My head was hurting, and I could feel something wet and warm dripping from my temple, down to onto face. My ears were ringing, couldn't really hear anything besides the sound of bullets being ricocheting of my armor. I wanted to stand up, but everything was so heavy, the servos of my armor must have been damaged for them to act this way, but I hoped that the rest of my armor was still functional.

I finally managed to turn onto my back, and saw the mass devastation before me. The barricade was blown to pieces; instead a massive, but not too deep crater was torn into the middle of the road where it used to be, the road was adored by burning wrecks of all kinds, cars, charred metal from the barricades and those who were on it. My rad counter went off a bit, the car wrecks all together didn't emitted enough radiation to kill somebody, but it was still above the acceptable level.

Trying to look around, to see if anyone else have survived the trap, but it turned out my hopes were futile. The irregulars were torn to shreds, either by the detonation or the scrap metal that flew everywhere. The power armored units were in a relatively better condition, considering that their bodies were in one piece. It was still sad to see these good men and women die, knowing that they are dead because of the most obvious trick in the book. I tried to stand up again, this time actually succeeding to do so, still searching around I found my laser rifle and upon retrieving it, I scanned the area for the bastards who did this.

Suddenly a bullet glanced off from my left shoulder plate, from the greasy smoke; I spotted a company of mercenaries, approaching me with their guns aimed at me. The first shot was soon followed by another, then a whole volley of machinegun fire, they knew what they were up against, which is why they were not hesitating to pull the trigger on a lonely paladin. With bullets continuously glancing off my armor, I aimed my Laser rifle at the group and began to retaliate their fire, making each shot count; I took the fuckers off one by one. Once I ran out of fusion cells, I threw the rifle over my back and charged at the survivors.

- An eye for an eye! – I screamed in my head as I plowed the first merc down with my charge.

I woke up in sweat, looking around; I realized I was no longer in the ruined Philadelphia, but somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I looked up at the rusty Vault-Tec billboard and sighed, it was the dream again. I took a sip of water from my canteen, and saw that Jay was missing again. This time, I wasn't really concerned about the tribal woman, though I hoped that she didn't went hunting for another game, since the one she caught for us was still tied to my bike. As usual I began to dismantle our camp, and by the time I finished, Jay also showed up.

- Fox! – She chirped running back to the base of the billboard.

- You really should give me a heads up before just leaving me all alone. – I said, strapping the rolled up cot onto the bike.

- Do you miss me that much? - She beamed at me with joy in her eyes, - That makes me feel happy in the inside. – She blushed looking away in embarrassment.

- Sorry, but no. – I remarked bluntly. – I just don't want anything or anyone sneaking up on me while I'm sleeping. – I explained and gave her a bottle of water. – If we are to travel together, we need to have a shift during the night. – I suggested as she drank the whole bottle up. – Also… - I said taking the bottle out of her hand. – Try to conserve water, that bottle was meant to last for the whole day. – I shaked my head in disagreement, and put it away.

- Geeze, you don't need to make such a fuss about it! – She pouted as she picked up the backpack. – We just find more. –

- That ain't that easy as you imagine it. – I grunted and began pushing my bike.

- Yes it is! – She retorted running ahead and turned to face me, while walking backwards. – And since you are with me, I can show you how! – She claimed enthusiastically and the next moment she turned around, signaling me to follow her.

I honestly couldn't decide how to feel about her at some times, we were together for two days now, which wasn't much to base a relationship on, but I often felt annoyed by her antics. Then again, maybe I just got use to solitude too much, that even simple human contact seemed bothersome. Whichever was the case, I had to catch up to her, before she gets us both in trouble.

Pushing my bike over the slight hill, I began searching for Jay. I spotted her in the distance, wondering around what seemed to me like more pre-war ruins. I had to give it to her, she was agile even with a heavy bag, I waved after her to wait for me, but she only waved back and skipped further away. There she goes again; I grunted and went after her as fast as I could.

Getting closer to the ruins, I figured that these buildings were not exactly the right place to look for water. I looked around for Jay, but there was not sings of her, she really covers her tracks well.

