Author's Note: Hello everyone. I hope all is well. In the last chapter we got our first new companion, ED-E, and we just might get a new one this chapter. Enjoy, and please review.

After the events in Primm, Mark and Amata set off for their next destination. According to Deputy Beagle, the men were heading to meet a contact in Novac, and the quickest way to get there was through Nipton. However, Mark suggested that they head to the NCR's Mojave Outpost to rest and get some supplies. They were on their way, and Amata seemed to take a liking to ED-E. "I think he's kind of cute," she said to Mark as they were walking. ED-E, who was floating in between the two of them, beeped in approval and nuzzled himself into her chest. "Aww, who's a good boy, who's a good boy, you are," she said as she stopped and petted him. "Amata, he's not a dog. He's a piece of military hardware." "Hey," she said, pointing a finger at him, "I read about house pets from before the war, and I've always wanted one, and this is as close as I'm probably going to get, so lay off."

Mark looked at her and saw that big smile on her face that he loved so much, so he smiled, shook his head, and decided to let it go. "Alright, let's keep moving." By the time they arrived at the Mojave Outpost, the sun was beginning to set. They stopped to rest a couple of times, because, while Mark was used to walking long distances, Amata was not, and had yet to build up the necessary endurance. "Hey," said Amata, "you've been here before. What're those two statues of?" pointing to the monument of two men shaking hands. "It's supposed to represent unification or something. I wasn't really interested enough to get the full story. There's a plaque right there in front of it if you want to know." She walked up to it and read:

"In the year 2271, the Desert Rangers of Nevada and rangers of the New California Republic met at this spot to sign the Ranger Unification Treaty. Under this treaty, the Desert Rangers agreed to be absorbed into the NCR in exchange for NCR's protection of Hoover Dam, New Vegas, and southern Nevada against the forces of Caesar's Legion."

"Caesar's Legion? You've mentioned them before, right? You said they were slavers or something, right?" asked Amata. "That's basically what it boils down to," said Mark. "Their culture is based off of ancient Rome, and their leader thinks he's the son of a god. In essence, yes, they are slavers. Anyway, there's a bar over there. Why don't you go in and rest and get some water. I need to check with the quartermaster about getting some more ammo and supplies." Amata walked into the bar, and the first thing she noticed were the posters lining the walls. They reminded her of pre-war propaganda posters. She read one that said "What I know- I keep to myself. Careless talk costs lives." There was a picture of someone wearing goggles and some kind of face wrap in the middle. She read a couple of others, and then decided to sit down at the bar.

When she sat down, she noticed that there was only one other person at the bar. She was wearing a brown suede jacket, a plaid pink and white button-up shirt, and black gloves on her hands. She had fiery red hair that was tucked under a brown cowboy hat, a pair of jeans with holes in the knees. She also had a shotgun slung across her back. The bartender came up to Amata and asked her what she wanted. "Um, just water please, thank you." The bartender grabbed a bottle and put it in front of Amata, who promptly paid for it. The bartender walked away, when the other woman spoke to Amata. "Oh, c'mon, yer in a bar and all ya get is water?" "Yeah, I can't really drink right now. Although I can see you don't have that problem, with the way you're downing that bottle of whiskey." When Amata came in, she had noticed the bottle was nearly full, and now it was almost empty.

The woman grinned at Amata. "Ah, me an' whiskey are ol' friends. Keeps me goin', 'specially when times get rough, like now." "Why, what happened?" Amata asked sympathetically. The woman frowned as she started to talk. "Lost ma caravan heading north, near Vegas. The driver was burnt ta ash. Assholes didn't even take tha cargo. They just burned that, too. Y'know," she said after a pause, "yer tha first person ta ask me about that. Name's Rose of Sharon Cassidy, by the way, but ya can just call me Cass." "Well, Cass, my name's Amata Almodovar. So, if your caravan was destroyed, what are you doing here?" Cass went to take a swig of the whiskey, only to realize that it was empty, and set it back down. "I…I dunno. For a while, I was here 'cause of ma papers. I still technically owned Cassidy Caravans, even though it was nothing but ash. Then a few days ago, someone from tha Crimson Caravan Company comes with an offer ta buy it. At first I told him ta fuck off, but the offer had a lot a zeroes, an' everyone knows Alice McLafferty is good fer it. My pa would be spinnin' in his grave if he knew I sold our name. Now I'm just here 'cause I got nowhere else ta go. That's my story, so why are ya here?"

