Thanks to all readers out there who have me on author or story alert and/or tagged some of my earlier writing as a fave story. It really motivates me to keep going.
The Prospector's Den—Interior cave group area
A girl and boy sat at a wooden picnic table eating their supper. They both had short blond hair, wore dusty but functional farming clothes and were enjoying a quiet meal before any friends or traders showed up afterwards. Their peace was shattered when a very scared looking girl with long brown hair ran in through the exit door. They both knew Sugar from prior visits. She ran to their table and took a moment to find her breath.
"Quinn, Sam, outside now! There's a crazy girl fighting those Khan friends of yours. I'm trying to spread peace and love not conflict. There's another guy watching. Hurry!"
The three kids ran together towards the door to see what was going on.
Exterior Mojave Wasteland.
Rachel stepped backwards as Tina lunged at her midsection with the spear point. The dark haired leather clad girl pulled out her baton and sidestepped the angry Asian girl's forward momentum. Rachel deflected the shaft of the spear aside with her baton and side kicked the Khan initiate female in the stomach. Tina backed up a step but remained standing. She feinted a thrust to the face then whipped the blunt end around and aimed for Rachel's ribcage. The wooden shaft was stopped from delivering a major impact to her body by Rachel's gauntlet glove grabbing the spear and twisting hard. Tina's right arm exploded in pain as she was forced to loosen her grip then her spear was ripped loose and thrown some distance away. The air was forced from Tina's lungs as Rachel kicked her in the gut then body tackled her to the ground. She sat on the Asian girl's midsection, her baton pressing lightly against her throat. Meanwhile Finn and Brittany watched the encounter in shocked silence.
"Had enough big mouth? Nobody bosses me around, get it? I hope you've learned this important lesson."
Tina gulped for breath while she defiantly glared up at Rachel.
"Screw you bitch! Let me up."
Rachel shook her head no, a determined look on her face.
"Just say Yes, I've learned my lesson and I will."
When Tina remained quiet Rachel flexed her left wrist which caused her sharp blade to extend from her glove. The shiny surface gleaned brightly in the late afternoon sun. The Asian girl's eyes went wide in fear.
"Please don't kill me, I'm begging you. I was just doing my job. I've learned my lesson, I mean yes I have."
Finn came to his senses and started running towards the two sprawled girls.
"Please stop Rachel; you've proved your point. Let her up."
Meanwhile Brittany was moving her spear into fighting stance and aiming for Finn's unprotected back. Rachel relaxed her combat stance and was just easing the pressure from her baton and standing up when she noticed the aggressive movement from her side vision.
"Finn, watch out!"
Even with Rachel's frantic warning Finn sensed rapid movement behind him and turned in time to avoid the attack. He jumped away from Brittany advancing on him and pulled out the baseball bat from his back sling. The boy countered the angry blonde's attacks but did not go on the offensive himself. While Rachel's attention was diverted Tina used the distraction to punch her in the jaw which caused the brunette to grunt in pain and fall sideways off the Asian girl. Rachel dropped her baton to touch her face and felt a thin trickle of blood. Tina got to her feet and was about to kick Rachel in the side when the prone girl started crying. The Asian girl felt a mixture of shock and confusion alongside her anger. Tina froze in place as Quinn burst outside, followed closely by Sam and Sugar. The girl with the short blond hair glared at the 4 combatants.
"Stop this right now! Have you all gone mad? What the hell started this?"
Before any of them could respond Sugar noticed some flying wildlife getting closer. She tapped Sam on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Look at those cool jumbo insects. Aren't they pretty?"
"Not now Sugar. Huh, where? Oh crap."
Finn was running towards Rachel to check her condition out when Sam yelled a warning.
"Cazador swarm!"
A pack of eight large bees with reddish yellow wings flew aggressively towards the six startled kids. Sugar ran to be near the entrance door and Quinn and Sam walked backwards a few steps but all three stayed to watch. The mutated insects seemed only interested in the other four people. Brittany swung her spear to face the threat while Tina ran to retrieve her weapon. Finn reached Rachel's side and kneeled down next to her. The stunned girl put one arm around his waist as Finn drew out his 10mm pistol.
"I'm right here partner. Let me take care of you Rachel. Use my med kit while I help deal with these things."
Finn flicked off the gun's safety and opened fire on the nearby flying insects while Rachel released her grip. She got out a cloth rag and a small tin of healing powder from Finn's belt pouch. The brunette girl forced her tears to stop and first wiped her eyes clear of moisture then cleaned the blood off her face. Rachel smeared a pinch of the powder on her face and grimaced at the additional burning sensation. She hurriedly closed the tin and put it and the rag inside her pocket. Rachel grabbed her baton lying nearby and flexed her glove hand, freeing her mind of all but the present moment.
