New Vegas: Blood Ties

When his guard shift had ended, Carib had fallen into a quite sleep. He was never a deep sleeper, but he was down long enough to feel some of the fatigue melt away. He promised himself after all this was done he'd go back to his safe house, rack for a while. He planned to head East when all was settled. Point Lookout sounded like the kind of place he'd want to settle in.

He reached within the neck guard of the Ranger Combat Armor and saw the dog tags that had been stamped.

-LAST NAME: Walker
-FIRST NAME: Katja
-Blood Group: A -
-Religion: Follower of the Apocalypse

He smiled sadly and tucked them away. It was all he had left of her. Clenching his fist around the tag, he affirmed before he headed East, he would make sure he saw the Legion vanquished.
 
David saw Carib come off sentry. He walked past him, nodding as he went by. He stood guard while the others got rest.

(Sorry, theres not much to post right now)
 
Pawnsy stumbled through the darkness Midas grunting behind him " I know your tired but I just wanna find a flatter area to set up camp. Unlike you I might roll off in my sleep" Midas simply mooed almost in reply as they trudged on. Finding a good spot Pawnsy set up a small fire and unrolled his bedroll. Delighted Midas quickly lied down, the supplies in his pack jingling. Pawnsy reclined against a rock and started playing a low tune on his harmonica as he watched Midas' heads drift to sleep.
 
Brad sat up and noticed the fire starting to die out. He thought he heard a harmonica in the distance but quickly dismissed it.
"Eh, to me a knife is more of a tool."
He pulled his 10mm out of his pocket.
"Now this is my weapon of choice for close range. You don't need to bother yourself teaching me the 'proper' way to weild a knife. I'll be fine."
He then slowly shifted back to laying down and fell asleep to the sound of the harmonica...
 
Tom was slightly put off by Brad's attitude, what if he had been disarmed, what if he had no knife, what would he do then? Tom was determined to show Brad how to fight, he needed to learn how, not just for precautionary meaning, but knowing how to fight with no weapons is agreat way to make caps in the fighting rings. Tom would most likely ask him again, but not now, he was obivously too tired to do anything, and that was the first problem, he didn't need sleep he wanted it, Tom whispered into Brad's ear as he went asleep, "Well if you've been disarmed and your about to get a facefull of fist, make sure you remember how to fight".
 
Brad woke right back up after Tom whispered in his ear and backed away. He leaned against a rock and pulled out his future weapons today and read an article about his plasma rifle. It was getting just bright enough to read.
 
It was starting to get bright, it had been an odd night at best and Tom had just realised how retarded he must've looked to the others when he whispered in Brad's ear, well what Tom had been through would do that to you. He stretched out and yawned, extending the stretch as far as possible, he looked over at Brad who was reading Future Weapons Today, "Future Weapons huh? Back in Albion the only magazines we could ever salvage were called Nuts, and all they ever had in them were tits and technology, an odd mix if you ask me".

He looked over at Yasmin and looked back at Brad, slowly lowering his voice, "You still gonna' have a crack at it? If you don't i'd have the right mind to myself".
 
Yasmin woke up snoring quietly and looked around. It was dawn and everything was a light grey colour. She sat up and stretched and there were 13 loud cracks as her bones went back into place. Everything hurt and the fire had died out. She really hated sleeping on the ground.

She pushed her jacket off and took off her boots, giving her feet time to air out and stretch. She looked around at the others who were either asleep or sitting up looking tired. She smiled to herself. ~Yep, we’ll do great in a fight today.~

Yasmin rooted around in her bag till she found her brush then got up on her knees as she let her hair out of the bun. She had to be up if she didn’t want her hair laying in the dirt as she tried to brush it. She brushed it out so it was smooth and very wavy after being in the bun for so long, then divided it in half and started making a plait on each side of her head.

When she was done they hung down over her breasts and swung around her navel. They were pretty handy this way. There had been a time or two where she’d used her hair in fighting before. Spinning around wearing plaits was a good way to whip somebody in the face and confuse them, giving you the chance to get a knife in their ribs.

It was starting to change from grey to gold by the time Yas was rinsing the ‘morning breath’ out of her mouth with some water and putting her boots back on. She looked at the rest of the camp.

“Ok, it’s morning. Time to get up and keep moving.” She looked to where David was keeping guard. “Dave, c’mon, shifts over.”

She packed all her shit away and put her guns and her knife back on. Looking out at their route, she knew it’d be one bitch of a day. They were gonna boil.
 
Brad put his magazine back into his bag and checked to see if his guns were fully loaded.
He realised the only food he had left was his boxes of macaroni. But he needed breakfast for the trip so he prepared some and ate it. He then turned to Yasmin.
"How much longer do you think we have to travel?"
 
Pawnsy woke up felling a sharp pain in his thumb. He looked to see a rat nibbling at it like jerky "I'm not dead yet you fucker!" He yelled swinging his knife at it. Midas woke up hearing the noise and mooing loudly in distress at Pawnsy's knife. After clumsily killing the rat Pawnsy gutted and started to cook it Midas' awake head watching him.
 
Tom got up of the floor, he didn't like being ignored, but he'd make do for now, Tom was curious as to why Yasmin would need so many of us to actually get into the bunker, he looked over at Carib, "How is it back west? I heard some stories from my old sergeant, apparently you guys had some trouble with the brotherhood of shit?"
 
Carib was laid against a rock with the LMG field stripped, no major housing groups broking down. It was simple by the book clean. Surplus ammo was good at killing targets, but it was also highly corrosive. Like anything bought in bulk and cheap, you paid some hidden fee.

" The west is riddled with Brahmin barons and corruption. The Brotherhood and the NCR didn't see eye to eye on certain philosophies. NCR felt it necessary to expand unfettered and the Brotherhood felt it should protect us all by hording tech." Carib sighed visibly.

