3 Months Later
"Breathe", Olivia whispered to herself, taking a slow and deep breath in, feeling her lungs expand as they filled up with air until she couldn't take any more in. She gently held her breath for four seconds, then exhaled for four seconds, repeating the process several times. Drew had taught her that little trick to keep herself from spiralling into a panic. She remembered feeling so surprised when it worked.
"See? You just gotta remember to breathe. Breathe in gently, hold, and then exhale slowly. That's all there is to it", she remembered him telling her.
She was on an NCR Vertibird on her way to Hoover Dam with some other engineers she'd never met before. From the looks of them, many were seasoned soldiers and, unlike her, didn't seem to appear stressed or anxious about what they were going into; in fact, one of them was sound asleep, snoring away while two others played a hand of Caravan.
"Ah shit!" one of them exclaimed as a gust of wind blew several of their cards out of the craft, "That was my lucky stack!" He had thick but short curly black hair, dark brown eyes, and was about a head shorter than Olivia in height.
"You'll get new ones", his game partner grumbled. He looked to be about in his mid-forties with a gruff salt and pepper beard, grey eyes and was of significantly larger stature than his friend. Another engineer, the more handsome of the bunch, sitting opposite Olivia's seat kept stealing glances at her. It made her feel uncomfortable, but she kept her gaze averted and found it best when she ignored him. Besides, it was taking all of her focus and energy just to keep herself from being sick on this bumpy flight.
"ETA 2 minutes", the pilot's crackling voice came in through their headsets, "Prepare for debarkation".
Olivia braced herself as she stared out of the craft. The pilot made a 360 degree circle around the perimeter, giving her a breath-taking view of the Dam, as they waited for the Vertibird that was taking up space at the landing platform stirred to life and flew back in the direction she and the other engineers came from. She could see why the Legion wanted to take this site; if they had control of the Dam, they would stop power supply from reaching NCR territories. No power meant limited communication and electricity, and this would put the people and the military at a severe disadvantage.
Once the landing platform was clear, their craft made its approach and landed roughly on the platform, making Olivia bump the back of her head on her hard headrest.
"Damn it", she grimaced, rubbing the sore spot on her head as she undid her seatbelt and jumped down onto the tarmac to stand in line with the other engineers from her craft. They were greeted by a Lt. Colonel on the deck who instructed them where they need to go and what was expected of them. Soon as they were dismissed and they turned to head for their posts, the engineer who sat opposite her on the flight and stole glances at her approached from the side.
"You alright there? I saw you take a bump to the head when we landed", he asked with concern, which took Olivia somewhat by surprise as no one else paid her much attention.
"Yeah, I'm fine", she nodded assertively despite still feeling a pulsating pain from the spot as she did.
"Name's Quinn. Corporal Quinn Young", he held out his arm for a handshake, smiling warmly at her, "I was based at McCarran before transferring to the Dam. What about you?"
"Olivia. Forlorn Hope and Camp Golf", she answered plainly, keeping up with the others who had started moving to their designated posts in front of her.
"I have to say, we don't get many women who want to serve in the engineering division", Quinn pointed out as they made their way inside the main reception and joined up with their Engineering team commander.
"Well I'm here", Olivia answered determinedly, "My expertise is better suited to this post".
She carried on following the group of engineers in front of her, taking mental notes as they moved deeper and deeper into the facility so that she wouldn't forget where the exit was and get lost in the future. Finally, after going down a flight of stairs and through a mechanised metal door, they walked through onto a metal platform overlooking a vast space filled with giant water pumps the size of small houses. Olivia almost couldn't contain her giddy excitement and awe; all this technology just sitting at her fingertips, she couldn't wait to learn about it all.
