Stuck in town till her leg gets better, she decided to first get all the stuff she needed. Already, she got some supplies and spare caps, and she just came back from Ranger Andy with a 44. magnum revolver strapped to her waist. She did though had to perform the Ranger Takedown on the Ranger himself, which hurt like a bitch with her leg. Since she was smaller, she had to resort to her agility and swiftness to take a grown man down in a fight.
It was funny, one time coming back from Novac she was so excited she learned a trick from a Ranger that she went up to Benny and showed him. The checkered man didn't even know what hit it him and he went sprawling on the floor in a daze. Swank laughed, until she performed the trick on him too. They both agreed on never letting her do it again. Benny's back hurt for a week after that, and he forced her to massage his back everyday. She didn't mind much, because it was either her or some slut and well, she didn't like Benny with other woman.
She would always feel this burning in her chest when she catches Benny talking with beautiful woman. He would always use the same trick. Swagger up to them charmingly collected, and dazzle them with his smile. He would lean into her ear, tell her something, and she would pull back laughing like a bell. Benny always chose the prettiest ones. She would look at them, and compare herself to them.
Flawless skin, a plump lip, beautiful long hair, a voluptuous body fit into an amazing dress that clung to every curve... Benny knew how to pick his woman. She would look at herself in the mirror. Thin chapped lips, a little bit sun burnt skin, short messy hair, and skinny as a twig. Well, not as a twig, she had muscles from running around. She turned to the side and placed her hands on her chest, and wondered would they grow that big like the woman out there?
People said she had a doll face, especially Swank. But what did it matter? Her stomach would twist when Benny would lead the woman into the elevator. All those times she would feel hollow inside, and very, very sick. Her feelings for Benny were strong, and she wanted to tell him but she was too afraid. Afraid of rejection. And maybe he would leave her.
She would rather die than have Benny leave her. So she sits silently as the woman of New Vegas love Benny the way the girl wanted to.
How ironic.
The sky darkened as she finished with her task of throwing away anything non-metal in the garbage at Gibson scrap yard. She went around Novac, looking for any menial jobs she could do for some caps. Old Lady Gibson had something for her to do, and she got paid 50 caps. Her back ached, and her leg throbbed, but she remembered what Manny said and reluctantly made her way to Dinky.
"Oh, your back! Must be doing something right." Cliff greeted her.
"I-um I'm actually going up..."
"Oh. Ok yeah that's fine. Ok."
She gave a thin smile to the owner and walked up the stairs and back out in Dinky's mouth. She closed the door behind her and turned around to see a man facing her already. She had a brief moment to study his face when he spoke up.
"How's your leg." He asked coolly and she had a faint memory of that same voice.. She now had a face to put with it. He wore a red beret on his head, and his eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses. The only parts of his face she could see was his straight nose, thin lips set in a permanent line, and a strong jaw. He was way taller than her, she reaching up over his waist. He wore just a plain loose shirt with military styled cargo pants and combat boots. A hunting rifle was slung over his back... and was that a scope on it?
She moved her right leg, "Fine. Your friend said you wanted to talk to me."
His lips pulled down, "He's not my friend."
She didn't say anything to that and said, "What do you want?"
If possible, his neutral face flickered in annoyance. "I need someone I can trust. You're a stranger. That's a start."
She frowned at his logic. "You only trust strangers?" If she did that, she would've been dead a long time ago.
He snapped at her, "I said it was a start. This town... nobody looks me straight in the eye anymore."
Maybe because you're wearing sunglasses, she thought. No way could this be the same guy that Jeannie was talking about. They hadn't even talked for a minute and she already disliked him, and she had a sneaking suspicion the feeling was mutual.
He continued, "I want you to find something out for me. I don't now if there's anything to find, but I need someone to try." His face hardened, "My wife was taken from our home by Legion slavers one night while I was on watch. They knew when to come and what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don't know who."
She looked away. Well now she felt like a jerk. "Your trying to track down your wife?"
That was the wrong thing to say because the man glared and said with restrained anger, "My wife's dead. I want the son of a bitch who sold her."
"What do you want me to do about it." she asked.
"You're new around here. Not many people know you, or will suspect you of snooping around. No one in town knows that I know what happened to my wife. Best they never know. Or the Legion will be after me next."
"You think someone from town did this?"
He pursed his lips, "I'm sure of it. It would be impossible for the Legion to sneak into town without raising alarms. They had to have inside help. Someone who knows my pattern so when the Legion came and took Carla, I wouldn't be there to save her."
