Chapter 2: Always Sunny in Goodsprings

Doc Mitchell hammered away at the boards, covering up his kitchen window. The glass had finally fallen out of the frame, and despite the Courier starting to help Sunny cut down the gecko population, there were still other critters that would find an open window much too inviting for his tastes. Mantis legs were palatable, live mantis in his bed? Not so much. The Courier had offered to help him but she had been roped into scouting the area for larger, more dangerous critters in the outer hills with Sunny the day before. There had been a sighting of "an enormous black bark scorpion" by the Bighorner farmers while they had been fencing a new pasture. Naturally, Sunny had said agreed for her and the Courier to go look. She'd turned up at the clinic with her dog, Cheyenne, that morning with an unusually big grin on her face, reeking of energetic suspicion. After trying to convince the Courier that the scouting would be good experience and some puppy-dog eyes from both Cheyenne and Sunny, the Courier caved and decided to tag along.

Sunny and the Courier had become fast friends, and even Cheyenne was fond of the Courier. It had been about six weeks since she'd woken up, but the Courier was doing well. With the return of all her motor functions, Sunny had offered to help her get used to handling weapons again. Turned out the Courier was a quick shot, and Sunny started to take her around the water tanks to clear out the gecko population that had taken root. Sunny had also introduced the Courier to Trudy, the owner of the Prospector's Saloon. Doc Mitchell had scolded the Courier a few times for coming back to the clinic in the wee hours of the morning after spending the night playing caravan with Sunny and Trudy. He knew he was a hypocrite for it, but he had started to care for the Courier. She'd brought some liveliness back into his life of silence and sewing up gecko bites. He just hoped that she and Sunny hadn't bitten off more than they could chew with these scouting trips.

The sun beat down upon the Courier's back as she and Sunny climbed the hill up to the Yangtze Memorial. The enormous at its peak had lost half of it's covering, iron framing outlining what would have been a solemn monument before the war. It was the best spot to scout the valley below, but the incline wasn't a kind one to climb.

"You okay back there, Cee?" Sunny yelled, already atop the hill.

The Courier grunted a yes in reply as she hauled herself onto the steps of the memorial. Lying back, the sun soaked into the vault suit Doc Mitchell had given her to wear when she'd awoken. Sunny sat down beside her and took a swig from her canteen, offering some to the Courier. Shaking her head, the Courier sat up and took her own canteen from her bag that she had hastily packed that morning. Gulping the water down she felt Cheyenne flop at her feet, panting hard. Sunny took out a half a dried gourd and poured some of her water out for her, her tail wagging gratefully as she lapped up the water.

"So, feeling a little more human now we're up the hill?" Sunny asked

"Mmm. I'll be glad to head back down it once we're done here." The Courier sighed.

Sunny laughed. "Climbing is half the fun! Now we get to find out what those bighorner farmers were talking about." She frowned. "I really hope they're not as big as they implied, or we'll have to get some extra guns to get rid of them."

The Courier nodded and put away her canteen, standing up. "Shall we, then?"

Sunny nodded in response and took out her binoculars, stretching a little as she stood up. Walking around the memorial the Courier dug out her binoculars and wiped the lenses with her sleeve. Cheyenne followed Sunny closely, the her gourd waterbowl carried in her mouth. The valley beyond goodsprings was picturesque, sunbaked rock faces decorated with sparse greenery. Clumps of brock flowers and desert grass quivered in the dry breeze that sauntered up the valley. Bringing up her binoculars, the Courier noticed something black tucked under an alcove in the rock face. She gestured to Sunny, who seemed to have already noticed it.

Sunny's voice dropped. "Cee, get ready to put the leash on Cheyenne."

"What?"

Sunny crouched, slinging off her bag and loading her varmint rifle. "I said get the leash for Cheyenne. Look."

The Courier brought up her binoculars as Sunny pulled her down. Three enormous black scorpions crawled out from under the alcove, pincers glinting in the sunlight as they scuttled towards the memorial.

Grabbing the leash from Sunny's bag the Courier nabbed Cheyenne by the collar, clipping it on fast. The poison from one of those things could kill all of them with ease. She tugged on the strap over her shoulder, pulling her varmint rifle into her hands. The scorpions were getting closer, and running from them wasn't going to be a valid option. Cheyenne tugged at the leash around her wrist as Sunny took the first shot. It was a bullseye, knocking out the right legs of one of the scorpions. The Courier offed a shot, grazing the carapace of one of the scorpions. Sunny took a second shot, taking out the legs of a second scorpion. As the last scorpion got close Cheyenne started to bark furiously as the Courier struggled to keep her in one place.

"Keep Cheyenne back, I'll get this one!" Sunny yelled to the Courier.

Flipping her rifle over her back, she took Cheyenne's leash in both hands and started to drag her away. The last scorpion had almost reached the top of the hill, but Sunny stood her ground. One shot between the pincers at short range and the scorpion had stopped dead (quite literally) in its tracks. The other two injured scorpions struggled against their crippled legs as Sunny finished them off.

Wiping her brow, Sunny plopped down onto the ground as the Courier let Cheyenne go. She licked Sunny's face and leant on her, knocking her onto the ground as Sunny laughed. The Courier sighed with relief. Those scorpions were enormous, and without Sunny's quick aim they'd probably have had a lot more trouble. She gestured for the Courier to sit beside her, recovering from Cheyenne's puppy love.

"Sorry, Sunny." The Courier sighed.

"Next time, Cee, next time." Sunny smiled

"I hope so, Sunny. I really do."

Sunny rested a hand on the Courier's shoulder. "It takes time to get used to killing real creatures again. I mean, one shot and that life can be gone. That's why I got you to keep Cheyenne back." Sunny's face clouded. "Those scorpions are just like guns - one shot of that poison and you're down for the count."

"Since when were you so philosophical?" The Courier laughed.

Sunny's face darkened. "You never know when someone you care about could leave you. Maybe of their own volition, maybe not." She scratched Cheyenne behind the ears. "Sometimes you have to take precautions to keep what's precious to you."

The Courier nodded in agreement, but little stirred within her. She still had no memory of where she had come from, and why she was in the Mojave. No family, no friends to speak of. Sunny had become her first new "friend" since she had woken up. She knew Doc Mitchell, but he was more of a roomate than anything else. The Courier leaned back on her hands.

"Sunny, we're friends, right?"

Sunny laughed, her solemn mood having disappeared. "Of course! I love having you around, and so does Cheyenne. She barely ever takes to any-"

The Courier turned towards her "Seriously, Sunny. It's been six weeks and I've still got no memory of who or where I was, where I come from."

Sunny frowned, and then lit up with an idea. "Maybe you need to make new memories before the others come back to you?"

The Courier nodded. "I think you're right."