A bump in the road.

Disclaimer: Same as the previous chapters.

Romulus=Robert

Remus=Nathan

{Highway 93}

Romulus, Remus and Emma continued their long walk along highway 93. Emma had nodded to the owner of a scrap yard they passed by, saying that they had met while she had been dealing with the ghouls at the Repconn facility. The group came to a halt as Emma held up her right hand.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked, bringing up the rear of the group. The red haired sniper gestured to her left wrist, which was covered by a machine.

"My Pip-Boy has a little compass that can detect threats; like wild animals or raiders. I don't know what it is specifically, but there is something or someone dangerous over that hill!" She crouched down and pulled out her rifle, before moving quietly behind the derelict ruins of an old car. She peered through her scope, and scowled.

"What do you see?" Romulus asked, crouching uncomfortably beside her, his massive frame barely hidden by the centuries old hunk of metal. Remus was beyond him, and was crouched the lowest, as he had the least amount of car between him and whatever was waiting for them.

"I can see at least two raiders, but my Pip-Boy is telling me there are more of them behind that billboard!" She lowered her rifle and pointed toward the object of interest. "I might be able to shoot one of them, but the others will know something is up pretty quickly after I do! To make things even harder, I can't get a good shot behind that billboard, meaning they have a lot more cover than we do, they outnumber us, and they have the high ground!" Emma scowled again as she sat down and began to think of a plan.

"Can we go around them?" Remus asked, poking his head out as far as he would dare.

"It might be worth checking out, but who wants the job of going out to check?" Emma asked, looking at the brothers. Romulus nodded his head. Before he could speak, Remus cut him off.

"You and Robert should go!" When they both looked at him, Remus saw the look his brother shot him, accusing him of cowardice. He resisted the urge to punch the look off his brother's face, and instead answered their unasked question. "Emma, you have the most powerful weapon out of the three of us, and you can see at a long range. You don't need to go nearly as far as my brother or I would to see any threats up ahead. Robert, you are faster than me, and would be able to move much quicker to your destination and back!" They continued to look at him.

"What about you?" Romulus asked. "What would you be doing in the meantime?" Remus sighed, annoyed that his brother had to ask this question. He was about to answer when Emma started to instead.

"He is our back up. If there is trouble on either side he can come to help us out, or we can help him if there is trouble here in the middle. Not to mention that he would have an easier time using this car as cover than you would Robert. Is that what you were planning Nathan?" She asked, a small smile on her face as she looked at the dumbstruck brothers. Remus recovered first, and nodded.

"Exactly! I'm also a much better shot than my brother, so I can hold this location if I have too." So it was decided. Romulus would go east, and Emma would go on the other side of the highway to the west. Remus would stay where he was, and wait for things to unfold.

The other two backtracked slightly, before going about their way. Remus knelt down on one knee, and peered through the car windows. A Raider was leaning up against the side facing him, smoking a cigarette. Remus ducked out of sight, and checked his pistol. He had thirteen rounds in the magazine, and he had five more magazines as spares. He looked again to check if the raider was where he was before. Remus noted that he had left. His eyes then widened as he felt something press against his back. He slowly began to turn around when something slammed into his face.

{West of Remus, highway 93}

Emma cursed under her breath at what she saw. Nathan had been spotted. She was on her way to tell them that the western road was mostly clear beside a large number of ants. But she when she saw figures moving, she quickly stopped and looked through her scope. She saw three raiders surrounding the car, and one directly next to it hitting another person in the face with the butt of his own rifle.

Emma began to think about what she could do. If she tried to save him, she would still have one bullet left if she was able to kill one with each shot. But if she missed, they might just finish him off right there. Even if she managed to kill all four of them, there could be more near the gas station she saw on the other side of the highway. She didn't much like her chances of dealing with every raider that could be hiding in there.

She cursed again as she watched the raiders drag Nathan through the sand toward their base. She would have to wait for Robert to come back, then figure out a plan from there.

