Chicago Wasteland

Mal kept looking around, trying to see if he could spot Xander. Seven approached him, seemingly very injured. He took up a spot by a nearby rock and set himself up in camouflage so he could cover them. He then told them they should go before more showed up. Mal called out to him in a tired voice. "I was taught never leave a living man behind. I had to make sure he was dead first. So until everyone dies, I'm not going anywhere." He then turned back to the battlefield, still trying to seek Xander out. He then looked back to where Amelia and Lola were, but they were gone. He saw the signs of a body being dragged and he followed it with his eyes. Before he found where it stopped, he heard a clanging sound. Sort of like a tin can hitting against a steel pole. Before he could really find the source of the sound, a gas canister was thrown over head, towards the sound of the clanging. Mal hadn't noticed but Scipio had been letting out a low growl for a bit now. "I guess this isn't over yet." he said to no one in particular.

Mal then felt a form dash past him into the smoke. It was Lola. She ran into the smoke, dagger drawn, then jumped onto some invisible thing and started stabbing it like crazy. How the hell did she know where it was? Was it the smoke? He would ask her, but she was suddenly rocketed backwards and skid across the ground. She skidded to a halt a few feet in front of him. She almost immediately passed out......or died. It looked like her stomach was moving much, just enough live. It seemed everyone was down but him, Scipio and Zephen. Where the hell did that guy get to anyway? Either way, this wasn't over. It seems those strikes she made to that thing was enough to short circuit his stealth boy, the bastard soon came into view. He had one of those giant Nightkin swords, he didn't know what they called them. He remembered that horned guy had one too. He looked behind him and saw the blade laying where he had dropped it right next to the other mutants corpses. He picked it up and swung it in his hands a few times, he could still hear the clanging noise.

Mal turned around and pointed his sword towards the Nightkin who had just hurt Lola, his shoulder had several stab wounds and he had an expression of pained anger. The Nightkin saw Mal's challenge and beat his chest in acceptance. Mal simply nodded, then took off after it, the sword held behind him with both hands. The Nightkin charged him as well, the blade held close to him. Several seconds later, there blades connected and ground against one another. They then stepped back from each other and began striking out at one another and parrying. Strike, parry, strike, parry, thrust, parry, strike, thrust, parry. It went on like this for several seconds, until the damage Lola had done with her knife finally took it's toll. He was late on a parry from the left side, and Mal cut his arm clean off. The mutant screamed out in pain, grabbed his nub and fell to his knees. Mal raised his blade to finish him off. It looked up at Mal with a look of complete hatred. It caused him to flinch. It was the same look that was imprinted on his soul. The clanging sound snapped him out of it. He then brought the blade down and decapitated the Nightkin.

Mal stabbed the sword into the ground and started breathing more heavily. He then heard Scipio bark. Mal followed the barking to a downed Nightkin. Mal was confused for a second, until he saw a human hand sticking out from underneath it. Mal immediately dropped to his knees and hoisted the carcass off of Xander. He looked down at him, he was still alive. He picked him up as gently as possible and started to walk him over to where Seven was. Mal looked down at him and simply said, "You look like shit." He then walked right next to where Seven had set himself up and gently placed him down next to him. "Keep him safe." Was all he said and he walked away. Mal then reached Lola's body. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another stimpak. He injected it into her neck. It should have healed her tissue damage and gave her more relief. He wasn't sure about the internal damage though. He gently picked her up and held her in his arms. He looked down at her as he walked. "Goddamn it, Lola. Why didn't you just shoot it." he had already made sort of a connection to her and she seemed to have a good soul. He didn't want her to die. Then again, when did he ever get anything he wanted? He was walking back to Seven, but then he noticed the drag marks again. This time he decided to follow them. They led to a rock, as he got closer, he saw that there was a sheet down. He looked underneath and saw Amelia. Mal sighed in relief. He gently put Lola against Amelia and decided they would be safer here. He then turned to Scipio. "Infortae pertsia." he said to the mongrel in a commanding tone. The dog immediately went rigid and walked over to where the black sheet lie. He then sat at attention, looking ever vigilant. Mal nodded to him and then walked away.

