Chapter 19: Any Day Now

It had been almost a week since Raven had left the picnic, unable to cope with the new information given to by her father, as well as her own actions with the King. How could she be so stupid? Kissing the King was like messing with the Devil himself. Ever since that day, she avoided the King like the plague. Raven was ashamed of herself for letting her father's appearance catch her off guard like that. So what could she do except go off on some new adventures outside of Freeside? She had heard about a caravan opportunity somewhere to the north, so she and Boone both headed up that way. Upon getting there, however, not only did she learn that she would have to leave her loyal companion behind, Raven would have to lighten her own load and carry very little with her. So, with that, she handed most of her things except a few essentials to her sniper friend.

"Boone, relax. I'll only be gone awhile." Raven sighed as she tightened the laces on one of her boots.

"And what exactly do you want me to tell people? They will want to know. Especially the King."

"Ah, well...uh..." she paused, unsure as what to say. "...Just...say that I'm away on business." Which is what she was doing...right?

After saying their goodbyes, Boone watched her head off. She waved one last time before he turned and started lugging himself toward Freeside. Why, oh why, was he always getting himself mixed up in the middle when it came to her? Perhaps, in a way, Raven saved Boone's life. And maybe, just maybe, he was thankful for giving him a new purpose in life. At least besides killing Legionnaires. He'd had someone to protect up until now. Watching her go made Boone very uneasy.

The King was very anxious. He tried to keep himself preoccupied with other things, but he just couldn't focus. He scratched behind Rex's ear for comfort, and his dog barked a few times. Rex rested his head on the King's leg, as if to reassure him. The King smiled at Rex, but the King's grin faded when he saw Boone walk through the theater door – without Raven. This worried him. But, keeping his outwardly appearance composed, he motioned for Boone to sit down with him. Boone did so, if reluctantly.

"So, nice place you have here, Mr. King..." said Boone. He wasn't one for small talk.

"Thanks. Would you care for a drink?" asked the King.

"No, that's ok. I just came by to tell you about Raven."

The King couldn't help himself. He leaned in a bit with a smirk, "Is that so? Well, what is the little vixen up to?"

Boone sighed. "Well, she had to leave for awhile. On business."

"On business? Where?"

"Somewhere up north. Utah, I think. Something about a caravan shipment or something."

"Since when did she become a caravan expert?"

"She's not," Boone said. "But I guess the caps were more than she could ignore."

The King sighed. "I see. Well, I could have given you guys the caps if you had needed them."

Boone held his hand up. "She and I both prefer to earn what we make. We don't like handouts."

The King coughed. "Any idea how long she'll be gone? I have more work for her to do," he said, waving a hand up as if to imply her absence was only that of a setback based on business.

"Well, I heard the trip itself will take about two weeks...so maybe a month?" Boone estimated.

"A month? Freeside could start burning in hell in a month. Freeside needs her here!" The King exclaimed.

Boone smashed a hand down on the table. "Listen here, pal. She may have helped you and Freeside out a lot, but she's not some errand girl who does everyone's biding just because they ask her to. Freeside is not the only place that's going to hell in a hand basket." Boone growled. "And besides, it's your fault that she left."

"My fault?" the King gasped. "How is it my fault?"

"Oh, nevermind. Just forget I said anything."

"No, Boone. Why is it my fault?"

Boone sighed, shaking his head. "All I know is that whatever happened between you and Raven at the picnic that day is the reason...well, one of the big reasons why she went away."

2 weeks later...

Raven wiped her brow and hid behind a rock as the screams continued. Upon arriving in Utah, the group she traveled with got attacked by some unknown enemy. Raven reloaded her cowboy repeater, then took quick aim toward the mountain ledge to her left. One shot, and a very pale man with very little clothing fell down the cliff and hit the ground with a bone cracking thud. She hid behind the rock again and breathed heavily as the sun beat down on her skin, making it sweat like rain. Raven stared down at the blood seeping through her leather armor and she cursed herself for being careless. Hopefully, the bullet hadn't hit a major organ. The blood curdling yelp and the sound of bone spraying apart from a shot to the head caught her attention. The leader of the caravan had fallen dead to the ground. Quickly, Raven aimed her repeater toward some trees ahead. In a matter of seconds, she hit her target and he went down. Another attacker showed up near those trees and took a shot at her. Raven backed away, but not in time to avoid the hit to the shoulder. Raven bit down on her lip to prevent herself from yelling, but now she was pissed off. Another aim to the attacker, another trigger pull, and bam. The last of the barbarians fell to the ground.

Raven slowly holstered her gun and stood up carefully, clutching her stomach to put pressure on the wound. She stared around at her slain companions and shook her head. Again, she was the last one standing. After collecting a few items from their dead bodies, Raven carefully examined the map of the area she was given. There was no chance in hell that she could make it back to Nevada in her current condition. She needed help, and fast. Slowly, she began limping toward the open road in desperation. As she walked, blood stains littered the ground behind her. Minutes upon minutes seemed like hours to her as she kept her slow pace, and before long she saw a horrible sight. A...beast of some sort. It looked a lot like a bear, but mutated. It saw her and began running toward her. Quickly she grabbed her repeater and began shooting, but the beast was not slowing down. Just before it reached her, though, a battle axe came out of nowhere and embedded itself into the beasts' head. It roared in defeat and agony before collapsing to the ground. Soon, it was motionless. Raven fell to her knees and sighed. She had no more energy or will to fight what came next. She collapsed to the ground and her vision blurred and darkened, but not before the silhouette of a man stood before her, reaching out to her...

Short chapter, I know, but there's a reason for that. I know you guys have been DYING to see what happens next, and this is just a little taste of the things that are yet to come.