Chapter 49 – Are there Questions?

The crowd had backed off leaving a wide open space around the mad looking woman surrounded by Legion corpses. She had crouched down, the knuckle of her left hand curled in the dirt, her right hand slowly drawing a machete from the belt of the closest Legion body and a low feral growl had emitted from deep in her chest. Her eyes were boring into Maxson. Not Maxson himself, but rather the pipboy at his wrist.

Boone and MacCready entered the top end of the street at the same time as a Legion patrol marched in from the south entrance. The crowd began to disperse quickly at the jingling sound of their approach.

"We need to go." Zac whispered urgently to Maxson.

"I'm not sure if she'll fight me if I try to get her." Maxson said uncertainly, eyeing Max as she used the machete to help stand slowly. Her eyes still fixed on Maxsons pipboy.

MacCready stopped at Maxsons side, his youthful face drawn into a tight frown. He never thought he'd see that look again. He had been injured when the final act of the Institute incursion had played out. But he still recalled seeing Max silently dispatch a courser right in front of him, her movements mechanical and clean. Barely human. And her eyes as empty as the void.

Boone had not been there… he strode up to Max, ignoring her eyes as they flicked towards him and scooped her up, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her shoulders.

The Legion patrol neared and the street was almost empty now. The team fled in the other direction, they did not need a battle with the Cedar City garrison right now.

Maxson was troubled. When he had approached Max in the Institute he had been sure she would have attacked him and even just a moment ago he knew she was fully prepared to attack him. Until she heard Boones voice through his pipboy…

The small group hurried through the zigzag of streets and soon found themselves in the crush of the market place again. They needed to set eyes on the Courier and Cade. They doubted that a murdered Legion patrol was something that the Cedar City authorities could let slide. MacCready saw Cade first and the Proctor saw them at the same time, tugging on the back of the Couriers coat to get his attention.

Courier glared across the market place in the direction of Cades gesture and seeing Max bloodied and cuddled up in Boones arms, strode quickly in their direction with Cade once again trailing behind the larger man. The crowds parted before him like the red sea.

"What happened?" He asked roughly as he reached them.

"Looks like she went full Max and killed a Legion patrol." Zac offered. "We need to go… now."

"A whole patrol?" Courier asked, a little surprised. "by hand?"

MacCready and Maxson nodded and the Courier knew there was more to hear, not right now though.

"Boone head for the south gate, keep to the back streets. Zac go with them, and loose the head gear." Courier said quickly, glancing up at the feathery tribal headdress still atop the Lone Wanderers head. "we'll grab our gear and meet you. I guess we'll need to shoot our way out of here then?"

"Probably." Zac said, pulling the headdress off and handed it to a random passing man, who looked stoked with his new hat.

"How long 'til she snaps out of… this?" Courier asked looking into Maxs glassy, empty eyes.

"Not sure." Maxson replied. "last time she left and didn't come back for five months."

"Delightful." Courier grimaced. "let's go."

The team dispersed. Boone carried Max and Zac drew the 'Perforator' and hurried along with them. Courier watched them go for a moment. He and Max were going to have words. Lots of words.


Zac took a quick look around the corner of the outhouse at the gate and swore. It was closed and there was a contingent of Legion standing before it. Boone didn't need to look, he knew what was there. He looked instead at Max, nestled in his arms. She seemed smaller and more delicate than she really was. He needed to protect her. He didn't know what was wrong with her but he was sure that once they got out of here, Cade could fix it.

Her eyes were open and they stared back at him, wide but strangely empty, like she wasn't really there. He wondered at it. What had happened to make her like this? It occurred to him that he hadn't yet heard her story. He had spilled his guts out to her that night at the truck stop and she had listened but shared nothing of herself and though they'd had ample opportunities since then, she still had kept herself carefully locked away. He frowned down at her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the group. They all crammed into the alleyway behind the outhouse, handing out their gear. MacCready dropped Maxs stuff on the ground at Boones feet and glanced at his friend worriedly. Cade approached as well, a syringe of Addictol in his hand, but as he reached for her to administer it, Maxs hand shot out and grasped his wrist bruisingly and her empty eyes clamped on him. She gave no hint that she recognised him.

Couriers stepped up and looked her in the eye. He took hold of her fingers and peeled them back from Cades wrist one by one. He took the syringe from the Proctor and injected it into her arm… and she let him. Boone and Courier exchanged a look, communicating in that silent language of long time association and friendship and Boone nodded. Courier patted him on the shoulder and then went to join Zac at the corner, to get a good look at the gate that was barring their way forward.

Couriers eyes widened and his face paled when he took in the appearance of the Legions large and dark skinned garrison commander and he swore under his breath. He tapped Zac on the shoulder and jerked his head back, indicating that the Lone Wanderer should join them. They crept back to the team and Courier looked over at MacCready with a grimace.

"I think it's safe to say that the Enclaves synth couriers are still around." He said tightly, his voice had an edge to it that none of them had heard before. It was a deep hurt and he was mightily insulted.

