August 21st, 2279

Zack pulled down his goggles and stood staring at her confused.

Kade grabbed his right arm and turned him. "Come on, we need to hurry, I'll explain on the way." Kade started to jog towards the mountain.

Zack decided to take her word that something was up and sprinted to catch up with her. He ran along her left side. "Okay, can you fill me in now?"

The wind came howling at them from what seemed like every direction. Kade had to yell over the wind so Zack could hear. "When the dust storms go through areas with mountains, all the friction from the wind and dust added with the metal in the mountains causes a lot of static electricity to accumulate in the air. Even though it's rare, if the circumstances are right, it will cause a huge lightning storm. With the lack of precipitation in the clouds, many lightning bolts will strike anything that it can. We will have to find someplace with grounded overhead protection."

"A little lightning can't be too bad."

Zack heard a crack to his left. Not too far away a large tree was struck by a purplish bolt from the sky. It sheered the tree in two causing both halves to catch fire. The thunder that followed the strike was deafening. Zack felt the wave and it seemed to cause his bones to vibrate. He immediately became worried, looking all around ahead of him for some kind of protection. All around them he could hear the strikes crash down to the ground. One that hit not to far in front of them gave off an intense amount of heat. Zack could feel the hairs of his body stand up on end. Both Zack and Kade covered their ears from the explosion of thunder that followed. They continued to run and were nearing the base of the mountain. Zack stepped into something that shattered beneath his feet. He looked back as he ran by, and was confused.

"Is that lightning cooking the ground into glass?"

They both stopped when they reached the mountain. Kade looked around frantically.

"Dammit, there is nothing here that will work!" She said with anger.

Zack looked up along the side of the mountain and thought he saw some kind of opening. He pointed up to it. "Look, up there, it might be some kind of cave."

They both made their way up the side, it was steep and it took a lot of effort. Zack had to grab on to Kade several times to keep her from slipping down. When they neared the entrance to the opening, Zack raised his hand for her to pause. He pulled his revolver out, crouched down to get through the small opening, and checked inside. Zack had to walk downwards as he went. The space inside opened up after a ways. The sides were smooth and looked like it could hold maybe four people. Zack did not see anything living in the small cave, so he returned his revolver and turned around.

"Come on in Kade, its safe."

Kade came inside quickly, sat down by the rear of the cave, and was taking many short breaths. Zack looked to her with worry, took his pack off, and pulled out his metal plate, wonder glue, and lighter. He did the same as before in the trailer and lit up the small cave. He had Kade move a bit so he could place his bedroll on the ground so they could both sit upon it. She moved back on it and he sat down next to her. He grabbed his canteen and took a few sips. Zack offered it to Kade, but she shook her head silently. She was still trembling every so often.

"We're safe in here, are you okay?" He looked to her face and could see that the bruises were almost completely gone. Even with the scared look on her face, Zack thought she looked adorable with the way her hair fell slightly on her face.

After a moment she cleared her throat and turned to Zack. "Yes, I'm alright now. Sorry for freezing up back there. Lightning just holds bad memories for me. When I was younger, about four years old, a big dust storm came through Dedge. It was a powerful one, and it caused our lightning rod to get knocked over in the chaos. After the dust storm was over, all the people tried to get the rod back up as quickly as possible. But the lightning storm appeared faster. It showered down bolts all through the area. A couple hit some of the vehicles that were stacked up around the perimeter. Nine people were killed, my parents included."

Zack understood now and felt sympathy for her. "I'm sorry that happened to you when you were so young. I was fortunate to have one parent still with me. It must have been hard on you growing up."

She nodded slowly. "I was taken in by an older couple who were not able to conceive any children. They raised me as their own, and I came to love them. They both passed away in the last few years though." Kade reached over to his lap and grabbed the canteen from it. "Sorry, I feel thirsty now."

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the barrage of from the outside, the thunder shaking dust from the cave's ceiling. Kade was the first to speak.

"So, while we wait this thing out, why are you heading to Cherry Cliff exactly? Are you heading back to your mother?"

"No, I'm not. Sorry, didn't get to mention earlier where I was heading because of the storm forming. I left Polvo about six days ago, my mother passed recently from illness, and I'm on my way to New Vegas to avenge my father and to restore our family name."

"Sorry about your mother, it must have been hard to see her suffer. New Vegas is far from here, do you have any kind of plan once you're there?"

"Well, then Wasteland Series of Poker takes place once a year. It's on October twentieth, two days before my birthday actually. I plan to enter the main tournament and do my best to win it to prove to everyone that my father could have. Afterwards, whether I take first place or not, I'm going to kill Daniel Tull, even if it's the last thing I do." Zack was unknowingly clenching his fists tightly as he spoke.

Kade stared at him with concern, and nodded slowly. "I understand that this is something you must do. I hope everything turns out well for you."

