"Son of a BITCH!"
Nora looked behind her to see that Deacon had been knocked several feet sideways, and he was now on his back in a life or death struggle with a raider. The woman who attacked out of seemingly nowhere was straddling him and she actually managed to land a hell of a punch with a power fist to his sternum before Nora could raise her weapon and aim. Ouch, yeah, the boy was going to need a stimpak. Or three.
She pulled the trigger, and still found herself amazed that Righteous Authority had the results it did. In an instant, the attacking raider dissolved in a pile of red hot steaming ash.
"That never gets old." she murmured to herself as she ran to Deacon to offer him a hand up.
"You didn't tell me you had an old girlfriend in this area," she quipped as she squatted down next to him.
He had managed to get himself into a sitting position before he doubled over into a coughing fit. He grabbed her leg for support, a a move so sudden she quickly sat down before she fell on him. She sat facing him and allowed him to rest his head on her lap as he regained composure.
"D?" she prompted, when the coughing had settled down. He suddenly realized he was leaning on her, and she felt tension take him over again. He pushed himself back and looked at her, but he still seemed dazed. This worried her...he never took this long to recover. "D, come on, hon. We need to get moving. If she was a scout, her group couldn't have been too far behind. We need to get out of sight."
When he still didn't give a response, she grabbed a stimpak and was about to stab him with it when he grabbed her hand.
"Don't need it…" he said raspily.
"Took you long enough."
"Awww, you were worried."
"Yeah. That I was going to have to explain to Des that I let one slip past me and got one of her agents killed. She just about had you for lunch, hotshot." She stood and grinned down at him as she offered him a hand up. He blatantly ignored it and got up himself.
"More like I inhaled about half of what's left of her. What the hell kind of mods did you put on that thing?"
Nora laughed out loud.
"You forget my husband was military. This type of weapon may not have existed 200 years ago, but the technology was there. And he taught me how to defend myself."
"That...doesn't answer my question, but OK."
"Come on, D. Let's go. I'm surprised we haven't been attacked yet. If she was a scout, she was WAY ahead of her gang."
She looked around, and realized the area was familiar to her. They were just a few miles from the bunker where Danse had exiled himself. It would be quite a trek with an injured person, but Deacon did seem to be holding up well enough for them to get to safety before she checked him over. Danse would help them.
"This way," she said, pointing northwest.
"After you, boss."