- FOX! – She yelled from above, from atop of one of the buildings. – I found the water! – She continued with an excited tone. – Come on! –

- Keep it down! – I almost yelled back at her. – Any jet addict goon can hear you from a mile away! –

- Whatever. – She rolled her eyes at my comment. – Hurry up slowpoke! – And with that, she was gone.

I searched the area for a place where I can hide the bike, after leaving my only vehicle in a corner, covered with the usual dirty canvas, I hoped that Jay hasn't gone too far off again, or got the attention of anything or anyone with her yelling. I found my way to the back of the building, and I checked for a way up, finding a ladder, I was now up where she was, before disappearing.

This building was quite tall actually; it was a good lookout at least, especially since there was nothing, but empty plains and road around the set of ruins. Scouting around a bit more, I found what Jay was talking about, a ravine in the distance, but it looked dry, so I didn't really get why she was so enthusiastic about it so much.

Other than a few plants and dried up bushes, nothing of particular interest was there, yet I saw the tribal girl picking around the plants. This honestly got me curious, I was no beginner when it came to survival, but I was no expert either, and the fact that I was not really familiar with the local wild life, made me a bit more dependent on her knowledge, but just maybe.

- So… where is the water? – I asked, after a small trek towards the side of the ravine, she was looking around.

- It's around us. – She motioned around the plants and the dried bushes.

- These plants are dead; I doubt there is anything… -

- The bushes are dead, but these are not. – Jay claimed and kneeled down to one of the taller plants. She began digging at its base with her bare hands, until she reached the roots of this strange flora. – Rain is much, much rare… but travelers say, when it rains it falls hard. They say that the Aquaplant is a good source of water, since it absorbs the rain, lots of water. –

- That's good and all, but is it drinkable? – I asked as I kneeled down next to her. I've never heard of a plant that could do that. If she was right, then the scribes should start finding out more about wildlife, rather than just tech.

- No… you have to clean it first. – Jay answered, and she took out her machete, cutting off a large root and unearthed it. The end the root was dripping something, which looked like clean water. I took the root from her, to have a closer look, but Jay kept on insisting to not drink from it.

- Why is it not safe to drink from it now? – I asked out of curiosity.

- Because it is poisonous. – Jay claimed the root from my hands. – Not enough to kill you, but it makes you feel sick, tired and nauseous if you don't clean it first. – She explained and took out a rag from the bag she was carrying. – We press it out then boil it, so that the poison will evaporate from the water first, but boil it too long and the whole water will evaporate too. –

- What about the rads? – At that, she looked at me, as if she didn't understand what I was talking about. Of course she didn't, but fortunately rads were something I could handle, with the amount of Rad-X on us, a few ticks of radiation were the least of our problems. – Never mind. – I assured her, as I stood up. – You won this round. – I complimented while dusting off my hands. – But it will take more to impress me. –

- Then… I did good? – She asked, now sitting on the ground like a child. I only rolled my eyes and motioned her to follow me, this little pit-stop took some of our time, but the faster we get back on track, the faster we might reach Chicago, and the rest of the Brotherhood.

Walking back to the ruins, I wasn't expecting what was waiting for us there. As we appeared around the corner, a series of gun fire tore holes into the ground, barely missing us both. I rolled into cover, after I pushed Jay out of the way of the shots, and took out my revolver. Looking around, I found Jay, behind a ruined wall peeking out. I signaled, as clearly as I could, to lay low, knowing her spirit she was probably looking for an opening to jump or charge at whoever fired at us, but that would just get herself killed.

The shots were fired from a .50 cal. machinegun, or at least the sounds gave me the impression of something much heavier than an average firearm. My suspicions were justified, when another series of shots tore into my cover, tearing out chunks of concrete from the wall behind my back.

- Okay, that'll be enough! – I heard someone yelling, and the fire stopped, I looked at Jay from afar, and it seemed that they haven't spotted her yet, she was looking at me and I still motioned to stay low.

- Come out scout boy, we know you are here! – The same, demanding voice called out for me. – We can do this the easy or the hard way… but hey… I'm feeling generous, so just come out and let's chat! –

- Who the fuck are you?! – I yelled, holding my revolver up close. – What do you want?! –

- You know it all too well asshole! – The voice demanded. – You took our stash the other day; we found the bike with the goods, so just come out and make sure you are unarmed, dumbass! –

- I have no idea what you are talking about! –

- He is full of crap Georgie, he took the food… he took the food! – Another voice, a much raspier one, probably a ghoul's, spoke up to this Georgie person.