"Thanks, I still have to get there though, and I have already come across quite a few obstacles. I still have almost two months before the tournament though, in case any other delays come up."

"Nevada is a dangerous place as well, with the NCR and Caesar's Legion fighting for control of New Vegas."

Zack turned his head slowly to face her. "Fighting for control? Caesar's Legion? When did all this happen? Aren't the crime families in charge of New Vegas?"

Kade bit her lower lip lowered her right eyebrow. "You haven't heard? Caesar's Legion is this group of slavers that come from the east of Arizona somewhere. For the past thirty years they have been fighting with the NCR, been pushing hard along the northern part of Arizona. Last I heard Hoover Damn was in control by NCR, but I haven't heard anything out of there lately. I just know that both groups are trying to take control of New Vegas, it's one of the few remaining cities left in the country, and could easily become a capital for either side. I think the crime families are only in control of their casinos at this point."

"Damn, I didn't know things got this bad. It might be too late. Daniel Tull might not even be the same powerful man he was before. Almost half my life I have been waiting for the chance to go there and now it's slipping away."

"Look, most of the information I got was second hand from caravans and merchants. I'm not a hundred percent sure of its accuracy. Caesar's Legion is a powerful entity, but they could have been pushed out by the NCR completely, they have the largest standing army."

"True, but by my guess, the NCR wouldn't tolerate the crime families, and would most likely get rid of them. I don't have much choice though, I will still continue on." Zack stared out the entrance to the small cave. He watched the purple and violet bolts dance in the sky.

Kade looked regretful about the past conversation. "Can you tell me about your town of Polvo? Is it a good place to live?"

Zack smiled. "Yes, I actually preferred it to my hometown of Blue Diamond. It always felt more positive and was a lot safer. Technically it's not just my town though. There are two other small communities nearby. We all share a water source that resides in our center. Interstate eight runs through Polvo and to the northeast of us about three miles is a small housing community made up of about fifteen houses, called Askra. It was originally designed for rich older couples in retirement that could afford a quiet place to live near some woods. To the southeast of us about two miles was this old pre-war campground, called Fure. It's made up of old log cabins that people could rent and spend vacation at. Both communities are off of Interstate eight by hidden roads. We all joined together to create a safe place to live. Each place has its own militia that coordinates with the others, Polvo being the largest community has a bigger part in decisions. We call the place Three Point District, or TPD. We call it that because our border looks like a triangle when drawn on a map."

"That's a lot more intricate than Dedge ever could be. What kind of buildings did Polvo have?"

"Polvo was a small little town. I think it was first founded thirty years ago. It only had a few small homes. Most of the residents, including my mother and me, lived in an old motel. It was only single story, but had about twenty five units. There was a drug store that served as the town's trading post. It was run by my friend Alex's parents. There was also a small diner which my mother worked at. It was where the food was rationed out. A two room office building was used as a school for the children. Lastly there was a gas station with a service garage attached to it. It was the strongest built building in town and faced west. We used it as our barracks for the militia. The front store was a lookout and guard bunker that we fortified with sandbags. The service garage was used as our armory and med clinic. I learned a great deal from our Doctor there. It was also where our CO Captain Fadden spent most of his time studying maps, and writing up orders. Our main source of food was from hunting, and our major trade good was the items that Alex's father could repair."

"It sounds like a great place. I would probably get bored though. I always love to explore and scavenge from places long forgotten." Kade responded.

"Oh there is always something going on, new projects to help with, attacks by raiders, and the occasional dust storm. It keeps one on their toes though."

"Yeah I bet." She said laughing. "Did you like working for the militia? Ever think you would be good doing anything else?"

Zack thought a moment before answering. "I never really thought to do anything else. I mean, my father worked in security while my mother watched over me. I didn't really have any other skills growing up besides shooting, gambling, and just trying to survive."

"Yeah, you just kinda fall into what you're used to."

Zack looked out the entrance of the cave again. "How long do these storms usually last? I'm only familiar with dust storms."

"It shouldn't be more than six hours if I had to guess."

"Alright, we should get some rest while we can, perhaps head out during the night when this thing finishes." Zack gave a short laugh. "Crawling down here made me feel like Alice going down the rabbit hole."

"Sorry what?" Kade turned to him.

"Ah nothing. It was this old book my mother used to read to me back in Blue Diamond. Alice in Wonderland was the title. I made her read it to me quite a few times. I loved the story. I would just close my eyes and pretend I was in Wonderland. Sleeping in a green forest, drinking from its clean rivers, talking to flowers, fighting the Queen of Heart's army, and ponder ways that I could confuse that caterpillar."

Kade looked at him as if he was mad. "Yeah, haven't heard of that one. It sounds, um, lovely."

Zack turned to her and smiled. "You'd like it if you read it. Even though the place was crazy, it's better than the world we live in now." Zack picked up his pack and placed it behind him. He lay down resting his head on it. "Now, let's get some sleep."