Looking for a job, Ann approached everyone in Novac – which wasn't that hard, it was a rather small settlement.

First, she had a word with the general store owner, who was operating from the inside of the large dinosaur statue towering over the town. She bought a small T-rex figurine to make him feel better. She talked with the folks hanging around the large tent serving as a dining area, with planks on cinder blocks substituting for tables. She spoke with the town doctor and her armed mercenaries – the fact one of them was carrying a grenade launcher in the open was worrying, but the locals didn't seem to mind, so she bit her tongue. She introduced herself to all the folks living in the remaining detached houses. She tried to knock on the door of a wooden shack near said houses, but it turned out to belong to that vagrant that pegged her a little too well and she just moved on without talking to him. Down the road there was a junkyard and Ann had a few words with the old lady running it – she even let her pet the doggies she had, which was a highlight of her day. There was some building – Helios One, the locals called it – not that far away, and Ann considered approaching it, but as soon as she got close enough to notice armed soldiers patrolling it, she decided to not tempt fate and return to base.

Conversations with the Novacites confirmed what Daisy Whitman had told her – most of the folks lived off of scavenge from a nearby rocket facility or something, and it was taken over by 'feral ghouls', whatever they were. A few people expressed the sentiment that if someone were to 'deal with them', they'd get paid for it. Alas, as we've already established, Ann was underequipped and underqualified for that type of job. A local rancher with a herd of two-headed cows asked if she was willing to figure out who keeps shooting his livestock with automatic weapons and why; understandably, Ann didn't sign up for that either.

And so, she returned to the motel. She didn't even reach her room, just slumped on the staircase, dejected. She would've considered venturing out on her own, but the scraps she picked up during conversations painted a vivid picture of a world more dangerous than what she was used to or able to handle on her own. She was powerless, and all she could've done was wait for the plot to give her an opening.

"Is everything okay, miss?"

She raised her head and saw a man in his mid-thirties standing at the base of the stairs. He was wearing a black vest over a worn-out white (beige?) shirt, baggy cargo pants, and a dark-red beret. A hollow stock of a rifle was poking from behind his back.

"And who are you?" she asked.

"Bernie Michaels, Danger Caravans." He pointed at the bungalow furthest away from the motel gate. "I live there when I'm not on the road. And you?"

She sat up. "Ann Takamaki. I was traveling and ended up split from my group, and now I'm sitting here waiting for them to return. Mrs Crawford offered me a room to stay in the meantime."

"Oh, so we're neighbors!" He looked at something beside her. "Hey, Vince, say hi to your new neighbor!"

Ann turned and saw another person that was standing out of her field of view, a black-haired man with a goatee. He had a duster worn over some ballistic armor, khaki pants, a shotgun resting on his shoulder, and a scowl on his face. "Do I have to?" he grumbled.

"He's not a people person," Bernie commented. "We travel around the Mojave picking up old beaten guns. Vince refurbishes 'em and I sell 'em." He smiled at Ann. "Speaking of, are you in the market for a gun? You look like a submachine gal to me."

Ann needed a second to parse 'submachine gal' into Japanese. "Uh, I don't think I can afford one."

"We have a lot of cheap models that throw lead just fine." He glanced at his colleague. "Vince, show her that stun gun thingie you've found."

"You mean a Sten gun?" Vince said, reaching into his duster's inner pocket with his off-hand and pulling out what looked like a pipe with holes in it and a loop of bent rebar attached. "The stock's a bitch but if you throw in some extra caps I can install a wooden one."

"I don't want it," Ann got up to her feet. "I don't want anything from you, I-I don't even know how to use a gun! And I need money to survive until my friends find me, and I don't have a job to earn more!"

Vince raised an eyebrow. "How did you live this long if you don't know how to use a firearm?"

"I'm kinda sheltered, I'm not from around here." Ann explained. "If we encountered bad guys on the road, my buddies did the fighting."

