Here's an extra long chapter because I wrote it as such. Enjoy!

Chapter 7 - To the Valley

"Arcade! I need a clamp!" I yell out from across the tent from where I am performing surgery on a man who got shot earlier today. The tool is given to me and I am able to get right back to work on drawing out the bullet that seems to be sitting in the man's stomach.

I slowly reach into the stomach with tweezers and after a little poking around, I find the bullet and draw it out. The acid covered piece of lead seems to be broken in half, so there is at least one more pieces sitting around in the man's stomach. "Dammit," I mumble as I go back in.

The tent suddenly explodes in activity as three NCR officers burst into the room with their weapons raised and at the ready. "Fox no-name, you are under arrest for the murder of the NCR citizen Jeff Dixon. Put the weapon down and surrender!" I glance up at the officer to see a pudgy man with a red face that vaguely reminds me of my uncle.

I look at my hands and see that I have only a scalpel and tweezers in my hand. 'Weapons?' I thought to myself. I shake my head at the stupidity and continue to root around for the bullet until I feel a slight hit on the end of the tweezers, "Ahah! Got you, ya litta bastard!" I quietly exclaim as I pull out the rest of the slug by the size of the fragment.

The officer continues to yell as I pull out some thread and start stitching up the man's stomach with something that can dissolve in the body. Once the cut is closed, I let the skin folds come back into place and just as I begin the next set of sutures, I feel a hand on my shoulder that pulls me backwards violently. I stumble backwards and slam into a tray of unused tools, which flies everywhere when my body hits them. Growling, I focus back to the situation that was happening around me to see the officer holding a firearm in my face.

"What?! I'm fucking busy you little bitches!" I snarl at the officer, letting my sharpened canines show to make sure they people know I am not happy in the least. "Arcade, can you stitch up the man while I deal with this?" The man calls out his answer as he steps around us and pull out his own needle and thread.

The officer beckons his buddies forward and they haul me up to my feet. As the men manhandle me out of the tent, the one that threw me starts sprouting off the Miranda rights to me. "You are under arrest for murder, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be h-"

I cut the man off before he can finish the rights, "Shove that bullshit up your ass! I didn't kill anyone in the last fucking month! The last person I took down was one of the siegers that couldn't take a bullet to the stomach without dying and that was a justified case of self-defense!"

I see Julie running over as officer turns. I shift my attention back in time to notice his arm raised. I try to move, but the two lackeys have a good hold on me and all I can do is take the heavy punch across my cheekbone. "Hey! What do you think you're doing to one of my doctors?!"

The officer turns to Julie and says in a smug, hearty tone that makes me want to kill him all the more, "We are taking this scum to hang for the murder of a noble NCR citizen."

I spoke up, "They are saying I killed Dixon or some shit like that!"

Captain Small-dick turns and gives me another good one across the eye as he shouts, "Silence! You were seen at the scene of the crime by an anonymous witness!"

"Bullshit! The NCRs been trying to kill me for months! I bet this is just some ploy after I killed all your little assassins!" I scream at the man from my position. "I didn't touch Dixon! I may have hated his guts for what he was doing, but I'm not some guy that murders people randomly! I'm a fucking doctor!"

Julie finally got in between us before the officer punches me in the face again. "Captain! You would believe nameless street rabble over Doctor Fox's and my word? Fox has shown himself to be a trustworthy individual and no matter how much I hate that he did it, he did take down the leader of your enemy and a large bit of their army too!"

The fire in Julie's eyes contradicts everything I have seen of the kind and sweet woman. The boss gives off the feel of a lioness protecting her pride more than a simple doctor trying to defend an employee. My instincts swell at the sight of her fierceness, but I crush them down before they can affect me. I do let a small smirk come to my lips when I see the officer's dumbstruck face.

The man tries to stutter out a reply, but with one eyebrow raise and a shift in her stance, the man couldn't face the woman's glare. The man beckons his men to release me and quickly strides out of the camp to get as much distance between him and Julie as possible. "This isn't over!" The man calls back just before he gets through the gate.

