Chapter 43: Blood Money
Rosa had probably chosen her hiding spot a little too well. The Presidential Suites were usually unoccupied unless someone was here to see Daddy, but now it was just the three of them, usually. Tobster and Carlie had come over and were probably still checking the cocktail lounge. Suckers, she snickered to herself. She had an advantage over them in hide and seek. This was her house, after all.
She enjoyed the times that her friends could come over. The place was big, but it was also lonely. Daddy couldn't play with her as much as she wanted, seeing as he was usually busy with other people. Usually older girls. Still, she liked the new friend he had brought with him. Florence, her name was. She was pretty and really nice to her. Talked to her like a grown up, and always asked questions. Not like adults usually did, where they just wanted you to give them an answer they already told you, but she wanted to hear what Rosa had to say.
There were a few adults like that. Uncle Arcade was good with her, even if he had less time for her than even Daddy. Uncle U was weird but was good at teaching her new things when she went outside-outside. And the Boones were just the two best adults she knew next to Mr. Bones.
She heard the elevator ding. Giggling, she muffled her hand over her mouth as she crawled further under the bed. When she heard the footsteps approaching, she realized that they didn't sound like those of her friends. The door was practically kicked open, and she fought back a gasp as two pairs of feet stormed into the room.
"Strip, bitch!"
That was Daddy's voice.
"Lars, I can explain…"
"Who do you think you are, stealing from me? Well, show me!"
A pile of clothing steadily fell to the ground around Flo's feet. Daddy paced around her. "…Well, guess you're clean, after all. Unless I need to be… a little more thorough."
"Please, this is all a misunderstanding," Flo whispered, though there was something off about her voice.
"…I'm gonna make you talk," Daddy whispered to her as he drew closer. "Do you have any idea what I'm gonna do to you?"
"…Not the belt," Flo whimpered. "Please, anything but the belt!"
"Great idea," Daddy replied. "Turn around."
Rosa wanted to cry out for Flo to run, but she could only listen to the sound of something being tied. Once that was done, Rosa heard her get pushed onto another bed. Rosa listened as her Daddy assailed Flo, doing things she could only imagine. Her fear kept her from peeking out. And then…
"Cazador."
The activity came to a stop. Flo caught her breath. "…Seriously?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.
"…That omelet didn't really agree with me," Daddy admitted. "And I don't want to find out how long I can hold it."
"Gross," Flo sniffed. "Could you get me a cup of water while you're in there?"
"Mh-hm," Daddy grunted affirmatively as the door shut.
Now confused, Rosa gingerly peaked her head out. Atop the next bed was Flo, with her auburn hair, bound wrists behind her back, and nothing else. She was singing to herself about East coast and Southern girls as she stared up at the ceiling, no worse for wear.
"…Did Daddy hurt you?" Rosa tepidly asked.
Flo glanced over to the girl, looking away before immediately registering what she had seen, swinging her head back to Rosa with a mix of shock and horror.
"What are you doing here?!" Flo hissed as she swung her feet to the side of the bed.
"I-I was playing hide and seek with my friends, and-" Rosa turned to glance nervously at the door to the bathroom. "…Are you OK? Daddy sounded really mad."
If Flo blushed any harder, she probably would have passed for one of the marked men. Realizing that this situation was already too awkward, she decided that honesty was the best policy. "…I was also playing a game. With your daddy. A grown-up game. Of pretend."
"…Pretend is a grown-up game?" Rosa asked, confused.
"It can be. But I think you should probably find a new hiding spot." Flo suggested.
"…Doesn't that hurt?" Rosa asked, indicating the binds around her hands.
"What? This? Nah. Watch," Flo stated as she pulled her arms under her legs, popping her shoulders out and then back in once the binds were in front of her. "…And a few pulls here and there and…" the belt fell from her hands. "Viola!"
Rosa's eyes lit up. "That's so cool! Teach me teach me tea-" a hand clasped around her mouth. "I will," Flo whispered as she put a finger to her lips. "After you get out of here, and if you make a super special promise to never tell anyone this happened. Deal?"
Rosa nodded her head vigorously as Flo escorted her to the door. "…See you at supper, sweetie," Flo winked as she gently pushed Rosa out the doorway. She breathed a sigh of relief right as the bathroom door opened. "…Making a break for it, are you?" Lars picked up where he left off.
"You can't keep me locked up here, forever!" Flo replied with her customary melodrama.
"I'm gonna make you scream, girly. C'mere and let daddy punish you!"
