCR and the Khans, Lieutenant?"
Monroe lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Bitter Springs happened, sweetheart. Black page in NCR history. Something we're going to have to spend a long time to make amends for."
"I beg to differ," Ringo said flatly. "It's sad what happened, but can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs."
Monroe blew out smoke. "The omelette at Bitter Springs shouldn't have been made at all."
"Again," Ringo said, "I disagree."
"Yeah," Monroe flicked his cigarette butt away even when the cigarette was only barely smoked. "But you weren't there, were you? You were a civilian, doing civilian things. Let me tell you, Bitter Springs was a disaster because the high-ups fucked up. That simple. And as long as we keep justifying it, we'll never make good with the Khans."
"That's assuming we'd want to."
Monroe's features hardened again. "When it comes to making sure people don't shoot each other full of holes, it's something we should always want." Hm, despite his abrasive demeanour when they first met, the man seemed to have his heart in the right place.
Ringo condeded, "I suppose."
Impatiently, En asked, "So what happened?" If anything, it'd be a good thing to know so she could understand the antagonism between Ringo and Melissa better.
"Come on," Ringo said tersely. "We don't have time for this right now, we need to make sure those Khans don't get killed." He turned away from Monroe and walked to the other troopers. "At least until they can tell us what we need to know. Go get Melissa."
"But – "
"We'll talk about this later, miss En. We have work to do."
En threw a glance at Monroe, but he only said, "He's right. Plenty of time to talk later."
Ugh. Spoilsports.
"Come on," Sunny said, putting her hand on En's shoulder. "Let's go get Melissa."
"Yeah, fine."
As they walked, Sunny told En, "Ringo's father was killed in a firefight with the Khans. Banal patrol incident. He acts like it doesn't bother him, but I think it does."
"So that's why he hates the Khans so much."
Sunny half-shrugged. "Doesn't hate them per se. But he thinks they're children who need to be disciplined before innocent people get hurt."
"So what happened at Bitter Springs?"
"Don't know exactly, but it set off a hatred between the Khans and the NCR that won't just go away. I'd advise against asking Ringo or Melissa though. You're bound to get a one-sided story."
"Right." She planned on asking them both. "Melissa, these NCR guys are at a stand-off with your Khan friends. And I think you can help to bring them both back alive."
"Question is, would I want to?" Melissa said flatly.
En batted her eyelashes. "Yes, because you'd be helping poor little me?"
"Wouldn't try and be seductive now we know she swings both ways, sweetie," Sunny said, a very slightly barbed edge on her voice.
Melissa gave Sunny a glare. "If it was a joke, I'm not laughin'."
"Besides," Watkins remarked, "not like there isn't a huge difference between Ennie and Veronica." She almost spat out the name.
"Yeah," Sunny said curtly. "Let's not go there again."
Melissa sighed wearily. "What do you need me to do, jillaroo?"
"Uh, negotiate between the two groups. They won't even listen to the NCR guys, but they'll listen to you, right?"
"Ooh," Watkins chirped. "A hostage situation, like in the movies!"
Melissa grinned and shook her head. "Moron." It was affectionate enough. Just barely, but enough.
Sunny added, "You've seen too many movies in that bunker of yours."
Leza put her hands in her sides. "Well, it is exciting!"
"It is if you don't get shot," Melissa shut her up.
"Well," En said, "Being shot is exciting too. Never seen anyone get shot and consider it boring."
"You've never seen anyone get shot, period," Melissa said with a grin, even though she knew full well that En had been in several firefights. "Now go suck on your pacifier."
En punched Melissa in the shoulder, "Hey!"
Still grinning, Melissa said, "Watch the mortal injuries."
"Right. Sorry. So, you up for it? It'd mean a lot to me if you were." It was a bit manipulative to appear so needy, but they were so close, and now she simply needed Melissa's help.
Melissa had a look of doubt in her face, but she said, "Yeah, I suppose. But promise me one thing though?"
"Mm?"
Melissa took her by the sleeve and led her a ways further. Then quietly, she said, "If I do this, I want you to forget about the past. Not just forgive. Forget."