"I assume you haven't heard the word of our Lord and Savior, John Moses Browning." Vince put away the pipe and pulled out a pistol. He holstered the shotgun on his back, then pulled the pistol's slide back to look inside, then tossed it to puzzled Ann. "Here, that one's a freebie. It's unloaded, play around with it a bit."

Ann clumsily spun the weapon in her hands. "And you're just giving it to me?"

"Eh, it's beaten up enough," he shrugged. "It'll still last, I mean, it's a 1911, but I wouldn't get more than a hundred caps for it anyway. If you buy some ammo, I could give you extra lessons."

"Hm." Bernie pointed at his bungalow. "Vince, can we have a word in private?"

The two left the scene, leaving Ann alone with her new toy. She pulled the trigger a few times to no effect, then cocked the lever thingie in the back with her thumb, and pulled the trigger again. The thingie sprung forward with a click. Ann was about to get back to her room and see if she could lock that gun in the room safe, when she heard a barely audible murmur:

"[This passes for civilization here, apparently…]"

The voice, the language, could this be… She leaned out of the stairs and saw a familiar face. "Yusuke!"

He turned to see Ann leap over the stair railing and rush to greet him. Before he could react, he ended up on the receiving end of a tackle-hug. "[Ugh!]" he groaned. "[I am happy to see you as well.]" He returned the hug and the two just stood there for a few seconds, glad to have a friend close in the dangerous and unknown land they ended up in.

Finally, Yusuke remarked: "[Uh, what are you holding in your hand?]"

Ann released him and showed him her new weapon. "[Some merchant living here gave me a freebie. Apparently it's a nineteen-eleven.]"

Yusuke took it from her hand and inspected it. "[Is that a caliber, a rating, or…?]"

"[Heck if I know.]" Ann shrugged.

"[Hm.]" Yusuke pulled the slide back and it locked into place. "[It's a very remarkable model,]" he commented. "[I'm impressed by the detailing, it almost looks like a real firearm.]"

"[Uh, it's a real gun. Just with no bullets in it.]"

After a beat, Yusuke commented. "[Well, now I feel foolish.]" Realization smacked him in the back of the head. "[Uh, should we display it so ostentatiously?]"

"[Look around, Yusuke,]" she countered. "[Half the people in this town carry guns openly. Heck, from the stories I've heard the roads are dangerous enough to justify it.]"

"[I cannot weigh in about the stories, on account of my nonexistent English,]" Yusuke followed up, "[but I did encounter a group of armed soldiers right after regaining consciousness, and on my way here, I've witnessed unburied human remains, a dangerous-looking group of brigands patrolling the road, and some intimidating wildlife I could not identify.]" He pulled out his sketchpad. "[I allowed myself to draw one specimen..]"

He displayed a pencil sketch of… something. It was vaguely rat-shaped, but its skin was hairless and covered with blemishes and a few scars. It had sharp claws and protruding teeth that seemed to be in front of its mouth.

"[I think I've seen something like that in a pet shop once,]" Ann remarked.

"[Was it the size of a large dog back then?]" Yusuke asked.

Ann felt a chill go down her spine. "[Cool. Cool cool cool. I guess this is the wildli-]"

"Hey, who's the new guy?"

The two turned to see Bernie and Vince walking up to them from the direction of the bungalow.

"[And who are these people?]" Yusuke asked.

"I'll introduce you." Ann glanced at her friend. "[The vest guy is Bernie, the trenchcoat guy is Vince. They're the gun merchants that gave me that pistol.]" She then turned back to the two. "That's Yusuke, one of the friends I was traveling with. He doesn't speak English."

"[I am honored to meet you,]" Yusuke bowed.

"I assume he said it's nice to meet us," Bernie smiled. "Tell him 'likewise'."

"To the point," Vince butted in. "Burns took pity on you and wants to offer you a job as a pack brahmin. The other guy can tag along if he wants."

"Pack brahmin?" Ann said. "Like, you want me to carry stuff?"

