Okay this is the new and improved version of the chapter i hope everyone likes it
She stared at the man in the checkered suit. Silently she sat as he said things. The man pulled out his gun, the moonlight reflected off of it. She only really caught the tail end of his final sentence towards her.
"It was rigged from the start." the man said.
The sound of the gunshot along with the flash from the pistol's barrel where her last memories before darkness overcame her vision. She was in complete darkness, nothing around her, she felt like she was floating.
"Is this what it's like when you die?" she wondered to herself.
The next thing she saw was blinding light; it was followed by a voice.
"Your awake, good." said the man
"Am I dead?" she asked the man covering her eyes trying to adjust to the light.
"No you're far from it." he said "Well, now you are atleast."
"But…I…I was shot….in the head." She said emphasizing the word head.
"Yes you were, either you've got a thick skull or you're just extremely lucky." The man said with a light chuckle in his voice.
"So…who are you?" she asked the man.
"Oh I'm sorry names Doc Mitchell." he said.
"Thanks for digging the bullets out." she said "But did it do much aesthetic damage?
Hmm well that rules out brain damage." Mitchell said "But no just a scar on your forehead about the size of a 9mm bullet.."
"Oh, is it mostly out of view?" she asked.
"Yes little lady it's towards the side." Michel said smiling "If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"
"It's Ashlyn." she said.
"It's a pretty name." Michel said finally helping Ashlyn into a sitting position.
Ashlyn felt extremely light headed and the room began to spin as she sat up. She put her hands on the sides of her head in an attempt to at least dull the feeling. It began to work and Ashlyn began to finally be able to see the face of her savior. He was an old man.
"Age means luck." Ashlyn thought "At least it does in the wasteland."
He was bald the only hair left on his head seemed to be his large white mustache.
"Well, I reckon that it's a good idea to test how much damage the bullet did, step over to that vigor tester over there." said Mitchell.
"Okay." responded Ashlyn as she began to slowly make her way to the machine on wobbly legs.
The Doc walked with Ashlyn making sure she didn't fall. Ashlyn gripped the handle on the vigor tester and began to test herself.
"Well I'll be looks like those bullets did nothin' to your memory." said the Doc a light chuckle in his voice.
"Yea, it seems so." Ashlyn said now slightly blushing.
Ashlyn ran through more tests with Mitchell to help her break free from the slight amnesia from her past before the night days before. Based on the tests Ashlyn seemed to be a lover rather than a fighter but seemed to be able to hold her own in a fight nonetheless.
"Well you seem like your in good enough shape to go, I looked through your stuff to try to figure out who you where." Mitchell said "I hope you don't mind."
"No it's perfectly fine, I don't mind at all." Ashlyn said in response with a cheery smile.
"Oh, I almost forgot here's the stuff that you had with you" Mitchell said "Also here's a vault suit you'll need it, considering you've been half naked for the last couple of days this might make you feel better."
"Thank you, it's gonna be nice to have something heavier on." Ashlyn said looking at the items she was now holding."
Ashlyn had a 9mm pistol with about twenty rounds, twenty-three bottle caps and she saw something she had only seen once before.
"Is this a pip-boy?" asked Ashlyn.
"Huh? Oh yea I figured it could be of some use to you I don't need it anymore so this way it will seem some use." Mitchell said.
Ashlyn waved goodbye to Doc Mitchell as she opened the door. Mitchell looked at the young woman now leaving his home. Her reddish brown hair was just past her shoulders and her hazel eyes where so deep that you could easily loose track of time if you stared at them for too long. He looked at her soft facial features; she looked almost like a teenager instead of a grown woman. She looked so young and full of life, innocent yet a grizzled veteran of the wastes.
"Oh Ashlyn I almost forgot, you should talk to Sunny in the saloon she can help you get your bearings for survival back." said Mitchell
"Okay." Ashlyn said looking back then closing the door to the home.
Ashlyn looked out from the small vantage point she had from the top of the hill that the house was perched on. She saw the usual brown color of the wasteland, but she saw something rather unique, a robot. It had a boxy frame with a TV screen in the center of the torso that was held up by a stalk that had a wheel on the end of it giving it its mobility. Ashlyn walked up to the robot admiring its faded blue paint. The feature of the robot that caught her eye the most was the image on the screen, a cowboy.
"Well, well looks like your as fit as a fiddle again." the robot said in a cheery western accented tone.
"Yea I guess I'm lucky." Ashlyn said "But how do you know about me?"
"Oh I'm sorry miss I thought you knew I was the one who dug you out of that grave in the cemetery." said the robot.
"Thanks for that." Ashlyn said with a smile "So what are you called anyway?"
"Names Victor." he said.
"Nice to meet ya Victor." Ashlyn stated with a cheery tone in her voice.
"And it's nice to meet you little lady, well considering the circumstances." Victor said.
Ashlyn giggled lightly and said "Well I've gotta go and talk to Sunny, see you around Victor."
Ashlyn waved goodbye to Victor and headed towards the building that was labeled with a sign saying saloon on it. Ashlyn walked into the roofed entranceway of the saloon and saw an old man. He was African, both his hair and beard where snow white, he wore a straw cowboy hat, wearing cloths similar to what Doc Mitchell wore. Ashlyn waved at the man as she walked to the door of the saloon, he raised his hand near the center of his chest and waved in only one direction lowering his hand back down to his leg.
