They walked in relative silence and stood on the ramshackle road that overlooked the crystal waters of the Cove below. Lucky inhaled sharply and glanced in the direction they had. Through an irradiated town that was once Searchlight they found the Legion staging area alive and bustling. She looked at her Pip-Boy and frowned as she turned the dial slowly. Her tongue stuck out as if contemplation was destroying her vengeful thoughts. She looked around and took a step back when she saw a man crucified at the entrance to the camp.
She took her gun out and slowly walked up to the man. She tapped his foot hard and pulled the hammer back on her revolver. Her head tilted inquisitively, before letting her eyes fall away from the man to her piece. The man let out a harsh cough and slowly lifted his head to see who was bothering him.
Boone knew the colors of the Khans; it wasn't something you forget when you're staring at it consistently through a scope.
"Can you get me down from here?" he whimpered. He clenched his fists to relieve the pressure and let out another wheezing cough. "I just want to get the hell out of here."
Lucky straightened and rested her gun back in her holster. She reached into her boot and pulled out a Ka-Bar. The man flinched as she cut away his bindings and Boone helped him control his fall to the ground.
"What are you doing out here?" Lucky asked as the man dusted himself off.
He rolled his head back and forth and frowned. The lines ran deep into his face. His eyes were rimmed with dark purple bags, but he had enough energy to answer her question.
"It was an accident. Them damn bastards caught me holding. Told me the penalty was death," the man explained. He let out a scoff and ran his rope-burned hands through his sandy hair. "I didn't think anyone was going to come. Who sent you?"
"Does it matter? I'm here now," Lucky snapped. She looked to the east and saw the sun starting to turn the sky a coral pink. The cool breeze flitted her hair gently and she looked back to the Legion camp. "You should get back to Red Rock."
"No shit," he retorted as he began to limp. "What you plan on doing, you should reconsider."
"Logic, from a drug pusher. Don't see that everyday," Arcade snorted with a heavy sigh.
She didn't even look at Boone or Arcade and kept walking. To Boone, each step brought him closer to the place. The spot where he'd become an executioner. He saw the bungalows on the ridge and pictured himself bobbing between the boarded up buildings to where he could see into the slave pens. The buildings and landing where slaves were auctioned off.
It was the last place he saw Carla with her belly swollen with his child. Her blonde hair and blue eyes messy and bloody from the fight she'd given the Legionaries that had kidnapped her. He closed his eyes and still felt the recoil even when he wasn't sleeping. It was burned into his body when he thought about it. He rubbed the spot forcefully and cleared his throat.
"What's wrong?" Lucky asked softly. Her eyebrows furrowed at the prospect of stopping. Her eyes were condemning him as he stumbled over the words he was trying to make out.
"I've been here before. It's where they took Carla," Boone said. Lucky's expression softened at the admission. He nodded in the direction of the second floor of the building. "That's where she was with men bidding for her. It was disgusting, pitiful." He pulled his gaze to the outcropping and frowned. He heard her small footsteps slowly come towards him and stop. He didn't look at her. He couldn't. He felt her eyes examining, lingering on him. Her head swayed as she listened to him. "I was up there. I could see her through my scope. I was tired. I knew there was too many to get to her and..." His hands balled into his fist and his jaw clenched till his fine musculature shown through his rugged skin. "I did the only thing I knew how to do."
"That's why you said she was dead," Lucky asked with a sad expression on her face.
Boone cleared his throat and nodded. Each bounce of his head made it fall forward more. He heard her breathing speed up and saw her hands nervously toil around each other. When the sound of rubbing leather stopped, a gentle pressure graced his shoulder. He couldn't look at her. Whether out of shame or the fact he looked pitiable, he didn't think he deserved it.
"It's why I wanted to die. Why I want to kill every Legionary I see," Boone uttered. He finally looked up to his friend and saw she wasn't even looking at him. He could see her glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, but it didn't feel wholehearted. She looked almost apprehensive and out of place with what was going on. "It's why I'm not stopping you from going in there."
Finally, Lucky faced him and their eyes locked. She pulled her hand back and glanced back and forth between him and it. She seemed confused by what she had done.
"Let's get this done, alright?" she said breathlessly.
Before he could answer she was sneaking against the wall. He hurried up to where he'd been before. He saw the spot where he'd taken his shot, the small hole he'd made with the casing used. His tiny makeshift grave that was easily covered. He knew that he'd never see them again. Never have a body to mourn.