Rosa listened as Daddy apparently chased Flo around the bedroom. She had no idea how this game was supposed to work or why getting punished seemed to make Flo laugh so much. She concluded that adults were weird as she entered the elevator. Still, she was going to hold Flo to her promise, just as soon as she told Tobster and Carlie what she had heard after getting them to promise not to tell.
Rosa lay on the dirt, face pressed against the sand as the gang had set up camp once again. Around her, the outlaws and gunslingers were speaking in hushed murmurs. Someone had found them. Out of her unburied eye, she could see her… she could see Ariel chatting with her two bodyguards, giving them orders as she set them to rally the rest of the men. Looking around, she pulled aside two others.
"You two, stay behind and stick with her," she told them. "Do not let them near or get their hands on her. Die if you have to," she hissed. She then turned to Cade. "You're coming with," she added.
"I don't work for you," Cade scoffed.
"And I'm not letting you within a thousand yards of the kid unsupervised. You're coming with me and you're helping. And you!" she snapped at the red-headed smokeshow. "You're staying behind."
The two gunslingers left behind, Jeff and Roscoe, were mountain folk from the Rockies. They were newer members of the Ximenez Gang but were veteran bandits long before they joined. Amy, on the other hand, had largely kept to herself alongside Cade. She glanced at the two and the bound hostage before accepting her lot. Cade snorted as he pulled his bandana around the bottom of his face. Rosa's eyes never left him as he went off to join the rest of the gunslingers to whatever confrontation they went to join.
"Fucking Legatum," Roscoe snorted as he spat near the campfire. "Ain't even worth the bounties."
"If there's a fight, it's gonna be ugly," Jeff countered. "You don't go up against those guys without losing people, that's just how they are."
"Well, guess it's a good thing we won't be dealing with them," Roscoe chuckled as he took a sip from his flask. "You, there. Red. Want some?"
Amy smiled as she took the flask, taking a swig as Jeff glanced down at the hostage. "Want a sip, kid?" he offered.
Rosa glared up at him in disgust, keeping her lips sealed even as her throat was parched.
"Suit yourself," Jeff shrugged as he helped himself. "Hasn't even spoken a word since we took the gag off. How's that for gratitude?"
Roscoe belched as he pulled out his revolver. "We ain't getting paid for her singing. We just gotta show up and we can retire."
"What is she going for, anyway?" Amy asked.
Jeff motioned her to get closer, whispering the amount directly in her ear. Amy's eyes widened. "No way! Alive?"
"DOA," Roscoe corrected.
"Same as either?" Amy put her finger to her chin. "…Wouldn't it be easier to just…"
"The boss gave us her orders," Jeff snapped.
"Of course, of course," Amy nodded her head. "…But…"
"But nothing!" Jeff scolded. "Ariel said we're hauling her ass to Aspen, and that's what we're doing!" All three turned to look further down the road, watching as two groups converged near the bottom and began to spread out. Evenly matched, more or less, any fight that broke out was likely to go either way. Jeff shot a look at Roscoe, silently agreeing to watch this develop and wait to make any gambles. As they did, Rosa slowly brought her bound hands under her legs, snapping her shoulder back in as she got to work on the ties around her legs.
Major Coleridge sat under the camouflage as he spoke into the radio. "Bravo team, report position."
"Northwest, have eyes on number 2."
"Charlie?"
"We're counting a group of twenty plus on foot, heading to meet with the Legatum. Identify one Ariel Ximenez."
"Delta?"
"Setting up artillery."
"Echo?"
"No visual on Number 1. Sir, I think we're being watched."
"Stow it. Foxtrot?"
"No visual on our princess. Continue recon?"
"Forget it, form up with us," Coleridge replied as he shut off the radio. Rodson kept looking through the binoculars as he watched the parties spread out.
Down below, Ariel was flanked by her bodyguards as a single member of the Legatum strode forward. His scared visage would have unnerved even many veteran wastelanders, but Ariel had previous experience with these. With and against.
"Sheol," Ariel nodded.
Sheol grinned. "I'm flattered you remember me."
Ariel did not return it. "I take it this is not a social call?" she said, flippantly and fully acknowledging that the banter was a wasteland formality.
"Rumor has it you have something we want," Sheol said as several members of the Legatum drew closer, weapons drawn but not raised.
"Perhaps? What is it you think we have?" Ariel asked.
"Give us the girl, Ariel, and we will pass without incident," Sheol sternly coaxed.