At 3 AM Camp Forlorn Hope was buzzing with activity, which Drew would typically say would be an unusual occurrence. However, these were unusual and uncertain times. A few days ago NCR scouting parties found a massive Legionary force marching through the desert towards Hoover Dam. They estimated that, within the next 48 hours, the full force of Caesar's army would be upon them. Although Drew knew this day would come, he had no idea what to expect to feel when that day arrived. Nausea? Excitement? Fear? At the moment it was a combination of the first and latter for Drew. When he joined the NCR he remembered foolishly thinking how exciting it would be to train and become a soldier, to be seen as a hero for going into battle when so many others wouldn't dare, and when he was recommended for the 1st Recon sniper team it was the proudest moment of his life; but now with the terrifying prospect of going to war with a brutal enemy that has no mercy or honor, he understood why so many civilians preferred not to enlist. And on top of everything, he was also worrying about Olivia. They'd only had half a day to catch up at camp before she had to leave for HELIOS One to catch a vertibird transport to the Dam. It wasn't that long ago when he found her almost dead at the edge of the river; now she was intentionally putting herself in danger by going to the frontlines.
'Get out of your head Drew', he thought to himself desperately, trying to take his mind away from morbid thoughts of the many ways he could get killed in the field, 'This is no different than the other deployments you've had. Just keep a cool head and-'
"Hey!" he heard William's call not far away, breaking him away from his thoughts, "How's the packing going?"
Drew looked down at his frumpy looking backpack, his supplies and clothes messily sticking out in some places. He cursed himself under his breath for being so distracted that he didn't pack properly.
"Yikes! Want some help?" Williams knelt beside him and tried to salvage the situation, "If the Colonel sees this pack in its current condition, he'd sure as hell bite your head off".
"Let's hope he doesn't see it then", Drew answered absentmindedly, folding his clothes properly before neatly placing them in his pack.
"You doin' ok?" Williams asked with concern in her voice.
"Hmm?"
"You ok? You seem… I dunno, spaced out. Not like you to be this way".
"…I'm fine", Drew looked up at her with an uncomfortable expression on his features, "Just thinking is all". He finished sorting his pack and stood back up, pulling the straps of the heavy pack over his shoulders with a grunt. They moved to meet up with the rest of the 1st Recon snipers towards the West of the camp.
"Drew, remember who you're talkin to", Williams winked, "I've known you since we were kids. Something must really be bothering you".
"Just worried, is all", he shook off her question. For the past couple of months he noticed that Williams was paying more attention to him than usual; in fact in some instances he swore she was downright flirting with him, and it was making him feel uncomfortable.
"If you say so", she replied, unperturbed by his cold shouldered approach to her questions, "Though there's no need to. I've got your back; always have and always will".
He huffed, trying to hide the irritation on his expression, "I know".
They both trudged on in silence to the meeting point, waiting for their transport to the frontline. Much to his relief, Williams didn't engage in conversation with him for the rest of their journey. The trip onboard the Vertibird was a bumpy one, and although Drew was afraid of heights the thoughts of his current situation kept him from focusing on that fear. Once they landed and were given their assignments and assigned temporary quarters on the ground, Drew got to work busying himself with preparations. There were weapons to be checked, serviced and maintained, emergency run-throughs to be carried out in case the base was infiltrated, and as he was walking past his quarters he saw a free weapons bench which gave him an itch to use; there was a new scope sitting pretty in his pack just waiting to be used. But the first thing on his list of things to do once he settled was to find Olivia and see how she was holding up. He knew that he wouldn't be able to relax until he knew she was doing alright.
Warm sunlight radiated onto Aelius' back as he relaxed in the mid-morning light, biting into a ripe and juicy banana yucca that he picked straight off the plant not a minute ago. He was sitting in his usual quiet spot in the canyon, on the branches of a short tree that was growing right in the middle of a foot deep stream that appeared as if it had carved itself into the ground. A wall of dirt and rocks almost ten feet high flanked the stream and greenery surrounded him. He dangled his feet in the cool refreshing waters, watching in amusement at the random fish or two that he could glimpse eating at the sparse vegetation in the water and admiring their colourfulness. One of them, almost as long as the palm of his hand, approached his feet and curiously nibbled on the edge of his toe once or twice before moving away. Aelius chuckled and tossed the inedible remains of his snack into the water.
A fresh breeze stirred his senses and filled his mind with cheerful and hopeful thoughts. Birdsong filled the air and he could smell the blossoming of wild flora and the musky scent of fertile earth, signalling that spring had finally arrived in the Canyon. Although he knew they were lucky to have found such a beautifully untouched oasis far away from the troubles and wars that plagued him and Ash some months ago, he couldn't help feel that this was just a temporary respite.
