Hancock could feel the high hitting him as he read the first entry. The mix of drugs was such that it felt like he was doing more than just reading the words written on the paper. It felt like he could see the life of the woman laid out before him. His eyes quickly read the few words. But he saw so so much more through the drug induced haze in his mind. There was something about these words written on the pages of this journal. Somehow, and he wasn't sure how. He knew that what he was seeing the real thing. It made him laugh.

"This is one wicked high. I should do this more often."

He said as the woman's life overtook him.

April, 2265
I'm leaving home. Ash and Uncle Phillip were sad to see me go but its high time I leave. I can't live my life here on this god-forsaken spit of land. The rains rarely come, the Water Barons hoard the water and charge outrageous fees, the well is dry most months out of the year. We barely grew any crops last year, not near enough to make ends meet. Ash enlisted with the NCR and sent her pay home to help but even that isn't enough. Two more years of this, maybe three and this farm won't exist anymore. I don't intend to disappear along with it. Time to see where I should be. Uncle Phil gave me his hunting rifle before I left, saying as bad as the raiders around home were, they'd be ten times worse wherever I traveled. I hope he's wrong but I doubt it. Now which way to go...

The day was cloudless as the sun neared its peak approaching noon. A pair of crows flew across the sky but apart from that nothing else filled the vast empty sky. Not a cloud of any size could be seen. As the birds flew across the sky they made their way over the harsh earth below. The year was 2263 and colors that could be defined as belonging to anything other than dirt and rocks were few and far. There were some spots though where a speck of washed out green struggled to endure and even more rarely the sky would shine back blue reflected in the water that was so illusive to find. The birds flew over what many centuries before had been known as the land of California. That word had disappeared for many years the day the bombs fell in 2077. But from the ashes of nuclear war humanity had emerged in various twisted and mutated forms. Some of these still seemed human, others such supermutants or ghouls were a far cry removed from the humans they had all once been years and decades and for some centuries before. These three groups rarely lived in peace. Humans lived with humans, ghouls with ghouls, and supermutants with supermutants. Such was the way of things.

As for the humans that survived in the aftermath of the war their ancestors had climbed out of pre-war vaults or had lived in areas so remote that they had been safe from the radiation and nuclear winter that had followed the mass atomic detonation. It was close to two centuries now and the land that was once America had never fully recovered. Factions mighty and tiny alike had risen and fallen time and time again in the span of those years. Some attempted to form legitimate governments. Others respected no rule of law except for the law of violence. In the last century though on the west coast one faction had managed to claw its way above the others and outlast a great many lesser groups.

The New California Republic.

The New California Republic or the NCR as it was known by all was a government modeled after the old world government that had come before. With land stretching all the way down the coast into Mexico and frontier towns reaching as far as the Canadian border the NCR was one of the largest nations to have emerged in the post war wastes. But just because it had size and population that stood head and shoulders above all other would be nations did not make it a pleasant place to live for all. A large nation had large needs. Taxes were imposed and a land already hard was made all the harder for it.

The crows cawed as they made their way across the horizon heading north. The sound a sharp disturbance out of the ordinary woke the seventeen year old human girl who far beneath them was sleeping in the admittedly uncomfortable position of sleeping while sitting with her back resting on a dead tree. Despite the relentless brutal sun the girl pulled off her hat with her left hand and looked up her right hand raising to block the sun from her view as she looked up at the pair of crows. Her lips automatically parted and her tongue licked slightly as she contemplated the thought of trying to shoot one for a meal but her hand didn't move to the rifle that had rested on her lap while she slept with her hands securely holding it. Finally she sighed and spoke to no one but herself.

"Not worth a wasted bullet."

She glanced up at the sky and groaned quietly to herself.

"Uncle Phillip is gonna tan my hide at this rate."