- Shut it! Now… what's it gone be? – He addressed the question to me.

- Sorry, but it didn't write: Property of gung-ho, inbred red necks! What was I supposed to do? –

- Come out and this won't have to end bad! – Alright, I got them fixated on me. I looked at Jay and motioned to get behind them, but when I did she was nowhere to be found, oh God if there is one, I hoped she got the plan.

- Why should I trust you won't gun me down the moment I stick my head out!? – I yelled, trying to keep their attention on me. Shimmering closer to the corner, I peeked out a bit, to see how many were we dealing with.

To my surprise, it was a small army, with a truck that had a .50 cal. machinegun on top, aimed directly at my cover and… my bike! Probably the worst case scenario, I could get myself into, I couldn't afford to panic though, or lose my temper at that, I had to focus and trust Jay to get behind them, while I distract them long enough for her to do so.

- We have your ride. Lots of fancy stuff and our food… come out and you can have it all back, minus the food. –

- You haven't answered my question dummy! What makes me come out and not get shot!? –

- Have it your way then! Louie! – Georgie shouted and the .50 cal. began to fire again, this time it was tearing up the ground next to me, meanwhile I managed to hear the sound of footsteps coming from the other side, and soon saw a raider with a hunting rifle, appearing at the other corner. I aimed and shot the bastard in the shoulder, the raider fell and screamed in pain, his partner soon followed him and opened fire with his assault rifle.

I jumped out of the way, but one of the shots still got me, grazing my left thigh. I flinched in pain, but this was all I could afford at the moment. I aimed, but missed the first shot, the raider reloaded but as soon as he pointed the gun at me, his head got cleaved in half from behind.

- What the?! – I heard them yelling in surprise. Looking up, I saw the melee weapon sticking out from the back of the raider's skull. Jay really has a good aim, but this also meant that she was unarmed.

I dashed towards my cover, shooting another raider who appeared behind his dead comrade, and yanked the machete out of the corpse. The machinegun stopped firing, and I heard gun fire coming from the other side. Running out of my cover, I shot at the nearby raiders, drawing their attention towards me.

- There is two of these motherfucker! –

- I can see it too Moe! – The raider namedGeorgie claimed and slapped a few of them on the back of their heads. – Gut the scout boy, Louie… tear down the house! –

The .50 cal. came to life again and began firing at the opposite building; Jay must have hid behind it. I shot another raider, but I had to jump to cover, then moment I found my revolver empty. I couldn't afford to waste time with reloading the revolver, so I picked up the rifle of the nearest corpse, and blind fired from my cover. I have to silence that .50 cal. if we want to have a decent shot at this, but I couldn't just toss a grenade at the truck, since these mofos had my bike and with that, the canister.

I had to come up with a decent plan, but during the almost constant gunfire, a roar blew across the ruins and everything went silent for a moment. I looked over my cover and saw that from one of the ruined buildings, a large, horned shadow tore through the entrance way of one of the ruins.

- You have to be kidding me. – I muttered to myself, as the day just got worse and worse by the clock.

A large specimen of a Deathclaw was facing the truck, roaring as the fighting must have disturbed its rest or something. The creature charged at the vehicle, batting away a few raiders that stood in its way, and rammed the truck head on. The machinegun opened fire at the monster, but the Deathclaw raised its giant claws and tore off the gun from the top with a single swipe, along with its operator.

The raiders began to run, but some of them were either too stupid or too high and stopped to fight the beast, with very little success. The small arms and their rifles only made the creature angrier, making the Deathclaw tear into the crowd. Tires screeched on the road, as the truck backed away from the monster, with my bike on it.

I ran out of my cover, right after it, but by the time I could catch up to the fleeing truck, the Deathclaw jumped in between us. Realizing, that I was a much closer prey the creature growled at me, I didn't have to think twice on what to do. Not trying to fight it, I jumped out of its way and headed towards the buildings, I might lose it if I go to high ground, which meant the roof of that one building from earlier.