In a weeks' time it would be three months to the day when he and Ash decided to move out of the New Canaan settlement and live with the Dead Horses tribe. Aelius' mind wandered back to the events of that day; he would never forget the shock and disappointment in Dawn's expression when they announced that they were leaving to stay with the Dead Horses tribe until they figured out where to go from there; the way she begged and pleaded with Ash to stay was almost enough to make them both reconsider… Almost.
From Aelius' perspective, Joshua didn't seem to care what they chose to do, or if he did he was good at hiding it; but Aelius could sense that deep down there was part of him that was glad about the decision. His wife Mary was supportive of whatever decision they made, despite not understanding why they desired to leave. She came by to visit them and the Dead Horses at the camp to see how they were doing, as well as to help with any maladies and injuries that. There was no doubt it was difficult to leave the New Canaanites, but it was for the best. Though Aelius did his best to fit in, no matter what he did or how much time passed he was always going to be the outsider. Neither one of them were completely comfortable nor happy living among them, and the feeling was mutual among the New Canaanites. In the end it worked out for everyone though, for Aelius helped the Dead Horses to train and prepare better for combat and Ash trained the tribespeople on how to repair and maintain their firearms.
"Aelius?" he heard Ash's familiar voice call to him in the distance, snapping his mind back to the present.
"Here!" he answered, his voice loud enough to be heard over the babbling stream.
"Ah! I thought I'd find you at the stream", Ash answered at the top of the rocky face looking down at him sitting in his solitary space, "I brought you some more yucca" she tossed a fairly large one down to him.
"Thanks!" he caught the fruit skilfully with one arm, smiling up at her, "You gonna come down and join me?"
"I'd like to but the water's still too cold for my liking", she said, taking out a piece of fruit for herself to enjoy, "And besides, I remember what happened the last time I got into cold waters with you".
"Uh huh", Aelius shimmied down from his perch with a bold grin on his lips, "Far as I recall, we had a very good time".
Ash blushed and pursed her lips.
"The water's actually quite nice and hardly deep enough to deter even you away", he winked and motioned for her to come down to him.
"Oh…alright!" she relented, moving away from the rocky face and about twenty feet downriver to where the descent wasn't as steep. Wading in the water with her boots in hand, trousers rolled up to the top of her calves, she joined Aelius at the tree, eating the juicy banana yucca she picked off the plant on her way.
"I can see why you like this spot", she smiled at him, dipping her toes in the water. They both watched the serene clear water shimmer in the bright sunlight, marvelling at their pristine surroundings.
"Yeah… It's a piece of heaven, isn't it?", he sighed, gazing at her lovingly and smoothing a loose strand of her hair behind her ears. Her eyes moved up to meet his and she leaned in to give him a slow and tender kiss on his lips. She could taste and smell the sweetness of the fruit on his lips.
"I'm so happy we're here, together", she grinned, giving his hand a squeeze, "This is the first time I feel like I belong somewhere, you know?"
"Hmm, me too", he grinned happily and leaned in to give her a kiss on her forehead, "And I'm glad that Gael now has some kids his own age to play with".
"Yeah, I think he's much happier now. Though he didn't say anything before I could see that he was feeling lonely".
After spending some time together talking and enjoying each other's company, they decided it was time to head back to camp.
"Do you ever think about what's beyond this place?" Aelius asked curiously, holding Ash's hand as they strolled side by side. The question seemed to puzzle Ash.
"Beyond? You mean, beyond the Canyon lands?"
"Well…further", he squinted in the bright light, "There must be more on this Earth to see, more places to explore".
Ash shuddered, "Sometimes… But then again I try not to think about it".
"How come?"
"If there are even half the monstrous creatures I've seen in my lifetime in the Mojave, I dare not think about what others may be lurking in different corners of the world", she shook her head, "Besides, we have found a paradise here. It's any waste lander's dream come true".
