AN: In what I can only describe as an explosion of creativity moment I've written another chapter right after the first one! So here's chapter 2 of Fallout: Unforgotten.
It was a hot day in the Mojave Wasteland and it was even hotter since Amata no longer had the shade of her desperado hat to shield her from the sun's heat rays. She spent the majority of it crawling on the red hot sands towards the machete the Decanus had dropped and the corpse was starting to attract critters as she cut herself free. Now the sun was beginning to set behind the mesas in the far distance as she set after the stranger who left her stranded and at the mercy of the unforgiving Mojave sun. The last visage of the sun had begun to cast it orange glow against the purple sky when she came upon an old western town.
'Goodsprings' the worn interstate sign read as she walked past it. The lights of the Prospector's Saloon was the first thing to catch Amata's eye and the thought of a nice cold glass of water flashed into her mind. She tiredly lumbered up to the saloon's door and her ears were immediately assaulted by a loud roar of laughter. She pushed open the door slightly to get a peek at the culprit and was surprise to find that it was the same stranger that had left her to die in the desert and with her hat sitting on the bar counter next to him. The saloon was empty except for the poor bartender who was forced to listen to his horrid tale.
"Alright, so this guy was screaming for me to help him and he's being chased by these little baby deathclaws. Now you know me, guess what I do?" he asked his sole audience.
"You told me this story before, please just pay for your drink." The bartender moaned knowing he would simply ignore her.
"So I kneecap him! Oops!" he erupted into another roar of laughter. "So these tiny deathclaws are gnawing on him and he's screaming bloody murder and it attracts the mother! Ah oh." He continued.
Amata had heard enough, she quietly slid into the saloon and held her index finger to her lips to signal the bartender to be quiet. It was obvious that he was completely enthralled by his own tale of the unfortunate man that he hadn't notice Amata pick up an empty beer bottle off a nearby table. Amata raised it high above her head and brought it down quick. The bottle shattered on contact with the stranger's head causing him to stop mid-sentence. The look on the stranger's face was replaced with a look of confusion before he stood up, he had managed to get clear of his stool before collapsing unconscious on the bar floor.
"Holy shit, I can't believe you just did that." The bartender whispered.
"That'll teach him to leave a helpless individual out in the desert." Amata spat.
"Aww honey if that's all he did to you, you should count yourself lucky." The bartender said sadly shaking her head as she started cleaning up. Amata could only look at her questionably as she proudly reclaimed her hat.
"Your face is almost as red as your hair, here have a drink." She said grabbing a glass and filling it with water.
"But I don't have any caps." Amata answered remembering who took them, she gave the unconscious stranger a small revenge kick.
"Robbed you too? Yeah definitely count yourself lucky, don't worry it on the house. Consider it as thanks for saving me from having to listen to another retelling of his exploits. The names Trudy by the way." The bartender introduced herself as Amata took a seat.
Amata gladly accepted the drink of water and quickly gulped it down not forgetting to savor every drop of it. The nagging feeling of curiosity was soon poking her in the back and she decided to ask Trudy her question.
"So, who is he?" she said looking back checking to see if the stranger was still unconscious. When she turn back to face Trudy she had the look of seeing some abstract horror on her face as she froze as still as a statue.
"Please tell me you're joking." Trudy nervously pleaded.
"No." Amata answered suddenly getting a knot in her stomach.
"Please tell me you're going to kill him." Trudy asked as beads of sweat started to appear on her forehead.
"I-I wasn't planning on it." Amata answered disturbed at her reaction.
"You got to move him, Now!" Trudy yelled.
"Wait, what's the problem?" Amata asked trying to make since of Trudy's sudden panic.
"You honest to god have no idea who you just knocked out?" Trudy asked incredulously.
"I don't know who he is." Amata said with a straight face.
"He is The Courier." Trudy said pointing at the unconscious man.
"He's a courier? Like delivers packages?" Amata asked a bit dumbfounded.
"No honey THE Courier, as in he delivers your soul to the devil. Now get him out of here, I don't want him in here when he wakes up and you don't want to be in the same wasteland when he does." Trudy informed her.
Amata immediately went to pick him up but found he weighed heavier than he looked. She motion for Trudy to come help but the bartender didn't want to be any further involved than she already was. Trudy disappeared out the backdoor and soon came back with a young female close to the same age as Amata with dark orange hair. The young woman took a look at the situation and pointed back and forth between the unconscious Courier and Amata signaling if she really did the act to which Amata nervously nodded yes. The young woman could barely contain her laughter as she spoke.
"You poor unlucky bastard, why the hell would you do such a thing?" she laughed.