Mal walked over to the massive battlefield and started looting stealth boy's off of the Nightkin corpses. They would definitely need them later on in the mission. After he had looted a couple, he heard an odd rippling sound. Almost like.....Mal was suddenly hit in the back and an intense burning sensation followed it. He realized his back was on fire and he jumped onto his back, rubbing it into the dirt. Fire began hailing all around him, small fireballs than spread there flames like a disease. Luckily everyone was behind cover and these fireballs looked like they were coming from a much higher angle. All Mal could do was scramble for cover. After much scuffling and tripping, he made it behind a rock. Not a very big rock but cover was cover. Mal took out his sawn-off, made sure it was loaded, then blind fired toward the direction of the fireballs. He knew he couldn't hit it, but he could distract it long enough for someone to take it out.

Continued flashback

He got out into the wastes and walked for days seeing a member of the enclave who saved him from dehydration and had the enclave use him as a spy against the brotherhood of steel but after the purifier was activated Zephen changed sides and began spying on the enclave a brotherhood paladin taught him sniping 101 but after a full year of spying he got tired and headed west reaching a NCR outpost he had two choices help the NCR or die trying to fight them he chose to be a spy hidden deep inside the legion he was there long enough and worked hard enough to not get caught that he was given full ranger privileges as a reward for his service he left before the battle of hoover dam and still doesn't know who won.

Zephen saw the fire and a small bit of dirt flying as if someone had kicked it up so Zephen grabbed Xander's rifle and began holding his breath his heartbeat slowing he could feel the bullet as it left the chamber entering his targets neck Zephen fired again killing it.

When the body was lifted off of him, Xander took a great big breath, if was under that mutant any longer he would have died. Then he proceeded to have a coughing fit. Xander was not in good shape. "Hey, I've been tossed around like a rag doll and had a super mutant drop on me. I'm sure you would just brush it off and keep going. I, on the other hand have several broken ribs, I think my leg is twisted, and on top of all that, we still have these freaks to deal with, other than that. I'm fucking peachy." Xander spat. He was thankful that he was saved, but didn't only had the social skills to be sarcastic and spiteful right now. He'll apologize later, right now he need to fix himself and the others up. His first patient was the knocked out Amelia; he did a quick once over to see what was wrong with her. She had a piece of shrapnel in her leg, Xander sighed and grasped his bag that was nearby. He was tempted to pull out a Med-X and use it, but she was unconscious anyway, so he said screw it. He pulled out a pair of forceps and pulled out the object and tossed it to the side. He then proceeded to grab a needle and thread. He started sowing up the wound so, it would heal properly. He pulled out a Stim-pak and applied it directly to the area so the wound would start healing faster.

The next patient was Lola, he again did a quick once over to see if anything was majorly wrong with her. The only thing he could see was her bruised stomach. He cursed at the thought of broken ribs, there was nothing to do for fixing them. Xander pulled out a roll of bandages and started wrapping her ribs in it so they wouldn't get too far out of place. As Xander sighed, his chest was filled with a blinding pain. He needed to take a Med-X for this. He popped the chem into his arm and shook off the pain. It was much better than being in the stabbing execrating pain that he was in before.

Xander limped his way over to Seven and said, "Whats wrong?" Xander heard his rifle firing, he looked over and saw Zephen firing his rifle. His pride and joy, the only thing he cared about in this cruel heartless world. He was touching, no firing his baby. Xander cursed Zephen under his breath that would make a raider blush. He wanted to kill Zephen, Xander reasoned with himself and refocused on Seven. Zephen would pay for that, maybe not right now. Xander was in no shape to start something right now.

Watching the good young doctor fixing everybody else up, black just shaked his head. A small chuckle came through the respirator, because they never fail to amuse him in some way. His ankle was killing him, but he was going to deal with it later. As Xander came towards him, he was busy looking at Zephen when he asked Black a question.

