Last Stop New Vegas

[Interstellar Bun]

You ain't one of the good guys just because you wearin' their logo boy.


If flicking is armor hadn't been bad enough, Ben had chosen a handful of words that cut deep. If there was anything warm and friendly in Alan's eyes, it had all but disappeared. He clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together as he stared at Ben.


Had he said anything else, anything at all, and Alan might have just scoffed. But now he was angry. Now it was personal.


"You're right, I'm one of the good guys because I fucking do shit. I'm one of the good guys because I protect people, because day after day I put them before myself, because I'm willing to give every-fucking-thing I have for a cause I believe in to keep people like Darling and everyone else in NCR territory safe. Can you say that? Can you say you're doing anything of importance? You're a barely human idiot with a gun and a nasty habit who's goin'a get my girl killed."


Friend. He had meant to say friend, but it slipped and old habits died hard. He doubted it mattered anyway, what difference could one word make?


"I don't want to see you with a collar on your neck, if you haven't noticed, we tend to fight against those kind of things, but I also don't want to see you around here in this town for long. It's not meant for things like you. There's a reason all the ghouls had their own town back in California, so they'd leave the rest of us people alone."

 

[CortezHorse]

Ben narrowed his eyes at Alan, his resignation to stay calm had all but blown away as an unending stream of hatefulness flowed from his lips. The one thing that really stuck out to him was Alan saying that he'd be the one to get Darling killed, not just that, he'd be the one to get Alan's girl killed. It was the last straw; he and Darling had a wonderful, relaxing night last night but all of the shit from the past couple of days came bubbling back up then and it was enough. He'd had enough of the bigots, the hate, the stares and Darling was most certainly not his girl.


It was with an almost beast like roar that Ben threw his shoulder and his entire weight into Alan, looking to take the soldier to the ground. If he didn't want to play nice, then Ben most certainly wasn't going to play nice. Fuck him and fuck this town.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

That was unexpected.


Alan hit the hard ground with a grunt, feeling his rifle dig into his back painfully. The soldier brought Ben down with him, jamming his knee up into Ben's gut. The temptation was there to go for his gun, to claim self defense and put the ghoul down like a rabid dog, but Alan couldn't do that. He had killed before, but he didn't like to do it. Subduing Ben, bruising him up a bit, now that was a viable option.


The fight hadn't gone unnoticed and a few people had stopped walking to watch, whispering to one another as they tried to figure out if they should do something to help or not. Waiting for someone else to step in was always easier than stepping in themselves.

 

[CortezHorse]

Ben wheezed when Alan's knee connected with his gut and they were both on the ground now, fighting for dominance like two animals. It seemed like a good idea at the time to start a fight but after the initial blow, Ben soon remembered that Alan was wearing armor where he was not so the scales were, unfortunately, tipped in the soldier's favor. A few well aimed punches landed on Alan's jaw, but other than that, Ben had to admit he was receiving most of the beating in this fight. Locals were beginning to gather and watch the fight curiously, some even cheering it on and he couldn't blame them, this place did seem pretty dull. He only wished he were the one winning.


Finally he was able to kick away from the soldier and escape the scuffle, his mouth bleeding and face bruised. He glared at the man as he stood up, brushing himself off.


"I'll leave, but Darling's coming to you to look for work. At least help her out."


He spit a mouthful of bloody spittle on the ground and turned away, walking back towards the inn. There was no way he could stay another night here, not after what he just did and what he just did was royally fuck himself over. Darling could stay though, she could earn some money and maybe meet back up with him; that was always an option. Ugh, the thought of her here alone, and with him lurking around didn't settle right though.


As he shuffled back, battered and defeated, his attention was on his own thoughts and not where he was going. He almost ran right into Darling as she walked around, apparently exploring around the town as he'd been doing earlier.


"Oh, uh, hey."


He titled his head down, trying to hide the blood and bruising.