"Less laughing and more lifting." Amata grunted as she tried picking him up.
"Alright, I guess it's the least I could do besides this asshole shot Cheyenne now she's not the same. Names Sunny Smiles by the way." Sunny introduced herself moving to help.
"Amata, now where can we move him?" Amata asked grunting upon lifting the unconscious man.
"Oh, I have one place in mind." Sunny smiled.
The sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon and the full moon cast a faint light on them as Amata and Sunny carried The Courier up a hill to a nearby abandon gas station. Trudy brought some rope from Chet's store to tie him up, it was Sunny's idea to hang him upside down.
"Alright, I recommend high tailing it out of here, and getting to the next town. That be Primm just follow the road the signs should guide you there alright. Oh and stop by Chet for some supplies word spreads quickly about what you did and I'm sure he would be more than happy than to give you some supplies on the house." Sunny suggested.
"If he's as bad as you say he is. Why not just shoot him and be rid of him?" Amata asked.
"It's a bit complicated, long story short he's a necessary evil to have around." Sunny answered.
"Oh, Sunny say what you really want to say." The Courier said groggily as he began to regain conscious scaring the two of them.
"Well it was nice knowing you." Sunny noted quickly exiting the gas station leaving Amata alone with The Courier. Even tied up and hanging upside down he still seem to give off an intimidating aura.
"You might scare these people but you don't scare me." Amata told him.
"You just saying that betrays what you're really feeling on the inside." The Courier smirked or frown from Amata's perspective.
"I see you like my hat." He noted nodding towards her head.
"YOUR hat? This is mine, which YOU stole and then proceeded to leave me out there in the desert with my hands and feet bound." Amata retorted.
"You know, you're absolutely right, and I am truly sorry for that. Now if you would be so kindly as to cut me loose, I would be more than happy than to make it up to you." The Courier said with honeyed words but Amata spent enough time in the Capitol Wasteland to know when ones words are coated in venom.
"I would, but then you would probably kill me, so my answer is no." Amata answered with a smug.
The Courier let out a sigh, "Yeah I definitely would, I mean I'll torture you and make you an example and then kill you. Cause what's life without a little bit of torture?"
"You're sick you know that." Amata scolded.
"Ding, ding, ding you're are the 200th person who's not a doctor to say that to me." He retorted. Amata could only cringe in disgust.
"I hope we never meet again." Amata told him as she turn to leave.
"Oh, never say never. We're bound to meet again whether face to face or me looking at you through my sniper scope but we'll going to meet again." He yelled after her as the door closed leaving him all alone.
'And she didn't even leave me something to cut myself free with.' He thought as he began struggling against his restraints.
Sunny waved Amata over she was standing next to middle aged male with salt and pepper hair.
"Don't you have something to give her Chet?" Sunny hinted jabbing him in his rib cage with her elbow.
"I don't see the point, he's just going to kill her, a waste really. Oof." Chet grunted as Sunny jabbed him in his rib cage again. He begrudgingly gave Amata a small knapsack of supplies inside was some fruit and bottle water along with two cases of .357 rounds.
"What's these for?" Amata asked holding up one of the small cases.
"For this of course." Sunny answered handing her strange looking rifle but it reminded Amata of the lever action rifle the Lone Wanderer once owned.
"What is this?" she asked inspecting it.
"Wow you're really not from around here, that's a Cowboy repeater. Push and pull the lever to chamber rounds, look through the little hole to look down the sight. Everything else you'll have to learn on your own." Sunny informed her as Amata went through the motions.
"Now if you're done wasting time. I say you got a good five hour head start until he gets loose so stop wasting time." Sunny suggested.
"Alright, thanks for the supplies, but before I go anyone know where I can find the city of lights?" Amata asked.
"Damn tourist." Chet complained before walking into his shop.
"Don't mind him, he's still sore about The Courier robbing him last week. You want New Vegas if you want to waste time, which I don't see why you would want to, you can see it from the graveyard that's over at the water tower. Just watch yourself if your heading there it's a tourist trap some people actually use it to trap tourist if you catch my meaning." Sunny warned.
"Alright noted, thank again for everything." Amata thanked as she started to head out of town.
"Just try not to die." Sunny yelled after her.
"With The Courier on her ass I doubt she last." Chet said from inside his shop as he locked his doors.
"You're a real asshole you know that Chet." Sunny scolded.
AN: Thanks for reading and I hope you are liking the story so far, now admittedly I did have some inner conflict with myself as to whether the Courier should be evil or good but I also didn't want him to be a copy of the Lone Wanderer from the previous story so to see how he turns out I suggest reading the next chapter!