They stood up together. By now three bees were twitching on the ground with bullet holes in their sides. Brittany focused on spearing one insect that was honing in on Tina's back while the other four buzzed in and out of reach with extreme agitation. Suddenly one flew off then turned to attack the unaware blond Kahn warrior while she pushed her spear head through the bug menacing Tina. Brittany jumped at the sound of Finn's pistol firing at close range as he dropped another insect from stinging her. The blond looked quickly behind her at the mutant bee rolling on the ground then back at Finn and nodded at the boy.
"Thanks. Watch out!"
Finn felt the air ripple from the nearby insect wings so he dropped to the ground as one of the remaining bees buzzed over him. The impact with the ground caused his pistol to skid away across the uneven terrain. His abrupt movement forced Rachel to snap out of her motionless semi aware state as her concern and anger flared up. Her baton hit the closest insect with sufficient force and knocked it to the ground. She followed up with a precise downward slash of her glove's extended sharp blade, mortally injuring the bee. Rachel stood back up then reached down to help Finn to his feet. They noticed the scene playing out in front of them as Rachel yelled out a warning while Finn looked around for his weapon.
"Behind you!"
Tina speared and killed one of the two remaining bees that was attacking Brittany but was unaware of the last one close behind her. While the Asian Khan girl smiled in triumph at her feat her blond companion's eyes went wide in terror.
"Tina!"
Her joy at protecting Brittany disappeared as Tina started to turn around. She screamed as the final big Cazador mutant bee flew towards her midsection, its stinger detached and ready. Tina knew it was too late to bring up her spear for defense but then she heard several quiet coughing sounds from close by. The large insect dropped to the ground at Tina's feet as she realized who her savior was. Rachel lowered her silenced .22 caliber pistol and returned it to the holster on her right hip. She stared at Tina for a few seconds then shrugged her shoulders.
"You're welcome."
Rachel turned to look at her male partner as he secured his weapon.
"Let's go Finn. It was my mistake in wanting to come here."
Tina came to her senses after accepting a grateful hug from Brittany as the two newcomers started to leave the area.
"Don't go. It's Rachel, right? Thanks for saving my life, even if you were forced to. Why are you here anyway?"
Quinn, Sam and Sugar joined the four combatants and the blond girl nodded in understanding.
"We'd all like to know the answer. Now that we're on speaking terms let's go inside and sort this out. You four try and play nice okay?"
Rachel smiled at the blonde girl's reply as she and Finn walked closer to the others.
"I'm sorry too; I let my temper get out of control again. I'm Rachel and this is my partner Finn. Glad to meet everyone."
Quinn and Rachel shook hands while the others visibly relaxed and put their weapons away.
Dino Dee-Lite gift shop, Novac
Located inside the large Dinky Dinosaur statue
Kurt sat at the counter reading an old magazine issue of Meeting People, looking at the faded pictures and laughing at the articles about human behavior. It was another boring day without many customers, but he always believed in thinking positive, and the weekend would be here soon. As he turned another page the front door opened and two dark haired kids entered. Kurt smiled a greeting at them and turned his magazine over to continue reading later.
"Hi there. Haven't seen the two of you around before. Are you looking for anything in particular?"
The male kid nodded his head at the excited boy and glanced around the room. The female Latina girl walked up to the counter and smiled.
"Hello. We're new to the area and just wanted to see what and who's interesting in these parts. What's your name?"
"I'm Kurt. Can I interest you in one of our signature rocket scale model collectibles? And you are?"
Before the girl could reply a voice came out of the ham radio sitting on a desk inside the gift shop's open office door.
"Come in Kilo. This is Foxtrot Hotel checking in."
Kurt's facial features relaxed and he smiled back at his female customer.
"Excuse me. That's my brother. We like using code names; it's so cool and fun. Keep looking around and I'll be right back."
Kurt walked into the nearby office and sat down in front of the communication device. The two customers exchanged glances as the girl silently mouthed some words to the boy.
FH? Finn.
The boy nodded and mouthed something back.
Let's listen in.
The twosome casually moved closer to the office while remaining out of sight as Kurt replied.
"This is Kilo, go ahead Foxtrot. I was starting to worry about you."
"There was a situation but its all good now. Romeo Bravo got a little banged up but she's being looked after now. We're going to stay the night and get things worked out."
Kurt controlled his emotions as he thought about anything happening to his brother and new but close female friend and partner. She was his good friend as well.