I rub my face, ignoring the blood that I smear on my forehead as I do so. I turn around with a sigh and head back into my tent where Arcade is finishing up my patient for me. "Thanks Master," I mutter as I take a seat next to the table. The anti-social man just grunts out his reply as he pats the bandage and drags the man off the table. The limp body found its home on one of the few blood-stained mattresses for resting patients within my tent. Once the man positions the man to fit on the mattress, he strolls out of the tent after patting me on the shoulder.

I hear the tent flaps shut and turn to see Julie standing by the entrance with her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. "Did you kill Dixon?" The woman asks in a no-nonsense voice that reminds me a bit of McGonagall.

I nod shamefully. I know it was a bad thing to do, but he was hurting so many people. I glance up and see the disappointed look on her face that just destroys me. I would rather be shot in the head again than see that look on her face directed at me.

I can feel my ears flatten against the top of my head as I shrug my head down further. "I understand you did with the Legion and a small part of me even supported it, but this was a single man Fox! While a chem pusher, he didn't deserve to die! Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I want to nod and say I do, I really do, but I can't lie to her. I can never lie to the woman who has shown me so much kindness. "I'm sorry, I know what you are saying, but... I just can't understand truly why his life was precious. I know the theory behind all that life is precious, but I just don't feel any connections with humans in general, not fully. For you guys, my lack of human connection doesn't matter as you are all part of my family, my... pack, but for people like Dixon or even that officers, I don't mind having to kill them too much if it would be to help more people."

Julie only gives me a shake of her head that makes me hunch further like a cowering dog. "Look, you are a promising doctor, but this can't go unpunished." I still when I hear the word, "Punish."

"Please don't kick me out! I know it was wrong! I do, but the man was poisoning people with addictive acid lacing his drugs! He was hurting people! Please, please don't kick me out of the pack, please!" I beg the woman, tears almost in my eyes at the thought of being alone in this world again.

The head doctor just sighs and beckons me to follow her. I do so, too upset at the thought that I will be losing one of the places I could almost call home, again. Julie leads me into her office and locks the door behind me. I standing awkwardly next to her table as she leans against the wall.

After a pause, she starts speaking, "I'm not kicking you out dear. I know you were just trying to help things in your own way, but there will be a punishment for your actions. I can't let the NCR take you. I may be friends with the major, but I know what the NCR does to people they don't like and with all those assassins, you won't get a trial if you go with them."

Julie rubs her temple as she leans further into the wall. "That leaves sending you off on an escort job. There is a trader caravan that is heading to Utah in a few days and they need a medic. They are giving us five thousand caps to hire one of us and it will be a dangerous journey that will last three months.

While you are there, try to get some training from the native tribes. I hear they have great medicine men and knowing some of their methods could be beneficial to the followers." I could feel my tail starting to wag from my excitement. I get this great chance to learn and Julie isn't too mad at me! I try to control it, but the movement caught the doctor's eye. "What is that in your pant leg?"

I take a step back and try the door. "I have the key Fox." The doctor jingles the key in front of me. Fucking emotion based tail! Four goddamn years I have been fine and when things are looking up, when I can go off and learn obscure medicine and help more people, my tail has to blow things! "Fox," Julie says warningly while placing her hands on her hips. The image of a mother trying to get information out of their kid. Well, except with the tall punk mohawk.

I can feel tears starting to fall down my face, "P-ple-please don't b-be mad. Please!" I beg her. The woman's face softens when she sees the tears and gets off the wall to stand in front of me. I hesitantly reach up and pull of my bandana. Julie shows a lot of curiosity as no one in camp has seen me without my bandana on. "I-I accidentally f-found a-a base that Keyes set up wh-when I was thirteen." I rub my hair to let the ears pop up to their two-inch height. "I got exposed to some f-fox gene ex-experimental stuff and it g-gave me ears and a t-tail." I pull out my tail and she gasps at the sight of the animistic parts. "It also a-affected my m-mind for a more... beast-like m-mentailty. It's why I c-can k-kill so many people." I see her look at my tail with a detached look. "Please don't hate me," I beg her, my tears still streaming down my face.

Julie steps forward and pulls me down for a hug. I've been taller than her since I was sixteen, so being halfway to eighteen has me a good few inches taller than the woman, even with her hairstyle. "It's okay," she mumbles in my ear. When I hear this, I return the hug, burying my face in her lab coat. "I don't mind the little additions. Now, we'll talk about it more when you get back. Just know that it's fine."

