Cowgirl in the Sand
Pablo the Courier didn't like being late, to him punctuality had always been one of his biggest trademarks. During his time as a Courier he would show up on time or sometimes early for deliveries. His employers always tended to give him bonuses thanks to the great word of mouth.
His first and last job with the Mojave Express of course marked the end of Pablo's career as a Courier. But now ever since the day he awoke that fateful day in Goodsprings people reacted to him differently; ignoring completely the fact that he had a name and instead just called him "Courier."
Now more than ever he felt uncomfortable as ever as he exited the strip trying not to lock eyes with the crowd of onlookers that wanted to get a good look at the man who killed Benny. Pablo the Courier felt relieved as the gates of New Vegas closed behind him and he entered Freeside.
He was two hours late. He would not make to the Mojave Outpost by dusk as he planned. Gritting his teeth he quickened his pace and headed to Mick & Ralphs. There he bought some beef jerky for himself and Rex who happily wagged his tail before enjoying his food, as he exited the building he came across one of the residents of Freeside; a cute girl who's idea of using make up was stuffing as much dirt in her face as possible.
"They say you even help rats across the street" said the young girl with a smile.
This made the Courier chuckle as he watched the girl walk into the store. His eyes lingered on her backside a few more seconds than appropriate, with a Cheshire grin he left Freeside, his thoughts were focused on the reason why he was late.
After saying goodbye to Veronica Pablo the Courier stepped out of the Lucky 38 and decided to meet the neighbors. First he stopped by the NCR embassy and talked with Crocker who tried to sell him the idea of patriotism and duty to the NCR.
The Courier then left the embassy telling Crocker he would think about it. Then he walked across the street into Michael Angelo's where he met Sheldon a very introverted man who gave him a camera and asked him to take pictures of different landmarks. But the best thing about Sheldon was living next to him; His sister Sarah Weintraub.
As he entered Vault 21 the Courier was greeted by a beautiful blonde girl, who was the proprietress of the vault now turned hotel and offered him a room, and a tour.
"My vault runs deep and wide! It's full of corridors and rooms that go far" said Sarah as she began her tour of the Vault.
"Now pay attention. Because it's easy for people to get lost in here" said Sarah as she proceeded with the tour, Pablo the Courier however wasn't paying attention; his eyes were fixed on Sarah's swaying hips as she walked and he did not pay much attention to his surroundings.
He immediately regretted it as predicted by Sarah he got lost. Two hours later after roaming all over the vault he finally found the entrance and a giggling Sarah Weintraub to greet him.
"Ha-Ha I told you to pay attention" said Sarah as she tilted her head and smiled.
The Courier then talked with Sarah about finding vault suits for her in exchange of caps, after that the Courier left the strip towards Freeside.
Soon after leaving Freeside Pablo the Courier headed to find the Crimson caravan company; there he saw Ringo the merchant he helped back in Goodsprings. Ringo told Pablo about Alice Mclafferty. The current company manager and said that she had well-paying jobs and was looking for people.
Alice Mclafferty gave Pablo a series of tasks he needed to accomplish one of them was to convince the same person he was going to meet Rose of Sharon Cassidy to sell her caravan business to her. Pablo the Courier thought it was ironic how Cass had suggested that he should look for work in the Crimson caravan company now he had to convince her to give up hers.
Four hours later around nine he made it to Goodsprings. The town had not changed since his last visit the only thing that stood out was the amount of flies that flew around Joe Cobb's head in the entrance of Goodsprings.
After the battle of Goodsprings the settlers piled up all the dead powder gangers and buried them in a ditch except for Joe Cobb. He became Pablo's toy as he cut off his head with a machete and fed the rest of his body to the coyotes; as a warning for anyone looking to start trouble Pablo took Joe Cobb's head and nailed it to the welcome to Goodsprings sign.
The town looked deserted except for the big-horners and the light that came from Chet's store and the Prospector saloon "it was good to be back" with a smile on his face the Courier entered the saloon.
He was greeted by Cheyenne the dog who practically darted across the room to get a look at Rex, they started sniffing each others butts immediately, out of the corner of his eye he spotted Sunny Smiles playing with the jukebox she nodded at the Courier as he made his way to the bar.
"Well look who do we have here? Our savior and protector has come to visit us" said Trudy with a smile.
"Thanks Trudy I'll have a beer and some noodles" said the Courier as he sat down in a stool and began to survey the crowd: easy Pete was passed out on the counter drooling and mumbling about some treasure while a pair of new settlers wearing cowboy hats were whispering to each other.
