August 23rd, 2279

"I'm not going to harm you…promise." Zack said and held his hands open showing the man he had no weapons of any kind. "Do you have any injuries?" Zack calmly asked the man.

The sitting man lowered his arms down from the front of him and stared intently at Zack for a few moments before finally speaking.

"Yeah, you don't look like one of them." The man leaned his body to the right to look at the smoking rubble behind Zack. He brought his hands to his face and tried his best to wipe the stains on his face from the tears. He then cocked his head to look at the side of Zack's face. "Did you know you're bleeding from your ear?" He asked after a moment. He then stared down at a small beetle that was climbing its way up a rock.

Zack reached up and felt his earlobe the man was looking at. He could feel dried blood there and also some going down his neck. He brought his hand in front of him and rubbed some flakes of dried blood between his thumb and index finger. "Yeah that happens sometimes when you're close to an explosion.

"I take it you were the one that took care of those assholes?" He pushed his hands on the ground and stood up.

"I did have some help with that." Zack quickly looked back to glance at Kade. She was still lying motionlessly where he had left her with her head propped up on her pack. He then turned back towards the man. "Sadly that other caravan guard didn't follow my instructions very well and got himself killed. Were you hit anywhere?" Zack asked and tried to visually look for wounds across the man's body.

The man was staring blankly at the road where his caravan lay in ruins. He didn't respond to Zack but shook his head slowly.

Zack raised an arm and snapped his fingers in front of the man's face. "Look you might still be in shock. Why don't you sit back down and I'll give you some water. What's your name?"

The man stood silently moving his eyes to each of the bodies in the road. He paused when he got to the long blonde haired woman who was face down. "Paul." He said at last and started walking towards the dead woman.

"Wait!" Zack called out. "I don't think you need to be that close just yet."

It was of no use. Paul made his way to the road and crouched down next to the woman. He turned her body over with strained effort. He reached a hand to her cheek and it wasn't too long before tears were running down his face again.

Zack exhaled a breath slowly and made his way towards Paul. He crouched down on the opposite side of him and looked down to the body. The skin on her body was as smooth as Paul's was. Her eyes were closed and her mouth hung loosely open while Paul held her head in his arms.

"Those pieces of fucking shit." He said through his crying sobs.

"Who was she?" Zack asked.

Paul looked to Zack's face. His eyes were shaking slightly and were bloodshot. "She's my sister…was my sister."

"I'm sorry for what happened to her and the rest of your crew." Zack tried his best to sound sympathetic even though a scene like this was all too common in the wastes.

"It's all my fault…I was the one that convinced her to come out here with me. Kept telling her that we'd be set forever if we made a couple of trading runs." He paused to wipe his nose with the back of his hand. He then rubbed it on the thigh of his pants. "It should've been me that died, not her. She was going to be married to one of my friends once we returned."

"Where are you from?" Zack asked after a moment. "Both of you don't look like you have traveled in the wastes all that much. You look too healthy and your skin is virtually unmarked."

Paul's crying sobs finally subsided and his tears ended as well. He sat down and stared and the burning remains of the raider hideout. "We're from a small settlement called Scorpion Bay off of Lake Pleasant. It's about forty miles north of here. The lake has receded quite a bit since the Great War, but the water remains pretty clean. It gets refilled a little each day by some kind of underground water table. The place that we all live in is a warehouse where boats used to be placed for long term storage. The only way to get to it is by a winding narrow two way road or across the lake itself. We have several hidden defense points so no one can enter without us knowing. We are able to grow a bunch of food on a few acres of land next to the lake and we also have a large paddock where we keep a few herds of Brahmin. We aren't aggressive or anything, we are a defensive people. My sister and I were just farmers. We were in charge of cultivating and planting."

Zack had sat down as well and listened while Paul continued on.