I still heard that some of the left behind raiders were still trying to fight the monster, but one by one, they were torn to shreds. I was close to the ladder, when I heard Jay yelling something in a native tongue, turning back, I saw her trying to fight the massive beast alone. Dear lord, this was beyond crazy. Cursing both her and me, I ran to her aid, reloading my revolver I released a few shots at the Deathclaw's back, but it was little use as the bullets bounced off its hide.

I threw the machete back to Jay, who now had a bit more chance to defend herself, but if we don't run or find a way to kill this thing, then we are both done for. Jumping away from the large claws, I saw that the torn down machinegun was still intact. Hopefully, it still had enough ammo in it; I looked at Jay and motioned at the gun with my head. She nodded, and tried to get the Deathclaw's attention off me.

Avoiding its tail and shooting a raider, who probably had the same idea as I, in the head I got to the .50 cal. It was too heavy for me to lift it without my armor, so I had to get down, and fire it while lying on the ground.

- Jay! – I yelled, and she lured the beast in sight of the machinegun. Once having it in my sight, I showed no mercy. I felt the recoil of the .50 cal. even on the ground, as the bullets penetrated the hide and tore into the creature's flesh. The Deathclaw howled in pain and backed away, just a few more shots I thought, but then the gun stopped firing. Just my luck, it jammed right before the thing was dead.

I was sure we were done for, but the Deathclaw just howled and growled in pain, backing further away from us. I guess we caused enough injuries for it to retreat, bleeding and heavily wounded the Deathclaw left us alone, crawling back to its supposed lair, into the ruined building, where it came out from just minutes ago.

I felt, I need an extra 5 or 10 minutes to fully comprehend the situation and my luck. At first a large group of raiders try to kill me with a .50 cal. machinegun, for "stealing" their stash a day ago, which I didn't know it was theirs. Then in the middle of the fight, a Deathclaw emerges, since we managed to wake the fucking thing up with our fallout, and goes on a rampage. The raiders manage to get away with my bike, supplies and the canister, which I was tasked to protect with my life, if necessary. Now, I'm here with nothing but a revolver, three frags, no supplies or vehicles, my mission's objective was just now taken, what else… oh, yes, the half-crazy tribal woman, who tried to take on a Deathclaw with a machete.

- Fox? – Jay walked up to me, with a confused look on her face, since she couldn't understand why I just froze, for what seemed like eternity. – Fox… are you alright? – She asked, but she shouldn't have. I looked at her for a second, and then instinctively slapped her across the face as hard as I could.

- NO! I'm far from RIGHT! – I yelled in frustration, anger and with many other feelings I was bottling up for these past days. – What. The. FUCK! What in Hell's name were you thinking! A machete? A lousy, fucking machete against a Deathclaw! You want to die so bad? Do you? DO YOU?! I cannot believe the amount of stupidity, to actually face a Deathclaw with a machete! Not to mention, that it was all for NOTHING! Fucking raiders took off with my bike, our supplies and the very thing I had to protect even at the cost of my miserable life, and now it is GONE, ALL GONE! DAMN IT! – I snapped, after saying my piece I couldn't help but to curse and swear more and more for a long time, I must have looked very pathetic doing that, or just maybe stupid, but at that given moment, I didn't care.

I eventually got tired from shouting and jumping up and down in anger, feeling exhausted I lumped down, in the middle of the road, continuing to swear and curse inside my head. Jay remained silent throughout the whole scene; she hasn't moved an inch since I hit her. The tribal was holding her right cheek and looked disappointed, like a child who just got scolded hard by her tutor, in her case; it was a very fitting description of her situation.

We remained silent for quite long time, I haven't moved from my spot and so did she. I don't know how much time has passed, but eventually I got tired of sitting and laid down on the asphalt road. I felt the intense heat of the Sun burning my face, but right now… I felt like doing nothing about it, I can't even remember the last time I felt this way. Closing my eyes, I began to cool down and decided to come up with a plan… I started to consider my options, until I felt a shade looming over my head, blocking off the Sun.

It was Jay, looking down at me with puppy dog eyes. Honestly, I almost forgot about her, I never seen her this quiet ever since we met, even when she was giving me the silent treatment a day before, she at least talked to herself instead. I don't know what to feel about her right now, I was still part mad, but part grateful, after all she did saved my life, and also got on with most of the plan.