Pablo the Courier tensed up eyeing the two settlers his right hand ran through his pistol holster where he kept Maria his new sidearm. He was about to begin to decide whether those two new settlers were going to be trouble when he saw Sunny Smiles sitting next to him with a smile on her face.
"It looks like our dogs are getting to know each other" said Sunny ash she did a hand signal at Trudy who gave her a beer.
"Yeah Rex is very friendly with most people, speaking of which where is he?" asked the Courier.
"Oh he and Cheyenne are out back humping each other" said Sunny as she took a sip of her beer.
"Oh? Well at least someone is having a good time" said the Courier with a wolfish grin, this made Sunny look at her beer bottle while biting her lower lip.
"Hey Pablo did you ever get around to visit the New Vegas strip?" asked Trudy while she cleaned a jug with a cloth.
"Yeah as a matter of fact Trudy I just came from there."
"Did you get to meet Mister New Vegas?" "He is such a gentleman; I hope I get to meet him when I travel to the strip on my next vacation"
Pablo the Courier took a sip of his beer and smiled.
"You're coming to New Vegas for your next vacation?"
"Yep I'm fixing to do some gambling and meet that hunk of a man Mister New Vegas" The Courier smiled while Sunny Smiles slowly shook her head.
"Well Trudy if you do come to New Vegas stay in Vault 21: Sarah Weintraub a friend of mine is the owner and she can set you up with a nice discount."
"Thanks sweetie! Here is another Nuka Cola on the house" said Trudy as she leaned closer towards the Courier and spoke in a low voice.
"Say I've been hearing all kinds of crazy rumors about a Courier making a fuzz all over the strip, you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"
Pablo the Courier began to place his fork in his noodles and turning them clockwise, the hot steam from the noodles gave off a pleasant aroma, making the Courier relax.
"Nope Trudy I haven't heard anything of the sort" said the Courier while Trudy rose her right eyebrow and gave him an "I know you're lying look." The Courier ignored it instead he gently tapped Sunny smile's shoulder with his elbow.
"Hey Sunny I almost forgot, I've got a present for you" said the Courier making the local Ranger blush in surprise.
Pablo the Courier reached inside his backpack and pulled out some rifle parts; without blinking in less than a minute he had already assembled what looked to be a heavily modified Varmint rifle.
Sunny smiles looked in awe at the rifle it looked brand new and it sported a larger magazine for extra bullets and a scope with dual sights.
"Take it, it's yours" said the Courier as he handed the rifle to Sunny.
"Why? I mean thank you but…. This rifle looks amazing but I don't" stammered Sunny Smiles bit was interrupted by the Courier.
"Take it it's the rifle you gave me after I came out of Doc Mitchel's clinic."
"What? No way! The rifle I gave you was old, usable but old. There's no way this is the same rifle" said Sunny as she looked at the rifle.
"It's the same rifle except I made some modifications to it, most parts are brand new, I even gave it a new paint job" said the Courier with a proud smile on his face.
"Besides I don't need it anymore" said Pablo the Courier as he pointed towards the rifle on his back; it was another Varmint rifle except it was black and had several modifications to it.
"It's called Ratslayer" Sunny took the rifle and gently placed it next to her.
"Thank you" said Sunny. The Courier nodded in approval.
"Don't worry about it, besides you're the closest thing this town has to law enforcement" after saying that the expression on the Courier's face changed into a serious look.
"Any news on the Powder gangers?" the change of mood was evident as Trudy grunted and moved away towards a bottle of whisky and took a shot while Sunny looked distant.
"We try to avoid the topic but ever since you infiltrated the NCRCF and wiped them out. Whatever is left of them wants nothing to do with us thanks to Joe Cobb's head" The Courier smiled with a proud look on his face.
"Good. I like to see that I made a difference around these parts" said the Courier as he began to wolf down his meal.
"Was that really necessary?" "I mean I know you had to stop them, but kill them all?" "Was that the right thing to do?" asked Sunny.
"I didn't kill them all Sunny, I spared a couple of them besides I still have to deal with Cooke" said the Courier as he kept eating.
"Who is Cooke?" asked the Ranger.
"Cooke is the leader of the Powder gangers; he's some kind of anti NCR rebel. He has to be dealt with, once that's done maybe I'll consider a cease fire, I need to destroy their entire leadership otherwise they will keep attacking travelers and merchants."
"I still think we should leave them alone, they are not as strong as they once were, now they are nothing more than common raiders" "I man why bother right?"
This caused the Courier to turn towards Sunny, his chocolate brown eyes lit as if they were on fire. Sunny's mouth went dry and the young woman felt small.
"You want to stand aside and let them ambush and attack innocent people? Is that it Sunny?"