We let each other go and I straighten out my clothing while she gives me a little smile. I push the tail back down and pull the bandana over my head. "I have to say that you do a good job hiding the tail. I never would have though you had a three and a half-foot extension coming out of your back even if I believed it was possible." I give a tentative smirk at the compliment as I clean up my face. "Okay, the caravan is waiting by the Brook's Tumbleweed ranch. You have three days to get ready and go." I nod and leave. I do need to pack my babies and a few essentials.

I pull on my vest under my lab coat and put my weapons in their homes. My carbine and sniper are hung off my torso and my packs find their places around my body. I pack away a few cans of food and empty canteen for my water spell. I really need to start making new spells. I guess I can work on a glamour for my ears. The tail will take some rune work to hide that part. Maybe a storage rune array that doesn't disconnect the tail from my body, but makes a little portal into the storage space, centering around the base of the tail.

Yeah, that's going to be a hard one to figure out. I think I'll stick with the glamour spell first and foremost for now. When I figure out how to store my tail away, I'll do the same for my ears so I can finally let my hair be free from the bandana. I miss wearing shorts outside, but the ears can be managed faster and give me grounding for the tail spell.

Once I am ready, I set out immediately, trusting that the doctors will keep my stuff safe until I return. I set out the moment I am ready. I know where Brook's farm is and it should be easy to reach there in the next two days by foot.

The only issue that arises in my travel are a few fiends and a swarm of cazadors. Both sets are easily put down by my carbine before they can get close to hurting me. I'm lucky that the fiends didn't have any guns though as they got the drop on me, waiting to ambush people in the ruins of an old factory.

I sleep in a burnt out car for the night and in the morning, I make it to the ranch that Julie told me about. Once I exterminate the giant ant population in the barn, I start looking around the building, but all I find is a few cans of food which I take for myself along with some bullets.

I give up after an hour and start looking around in the surrounding parts. It takes me five hours, five fucking HOURS, to find the caravan. They were hiding in a cave three miles away and made little arrows on the house that pointed which way they went.

I stumble in the cave as the sunset behind me to see five people and a few mutated cows with supplies on their backs. "Thank fucking Eris! I finally found you guys," I exclaim as I approach the old man who is sitting on a wooden crate that looks to hold booze.

The old man stands up at the sight of me. "You the medic?" I nod as I stop in front of him. "Took you long enough. One more day and I would have started subtracting money from the payment to you guys. Anyways, name's Jed. Jed Masterson. Anyways, we are here for one more day just encase someone picked up our broadcast and wants to join in. Feel free to meet the crew, we're going to be together for a while."

I nod and don't do any of that. I park myself down in a corner of the cave and drift off to sleep. Running around looking for the people took all my energy.

It turns out that no one is coming anyway or if they are, they are too late. Jed calls for all of us to get up and get moving the moment the sun broke over the horizon. I pick myself up off the ground and follow next to the cows, near the middle of the group.

The first week turns out to really try everyone on the trip. We apparently had the misfortune of having a navigator that had a broken pipboy and a severe jet addiction that I could care less about fixing. After all the time without his beloved drug, the man got the jitters so bad he had a seizure right off the side of a cliff, cutting our number down to five.

Whenever I get a free moment to myself, I practice my glamour spell which is actually coming along quite nicely. Thanks to my experience in the art of invisibility, hiding the ears from sight is not too hard. I'll still have to figure out enchantments so I can ground the damn thing, but as it is, I can probably take my bandana off in low light and be fine.

That night at camp after the man died, we were all quiet, or most of us were. One of the bodyguards would not stop bitching about the decisions that Jed keeps making. I let it happen, but when she wakes me up for the fifth time in the evening, I snap. "Would you shut the hell up woman! You're being paid big bucks for an easy job! Would you rather being clearing a cazador nest for some junkie that probably won't pay you or work for a trader that will?!" The woman just glares at me. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now be quiet, we all need some sleep."

This seemed to have put the woman in a fouler mood, but she kept the moaning down to a minimum. As we walk along yet another canyon, Jed spoke up, "Now this is going to be a long journey, we aren't even halfway there yet. Now listen to old Jed speak to pass the time."