With a sigh she stood up and looked around to make sure no one and nothing was around before giving her pants a few whacks with her hand to beat some of the dirt free. Making herself marginally more presentable given how truly dirty with dirt she was she reached to her belt, an old military type that had a canteen in a pouch on it. Unsnapping the buttons she pulled the metal canteen from its place and carefully unscrewing the cap took a single mouthful of water as a drink before unscrewing the cap on just as carefully not wanting to damage the cork that was in the cap that kept the water from leaking out. Replacing it on her belt and refastening the clasps so she would not accidentally loose it her eyes drifted down to the varmint rifle in her hands.

Like most teenagers male and female alike, that grew up on a farm she knew how to use a gun. More importantly unlike prewar teenagers that had simply been raised to use the family shotgun or rifle the girl had her own. As firearms went it left a lot to be desired. A small .22 caliber bullet was what she used and at that size it was hard to call the thing a proper firearm given how little in the way of damage it could do. But the rifle even as beat up and jury rigged as it was, and it was given parts from several different rifles had been used in the construction of it, had an unmistakable look of care. The metal was free of rust, or pitting. A feat of no small proportions given how frequently it was handled and how lethal the oil of a person's hands could be to the metal of a gun. The wood was equally cared for despite its aged and cracked appearance that would inspire confidence in none that looked upon it. But it was well maintained. As she opened the bolt and confirmed she had a round in the chamber it slid with ease unlike other superior in caliber but inferior in maintenance,

Beyond the rifle in her hands the girl was dressed as one might expect in the post apocalyptic wastes. Despite the unrelenting heat of the sun she had little in the way of skin showing. A large cowboy hat rested on her head shielding her from the rays of the sun and keeping her face in the shade. Her hands reached up pinning the rifle to her side by holding it pinned between her arm and her torso so both hands could reach up and grab the straps to the goggles that were around her neck. These goggles were the second piece of attire she wore. They were the large kind like might be worn by an off road driver to protect his eyes from the sand and dirt beneath his wheels that any gust of wind could easily pick up and blind her

Following her body down there was a ratty old scarf tied around her neck resting lightly on the collar of her shirt. As for the rest of her attire she wore a long sleeve denim shirt that covered her arms all the way down to her wrists. The shirt was a tad small for her as if it had been originally for someone with a more slight build. And this was quite possible for as women even young ones went. She was rather well built. Not only in the curve of her body in all the womanly places but beneath her shirt the toned muscles of her body were there as well. These weren't the muscles of a body builder but the muscles of a farm girl who worked like any adult would doing all the same things regardless if it meant harvesting crops or dealing with animals, or defending the homestead. Her figure was further accentuated by how the straps of the backpack she wore pulled at her shirt. In that pack was all the things she would need for a day alone in the wastes. Water, food, ammunition, and a few tribal medicines for incase she somehow came to ill. The rest of the way down her she wore faded blue jeans that were almost impossible to tell they had ever been blue at all given how much dirt and dust clung to them. The only place the dirt was inconsistently on her was where a knife in a sheath was strapped to the outside of her right thigh. And last but not least on her feet were not the dainty shoes favored by prewar women but instead hard sturdy boots that could take the hardest of punishments and keep on walking day in and day out.

Affixing her goggles into place the girl started off heading south east. With the sun finally shinning down relentlessly on her, the mystery that was her hair was finally revealed. It was braided and hidden beneath her hat but the stray hairs were unmistakable with the color of her red mane on her head. Adjusting her hat the braid slipped free to fall behind her back where it stayed freely twisting about in the air behind her back until it settled into a steady and regular side to side motion in time with her walk.

Her rifle remained in her hands for a time but as it became clear that the imagined threat wouldn't appear it was moved to where she slung it over her right shoulder. She walked like that in silence alone for the better part of an hour before finally coming over the crest of a hill she looked down at four buildings built close together. Those four buildings and the fences that surrounded them were the closest form of civilization to the family farm as one could find it was still a half day's walk one way. With a sigh of relief that the settlement was still intact she continued over the crest of the hill and down the slope of the far side and on towards the settlement.