"I fought them. I have killed my fair share of paladins and they have killed a good share of good Rangers. Its war and when two leaders misunderstand eachother, everyone pays the price." He snapped the LMG back together, applyingh the function checks. "The days of adventuring the West are gone. No more warlords, no more despots or raider clans. We did too much of a good job civilizing it. Reason why I am heading East."
 
"Huh, if you want that sort of thing back east it's definitely the way to go, east....there's no proper civilisation, the nearest you can get to civilisation in the east is the Pitt and Rivet City, and the former isn't exactly welcoming", Tom was liking the reminiscing, "When you head west, see if you can find a small market town called Canterbury Commons, well it used to be small, but ever since things got better the town has grew and grew because of the water caravan industry, but anyway, if you manage to find it, find a certain Rachael Knight, say 'hello' for me, she'll know who I am".
 
David said while standing guard to the others."You don't won't to go east. Why not? Its a shithole. Brotherhood of Steel there is giving purified water to people there, but theres super mutants, shitloads of raiders. You said you wanted to go point lookout? Thats even worse. Inbred Swampfolk, smugglers, and the density of them is ridiculous. You can't go anywhere without running into something. Not to mention that crazy cult. Anyway, Get some rest. You'll need it."
David kept looking on into the distance, chcking for any signs of movement. The glow of the strip spread some light on the plain, so it helped.
 
After finishing his breakfast Pawnsy started his morning habit of counting his coins,examining Midas for any health problems,and checking his ammo."Shit only one shot and I think it's that junk round I tried to make. Let's see if it works" Pawnsy lifted the sawed off shotgun into the air, aiming towards a buzzard overhead and fired. The shot rang throughout the area as the bird drifted slowly down flopping next to Pawnsy."There's lunch" reaching into Midas' pack Pawnsy pulled out a bag of oats he fed to the brahmin. After gathering up his campsite Pawnsy tied a rope around Midas' snout, and walked off towards the direction he saw the lights that evening.
 
Brad turned when he heard gun fire.
"Shit! Someone's here!"
He pulled out his plasma rifle and ran in the direction he heard the shot.
 
David grabbed Brad as he ran in the direction of the shot.
"Calm down, its a wasteland, and nobody knows we are here. Its probably somebody hunting. If they wanted to hunt us, they wouldn't have fired their weapons that carelessly. Now, Yasmin seems to have a bit of a worry that coming back with whatever shit we find could be dangerous. We will probably be moving on soon, so you can be the rearguard. Maybe if somebody does come after us, you'll have a chance to impress Yasmin. No sit down, shut up, and wait for Yasmin to wake up."
David held his assault carbine close. He hadn't anybody during the night, so he doubted they were being followed. Why not attack when most of them were asleep? Still, it would be best if nobody came across what they were doing. No doubt the NCR wouldn't be very happy to find out that a group of prospectors, including two of their men and a great khan, raiding a pre-war bunker before them. At least he hoped it was a bunker, and they weren't being drawn into something bigger.
 
(White, read back. It's day and EVERYONE, including Yas is awake. She called out to David to come start getting ready.)


Yasmin got alert when she heard to gun fire, but relaxed when it wasn’t aimed at them. Brad panicked and started running towards the noise, but thankfully David stopped him. She walked over to them and put her hand on Brad’s rifle, lowering it.

“Chill. There will be other people, but so what? We are a team and have a job to do. We’re not stopping to help every person who shoots a gun out here. Plus we have no room. We’re a group of 7.There’s a point when a big group stops being helpful and becomes a burden , making us slow. So just take it easy and let’s get going. I want this done as quickly as possible.”

Then she turned to David and gave him an unimpressed look. “Thanks for stopping Brad here, but did you really need to say all that about Point Lookout?” She looked over at Carib. “He had his hopes set on that stupid photo.” She slid her hand into her pocket and touched the picture she kept there. “I think you just crushed it.” She looked back. “So how about you maybe do a little damage control with him, hmm?”

It was sunrise now and everyone was almost ready.

Yasmin put her sunglasses on and flicked her braids back over her shoulders. “Ok boys, let’s get going before the heat gets too bad.” She called out and began moving in the direction the pipboy told.
 
He promised Tom he would give his regards to the woman called Rachael Knightly. A fair name if he had heard any.

He heard the shot ring out and gathered just as David did it was a hunter. And perhaps a good one if he killed what he needed to with one shot. Sounded like a .308 hunting rifle, but Carib wasn't totally sure due to the distance. Still sound carried and if they heard it, he was sure whatever creatures lurked in the wastes heard it too.

Carib looked at the photo of Point Lookout and smiled. Yes, he had to go the East, more than ever. He was meant to settle in the untamed land, perhaps become a warlord? It would be an interesting retirement and he knew Katja would never have wanted that for him, but if the East was a terrible place, perhaps he could feed his dark passenger? Perhaps it would be enough peace for him.

Still something called to him.

He turned towards David, "Tell me," he remembered what the Boy under the bridge had told him, "Is there a maiden of the Lion dwelling in DC?" he was told by the boy the Maiden of the Lions would set him on his path.

and then he remembered another name, "And do you know of Moria Brown, the co-author of the Wasteland survival guide?"

Something in the back of Carib's mind, perhaps the part being slowly damaged by stealthboy use nearly shuck with joy at the thought of doing battle with monsters and raiders.
 
(Knight not Knightly, Carib, but a mistake is a mistake)

"Ha, Moira, crazy woman if you ask me, but she was good to me while I was there, let me stay in her shop for a night when I was passing through, and maiden of the Lions? Maybe thats Elder Lyons' daughter, what d'you think David?"
 
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