I walk a little faster to keep close to hear some stories. The constant slow-paced walking is mind-numbing and I need some reprieve from it. "A few decades back, folks in the NCR started to hear about a community in northern Utah called New Canaan." Is that who they are trading with?

"Didn't know much about them, except that they were religious folks. Sent out missionaries to talk to the tribes. We've seen our share of cuts, but the new Canaanites, they were honest traders. Good fighters, too. Raiders wouldn't tangle with 'em." Now that speaks volumes about their skill level. Raiders are some of the dumbest motherfuckers I've ever seen.

"But then the Legion appeared in Arizona. I reckon mister Fox here knows all about them, seeing as he was the one who assassinated their leader." Figures the guy knows about that. The remaining bodyguards all look at me with awe in their eyes that makes me more than a little uncomfortable.

Jed smirks at my discomfort and continues the story. Bastard. "Turns out Caesar's war chief, the Malpais Legate, was a New Canaanite. Joshua Graham. Legend goes that Graham was the meanest, toughest son of a bitch in the whole damned Legion. The New Canaanites wouldn't talk about him. They were ashamed, not that I can blame them. Well at Hoover Dam, the Malpais Legate finally met his match. Hanlon and Oliver kicked his New Canaanite butt right back over the river."

I wonder how this pertains to our destination? Are we going to trade with the New Canaanites or just something to pass the time. Both are fine, but I do like to know the reason behind things. "Caesar had to make an example for the others, to show them that even at the highest level, failure wouldn't be tolerated. He had Graham covered in pitch, lit on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon. People say he didn't even scream on the way down."

The man laughs a bit for some reason after he finish that leg of the story. "I reckon if Caesar didn't do that, we'd be in a much deeper heap of trouble than we already are from the Legion." I find that I have to agree. If Graham was such a badass, than killing him probably was not the best plan for Caesar to do, especially when Graham probably could have killed me if he was around. "Anyways, not long after, some of the slaves and tribals started to talk. Said Graham wasn't dead. After his legacy, it really wasn't a big surprise. All this talk bothered Caesar, so he forbid the name Joshua Graham to ever escape his mens' lips. Wanted Graham erased from history, not that it worked."

That sounds an awful lot like Voldemort and how people reacted to him even when they thought he was dead. I guess Caesar takes after the Minister a bit. Ah, that must have been why it was so easy to kill his army, the man was probably a fool outside of battle.

"All that is left is a tribal ghost story about the burned man, but the New Canaan's been silent for a long time. Maybe it;s a coincidence. Maybe the Malpais Legate is dead. Or maybe Graham crawled out of that Canyon and went home."

The story did a great job killing time for that day and we set up camp as night falls once more. Maybe I can meet this Burned Man, find out what happened if he's still alive that is. Might be a bit interesting. Also, need to see if he is still loyal if by some miracle he actually is alive, so I can kill him before he becomes a problem.

The rest of the trip took three weeks, making it a month-long walk and that just proves that it will be another month-long walk back. Damn, I'm not as excited about this anymore. Sure I got a new spell down and have started on the tail, making no progress by the way as I am right about the need for runes, but the trip has been a drag on my patience.

Jed took a deep breath as we come out of a crack in the cliff side, letting us see a breath-taking sight of the Zion valley. Almost makes the trip worth it, almost. "Alright. I know it's been a long couple of weeks, but here we are. Zion. I know your feet hurt, I know you're all tired. But I need everyone's mind on the trail ahead. These parts can be dangerous if we're not careful."

The woman, Stella, opens her mouth again, "Ain't the trail ahead that worries me, Jed. Those descents we made, through that slot canyon back up there. Ain't no way we're getting back the way we came. And then what?"

Jed sighs as he rubs his head, "Goddammit, Stella, heard you the first time, and the fifteenth too. The New Canaanites will know a way. And if they don't, we got maps of the range in my supplies that we can look over if the need arises. Alright, get moving and keep an eye out for tribals! They are not the most friendly bunch out here!"

I make sure my rifle has a full clip as I match my pace with Jed to cover him as the bodyguards move up. A thump sounds next to me and I look over to see Jed is missing part of his chest cavity. The man doesn't even make a sound as he falls to the ground, eyes wide open, not even seeing the death coming. "Ambush!" I scream as I dive behind some rocks.