"Yes," Bernie nodded. "There's a trading outpost north of here, the 188. It's three or so hours by foot away. One of the permanent traders there works for a larger gun manufacturer and sells off a lot of scraps that he thinks are beneath him. We want to go there tomorrow morning, buy as much as we can carry, and bring it all back here to Vince's workshop. If you and your blue-haired friend came with us, we could carry more stuff, and you could ask around about your other friends."

"[Uhhh…]"

"[I'll translate everything in a sec,]" Ann told Yusuke. "You are aware that I can't help if we get attacked by… whatever's out there, right?"

"I'm a retired NCR Ranger, and Vince served in the army," Bernie replied. "Don't worry about your security."

Ann remained wary. "So, you're offering a job to a girl with no talents who you met five minutes ago?"

Vince shrugged. "I told you, Burns took pity on you."

"Not quite," Bernie elaborated. "You just stick out from the crowd and I'm curious about your story. And traveling in a pack's always more interesting."

"Rrrrright," Ann commented, trying to conceal her distrust. "Can I sit on that offer for now?"

"Sure, no pressure," Bernie replied. "Like I said, we're heading out tomorrow morning. Hit me up if you change your mind."

With the conversation concluded, Bernie turned around and walked to his bungalow, while Vince marched to one of the rooms on the motel's lower floor and slammed the door behind himself.

"[So, what just happened?]" Yusuke asked.

"[The two guys offered us a job. We go with them somewhere, they buy a bunch of cheap gun bits, and then you and me carry them back here.]"

Yusuke pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "[Can you point out the intended destination on this?]"

Ann unfolded it and glanced at it. Her current location, labeled 'Novac/ノヴァク' was near the top of it, next to the arrow pointing north. "[They said it's north of here. 188, they called it.]"

"[So it is beyond the boundaries of my map,]" Yusuke said.

"[Yep.]" Ann folded it and handed it over. "[They said it's three hours away, but they also said they're former military men, so I assume they don't mean a casual stroll.]"

"[I see.]" Yusuke glanced around the area. "[I cannot do much on account of my monolingualism, so I leave the final decision to you.]" He noticed her exhale air through her nose with a subtle but visible scowl. "[You have doubts, correct?]"

"[Yeah]," Ann sighed. "[On one hand, it's a chance to get first-hand experience with the area, and try to get information about everyone else's whereabouts. But on the other hand…]" She paused, looking for a euphemism. "[I've already heard I'm lucky enough that nobody took advantage of me. Going who-knows-where with two armed middle-aged guys sounds like tempting fate.]"

"[You are worried we will end our journey in a shallow grave,]" Yusuke commented.

"[Or just dead on the side of the road,]" Ann replied, remembering he had mentioned something to that effect. "[But there's no other job here that we're qualified for, so we either play along, or sit on our thumbs until someone finds us or the cash runs out.]"

"[An unfortunate conundrum.]" The two stood in silence for a moment, before Yusuke remarked: "[Erm, do you have any form of accommodation, or will we be forced to spend the night in the open air?]"

"[The motel owner took pity on me too, so I got a room for free,]" Ann said, pointing at the door. "[There's only one bed in it, but I can sleep on the couch. It's a mess though, I planned to tidy it up at some point.]"

"[Well, do we have anything better to do for the time being?]"

"[Nope,]" Ann admitted. "[We're gonna need some cleaning products, let's stop by the general store.]"

"[And where is it located?]"

Ann pointed towards it. "[It's in the dinosaur over there.]"

Yusuke glanced in its direction. "[I was told it's a dragon.]"

Sten comes from a Millenia mod, because of course. Another Millenia has a version with a wooden stock.

The OCs are (kinda) named after characters from The Frontier, but they're based more directly on Mike BurnFire and Zach Hazard, a pair of Let's Players that inspired and voiced these characters in the first place.

Vince's full name is Vincent Danger; the caravan is named after him in-universe because Bernie thought it sounded cool.