"I, uh, I think I'll probably just head out. Meet back up with ya later."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Darling's pace slowed as soon as she saw Ben, taking a half step back as she, too, had almost bumped right into him. She was ready to greet him happily, to ask him if he had found anything interesting when the fact that he was looking away from her caught her attention. His words only deepened her worry.


She tilted her own head to try and look at him, lifting a hand to try and touch his face to get a glimpse at it.


"What in the hell happened to you?"


Her brows had furrowed in concern as soon as she saw the blood. The bruising was harder to see, but the blood was unmistakable. Someone had hit him. Someone had started a fight with her friend and Darling felt an odd cocktail of worry and anger bubbling in her lungs.


"Who did this?"


She withdrew her hand, her words spoken softly, privately. Things had been going so well for them. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that every time something good happened it was followed right up with one of them getting hurt. And what did he mean he'd just head on out? That he'd meet up with her later? With what very little information she had, Darling knew this wasn't good, and she was very unhappy all of a sudden.


They had such a good start to the day.

 

[CortezHorse]

Her fingers brushed his face and he looked up into her grey eyes, immediately noting the worry that shined through in them. It made him feel worse, honestly, he didn't want to make her worry.


"Nothing happened, it, it was my fault."


Ben battled with himself, wondering if he should tell her that it was Alan or not but in the end he decided to keep it to himself. If he'd learned anything about Darling it's that she was a genuinely good person and that, somehow, she truly did care about him. If she found out that Alan was behind the fight, even if Ben had started it, then he suspected she might very well just leave with him and reject any help that the soldier might offer her. He didn't want that, Ben wanted Darling to have the best chance she could and right now it seemed that it was with Alan helping her find work.


"I can't stay here though, not after the fight. No one here really wanted my ugly mug around anyway."


He smirked, trying to force a lighter mood to the situation and failing.


"We still need more caps though. You'll be alright to stay, you can earn some money and meet me back on the trail. I'll wait for you."


The last thing he wanted to do was part ways with her right now. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her while they were separated but he'd also hold guilt if they ran out of money and died in the desert because he was to stubborn about earning caps here. It really was a disappointment, he was looking forward to sharing the room with Darling again.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

The fact that he wasn't telling her was probably the worst of it. Her shoulders slightly sunk and she loosely crossed her arms as she watched him. She wanted to know who had done this, because even if Ben had started the fight, he wouldn't have done so without being provoked, and whoever provoked him really needed to get a verbal lashing from her. But, he kept his mouth shut about it, trying to brush it off and though she knew it probably wasn't right, it left her feeling almost as though he didn't trust her. But if he didn't want to talk, if he didn't want to tell her, then there was no way she could make him do so.


Her next response was to quickly fight with him, to say that she wouldn't stay if he wasn't going to, but she knew he was right. She hated that he was right. They did need the money and no amount of arguing would change that fact.


So, she sighed and shut her eyes for a moment as she tried to think of the best solution they had.


"One day." She finally spoke. "Just give me the rest of today and I'll meet you out there tomorrow morning and we'll be off, alright?"


She could get a lot of work done in one day and she figured she had some things she could sell since they were pressed for cash.


"Just...be careful, alright? I worry about you."


If trouble happened, even just outside of the town where she couldn't help, if Ben got seriously hurt because of it, she wouldn't forgive herself. It was bad enough that he was already bleeding and bruised again.

 

[CortezHorse]

He smirked then, this one honest, and nodded his head.


"I will and you do the same. I won't be to far from town. Stay safe."


One last look at her and he turned his back, walking the rest of the way to the Inn. It would work out fine, she'd get caps, they'd meet back up and then they'd be back on the trail. He packed his things and gave Freckles a pat before heading out. Tomorrow, he'd see her tomorrow morning.