- We need to get the bike back. – I said, in a much calmer manner than before. – Those idiots have a good head start before us… and they also have a working truck with gas. – I listed, as I got up from the ground; Jay cleared out of the way and tried to remain invisible, still looking guilty about what happened. Just looking at her again, reminded me of a child who did wrong. – They could be anywhere. – I said, then we heard grunting coming from under a pile of debris.

I marched towards the source of the moaning, and found a dazed raider on the ground. He seemed fine, maybe a few cuts and bruises, minor concussion, but nothing too serious. I grabbed the guy by his collar, and pulled him up to my level; this ought to shake him up a bit.

- Where are they?! – I asked, pinning the bastard to the nearest wall.

- Screw you both. – He muttered, and then laughed. Getting pissed, I pulled my revolver out and pointed the barrel at his temple before asking again.

- Where did your buddies go?! –

- Shoot me if you want, scout boy… I ain't worry about death; ye see… snickering Hell is going to be so much fun! – Great, the only survivor is a hardcore Jet addict.

- Okay, then I won't kill you. – I said and aimed lower. – How about I shot your balls off instead. – I suggested, aiming lower with each word.

- What?! – He asked and I pulled the trigger. The shot barely missed his crotch, I aimed lower purposely and I wasn't planning on wasting a second bullet on another warning.

- Look… I'm having a bad day, I know your kind, all that talk about embracing death and stuff is just crap, the Jet talking out of you. But listen buddy… are you feeling it? Your heart racing and the blood pressure rising, palms getting sweaty… that is fear. I can cause you a great amount pain with just one bullet, and trust me kid…. I know you fear death just as much any sane person does, in your case I just have to wait a little while until the chem wears off completely and then… - I pulled the cock back aiming at his groin.

- H-Hey… girly… you boyfriend has gone savage… ain't you gonna… - He was now intimidated, the chems were wearing off it seems, and he was trying to reason with Jay, as if she could do anything. – Speak to me love… don't let Uncle Walt lose his balls, please! – He pleaded to her.

I looked over my shoulder for a short moment to see her reaction, I was sure she would feel some compassion, or a form of pity for the guy, since I supposed she would feel a bit soft after what happened. In her eyes, there were no sings pity or mercy though, even that guilt was taken over by some kind of despise for the raider. Our gazes met, only for a moment and I felt like she was encouraging me to do it, funny… from a woman who acted all childishly almost every hour of the day, she had quite a stone cold, mean expression on her face.

- Ain't you gonna say anything darling? – He spoke up; this was the moment when Jay spoke up as well, in her own language. I didn't understand a word from what she said, and neither did the raider, but I was sure it was on the same level as a "Fuck you".

- Today dumbass! Today! – I strengthened my grip on the bandit, who now didn't seem to be so confident about dying. I didn't want to wait any longer, each time we waste here; those rednecks get further and further away from us. I put my finger on the trigger and gave the man on last chance. He looked at me, hoping that I was only joking but unfortunately for him, I wasn't.

- The Coral! – He finally spilled his beans. – Georgie and the rest went back to The Coral… t-that's where we and the others usually hang after a party! –

- Where is it?! –

- Heck man, I-I-I don't know… only Georgie knows the direction and the driver, me and the rest are usually too high to remember anything. –

- Bad answer. – I said and aimed low again.

- It has to be down the road! I-I mean… it has to be somewhere close, otherwise they would run out of gas… -

- Where the Hell did you get gas from? –

- There is a station… not too far from the place we hide our stash at! I-Its run by a group named the Barons… t-the Oil Barons! They have gas, oil anything that can be used as fuel and a fleet of vehicles! They might know… -

- Exact location! –

- South of Road 94, I think… I think around Jackson! – At that I checked my Pip-Boy, the map showed nothing but empty land and the location of the pre-war city… I guess I have to take his word.

- Much obliged. – I said, and shot him in the knee. The raider fell to the ground screaming in pain, while holding his bleeding knee.