Six minutes later she was walking into the settlement. One building was a store, the other a tavern, and the other two were houses one for each of the owners of the businesses. It wasn't much but still even at nothing much it was enough that about once a month a caravan would pass through sooner or later. And today of all days proved the girl's lucky day as the typical brahmin used by a trader to haul goods were just coming into view from behind a building. The girl began to smile then suddenly without warning her smile turned into a look of shock even as her eyes remained hidden so she had a good idea what he might need was someone to help. She could just make out the familiar back of the old man trader that frequented the frontier settlement. He had his hands carefully raised into the air visibly even with his shoulders. Another step to her side and she could see why. In the shadow of the store there was a man wearing cobbled together metal armor with a bandanna covering is face holding a shotgun aimed at the trader while crouched beside him was a second robber rooting through the pockets of the hired guard that the trader had employed to protect his goods and his caravan such as it was.

The girl didn't scream or run or shout, instead she simply took a crouched position. She still hadn't been noticed by the robbers and the trader's back was to her, no one else was in sight. Unslinging the rifle from her shoulder she carefully took aim. Looking through the goggles from beneath her hat she carefully looked down the sight of her gun. She didn't have a scope. Only her uncle's hunting rifle had one, all the other guns in her family were much simpler and had less powerful ammunition than the deadly .308 ammunition used by that rifle. Her own .22 wasn't sufficient to get through the raider's metal armor covering his chest but that wasn't where she was aiming. A moment later she went very still no longer breathing. She remained that way for several seconds as she counted her heartbeats. When she was in the middle of her fourteenth heartbeat and she was perfectly still she pulled the trigger gently. Not a jerk but a gentle pull, just as her uncle had taught her.

The bullet hit its target perfectly hitting the bandit's left eye and driving deeper. The raider instinctively raised his freehand to his eye after blood exploded outwards in uncomprehending shock before he fell forward to the ground where he didn't move, the blood staining the dry dirt. The trader a veteran of the wastes didn't question the change in his fortunes and before the other bandit could react the trader's boot slammed into the bandit's face just as he looked up. The girl watched unsympathetically as the trader kept kicking and then stomping on the raider's head until the would be bandit was dead, his head a caved in mess. By this point the girl was halfway to the store building and both the trader and the owner of the shop were looking at her. The shopkeeper a man she had known for years had a bloody sling holding his left arm to his chest. The blood was fresh and the wound was likely caused by the two dead men lying on the ground. Trader and storekeeper both had a happy smile at the sight of the dead men. As she approached they both looked back to her. But they weren't the first to speak, rather the girl was.

"You alright Mr. Black? Mr. Cassidy?"

Both men gave a nod. Despite the storekeeper, Mr. Black having his arm in a sling he seemed rather chipper about it. If the girl looked close she'd notice his dilated pupils that would tell her he was chemed up to deal with the pain of a broken arm.

"I'm alright Serenity. But you've done a damn fine thing girl. Tell you what pick one thing you want from my store and its yours free."

The old trader quickly nodded as well.

"Same goes for me and of course you get first pick of these bastards. Anything they have you don't want I'll buy off of you."

The girl pulled the old goggles from her eyes and her smile was wide. Two free things? Granted they were in the middle of the ass end of nowhere. Even the best thing in Mr. Black's shop was hardly some great treasure. But she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, whatever exactly a horse was the girl didn't know but she wasn't about to question her fortune. She took her time looking through it all. Old Mr. Cassidy needed some time to unpack his wares and Mr. Black needed to tend to his shop a little but that was fine by her it gave her time to strip the raiders. She'd dig a shallow grave for the two later but for now it was time to trade. Not surprisingly the two ill fated bandits didn't have much on them. The shotgun wasn't even worth looking at given how rusted it was. Her uncle had served in the NCR army and she'd learned from a young age how to care for a gun. She could tell neither of the two men had ever so much as oiled their weapons. It wasn't worth much, just parts really but Mr. Black or Mr. Cassidy would surely give her an offer.