I see our three guards all try to take cover, but they don't quite reach any before bullets tear through their leather armor like butter. And I have now failed my job in five seconds. I peek out of cover in my focused state and count out the targets as I aim. I see nine in total and when I fire, the count falls to eight.

I stay up for three more seconds and luckily get four more people before my clip runs dry. The tribe members may have a drop on us, but with their lack of armor, they can not take a bullet at all. I focus once more and pop out on the other side of the rock, taking care of the rest in a haphazard fashion that wastes an entire clip, but killing three people in thirty bullets seems about right.

I reload as I pick myself up and head over to our supply cow. It apparently was considered a threat as there are about nine bullet holes in the creature's two heads. I pillage the remains of the supplies as I watch everywhere for any movement. I am able to grab the follower's payment plus everyone else's pay. I also took a sack of food that I drop into my backpack.

I took the ammo supply and a few explosives coupled with some nice jeans and dress shirts that are mostly in good conditions. Once the animal is looted dry, I pick myself up and shoulder my rifle as I advance. I may have made quick work of the supplies, but a minute is all an attacker needs to find a good position.

I start down the slope in front of me to see two tribals by a wooden bridge. We notice each other at the same time, but I was more ready and put three into each of their bodies. Their bodies lurch back under the hits and tumble off the side of the cliff, leaving only blood and one of their weapons behind.

Moving up, scanning the surroundings as I do so, I check out the weapon to see it like a tommy gun that the Yank gangsters use in the movies, but without the drum clip. I have no use for it, so I just grab the clip out of it and toss the gun off the cliff to join its wielder.

I run across the bridge and I get to the end to see a man behead one of the tribal members with an axe. I roll behind some cover and take aim at the tribal, but he doesn't do anything, but stand there looking at the dead body. "Man, these guys are bad fighters." I hear the man exclaim in accented English as he pushes the corpse off his rock.

I see the man sheath his blade and look around, "Now where is that survivor? Leader needs to talk to them." When I hear this, I take a chance and come out of my cover, my gun still trained on the man, but my finger off the trigger. If someone wants to talk with me, I can be cautious about it instead of killing everything that moves.

"Freeze!" I yell as I line up his head. "Don't move!" I follow up my command with a meaningless one to help get the order in the man's skull. The man does as I command after jumping in fright. "Who are you and are you with these people?" I call over in a stern voice, gesturing with the hand holding the barrel steady at the dead man at the base of the rock. Dumb question, but you never know.

"N-no! I- I am Follows-Chalk! These are the White Legs! I don't fight with these people, they are terrible human beings!" I squint at him as I lower my weapon to the man's relief. "You... You came from the outside, yes? From the civilized lands?"

"I wouldn't say civilized, but yes, I come from the Mojave Desert," I answer the man as he hops off the rock to stand in front of me.

"Wow! Joshua will want to hear about this." Speak of the devil, Graham is actually alive. The man seems to realize something and continue to speak. "Oh... Joshua Graham is our leader. Thanks to him, the Dead horses are strong and safe from our enemies. He'll want to talk to anyone coming up from south-ways. Will you follow?"

I think about it. While I do need to talk with Graham, this might be dangerous. Although, if they prove to be friendly, I could learn some medicine from them before I head back to the Followers. Plus I need a map anyways. "Alright. I'll talk with Graham."

Follows-Chalk smiles at this and beckons me to follow him. The man leads me along the path, cheerfully talking about this and that, asking any question that comes to mind about Vegas or life outside the canyon in general. "I hear people go to these big buildings and give money away to play cards and keep doing that until they are broke. Is that true?"

I answer the curious man, "Yeah, Casinos. They don't give their money away, they gamble it. You know, if they win they get more money, but if they lose, they lose the money they put in. Some people find it fun and if you do it with friends, it's a good old time."

The man says in an awe-filled voice, "Fascinating!" I chuckle a bit at his child-like wonder at common things, reminding me of first-years when they see magic for the first time. I only saw it once, but it was amusing. As we talk, a roar goes up around us that echoes along the valley.