It was odd being out here by himself once again; he'd been alone for so long but after this short time with Darling it felt almost unnatural to be alone now. The desert was to quiet, the only noise out here was the occasional gust of wind kicking up dust and debris. The silence and isolation gave him a lot of time with his thoughts, which wasn't exactly a great thing. For instance the fact that Alan saying that Darling was his girl had made him mad; why? There were plenty of excuses he could come up with but the honest truth was that he was jealous. Alan wasn't a nice person, he didn't deserve Darling but he'd still had her; it didn't matter that it may have been years ago because it was something that Ben would never get a chance at. He could be as nice as he wanted but the simple fact was, he was ugly, he looked like a walking corpse and no woman that you didn't have to pay would ever want to be with him. Hell, there were even some women that you couldn't pay to be with him!


Ben liked Darling, he'd known that for awhile but he'd fought with it because whatever he felt wouldn't matter. He'd be hurt if he ever told her or tried to show her how he felt and with people like Alan around, reminding him how worthless he was at every corner, just solidified the fact that it was laughable he even thought this way about someone like her. He cared about her and he'd protect her because she was the most kind and genuine person he'd ever met. Even if he didn't have a chance in hell, he'd still make sure she got to the Strip in one piece.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Ben was gone and Darling wasted no time in finding things to keep herself busy. Her conversations were short and to the point, polite and just friendly enough to sway people into paying her, into giving her a chance to earn a few caps here and there. It was easy to forget about how worried she had been when she was trying to repair a fence, when she was cleaning out gardens and moving heavy boxes. It was easy to sleep that night too, when her bones ached and she couldn't even start to really worry about Ben or their future because her sheer exhaustion was too much. She hadn't worked that hard or that fast in months.


It was still dark out, the sun barely gracing the horizon when she hurried out of the town, freckles tucked under her arm and small bits of fresh blood oozing from cuts on her knuckles. Darling didn't bother with trying to be quiet, didn't care about how much dust she was kicking up as she jogged along, jostling the pup who still wanted to be sleeping. It was times like this that she was glad she was such a morning person.


Finding Ben was a bit difficult considering how hard it was to see, but not impossible, and as soon as she caught a glimpse of the ghoul, she made a b-line for him.


"Psst," she wasn't being quiet, so there was no real reason to make that little sound to get his attention, but she did so anyway, "Ben, are you awake? We need to go."


Her morning had been eventful already. Trying to grab a cup of coffee with Alan had ended poorly, more so for him than her. At least she finally had her answer to what Ben refused to tell her the day prior, now she knew who had blooded him up and, in a twist, had returned the favor. The fact she had managed to buy a gun and some water before everything went down hill was pure luck.

 

[CortezHorse]

Tucked close to some rocks, Ben's sleeping arrangement for the night was more than a little exposed but one did what you had to in a pinch. He slept little, doing his best to keep one eye open the entire night but all in all it was an uneventful rest. The evening was dead silent and the only sound that came was in the very early hours of the day; the sounds of footsteps and heavy breathing. Ben tensed up, slowly sitting up, his hand moving to his gun as he readied himself for a possible fight. It soon proved to be a false alarm when Darling's voice cut through the dark and eased his worries.


"Yea, yea I'm awake."


He stood and packed his blanket then pulled on his pack and gun, ready to hit the trail. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't worried at her rush to leave immediately, the sun wasn't even in the sky yet. Why had she left so early in the first place? His eyes scanned over her quickly, taking in her slightly anxious form when he noticed her banged up knuckles.


"What happened?"


His hand shot out and grabbed her fingers, lifting her hand up so he could look at her knuckles more closely in the dim moonlight. Had she been in a fight? Did someone attack her? The thought immediately made his blood boil.


"You get into a scrap with someone?"


He looked up at her, both of his hands now cradling her one, his eyes filled with concern and an anger at whoever had forced her hand.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

"Yeah, and you should see the other guy."


She winked. Of course she winked.