The same went for most of the rest. What little armor both men wore was too big for her slender feminine body even with the muscle she had from growing up on a frontier ranch. In the end all that she kept was the caps they had on them. One stimpack, a half empty box of mentats, a bottle of irradiated water, and some brahmin jerky. The rest she sold to the two traders for the some total of seventy four caps.

With that done now came the highlight of Serenity's day. She took her time looking over each and every item in both trader's inventories. Both were honest men, they didn't hide anything. Honesty and their lives was worth more than the loss of profit on any one item they had. In the end she got a 9mm pistol from Mr. Black who was nice enough to include an extra clip for the gun plus twenty bullets of 9mm caliber. From Mr. Cassidy's selection she chose a leather jacket that had been custom worked a bit. With tough brahmin hide worked into it it was hot to wear given it was black leather but it was better than just a shirt. It probably wouldn't stop a bullet though shotgun pellets at range might not get through, and a knife would depend on how sharp it was. All in all it was a good trade. The jacket even had a spot to holster her new pistol hidden on its inside. And best of all it was her size! She didn't know who made it but she was happy she'd found it. New jacket on with pistol and clips inside, with all the rest in her backpack and her rifle slung over her shoulder she waved goodbye to Mr. Cassidy shouting a goodbye to the old man.

"I hope you find your daughter!" She called out as he moved off into the distance. He'd told her the last time he'd come through and she'd been in town that the whole reason he was even back in the NCR was to find his long lost daughter but so far he'd had no luck.

Turning her attention back to Mr. Black who was taking a swig of whiskey to dull the pain of a broken arm she walked back into the familiar store. It was time to attend to the real reason she'd made the trek out this way. "Mr. Black, my Uncle sent me to pay you for last month's water."

She reached into her backpack and pulled out a bag of caps, not the ones from before, but a different one and set it down on the table. "He would have come himself but there was someone creeping around the property last night. Probably the two skags out back." She said using the wastelander slang to refer to the lowlifes out back lying dead.

Mr. Black wasn't a greedy man but he was a merchant through and through he took a look at the caps. "Alright but that ain't enough. And your uncle knows that. Lets just hope he can bring down a critter with a hide worth enough to make up the difference." Serenity nodded at the man before walking out the door. She spent an hour hauling the two bodies away from the small town and dug shallow graves in the dirt with her hands for the two bandits before covering them back up. She spit on both before covering them up to hide them from coyotes before making the long trek back home.

It was nightfall by the time she got back and the hours she walked gave her plenty of time to think. She had the jacket, she had the pistol now. Maybe it was finally time.

At long last the lone ranch house came into view. Light shinning from its windows. Not electric, but fire light and downwind of it all Serenity could smell the smoke. She adjusted the straps of her pack and kept on walking. Five more minutes of walking and she finally came to the ranch house that was her home. She could see movement inside, Uncle Phil most likely. But as she opened the door and stepped inside she received a pleasant surprise.

"I'm home."

She called announcing herself even as a smile crept onto her face. It wasn't her uncle sitting on the couch reading a book but rather her cousin Ashley. Her uncle's daughter and two years older than Serenity herself. Unlike Serenity's own red hair Ash had blond hair much like her father. Ash had taken after her dad, Serenity though she had the family name had inherited her hair from her mother. The nineteen year old looked up from her book and a grin hit her face as she stood up. She didn't say hello, that wasn't the James family way after all. Serenity barely had time to drop her backpack and rifle before Ash was grabbing her. Soon the two were wrestling with each other. For the first thirty seconds it wasn't clear who was doing better. That was until Serenity managed to tangle her older cousin's ankle with her leg and down the two went, Serenity landing on top her weight driving the air from Ash's lungs. Serenity didn't waste the opportunity and in the two seconds it took her cousin to regain her breath she had her in a headlock her legs squeezing Ash's body and her arm pinned.

It was at this time that the man of the house walked out of the kitchen.