A corpse of a giant gecko comes flying over a rock in front of us, putting me on alert. On the rock rose a Yao Guai that has blood all over its face. I pull out my sniper as the creature yells again and starts to stalk off the rock towards us. "Oh no, no, no, no, no! Run, it's going to ki-" I cut the man's panic off as he starts to backpedal with the sound of my suppressed rifle.

The round enters the creature's eye and it just drops. There is no exit wound which speaks of thick as hell hide that can stop a high-caliber bullet. "Well. That's dinner for the next few days," I observe as I lower my rifle. I wonder how mutated bear tastes?

"Y-y-y-y-you killed the beast!" Follows-Chalk yells as I sling my sniper onto my back. "Th-that's amazing!" I can almost see the stars twinkling in the man's eyes as he looks at me. Rather uncomfortable. Looks like that weird kid, Colin I think his name was, back at Hogwarts.

I shrug at him and grab the bear by the back leg. I tie a rope around the leg and to my waist. After a few pulls, I start moving nicely even with the half ton of pure muscle dragging behind me. "Shit this is heavy," I comment as if I'm talking about clouds. Follows-Chalk just picks up the pace and leads me to his tribe's camp.

It takes a good part of the day and leaves me with legs made of lead, but we manage to get to the camp across the valley. The water didn't help things either because, while I can avoid the road on the way here, the water leading to the camp is an entirely different story.

Thankfully, Follows-Chalk disables the traps in the water and moves them out of my way so they don't clamp down on the dead bear behind me. The moment we reach the camp, tribe members come out of their tents and help carry the bear out of the water and into the camp. I don't mind giving them the bear, so I follow them and once the corpse is situated, I give a hard stomp on its snort which knocked out a dozen teeth which I pocket. A little trophy that I can carry or make a necklace out of. Ooh, I'll do that with these things!

My plan set, I see Follows-Chalk waving his hand at me to come to him near the mouth of a cave. I'm going to guess that is where Joshua is, so I jog over and join him. "It is still amazing how you got that Yao Guai all the way here, you are indeed a mighty warrior!"

I have to bark out a laugh at this. When I see the questioning look on the man's face, I elaborate what's so funny. "I'm a doctor. Sure I've done far, far more than my fair share of murder, but I've never been called a warrior before."

"You're a medicine man?" Follows-Chalk questions as we head deeper in the cave.

"By the looks of his coat, he's one of the Followers of the Apocalypses," A deep voice answers for me from the other end of the cave. I look over to see a man wrapped in bandages from head to toe that is checking out some .45 pistols. "I apologize for you're welcome to our home, the White Legs beat us to it and they have very little manners with new people. I don't know if you were close to the other members of your group, but you have my sympathy. I pray for the safety of all good people who come to Zion, even Gentiles, but we can't expect God to do all the work."

"Thank you for your words sir. I came to help the traders make contact with the new Canaanites, but seeing as they're dead... Yeah. To be honest, I have no idea what to do now. I have absolutely no idea how to get out and back to the Mojave Desert and my boss wants me to learn some medical arts here to bring back. Anything I can do for you to get your help for these endeavors?"

The man nods as he continues to check out the pistols. "I have bad news for your employers. The New Canaan was destroyed, its citizens scattered. All because of the White Legs. And Caesar, of course. The White Legs want to join the Legion and their rite of passage was the destruction of New Canaanites, almost assuredly because of me. The good news is that we can help you find your way back. Daniel, one of the other New Canaanites, has made many maps of the regions. More bad news is that we do have problems and can't help you get back at the moment."

"Well, I can't just watch Legion scum mess with good people, so if I help you quell this little... issue, mind teaching me some of your medicine craft as well as some maps for a way out?"

"You're a good neighbor to us. We all go though periods of darkness. In such times, we can turn to the lord, but it's always goof to have friends. Daniel and I need Pre-War tools to help us navigate beyond Zion if the day comes we need to evacuate. Normally we would have some Dead Horses or Sorrows, Daniel's tribe, look for them, but many Pre-War buildings in the valley are taboo. They won't go inside. We need a compass from the crashed scout bus, a medpack from the ranger station, some lasting food from lunch boxes in the tourist center and last, we need a pair of walkie-talkies from the fishing lodge." Not a lot of stuff, but I can see how the walkie-talkies can be helpful for the two tribes.