"What's wrong?"

Black simply pointed in Zephen's direction, and told Xander what was keeping him down.

"Injured ankle, twisted or sprained. Not going to take boot off, that's for damn sure. But don't worry about me, no need to waste your medical equipment on just me when you have more than one person to watch after."

Black grabbed his carbine and began checking it over for any possible damage to the rifle.

"Besides, I'll be fine. You guys need to keep going. I can catch up later."

The ex-ranger decided it was best to disable the helmet's vision mode, and checked down the carbine's sights, finishing the weapon-check.

A coral light flickered down on a single, small white table with two matching chairs, adorned with beautiful carvings but graying, and old. A thin emerald vase sat in the center, holding three long lavender strands. A small teacup sat on one end of the table, fulled to the brim with steaming amber liquid. Next to that teacup sat Lola, adorned in a darling red Lolita gown. She sat, dipping the teabag in the cup, resting her head on her gloves hand. I guess I'll never find you father..., her thoughts echoing loud through the room as she gazed across to the empty chair.

Searing pain shot through her body as she was lifted off the ground, moaning she cracked open an eyelid to see Mal carrying her in his arms.
Thank god he is alive... a small crossed her lips as she rolled into his chest, blacking out once again.
She was once again woken, but this time by a numbing, cooling sensation running from her neck and through her body. Slowly she lifted her body leaned against the boulder she was laying next to, gazing over with half open eyes to see Amelia lying next to her. Mal sat across from her holding a used stimpack.
"Goddamn it, Lola. Why didn't you just shoot it."
".. because...I had to be...in the smoke...to see it...." she mumbled, her jaw bruised, most likely from being tossed aside. She reached out limply to touch his arm as he passed, but fell just short as he moved on. Resting she called over Scipio, "Scip...come here boy...." reaching our she pet him twice down his back before black passed over her again.

Xander's touch on her bruised stomach jerked her awake once again. As he began wrapping her injury, she leaned forward foe him to easier bind it. Too weak to speak, she simply smiled up at him in thanks. He was obviously in pain, so she motioned that he should go on, continue, she was fine. Watching him treat himself she leaned over to brush some of Amelia's hair out of her face, and patted her cheek.
Wake up lazy-ass, if your gonna die, die when we get the damn thing. Bigger cut for me. Don't make me work harder.

Before she knew it they were once again under attack, and she reflexivly shot her knees up to her chest and covered her head, the pain rocketed through her and she gasped for a moment, releasing her legs and leaning forward. Hmm...they don't feel broken... spitting up a little blood she continued, It's be expected from an injury like this.
She stretched, and the pain was there but minor, Just some bad bruises...I'll be feeling this for a bit though...
Stumbling in the dirt twice, she finally succeed in standing. Her legs were wobbly and she was caked with blood. Gripping one arm and standing with her knees turned in she looked around to see where Mal had gone.

Mal fired several more rounds off on his sawn-off, the ground around him literally on fire. All that was going through Mal's head was, Somebody fucking shoot it! He had stayed behind that rock for longer than he would have liked. Especially with the flames literally high lighting his position, and they were damned close to burning him alive. As three more fireballs hailed down around him, he heard three consecutive shots from what sounded like a high calibur sniper rifle. He waited for a minute and no more fireballs came down. "Way to go Xander." was all he said to himself. He stood himself up and looked around. He then saw Zephen with Xander's gun, the barrel smoking. He called over to him. "Nice shooting, Tex. Let's loot the bodies and set up a perimeter. We're not going anywhere with this many wounded." Mal then jumped over the boulder and hoped his way through the flaming ground. Be fore he walked away, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it on the flaming ground. He decided to go check on Lola and see if she was doing better.