"No…. of course not! I just think that… ugh! Never mind I'm done trying to talk sense into you" said Sunny as she chugged whatever was left in her beer.
Pablo the Courier sighed and rubbed his temple with his hand and answered.
"My mentor once told me that if good men do nothing, that is evil enough" said the Courier as he stood up and dropped some caps on the counter and proceeded to leave.
"Have a good night Sunny" and he left. Sunny Smiles was left wondering what possessed a man like Pablo to take on a cause like that and not loose himself in the process, after a few minutes of silence she decided she was not the thinking type and decided to go back to the safety of the Juke box.
Pablo the Courier entered Victor's shack; the old world flag flying against the wind somehow sent a shiver down his spine, reminiscing on the past with only the music from his pip boy to keep him company the Courier decided to try to get some sleep.
Craig Boone felt only relief as he stepped out of the Lucky 38. The New Vegas morning rose to greet him, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes that he stole from Pablo's backpack when he wasn't looking. Nirvana swept through his body as he took a drag of his cigarette; he was free of Veronica for a brief period. Eventually he would have to return but as right now he was feeling relaxed.
He took another drag when an unknown female voice interrupted his state of serenity.
"Hey! Excuse me but are you that Courier that caused all of that trouble back in the Tops?"
The smoke in Boone's lungs decided to rebel making the sniper cough violently, Boone felt anger creep inside his core as he glared at the woman.
"No lady, now leave me alone" said Boone hoping the woman would have some common sense and just leave before he chewed her out.
"Oh sorry, The Follower of the Apocalypse well some of us…."
"I am not the fucking Courier lady! He is my boss and he is not in today, he should be back here later today, bother him not me" he motioned to his rifle.
"Now get the hell out of here before I shoot you" said Boone as he watched the woman retreat very quickly.
Boone was very pleased with himself; he would have never shoot the woman but he was pleased with the fact that he could inspire fear on anyone; anyone except Pablo the Courier and his stupid cocky smirk.
Boone took another drag and relaxed once again, when he was interrupted. This however it wasn't someone approaching him trying to convince him to do something. This time he was being watched; his sniper instincts kicked up and he frantically eyed the pedestrians waking down the strip trying to identify the threat.
This time however the threat got to him first.
Breakfast or whiskey? Come on what will it be? Breakfast or whiskey? Rose of Sharon Cassidy asked herself.
It was 9:00 Am and she was starving. The last time she had a full stomach was back in California, now there she was. The once renowned water merchant was reduced to only 25 caps and a killer hangover.
She placed the caps on her gloved hand and pondered what to next. Finally she came to a decision.
"Lacey!" shouted Cass at the merchant/ bartender.
"Yeah? What do you want? Cass I'm not giving out any fucking handouts okay? You better have the caps or I'm kicking you out."
"Again? You're gonna kick me out again?" said Cass as she glared at the merchant.
"You bet your pasty ass I will" said Lacey as she crossed her arms and frowned at the water merchant.
Cass tilted her head to the side and sneered at the merchant "relax I got some caps left."
"The last caps I own, as a matter of fact" said Cass with gritted teeth.
"Considering a promising new career turning tricks?" asked Lacey with a smirk.
"Fuck you. Just give me the finest whiskey bottle you got, I'll worry about being broke tomorrow when I'm sober."
Lacey picked up a very large whiskey bottle and handed it to Cassidy.
"I would feel sorry for you, if I actually gave a damn about people but I don't. Knock yourself out Cass."
"Thanks Lacey. Maybe I'll get lucky and marry the next rich dumbass that walks through that door." Said Cass with hoarse chuckle, she poured herself a shot and took it. Her muscles relaxing instantly. The hot New Vegas sun blinded Cass as someone entered the barracks.
Cass closed her eyes as she waited for her blue soulful eyes to get used to the dark once again. After a minute or two she finally got a good looking at the new comer: much to her surprise it was that boy with the vault suit she met last month.
Except he was different: he no longer was wearing that Vault suit, instead he wore an old duster with a black t-shirt and desert camouflage pants. He looked clean; his hair no longer dirty and greased but what caught her attention was a green bandana.
The grunts at the outpost were swapping rumors about a man with a green bandana last night; doing crazy things but couldn't possibly be right. No single man could ever wipe out a whole prison by himself that was impossible.
Cass watched the boy bend over the counter to ask Lacey for a drink, her eyes wandered to his posterior and suddenly she started to miss that vault suit of his.
She had to admit he was attractive enough; broad shoulders medium built and his short dark hair and his clean shaved face made him look like he was military, but the way he carried himself gave off a vibe that he knew little of discipline.