That did make sense. But she couldn't think of anyone willingly helping out the Legion. But as he said, she was knew around here. And she knew that people weren't always what they seem.
"Ok. I'll do what I can." She wasn't leaving for Boulder City any soon, and she didn't want to spend her days laying in bed... And plus he helped her. She felt like she needed to repay him in some way.
"Good. I'll make it worth your while. And here-" He took off his beret, revealing a shaved head and handed it to her. "Bring him out in front of the nest here while I'm on duty. Wear this and it'll be our signal, so I know you're standing with him." He looked away to the ground below them. "And I'll take care of the rest. I need to do this myself."
Bringing someone out to get killed. Revenge. Her pa used to say revenge will never solve anything. It won't bring a person's soul to rest. She shouldn't be judging Boone. Hell, she was following Benny to get... revenge? Was that why she was following him. Now that she thinks about it, she had no clue what to do when she confronts Benny.
She just... needed answers. A reason why. Something. Anything. She just wanted to know why.
"Anyone I should go to first?" she asked, shaking the depressing thoughts away.
He tensed, "... Maybe, talk with Manny first."
She raised a brow in surprise, "The other town guard?" She wouldn't have thought that Manny did this. Wasn't he an NCR soldier as well? The two sides hated each other. She didn't think Manny would make a deal with legionnaires without shooting at them first.
"Yeah. When Carla disappeared, Manny was the first person to tell me. He never liked Carla, and I could tell he was glad about it. I know it doesn't seem much, but that's my first choice. His room is the first door on the bottom."
Then that was her first stop. She nodded her head and turned around to leave.
"And one more thing. We shouldn't speak again. Not until it's over." Boone added.
She gave a curt nod in understanding and left down the stairs, passing Cliff again and out of the dinosaur to the motel. It was now dark, the moon shining in the inky black sky, surrounded by trillions of stars. Light glowed from the cracks of the window flaps, meaning Manny was still awake. She stopped before the rusted maroon door and knocked three times. She heard shuffling and the door opened.
"Oh, hey what's going on man?" Manny said in surprise as he leaned against the doorframe. "Did you find out what Boone wanted from you?"
"Yeah, he just wanted to see how my leg was doing. He uh... he's not very friendly is he?" Begrudgingly, if it was one thing Benny taught her how to be good at it was lying and manipulation. He always said it'll come in handy, especially in a place like Vegas.
Manny scratched the side of his face, "Yeah. His wife, Carla, disappeared one day and he hasn't been the same since. We're not so friendly right now, him and I. I guess he blames me for her disappearance."
She frowned in fake confusion, "Why's that?" she asked innocently.
"Well, me and his wife, we didn't see eye-to-eye on some things. We had some pretty big arguments." He waved his hand, "See, I grew up in North Vegas. Me and my cousins. We were some bad seeds. Got in with a gang. I loved it." He looked away uncomfortably. "Then something happened, and I couldn't handle it anymore."
...North Vegas... their farm was close to there...
A voice said in her head, and a odd feeling came over her but she ignored it and pushed it aside.
He continued, "So, I enlisted. Earned my future. Brought down my best friend to share that future with me." His face turned sour, "And here was the woman who was to good for it, trying to take him away. So yeah. I didn't see eye-to-eye with the bitch." He spat out. "But believe me. When I heard the news, my first thought was, I owe somebody. Big. I figured Boone would come around after a while."
Manny glanced up at the dinosaur. "But he hasn't. And I'm starting to think that if he doesn't find her, things will never go back to the way they were."
He hated the wife, that was clear. But not enough to get rid of her. Manny seemed to really care about Boone, and he wouldn't have done something to hurt Boone like that. Or that's what he was expressing. So if not him, then who?
"Who would want to hurt Boone's wife?" she asked.
He chuckled, "Man everybody. That girl didn't have one friend in this whole town. She didn't want any. She wanted to sit in a room all day and make herself miserable. And she went out of her way to be rude."
"She upset a lot of people," He pointed at her, "You wouldn't have liked her, either."
So the wife had a lot of enemies. That widened the pool of suspects. She wanted to leave to talk to Jeannie next, but something kept her there. Some queer feeling in her gut urged her to continue talking with Manny.
"So you were in a gang?" she asked, "Were they tough?"
Manny looked at her incredulously. "Were they tough? I was in the Khans, man. It doesn't get any badder."
