Well, looks like we'll be finishing this story this week! That means three updates: today, Thursday and Saturday!

"She's where?"

Raul wasn't afraid of Craig Boone. For one thing, the ghoul was more than nine times his age. He also understood what drove the man and knew he wasn't prone to random violence. So when the sniper had arrived at Forlorn hope at Raul's summons and received news of The Courier's whereabouts, Raul knew Boone wasn't going to harm him.

However, when Raul watched the man put a dent into the scrap metal wall he stood next to with his fist, he understood why others might be afraid. Raul wondered for a moment if Boone had lost his cool, but the younger man blew out a breath and seemed to calm down.

He then set down his pack and started sifting through his things, pulling out anything that wasn't stimpaks or ammo. Raul watched him, mildly curious, as he pulled out a glowing bottle of Nuka-Cola Victory. Boone looked at it cryptically, then shoved it back in the bag. He then noticed Raul looking at him.

"How long has she been there?"

Raul sighed, checking the old watch in his pocket. "Five hours."

Boone nodded, then stood, putting his bag over his shoulder and gathering up the discarded items. He made for the quartermaster, hoping he had some grenades to trade. He called back over his shoulder as he went.

"Are you coming?"

Raul looked up at the setting sun for a moment, thinking. On one hand, this was definitely suicide. On the other, he wasn't about to let the guy go on his own. Beyond all of that, Raul knew Layla was in trouble. He didn't have any proof, but he knew the girl. Trouble followed her like her shadow.

He caught up with Boone, hoping the sniper had a plan.

*.*.*

"Do you have a plan?" Raul asked as they made their way toward the Sniper's nest overlooking Cottonwood Cove. Boone stared down at the small town, grimace painted on his face. The ghoul was starting to worry about the man's state of mind.

Raul had known when they had first met that Boone had deep psychological issues. He had brought it up once with Layla, but the girl had given him a grim look and told him she couldn't talk about it. He had gotten some of the story out of Boone, but there were parts the younger man refused to speak about.

At first, he had wondered if they were traveling with a psychopath waiting for the last push to send him over the edge. The old ghoul had also thought Layla couldn't see the danger behind the man, blinded by good intentions and unrequited love. But has time had gone on, Boone had grown more stable. He was fairly sure it was The Courier's influence; she had given him some of the things the sniper never thought he'd have again.

Now Raul trusted Boone, even counted him as a friend. There had been a myriad of reasons why he had informed only the sniper about The Courier's whereabouts. The man's seething hatred of the Legion made him completely willing to shoot his way through their camp, his prowess with a rifle made it semi-possible they would succeed, and he wouldn't think twice about going on a suicide mission. The others had things to live for. Raul and Boone had found that their lives had turned into following Layla into whatever fresh hell she could find.

He knew they were going to die, but he couldn't leave the girl to face her death alone. He owed her his life, and now he was paying her back. Boone had been waiting to die for over a year, and now seemed eager to get his chance. They had come to the metal shack that was the sniper's nest. Raul looked at the sniper, who stared down at the settlement below them, lost in thought.

"Gorobets said they did a little recon on Fortification Hill," Boone finally spoke, "at least what they could see from the Dam. All they were sure of is that the main camp is three concentric circles. More than likely, Caesar's in the center."

"Which means we'll have to fight our way through Cottonwood Cove, take a very exposed raft up the river, then fight our way through three camps of Legionaries, probably take on Caesar's personal guards, pick up Layla and go home?"

Boone was surveying Cottonwood through his scope. He didn't look up. "Yeah, that's about it."

"You're just as bad as she is," Raul muttered. Boone didn't answer, but lowered his rifle. He looked over to Raul, regarding the ghoul carefully.

"Look, you don't owe me anything. If you want to walk away from this, it's fine. I always figured this was how it was going to end-"

"You always thought you'd be trying to rescue an overly idealistic courier from the trap she walked into on purpose?"

"…but I don't expect anyone to get dragged into it," Boone finished. Raul laughed.

"I got 'dragged into' this by her, not you. And I do owe her."

Boone nodded, sharing the sentiment. Both men looked at the dark town for a moment. Boone then leveled his rifle at the Legionary closest to their position.

"I'm going to start picking them off. It'll take them time to get up here. Keep them off my back when they do."

"All right. Try to get them quicker than they can run," Raul said, checking to make sure his guns were ready.

Boone nodded, lining up a shot. He took a deep breath and let it out, pulling the trigger. It didn't take long after the man's head exploded before the town started buzzing with activity. The sniper kept lining up shots as more targets exposed themselves. There weren't all that many in Cottonwood now, which meant their chances of getting into The Fort weren't as terrible as he feared.

No matter how fast he kept feeding magazines into his rifle or how many shots he made, he knew it was just a matter of time before a group made their way to them. He knew time had run out when Raul cursed and started shooting.

Boone snapped off one more shot, taking the head off a Decanus. He looked up to find Raul crouched behind a rock, trying to keep the approaching soldiers at bay. Boone swung his rifle their way, picking off a few while Raul shot the legs out from under their leader. Soon they had dispatched the group, and Raul stood from the rock.