When he got near to where he left her, he saw her trying to stand up. It seemed she had been bandaged up, but she still shouldn't up and walking around. He walked more quickly over to her. "Lola!" he called out to her as he approached. As he got closer to her, he could tell she was really wobbly and definitely shouldn't be standing at all. He bent himself over a bit and put his arm around her to try and support her. "Lola, what are you doing? Your in no condition to stand, you need to rest." Then, most likely against her wishes, gently picked her up and then sat her back down against the boulder. It seemed the gang was all here now. He got donw on one knee still looking at Lola. "So....how are you feeling? Anything broken?" He asked with a degree of concern in his voice. He then sat back on his ass and looked at her. "For what it's worth, you kicked a lot of ass out there." He took a big long drag on his cigarette and puffed it out into the night air. It was dark now, and they definitely shouldn't be moving this many injured people in the dark. He took a second drag on the cigarette and put it into her hands and gave her a smile. "Get better, rest, sleep." He stood up and looked over to Xander and Seven. "It would be idiotic to keep moving, let's make camp here. I doubt we'd be jumped with this many Nightkin corpses adorning our campsite. All of you rest, I'll take watch." He looked over at Scipio and angled his head towards Lola. Scipio seemed to nod and he trotted over next to her and began licking her and nuzzling against her. He lied down right next to her, but was still in a watch dog position.

Mal didn't mind taking watch, he hadn't really slept in 8 years, so what was one more night. He walked into the battlefield and started to drag Nightkin corpses into a defensive half-ring position to fortify their camp. He then climbed on top of a large rock behind them and sat on it, over looking the camp. He was maybe 15 feet above them. He more walked up a slope than climbed it really. He took out another cigarette and lit it with a match. He took in a large drag and blew it out. He would stay like that all night if he had to.

"Lola, what are you doing? Your in no condition to stand, you need to rest."
Stumbling back as her feet were swept up from under her, she moaned, "Stop, put me down.." continuing anyway her rested her back against the rock. After it so long to get up the first time...

"So....how are you feeling? Anything broken?"
"No, just a little beat up..."
"For what it's worth, you kicked a lot of ass out there."
Watching as he puffed on the cigarette, her head began to race...I want one..I hope he doesn't think I'm just going to sit here like a hurt little girl...
"Get better, rest, sleep."
...yep he does...
Listening as he announced they should camp, she sighed, "Good...I wasn't in the mood for traveling..."
He walked away, and she patted Scipio on the head, "Good puppy," leaning down she kissed him on the head, "You watch over Amelia now...I'll be back."
Pushing herself against the boulder she stood, stretching her limbs. She was sore, but after a moment she found her footing once again. Pulling her pack from her shoulders she laid it next to Amelia, and unzipped a small pocket to pull out her pack and lighter.
Slowly she made her way through the camp. examining the sheer amount of bodies laying about. As her eyes wandered across certain scenes chills ran down her spine. Spotting Mal high up on a boulder she assessed the wall. A few moments glancing around she spotted a low hanging ledge next a series of rocks she could grip easily.
As she reached up and grabbed the rock, her sides ached from her weight. Moaning as she pushed through, she lifted herself up and scaled the rest of the wall easier, with plenty of footing. Pulling herself up and over she stretched her arms out, working the sore muscles a bit, the aching was only a little worse than her training back home. Bigger men have knocked her on her ass than those mutants...maybe not so many at once, but she was used to the pain.
The wind swept through her hair, the blond streaks stained with now copper blood. The white bandages peeked out from her corset, her tattoos swimming about her body. Bruises could be seen forming over her ivory skin, some worse off than others. Turning against the wind she lit her cigarette, and let out a stream of smoke that was carried away, dancing until it dissipated in the distance.
It was then that she called out to Mal, "Hey...thanks out there...You really saved me..."
Sauntering over she dropped her legs over the edge and arched back as the wind swept through.
"Sometimes its hard to believe such terrible things live in such a serene place..." Glancing over, she smiled a him, "You're not half bad."