"Give you my flesh and blood? Abandon her to you?" Ariel asked, feigning shock.
Sheol scanned over the group assembled before him. There were a mixture of familiar faces and newer recruits, no doubt at the behest of her bosses to cycle through the roster to mitigate payment to experienced veterans. "…If I were to guess, you haven't quite won her over, else she'd be standing with you."
Something flashed in Ariel's eyes. "Perceptive little bastard. She isn't yours. End of discussion."
"I'm not sure you'd want that," Sheol tutted as he shook his head. "You usually travel with a bigger crew, right?"
Ariel's lip curled. "The ones I got are more than enough to put you under. Unless the rest of you would rather run. Again. How many times does your little club have to get its ass kicked before you drop the whole freelance terrorist gig?"
Sheol fought back a giggle. "I wouldn't call us a club. Just a group of people with a mutual understanding. That being an agreement to die violently, and not alone. Pathetic? Is putting your life on the line for a paycheck really so much more meaningful?"
"Fucking philosophy," Nick muttered to himself.
"Hey," his older brother scolded. "United and silent front, remember?" he said under his gritted teeth.
"Yeah, yeah," Nick replied in kind. "This is just posturing, anyway. It'll be a bloodbath if we have to start shooting, and I doubt they have any more reinforcements backing them," he continued.
"Not to mention the rest of our teams are going to Nevada," Matt nodded. "Can't decide if that'll be ugly or interesting."
"Who cares, so long as it's…" Nick began.
"Profitable," they exclaimed, simultaneously. They turned and smiled at one another, ignoring the stink-eye Ariel shot them. Right behind them, Cade was looking elsewhere.
"…That guy in the black hat is looking right at me," Rodson muttered through his binoculars.
"We're half a mile away under camo, quit being an idiot," Coleridge scolded. "Probably gets spooked by anything. Charlie, are you in position?"
"Readying crossfire with Foxtrot and Bravo. Awaiting your signal."
"Echo, any visual on our HVT?"
"*static*"
"Echo? Echo!" Coleridge hissed. Rodson fought back a giggle. "What?!" Coleridge scolded his junior officer.
"Just… repeating echo, sir, I just figured it was amusing," Rodson admitted, lamely, as he continued looking through the binoculars.
"How about you just focus on your duty, soldier, and not worry about anything stupid like puns and incompetent operators. I swear this might be our last shot to ID this guy, and here we are fucking around and not-"
Rodson's left binocular was struck by a bullet, which traveled through the device and into his eye, exiting out of the back of his skull with a suddenness Coleridge took half a second to register. Watching as his spotter went limp, Coleridge immediately radioed in the rest of his men on an open channel. "ENGAGE NOW, I REPEAT, ENGAGE NOW! DELTA, SEND IN ROUNDS! EVERYONE ELSE, EXTERMINATE ALL HOSTILES!"
Cade's sudden shot unleashed a chaotic fracas that caught both the Ximenez Gang and the Legatum Saeva off guard. Almost on cue, the standoff was interrupted by the sudden appearance of thirty-some commandos, firing down into the opposing sides as their leaders struggled to rally their men and fend off the sudden attackers.
"Commandos!" Sheol exclaimed excitedly as his men fired back with plasma, even as two of his men were cut down by machinegun fire. "Stack up and return fire! Fall back to camp!" Ariel screamed as she and her bodyguards traded fire with an approaching squad. Their conflict forgotten, both groups were united in trying to escape the trap they had unwittingly fallen into. Then the mortars started pounding around them.
"Everyone, get close to the commandos!" Ariel ordered. "Force this artillery off us!" she screamed as three of her men were obliterated by a round. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black-clad figure darting away from the fight. "DON'T YOU TRY IT, CADE!" she screamed. "MATT, KILL HIM!"
The closest, Matt turned and brought both his guns towards the retreating figure. In all their years, Matt, his brother, and Ariel were the fastest draws they had known and knew this because all their rivals were dead or cowed away. They had lived by the mantra that when it came to gunplay, there were no prizes for the runner-up. They drew quick because that saved them time and time again. Until now. For the first and last time, someone outdrew the Nutso-Young Gun Matt. Right as he had his sight lined up, a bullet tore through Matt's throat, leaving him gasping in shock without pain. He fell to his knees as he heard his brother cry out, his best friend scream curses at his murderer, and then fell into the eternal slumber.