Aelius wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her close to his side as they walked back to the Dead Horses camp. Once they passed through the brushes and reached a clearing overlooking the widest part of the shallow river, the Eastern Virgin, they knew they were within the boundaries of the Dead Horses camp. Across the river they saw several of the Dead Horses sparring with their horsehead clubs, a weapon that distinguished them from the other tribes in Zion. Several women and children were knee deep in the pristine waters further to the south, catching fish for the day's meal.
Ash and Aelius crossed the river together holding each other's hands for stability and support. The ground underneath them was rocky and in some places unstable, and with the armed bear traps peppered around it was especially dangerous crossing if you didn't know what to look for, but before they managed to get back onto dry land, Five Bears High Fiving sprinted into the camp. He was a frightful sight, so much so that many of the tribespeople stopped what they were doing and rushed to see if he was alright.
"Hoi! Hoi! Give him space!" Follows Chalk held the others back, "Get the healer, he is injured!"
"No! I am not hurt, it is not my blood", Five Bears spoke between ragged breaths.
Aelius moved in closer to see what was going on, "What happened?"
"White Legs!... They… killed Tar Walkers", tears were streaming down Five Bears' high cheeks, "They leave nothing…no one alive".
"When? Are they still there?" Aelius felt his heart quicken in his chest and his body responded instinctively, moving to his weapons inside his tent.
"Aelius, don't!" Ash tried to physically block him but he gently pushed past her, the familiar deadly look in his eyes she had seen before.
"No, they moved off not long ago", Five Bears shook his head, "There is nothing left at the camp. Only death".
"We'll see, if I leave now there may be still time to catch them", Aelius' voice was low and deadly, and before anyone else had a chance to stop him he took off at a running pace with two other armed Dead Horses following close behind.
After painstaking repairs and efforts in several of the pump rooms at Hoover Dam, the machinery finally came back to life and filled the space with deafening roars as the pumps diverted tonnes of water through the creaking pipes. Olivia let out a relieved and satisfied sigh as the team around her whooped and laughed, patting themselves on the backs for their immense achievement. Despite the Dam being hundreds of years old at this point, the power output of the plant was now running as good as 100%, and thanks to Olivia's extensive knowledge of old world tech they were able to identify what was causing the problems and use the best method of carrying out repairs.
Olivia wiped the condensation and sweat off her brow and noticed the team's commander eye her then motion for her to follow. She nodded and followed her to the side away from the cacophony from the others.
"Excellent work with the repairs Olivia", her Commander, Lt. McDermott, nodded in approval and extended her arm for a handshake, "It would have taken others weeks to spot the issues we were having, and you managed to identify the problem in less than a day. That's an unprecedented level of efficiency and skill, I wish we had you in our ranks sooner".
"Thank you, ma'am", Olivia exhaled. She hadn't noticed that she was holding her breath while McDermott spoke and almost couldn't believe she was getting such high praise, especially seeing as she was still seen as green behind the ears when it came to the rest of the NCR personnel, "I was just doing my job".
"And it was a job well done. Congratulations Private, I have no doubt that we'll be in need of your expertise in the days to come, and it couldn't have come at a more fortuitous time", she smiled proudly at her and went back to her duties, leaving Olivia a moment to herself to enjoy the elated sensation of the high praise she just received. It wasn't until a few moments after when she turned to get back to her team that she noticed Quinn, the handsome engineer who had been staring at her on the Vertibird, was eyeing her up. His attention quickly darted away from her once her gaze fixated on him and he strode off leisurely up a set of stairs and through the doorway leading to the top offices. There something about the way he looked at her, a similar look the Legionary soldiers back at Caesar's camp gave her that sent stomach churning dread through her body; she didn't know what to make of it. If it was someone else, another woman who was used to living with and among NCR personnel, they might have dismissed the stare as a misunderstanding or that they were imagining things that weren't there; but Olivia's instincts knew better than that. With everything else that she had to worry about, she now also had to keep an eye on Quinn.
Two days later and Drew finally caught sight of Olivia in the massive canteen area, sitting in the corner at the far end of the room by herself and looking utterly exhausted. He quickly picked up his tray with the articles of food neatly divided up in a dinner tray and swerved, squeezed, and ducked his way out of the hungry and boisterous crowd to take a seat opposite Olivia with an amused exhale.