- You said you won't shoot me! –

- I never told you that… but this is better than losing your junk. – With that, we left the guy, honestly I couldn't care less about him, right now our priorities were to find this supposed gas station with more raiders, so that we can find the raiders who took my bike and the canister, I can't help but to feel the irony in our situation.

Surprisingly we managed to make a good track; now that I didn't have to push my bike and carry all those supplies with us, me and Jay made solid progress towards Jackson. Luckily, her bag was left behind in that ravine before the shooting, so at least not all of our supplies were gone. Jay was still surprisingly quiet the whole time we were walking down the road, whenever I looked at her, she gave me the same childlike, guilty expression. It didn't take long for her to revert back, from being serious, to being childish again, as it seems.

As the Sun was setting, we had to find a place to stay at for the night. However, since we left those ruins, nothing in the general vicinity could be found that can be used as shelter. We decided to get off the road and make camp a bit far away from it; if we are lucky we won't be ambushed by anything or anyone during the night.

I took inventory of our current supplies and ammunition, while Jay started the fire. She was more than obliged to do it, I guess she tried to make up for the shoot out and the loss of my bike, and for a bunch of things she still thinks I am mad at her.

- That's enough. – I told her as she started the fire, turning towards it she sat down on the opposite side, directly facing me across the flames. – We don't have much to go by. – I said and handed a box of Dandy Boy Apples to her. – I guess we can put our skills together and survive on whatever grows or lives in these parts of the states, but our primary concern should be ammo and medical supplies. – I continued, taking out the Rad-X bottle. – Unless you have some idea about how to get by without stimpaks and stuff. – Usually she would be more than happy to finally be in the spotlight, but now she just shrugged and looked away, her gaze facing the ground.

I sighed and massaged my bridge. – Look… you might think I am mad, and to some degree I still am… but I admit, hitting you was not the wisest. – Her gaze returned to me, and she was now actually listening to what I have to say. – I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you… but you got to admit… what you did was reckless, crazy and probably one of the stupidest things in the wastes. I know you meant well, and want to prove yourself, but… the fact is… you have nothing to prove to me. – At this point, Jay hugged her legs close to her chest, her arms holding them, in a form of defense, while she was still listening. – I-I might sound crazy, maybe I am… but from what I have seen so far, I can clearly say that you have great potential… the Brotherhood could use someone like you, and… I care about you enough to not want you to die, at least… not on my fault. –This time, it was me who felt guilty.

The events of Philadelphia came back to torment me, even while I was awake. There was just… this feeling, that weighted me down… for all of those men and women… standing alone, among the ruins… as the rush of adrenalin wore off… leaving nothing but corpses, wrecks and this strange feeling of emptiness in my heart. I hoped that being alone… might make things easier to cope with… however the past months, things got only worse. Maybe, deep down I enjoyed Jay's company… even if it was annoying, childish and bothersome at some times… at least it made the days go by without silence, so that I won't have to reminisce about Philadelphia.

I don't know how long I was thinking to myself, but by the time I looked back up; Jay disappeared, and then appeared beside me. I hate it when she does that, but without any words she gave me a hug. I don't know why… but this hug was different, it somehow made me feel… better? I soon felt something wet dripping down my arm, looking next to me, I saw Jay in tears, crying into my shoulder.

- I… showry… I'm sho… sniffsniff showry. – I heard her mumbling between tears. If I wouldn't know better, I would have said that this was too much crying over a scolding, but I knew better. I gently began to pat her head and caress her hair, to make her calm down, after a while she stopped crying and I helped her wipe away the tears.

Knowing that she won't be able to keep watch for the night, I asked her to rest while I keep an eye out. Of course, she wanted to object, but I didn't leave her any options on this one. Jay didn't argue with me afterwards, she laid down and after a couple of minutes, she was fast asleep. I kept looking into the small fire,while thinking about today and the tomorrow. I soon found my gaze on Jay; I knew better to just think those tears were just about a slap across the face. Obviously, there was more to it, more to her… than what she let me see, though… it is not my place to pry… after all… I might be the same as her.

I barely got any sleep that night, taking occasional naps I stayed up to keep watch over the small camp we made. Once the Sun began to rise, I woke Jay up and we cleared out the site before continuing our trek towards that raider gas station.