Her three guards were so transfixed by the firefight going on in the distance that they did not see their prisoner free herself of the last of her bonds. Slowly, she crept to the campfire where they stashed most of her gear. Having no luck finding her sawed-off, Rosa was still able to retrieve her machete. She debated with herself whether or not to further scrounge around for extra supplies, but decided against it when suddenly the redhead chose the worst possible time to look behind her.
As Amy let out a scream, Jeff and Roscoe both turned and drew their weapons on their hostage. "The hell do you think you're doing?!" Roscoe snarled as he drew closer with his magnum.
"…Leaving," Rosa replied as she slowly drew out her machete, backing away.
"And we're just going to let you?" Jeff asked, incredulously.
"…Yeah," Rosa nodded.
"…DOA, remember?" Amy brought up. "Besides, I think your boss has other things to worry about, right now."
Jeff and Roscoe glanced at one another. Rosa glared at Amy, seething in anger as the little bitch smirked at her. Slowly, both men came to an understanding. No matter what happened, Rosa was more valuable a corpse than breathing. Rosa's eyes darted between the two, struggling to figure out which she could attack and not leave herself vulnerable to the other. This dilemma would be solved by a third party who had been stalking the camp for some time.
A bolt of plasma struck Roscoe, burning him as he fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Jeff, startled, stumbled back from the flash and noise, taking his eyes off Rosa for a critical second. Next thing he knew, his arm was severed, with Rosa pushing past him, leaping upon Amy. "DOA," Rosa snarled as the third party made his way down.
He was dressed in a military-style overcoat, wearing a cap with goggles and a rebreather, a true G-spook, as Flo would say. By his side hung a Legion-style gladius, and in his hand, a plasma pistol pointed right at Rosa. Rosa, in response, wheeled Amy in front of her, putting the machete to her neck. "You with the guys who jumped us down there?" she asked.
Jeff, realizing what had happened, began to let out a scream as he clutched his stump. Mystery man plugged another bolt into the man's head, his skull disintegrating into a nauseating mist. Rosa clutched tighter onto Amy as her hostage tried to look at her with disgust. "What do you think you're doing?" Amy hissed.
"Leverage," Rosa shot back.
"Leverage," Amy repeated, mockingly. "I don't know who he is, why should he care about me?"
"Ok, how about a meat shield?" Rosa shot back, annoyed.
"You realize that if he shoots me, you're going to be holding onto a mass of burning plasma, right, kiddo?" Amy asked, deadpan.
Rosa decided to end the discussion with her hostage and start one with the guy holding the gun. "…Should I know you?"
"…She's right, you know," the mystery man replied. "Plasma stings like all hell. Using the meat shield strategy is just going to exhange your quick death with a slow one."
Rosa tossed away Amy, eyes not leaving that of the stranger. "…Another fucking bounty hunter."
"Nah," stranger shook his head. "It's personal, I guess."
"…you guess it's personal?" Rosa replied, mouthing the phrase incredulously. "…What did I do to you?"
"…It's not so much who you are, it's more like what you're supposed to represent," the stranger answered, cryptically. "…Ever hear of the Chosen One?"
"Me and everyone in California and the Mojave, jackass, who hasn't?" Rosa rolled her eyes, more annoyed by the situation than anything.
"…I hate his guts," the stranger complained. "…And the Courier… sorry… the Governor ruined everything for me afterward. So, in the smallest, pettiest way possible, this is my chance to get revenge," he sighed, his heart not into this vendetta.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho," Rosa laughed. "So as per the fucking usual, I didn't do anything to you, but the Old Man ruined your life so I have to stand in, once again, as a damn proxy!"
"Yep," stranger nodded.
"Ok, ok, wait, don't tell me," Rosa pondered. She looked at the machete on his waist. "…Legion?" she laughed.
The stranger cocked his head in bemusement. "Observant," he praised.
"If you're playing with toys like that, the Legion'll kill you anyway," Rosa shot back.
"They tried. Came pretty close, but it's hard when you read the same playbook," the stranger replied.
"So, my Old Man stopped you from turning the Mojave into a bunch of cannon fodder and cock-sleeves, therefore I must die?" Rosa asked, irritated. "Just want to understand what your beef with me is supposed to be."
"Also, apparently your grandfather was instrumental in destroying my birthplace," the stranger added.
"…Enclave…" Rosa pieced together. "…You were born in the Enclave… and went on to join the Legion…" Her brain struggled to make sense of the paradox in front of her. "…And you're angry at me about stuff that went down before I was born…"
Exasperated, the stranger dropped his plasma pistol to his side. "Look, kid, I wasn't thrilled about dragging my old ass out of that cave, either, but if Sheol got you, twisted fucker he is, you'd appreciate the situation in front of you," he snapped.