"Well! That was an adventure", he chuckled and watched as her expression turned from annoyance to exhilarated surprise, "Nice to see you again. Mind if I join you?"
"Drew! No not at all! What – When did you arrive?" Olivia ask feeling her face flush and tongue tied with his abrupt appearance. She found her thoughts drifting toward her own appearance – with all the work there was hardly enough time for her to put on a clean uniform, wash her face and brush the mess of knots in her hair. At least she put her long hair up in a bun and it wasn't noticeable.
"About 3 days ago", Drew answered before biting into a piece of his Salisbury steak, "Been on the lookout for you but this place is so huge I didn't even know where to start looking at first. Wasn't until today that I was able to find someone to help me get around and they told me that some of the engineering crews had been assigned to the Dam's engine rooms; was going to go looking for you in the dark depths of this facility after lunch but I got lucky!"
"I'm glad you found me", she smiled and felt her cheeks flush, feeling somewhat grateful for the dirt and grease that obscured her blushing.
"So, how are you settling in with your new comrades?" Drew asked, and although it was a straightforward question, Olivia found herself unsure of what to say. From the day she was sent off to Camp Golf, she didn't know what to expect from being in the NCR military; she knew that it was going to be hard work, both physically and mentally, but she had no idea how difficult it was having to deal with people. When she first arrived at Camp Golf it wasn't as difficult for her to make the adjustment to military life; afterall, she was no stranger to hard work and being part of and living in a hierarchy system. It was the other soldiers she had a harder time getting along with. Although many of them sympathised with her difficult life in the Legion and respected her in a sense, she found many of her comrades, including some of the training officers, doubting that she would have the endurance and stomach for war. As a result she didn't end up making any friends.
"Fine, I suppose…" she smiled and nodded, not wanting to go into details especially as she didn't know how much time they had to catch up before they both had to go back to their duties, "What about you? Where have they stationed you?"
"Sniper barracks", Drew spoke curtly between mouthfuls of food, "Watch duty at the moment".
They spent some time catching up with events that happened over the past couple of months, watching as the crowd around them settled into the lunchtime lull.
"I need to be getting back in a bit", Olivia caught a glimpse of the time on her watch, "There's some more work to do downstairs. We're supposed to start setting up barricades to slow down the Legion soldiers in case they breach the Dam".
Drew stopped eating and his eyes darted up to her, a worried look about him, "That's a good plan they have. Can never be too careful or too prepared for situations like this".
"Yeah", she sighed and rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, "Especially with Legionary soldiers". She stood up and looked somewhat uncertainly at Drew, as if not knowing how to end their grim conversation, "Well… I… I better go". She had a mind to turn on her heel and exit hastily before Drew gently took hold of her hand, the look on his features soft and pleasant.
"Wait… Before you go", he began, feeling his face flush, his tongue tie itself into a knot and his brain suddenly losing the ability to structure a coherent sentence, "There's… something I wanna tell you".
Olivia stood silently, her attention focused on him waiting for Drew to speak his peace; but after a few moments when he couldn't bring up the courage to say what he felt, he heaved a sigh of resignation.
"I… If things go south… just promise me, you'll be careful".
'You're about to go to war and you can't bring yourself to tell her how you feel about her?!' he chastised himself.
"I will. You be careful too", she gave him a nod and smiled sweetly at him, "Though, I'm sure we'll see each other before things get too serious".
"Yeah, you're probably right. If I'm lucky I'll catch you tonight at dinner service", he chuckled.
"Be seeing you then", her cheeks flushed, and just as they'd shaken hands the alarm system came blaring to life, deafening in sound and jolting everyone to attention. It only meant one thing: the Legion army was within attacking distance, and war was on their doorstep
"Shit!" Drew swore under his breath, "They're here!"
Olivia could feel the color drain from her skin as her heartbeat quickened, but she didn't have time to think or panic. Her training from Camp Golf and the several practice run-throughs they did at the Dam kicked in. She and Drew shared one last look, the same expression of worry for the other before dashing in the opposite directions to take their stations and prepare for the first wave of attacks.
The second battle for Hoover Dam had begun, and to the victor would go the spoils.