"Follows-Chalk will go with you. He is inexperienced, but he knows enough about our language that he can ignore some of the taboos that follow their own. Have a safe trip and report to Daniel when you've collected everything." I nod at the man and leave the cave the way I came in.

Outside, I see the Yao Guai cooking over the fire. I smile when I see some of the children dance around the flames and see their parents follow their example to play with them. Follows-Chalk sees me come out of the cave and meets me halfway from the cave and camp. "So I hear that I will be going with you. I know where everything is too! Oh, this is so exciting!"

His enthusiasm is a welcome change to the deary task of walking. The man is so curious about the history of all the Pre-War things that no one talks about. So we talk as we walk and the only thing that breaks our conversation is when I shoot the occasional wild dog that thinks it can take us.

After an hour of walking, we come to a burnt out bus at the bottom of a ravine. The middle of the bus is torn open to the elements, but with one look through the bus, ignoring the small skeletons, I see a compass in one of the boy scout's hand. I gentle pry the thing from the poor child and check it over. The needle fell out inside it and the glass is cracked, but it is easy to fix with a little subtle magic with my back to Follows-Chalk. "Found one. Alright, let's get the radios next."

The trip to the tourist center is once more uneventful and we pass the time the same way as we did from the Dead Horse camp. Though I ask more question of where everything is. Follows-Chalk points out where the Sorrows' camp is and tells me a little about them. They are near pacifists in nature and hate needless violence. Their warriors are tough as one of their rites into their fighter numbers is to take down a Yao Guai with melee weapons. They also have the best medics thanks to their lack of war-like ways. I guess that is where I go to get some training.

"Wait! There's the Tourist place!" Follows-Chalk calls out, pointing at a building below us from the cliff we seem to have climbed at some point in out journey. I shrug and start to climb down the cliff face. There is enough ledges that I can almost just jump down the entire thing, except for the last part. There is a thirty foot drop between me and the ground, but I easily fix this by backing up to the rocks and taking off at the ledge.

The center is about fifteen feet tall, so I throw myself off the ledge and land on the roof of the building. The old wood nearly broke under my feet, but I forward roll to disperse my weight which leaves me sitting on top of the roof with a ruffled look about me. 'That was fun!' I laugh in my mind with a smile on my face.

I hop off the side of the building and kick in the door of the center. Inside I see a few giant mantises, but I just give them a bullet to the torso and they die quick enough. I root around the place for a bit and find a total of six lunch boxes that are still sealed with their food inside. I stuff them in my pack just as Follows-chalk runs in, sweating from his workout. "What the shit man!" The man yells in his thick accent. "Don't go jumping down cliffs like that, it's dangerous!"

I can only chuckle under my breath as I pass the man. "Found the food, now where is the Fishing lodge?" The man's answer is cut short as a bullet slams into the side of the center. I look down the road as I shoulder my rifle to see three White Legs charging us. Two have flaming swords I believe are called shishkabobs. The gunman is a guy with a pistol that is trying to unjam it.

My eyebrows furrow at the sheer amount of stupidity in front of me. I simple shake my head and let a burst of slugs take down each until there is no longer a living soul. I look over at Follows-Chalk and the man is staring at the dead group too. "They are usually more... prepared than that," the man mumbles as he starts off down the road.

The Fishing lodge is a gold mine. I raid the liquor cabinet for the booze and find a key to a safe and the radios. I make sure to grab everything in the cabinet and gun safe which amounts to over a hundred rounds of .45s that I dump into a pouch that I dubbed the forty-five section within my bag, so I don't mix them up with my nine millimeters. The booze goes with the small supply I keep on me. Never know when you might want a good stiff drink.

"Okay, got my liquor and your radios. Now we just need to go to the Ranger Station for the medpack."

"These Pre-War buildings stink like a month dead gecko," Follows-Chalk comments as he sniffs near a fridge which probably has food older than both of us combined in it.

We head out and make our way to the Station with no problems. I find the pack in the back and using some alcohol, I am able to sterilize the bandages that has been cracked up with time as well as salvage what is left. The pack is a lot like my pouch on my leg, but with stuff from a doctor bag in there as well. The pack even has the infamous medical hatchet in it.