He shook off the idea and laid down prone. He crawled to the ledge and peered down his scope. Scouts patrolled and several decanus level Legionaries were sleeping in their tents. He saw Arcade hiding across the road behind a cluster of boulders. Lucky came into view in the middle of the yard. A crimson clad man came up to her and spoke briefly. He watched her movements with his heart slowly inching towards his throat. His face grew hot and for the briefest of seconds he felt she was betraying him. He saw Lucky point towards the slave pen and the man gave her something. They spoke for a few more minutes and then she motioned back in the direction she'd come.
The situation was intense. He didn't know whether he could believe her anymore. She turned and looked up on the ledge. Through the scope he saw her eyes lock on him and she nodded. She brought her hand up and raised three fingers to her chest. When the man returned, he led her to the slaves. She knelt in front of each of them and led each out. He could see her speaking to them. Her face was stern, like she was issuing orders.
The woman beside her stopped and Lucky put her hand into her back and gave her a nod. The former slaves ran down the road and Lucky gave Boone another look. It was another nod. She darted behind one of the tents and Boone squeezed off round after round from his rifle. His adrenaline pumped. He felt a blood haze as his skin grew hot and sweat dripped from his brow. His vision blurred and was only cleared through the cacophonous screams of the men below.
In the melee he'd lost sight of Lucky and Arcade. The only thing he could smell after the gunfire stopped was sulfur and gunpowder. It had obliterated the sweet morning air with its own form of warfare. He stood up and ran down to where he'd last seen Lucky. His lungs burned. His whole body trembled from exertion. He called to them and got no response.
He pulled off his sunglasses and wiped his brow. His eyes darted around and found nothing but corpses. He looked to the sky and found the sun hanging slightly off to the east. He didn't realize time had passed; in those moments, time didn't exist. He went on automatic with his own set of calculations whirling through his head.
"Hey!" Lucky called from the far side of the camp. His thoughts lightened when he saw Arcade walking with her. He ran to her and saw the slow hobble in her step. He stopped and saw her hand cupping her side. She looked to where he was looking and waved him off with a nervous laugh. "I need to check on something first." She pointed to the stairs leading to second level of the building. She placed her finger to her lips and frowned. "There's someone in the command post," she whispered.
"How do you know? I thought we got all of them," Boone queried.
"They had a radio in one of the bungalows. He was giving his people orders when she walked in and rolled a grenade in," Arcade replied.
"Just wait here," Lucky winced as she placed her hand to the knob.
She leaned closer to the door and pulled the hammer back on her gun. Without a second thought, she flung the door open. Boone saw a lone man standing behind a desk. He looked as shocked as Boone did. He went to grab a nearby pistol and she pulled the trigger on her target. The commander's head snapped back and fell backwards over the chair he was sitting in.
Lucky walked in, staggering but trying to maintain a normal posture. She went around the desk and stared at the body. She nudged him with her foot and then aimed again. She fired two more rounds into him. She gave Boone a strange look and then turned from him. She leaned against the desk and pulled her jacket back.
"Are you alright?" Boone asked in unison with Arcade.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good," she replied with a feigned smile. She groaned and pushed herself off the desk. She said something to the corpse at her feet in latin and limped passed both men. "You ready to go?"
"You're sure you want to do this?" Arcade questioned, looking her over briefly.
"Again with the questions," she muttered. She walked down the stairs and proceeded to walk to a raft tied to the dock. "We can continue this banal questioning while we're going." She shielded her eyes and looked at the sun and then at her Pip-Boy. "It's going to take a good part of the day to get to where we need to be." She gave Boone a strained look and asked, "Are you ready?"
"You know this is probably a one way trip. We'll be going up against Caesar's best," Boone warned. Lucky squinted her eyes at him. She could sense his hesitation and for good reason. He looked her over as well and saw that the white shirt she had was stained with a bright red stain along her side. "We can always."
She put her hand up and stopped him.
"I told you: you didn't have to follow," she growled.
"I never said I was against this, but you are hurt," Boone argued.
"I'm fine! Jesus, quit worrying about me and worry about what we're going to do when this is over," she barked. She let out an exaggerated sigh and shoved a box of ammunition into Boone's chest. "You'll need it more than I do."
Arcade and Boone both gave each other a look. They watched her pull the rope off the mooring. They knew she was hurt and that there was no way to talk her out of going. Boone walked onto the platform, followed by Arcade. Lucky sat down away from them. Boone pushed off and they were off on their long journey.
Lucky's Pip-Boy sang the tunes that Mr. New Vegas provided. If they weren't going to kill a rebel leader this would have been idyllic. Clear waters and an equally pleasant breeze carted them towards where the war drums resided. It's tone echoed off the canyon walls, but it didn't distract them from the thing that mattered to the three of them: an end to Caesar and the hopeful begins of the downfall of his damnable Legion.