Amy, pulling herself from the ground, looked down the road to see a familiar figure approaching. Eyes lighting up, she got back to her feet just in time to have Rosa wrap her machete around her neck. The stranger watched in surprise as Rosa turned her back to him, facing down the newcomer.
"YOU COME ANY CLOSER AND I WILL SLIT HER FUCKING THROAT!" Rosa screamed, in an urgency the stranger hadn't heard from her during their own conversation. Cade stopped staring at the sight before him as he angled his revolver towards them. Pausing to look behind her, Rosa shot to the stranger. "You try to shoot me with that, and his girlfriend here dies a slow death. And I really don't think you can take him in a gunfight, geezer."
The stranger strode beside the two girls, looked down at the gunslinger, and pointed his plasma weapon towards him. "…Let's say we get out of here together and do this fair-like," the stranger offered. He then realized that, for the first time since the confrontation began, Rosa's hostage was trembling.
"…Cade…" she mewled. "…I'm sorry, I didn't try to get captured!" she called out. "Please, it's not my fault!"
Cade stood his ground, revolver pointed forward. Rosa felt her hostage continue to break down and came to a horrifying conclusion. Amy was more scared of that man than the girl with a knife to her neck.
"He won't shoot," Rosa whispered in her ear.
"…You don't know him," Amy hissed, trying to suppress the fear. "…You don't know anything about us."
Rosa shoved Amy forward right as Cade fired. The bullet pierced through Amy's liver, nowhere close to any area Rosa was exposed to. Both she and the stranger came to the same conclusion. He shot her deliberately.
As Amy choked out blood on the ground, Cade immediately wheeled towards the other two. The stranger fired first, showering plasma blasts towards the gunslinger as Rosa doubled back and fled, taking her chance now that the other two were occupied with one another. Right as she did, party number four made his grand entrance.
A black deathclaw bounded towards Rosa on all fours, salivating through its bloodstained fangs as it charged her. Rosa barely managed to roll away before it could break its charge. The stranger turned right as the lizard bowled into him, whereas Cade muttered to himself about meeting this asshole again. The deathclaw had knocked the plasma pistol out of his hands, and the rebreather was smashed from his face, the stranger thought through the pain as the lizard picked him up. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn this thing was smiling as it extended its claws.
"Jackson, Ramsey, cease fire!" Hathcock ordered.
"Sir, our guys are getting killed!" one of them protested.
"They're danger close to our targets, any more rounds will just get our own killed. They'll just have to fight their way out!" he seethed as he watched the hastily aligned Ximenez-Legatum group drive back the commando attack. Both sides had been bloodied, but the commandos, despite their initial ambush, had gotten hit the worst.
"SIR!" one of the scouts radioed in. "WE HAVE POSITIVE ID ON HVT! I REPEAT, WE HAVE SIGHT ON DALTON! RELAYING COORDINATES!"
Hathcock could scarcely believe his ears. As he turned towards the marked area, he looked through his binoculars to see a dark deathclaw holding the man in question off the ground. He also watched as a girl, who happened to match the description of the Governor's daughter, stabbed at the lizard's foot, forcing the creature to drop its prey. Also notable was a black-clad gunslinger dragging a wounded woman away from the melee.
"Delta team!" he announced. "New firing mission! Area 0-8-7! Three klicks downrange! Fire for effect!
Within seconds, the readjusted mortars thumped as explosive rounds hurdled towards the Ximenez camp. Sensing the incoming rounds, Sawney instinctively dove away, even if that allowed his prey to escape right as the shells detonated around the camp. Rosa and Dalton retreated as the rounds went off behind them, Rosa internally ecstatic that she had finally gotten an action holovid moment in this journey whereas Dalton felt his age in his knees and back and neck and hands and lungs and-
Amy felt herself propped against a rock as Cade undid a strap around his leg. He pulled out some Med-X, a canister of Buffout, and a stimpack. Greedily snatching the needles, Amy applied the Med-X while Cade snapped the cap off the Buffout.
"…I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Amy sobbed. "I tried, I really did," she continued through the haze. Cade dug the stimpack into her wound, causing her to wince as it was forcefully sealed up. "Sooner you get that bullet out of you, the better," Cade stated, tersely. "Otherwise, you'll catch the most painful infection in your life and die."