It was a lighthearted comment, something to ease the worry and anger she could see growing inside of him. Granted, it hadn't been much of a fight. She had thrown a single sucker-punch, cutting her knuckles on his teeth before she bailed out in a dead sprint. Darling wasn't generally prone to violence, but even she had a breaking limit of how much her temper could take. It was why she had gotten into so many scraps with her siblings and old friends, and what had made her lash out not too long ago.


"I'm fine, really. I just...burned a bridge I should have burned long ago."


She gave his hands a squeeze before she withdrew hers and, instead, gave him Freckles. The dog was still a little grumbly, but that was to be expected.


"I also got us some caps and we should be fine to head on out."


That, and she now had a weapon. The town might have been awful for a handful of reasons, but she was glad they had stopped. The first night had been nice, and now they could move on knowing they'd be safe...well, safer than they were before.

 

[CortezHorse]

She winked, trying to lighten the mood and at this point it was something that he expected. Darling never seemed to be one to take anything too seriously and that carefree nature was something to be admired at times.


I'm fine, really. I just..burned a bridge I should have burned long ago.


Immediately Ben jumped to Alan as the culprit of her scraped knuckles; but what reason would she have to fight her friend? It dawned on him that she probably figured out Alan was the one he'd been in a fight with the other day, Darling wasn't stupid after all, quite the opposite. That would mean that she, well, that would mean that she got angry enough to smack that so called friend of hers when she found out. The very thought of that being the reason made Ben feel warm inside. Sure he was regretful that she'd lost someone who was her friend and ex-boyfriend but apparently she recognized he needed to be lost. He gave her a smirk, petting the grumpy pup in his arms.


"Well, thanks for workin' for the caps."


They were together once again, traveling the desert, sleepy pup in pocket. As the sun came up, Ben couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.


"So, you ain't gotta answer if you don't want to but...how'd you end up with someone like Alan anyway? You're so..well..not like him."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

It was nice to be back out traveling again especially when it was still cool out. They still had a few hours until the sun really started blistering the place once more. Besides that, there was something peaceful about watching the sun start to rise, the Vegas lights in the distance dimming in comparison. Hands shoved into her pockets, she was watching the sky as Ben posed his question. For a moment, she didn't respond, more so for the fact that she was distracted than anything else.


She didn't want to talk about him, not really, but she didn't suppose there was any harm in answering Ben's question.


"I don't know, how does anyone end up with someone else? Alan was nice, then, before he signed up with the NCR. He was confident, gave me flowers, and was just fun to do stupid things with. If I had the dumb idea to try and go brahmin tipping, he went right along with it and after it was all said and done we would just laugh at ourselves."


But maybe there had been no reason to show that hatred, or maybe she was just never around to see it. That was a concerning thought.


Darling shrugged a little.


"Dating was always just fun for me, so when he asked for a chance, I figured 'why not', there was no harm in giving him one."

 

[CortezHorse]

He nodded silently, it was hard for him to ever understanding anything of the dating or romantic nature anyway. It'd been decades since he'd last had to concern himself with anything like that so it was hard to relate but he could still recall brief memories and feelings from the past.


"S'pose, was just curious I guess."


The thought of the two of them together was nothing but confusing to Ben, although that was years ago and it wasn't worth lingering on. It was jealousy more than likely but also a dark curiosity he'd held throughout the years of why people got into doomed relationships. He'd see couples, maybe even know them, and they wouldn't be happy with each other but still stay together out of a sense of security. It never made sense to someone who wasn't able to get a woman to even look twice at him without getting nauseous. People always take things for granted until they lose them and realize how important it was. Ben would see people cheat, stay in awful relationships, start relationships with terrible people or simply refuse to be in a relationship with someone decent because they weren't up to some odd standard and here he was just wishing someone would even be able to look at him and think about him in that way. The way he saw it, no one would take their love life lightly if they ended up looking like he did.