Mal had been sitting on that boulder, puffing on his cigarette and counting the moments. He heard some scratching noises and pebbles falling, but he knew what it was. He took a few more puffs and took in the scene around him. Most people called the world a barren wasteland. But, to Mal, it was absolutely beautiful. Everything in life is beautiful. It's actually a Legion saying. There is beauty in all things. It's actually the bases between homosexual relationships in Camp. He then heard a voice call out to him. "Hey...thanks out there...You really saved me..." Lola then walked over and sat down right next to him. Without even looking at her, he spoke. "What took you so long?" he said casually as he took another drag and pulled out two Nuka Cola bottles and placed one next to her. "Don't mention it." He knew she wouldn't sit still like a damsel in distress, she was tougher than that. Well, at least she needed herself to be tougher than that. This girl won't stop pushing herself. All just to see her father? The concept was a little alien to him, but her determination wasn't. She spoke again. "Sometimes its hard to believe such terrible things live in such a serene place..." Glancing over, she smiled a him, "You're not half bad." He glanced over at her. "I wish I could say the same about you." he said with a cold hard face. After a few moments a smile cracked and a low chuckle came from his throat. "No, but anyway. Those Nightkin are people who don't know how to fend for themselves and don't know how to survive. To me, those Nightkin are just like Raiders, but not all of them are like that. But, you right about one thing." He turned and looked out at the rolling hills of dirt and the moon and the stars. "This place is beautiful." he stopped for a moment and listened to the wind.

Mal then stopped and turned back to her."So......." He scratched the back of his shaved head, trying to grasp onto a topic."Feel free to say no but,....what's your fathers name?"

"What took you so long?"
Picking up the can and popping it open she smiled, "Well, someone set me back a bit by putting me back on the ground." chuckling she sipped from the can and rested her arm on her knee.
"I wish I could say the same about you."
For a moment she was taken aback by his comment, but her features softened as he began laughing. Looking over the wasteland she chuckled to herself, "It's nice to laugh again."
"No, but anyway. Those Nightkin are people who don't know how to fend for themselves and don't know how to survive. To me, those Nightkin are just like Raiders, but not all of them are like that. But, you right about one thing....This place is beautiful."
They sat in silence for a moment simply looking over the scenery. Then he asked the question, ad she dropped her head. She longed to know the answer herself.
"So......Feel free to say no but,....what's your fathers name?"

Her expression darkened for a moment, as she reached up and tucked the long silver chain around her neck. The locket popped out from between her breasts and she caught it in her hand, clicking it open. She pulled out two pieces of paper. One, a photograph clipped from a wanted poster, the other, a hastily hand-written letter.
"These are the only things I have," she gazes over the letter, "this is just a love note between my mother and him. But it's in his handwriting, and he signed it..."
Unfolding the sheet she flashed him the corner, sprawled across in fading ink was, "~The Gentleman~"
Gazing up to the sky, she held in how much she wanted to meet him, to know at least one of her parents...
She glanced over and said, "He never even told my mother his real name, if he did, she never told my grandfather."
Taking another swig she smiled, "It keeps me going though, I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I find him..." Her eyes had a far off looking them as she continued, "Sometimes I wonder if I truly want to find him...or if I just crave the purpose...the adventure..."

Zephen walked over to Xander and handed him his rifle then said"Sorry just hate leaving mutants alive and you were busy now I have to go check on miss inexperienced over there wouldn't want anyone dying on us this early."He walked over to Amelia and shook his head"Ugh rookies I guess I'll play bodyguard until this is over."Zephen said to himself he walked up to Lola offering her a cigarette he said"Why would anyone hire a girl who can't even load and fire her own weapon please help me understand that."He said pulling out his lighter and a cigar he lit the cigar and was still offering Lola the cigarette.

[I'm defiantly up on a boulder with Mal...]

(your not invisi-bitch though so I can still offer you things and talk to you.)

Amelia slowly came to, her eyes winced as the realized her injuries, "owwie," she complained as she sat up. She gave herself a quick self examination, checking her ribs and gut and her leg. The leg would take the longest to heal out of her injuries, but she was pretty sure that she could handle walking on it, though it might be sore. She started looking around the area, there were shapes on the ground and she thought she could see something moving over in the darkness.

