The dust of the Mojave swept across the broken roads leading back towards the small little town of Novac. Looking up at the familiar green dinosaur, the shadow of a man in its mouth, Boone felt his gut twist. He didn't like being here for long, it made him feel sick for a whole number of reasons.
Approaching the iron chainlink fence, he pushed open the gate, the rusted metals hinges screeching as he strode inside. A couple of familiar faces meandered about, shooting him looks as he made a b-line to the old Dino Bite gift shop.
Cliff jolted up, a wide smile spreading across his face, "Craig! Welcome back!"
Boone flinched, his own name making him feel uncomfortable. "Cliff," he nodded in greeting, "just here to see Vargas."
"He's just up in the mouth," he jammed a thumb up the stairs. "Should be about time for him to take his lunch break."
"Doesn't matter," he dismissed, "I won't be here long."
Cliff chuckled, "it's been, what, a year? And you still haven't changed."
He didn't respond to that, trudging up the old rickety steps to the door to the mouth. He made a point of knocking on the cracked pre-war door before opening it, warning Vargas before opening the door. Standing on the other side, was his old friend; sparing him a glance over his shoulder.
"Hey, Boone," he greeted, "it's not like you to pay a visit."
"Cliff says it's time for your break," he stated, leaning against the wall at the back of the mouth.
Laughing, Vargas lowered his gun and set it down against the teeth, grabbing a small bag at the back of the mouth. "Coming all this way to tell me to take a break, I'm honoured." He popped it open, grabbing out some mutfruit. "But I doubt that's all you've come for. Year with no contact, showing up out of the blue? I was pretty convinced I wouldn't see you again after you ran off with that girl."
Boone couldn't stop the snarl that crept onto his face, as images of her flashed through his mind. "I don't want to talk about it."
"That bad, huh? I won't ask," he mused, "I heard you got a job at Primm, deputy Sherriff, didn't wanna come back here?" The look on Boone's face must have given away his answer before he could say it. "Can't blame you, man, not after what happened. You look like you're doing well, regardless of what happened between you and The Courier."
He was quiet for a long moment, turning his thoughts over in his head. He shifted his gaze from his old friend to the horizon, the familiar view of the mountains wrapped around the Repconn facility and carried on like a great orange barrier against the blue sky.
When he and Six first paired up, he'd expected her to stay in Novac. Even with Jeannie May rotting outside the gates, she still had a key to her hotel room. But, Six left the dino and lead him straight of town.
At the time he hadn't thought too much on it, but, in hindsight, he wondered if she knew he didn't want to be there longer than he'd had to. Even if it meant running the risk of travelling at night, she may have taken him into consideration.
Or maybe that was what she'd hoped he'd think that. Maybe it was all part of her sick little game. The joke was on her, he may be world-weary, but he wasn't smart; he didn't think that far ahead most of the time.
Thinking about her made the space she was supposed to be ache like she was a missing limb and it flooded him with a feeling of self-loathing.
"What's on your mind?" Vargas asked. Letting out a tired breath, he fixed his old friend with a stare. He couldn't find the words, he wasn't very good with them, he couldn't even ask what the question in his mind if he wanted to. "Shit, man, are you trying to kill me with a stare?" He joked.
Boone gritted his teeth, "she lied to me, about who she was…" The sentence was weighted by so much history, false promises and pain.
Vargas seemed to sense his anguish, letting out a breath. "Look, man, not everyone can be as blunt as you; some of us have some ego to protect," he joked. "Does it change anything?"
"It changes everything," he said firmly.
"Then you can't do anything about it," he shrugged, "cut your losses, man." There was more silence, where Vargas just watched him. "But, you don't want to?"
"No," he bit out, "I can't."
He chuckled, "you and I both know that's a lie. You either can, or don't want to. You're too stubborn to do 'can't'."
Boone looked his friend over, letting out a breath. He wanted to say something, but the soft clop of brahmin hooves caught his attention. "That's my caravan," he stated, "bye, Manny."
"Leaving already?" He mused, "and we were having such a good conversation."
Boone cracked the slightest smile, heading back down the way he came. Cliff watched him descend the stairs, offering him a warm smile. "Heading out again?"
"Yeah," Boone dismissed.
"Don't be a stranger, Craig," he stated.
He glanced over his shoulder as he popped open the door to the gift shop, "bye, Cliff." With that, he headed outside and made his way to the main road where he intercepted the caravan of two brahmin.
The old woman that took the lead, face obscured by a storm-chaser hat, greeted him with a smile, "you must be the man Mayor Meyers sent from Primm."
Boone nodded, "we should hit the road. We don't want to waste any more daylight."
"To the point," she beamed, "I like that! Lead the way, deputy."
He slung his sniper rifle off of his shoulder, keeping it ready in his hands as they headed down the westward road towards Primm.
"So, I heard a couple muties and ghouls had taken over the ruins of Nipton," the woman started, "that true?"
"Yes," Boone dismissed. "They're harmless."
"Well, it's better to have the extra protection in case they aren't," she said with a chuckle.
He didn't respond, keeping his eyes on the road as they travelled. He could hear the merchants chatter amongst themselves, all while he lead them onwards in total silence. The sound wasn't the same. Two weeks alone couldn't undo a year of hearing her talk, and though he loathed it, he missed the, 'now, let me tell you a story…' promptly followed by a long winding tale. How could one, tiny woman even have that much story bottled up inside of her? He never could understand.
