Vargas, Hoover Dam, and Pills
After she shot their leader in the face Julia picked up his radio and used it to tell the raider army to stand down. She was still clutching the big Navy Colt in her hand, smoke still trailing out the barrel. It felt heavy, and she liked the weight.
The remaining raiders surrendered. Three-fourths of them were dead, a big pile of bodies on top the Dam. The Rangers locked them all up in the Visitor Center's bathrooms while they decided what to do with them. Vargas himself confiscated the other radio.
"Hello?" he asked Julia.
"Hi!" Julia chirped back, surprised someone was talking to her on the other end.
"... Who is this?" Vargas asked.
"Julia," she took a few moments to answer. The area was still dangerous, and she was wary of any psychopaths who opted to flee the Dam rather than surrender. She gathered up the gunbelt for her new gun and hid while she waited for Really to return, "Who's this?"
Vargas rolled his eyes in exasperation, "This is Chief Ranger Oswald Vargas of the Desert Rangers," he said wearily, "We were just attacked by some one-hundred men who only stopped when you told them to. Care to explain why?"
"Uh, I killed their leader?" she offered.
"And why would you do that?"
It seemed self-evident to her, so she had to think for a minute to find a way to explain it. There didn't seem to be a good way to do it over the radio, "Ummm, I had the opportunity, I guess? Wouldn't you?"
Vargas had to chuckle. He admitted he would do the same, "although, my motives might've been a little more complex than yours."
"Just happy to help," Julia nervously gripped her new revolver. She could hear someone approach, but it turned out to be Really. Once the raiders surrendered Really unceremoniously killed the stragglers in the back and left to find Julia. She didn't know Julia killed the mayor and forced the surrender, but was impressed when she told her. She wasn't a part of the Rangers when they deposed Mayor Winsor and didn't know who he was, not that there was much left to identify him by. They gave him a traditional raider funeral, which is to say they stripped his corpse of valuables and left it to rot in the wasteland sun. So ended the former mayor of Boulder City and presumptive emperor of the Mojave.
Julia ditched the radio after cheerfully telling Vargas she'd see him soon, and followed Really back up to the Dam. The other Rangers weren't expecting them, but two were still outside shoveling bodies into a pit and they saw them approach.
"Holy shit! You got here just in time, huh?" the female Ranger laughed when she saw Really.
"Yeah, you like my present?" Really jokingly indicated to the dead men, "Better than a snowglobe, right?"
The three Rangers laughed, the woman and man happy to have an excuse to slack off and Really happy to be back. The woman looked to be about the same age as Really with similarly short, black hair, and although Julia knew better she could've sworn they were sisters. The man looked to be between Really and Julia's age, and had curly hair and some sort of tribal tattoo on his neck. He was wearing aviator sunglasses. All of the Rangers were wearing the same body armor, although the man wasn't wearing a coat and the woman had words and patterns scrawled all over hers. From Julia's perspective (just slightly behind Really) they looked mostly to be swears.
"Seriously, though, do you know what the hell was up with that?" the woman who looked like Really asked, "It looks like these guys are all over the map. We got one with 80 armor, another couple who look like Scorpion's Bite, some of your old friends... It's bizarre."
"Holy shit, I think know that guy," Really indicated to a dead Viper, "But, yeah, I dunno. Julia killed their leader, though," she indicated to the young woman nervously standing behind her. Julia waved and smiled, "Julia, this is Ace and Christine. Ace and Christine, Julia."
"Whoa, you're the one who told them to surrender?" Ace asked.
"Wow, way to go!" Christine said at the same time, while offering her hand, which was covered in blood.
"Yeah, we were coming to the Dam and they attacked, so we kinda went behind them and I found that guy talking into his radio, so..." Julia shook her hand and babbled, "It's really cool to meet you guys!"
"Used to be a Twisted Hair. I found her by the Colorado, she's been followin' me ever since," Really joked. Ace perked up suddenly.
"Twisted Hair? Didn't we kill a whole ton of 'em a couple years ago?" he asked. Really grimaced and made a gesture, but it was too late.
"You did?" Julia asked, a little stunned.
"Yeah, a couple years ago. Big war band, harassing, um... Searchlight?" Christine said.
"No, couldn't have been Searchlight. Too far north. Cottonwood?" Ace contributed.
"Wow," Julia nervously gasped, "I never heard anything about a war band getting wiped out... Must not have been from Dry Wells..."
"Oh well, whatever. Welcome to the Dam!" Really tried to save. As they walked into the Dam she punched Ace behind everyone's back and mouthed "Fucking asshole" at him. He shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
Julia had never been in anything like the Dam before, and as they entered the easternmost tower (that wasn't collapsed) she had the unnerving feeling of being swallowed by a massive, timeless beast. The moving doors of the small box the four of them entered even reminded her of a sphincter, pulsing open and shut. She didn't want to embarrass herself but the elevator scared the hell out of her. She had no idea why they were crowding into it, and when it began to move deeper into the depths she almost felt like crying, like the world was falling out from under her.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Really was oblivious to her alarm, "Benefit of some good ole AC/DC."