MacCready had confusion in his eyes at that. He had asked that question in what seemed like an age ago, back at CIT, the day that they had confirmed that Courier Six was the template for Danse. Courier jerked his thumb back over his shoulder towards the Legion guarding the gate.

"That tall guy in the fancy armour is Daniel Wyand. Dan died nine years ago in Primm. He was Courier Four." Courier clenched his teeth as he turned back to watch the synthetic version of his former friend and colleague, the Institute perversion and Enclave servant, issue orders to his Legion subordinates.

"You sure he's the synth and not the real Wyand?" Zac asked carefully, his voice quiet and conveying empathy.

"No." Courier conceded, "It could have been the synths body I found… but my gut says that's not the real Dan."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say, if Courier Four wasn't there, or rather his synth, it would be easy to blast our way out of here… but his presence might complicate our departure." Maxson said. "If his skills are anything like yours…"

"I could take him." Courier said confidently. "and we're not sure if the synths really are as good as their templates right? I mean… Danse was taken out, right? I don't want to denigrate Danses skills or anything but…"

"I'll take him out and look for the synth component." They all looked at Max in surprise, her eyes were once again alert. It seemed that where ever her mind had gone, it had suddenly arrived back.

"You can put me down, Craig." She said softly, no hint of the drunken slur in her speech.

Boone carefully placed her on her feet and she immediately crouched to retrieve her gear, dressing quickly.

"I don't know what's happened but I can work out that this is my fault." She said as she zipped up her jacket. "I'm sorry and I fully expect to get a thrashing for this." She didn't meet anyones eye as she strapped on her armour and helmet, wordlessly handing Boone his beret back. She buckled her belt up, holstered her 10mm and lifted her rifle up before finally looking at the Courier. "Two 9mm slugs to the temple didn't kill you, will a hollow point .308 to the forehead kill him?"

Courier watched her. She had no memory of the last couple of hours but she was contrite none the less. They would still have words.

"Should kill him." He grunted in ambiguous verification.

"Do you want him dead? Or are there questions?" Zac asked, glancing back over his shoulder at the gate and the object of their discussion.

Courier thought about it for only a second.

"You don't leave enemies behind you. Kill him or we will regret it. I assure you, we do not want this guy coming after us." He said sincerely.

"Right. I'll put one in his head, Boone can be ready to take the secondary shot if needed." Max said, loading a magazine into Nevasee and putting one in the chamber, locking the bolt. "The rest of you take out the rest, looks like a couple of squads. I'll look for the component to confirm his synthness and then we scarper."

"They'll chase us, but they'll stop once we reach Zion. The I15 doesn't go there, so we'll be going across country." Courier advised. "It'll be hard graft for a couple of days but we can rest up with the Dead Horses."

"Why will they stop?" Maxson asked.

"Joshua Graham." Courier said simply, drawing his lever action rifle from his back and levering a round into the chamber with a menacing click-clack.

They didn't pry as to whom Joshua Graham was or why the Legion was wary of him, they all just drew their weapons and turned to Max who in turn dropped to her knee. True to her word the synth garrison commanders head whipped backwards as the .308 round slammed into his forehead and sent his brain matter flying out the back of the new crater in his skull. Boone sent a second round after hers, not waiting to see if the first killed him. The second tore through the mans open mouth as his body jerked backwards from the first impact, the round exited through the same crater that Max had put there.

As the garrison commander fell, his men snapped into action. Weapons were drawn and stances taken as they scanned for hostiles. They found them quickly as the team emerged from the alleyway, guns blazing.

Max dashed towards the fallen garrison commander and potential synth, dodging bullets and slamming the stock of her rifle into the jaw of a soldier. Boone was there to tidy up, his pistol removing that soldier from the fight. He stood over Max, guarding her back as she pulled her knife from her belt and plunged it onto the spine of the commander. She probed for a moment and eventually felt the blade of her knife scrape against metal. She eased her fingers into the now gaping and messy wound and grabbed hold of the slippery component and tugged it out.

She pushed the synth part into one of the pockets on her belt and drew her 10mm to join the gun fight, a fight that was short and bloody, each of the team splattered with blood in the end and panting like they had each run a marathon. They scavenged quickly for ammunition from the bodies and then pushed on the gates, the seven travellers spilling out into the wastes once more, more than a marathon ahead of them.

"I paid for those damned beds." Maxson lamented as they set off. "and a damned steak dinner… Fuck!"

"I had to give away my hat." Zac added with a grin. "How will I ever cope with my hardship?"

"Shut up, Zac." Maxson snapped back, settling into a good paced run.

"Cummon man, running's good for you." Zac laughed at his side, "all that sitting around on the Prydwen made you soft. Like I said, we're all gonna be so fit by the time this is all over."

They followed the Courier due south as the sun began to set in the west. They left the I15 behind them and forged a new path into the wasteland, their feet carrying them quickly, not sure how long it would take the Cedar City garrison to form up a hunting party.