Cort was up a tree. In different circumstances, she might have been pleased over doing something that had been a dream since childhood. As it was, sitting in a blasted dead hulk with a giant radscorpion snapping at her heels took a little bit of the shine off the accomplishment. The splinters weren't helping either. Dogmeat was raving, latched onto the tail of the thing and waving like a batshit metronome, the Brahmin was bellowing from somewhere out of both heads, Person Number One was gurgling in a ditch to the back her tree, while Person Number Two and Cort were screaming obscenities and firing bullets into the radscorpion trying to eat Cort.
I am getting really sick and tired of every new experience degenerating into mayhem. One second, she'd been looking at two new possible friends, if the waves hadn't been a sham, and the next she was being chased by an eight-legged freak. The thing had shot out of cover and taken one of the people so fast, Cort had missed it when she looked down at Dogmeat. The screaming had clued her in just in time to avoid being trampled to death by the panicking Brahmin. By the time she had stopped rolling, spare guns and pieces of assorted junk flying everywhere, the radscorpion had focused its attention on her captivating acrobatics across the ground.
"Oh shit." She froze on all fours.
"Get to higher ground! Climb the cliff, a tree, anything!" Person Number Two was yelling at her, shooting into the back of the monster. Cort scrambled for the nearest trunk, kicking off the ground and scrambling into the highest crutch that could stand to support her.
Still dizzy, she goggled down idiotically. "Now what?"
"What do you mean now - rain death upon it!"
Cort pulled out her 10mm - the only weapon that had managed to stay attached to her - and started plugging rounds into the radscorpion. Dumping a clip, she looked around in dawning horror.
"Where's my dog? Where's Dogmeat, where's my fucking dog?" No sooner had this come out of her mouth than a blur of grey had launched itself at the thing's rear, latching on below the giant pulsing stinger. Cort grinned maniacally. "Good boy! Sic em!" Dogmeat snarled and dug in harder, green blood streaming over his face. Hooking an arm over a branch, she levered her feet out of the way and got into a better position to shoot down into the creature's beady eyes, emptying out another clip and laughing along with her profanity. Person Number Two emptied his shotgun one more time and the great bug fell apart, splattering fluid across the dirt.
"Whoooo, that was fun. Good boy, Dogmeat." Giving a final shake of the chunk he had torn off, Dogmeat dropped it and smiled up at her. Cort smiled back. "Who's Momma's best boy?" A happy whuff came back for a rejoinder.
"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt this friendly exchange, but it would be wise for us to start moving. These particular denizens of the Wastes tend to travel in pairs." Both heads swiveled to look at the man who was left out of the two Cort had initially tried to greet. Tall with short dark hair and the standard Wasteland tan, he was wearing a ball cap with goggles over it, and armour similar to her own. At best guess, he didn't look more than five or ten years older than herself.
"Oh God you're kidding. I don't think I could do that all over again without puking."
"Indeed I am not. Even if it was alone, we should make haste while our luck holds true."
Cort scrabbled around, pushing her feet against the trunk. "Well, there's just one problem with making immediate haste, Mister..."
"Crow, purveyor of fine protective wares to the Wastes. What problem?"
"...I'm stuck in this tree."
Cort fidgeted, nibbling splinters out of her fingers as she waited for Crow to bring his pack Brahmin underneath the tree for her to jump down onto. Dogmeat had started trotting back and forth from the base, collecting her belongings into one pile. She had yelled down 'fetch' to him as a joke, and stared open mouthed as he proceeded to stack and sort her things together. Wow, his previous owner trained the hell out of him. This is amazing. Making a mental note to give him whatever he wanted out of the food collection later, she directed her attention back to Crow as he came up below. Whoever he was, he was cute, which made her current situation about a hundred times more humiliating. None of the damn storybooks ever went over how to get out of the trees once you had scaled them, and she hated this 'damsel in a tower' bullshit she had subjected herself to.
"You may release yourself now." Swinging by her arms, Cort gently dropped down onto the Brahmin's back between the cargo packs, then slid to the ground, turning away to hide a maddening blush.
"Thanks. I hadn't been up one before. Really hope to never repeat it." She looked down into the ditch. "I don't think your companion made it. There's a hole right through her."
"My guard, Eleanor, she protected me and my stock on my entrepreneurial travels. As you have noticed, there are perils." His lipped thinned as he stared at the corpse. "An unfortunate loss for many reasons."
"No kidding." Cort started shouldering her things. "Are you going to be alright? By yourself, I mean." She considered the burgeoning irony of this statement while slinging her baseball bat into place.
"I'll have to find a new guard when I reach Megaton. Paradise Falls and Evergreen Mills are on the way, but the available employees there are...less than stable." Crow paused, looking worried. Cort beamed.