Jay looked and acted like her usual self again, but I was glad that she was considerate enough to not bother me much. I managed to come up with a plan, sort of… if we get lucky then that station might have vehicles… getting information will be tricky, but on the good side we might get fuel for the bike, if we get the location of this Coral place. But for now, the real question was that how many bandits do we have to deal with, once we get to meet the Barons that is.

- Fox. – Jay said, and pointed at something in the distance.

- What is it? – I asked, taking out the binoculars, they didn't manage to get this either.

- Is that where we have to go? – She asked, looking at me for an answer.

- No… we just got off Road 34… and that is not a gas station… or anything of sort. – I commented as I scouted the structure out through the binoculars. – It looks like a farm… an abandoned farm. – I said after spotting ranching and a pair of run down silos.

- Is it worth checking out? – She asked looking at the empty farm buildings.

- In normal circumstances, I would say go ahead, but in this case we don't know what me might find ourselves up against. With the limited amount of ammo and meds, we can't risk it. –

- How about I go and… look ahead? –

- Can you do that? – Of course, it was a stupid question on my part, since the woman appeared and disappeared every 10 seconds. – Wait… scratch that… can you promise me, you won't get yourself in trouble? –

- I can! – Jay enthusiastically declared, completely snapping back to her former childish self.

- I meant the kind of trouble, where you almost got yourself killed. – I pointed out as I packed the binoculars away.

- I can! – She repeated with a stomp and made a pouting face. Okay, I had to smile at that one, I offered her my other firearm, but she refused and only took the machete with her, saying that she is more comfortable with it. I followed her to a small hill, where I took up a lookout position and kept track of the surrounding area. Jay trekked down the hill and was now approaching the farm.

(Jay's point of view)

I must get things right this time… Fox forgave me, but I'm still sure he doesn't trust me. I'm sure if I find some goodies inside that wooden house, he will trust me again. Watching my every step, I walked closer to the buildings. No one seemed to inhabit it, maybe there is no one here… but what if there is? Will they be friendly or… mean like most people I meet, except Fox.

I sneaked around the two tall tower-like buildings and was closing in on the shorter building with the fences. As I got closer to the fences, the reeking smell of manure hit my nose, and then I heard hooves clopping against the dusty ground, around the corner I finally saw that a full herd of Brahmins were behind the fenced off area. They must be livestock, then this means that this "farm" is not abandoned. My thoughts were confirmed once I heard a click behind my head.

- Turn around… slowly. – A raspy voice ordered me. I knew that tone, skeleton people. – You hear me? Drop the weapon and turn around Pocahontas! – I didn't want to comply, he sounded mean. I gripped the blade harder, and was ready to attack, I'm sure I'm faster than him… those boomsticks are too slow.

- You deaf or something?! – The skeleton man demanded impatiently, I didn't let him to think. I kicked back, hitting his stomach and with a swift turn, I grabbed his boomstick and twisted it out of his hands. This managed to surprise him, and we were now face to face, but without his stick I had the advantage.

- Whoa, whoa! No need to be hasty darlin'. – The skeleton man pleaded as I pushed the blade close to his throat. – I-I was only testin' ya… great job by the way. – I couldn't understand him, test? Why would he want to test me, and for what? Maybe he is with the Brotherhood Tribe… but I didn't see the crest, I should ask Fox first, but what if he really is with the Brotherhood Tribe?

- Why did you want to test me? – I asked just to be sure.

- Well… I… uhm…. – The skeleton man started to mumble something to himself, but then I heard Fox's voice in the distance.

- Jay! – He came around the corner with his smaller boomstick in his hand. – Get off of him! – He said and for a moment I began to hesitate, this skeleton man wanted to test me… so he might be… - Jay! Get off. – Fox asked again and stepped closer to us.

- But he was just testing me. – I said and looked back at him. – He might be with the Brotherhood. –

- No, he is not. – Fox's words were like cold water, but he knew more about the Brotherhood Tribe, so he must know its members too. I complied and stepped back from the skeleton man. – Who are you? – Fox asked the skeleton man, while aiming at him with his weapon.

- Look, if Big B sent you… then let me tell that I was about to pay the rent, but things got a bit… complicated. – The skeleton man explained and Fox shot him a mean glance, and so did I after he did it.