He nodded with a friendly smile towards Lacey then his chocolate brown eyes were fixed on her, he picked up his beer and walked towards her. Only then she discovered he was not alone as she spotted the strangest dog she had ever seen. Cass brazed herself for the encounter.
"You come around like a bad habit" she said then she looked at the panting dog next to him "and you have the weirdest fucking pets."
Craig Boone was throwing a menacing glare at his ambusher; the kind of look that would make Manny Vargas piss himself in terror and somehow this woman wasn't fazed at all. Either she was very brave or incredibly stupid, the more he looked at her he was convinced it was the latter.
The woman had red hair which was kept in a ponytail and was sort of mildly attractive in a nerdy kind of way. She seemed to have countless energy as she walked around Boone trying to find the right thing to say, she was wearing a very expensive business suit and black high heels.
"Oh he-he sorry about that, I didn't mean to snoop but I was hoping to talk to the Courier" said the woman as she shuffled her feet and looked around when she noticed Boone staring at her business suit.
"Oh this little suit? This fancy piece of crap was 200 caps at the Potomac attire, can you believe it?" "I could have spent that money running errands or maybe on one of my new trade agreements. Oh how I miss researching!" said the woman.
Boone looked for reasons not to shoot the woman as she began to mumble something about writing a book and becoming famous for it, suddenly her eyes became fixed on his sniper rifle and she asked with an almost childlike innocence.
"Is that a modified hunting rifle?"
Boone was surprised by the woman's knowledge but was even more surprised when he saw her speed as she dashed to take a closer look at the rifle. Boone felt extremely uneasy by having the woman closely inspecting the rifle, completely ignoring his need for personal space.
"Look lady you're violating my private personal space, can you back off before i…" said Boone before he was interrupted.
"Ooooh how exciting! Their calibers are different! Can I take it apart please?"
"Look lady no one touches my rifle and I mean no one! Now why don't you…"
"Your rifle is about to fall apart, did you know that?" said the woman leaving a stunned Boone.
"W-what the hell are you talking about lady?" said Boone as he pulled out his rifle and before he could blink the woman snatched it form his hands.
"The only version of this gun I've ever worked on has been the .32caliber. But they don't look too different" said the woman as she began to inspect the rifle.
"Just as I thought the screws on the frame are too small for this receiver, it's a miracle it didn't get you killed" the woman proceeded to take the rifle apart with an uncanny speed. Then she pulled out of her pocket a bag that had all kinds of gun parts, next she pulled out a bolt and what looked to be a new receiver.
The woman pulled out a small oil tin can that she carried somewhere inside her suit and proceeded to oil up sections of the receiver, next she put the gun together and presented it to Boone with a smile in her face.
"Try it out" said the woman and Boone did as he was told; picking up the rifle and aiming at the air he immediately noticed it was somewhat lighter and the bolt moved smoothly in his hands. Boone smiled to himself then looked at the woman.
"How the hell do you know so much about guns anyway?" "more importantly who are you?" asked Boone.
"Oh three years ago I was just an ordinary trader with a penchant for experiments." "Then someone special came into my life and forced me to learn all those things, crazy huh?"
Boone didn't reply.
"Anyways I gotta go!" "I got another mod for your rifle if you convince the Courier to come visit me and my friends when he comes back" said the woman as she started to leave.
"Wait who are you!" yelled Boone.
"We're staying in Vault 21! Bye now. Try not to die!" said the woman as she left a very confused Boone. He shuffled his feet then he took off his beret and scratched his head. Fearing more crazy people approaching him Boone ran back into the safety of the Lucky 38 casino.
Lacey the barwoman at the Mojave outpost had seen a lot of crazy things in her life: once she saw a crazy NCR soldier trying to tame a Yao Guai so he could ride it into battle. Only to have the bear go crazy and maul him to death, but this took the cake.
"Who on their right mind would try to piss off Cass on purpose?" she asked herself.
Rose of Sharon Cassidy hit her shot glass against the wooden counter with a grunt and proceeded to shoot an icy glare at her quarrel.
"What did you just say to me? Cause you sure got my attention now" said Cass with all the venom she could muster.
Pablo the Courier chuckled to himself and proceeded to sneer at the redhead. Deep inside he was quite unsettled the woman really knew how to glare at someone, he was surprised he didn't turn into ash any second now. But the years had taught the Courier about bluffing and achieving one's objective through lies and deceit. Although he preferred to avoid those tactics sometimes the situation called for it.