"Give Romeo my regards and concern, please try and keep her safe."
The other person laughed at Kurt's reply.
"Don't I know it. She has a mind of her own and forces her opinion on everyone even if they don't want to hear it. These other people are still recovering."
"Get back here tomorrow and tell me all about it." You reached your destination?"
"Yes, Romeo and I are at Tango Papa Delta. I need to check on her now. Foxtrot out."
Kurt put down his mike and shook his head in dismay. The boy and girl lurking by the wall eased back and started looking intently at some merchandise on a shelf farther away. They turned around as Kurt entered the main room again.
"Anything catch your interest? I still haven't got your names."
The girl smiled at her companion then looked back over at Kurt.
"We'd like to play that code name game too. It is fun. I'm Sierra Lima and this is November Papa. Nice to meet you but we have to go now. Sorry for just browsing but we'll be back later. Have a nice day Kurt."
"Sure, that's great. I'll introduce you to the others when they get back. We could all hang out."
The Latina girl smiled as she and her male companion moved towards the exit door.
"Okay, sure. Good day."
The male customer gave Kurt a thumbs up.
"Later dude."
When they closed the door and walked to the bottom of the steps the girl blew out a frustrated breath. They continued to walk outside the main gate of the hotel while they talked.
"Damn, I've never smiled so much in my life. If I had to say one more sweet word I'm going to punch something."
"Easy sis, I know being nice is against your nature. If I did not know you so well I'd have bought your performance. You're quite a charmer."
Santana turned and punched her brother in the shoulder.
"Stuff the witty comments. I'm just concerned about this Finn character. Do you think he can protect Rachel or should we take a more active role?"
"Yeah, there's my mean sister again. Things are back to normal. You know we have to follow our orders with no deviations. Our higher ups in the good ole BOS have not given us the go ahead signal yet."
The dark haired Latina girl rolled her eyes and brushed back a dark strand of hair that blew in her face.
"I know that Noah, but we need to be proactive and stay ready. This is our most important assignment ever and we can't blow it and look bad. We'll never get to be Knights and wear power armor otherwise."
"You don't fool me Santana; this is not just a job to you. You're personally invested in wanting Rachel return to the group someday. There's hope for you yet."
Puck moved quicker this time as Santana lunged at him again.
"You're crazy. This is all about increasing our numbers again before the Brotherhood dies out. It's hard being isolated for years living underground. I'm just glad we get to move around top side sometimes."
"You need to make some friends sis. Talk about being isolated."
"Who needs friends when I have you to kick around? Let's get back to the bunker. We'll invite Rachel out to the ranch soon when her bodyguards are busy with other things."
"Look at your face sis; you almost looked happy saying that last part. This Rachel has really gotten to you."
"At least she's not as mean as you are."
"You didn't see her fight, I did. Don't underestimate her like that Finn dude did."
"I love a challenge. Maybe some girl bonding would soften my edges a little."
"I don't believe it."
Santana gave her brother a rare smile and looked back across the hotel's lot to the dinosaur statue where they had walked from.
"Damn that thing is an eyesore. Give me a power bar. I won't ask twice."
The Prospector's Den
Interior living space
Finn put his radio away inside his backpack and carried it back into the front gathering room. He had been in the rear storage alcove near a workbench where he had talked with Kurt over the airwaves. The central room had 8 mattresses on the floor for extra sleeping arrangements. Anyone who wished to stay over could due to the very dangerous travel conditions walking around at night entailed. Finn walked over to where Rachel was resting on a two person couch and sat down next to her.
"Kurt says hi."
They smiled at each other and linked hands. Quinn and Sam were on the main couch, Sugar reclined in a nearby chair with Tina and Brittany standing close together next to a bar counter near the room's exit door. There was even an actual king side bed including the frame and springs against the fall wall. Quinn decided to start things off.
"Now that we're all here and comfortable who wants to begin?"
Rachel raised her hand and Quinn nodded her assent to go ahead.
"I'd heard of this place and asked Finn to go with me and check it out. I did live in Primm recently and several passing people told me about this outpost. When we got here after our long walk I wanted to go inside and meet everyone. I was tired, and I get impatient very easy; just ask Finn about that."
Rachel smiled over at Finn and he laughed in response.
"That's how we met. She shoved me out of the way and we fell down together. I was sort of upset for awhile when she hit me and ran away but we worked it out. Rachel's a good person. It's worth getting to know her. I'm so glad we met, and if we can do anything to prove ourselves just ask. I'm glad to meet you all. We're from Novac."