I toss the bag into my backpack and we are good. I let Follows-Chalk look around the station for a few more minutes until he gets bored. "For a taboo place, this is kind of bland," he laughs as we leave. I nod my head as I chuckle at the joke. "Hey, let's go to the ranger outpost! The view from up there is amazing and I can show you where everything is in the valley. Plus the sun will be setting sun and the sight is excellent, is that the word?" I nod in agreement to both parts of what he spoke about and we head out.

It takes until around six o'clock to clammer up the side of the mountain where the outpost is, but the sight of the descending sun is worth it. The two of us spent a hour looking to see where everything is, and I make sure to focus on the image to get a good image of it al We are sitting on some rocks next to the cliff side as I clean my rifle for the day and Follows-Chalk is examining something he took from the tourist center. It looks like one of the little dinos that people can buy in Novac. Those things are everywhere. l.

I wonder why there are so many for one location. I mean, tourism and all, but is the number of them really all that necessary?

A crack sounds and Follows-Chalk gives a cry as he slips forward. I follow him down and hide behind the rock next to the groaning man. That was a gunshot. 'How many times am I going to be ambushed today?! This is ridiculous! For the love of everything holy, just let me watch the sun in peace!'

I pop out of cover and see ten of the White Legs bearing down on us from a high ground. 'Well shit.' I duck behind cover before any of the bullets can take my head off and check out my partner. The bullet went clean through his left side, probably going through the small intestine. It's bad and needs to be fixed quickly, but I can't really do that here! I glance over the side of the cliff and see that there is water below us. I grab the moaning tribal by the arm, "How deep is the water below us?!"

The man stares at me with unfocused eyes for a few seconds as he groans before he answers, "Five man deep, eh! Why?" I grab him up in my arms and make a dash at the cliffside. I fling us both off the edge as bullets slam into the ground around us. Follows-Chalk starts to scream louder as we advance to the ledge and as I jump, I take a clean on in the leg as we start to descend towards the dark waters.

I let the tribal in my arms go as I straighten up for the hit. Follows-Chalk tries to do the same, but was still too out of it to brace himself. I go under the clear water and look to my side where Follows-Chalk is squirming around. I hook my arm around him and paddle shore. I don't waste a second in putting the man on my shoulder in a fireman's carry before booking it away.

The White Legs takes some potshots at us, but we are too far away for them to get a bead on us. I move as I can go with a hole in my calf muscle which is not too fast. Any animal stupid enough to get in my way got a nine millimeter hole in their head from my darling Maria. We are closest to the Sorrows' camp, so that is where I am heading. I can fix up Follows-Chalk in safety quite easily.

With my desperate speed, we reach the camp in only twenty minutes. I can still hear Follows-Chalk's weak heart beat behind my head, so I still have time as I splash through the little river to the tribe's camp.

Then some twisted karma happens. I step right onto a bear trap and it embeds itself just below my bullet wound. "FUCK! AHHH!" I scream out shrilly as I pitch forward, dropping Follows-Chalk into the water as I grab my injured leg. "Stupid sunsabitches. I swear to Merlin, I am going to fucking torture the person who put this down! Fucking shit!" More profanities follow as I try to pry the trap off my leg.

The release is not there, so it seems like I'm crawling. Huffing, I start to move, but the pain increases by ten folds as the trap stops. I look back to see it is spiked into the ground. I start laughing hysterically as I pull out Maria and put the rest of her rounds into the stake, blowing the piece of shit apart.

With tears streaming down my eyes from the pain, I hook my arm around Follows-Chalk and begin to drag him up the river. I see a few people coming towards us and I about shot them if not for the leader wearing a farmer's hat. The man comes to a stop next to me and orders his tribe to get Follows-Chalk to safety in their native tongue. Through gritted teeth, I ask, "You Daniel?"

"Yes, I apologize for the trap," Daniel says as he helps me to my feet. "I make them to hinder the White Legs as much as possible and that means taking the release off. I will have to destroy the springs inside the trap to get it off. It will hurt I'm afraid."

I growl out at him, "I should put a bullet in your head for this! I mean, I just got shot in that leg too!" The man once more apologizes as he half carries me into his camp. The camp looks similar to the Dead horse's, but more spread out on the cliffs. The man places me in their medicine man tent as he leaves to get the tools needed for the job of removing the bear trap. I pass out from the pain long before the man gets back.