Chapter 12

The Girl with the Green Hood

I awoke soaked in sweat. My leather armor had only made things worse as I perspired further. Sitting up I found my backpack about three feet from the mattress, next to my rifle which the scope seemed to be busted and the rifle was covered in dust and dirt from laying in the ground. In the Wasteland, a man is only as good as the gun he carries, I thought to myself. Angry at its condition, I pulled it and my backpack over to my mattress. I pulled out a bottle of water and drank the whole thing. I found a can of Cram and emptied it as well. Looking around the trading post I saw that dawn was approaching. Just to the east, I could see the sun just barely poking up over the horizon. I checked my Pip-Boy and saw that it was 5:30am. I needed to figure out how to get into New Vegas and get to Benny. The NCR has a field office on the main strip. Inside there is Ambassador Crockett, supposedly the only man that knew my location and orders in the Mojave Wasteland. I needed to report to him as well.

Tired of feeling like I was standing in the rain thanks to all my sweat, I began to take apart my leather armor. Luckily one of the vendors at the trading post appeared to be setting up her stand for the day. I walked over to her area. Her "shop" was out of the back of an old army supply truck. She appeared startled when I walked over to her carrying my rifle and looking sweaty.

"Hi, um excuse me, I know you aren't technically open for business just yet but I was wondering if I could buy a change of clothes off of you? You see my leather armor is in great condition, but I can't breathe much while wearing it." I explained to the vendor

"Hey no problem, I have some clothes for you. You look like you're in rough shape soldier, everything ok?" she said

"Yeah just recovering from some exhaustion. Also I will stop by later, I will need a cleaning kit and some spare parts for my rifle." I said

"Okay" , she said looking at my rifle, "I have the necessary parts you need for a .308 hunting rifle." Looking then at my armor she said, "I normally don't do this but here take these clothes, wear them while that armor dries out then bring me the armor and I'll give you a few caps for it. Sound good?" She said while handing me a white shirt, black pants, boots and vest. It looked like a standard mercenary outfit. It didn't have as many pockets as my armor but I would stay cooler while wearing it.

"Thanks. I appreciate this." I said taking the clothes and heading back to my mattress. Peeling off the soaking wet leather armor, I saw that my shirt I kept on underneath my armor looked like I jumped in Lake Mead. Peeling off the shirt, I felt the wind and the cool morning air hit my skin. It felt amazing.

"Well drinks and a show? My my mailman you are much more fit than that armor gave you credit." said Cass

"Ha ha liking what you see there Cass? Show me yours and I'll show you mine." I fired back

"Right here" she said pulling out her shotgun "oops looks like mine's bigger Mathis." she said laughing. "I told you we don't have THAT kind of companionship."

"Then what was that back in Novac?" I asked

"Fun" she said walking back into the camper.

I set my leather armor on a nearby rock and dressed in the clothes given to me by the vendor. Everything fit perfectly. I removed my holster and 10mm pistol from the leather armor and clipped it onto my new outfit. I walked back over to my mattress and started going through my backpack. Checking on my supplies, I had plenty of ammunition for both guns and I had a couple of days worth of food and water. I also had about 500 caps as well. With my supplies checked out I decided to walk around the trading post and get a look around while the sun was beginning to come up. There were a few shacks but nothing big. It was a small place located on top of an old overpass. Under the bridge there appeared to be another vendor and a small boy with a strange looking shop.

"Hi are you looking to travel anywhere anytime soon?" said a voice

Turning around with my 10mm pistol pulled and aimed in the general direction of where the voice came from, I saw what looked like a girl dressed in a dark green robe and hood. On her right hand was a Power Fist. This heavy hitting weapon took the power of a standard punch and magnifies it one-hundred fold.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you sir!" she said holding her hands up, "I was just wondering if I could travel with you. You see I am kind of on my own out here. I was supposed to come and get supplies for my family but I have decided to go on my own. They can make it on their own if they need to."