She was a little worried when she could not spot any of the people in her group, her whole body ached as she rose up to her feet. She recalled the fate of her shotgun and shrugged it off, t was just metal it wasn't like she couldn't find a place to acquire a new one. She gave one more scan with her eyes, to see if she could make out any sign of where they had gone. I can't see for shit... Maybe I have a concussion.

Amelia started to wander forward, nearly tripping over the body of one of the nightkin. "Hello?' Amelia whispered softly to the night sky.

Zephan heard a thud and walked over there to find Amelia"You okay there sweetheart."Zephan said trying to help Amelia up he was tired and sore already but whatever he would just fight through the pain"I guess i'll play bodyguard for you if you keep me company I need a person to talk to." He said taking a puff from his cigar he sat down looking through his pockets he pulled out a bottle of pills labled"Cat'seye" he handed them to Amelia saying"You need some serious help."

Xander snatched his rifle out of Zephen's hand. He didn't like others touching his stuff. He sighed and pulled out his pack of gum. It was slightly crushed but still edible. He popped a piece in his mouth and leaned back on the boulder next to Seven. "So, am I the only one who knows that its' the same dude or did anybody else pick up on it?" Xander said to him. He started taking his rifle apart and started cleaning it. When the stock was free he pulled out his knife and put a few more notches in the stock. When he was done, he put it back together with relative ease. Then he rubbed his eyes, it had been one hell of a day. Xander replayed the day in his head. Then he remembered the last day he spent in the vault.

Xander stood in front of the mirror with a razor in his hand and shaving cream on his face. It had been almost a week since he had last shaved. He brought the shaving tool to his face and proceeded to drag the sharp tool along his face. When he was done, his goatee and the stubble were completely gone. Xander closed his eyes and leaned against the sink. He felt the arms of Ashley wrap around his torso and her body lean up against his, "Please don't go. You can become a doctor like your parents. We get married, have kids, and die old together." She whispered in his ear. Xander shook his head, "I can't do that Ash, and you know that. I need to be in the wide open. I love you and this way, I can find a way so that we can live outside the vault. I've been outside before. Its beautiful out there, almost as you are." Xander turned around and kissed her forehead. He then broke a way and went to his dresser drawer and put on his t-shirt, and his pants. "I'll see you soon, alright?" He said leaving his and Ash's room for the last time.

Mal took in a deep breath and looked at Lola. "Well, someone set me back a bit by putting me back on the ground." she said to him. "Well, I had to make you work for it." She was fun to talk to and he felt not so heavy when he had someone he could share a few laughs with. He guessed that's why he liked traveling so much, meeting new people with new backgrounds and different perspectives. It always kept things new, far and away from the constant tradition of the Legion. She chuckled after she realized his comment about her was in jest. "It's nice to laugh again." Mal finished chuckling and began to nod his head. "Yeah......yeah it is." He looked back at the night sky. Everything seemed so much simpler when laughing. Nothing bad goes through your head, only happiness. He hadn't laughed in a long time and he was glad to find out he still could.

After he had asked her about her father, there was an uncomfortable silence. After a moment, Lola popped a silver locket out from between her breasts and she opened it. She pulled forth two pieces of paper. One was a wanted poster with a man with two guns held high and a stark serious expression on his face. The other seemed to be a letter. "These are the only things I have," Lola gazed over the letter, "this is just a love note between my mother and him. But it's in his handwriting, and he signed it..." Unfolding the sheet she flashed him the corner, sprawled across in fading ink was, "~The Gentleman~" Mal looked at it and simply said. "Huh.." It was quiet for a time again, until Lola looked back at him and spoke. "He never even told my mother his real name, if he did, she never told my grandfather." She took another drink from her cola. remembering he had one two, he downed half of it, realizing he was very thirsty. He looked back to Lola and she was smiling. "It keeps me going though, I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I find him..." Her eyes had a far off looking them as she continued, "Sometimes I wonder if I truly want to find him...or if I just crave the purpose...the adventure..." This caused Mal to smile. "Sometimes you wish the adventure would go on forever. So you will always have that drive and purpose. So you can tell yourself that you lived every day to the fullest and that your life meant something to the most important person in the world.....yourself." He downed the rest of his drink and put the empty bottle back in his small sling bag he kept inside his coat.