As the day went on it appeared that all would be quiet for them. The trail was easy and the sun wasn't particularly hot, although that was more than likely do to the constant wind kicking up a haze of dust to block its rays. Ben pulled up the collar of his jacket to cover his mouth as the wind whipped and snapped the tail of his jacket.


"Dust storm might be comin' up."


He struggled to yell through wind as it continued to yowl louder and louder.


"Should think about gettin' some sort of cover."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Dating was always just fun for her. Like most things, she never put too much weight on it, never took it too seriously, and neither did anyone else when she was involved. While she cared deeply for anyone who came into her life and stuck around long enough for her to consider them close, it was odd to think she'd ever date anyone for too long. Maybe she was just still young, maybe she had to wait for that 'one person' everyone talked about, but she didn't mind. For now life was just fun, it was adventures with friends and long trips. That was all she needed.


The wind was starting to kick up and Darling kept a hand on her hat, holding it so it wouldn't fly away. She could feel the sand starting to buff her skin, rubbing her cheek raw. She stepped close to him so they could hear one another.


"We need to find a cave or a bunker or something."


Unlike Ben, she didn't have a jacket to cover her mouth. She could feel dirt grating on her teeth. Ugh, that wasn't a nice feeling.


"Any ideas?"


The dust wasn't thick and heavy yet, though the sharp bouts of wind made it more painful when it did hit them.

 

[CortezHorse]

He squinted, trying to keep the sand out of his eyes. Darling's voice barely carried over the wind but he was able to pick up what she'd said and he nodded in agreement. A cave or bunker would be ideal. The question was, would their crazy luck peek its head and allow them to find appropriate shelter? In all honesty all they could do was keep walking and hoping. He reached behind him, into his pack and quickly found his blanket by feel. The tattered fabric slid out of the pack easily and he passed it over to Darling.


"Cover your mouth, don't wanna breath too much dust in."


Last thing they needed was to have lived through all of this shit then die of pneumonia caused by a fuckin' dust storm. He made sure the flap on his pocket was snugly fit down to keep Freckles as safe and dust free as she could be.


The harder the wind blew, the thicker the haze of dust became, making it harder and harder to see. They might be out of luck, needing to hunker down and survive the storm as well as they could out in the relative open when the mouth of a cave all but appeared. It seemed they'd stumbled upon shelter, not being able to see it until they were almost right on top of it. Ben nudged Darling in the direction of the small cave, the wind now strong enough that it was almost knocking him from his feet. The moment they were inside was an instant relief, no more sand and dust tearing against their skin and eyes but the howling sound of the wind was practically ear splitting as it raced past the cave opening. Ben sat down at the very back of the cave, pulling Freckles out of his pocket to comfort the trembling, dusty dog.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Blanket pressed against her nose and mouth, Darling did her best to stay close to Ben. She was glad when Ben nudged her into the cave, as she was nearly knocked over by the wind. Removing the cloth from her face, she turned her head and coughed to the side, spitting to get the grime out of her mouth. The wind showed no sign of stopping and there was almost a sense of fear that came with it. What if the direction changed and they were completely out of luck? What if something came out of the thick wall of dust and they didn't have time to react?


Trying to shake these thoughts off, she moved to the back wall and plopped down right next to Ben. Freckles was whimpering, leaning into Ben, pressing against him as she tried to find comfort.


Darling rubbed her cheek, leaning back against the cool rock of the cave. She took her hat off, shaking the sand out of her hair. The wind was sharp and loud and she had to lean over to talk to Ben if she wanted to be heard.


"Do you think we'll be safe here?"

 

[CortezHorse]

He held Freckles close to him, callused fingers gently stroking her back and head. There was no telling how long they'd be stuck in here. Storms like these were just part of living in the Mojave but they were unpredictable in when they would happen and how long they'd last. In the past the winds he'd suffered through were violent but always quick, never lingering too long. Hopefully that was the case this time as well, they were so close to their goal. They'd been set back by the Legion and by their lack of funds but with a constant pace, they'd be at the glimmering lights of the Strip in no time. Darling leaned over, needing to practically shout to be heard against the roar of the wind.