...Khans...fire...screamingscreamingscrea-
"Hey you alright? You don't look so good." Manny stretched out a hand to touch her but she stumbled backwards. She hissed in pain, her head suddenly felt like it was tearing open. Blurry visions of something passed through her mind and it hurt owow it hurt god ow. Something touched her shoulder and she jumped back-
...fire- screaming the man he- he looked at her... his eyes were red... monstermonstersmonsters-
"Hey whoa!" Manny yelled as she slapped his hand away and whipped out her pistol. It was no longer Manny, she was no longer in Novac. She was at the farm. In the crop fields. Someone was screaming her name, calling for her.
Her namenamenamenamename-
And she ran. God she ran away. Like a coward. He was calling out for her. And then something grabbed her shoulders and she turned around, her rusty trusty rifle pointed at the monster-
"Hey! Hey STOP!"
She blinked and instead of the monster there stood Manny. The gun shook in her hands and she let it fall. A sharp pain struck her head and she gritted her teeth, placing her free hand to her forehead.
Manny lowered his hands down and hesitantly took a step forward. "Are you okay? What the hell, man?!"
"I-I don't know. I'm sorry I don't know-"
"What's going on here." A gravelly voice said and she turned to see Boone walking towards them, rifle out, glaring heatedly at Manny. Oh crap, he thinks Manny is the one.
"Nothing! Nothing I just-ow- my leg it uh it hurts." she said quickly, blocking Boone's path to Manny. Boone raised a brow and turned to Manny.
"She's.. right her leg started acting up and she uh fell." Boone looked back to her and she nodded her head. She looked up quickly, hoping he would realize she wasn't wearing the beret and not shoot the other town guard.
His lips thinned. "Fine." And with that he turned and walked back to Dinky.
They watched him go, and as soon as he entered the dino and was out of earshot Manny spoke up.
"What the hell? What happened to you right now? You could've shot me!" He hissed.
"I wouldn't have-" she closed her eyes, her head still pounding. "I gotta- I gotta go."
"Hey wait!" He called out to her but she was limping as fast as she can away and around to the back of the motel.
She needed to get away from whatever that was. She was too busy limping and didn't see the person in front of her till she bumped into him.
"Ow- oh uh sorry." She mumbled and stepped aside to continue- but the person stepped with her, blocking her path.
"Who sent you? I ain't talking. They tried to get me to talk before, but I didn't say nothing. And I don't aim to now, by gum."
What? She looked at the man this time more clearly. He was dirt old, and wore rags, and he looked like he hadn't taken a shower in forever. Smelled like it too.
He looked at her with wary eyes. "You better not come any closer, you hear? You come closer and I'm liable to stick you with my stickin' knife. Ol' Sticky's feeling mighty ornery this day." He said patting his side.
Her eyes widened, and she stepped back, reaching for her gun.
He nodded his head, "Yes Sticky is. No-bark had to tell that to the man covered in black and white."
"Benny?" she said.
"That him? No-Bark sees him, trying to camouflage from the extra terrestrials what can only see in black and white checkers. But they're not fooled 'cause he forgot to put checkers on his face. I told him and he seemed to take it to heart."
I'm sure he did, she thought.
"Yeah those darn a-l-iens see everything that goes around here. No-Bark sees things too. No-Bark tries to warn people but people never listen to me." the old man said dejectedly.
Still wary of the old man she said, "You see everything?"
No-Bark lightened up and bobbed his head up and down like a bobble-head.
She bit her lip, "Did you see what happened to Boone's wife, Carla?"
"Seen it all. Seen shadowy folk come to his room and leave again in the middle of the night. Thought one might've gone in the lobby, too, for a spell. Could be that person went in to get something. Or use the john maybe. Mighty interesting either way, you ask me." His eyes lit up in fear, "I thought it was cannibals, come to eat us all for sure, so I kept out of sight. But now I know better."
"Molerat men, come up from the Underneath to steal young women with promises of riches and fancy mud mansions with the latest designer appliances."
She somehow doubted that.
"They covet our ladyfolk's long hair wigs, it's said, being either bald or balding themselves." He shook his head in disapproval.
She ignored the last sentence, "And you said these people-"
"Molerat men!" He cut in.
"Right Molerat men. You said one of them went into the office?"
He nodded again. "With my own eyes." He said, pointing at his eyes.
"Right. Ok thanks... No-Bark." she said, inching away from the old coot.
"If anyone asks, we never spoke." He said mysteriously and left on his way down the street.
Well he's crazy. But she didn't think No-Bark hallucinated the events he told her about. And if he was right, then one of the legionnaires went into the Dino Dee-Lite.
And she didn't think they went to use the john.