He arched his back and took a sip of his beer with a grin he answered "did I stutter? I said: "if you made the caravan, you're responsible for killing it" this made the woman's fury palatable as she tried to stand up to attack the Courier when she was interrupted.
"I may be honest, but at least I'm not blinded by pride" those words stung her and he knew it. Pablo the Courier watched as whatever resolve Cass had, deflated completely as she sat back down and sighed in defeat.
"I….. guess that's fair. But's there's been that voice saying the same fucking thing and the whiskey wasn't killing it" Cass took another shot then spoke with a low voice.
"Give me that paper I'll sign my name to it. No sense holding out to the past between your fingers when it's nothing but dirt" Cass took the paper and signed her name with a pen Lacey gave her. She handed the paper to Pablo and she proceeded to fill up her shot glass once again.
"Here the caravan's yours I feel…. Kinda relieved actually, never noticed how much weigh I was carrying around with just a name" said Cass as she took another shot. Pablo the Courier felt sorry for the woman but reminded himself why he was here and continued.
"So what will you do now?" asked the Courier.
"No idea maybe head back west, although the idea of heading back with my tail between my legs isn't very appealing" said Cass looking distant.
"You could come with me Cass" said the Courier.
This made Cass chuckle then she looked at his face and sobered up.
"You're serious" said Cass and the Courier nodded.
"Go with you? now why the hell would I want to do that?" asked Cass as she watched him. He looked around the barracks then he stood up and took a final sip of his beer.
"Stay here then. You know exactly what is going to happen day in and day out" said the Courier as he started to leave but was stopped by Cass.
"Wait, so fighting boredom is your argument huh? Fine, fuck it! I've done dumber things under the bottle." "Walking the Mojave can't be worse than being here. Alright I'm in" said Cass as she gathered her things and with a whiskey bottle followed the Courier into the wasteland.
The Caesar's legion standard in the entrance of Nipton made Cass cringe making her grip her shotgun tight she took a couple of steps forward towards a burned rubber tire; as she got closer she noticed it was covered by what looked like grey snowflakes. She leaned in to investigate when Pablo the Courier interrupted her.
"Ashes" said the Courier pointing towards the town center.
"What?" asked Cass as she stood up and walked towards the Courier.
"Ashes Cass; most parts of the town were on fire when I first arrived here." "Ranger Ghost told me to check on the town, so I did but when I got here Caesar's legion had already killed most of the town's people and crucified the rest" said the Courier as he looked at the town hall with a haunted look on his face.
"Were there any survivors?" asked Cass and she looked at Pablo he didn't make eye contact. He seemed to have lost himself in the memory. His eyes were fixed on a road that led towards the town hall.
Pablo the Courier pondered on whether to tell the truth or lie.
"No Cass" said The Courier as he motioned towards the road which led to the exit of the town.
As they left Pablo looked back at Cass who was looking back at the town hall building.
"Are you hungry Cass?" asked the Courier. Cass was about to reply when her stomach decided to speak for itself growling loudly making the water merchant blush with embarrassment.
Pablo smiled and reached with his hand inside his backpack and pulled out an apple and gave it to Cass. Cass had never in her life eaten a piece of fruit or any food at the speed she wolfed down the apple leaving Cass with hungry for more. Pablo the Courier smiled and pulled out what looked to be some beef jerky and gave it to his dog who was more than happy to swallow it in one bite.
"Hey! Why do you give the dog beef jerky while you give me an apple? You better have some more" whined Cass. The Courier grinned at her then shrugged his shoulders.
"Rex has saved my life countless times. He gets priority over someone I'm just getting to know" said the Courier as he met Cass's eyes who were looking at something behind him.
"So… you're saying that because Rex saved your life he gets to have special food is that it?" she raised her right eyebrow and looked at Pablo who nodded. Cass grinned and reached to her boot and pulled out a throwing knife.
"Well this should be easy enough" said Cass as she took a couple steps and she threw the knife towards an approaching raider killing it instantly taking Pablo by surprise.
"Viper gang member" said Cass as she loomed over the dead body she reached for her shot gun and then she looked at Pablo.
"So….. where is my beef jerky?" making the Courier chuckle as he pulled his modified varmint rifle named ratslayer and walked towards the water merchant.
"Sorry but I'm out of food right now but I promise, when we get to Novac I'll get you something to eat" said the Courier with a wink which made Cass roll her eyes. "Now since apparently I failed to clean this place of raiders we…. May be a little late now let's get some killing done" said Pablo the Courier as the trio with guns drawn started walking towards the waiting raider ambush in the mountain pass.