"I'm happy to hear that your father is worth that, and he should too." He paused for a moment, like he needed to take a breath. "My father....or I should say my parents, there isn't really a difference in my mind any longer, didn't feel I was worth much." He looked down at his cigarette, seeing it was nearly done, so he just flicked off the rock. "They sold me in payment to the Legion so they would be spared.....not the town, just them." An odd looking smile crept up on his face, yet his eye looked dead. "It didn't do them much good, though. I found there bodies crucified when I was 15 years old. I only identified them from these odd rings they always wore." He looked up into the sky. "I was happy the day I found them. Happy that they now know they would have been better off with me, than without me...or some stupid thing like that." He put another cigarette into his mouth but didn't light it. "I hated them....now I just pity them. They were cowards and probably never really lived.....so they truly could have never died. So I'm at peace with that." It seemed Mal was at peace with a lot of things. He looked back at Lola. "Did you know they didn't even tell the Legion my name? So they gave me one, Mal. Do you know what that means? Bad, low, scum." He caught himself working himself up and he quickly stopped before he started to show any emotion. "Sorry..." was all he said.

He looked over to Lola and leaned a little closer to her. Not weird close, but closer. "Your dad......is really missing out on a lot. I can tell that from knowing you one day." His one green eye looking at her. "I guess what I'm trying to say is..." God he was terrible with this. He had never been good at talking with peopel and the only person he was comfortable around was Brutus, but she seemed pretty okay too. "I'm glad to have met you...or something like that...I don't know." He looked away from her, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm not good at this shit." he sort of mumbled. He then leaned back and laid his back on the surface of the boulder, his hands behind his head.

"Sometimes you wish the adventure would go on forever. So you will always have that drive and purpose. So you can tell yourself that you lived every day to the fullest and that your life meant something to the most important person in the world.....yourself."

Listening as she spoke, she smiled. He understands, This...this is the life. His story saddened her, she couldn't imagine life without at least her grandfather to guide her when she was young. The love and devotion he showed to her molded her into the person she is today. I wonder if he ever doubts himself, his identity as a person...
"It's okay," she said leaning back on her arms and looking into the dark night sky, "What happens on the boulder, stays on the boulder." Mid-chuckle he leaned over to her, she turned to face him and softened her eyes as he spoke," "Your dad......is really missing out on a lot. I can tell that from knowing you one day...I guess what I'm trying to say is...I'm glad to have met you...or something like that...I don't know." He looked away from her, "I'm not good at this shit."

As he lay down on the boulder she turned and leaned on one arm, her curvy body resting at a perfect hourglass as she crossed her legs beside her.
His kind words had reached her heart as she gazed back at him, "Thanks Mal, I think this mission is going to be quite fun with you by my side." With a smile she added, "And Mal doesn't mean anything to me...your name could be shit-face, I'd still enjoy your company..." with a wink she added, "I would tease you a lot more though."

Thinking for a moment, she brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear ans asked, "If this mission goes well...would you like to stick with me for a while...? We could...I don't know...keep each other company...if were headed in the same direction..." she blushed heavily and turned away a bit. The way her body was positioned her pants tugged a bit, exposing more vivid colors along her waist. Her mid drift was facing him as she rested her weight on one arm, laying the other across her hips. Usually she wouldn't let her guard down so much, but she enjoyed talking to him...this was going to be a mission she truly enjoyed for more than just the caps...I might get a bigger reward than I was hoping for... she thought as a smile crept across her lips.