0000000000
The lights in the office were off, meaning Jeannie had already left to her home. She really couldn't believe her luck. What an odd coincidence that she happened to bump into the very person who saw what happened to Carla. Now all she had to do was get proof that the old lady was responsible for Carla's kidnapping. Though she believed No-Bark, she couldn't just jump to conclusions. Maybe Jeannie had nothing to do with this and the legionnaire No-Bark saw maybe just broke into the office. She didn't want to condemn the wrong person.
It was already past midnight when she jiggled the knob to see if it was locked. Surprisingly, it wasn't and she stepped inside, closing the door behind her softly shut. The lobby looked different at night, more eerie. She crouched and started looking around. She first went behind the desk, looking through the cabinets one by one. When nothing came up, she moved on to the drawers in the desk but it had nothing for her.
Out of the corner of her eye, something small glowed in the dark. She turned and squinted at it, making out the little compartment of a safe dug into the ground.
Bingo.
She yanked it open, but it didn't budge and she mentally slapped herself. 'Course it would be locked. She crawled back to the drawers and opened one up with a bunch of lock picks and keys. She had no idea why Jeannie had so many lock picks. Plucking a screwdriver off the desk, and went back to the safe and after a second of silence it clicked open.
Once again, something Benny taught her. Was everything she learned all from him?
She frowned at that, hating how even now Benny was helping her.
Inside the safe was what you would expect inside a safe. Heaps of caps, a pack of cigarettes, some Pre-War money, and two forks? She shook her head and placed the utensils aside. At the bottom she spotted a wrinkled old paper. She stuffed all the things back inside and closed the safe, sitting down and reading the note, using her Pip-Boy as light.
At the top, in big bold letters were the words Bill of Sale. Written below in fancy cursive (and she would've had trouble reading that if it weren't for Benny) were:
We, the representatives of the Consul Officiorum, have this day bargained and purchased from Jeannie May Crawford of the township of Novac the exclusive rights to ownership and sale of the slave Carla Boone for the sum of one thousand bottle caps, and those of her unborn child for the sum of five hundred bottle caps, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. We warrant the slave and her young to be sound, healthy, and slaves for life. We covenant with the said, Jeannie May Crawford, that we have full power to bargain and sell said slave and her offspring. Payment of an additional five hundred bottle caps will be due pending successful maturation of the fetus, the claim to which shall be guaranteed by possession of this document. M. Scribonius Libo Drusus et al.
Administrators of M. Licinius Crassus, Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus
Some of it was written in another language, most likely Lantin from what she heard, but she didn't need to understand the language to know that Jeannie May was one seriously messed up witch.
She folded the note carefully and stuffed it into her pocket. That was all the proof she needed.
She left the office, walking down the road to Jeannie's house. She knew where she lived since a long time ago Jeannie asked her to rest and try some of her molerat soup. She walked up to the doorstep and knocked on the door. It was silent at first, but then she heard footsteps approach and the door opened revealing the old lady.
"Oh dear, what time is it? Why're you out so late?" Jeannie asked, rubbing her tired eyes from under her glasses.
"Sorry Ms. Crawford. I thought I saw someone in your office and he ran off but he dropped something out in front of Dinky. I don't know what it is but I think you should come with me and get it."
The old lady froze and lowered her hand, her skin going pale. "Did you see who it was?" She shook her head. "Oh then, c'mon we better go see what he dropped. I hope it's just one of those t-rex figurines." Jeannie slipped on a pink coat and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
"Now where did you say he dropped it?" the old lady asked, shivering from the cold night air.
"Over there. Follow me."
Jeannie followed the girl up the road, passing the motel and the t-rex. She continued, leading the old lady down the road, and across a bridge and when they were a good distance away from the town she stopped. She knew it was farther than Boone ordered her to go, but she didn't want any town's folk waking up and seeing their motel owner dead. Not so soon, at least. And plus she knew Boone was already watching them through his scope, and he would see the beret when she puts it on.
Jeannie shivered and wrapped the coat tighter around her thin body. "Is this it? I don't see anything."
The Courier didn't answer her. Jeannie noticed the odd silence and she looked at her in confusion.
The girl frowned at her, "Why did you do it?"
Jeannie looked confused and blinked a few times. "Do what? What do you mean?"
"Why did you sell her."
The old lady looked stunned and opened and closed her mouth a few times before turning red in the face. "I don't know what such a thing you're talking about girl. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going back to bed and-"
"Answer my question." She said, having pulled out her pistol. Jeannie froze, looking like a scared rabbit. Her eyes flickered to the gun and back to her face. Her lips set into a thin line and she crossed her arms.