The elevator's door opened and Boone entered the suite once again with a watchful eye for any of Veronica's pranks when he smelled something delicious making his stomach growl. He walked inside only to see Lily the nightkin on her knees pulling a tray from the oven. She did the best impression close to a smile as she greeted the sniper.
"Hello mister Boone. Would you like some fresh cookies?" said Lily as Boone looked at her confused. To Craig Boone it was odd that the supermutant would address him by his actual name instead of a nickname like everybody else on Pablo's crew. Of course they barely just met and Boone had never had the chance to talk to her before.
Boone although still uneasy to have a supermutant living in the same place as he did, slowly was beginning to get used to her presence. Boone decided he was interested on finding out why he didn't get a nickname like the others when a running figure whizzed past him almost knocking off his feet.
"Cookies!" yelled Veronica as she ran towards the tray that lay on the table, before Lily could stop her Veronica reached in and yelped.
"Fuck! They're hot! I burned my hand" whined Veronica holding her hand in pain.
"Oh my little munchkin hurt herself, come here so grandma can kiss it better" said Lily making Veronica cringe.
"Thanks but no thanks I'm fine Lily I just wished i hadn't left my power fist in my bed."
Boone walked towards the tray and carefully placed the cookie in a small plate and proceeded to leave the kitchen when Veronica snatched the plate off his hands. Boone growled and chased after the Brotherhood scribe. Leaving Lily alone she turned off boredom perhaps caused her to once again get into an argument with Leo.
The sight of Dinky the dinosaur brought a smile Rose of Sharon Cassidy's face as she reminisced about being eight years old while her mother read her a book about giant lizards. It had been a long time since she thought about her mother, this made her sad. Cass once again began to wonder just what was the fate of her father? Part of her wanted to know while another wanted to just forget him for good.
Her eyes wandered to Pablo the Courier who was busy knocking on a door of a home while Rex was sniffing something. The knocking was answered by an elderly man with a mustache who wore a Brahmin skin outfit and a dark hat.
"Hey there youngster haven't seen you in a while, me and Alice were wondering what happened to you?" "still it's good to see you" said the man.
Pablo the Courier looked at Cass and motioned to her to come and said: "Cass this is Dusty McBride I helped him last month." "Dusty this is Rose of Sharon Cassidy she's a friend of mine" with that Dusty took off his hat and bowed.
"Pleased to meet you miss. Hey youngster, are you and your lady hungry? Alice is fixing me some dinner you both are welcome to have some, especially after all I done for me and the town itself".
"Yes Dusty we're both starving, especially my friend" said Pablo as he and Cass entered the house. They were greeted by the smell of steak and a very happy Alice McBride.
Pablo and Cass sat at the table along with Dusty and began to talk.
"So Dusty how's your cattle now that I got rid of that nightkin?" the elder man looked surprised.
"I thought that was a chupacabra, eh I guess I shouldn't listen to everything that No-bark says" he turned his attention towards his wife who was bringing two hot plates of food "But speaking of food yes my business has been doing better I'm fixing to buy two more Brahmins soon" said the man as he received the plate from his wife it had: beans with maize and a Brahmin steak covered in agave sauce that smelled heavenly.
Cass's stomach growled once again while her mouth watered at sight of food; as soon as she received her own plate Cass forgot her manners and began to eat with frenzy. Pablo, Dusty and Alice looked in wonder as they saw the skinny woman devour her plate and half of Pablo's steak all in three minute's time.
"Well darn! now I've seen it all" said Alice McBride as she looked at the younger woman "when was the last time you had something to eat sweetheart?" asked Alice. Cass sighed and looked to the ceiling hoping to avoid making eye contact.
"Well ma'am I'm a whiskey kind of woman and food always takes a backseat to my drinking, so it's been a while" said Cass.
The elder couple looked at Cass with a concerned look but she dismissed them with an almost childlike smile. Half an hour later Pablo and Cass left the McBride household to continue their journey; Cass's body however had other plans. After all that food she couldn't help but feel tired and sleepy, Cass grunted and called out to the Courier.
Pablo the Courier who was a few steps ahead feeding Rex. He turned around when he heard Cass call his name. He looked at her and he could tell the water merchant was exhausted.
"Let me guess Cass, you ate too much and now you're tired" said the Courier as he began to walk towards her. She didn't say anything she just nodded her head with her eyes closed like a tired child. Pablo the Courier smiled and signaled her to follow him towards the old motel.
"Well Cass you're in luck because I happen to own a room here, you can crash there for a couple of hours while I rearrange my inventory and sell the leftovers" said Pablo the Courier as he guided the water merchant to his room. The first thing Cass noticed was that the room was a complete mess, even for someone who was messy as herself there were all kinds of different clothing sticking out of the closet and guns on the floor. She was slightly impressed until sleep overpowered her and she collapsed on the bed snoring lightly.