"Is that it? It can't be that easy." The words had barely left the ghoul's mouth when both men heard the whirring of motors. Raul looked over the rock he had been hiding behind and cursed in Spanish. Boone looked as well and saw six Legionaries and three mongrels heading their way. Behind them were three men with chainsaws.

The group split up, one circling back around the other side of the rock face. Raul swung his weapon down on the first dog who reached him. It let out a yelp and fell back, but another leapt forward, latching on to the ghoul's arm. Before he could react, a shot cracked the air and impacted the mongrel in the side, launching it off of him.

Boone didn't stop to see if the ghoul was okay, instead running for the other side of the nest and the road that lay beyond. As he rounded the corner, he barely managed to dodge the chainsaw that was swung at him. He dove forward under another swing and landed on his side. As he rolled clear of his attacker, three more Legionaries, all armed with rifles, turned the corner.

The sniper dropped his rifle, drawing his sidearm. He opened fire on the oncoming men, emptying the clip. Only one was left on his feet as Boone shoved another clip in the pistol. He started to clamber to his feet, only to dive out from under the chainsaw again. The weapon bounced off the rock wall, sending sparks and bits of rock into his face.

The man wielding the chainsaw nearly dropped it as it bounced off the rock, and Boone took the opportunity to shoot the man in the face. As he dropped, the sniper looked to where he had seen the last rifleman, and felt a bullet rip into his thigh. He used the last of this clip to take out the Legionary, then stopped to look at his new wound.

It was shallow, something he could just wrap up and ignore. He collected his dropped rifle and headed back up the path to the nest. He could hear Raul's gun still firing, and hurried to join him. Levering himself around the corner carefully, he found the ghoul finishing off the last of the Legionaries.

"Oh, there you are," Raul said as he holstered his gun, then started to search the bodies. "I was starting to worry you'd lost your nerve on me." Boone grunted, then approached the edge of the cliff, raising his rifle's scope to his eye.

There weren't many left at Cottonwood, and Boone started picking them off. Once the coast looked clear, he lowered the gun and found Raul at his side, eyeing the blood which was starting to soak his pants.

"You'd better wrap that. You won't be very effective unconscious."

Boone nodded and quickly tended to his wound. His meager first aid supplies made him miss Layla's medical talents. He put the thought out of his mind. He was going to get her back, he had to focus.

Raul had just finished with the last of the bodies when Boone stood, and together they carefully made their way to the camp. The sniper had done a thorough job of picking off the Legionaries, as the camp seemed to be empty. The ghoul amended the thought as he came across a pen with four people in it.

"Let us out, please!" the elder woman cried when she saw him. Raul noticed the collars on their necks and called Boone over.

"We need to find the key to the collars…" The younger man nodded and started going through the corpses. Raul faced the group in the pen. "Hold on, we'll get you out."

Something was wrong, Raul thought as he and Boone checked the bodies of the dead. The number of men made sense for a small camp, but so far there were none of a high enough rank to be in charge. The mechanic had a bad feeling they were missing at least one more.

"Got it," he heard Boone call to him. The sniper had his pistol drawn, clearly unconvinced the area was safe. They made their way back to the pen and found the family eagerly waiting for them.

Boone circled around the cage, moving to unlock the door. He heard the younger girl shriek and instinctively ducked. A machete sliced the air where his head had been a moment earlier. He lost his footing on the gravel and ended up stumbling to the ground. Looking up, he found a very large man wearing the distinctive armor of a Centurion glaring down at him.

Before the huge man got the chance to swing at him again, Boone snapped a shot off. The bullet pinged off the man's armor, and he kicked Boone hard in the side. The sniper felt a rib crack, but used the momentum to roll out of the way of the next machete swing. The Centurion recovered quickly and stalked after Boone, who struggled to his feet.

Before he got close enough to attack again, three shots rang out, and the Centurion caught two of Raul's bullets in the chest. The officer took a step and looked like he was going to fall for a moment. Instead, he lunged at Boone, blade swinging and injuries seemingly ignored. Boone dodged and swung his own machete down at the Centurion's neck, cleaving into it.

The Centurion sputtered, blood gushing from his mouth as he fell. Boone gave the man a kick to make sure he was indeed dead before reaching down to retrieve his weapon. The blade was stuck in the Centurion's neck, and Boone was unable to free it. He gave the Centurion's machete a look, but the blade was in terrible condition.

Leaving the weapon, he went to unlock the cage. Raul followed and spoke to the captives as Boone freed them from their collars.

"Go to the Old Mormon Fort. The Followers will help you."

"Thank you so much." The elder woman was in tears as she gathered her children to flee. Raul shooed them off as Boone tried one last time to get his blade out of the Legionary. Giving up for good, he walked to the dock.

Raul caught up to the sniper as he found a raft. "Are you ready?"

"Last chance," Boone said warningly. "This might be the last boat we ever take."

Raul shrugged. "I've already signed up for this suicide mission, might as well see it through."

Neither man spoke as they boarded the raft and started for Fortification Hill.

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