- I'm no raider… and who is this Big B? – Fox asked, still aiming at the skeleton man.

- Ya ain't with the Barons? –

- No… but it seems you are. – Fox claimed, and aimed closer at the man's head.

- Look pal, I ain't with those bastards… I barely manage to keep this farm up… Big B sends his goons up every month to collect "rent" from me. But ever since every raider and Jet junkie comes here to refill, the caravans keep away from the Ol'94. –

- What kind of farmer are you? –

- Brahmin… I keep Brahmins… ya know… for the caravans and stuff. – The skeleton man pointed behind him with his thumb, not looking away from us. – Look… I ain't want any trouble with you people… take what you want… and I swear you never gonna hear from me. –

- Just tell me where I can find the Barons, and we'll be on our way. – Fox said, and I looked at him. Why doesn't he want to take anything from the skeleton man? Maybe the skeleton people have nothing we want? How would Fox know that?

- Who are ya people? – The skeleton man asked, as Fox was not aiming at him anymore.

- You are better off not knowing. – Fox said and put the weapon away, I put mine away too. If Fox thinks skeleton face is no harm, then there is no need to be mean to him anymore. – So tell us where to go, or else I change my mind. –

The skeleton man looked nervous, even on his rotting face; I clearly saw he gave Fox and me a nervous frown. He talked, told us to continue down the road until we see the big smoke. Once we do, we should follow it until we find the Barons' compound; Fox seems to get by, even if he is mean sometimes. Will I have to act mean too, if I become part of the Brotherhood Tribe? Well, I guess I don't mind being mean, if the people I'm being mean to are bad.

- Wait! – The skeleton said as we were about to leave… by the time we turned around, he already picked up his boomstick, but unlike before he now had it behind him, on his back. – You two aren't planning on… -

- Like I said… better for you to not know. – Fox said, as if it was the most natural thing. Why is it better for the skeleton man to not know? Does know things are more dangerous than not knowing them? I looked at Fox, hoping that he'll explain, but he didn't seem to notice my gaze, then I looked back at the skeleton man, he looked like he knew what was going on, maybe I should ask him instead… but then again… he might be as confused as I am.

- I see. – Skull faced said. – Come in for a while… I don't know what kind of business you two have with the Barons… but I sure know that a girl with a machete and a stranger with one gun won't be able to last long against Big B and his crew. – He said and turned around, inviting us into his house.

- Why would you help us? – Fox said, not moving a step forward, good thing I looked at him before I moved, or else I might have followed the skeleton man inside.

- I know a couple of folk around here who would gladly give anyone anything to get the Barons out of their hair. I'm one of them. –

- I'm not really the hero type… what makes you think I won't join up with the raiders instead? – Fox asked, placing a hand on his short boomstick.

- I don't think… I know… scout boy. – There we go again, what was with this "scout boy" thing? The hag called Fox "scout boy", the meanies called him "scout boy" and now the skeleton man does that too. Is it a common thing to call him "scout boy"?

- How did you know? – Foy asked, giving skull face a mean glare.

- Come in and I'll explain, you too Pocahontas. – He said as he looked at me. I looked at Fox, who still had that mean expression on his face, but he eased up and let his weapon go. He looked less angry now, but I was sure that he wasn't really happy for being called "scout boy".

Eventually we both followed bone face into the house, to be honest I was happy that we can go inside, there might be food in there, and I was getting hungry.

- Fox, can we eat soon? – I couldn't help but ask, Fox sighed, then… cracked a small… smile? That was new… but then again, I was too hungry to be sure. – What? I'm hungry! – I pouted, crossing my arms. He only patted me on the head and followed skull face inside.

I took long enough, but here it is Chapter 3. I read the previous chapters and I'd like to apologize for the bad grammar and the spelling, I try to improve on my writting as well, so I can only promise that things should go smoother. Having someone who could beta it would also help a lot, but unlike my other fictions, the person I am working with now is already busy with other project, so if any of you would like to help in anyways, I would really appreciate it.

Also, I hope you liked my story, if you would like to ask or share your ideas about, settings, bios and ect. then feel free to review or PM me.

Until next time!