{Inside the station}

Remus's eyes slowly opened to the dusty interior of a building. As he regained his senses, he noticed that his wrists were tied together, and that he was laying on his side. He began to question why the raiders had taken him alive, when two of them entered. One was a man who seemed to be the leader. He was heavily tanned, and his armor was made fully made of metal. His nose was broken, and he also wore an eyepatch. Remus might have been intimidated by this man, had he not seen the tactics used by his men in the Legion to inspire terror in the hearts of their enemies.

The one beside him was a woman. Her hair was extremely filthy, so much so Remus couldn't really tell what color it was supposed to be. She also showed the symptoms of raider life on her face, and Remus could guess that she was likely missing some teeth. Her armor seemed much more the raider standard, leaving her shoulders bare, and her breasts covered only by what looked like sifters from a pre-war kitchen.

The leader stopped in front of him, breaking him out of his reverie. He turned his head upward to look at him, and was given a kick to the face as a result. "Don't you dare think that a worm like you is worthy of looking at me." The leader said. He knelt down and grabbed Remus by the hair. "Not unless I say so." He dropped him down again. "You ought to be honored, you little punk." He said, as he stood up, placing a foot on Remus's side. He proceeded to shove him onto his back. "You get to be the first slave of the next ruler of the Mojave." He knelt down and looked into Remus's face. "I already rule this highway. Once the Jackals and Vipers join me, the Powder gangers will do the same." Remus noted what he said. "Then I'll just keep on recruiting until I have enough men to take down the NCR, the Legion, and The Strip!" He stood up and began to walk to the door. "As my first slave, I think I make you my foot stool once I have my throne!" He laughed at that for a moment. "Rachel, you've got first watch on this guy. Do what you want with him, but keep him alive for now!"

With that, he walked out the door, and slammed it behind him. Remus looked at the woman who was to be his guard. She returned the look and sat down next to him. Remus began to notice the taste of iron in his mouth, and realized that his nose was bleeding. He then noticed that something wiping his face.

"Tough break kid, you got stuck with being Dante's first slave. The last one he tried to get decided to kill herself rather be stuck with him. Guess she doesn't count as the first since she was dead before he could finish his little speech." The raider girl, Rachel he had heard her called, was mopping up his face with an old bandana.

"Thank you." Remus said, after she was done. She simply scoffed.

"I just needed to make sure you didn't drown in your own blood. That's how the last one died. She bit her tongue and bled to death. "She tossed the bloody piece of cloth across the room.

"Still, thank you." He looked at her with his blue eyes, and she looked away uncomfortably. Remus smirked slightly. "How long have you been a part of this raider group?" She returned her gaze to him.

"What's it to ya" She asked, looking suspicious.

"I am just trying to gauge how terrible the rest of my life is going to be." Remus said simply. She seemed to accept that answer, as she leaned back against the wall and sighed.

"I've been with Dante for almost a year. And I'll tell you now that it sucks. Just be glad that you're not a woman. They're nothing but tits and ass to these guys! And I'm no exception. I think a bunch of the girls are ready to quit, but I also think some of are just so used to it now they don't care."

Remus looked at her, mentally cheering his improving luck. He happened to be imprisoned with a malcontent. "You do know that his plan won't work right?" She looked at him.

"What do you mean? Once the Powder Gangers join us, we'll be all set!" She said, getting nervous already.

"I'll tell you a secret. I just came from out west. The NCR just wiped out the Powder Gangers. And rumor has it they've got Rangers looking for any of the survivors that might have escaped." Remus easily wove fiction into fact. And he could see the effect it was having on Rachel. She was shifting from surprise, to doubt, and finally to fear.

"I-i-is that true?" She asked, the fear apparent in her voice. Remus nodded.

"I know because I was traveling with one of them. He's a friend of mine!" His brother was by no means a ranger, but he was certainly terrifying to most people he had to admit.

"W-What do I do?" She asked, seemingly to the point of tears.

Remus smiled, his victory all but assured. "Here, I'll tell you how you can get out of this in one piece!"