Barking was the first sound that met Ashlyn as she entered the saloon.
"Cheyenne stay." a woman said "Don't worry about her she only attacks what I tell her to."
Ashlyn looked at the dog with slight tinge of fear "Good girl." she said putting her hand towards the dogs snout so it could get her scent. Ashlyn examined the dog it looked like a mutt mix of a sheep dog and a German Sheppard; it had black hair on its back that faded to grey then light grey going to its belly.
"Hey you're the one the doc was patching up aren't you?" the woman asked.
"Yea, my names Ashlyn." Ashlyn said "And you are?"
"Sunny Smiles it's nice to meet you." Sunny said.
"Really? The doc said you could help me get my bearings back in the wastes." said Ashlyn.
"Sure thing, meet me out behind the saloon and we can start." said Sunny
"Okay but first I'm gonna have a look around if you don't mind, I'll only be a couple minutes." Ashlyn said.
"Sounds fine, I'll meet you outside." Sunny said smiling as she walked away.
Sunny walked into the room where the bar was located. Ashlyn stood in the room linked to the saloons entrance. There where many things that didn't interest Ashlyn except for some magazines lying on a knee-high shelf near the room containing the bar. Ashlyn picked them up and skimmed through them, then slipped them into her jumpsuit before anyone could notice she had taken them.
Ashlyn walked out the side door of the saloon leading to the outside. Sunny was waiting at the top of the small hill behind the saloon, Ashlyn walked up to her.
"Okay let's start with weapons shall we?" Sunny said.
"Sounds good." Ashlyn said with a smile.
Sunny handed Ashlyn a varmint rifle, immediately it reminded Ashlyn of home, she smiled gripping the rifle slightly harder. Ashlyn saw the bottles standing on the fence at the bottom of the hill she had just walked up. She heard Sunny say something about shoot the bottles and Ashlyn knelt down and got a bottle in her sights. She fired and the center of the bottle erupted in to a small explosion of glass, she didn't hesitate to fire at the other bottles soon five casings lay on the ground and five bottles where broken laying on the side of the fence closest to the saloon.
"That was really good!" Sunny exclaimed watching Ashlyn pick up the spent casings from the rifle.
"Yea, I'm used to using that weapon." Ashlyn said picking up the final casing "Do you want the rifle and casings back?"
"No keep them; you need them more than I do." Sunny said "Do you need a back pack or something?"
"It would be nice but if you can't spare one I'll make due." She said.
"No, its fine just follow me to my house and I'll grab you an extra." Sunny said smiling.
Sunny lead Ashlyn to her house in town, Ashlyn waited in the living room when she entered. Sunny returned from the hallway she had entered with a worn olive green backpack.
"Here you go this should hold anything you'd need." Sunny said tossing Ashlyn the pack.
"Thanks for all of the stuff to help me get back on my feet" said Ashlyn "I really appreciate it."
"Its nothin'" said Sunny "Want to help me with a couple errands? There are caps in it for you."
"Sounds promising, what's the errand?" Ashlyn asked.
"Gonna clear some geckos from the water source." Sunny said "Still up to it?"
"Sounds good let's go." Ashlyn stated slightly happy she could use the varmint rifle more.
After about a half an hour Ashlyn stood with Sunny at the last water well just having saved a settler from Goodsprings. She gave Ashlyn some clean water for saving her saying it was the least she could do. Sunny looked at the now smiling Ashlyn.
"It's my turn to thank you it seems, I'm glad we got here in time." said Sunny "Let's head back to the saloon, shall we?"
"Yea I need a break after that." Ashlyn said yawning.
"Drinks are on me, considering what you did." Sunny said with a smile.
"I'm not much of a drinker but a beer would be nice right now." Ashlyn said lightly kicking a dead gecko with her foot.
The trio began to walk back to the saloon Sunny in front and Ashlyn andCheyennefollowing close behind. It was getting dark the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains. The group reached the entrance of the saloon. Ashlyn saw the same picture as earlier minus the man who was sitting in the chair earlier in the day. Walking into the bar Ashlyn heard a man and woman arguing in the room with the bar. The man was African and was wearing a blue shirt covered by a black protective vest with black pants. The woman had brownish hair and was wearing an out fit that resembled a prewar casual out fit it was comprised of a white blouse with a thin reddish jacket.
"I've had it! If you don't turn Ringo over I'm going to burn this town to the ground." the man said with venom in his voice.
"Just get out of here I've already told you I have no idea what your talking about." the woman said "Now go."
"This isn't over yet." the man said briskly walking to the saloons exit almost running into Ashlyn.
"What was that all about?" Ashlyn asked the woman.
"That was Joe Cobb." the woman said "He's here to cause trouble."
"Anything I can do to help?" Ashlyn asked lightly biting her lip..
"Yea, Ringo is up in the old gas station go talk to him." the woman said "Oh, by the way my names Trudy."
"It's nice to meet you Trudy." Said Ashlyn with a smiling façade placed on her face for the moment "I'll be back once I talk to Ringo."
"Good luck." Trudy said. "You'll need it."