The other five persons looked around at each other and considered what the two newcomers said. Rachel continued talking before any of them could reply.
"I don't like waiting, but that's no excuse."
Rachel stood up and walked over to the two Khan girls.
"Tina, I'm sorry I lost my temper and took it out on you. You fought honorably."
Rachel carefully felt her bandaged face that was still kind of numb due to the healing powder and small stimpack shot.
"Even if you sucker punched me, it was a good blow. I would be glad to stand beside you in a fight."
Rachel giggled so Tina would know she was not baiting her into another battle. The Asian girl so wanted to hate this girl for humiliating her outside and getting her to submit but her sincere words and penitent attitude won Tina over.
"I could have kicked some of your ribs in, you were asking for it."
Rachel nodded her head and smiled back. She held out her hand.
"But you didn't. My ribs thank you too. So, can we call a truce?"
"That's cool with me. You've got to teach me some of your moves. I'll share some tips too."
The two girls shook hands as the others gathered whistled and yelled out their approval. Brittany jumped up and down with much happiness.
"Yay, now everyone's friends."
Rachel and Finn took turns greeting the others and shook hands with them. Quinn decided to continue the group talk in the morning and get the night watch set up.
"All right Sugar and I will take the first shift, followed by Tina and Brittany. I'll let our new friends Rachel and Finn plus Sam have the last shift and they'll wake us up in the morning. Other business can wait until after breakfast. Agreed?"
The short haired blond girl looked around for any objections but there were none.
"Also just this once, since they are our guests, Rachel and Finn can have the real bed in the corner. I'm sure you have not slept on one in quite some time, am I right?"
Rachel was too tired to be ecstatic about not sleeping on a rock hard or dirty bare mattress so she nodded her thanks. The sore girl eased her weary body down on the soft bed, not bothering to pull back the covers. Finn headed back to the couch and sat down, which earned him a frown from his female partner.
"You can sleep here too." Let's share our body heat. I'm scared to be alone."
While Finn hesitated briefly with a puzzled look on his face the others went to their areas. Sam went to the back alcove to fix some of his gear on the workbench while Brittany gently helped Tina to lay down on one of the mattresses in the middle room. The Asian girl looked disappointed when her blond clan mate went to lie down on the next sleep spot over. Brittany smiled back at Tina to assure her nothing was wrong.
"You need to rest and heal tonight, but soon I'm going to give you a very special reward. Sorry about messing with your head earlier, I really like you too. I sure had to flirt a lot with Sugar for you to finally speak up. Good night Tina."
Brittany blew Tina an air kiss, which made the Asian girl tingle all over.
"Ah, you're the best Britt."
"I know."
Quinn and Sugar walked back into the cave portion of the outpost. The two girls doubled checked to see that the door leading outside was locked. There was a possibility that someone would show up at any time so someone had to stay awake. They sat down at the picnic table and enjoyed some gossip before working out more agreements between the farming town of Good springs and the Followers, who were based at the Old Mormon Fort in the suburb of Freeside, close to the Vegas strip.
Finn carefully climbed into the bed next to Rachel after taking his sneakers and jacket off. He laid back on his back and Rachel snuggled her head onto his chest. He rubbed her shoulder a few times while his nose enjoyed the rich scent of her hair. They lay quietly for a few minutes before Finn decided to ask about something that had been bothering him.
"I know you're a tough girl Rachel, and a great fighter, but I saw you cry out there. That hurt me more than anything ever has, even your sneaky kicks. You can tell me anything, I'm here for you."
Rachel stirred as she had been about to fall asleep. She put her arms around Finn's chest and hugged him close.
"I hoped you didn't see that. I was so used to everyone hating me, that is until I met you. Thanks again for coming after me when you didn't have to."
"Are you kidding me? Your mom gave me the evil eye and demanded I go after you. Besides that I was not going to let a girl hit me and get away with it."
Rachel laughed then grabbed Finn's closest hand and pressed her lips to his skin. The two pre-teens felt an electric sensation run through their bodies. Both their breaths caught for a few seconds in their throat. Rachel playfully punched Finn on the arm.
"C'mon, you loved it. We got to be friends because of it, that's the important part."
"You're right, Rachel. Good night."
"Of course I am. Good night Finn."
They soon fell asleep with their arms around each other, not needing any covers or blankets at all. Their shared body heat and closeness let Finn and Rachel have a restful nap for several hours before being awakened with much energy for their night shift.
Please review and thanks for reading. I'm thinking after another chapter or so flashing forward a few years for more intense action and relationship drama. A very tramatic event hinted at in the first chapter 1 scene will take place.