"We'll be fine, don't worry."


It wasn't a complete lie, more like an overly confident statement. Ben wasn't sure if they'd be fine, a number of things could happen while they waited for the storm to blow over but those were things they couldn't control and therefore shouldn't dwell on. They'd been lucky enough to find shelter where others were probably still stuck out on the trail, being suffocated and buried by the dust and dirt. For now he'd tell her they'd be fine.


"You never been in one of these storms before?"


He called out, leaning his mouth into her dusty hair so she could hear.


"They ain't as scary as they sound as long as you got cover. Should be over soon."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

She just had to keep telling herself they'd be in the Strip soon. What was an hour or so of waiting? It could be worse, they could have completely walked right past this little cave. Freckles was starting to calm down and Ben seemed fine. Granted, he had been through this before. In Oak Creek, there wasn't enough loose topsoil and dust for storms like this, weeds and other random plants were in enough of an abundance to be annoying, but helpful.


Watching the sand and dirt roar by the exterior of the small cave, Darling leaned her head on Ben's shoulder without too much thought. It was comforting to have him there. They hadn't known each other long, not in the grand scheme of things, but he already felt like an old friend.


She heard a crack and realized that the sound was thunder, lighting flashing somewhere in the difference. Well that was a shock.


Darling chuckled, snorting at the pun she had inadvertently made in her head.


"You really think we'll make it to the Strip in one piece at this rate?"


Hell, what else could this place throw at them? They had seen raiders, the Legion, had dealt with running out of money and faced bigotry, and yet, they were still trucking along. It wasn't like this was a radiation storm. That's when she'd really get worried. A cave wouldn't save them from that.

 

[CortezHorse]

She leaned her head on his shoulder and Ben surprised himself when he didn't tense up, simply staying relaxed and even winding an arm around her to get into a more comfortable position. Freckles burrowed in-between them, sandwiching herself in the middle of them happily. It seemed Ben wasn't the only one pleased by the close proximity.


You really think we'll make it to the Strip in one piece at this rate?


"Course we will. Seems like the two of us are pretty hard to kill so I like our chances."


He smirked at his joke, his arm tightening around her as thunder cracked loudly outside. Ben honestly thought that they'd make it, he'd been alive this long so what was one more journey? In the very least he'd make sure that Darling would get there.


The wind was beginning to die down, the sound not as deafening as it had been. They might be back on the trail sooner than later.


"How's that side of yours feelin' today?"


The thought suddenly crossed his mind as they sat together in waiting. She never had let him look at it which still worried him.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

His arm tightened around her and, though a bit of thunder wasn't going to scare her, she liked the feeling of safety that came with it. She would have been content to sit quietly, to wait out the last of the storm just like that, but his question cut that possibility short.


The mention of her wound made her squirm a little, her arm pressing a little closer to her side as though that would keep it a secret.


"Feeling fine."


That wasn't a full sentence, which was probably why it sounded so fake even to her own ears. It wasn't as though she was hiding any thing, really, so she rolled her lips before continuing on.


"No infections, it's not hurting too much any more, and it's still all bandaged up. Believe me, if anything was wrong, I'd tell you."


Getting sick could be deadly out here, not to mention, it would slow them both down. They were a team, and if one of them was hurt, then the other one suffered just as much for it. Despite her reluctance to talk about that one particular injury, it was nice to know he was looking out for her as much as she was looking out for him. His concern was something she appreciated.

 

[CortezHorse]

He raised a brow, his look one if disbelief. Ben knew something was amiss even if her wound was clean and bandaged but he wasn't going to push her. Darling assured him that she'd come forward if the wound became infected so as long as he knew she wouldn't drop dead on him then he'd leave the subject alone.