Pablo the Courier watched the water merchant sleep soundly and wondered how long had it been since she had a good night's sleep, he looked at her freckled face as she slept and couldn't help but to admit she was very attractive, he began to walk to his old fridge and pulled out a purified water bottle and left it on the counter next to the bed. The courier began trying to clean his room without walking his companion up.
He started with the closet which was packed with different sets of armor and clothing. He slowly closed the door trying not to wake Cass when the Courier noticed someone looking through the window.
Pablo the Courier face palmed himself when he recognized the peeping tom and with a heavy sigh he left the room to speak with the intruder.
The old man seemed to jump as he saw the door opening with the Courier greeting him with a nod.
"No-bark I see that you didn't waste any time finding the new girl in town huh?" said the Courier he watched the old man who squirmed about avoiding making eye contact. Finally summoning the will, he spoke.
"Look boy, being a scientist who also happens to be a detective it's my job to investigate any new suspicious folk that may come through here. Also I think I may have misplaced my pants around here somewhere" said No-bark looking around. The Courier cringed as he noticed he indeed misplaced his pants.
"Eh, No-bark how? Maker… you know what? I don't even want to know!" said the Courier as he tried not to make eye contact.
"It's easy boy! It's that damn Gecko! I chased him over that dumpster over there I'm completely sure he keeps his treasure around here somewhere." "I was just about to catch him when I saw that new scientist guy Chris walk by, so I took off my pants to camouflage my face to become invisible!" said No-bark.
"That's too much information No-bark" said the Courier trying to remove the image from his mind.
"Doesn't matter boy I'll find that treasure I'm just here to warn you to be careful" said No-bark. "That man Boone lost his wife to the mole rat men who kidnap beautiful women to steal their hair, so they can make wigs for themselves." "It would be a shame if your lady lost her beautiful red hair" said No Bark.
"She's not my lady" said the Courier narrowing his eyes at the old coot.
"I saw the way you were looking at her boy, you can say what you like, but my mama raised no fool" Pablo the Courier tried to fight the blush rising on his face instead he acted angry.
"Get out of here you old coot!" yelled Pablo as he watched the old man run off faster that he expected. Once he was gone Pablo the Courier groaned and walked down the stairs towards the Dino Bite gift shop to sell his spare weapons while Rex slept on the carpet of the room guarding Cass.
An hour later Pablo entered his room and woke Cass up by telling her that they needed to leave now if they wanted to make it to New Vegas by dusk. The sleepy redhead agreed and complained about her throat being dry but was pointed towards the purified water bottle next to her and she proceeded to drink for it as Pablo left the room.
Rose of Sharon Cassidy sat on Pablo's bed and began to stretch her limbs and yawned, her blue eyes focused on the half empty bottle of water she had on her right hand and she began to drink from it. Next she walked towards the bathroom. She looked at herself in the cracked mirror: Cass noticed just how much weight she had lost since she left California. With another groaned she poured what was left of water her hair and face.
Cleaning herself with a towel and fixing up her hair Cass left the motel room to find Pablo waiting outside the door. He locked the door of his room and proceeded to start the journey to New Vegas. Cass bit her lip and thought "It's now or never" and she spoke.
"Hey Pablo" said Cass as she began to descend down the stairs.
"Yeah? What's wrong Cass?" asked the Courier.
"Nothing's wrong it's just, well now that I'm free from the outpost. I was wondering if you would like to make a detour" "I would like to pay my respects to Cassidy caravans. Check out where they died"
Cass looked at the Courier: he had a neutral face as he looked at her. Cass began to braze herself for disappointment when he spoke: "depends, where was your Caravan hit?" this took her by surprise she was sure he would say no. This was a pleasant surprise.
"Upside of Vegas hear tell. Trapped in the Mojave Outpost so I wasn't able to run there when I heard" it's been weeks since it was hit. The whole site must be a Cazador's nest by now" said Cass as she watched for his reaction. His face was calmed as his brown chocolate eyes locked on her blue ones.
"Can you show me on my pip boy where it was hit?" Cass nodded and got closer to Pablo. She looked in wonder at the strange device Pablo had on his left arm; she had heard about it from her mother that her dad had once followed a man that carried a similar device with him. Somehow the thought seemed to be appropriate. She was amazed as he pushed a button the whole map of the Mojave Wasteland came to life and after a few seconds she was able to point the exact location where her caravan was hit.
"Do you think there is anything left?" asked the Courier, Cass sighed as she thought about it.