Julia merely nodded her head, sweat gathering on her brow. She was worried if she opened her mouth she would throw up. She could feel them sink deeper into the beast's guts, growing ever confident that when the sphincter opened again they'd all be dropped into stomach acid and consumed. Instead it opened into a dimly-lit kitchen. Everyone made to leave and Julia was so disoriented she stumbled.
"Oops, guess you never rode in a elevator before, huh?" Really caught her, "Sorry. Probably a little scary?" She smiled apologetically.
"I threw up the first time I rode in one," Ace offered helpfully, "Vargas made me clean it up while the elevator went up and down. So I'd get used to it."
"Yeah, you didn't do so bad," Christine added. She was familiar with elevators her whole life, although growing up in Vegas she'd mostly ridden in manually-powered ones, either operated by a crank or even a couple of stout men pulling the rope. She explained the mechanism of the elevator to Julia, which made the younger woman much more comfortable though still a little nauseous.
The inside of the Dam was all concrete and steel and wires. It was cold and damp, and from somewhere below came a steady hum, the whirring mechanical heart of the great beast. From somewhere in the kitchen came a steady dripping. All around was a faint crackling noise, like glass splintering. Nothing Julia could make out in the dim light disabused her of the notion that she was in the body of a massive creature.
The Desert Rangers occupied the best rooms in the Dam, the old offices. The Rangers led Julia through a thick metal door into a long hallway, past a few sickly-looking plants in cracked pots lit by battery-powered lanterns suspended from the ceiling by a thick cord. The sound of dripping followed them into the hallway, the hollow ping of water droplets hitting metal pipes. They passed more metal doors, including a big double-wide one, until they stopped and Ace opened a door that led into a brightly-lit room with two pool tables.
"Ladies first," he sardonically gestured into the room. Christine stuck her tongue out at him and Really rolled her eyes.
"Julia- Ghost Woman," Really pointed at a tall, thin woman pale as death and with wild, greasy black hair. Unlike the other Rangers she wore all black, and her sunken eyes stared maniacally at Julia.
"Julia- Pills," Pills was playing a game of pool, and looked like Julia the way Christine looked like Really, except her hair stuck straight out and was dyed purple. She glared at Julia, and Julia noticed she had a fresh bullet hole in the breast of her Ranger coat.
"Julia- Gilbert," she pointed to a large man with long gray hair and a bushy gray mustache, who was wearing a bathrobe and sitting in a chair drinking scotch from a glass.
"Thrasher,' he said while acknowledging her with a tip of his drink, which was either a nickname he wanted her to call him or some sort of old slang Julia had never heard.
"Thrasher," Really confirmed, "Julia-"
"We've already met," she was cut off by the stentorian man in the back of the room. He looked like an old-fashioned colonel with his beard and hat and jacket, and Julia recognized his gravelly voice as belonging to the man she talked to over the radio, "I suppose I ought to thank you," he offered his hand and she shook it.
"Where are the other Rangers?" she asked innocently.
"All over the Mojave," Vargas smiled and let go of her hand, "Can I offer you a drink?"
"You fought off all those guys with just six people?!" She blurted. Really corrected her, noting that she made seven.
"Seven people and some well-placed turrets," Pills sunk a ball in a corner pocket. Really explained to Vargas how she met Julia, and Julia gave everyone the full story on how she cornered and killed Mayor Winsor. Everyone but Pills, who continued to sulk and play pool, was impressed.
"My first mission as a Ranger we killed a bunch of Twisted Hairs," Pills told Julia, taking a break in her game to look her directly in the eyes, "They were attacking Searchlight."
"Searchlight! Called it!" Ace snapped his fingers, prompting Really to smack him in the back of the head.
"Didn't kill anybody I knew," Julia said calmly. She glared right back at Pills. Something was familiar about the young Ranger, but Julia couldn't quite put her finger on it. Even though Ace had been tactless when he brought up the Rangers' less-than-positive relations with the tribe earlier, she was glad he had since it had readied her against Pills' attempt at intimidation.
"Alright, well, we took the long, lonesome road back, so we should probably take a load off," Really intervened in the budding rivalry between the two girls.
"Absolutely," Vargas agreed, "You can stay with us for as long as you like. Really will show you where we keep house."
After Really shut the door to the rec room behind them Julia asked her what the deal with Pills was. As they made their way to the living quarters of the Rangers Really explained as best she could.
"Used to fix up junkies in Vegas, I think? She's tribal, I know that. Maybe she's threatened by you? Another badass young tribal?" she guessed, "Prolly been shot by Twisted Hairs, if she ain't lyin' 'bout Searchlight. That's likely to make her a little moody, but I dunno. Get over it, right? Gonna be angry all the time you stay angry at everyone ever shot ya."
The Ranger's living quarters was a room full of beds. Julia picked out a locker to keep her meager possessions in and Really handed her a towel. She asked what it was for.
"The best part," Really grinned like a lunatic and led Julia to an adjacent room, which turned out to be tiled, with sinks and toilets and shower heads. Julia was baffled by Really's enthusiasm as Really stripped naked for the first time since they'd met. She indicated to Julia to do the same, and Julia confusedly complied.