"Where is your family?" I asked

"Would you believe if I said they live in a hole in the ground?" she asked

"A hole in the ground? Like dug a hole and you're literally living in a dirt mound?"

"No its an underground bunker."

"I see and why did you decide to go out on your own? The Wastes can be very dangerous especially for a female travelling alone. What is your name?"

"My name is Veronica Santangelo, and I can more than handle myself. I have weapons training. Learned it from my family. And your name?"

"Levi Mathis, I'm a courier with the Mojave Express. We are on a mission to track down a man that shot me and stole my package. In our group there is Boone who is an an ex-NCR sniper and Cass, a former caravan trader. Where are you looking to go Veronica?"

"Anywhere but here. I don't have to stay with you long if you like. I won't be a burden."

"What about your family? Aren't you out gathering supplies for them? Won't they notice that you're gone?"

"Truth be told they can take care of themselves. They have been doing it for a long time."

"Well Veronica we'll need to run this by my other companions. We are over there at that camper. Follow me and we'll go speak to them about this."

"Okay!" she said

We made our way over to the camper where Boone was checking through his supplies and getting them ready for the journey. He saw me coming over to the camper and continued on with his supply checks. Cass was just making her way outside of the camper and noticed Boone and I were ready to go.

"Well you boys know how to kill a buzz. How do you live with yourselves getting up so early?"

Boone made no attempt at conversation with Cass and pulled his backpack onto his shoulders and made his rifle ready.

Looking at me he said, "I'm going to scout around for a bit see what I can find. Be back in an hour."

"Before you go, I need to discuss something with the both of you." Motioning towards Veronica, "This is Veronica Santangelo, she is wanting to join us on our adventure. I told her it needs to be a group decision to let her join us."

"I don't see any problem in it. What can you do?" said Cass

"I have a 10mm pistol and a Power Fist. I'm also pretty good with energy weapons." said Veronica

"Energy weapons?" said Boone arching an eyebrow "Not too many users for those out here in the Mojave except for a few groups of Fiends, the Van Graffs, some smugglers, and the Brotherhood of Steel. You don't look like a Fiend or a Van Graff so which are you?"

Looking at me then back at the skeptical sniper, "I wasn't sure how you guys would feel so it wasn't something that I was going to say up front." she said. Looking back at me she said "Do you remember me telling you about my family living in an underground bunker? Well they are the Brotherhood of Steel or at least what is left of this chapter here in the Mojave. I left them a couple of weeks ago. The rule is that anyone caught outside after certain hours while not on patrol is exiled so here I am. I can understand if you don't want me with you."

"I don't know if we can trust her Mathis. The Brotherhood tried to take over the Wastes using Helios One." said Boone "They killed a ton of NCR soldiers."

"And the NCR killed a ton of Brotherhood members Boone. I'm sure she has every right not to trust you just as you to her. The point is that if you continue to hold grudges, we might as well point guns at each other and end it. But if you really want to make a difference, if you really want to show the Wastes that we are above it all, you bury that grudge right here. I have no problem with Veronica, in fact I feel better in knowing that she has had weapons and survival training from the Brotherhood. That tells me she can handle herself and would be a great asset to us. The Brotherhood are no longer the enemy Boone, the Legion is out there and I have a feeling that Benny and this Platinum Chip that he tried to kill me for are all connected to Caesar. Now we can either work together and start trusting each other no matter where we came from or we can all go our separate ways from here. What's it going to be?"

"Damn mailman you get a little worked up there?" said Cass while giving a small laugh. "I'm with you Mathis. At least until we can figure out about the Legion."

"I will go with you Levi. As long as you are ok with my past." said Veronica

"Fine, I'll go with you. I won't make any promises about being friends with her but I will try." said Boone.

"All right that is good enough for me. Veronica get your stuff we are leaving in a few hours after we resupply." I said.