"We do have an abundance of food and water, but we were lacking weapons, medical supplies, and technologies that could really help us out. Our group had very heated discussion and debates a few months back about sending teams out to locate other settlements that we would be able to trade with. They finally agreed to do so and one of the teams came across Cherry Cliff. They found a business there that would trade the food for supplies we needed and hired those two guards to come back with them. We still had to have someone volunteer to travel with our stuff though. Those that volunteered would get first dibs on what they brought back. I wanted to go of course, but my sister tried to talk me out of it. She kept saying that it wasn't for me since I had never left the safety of the warehouse before and wouldn't know how to handle myself. I pleaded with her and she finally gave in and decided to come. And then all of this." He waived his hand in front of him towards all the carnage that had occurred. "It all happened so fast…I didn't even realize we were under attack. I was in the front with the first Brahmin. They didn't start the attack until the second one got nearer. I don't know what kind of bombs they used, just that they were very loud and as you can see, were very effective. I don't even remember how I got behind that rock with one of the guards. Maybe he pulled me along with the shooting started."

The wind had died down considerably and the sun was making its way towards the edge of the horizon.

"I wish we would've gotten here sooner. We might have been able to help more. What was her name?"

"Ana." Paul looked over to Kade resting next to the road. "I take it she is the one who helped you destroy that building?

Zack laughed. "Actually, she's the one who destroyed the building with some well thrown dynamite. I was busy lying face down on the dirt trying to not to die. Her name is Kade, I'm Zack."

Paul gave a faint smile. "Zack and Kade…was she injured?"

Zack shook his head. "No, she just had a little too much excitement for one day. I'm sure she'll be up in a few hours. Speaking of which, it's going to be dark soon. I'm going to gather some wood to make a fire with. Neither of us has eaten all day. I'm sure you could use some food too. How about we make a camp back behind those rocks where I found you? The sound from the explosion and the smoke might attract some unwanted attention, so it'd be wise to be behind cover in case anyone shows up. Can you dig a small pit for us and place some stones around it? Also, if it's ok with you, I'll cut us some meat from the Brahmin to eat for dinner."

"Yeah I wouldn't want them to go to waste. I think one of the guards pack's had a shovel attached to it." Paul got up, made his way towards the first Brahmin, and began to look over the gear tied to it.

Zack got up and searched the surrounding area for anything that would burn. About twenty minutes later, he had an armful of an assortment of thick sticks and weeds in his arms which would last for quite a bit. Paul was finishing up the fire pit when Zack returned. He placed what he was carrying next stones and rubbed his hands together to remove the dust. Zack took notice of a small bag that Paul had placed nearby. There were several spots of blood splattered across the backside of it. Zack thought it had been attached to the first Brahmin.

"Alright, I'm going to go grab my bag and bring Kade over here. Can you start breaking some of these sticks up for kindling?" Zack wanted to keep Paul busy as possible so his mind wouldn't focus too much on the death of his sister and the guards.

"Sure thing." Paul responded.

Zack got up returning first with his bag, then with Kade in his arms. He placed her down gently and placed her pack under her head same as before. She was still very out of it. He then went through the side pocket to grab his lighter. He took the small broken twigs from Paul and arranged them in the fire pit. He then lit from the bottom and began to add larger pieces to it to build the heat. Paul sat silently watching Zack as the flames grew before him.

"Can you make sure the fire doesn't go out? I'm going to get our dinner."

Paul nodded and Zack got up to head towards the Brahmin. He came back three large cuts of Brahmin and also had a small thin piece of metal that he picked up from the wreckage. He placed the metal over the fire and placed the meat upon it. It instantly began to sizzle at the edges of the base.

The sun had finally disappeared. The blackness of night was creeping over the land. Zack flipped the meat every so often as it cooked. As he did so he kept an eye on Paul as well. He was studying his face and wondered what was going through his mind. Paul was sitting cross legged with his elbows on his legs and his chin resting on his close fisted hands. He was staring at the flames flickering in the fire.

"It will be done shortly." Zack called out over the fire.