"Only wishful thinking on my part, but nonetheless I'd like to say my goodbyes" the Courier gave a faint smile and nodded "of course Cass let's go we have a couple horse before dusk" Cass nodded and they proceeded to continue their journey.
By dusk Cass and Pablo arrived by two shacks that acted as rest stops. Luckily for the trio Cass recognized her friend and fellow water merchant Lupe who gave them two purified water bottle's with a discount. Quenching their thirst the trio finally arrived to the site of the ambush. Cass eyes grew wild as she looked in despair to the remnants of her friends and employees.
"God, there's almost nothing left. Looks like whoever it was, was just in the mood for killing" said Cass as she ran towards some ashes, Rex decided to go around the site sniffing for clues while Pablo the Courier got closer and placed his hands on Cass's shoulder. She paid no mind to the Courier's touch, her eyes focused on the ashes.
"Most of the cargo is ash too, not burned but… disintegrated. When I heard the reports I assumed ash meant burned not this…" Pablo the Courier looked towards a Brahmin rotten carcass.
"So close to the Vegas wall too, don't that beat all." "Must have happened during the day though, though they hadn't made a camp" The Courier looked at the carcass: it was missing both heads and it was still tied to the carriage.
Let's check this place out said the Courier as he knelt and began to look for clues; all he found was a bottle of vodka he picked it up and placed it inside his backpack.
"You know what? what happened to my caravan. Not the first time I've heard about an attack like that" "one of our caravans got hit a few months back and everything had been burned just like this" said Cass as she pointed at the ashes.
"Do you want to check it out?" asked Pablo as Cass turned to him.
"Yeah, it's a ways though hell of a detour, are you sure?" Pablo the Courier looked at her and then looked towards New Vegas "It's the middle of the night now we'll take care of it tomorrow besides you need a good night's sleep and since we're going to be working together, I need you with a clear head."
Cass chuckled and wondered if that was all he needed her for. She felt compelled to ask anyway.
"So what exactly are going to do once we get to New Vegas? And where am I going to sleep?" the Courier turned and smiled "you'll see."
Rose of Sharon Cassidy didn't believe in fate, she considered it fucking naïve that someone was meant to do something, however she couldn't help to think just how much her life had changed in twelve hours; she had been broke without any way to make it back to California and now she was in an elevator inside the biggest landmark in Vegas.
"I've never thought I would be inside the lucky 38, although those robots creep the hell out of me" she turned to Pablo "well now that we're here, what are your orders Boss man?" Pablo the Courier chuckled "I hope you're joking, cause I don't want no other nicknames from anybody" said the Courier.
"Of course it's a joke, I ain't calling anybody Boss. Anyway who else is on this team you're building?" asked Cass as the doors of the elevator opened.
"You're about to find out" said the Courier with a wink and began to walk outside the elevator as Cass followed she saw Rex run towards the big room in the middle while two figures came out from a room to the right: one was a young girl that wore some kind of rags, the other one was a NCR soldier who looked like he already hated her.
"Oh Pablo what the fuck took you so long! Boone was trying to have his way with me! Where were you!" all eyes were on the NCR soldier as he looked flustered and angry.
"What the fuck! I did no such thing!" said the man defending himself what he didn't see was that the girl was carrying a camera and turned quickly and took a picture of his angry face and ran off, Leaving Pablo the Courier shaking his head in disapproval.
"That was Veronica and she does random shit like that, anyway this is Boone he… well if he grunts and punches something that means he likes' you" "there is also Lily who is a sweetheart but her looks are something else" well Cass why don't you go introduce yourself to Veronica she will show you around and get you something to eat we can talk tomorrow" said Pablo the Courier as he entered the big room in the middle where Rex was barking happily.
Rose of Sharon Cassidy decided she should do as told and went to meet Veronica. As Cass entered the room she noticed two beds and in one of them was the younger girl; she sat cross legged giggling to herself while eating a cookie. Veronica reminded her of this tiny little creature called a monkey she once saw in California, she finally noticed her and stopped chewing.
"See something you like?" asked Veronica while Cass felt uncomfortable as she took off her hat and began to scratch her head, she couldn't help to notice the resemblance between Pablo and Veronica and wondered if they were related.
"No thanks, but Pablo said you could show me around and find me some food" the young girl eyed her once again then replied: "and a bath too you smell of whiskey and dead Brahmin" Cass rolled her eyes at that comment and looked away.
Veronica stood up and signaled the redhead "come on I'll show you around" as Cass began to get the tour of the Courier's lounge she knew that she was completely out of her element. but was eager to find out what would happen next.