En briefly had the urge to say that she'd never forget the pain in her head either, but she supposed it'd be more constructive to placate Melissa. After all, she'd done enough to make up for what she'd done, and nothing she could do could take back the headaches and dizziness, but En knew that if she could, she'd make it go away. So, fine. "Okay. I promise."
"Not just forgive, right? Forget?"
En nodded. "Yes."
"Oh, one more promise."
This time she couldn't resist a faint roll of her eyes. She wasn't even aware that she did it. "Yes?"
"We're close to Vegas. If we find our shooter here, or close by, we're going to get our hands on as many caps as possible, and then we're goin' to Vegas. You, me, and anyone else who's up for it. Yeah?"
That did make her chuckle. "Alright, promised!" Her parents could wait an extra day, especially now they'd get a letter saying she was alright. And a night on the town sure sounded appealing. Now that she was so close to Vegas, might as well go and see what it was like.
Melissa clapped her on the shoulder. "I'll hold you to that!"
"But only if the others come too," she said with a laugh.
"Of course they will. They'd have to be absolute bores not to."
"Come on, let's go see who shot me."
Sunny had apparently said something hilarious while Melissa and En had been talking, because Watkins stood snickering, her hand over her mouth and slightly doubled over. Sunny herself was grinning at Leza's mirth. When they reached the others, Watkins lost it and began howling with laughter, same way she had when they'd rescued her from the radscorpions.
"Looks like you're having fun."
"I told a joke," Sunny said sheepishly.
"Tell, tell!"
Sunny's grin widened. "Okay… when is it okay to spit a Mexican woman in the face?"
En blinked. "Uh… I don't know?"
"If her moustache is on fire."
This sent Leza into a fresh laughing fit as she threw her head back and shrieked it out.
"Geez, Sunny, that was awful," En said, but she grinned nonetheless.
"I know," Sunny said, laughing. "But I can make those jokes 'cause I'm Mexican myself."
"Pft," Melissa scoffed. "I can make Mexican jokes too. How does a Mexican woman fight crime?"
Leza hiccupped with laughter, but apart from that, everyone else waited for the answer.
"By gettin' an abortion."
Fresh laughter from Watkins, and Sunny laughed too, despite the nature of the joke.
"Just to make it even, I got a Maori joke too, just so we can all be self-disparagin'," Melissa said. "Why don't Maori kids ever play in a sandbox?"
"Go on?"
"Because the cats keep tryin' to bury 'em."
There was a new round of laughter, interrupted by Ringo's loud, "Hey!"
"What?"
"Have the ladies finished guffawing?
"Yeah, sorry, we're coming."
Leza was still snickering when Melissa and En walked back to Ringo.
"You're comin' with me though, jillaroo," Melissa told En out of the corner of her mouth.
"Uh… sure."
"They're holed up on the other side of the courtyard," Ringo explained. "Got the hostages clearly visible at the windows, there. Using them as human shields. Cowards."
Melissa ignored the insult. "Nice open space we gotta cross to get to the building. Let's hope they recognize me." Indeed, the courtyard itself was a slightly depressed open space laid with flagstones. The house itself was a hacienda-like construction of orange bricks, half shot to bits by the explosions that had occurred. Only one of the ceramic pots stood, the plant in it withered and brown. An NCR trooper lay dead in a pool of dried blood after making it about a quarter of the way. Looks like they'd already tried a rescue attempt.
"We'll get shot full of holes otherwise," En said, her stomach clenching. Crossing that open space looked scary.
"We?" Ringo asked. "You're taking her with you?"
Melissa nodded. "M-hm. She wants to know where Benny is, she'll be able to ask them."
Ringo shook his head and peered at the hacienda. "I don't approve of this."
"It's not for you to approve of," Melissa said flatly.
"Thanks for the worry, Ringo," En said, "but I'll be okay." She hoped.
"Hmm."
Melissa nodded at En. "You ready, jillaroo?"
"M-hm."
"Just walk with me, keep your hands visible and make no sudden movements, and we should be okay." With that, she put a foot on the low wall the troopers had been taking cover behind, and went over. En took a moment to swallow, exchange a glance with Ringo, who nodded, and then followed Melissa into the scarily open courtyard.