"…Just put me out of my misery," Amy begged.
Cade thought to when he had first found her. The situation was identical. Near-death and wanting to amend it quickly. Cade convinced her she could be valuable to him, and it was enough to put something resembling life behind those eyes. Amy owed Cade more than she could possibly repay. The point was it was up to Cade to decide when and how Amy would repay him. If she didn't like it, she shouldn't have offered that deal to begin with.
Amy's eyes widened in horror as the shadow overtook them. Cade swung his rifle off his back to turn towards the deathclaw as it hovered over them. Sawney smiled, the blood of those armed humans it overtook dripping from his lips. "…Ello, again," he rumbled.
The sounds of humans screaming began to draw closer. Angry humans. Angry armed humans, with weapons that burned and stung. Cade smiled. "… Goodbye, again."
Snarling, Sawney took off, bounding away to find some measure of a low profile for one such as him.
"…Amazing," Amy muttered. "You're really something else, Cade."
"…I'm not welcome with this group anymore. And with Rosa on the lam, I don't need to stick around," Cade replied. He felt a weak grip on his ankle.
"…Please don't leave me," Amy begged.
Cade kicked off her grip and stormed away, leaving Amy to sob to herself as Ariel and her gang found her minutes later, Ariel screaming at her and demanding to know what happened and where Cade and Rosa were. Sheol and the surviving six members of the Legatum stood back and smiled, knowing that Dalton had found her.
The two came across the mangled remains of a commando, or what was left of them. Rosa took the canteen while Dalton reached for the machinegun. A machete was held to his neck before he could pick it up.
"…So, what's this about an honorable-like duel?" Rosa asked.
"…Is this smart, girl? Considering that there are a bunch of folk and whatnot behind us who really want us dead?" Dalton asked.
"Are we still trying to kill each other?" Rosa pressed.
"…If we were, why'd you come back for me?" Dalton asked.
Rosa stared at him. "…Maybe I was hoping you two would fight the lizard together, buying me more time?"
"Huh," Dalton scoffed. "And here I thought it was my dashing good looks and charming personality."
"…Look, mister," Rosa began. "I'm really sorry your life sucks and you have to murder strangers to feel better about yourself, but unlike you, I have things to do and no idea where I am."
Dalton scratched his patchy beard. "…You know there's a sandstorm coming our way, right?"
"Your point?" Rosa asked.
"You try to b-line it back to this AGE or whatever, you'll get caught up in it and die. No one'll find you till some prospector finds your body about eighty or so years down the line, I reckon," he assessed.
Rosa looked to the horizon. Sandstorms were a frequent reality to those who walked the desert, as Uncle U explained often. Though they varied, getting caught in a strong enough one was a death sentence to those who weren't prepared or adequately sheltered.
"…What's your angle?" Rosa asked.
"Two people with mutual enemies and no better options have a better chance surviving together," Dalton offered. "Sides, I'm old and sick of fighting, so killing me won't do you any good."
"Seemed pretty decent for an old guy," Rosa said, noting that he moved like someone well-practiced in the art of combat, state of his body aside.
"Thank you," Dalton bowed his head. "And you swing that thing like a legionary worth their salt," he replied, noting her weapon.
"…I'll take it as a compliment," Rosa conceded. "So, where do we go till the storm's over?"
"…We had a base to the northwest of here," Dalton offered. "Mines. Safe and secure with a lot of supplies. We can wait out the storm there and then… figure out where to go from there," he offered.
"…And how do I know you won't try and pull anything on me there?" Rosa asked.
"Speaking honestly, you don't," he admitted. "But I'm just getting sick of getting my ass kicked. If we fought now like I wanted to there, you'd win and die a day or two later, giving me my "revenge" and possibly the greatest achievement in my life," he explained. "Or, I can save you, and indebt you and your father to me, an Enclave-born ex-Legionary, earning me a reward and something resembling a comfortable retirement. I think option B looks rather attractive, wouldn't you say?" He rose his eyebrows to her, waiting for a response. Rosa tapped her foot, unconvinced.
Dalton sighed. "…I swear on the souls of those who are gone and I miss, I won't harm a hair on your pretty little head," he rose his hand.
Rosa picked up the machinegun, popping out the ammo. "You carry the gun, I carry the ammo. Deal?"
"How very generous," Dalton said as he took the unloaded weapon. "…Name's Dalton. Just Dalton."
"Rosa," she replied as the two left the body behind, heading away from the sun as this uncertain partnership took its tentative first steps.