"Alright, good."


They sat together for about an hour more as the storm roared on, whipping sand and dirt past the cave while thunder cracked in the sky. It stopped almost as suddenly as it had started and Ben hesitantly left her side to peak his head out of the mouth of the cave. Everything was hazy, it was like a thick fog hung over the desert but it was simply the grime stubbornly clinging to the air. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see anything but it was useless; even the lights of the Strip were blotted out.


"Darling, I got no idea which way to head."


Sure he knew a general direction but with the conditions as they were he could end up leading them God knows where. They couldn't afford to just sit around and wait it out, the dusty haze could stick around for days after storms like this. He supposed he was just overly hopeful thinking it would be clear skies after it was all over.


"What do you wanna do?"

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Darling stood a moment after him. Adjusting the straps of her backpack she moved to stand just outside the little cave as well. Everything looked dirty, hazy, and looking up to the sky didn't help much at all. The Mojave always had a way of making her feel small, like the world was endless and she could see for eternity. That magical sensation was gone and now even the sun looked like a strange and foreign object, the haze scattering the rays to make it look alien.


She bit her lip.


In the back of her head, she knew they technically could head back to the town, after all, they hadn't gotten far. But that idea was shot down as soon as she thought of it. After waht had occurred, that wasn't a real possibility.


"We have to keep going. The Strip has to be east, north-east from here, right? So we can just head that general direction until the air clears up and we can go from there."


Gently nudging his arm with her elbow, she smiled, trying to dispel any worry they might have been feeling. They had water, bandages, and enough food to allow them to make a few mistakes. It wasn't like they could stay.


"It'll be an adventure. You, me, and our fearless dog against the world."

 

[CortezHorse]

It'll be an adventure. You, me, and our fearless dog against the world.


He smirked, huffing a laugh at the statement. Well, it would certainly be an adventure that's for sure. Who knew where they'd end up after they started walking. Darling was right though, they had to keep moving. There were worst things than walking in a haze through the Mojave. Freckles chose then to scamper out, whimpering at being left behind and immediately standing on her hind legs to show she wanted to be picked up.


"Yea, fearless aren't ya?"


Ben picked up the tiny pup and chuckled as she began pawing towards his pocket, wanting to crawl into the comfortable dark area. He dropped her in then pulled his pack higher up on his shoulders.


"Well, let's get goin I suppose."


The haze was thick and breathing in the dust was uncomfortable, it stung the eyes as well. They kept walking though, Ben stumbled every so often, his peg leg knocking against a rock he didn't see in time or getting caught in a bramble of dried brush. They'd walked for hours and the dust was becoming a bit unbearable. Ben clear his throat, coughing to remove as much of the thick grime as he could from his lungs. Ugh, they'd definitely get sick from this shit.


"How you doin' over there?"

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Darling had tugged her shirt up, using the collar of it to cover her nose and mouth, her hand pressing it firmly there so she might lessen the amount of dirt that got into her lungs. Occasionally she'd trip and barely catch herself. She could feel the dust in her shoes, her clothes. So much for getting cleaned off. It seemed out here she just couldn't catch a break.


There would be things moving out in the thick of dust, or, it looked like there were things. Nothing ever came out of it, and she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not. The dust buffered her sunglasses and she let her mind wander as they walked, dreaming of what it would be like once they got to the Strip. She had to do something to keep her mind off of all of this. It made time pass faster to think of how great it would be to finally just lounge about before she had to pack up and head back west.


Time was speeding by and she didn't notice. She could barely feel her legs any more, after all, it was as though her legs were on auto pilot at this point. She'd just keep walking if nothing stopped her.


"I'm alive. You sound bad though, well, worse than usual."


She smiled at him, not sure if he could see the expression or not.


"Are you feeling alright?"


Freckles had the lucky end of this. While Ben's pocket was probably warm and uncomfortable, it was better than running about in the Wastes like this.