When Really was totally naked Julia saw just how scarred her friend was. There were scars from drug use up and down her veins, jagged scars from knife wounds on her legs and sides and shoulders, and matching bullet hole scars on the front and back of her abdomen. With her armor off Julia realized Really smelled absolutely terrible. She walked over to the showers and cranked the faucet, and at first only a trickle of brown water gurgled out but it was followed shortly by a blast of clear liquid. She stood by the water, testing it occasionally before she waved Julia over.
"What?" Julia goggled at her as she emphatically gestured for Julia to jump into the spray. Julia had never taken a shower before, growing up by the Colorado she'd always cleaned herself in it's shores. When Really finally convinced her to step into the hot water she jumped right back out, scared that it would burn her, but then allowed her body to adjust to the heat and was overcome with waves of pleasure.
She involuntarily moaned a short Twisted Hair prayer. Really nodded her head vigorously in agreement and added, "I know, right? Water heater."
They showered until the water turned cold and when they were done they wrapped themselves in towels and relaxed in the steamy room. Julia felt more comfortable than she'd ever felt in her life, and all her apprehension of the Dam melted away in her first hot shower. The beast could eat her for all she cared, so long as its digestion felt as wonderful as that shower.
Ace was in the barracks flipping through an old pamphlet on jeep maintenance when they returned. When he saw they were wearing nothing but towels he blushed a bright red and awkwardly babbled about leaving. Julia didn't care in the slightest and completely ignored him as she walked to her locker and stripped her towel off. He briefly forgot he was leaving to stare at her, but abruptly remembered when Really smacked him hard in the back of the head.
"She's Twisted Hair," she hissed at him. He coughed nervously and stared at the floor as he made a quick exit. Julia paid as much attention to his absence as she had to his presence. She was glumly contemplating the rags that had swaddled her to the Dam. What was once her finest dress had been reduced to two strips of floral-print cloth, the colors faded and the fabric worn thin.
"Hey, I have some extra clothes if you need any... Pants, maybe?" Really noticed her melancholy and tried to help. She took Really up on her offer, even though, "My clothes are a little big for you, but we can make them work."
Julia opted to wear Really's pants (with the legs rolled up and a belt) but couldn't bear to totally part with her former finery and put the top of her dress back on in compromise. Before she could put her mismatched boots back on, Really told her there was a leatherworker deeper in the Dam who could make her a pair of boots that fit, then made her promise to wait while she went and got him.
For the first time Julia was left alone in the Dam. She stretched out on a bed and listened to the hum and crackle of hydroelectric energy, somewhere below her the churning of the Dam's lone working turbine. She drifted off to sleep, more at peace than she'd ever been in fifteen years. Although later she wouldn't remember her dream, she dreamt of fire, of the fire that stripped the world of everything but soot and ash and she was enveloped in the fire but it didn't burn her and she was pregnant, she knew she was with child and when the fire receded she stood on that plain of soot and ash and delivered her infant but before she could see it before she could see her child she woke up.
The crackle of fire went back to being the crackle of electricity and in the corner of the barracks was a rummaging sound. Julia sat up and discovered Pills digging around in a locker. Pills ignored her, and she sat on the bed for a moment observing the Ranger before she initiated dialogue.
"Really said you're from the ruins of Vegas? And you used to be a tribal?" Julia asked in a friendly way. Pills clenched her teeth and frowned like Julia was asking for a fight when she asked, "What tribe are you from?"
Pills stopped digging around in her locker before tersely replying, "Iron Lines."
"Oh! I didn't know Iron Lines had made it as far as Lost Vegas," Julia brightened. She knew a few Iron Lines who married into the Twisted Hairs, "Makes sense, though, there is a line going by there..."
"They haven't," Pills looked at Julia, "My mother and I were kidnapped when I was little, and sold to the Slither Kin," she sneered and walked over.
"By Twisted Hairs," she finished, and rolled up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a hideous burn scar in the shape of a snake. Even though the burn was obviously years old Julia winced in sympathy. She gently held out her hand in request, and Pills thrust her forearm at her with venom.
"Slither Kin?" she asked while delicately examining the scar with her fingers. It was on the delicate underside, the calloused, ropey feel of knitted flesh contrasted sharply with the soft skin surrounding. It must have hurt like hell, thought Julia.
"The worst of the worst," Pills grimaced, "Of the worst. I grew up being passed around by," she shuddered, "old men. Cruel men."
"But you got out?" Julia looked her in the eyes hopefully but she looked down at her scar. She muttered yes.
"You got out, and became supreme badass of the wasteland?" Julia goaded her, grinning from ear to ear, "Supreme badass who doesn't ever have to take anyone's shit ever again?"
Pills realized that the young girl (although not much younger than her) looked up to her. She admitted to herself that Julia was not to blame for the terrible things the Twisted Hairs did, and in fact was probably more of a victim of their cruelty than she herself. The girl bent down and tenderly kissed Pills' old scar.
"From one former slave to another, I'm sorry," Julia apologized for things she didn't do. When Really came back with the leatherworker, she found both girls sitting beside each other and laughing like old friends.