"Well," said Amata, "my boyfriend and I-" She stopped because Mark had come in and sat down next to her. "The ammo and supplies will be ready in a few hours, so I figured we could just stay here tonight and start fresh in the morning. I figure we could both use a rest." "That's fine with me," Amata said. "Oh, Mark, this is Cass. Cass, this is my boyfriend, Mark Franklin." "Nice to meet you, Cass." Cass tipped her hat. "How'd ya two meet?" Cass asked. Mark spoke up. "We actually grew up together in a vault back in DC." "Well, ain't that interesting," Cass said. "Y'know, I heard a rumor going around about some Brotherhood folks came out west a few months ago. Rumors are going around about some kid that came out if a vault in DC. They said he slayed super mutants into extinction and created some machine that magically purified water an' a bunch of other crap like that." Amata choked on her water, but Cass paid her no attention. "What'd they call him again?" Cass said as she snapped her fingers, trying to remember. "Oh yeah, they called him tha "Lone Walker." That's it." Mark looked at Amata, who just shrugged her shoulders. Mark turned back to Cass and tried to wave it off. "Yeah, we've heard the stories. Half of it sounds like made up nonsense to me."

"Come on Amata, we should get some rest. There are some beds in the back we can use. I think we've both had a long day." "Where are ya two headed, anyway?" "We're trying to track down a man who shot me in the head twice and took a package I was supposed to deliver. He's headed towards Vegas, so we're headed that way." Cass seemed to have trouble comprehending what Mark told her. "Ya got shot twice, in tha head, and lived. Are ya messin' with me?" "No messing," Mark said. "How do you think I got this scar?" he said, pointing to his face. "Damn. Yer one lucky SOB."

Amata and Mark got up from the bar, and Amata noticed Cass was just staring absentmindedly at the empty bottle of whiskey. Then Amata said something that surprised even herself. "Hey, Cass, why don't you come with us?" Mark and Cass both stared at her. "You said it yourself. You're only here because you have nowhere else to go. We're heading towards Vegas, so maybe we could find your caravan and you could pay your respects." Cass was silent for a minute. "Yeah, sure why tha fuck not. I need to get out a this shithole anyway. Ya two seem like nice people. Ya okay with me taggin' along, lover boy?" Amata stifled a laugh at that last comment. "Sure," said Mark, "why not? You can never have too much firepower. Alright Cass, we leave in the morning, ok?" "Fine with me," she said with a hopeful look on her face.

There were a bunch of bunk beds in the back of the bar. Mark and Amata slept on the bottom of one, and Cass slept on the bed above them. Mark woke up and looked at his pip-boy: 2:37 am. He also noticed that Amata was not next to him. He got up, rubbed his eyes, and looked around. With the aid of the moonlight, he saw that she wasn't in any of the other beds, and she wasn't at the bar. He checked outside, and saw her sitting at an old picnic table, looking at the stars. ED-E was buzzing around near her. Mark walked over and sat down next to her. "Hey, ED-E," Mark said, "can we get a minute?" He beeped and flew away towards the front of the outpost. "Are you alright, baby? When I woke up and didn't see you, I got worried." She turned to him. It looked like she had been crying. "Amata, are you alright?" She looked back at the stars. "Mark, I'm scared." "What are you scared of?" She put a hand on her stomach. "Having this baby. You know that I never knew my mother. I don't really know how I'm supposed to act. What if I mess up?"

"Hey," he said as he put an arm around her shoulders, "don't talk like that. You're gonna be a great mom. Plus, you don't think I'm scared about having a kid? I've done some scary shit, but having a kid tops the list." She turned back to him, and he wiped away a tear running down her left cheek. "Here I was thinking that the Lone Wanderer was fearless." Mark grinned at her. "No, people thought that I was fearless. Truth is, I was scared out of my mind half the time. You try facing two super mutants with a pistol that only has one bullet and tell me you wouldn't be scared. Look, my point is, having a kid is new for the both of us. We probably will mess up. Like with anything else, we will have to learn from our mistakes. We will be fine." "You know," Amata said, "sometimes I forget how smart you are." "Hey, I almost left you back in DC. That would've been pretty dumb of me. Now come on, we need to get some sleep."

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Until next time.