She'd spoken of her life from Goodsprings to Novac, of her trips to the Eastcoast, of the Sierra Madre and all the madness and treasure in its depths. At first, he found it frustrating; wishing she'd either pick between talking or having the radio on rather than both. But she broke him down, she won him over with her wild stories. He had to admit, they made him forget what he'd been through, or how long they travelled.
By the time they'd set up camp they'd been walking from dawn til dusk, and he was so exhausted he could fall into a relatively peaceful sleep. Not her, though.
He wondered, in retrospect, if part of her rambling was just a wild attempt to exhaust herself enough to get herself into a dreamless sleep. It took two days, but it worked to a degree. She'd always start out fine, but, after an hour or two, the nightmares would start to take hold.
In that aspect, they were identical. Working themselves to exhaustion and wake themselves up screaming. But, for the first time in their lives, they'd had someone else who could feel that agony.
Boone snarled, kicking himself for thinking that way, reminding himself that she was a liar. She was nothing but a cold-blooded monster, playing at being a good person. His time in Primm had reaffirmed that.
A shadow shifted at the corner of his vision and he whipped around, raising his rifle. In an instant, they descended upon them; Fiends, firing wildly. Boone was faster, just barely, and with some well-placed bullets was able to splatter the brains of half of the attackers across the desert.
The mercenaries with caravans pulled their employers behind the brahmin, joining Boone in opening fire. Aside from a bullet through the leg of one of the mercs, the firefight ended as quickly as it started and with minimal bloodshed on their side.
The mercenary that was shot, a younger woman, quickly fell against one of the brahmin; cursing the wound. "That looks nasty, Therese," the other merc muttered, approaching his coworker.
"Nothing a stimpack can't fix," she said through gritted teeth.
Boone quickly scoped the surroundings, making sure they were alone before approaching the woman. Studying the wound, he could tell the wound was pretty deep. He crouched down, pulling a scrap of dirty fabric from his waistband. "I'll need a stimpack, and Med-x if you have any," he stated to one of the caravaners as they emerged from a spot behind one of the brahmin.
The old lady nodded, approaching one of the large pink beasts and shuffling through its wares. "You know what you're doing, soldier boy?" Therese said with a nervous smile.
He didn't answer, the merchant approaching him and holding out the stimpack and med-x. He accepted it, setting the stimpack on his knee and prepping the med-x. "Normally you'd use Med-x for this," Six's voice echoed in the back of his skull, nagging him even if she wasn't here, "but i'm a bit too full of holes and would rather not overdose…"
He tried to ignore the memory blooming in his mind as he injected the serum into the space near the wound, setting the empty syringe aside before pulling a knife from his belt. "If you start stick stims in me before taking out the bullets, I'll just heal around them, which can cause infection down the line…"
He jammed the tip of the knife into the woman's wound, hearing her wince as he dug the bullet out; the crumpled hunk of metal hitting the hot bitumen with a clink. "No need to be so delicate," he could hear her teasing him, "I'm made of tougher stuff, you can be a bit rough with me."
He grabbed the stimpack, injecting the solution into the wound. "Go easy on it," he stated, wrapping the scrap of dirty cloth around the wound. "The bandage is just for safety's sake," Six reminded him.
"Trick you pick up on the road? Or are you trained?" The old lady asked.
"Both," he dismissed, taking lead again. "We should hurry before it gets dark."
They continued down the road, following its twisting broken road from Novac to Nipton where the Ghoul at the gate perked up at seeing him. "Hey, Boone," he greeted, unlocking the gate. "Getting more business than usual today," he said with a chuckle. Boone shot him a look. "Some woman in black armour with a cyber dog," he stated.
Boone's heart stopped just for a moment, passing through the gate with the merchants. "Thanks," he muttered, as they followed the short road to the other side of town; the ghouls cheery "catch you later," echoing out after them.
The Ghoul at the other gate offered him a tattered smile, "cutting it a bit close to dark," he chastised, unlocking the gate. "No powder gangers on the road by the looks of it, should be a cruisy trip."
Boone nodded, "thanks." He muttered again, continuing on his way. From the peak of the hill, in the far distance, across from the dusty expanse of the Ivanpah flat he could make out a silhouette he wasn't entirely sure was there. It looked like a woman in black with a dog at her heels. He shook his head and pressed onwards, merchants still trialling behind him on his trip back to Primm. They continued on their way and, after a moment, he could no longer see the figure pressed against the horizon.
He let out a breath that seemed to release tension from his shoulder that he didn't know had been there. He turned off towards Primm, crossing through the gap in the fence, he turned to the Merchants. The old lady smiled at him, "thank you for your help - and for my mercenary," she nodded to the injured woman. "We appreciate you getting us through there."
"Don't mention it," he dismissed.
The merchants shuffled off into the depths of the town, Boone slinging his rifle back over his shoulder and starting towards the Vicci & Vance casino. as he got closer to passing the Mojave Express Outpost, he heard the found sound of a woman's voice catching his attention. It was familiar. A dogs head poked around the corner, brain casing catching in the light, but Rex didn't seem to spot him; too busy looking at something else.
His footsteps didn't mean to move faster, but, before he knew it he was around the corner. "Ah, Deputy, welcome back," Meyers greeted with a smile.