"Alright that's enough you two. Get up and set the table. Supper's about done."

The two quickly untangled themselves but Serenity looked at her uncle curiously.

"You're just finishing now. What kept you busy?"

Her uncle gave her a look as he walked back inside the kitchen. "Ash and I spent the day dealing with the raiders that were trespassing last night."

This caused Serenity's eyebrows to shoot up in surprise. So those two skags at the town hadn't been the ones after all. She quickly helped her older cousin set the table and two minutes later her uncle brought out dinner. There was one piece for each of them of Brahmin meat. slow cooked with veggies and in a sauce. A pot roast. They ate in silence as was their habit. A salad of home grown greens finished out their meals and each had a mutfruit for desert. When Ash was carrying her dishes into the kitchen Serenity finally broke the silence.

"Uncle Phillip I'm gonna leave tomorrow morning."

The old man looked up in surprise. He had more than a few grey hairs in his thinning hair and in his somewhat unkempt beard. Serenity had been responsible for her share of that grey but he had cared for her for years and was both a little shocked at the sudden decision, and a little sad. He knew his niece enough to know she never did anything on a whim that might shift a day or week later. If she was saying she was leaving then that was it. He might go months or even years before he'd see her again if he'd even see her at all. The wastes were a hard place after all plenty of people died out there for any number of different reasons.

Ash meanwhile had moved into the doorway of the kitchen and was leaning against the door frame silently listening her eyes shifting between her cousin and her father. The nineteen year old had already left home herself. She was a private in the NCR army these days. Currently on leave to visit home she only had another day before she needed to head back south and return to duty. She said nothing though because like her father she knew the way her cousin's mind worked. Serenity had been raised right alongside Ash. She knew the wastes were a hard place. She was hardly some pampered brat that was the son of a Brahmin Baron who'd never known a days work in their life or had to search for safe drinking water or had to fight a raider for their very life. Serenity knew the harshness, and both father and daughter knew that it was time. Finally Phillip nodded.

"Well alright. We'll help you pack what you're taking."

And with that the three of them helped the seventeen year old girl pack up the things she would be taking. Like most girls of her age she didn't have a lot. Most of the important things she already had in her backpack just for a daily journey but they added a few extra things like spare clothes, a bar of soap, some tribal medicines they'd traded for. Stimpacks were miracles but miracles were never cheap. Often as not frontier families used tribal medicine for their medical needs and saved the stim packs they had for if someone was on death's door. And of course some food was packed for her too.

It wasn't yet dawn when Serenity said her goodbyes with her uncle and cousin. She wasn't crying though and neither were they. This was goodbye, maybe forever, all three of them knew that. But all of them were tough. There was a moment of surprise though when Phillip gave Serenity his prized hunting rifle. Serenity couldn't help but stare at the offered weapon her eyes tracing its barrel and scope. It was a powerful weapon, something capable of taking down even a Yao Guai. She wasn't about to refuse though but she did ask one question of her uncle even as her hands closed around the weapon taking it from him.

"Are you sure?"

Phillip nodded with a smile.

"I don't know if its fate or luck but one of those bastards we killed yesterday had a rifle too with a scope as well. Its in shit condition and it'll need some love and care but it'll do. But watch your ammunition you know how rare that stuff is. You got the five in the clip and that's it. Use it wisely."

Serenity gave a final nod as she slung the scoped hunting rifle on her other shoulder opposite from her .22 varmint rifle. She gave them both a final firm nod and turned around and started walking. She headed east until the sun was barely visible over the mountains to the east as dawn commenced. She looked north and south at the ancient pre-war highway that stretched out endlessly in both directions.

"Now which way?" She quietly muttered to herself.

His high finally came to an end and the image of the teenage girl on the edge of adulthood faded from the his mind. Hancock groaned stretching out where he lay on his couch.

"Damn what the hell was that shit."

He picked up the leather bound diary and looked at it for a long while before smiling slightly.

"I can't wait to do that again. With a high like that who knows what I'll see next."