Amelia had a passionate hatred for Zephen welling up inside her, she wanted deeply to bat away his hand and begin beating his face to a bloody pulp. But that wouldn't be acceptable, it wouldn't go over well either as Zephen was by far the superior fighter. Amelia didn't fight, she murdered, usually while the person was asleep.

Amelia put on a cute, sheepishly helpless look as she took Zephen's hand, letting him lift her up. "Thank you, sorry I didn't handle myself well. I can't really see when its dark out. I'm just not very good at all, am I?" She gave a shy little laugh, which ached her stomach. She could smell something foul, and noticed the cherry of the cigar as he breathed in. Her hands were suddenly occupied by some sort of cylinder. Her fingers felt around as she discovered the outline of a medicine bottle. Zephen's words, "you need some serious help," burned into her thoughts. It was actually true this time, she was in need of help. She had never experienced this level of injury before, and really wondered it if wasn't better to just quit and find other work with less perceptive people. Well the job did pay well...

"Zephen, I don't know what this is. I'm sorry," she made herself seem genuine, "do you know if everyone else is okay? I'm really worried that they could be hurt. We should look for them, I don't have any medical training or supplies but there must be something I can do."

"So, am I the only one who knows that its' the same dude or did anybody else pick up on it?"

Black looked at Xander if he just let a stupid question slip out through his mouth, then focused back onto the wasteland. No shit, sherlock, he thought to himself, keeping a close eye on anything that might move during the night.

"You know, when morning comes around, you have to leave me behind. Because I'm going to slow you guys down. You may have that there Pipboy, but I know how to survive out in the wild. I'll be behind you guys."

Black let out a sigh, then lowered his head, trying to get comfortable as he could along the side of then boulder.

"I guess I'll take watch after Mal. Just tell him to wake me up when his shift is over."

Xander smiled as Seven fell asleep. He wasn't going to be happy with him when he woke up but, he wasn't in the business in leaving his team behind. When he was sure Seven was out for the count, Xander reached into his bag and pulled out a Med-X. "This oughta make sure you don't wake from the pain." He flicked the needle and pricked the ex-rangers leg. He waited a few minutes until he was sure that the chem was in full effect. He started to untie the boot that was supporting the ankle. The ankle was swelling already. He cursed and tried to summon up his knowledge on ankles. He made sure that the joint wasn't dislocated. He brought his ear to the man's foot and started rotating it. He didn't hear the faint grinding noise that meant the bone was in place. He swore, dislocated joints sucked the most. Especially on the foot, they did have the most nerve endings besides the tongue. He made sure that the foot was straight up and down before applying the necessary pressure to pop it back into place. When he was done, Xander sighed when he saw the man was still knocked out cold. The Med-x had done it's job. Xander put the boot back on the foot and laced it up tight so it would provide support for the ankle.

Xander got up and shook his head, his ribs were still sore from the beating he endured today. He limped towards Lola and Mal. He sat down next to the behomth and said, "Anybody got a cigarette? I could really go for one right now." He leaned back and looked up at the stars. Xander talked to the Wanderer about his journey in space. It was wild. He even got to hold the fabled alien blaster that the Wanderer was so fond of. Somebody handed him a smoke and something to light it. As he inhaled that toxic smoke into his lungs, he remembered why he started in the first place. It was to relieve the stress from seeing the bloody battles, the super mutants, and the hell that is called the wasteland. "Oh, wake Seven up when your shift is over, He's next watch." He said not looking away from those dazzling lights in the night sky.

Zephan looked at Amelia with a sceptical expression"Over acting a bit are we not i've learned that nobody is ever as helpless as you seem to be so i'll tell you what I will protect you if you have the occasional conversation with me ok and if you play nice and I find a chinese assault rifle then you get my cut on the reward plus i'll be your permanent bodyguard how's that sound?"Zephan asked taking out a small piece of paper he started waving it in front of Amelia saying"Say yes and my slave contract is yours I know you want it since I promise I am perfectly capable of protecting you."Zephan was using his best effort to convince Amelia he was always a good smooth talker.