"Fine. I don't know how you found out but I suppose it doesn't matter now, does it." The old lady sniffed and pushed up her glasses. "I did what was best for this town. What was right. You see, that woman-" she said women with a sneer, "-was a hindrance to this town and it's good people. She didn't want to live here, and she made it obvious with her attitude. She was a selfish whore and the only person who couldn't see it was her husband."
The Courier frowned, "That didn't mean you had to sell her. She had a baby."
The old woman flushed, "Of course I had to sell her! I had to get rid of the filth in this town and I did what was necessary. Wouldn't you have done the same?"
The girl looked at her, lips parted slightly.
It seemed like the world was falling apart after her supposed death.
"No... no I wouldn't have."
With her other hand, she slipped out the beret and placed it on her head.
Blood splattered on her as Jeannie May's head exploded and the body fell to the ground.
She shook, wiping blood off her face. She's seen death before, but not up close. Not like this.
She stared at the grotesque sight and closed her eyes, looking away to glance up at the mouth of Dinky.
0000000000
She didn't go to Boone afterwards. She went straight to her room and washed away all the blood on her face and clothes. Silently, she crawled into bed and curled up in a tight ball, placing the beret on the table stand for Boone. She felt regret. She felt like she murdered someone. She wonders how Benny could sleep at night.
Hopefully in her dreams thing will be better.
When she woke up, the beret was gone and a sack of caps took it's place. Numbly, she got up and stuffed the caps in her pocket. She picked up a bag Andy gave her and walked out the door. Her leg still hurt, but she had stimpacks. She didn't want to stay in this town any longer.
She stopped at the bottom of the stairs in surprise. Boone was there, leaning casually on his room door. Didn't he sleep in the day? He turned his head to her, and she knew he wanted to talk. She walked up to him and stopped.
Both were silent, until Boone spoke up. "That's it then. How did you know?"
Instead of replying, she pulled out a folded note from her pocket and handed it to him. He unfolded and read the bill. His fingers tightened, crumpling the paper. When he was done he folded it again and stuffed it into his own pocket. He gazed out at the sunny Mojave Desert.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It'd be like them to keep paperwork."
She also looked out at the desert.
"Look, I'm sorry for... for making you have to see that."
She hugged herself and shrugged, "It's ok. You had to do what you had to do."
They went silent again, neither one knowing what to say.
Out of curiosity she asked, "What will you do know?"
"I don't know. I won't be staying, I know that. Don't see much point in anything right now, except hunting legionaires. Maybe I'll wander, like you."
"I know where I'm going." she said.
Again, they fell silent.
She shifted and looked at him. She opened and closed her mouth. "Bye." She said finally.
Boone looked at her. "Bye."
She flickered her eyes down and she continued past him.
With the new load of caps, she stopped by Dr. Strauss' tent and bought some medical supplies. As she walked past the motel, she spotted some traveling merchants un-loading there stuff at the front of the town.
She came up to them. "Hey, did you happen to come from Nipton?" She wanted to know if the NCR had won back the Legion invaded town. One of them turned to her.
"Yeah actually. Town turned to shit though. It seemed like the NCR had a battle with some legionaires and it wasn't pretty." The merchant informed her.
"Was there a woman there? Cowboy hat, her names Cass?" She pried.
The merchant scrunched up his face and nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, yeah I think I remember someone like that. She bought a ton of ammo."
She briefly smiled, and handed him 80 caps. "Can you go back and tell her the Courier is alright?"
He scratched his head, "Yeah sure kid, why not. We'll be here though for a day or two and then we'll go back to Nipton."
"Thanks. Do you have any guns for sell?"
She bought herself a hunting rifle and some ammo as well as a hunting knife for the one she lost at the camp. She checked her supplies one more time, and started left down the road to where Boulder City was. She fiddled with the Pip-Boy, and got the radio to start playing a song. When she looked up, she spotted a figure walking some ways ahead of her. Despite herself, she smiled and jogged to catch up, slowing down to walk beside Boone.
He glanced at her, and she glanced at him.
She shrugged her shoulders, "I guess we're going the same way."
He didn't say anything, but he also didn't say no.
"Oh!" She stopped suddenly. "Um... I'll be right back." She dropped her bag and sprinted back to town.
When she returned she fully expected the sniper to have left her, but there he stood, waiting for her.
When she slung her bag over her shoulder he asked, "What did you forget?"
She smiled at him and pulled out Dinky the t-rex figurine.
He stared at the figurine, and the tips of his lips curled up.
She placed Dinky in her bag, and together, they began their journey through the Mojave.