Without warning, Paul stood up quickly and gave a grunt of anger. "Look, I thank you for what you and Kade did Zack, but I can't just sit here idly while all my settlement's supplies lie in the road and my sister is decomposing by the ass end of Brahmin. I need to get away from here. I'm going to head to Cherry Cliff and ask for help to bring the supplies into town so I can complete the trade. I'm sure someone can help me bury my sister and the others as well." He grabbed the small blood stained back and began to walk towards the road.

"Paul." Zack called out. "You don't have to leave just yet. Please eat something first. I can help with the graves if need be."

Paul paused and turned around. His hands were at his sides in clenched fists. "You did enough for me already Zack. I just can't be here right now. I'll probably be back in the morning. Thank you for your help." He waived goodbye to Zack. He then turned and started to head in the direction of Cherry Cliff.

Zack thought about getting up and trying to convince him to stay, but then thought better of it. Paul was a man, and there were many emotions running through him. He knew what was best for him at this time. Zack sighed and leaned backwards using his pack for support poking the steaks with his combat knife.

When the meat was done, Zack got out his metal plate and placed one of the steaks on it. He grabbed his utensils and began to eat vigorously at it. The meat was excellent and it warmed him from the inside out. Once he finished with it grabbed another one and ate it as well. He moved the last one to the edge of the makeshift grill to keep it warm. He grabbed for his canteen and drank from it. He put a little on his hands and cleaned the blood from his ear and neck as best as he could. He then scooted himself along the ground putting his head on his pack and he stared up at the emerging stars. It wasn't too long before he fell asleep.

"Zack?"

Zack heard the voice and immediately sat up and pulled his revolver with his right hand and aimed it in front of him. He was breathing rapidly looking for a threat.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Kade spoke from his left.

Zack turned to look. In the pale moonlight he could see her sitting with a concerned expression across her face. He placed his revolver back in the holster and smiled to her. He vaguely remembered a dream he was having where he was walking through a city made of rusted metal. There were people there, but no matter how much he tried, they wouldn't speak to him. He wondered if the dream had any relevance to anything, but then quickly shook it off.

"It's good to see you're finally awake." Zack looked to the fire. Burning embers is all what remained of it. "You were out for a bit. I didn't mean to doze off. I was more tired than I thought I suppose."

Kade nodded slowly. "Where are we?" She asked and looked around squinting in the darkness.

Zack laughed. "We're still by the building you decimated, just off the road a bit. Speaking of which, didn't I tell you not to help unless I asked?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Kade raised an eyebrow at him. "Well it was either that or else you'd have been barbeque." She gave a big grin.

"I don't know Kade." He said and grabbed the plate by his side. He placed the last bit of meat on it, it was still warm. He passed it over to Kade who took it quickly and began to eat at it with just her hands. "I thought I had the situation well under control. I was just lying low until I was able to get the jump on them. It was only a matter of time before they would've thrown their weapons down."

Kade tried to laugh but ended up choking a bit and spit out some food back onto the plate.

"Sorry." Zack said.

Kade shook her head. "It's ok."

"I'm glad you decided to do what you did. It was a crazy thing to do, but everything turned out good. I thought I was done for." Zack added.

"Yes…I didn't really know if what I was doing was going to help. I just saw them through the windows and threw the dynamite in. I don't really recall anything after they blew up. But, I guess that's where you helped out."

Zack nodded to her.

"Hey, wasn't there a survivor? Or did something happen to him?" She asked looking around again for him.

Zack took some time to think about how he should respond. He thought it best to leave out the part about Paul's sister.

"Yeah, the man lived. His name was Paul. He was traveling from north of here by Lake Pleasant. His plan was to trade extra food in Cherry Cliff for other supplies. He wanted head there to ask for help. Not too sure when he'll return."

"I bet he was terrified through the whole ordeal. He must have trusted you a lot to leave the both of us here alone with his stuff."

"Yeah, I hope he gets back home safe. You feel ok to travel?"

"Of course. A little explosion won't slow me down."

"Alright, good. Finish that up and we can head out."