"I can come with you. I live in Megaton. I'm not the greatest, but Dogmeat's stellar." She watched him brighten up.
"Then by all means, let us discuss payment arrangements on the way to my next trading stop, and get away from here."
"So, I'll accompany you to Megaton in exchange for medical supplies when needed and repairing the gear I have, and any I find on the way, correct?" Cort and Crow had spent only a minor amount of time haggling over what she needed after she had told him about herself, his skills being more interesting than straight caps.
"Correct. It works in both our interests, and leaves you ready to continue on with your quest to find your father."
The next stop had turned out to be a cleverly hidden shack inhabited by a woman named Agatha. She paid for goods by playing songs on her home-made violin; enchanted, Cort had agreed to look for her great-great-grandmother's instrument in another Vault when she could find the time. They spent an hour listening to her play and ate dinner with her, then moved out to make camp in the dooryard. Crow fell asleep against the Brahmin and Cort cuddled up with Dogmeat.
Working temporarily for Crow was possibly the best thing that could have happened to Cort. He was a font of survival knowledge, delivering information in greater and more practical detail than Moira had, if in more flowery language, and gave her multiple locations for her Pip-Boy map. He had very interesting theological ideas, a result of him being a former Tribal, and more than one evening ended in some type of spiritual debate.
Taking drag position in his caravan also gave her the opportunity to get a lot better at killing things(and at treating the variety of wounds all three of them ended up with), and with more than just her pistol. There were raiders, which she took a particularly gleeful delight in helping to kill, a few regular radscopions, mole rats, savage dogs, rogue robots, bloatflies and a single Yao Guai. That had been particularly horrifying, the only reason she and Crow hadn't been hurt badly was because Dogmeat had given warning well before they had seen the bear. The last two had led her to a discussion with Crow after Dogmeat had been gouged and Cort had discovered just exactly what the flies shat out at people while attacking. She had spent an hour with the trader alternating between combing through the dog's fur picking out embedded spiny larvae and retching.
"I've got an idea for a new suit of armour, and I'd like your help to make it, Crow." Cort put aside the pieces from a Robobrain she had been tinkering with.
"Anything that could add to my profitable repertoire is worth listening to. What did you have in mind?"
"How do you feel about playing dress up with my dog?" Cort grinned as he raised both eyebrows at her.
Over the course of four or five campfires and an exceedingly patient Dogmeat, they fashioned a coat of leather armour for the dog out of spare materials Crow kept for repairs. After two days of testing it on the dog while travelling, both were satisfied.
"This is keen gear, Crow!" She nudged into him as they walked along in front of the Brahmin, watching Dogmeat range ahead. "It covers his torso entirely and doesn't restrict too much. This should make a big difference. Especially with the damn bloatflies". she mimed putting a finger down her throat and gagged.
"It's certainly one of my odder results, but it could prove to be lucrative with the scavenger set." He smiled and looped an arm over her shoulders. "And the challenge was fun."
Cort poked at her Pip-Boy and made a face. "We're coming up on Paradise Falls. I still don't understand why all of you trade with them, or the raiders in Evergreen Mills. They're both horrible, from what you've told me and what I know." She shuddered at bad memories.
"It's a necessary evil. They don't attack us because they find the trade convenient, at least the more organized and powerful sects. We don't stop trading with them because then they will attack us, so for now it's an uncomfortable neutrality but a useful arrangement. Eventually the wind spirits will decide to scrub them from the face of the Wastes in holy dust, but today is not that day."
"Dear God, you're the Switzerland of the Wastes."
"Beg pardon?"
"...Nevermind. So what do you want me to do for you at each settlement?"
The final evening out before Megaton, Crow went over everything he could think of for Cort, including locations inside the DC ruins he knew of.
"There are generally Super Mutants in high concentrations around the Mall and in these areas. You should avoid going near them if at all possible, and definitely not alone. Remember what I told you about the Underground; go slow, go quiet, and listen for the ferals. They always screech when they see you. Rivet City is down here, where you may find other traders and I in future travels."
Biting her lip, Cort looked up at him. "I'm really sorry I can't keep going on with you Crow, but I have to find out where my father went before I can proceed farther than Megaton."
"Don't worry over a destiny you cannot change, only try to fulfill it. Your path has been set for you by a greater power. I'll be able to find adequate protection once we reach Megaton, there's always skilled people floating around the larger settlements." Crow closed one eye and peered at her. "I will miss the dog, however." He moved fast enough to miss the punch aimed at his ribs and ran, Cort and the dog hard on his heels.
Later on, both Cort and Crow fell asleep against the Brahmin together, and Dogmeat cuddled up at their feet.
Note: There really IS armour for Dogmeat available! It's a fantastic mod made by a player I found while Googling for background material, and there's also a miniature pack for him too so he can carry things, plus a dog whistle.
