13 Ch. 13 Whiskey Rose

"What did I miss?"

Colton takes a seat next to Cass on the perpendicular counter.

The women say their greetings.

"So when did you girls become such good friends?" Colton could have sworn that they were a bit hostile the previous night.

Chloe is the one to respond first. "We had a common topic or two to talk about" She smiles. But then her beautiful smile turns dark and scary. "And I heard that you asked Cass to join you on your journey through the Mojave? And you even convinced Ranger Jackson to push the three of our papers through. How very kind of you?"

Colton can feel that he did something wrong. But what exactly he doesn't know. Chloe and Lauren had their own business to do.

She continues. "It's just a shame that Lauren and I can't get out of the Outpost without someone to protect us. And the soldiers here can't leave. So we're still stuck here, unless…."

And this is where Colton understood where this was going.

Colton puts on a knowing look. "Ohhhhh. I can help with that after I go check Nipton out. There's smoke coming from that direction and I have to see what's going on over there. But once I return I can help you ladies get to your destination, which is…..?"

Chloe's smile becomes beautiful and light again. She opens her eyes and looks at Colton. "We're planning on going up to Primm and then to Goodsprings" She says in her 'cutesy' voice.

"That works out pretty well then. It'll take some time for me to walk to Nipton and back. From what the map I have tells me it's about 12 miles or so. I planned on leaving early tomorrow since the walk would take around 4 hours at a cautious pace and 3 hours at a normal pace. So that's about 3.5 hours there and back" Colton explains where he will be going tomorrow. "And speaking of me traveling…" He looks to Cass. "Have you made your decision yet?"

Cass looks into Colton's eyes. "Since you asked so nicely, sure. It can't be any worse than being here"

[ Cass is now a Companion, granting you the [Whiskey Rose] Perk]

"Hell yeah!" Colton shouts before he takes his pack off and sets it down with Purifier.

Cass raises an eyebrow. "Didn't know you were so eager or excited about traveling with me"

Colton looks at Cass and leans on the counter with his right elbow while he rests his head on his fist. "How could I not be? I'm going to explore the Mojave and now I've got my own guide? Is it bold of me to assume that you know you're way around?"

Cass folds her arms. "Just a guide huh? And depends on what you mean by' joe my way around'. Because I know the Mojave roads better than your average merchant if that's what you meant, and for your sake that's also what you meant"

Colton tilts his head to the side in slight confusion. And then he realizes his mistake. "I meant the Mojave! Not implying anything else. I swear. And it's just a coincidence, I would have asked you to join me either way. It's just a bonus if you know how to keep me from getting lost and having a…."

Colton wants to smack his damn Speech skill. It's going to get bumped up immediately.

Cass narrows her eyes slightly while looking at Colton slightly blushing. "'Having a…' what exactly?"

Colton wants to crawl into a bed and just sleep this situation away like he did last nights. "Oh suck a duck" he says to himself. "You have a hot body and beautiful face alright? That's also a bonus, that way there isn't just destroyed buildings and sand to look at"

Colton puts his head on his arms atop the counter. And he peeks to the side to see Cass' reaction.

For some reason the bar got eerily quiet for no reason. But everyone was still minding their own business.

Cass just smirked at Colton with a smug expression.

It finally clicks for Colton and he sits back up. "Oh fuck off Cass! This isn't just a one way deal. I'm a great shot and I ain't that bad looking myself! We will both pull our weight. You sly woman, I won't be tricked into getting flustered again"

Cass still has her smug smirk. "Whatever you say Colt. Just no funny ideas…yet"

Colton stands up. "Whatever that's supposed to mean I'll leave that for the future. Right now? I'm a bit tired, we will head to Nipton tomorrow morning. So I'm going to get some well deserved sleep"

Chloe, Lauren, Lacey, and Cass watch as Colton grabs his pack and rifle and walks into the barracks.

"Was that really necessary?" Lacey asks.

Cass turns to the bartender. "What? It was fun to tease him. Most guys either think they're the shit or can't get through a sentence to save their lives. I think this'll be a good distraction from the whole 'losing my life's work' thing. And who knows, might even find out what actually happened. The fact I get to travel with a guy who doesn't look half bad and can take out a group of over 50 giant ants on his own is just a bonus. That's not including me leaving this brahmin pen"

Chloe is the one to respond, bitterly. "Doesn't look half bad? Are we talking about the Same guy here? Where else have you seen someone that looks and acts like him? You might not know him but he's the fuckin catch of a life time Cass. Don't think you'll get him so easily either"

"I'm sorry, but weren't you the one who spent days with him and only managed to learn bits and pieces about him?" Cass says.

Chloe narrows her eyes. "It's not my fault he was vague when talking about his past…. and mostly dismissive of my advances" She said the last part a little sad.

Lauren puts her hand on Chloe's shoulder. "We can't expect him to just open up about his past like we've known eachother for months… and your advances were 'kinda' hard to catch. Most just were seen as misunderstandings by him"

Chloe grabs her glass of alcohol that Lacey places infront of her. "It's not my fault! I'm not used to doing the advancing!" She begins drinking the contents of the glass.

"Some guys like that in a woman, don't beat yourself up about that Chloe" Lacey tries to help her.

"What about you Lacey? You don't want him? Lauren has a fiancé back west so she doesn't" Chloe says without taking the glass away from her mouth.

"I'll take a bottle of whiskey, not like I'm going anywhere until the morning" Cass requests.

Lacey gives her a small bottle and replies to Chloe. "Meh. He's cute and all, but he's got bigger dreams than I do. At most we could have some fun flings whenever he stops by"She thinks about it and kinda likes that idea. But she shrugs. "I'm just working the bar here at the Outpost and enjoying my time, or I would be if things start moving. People are keeping their caps closer to their chests than they're Caravan cards in a game. You'd think they'd be spending caps but no, exactly the opposite. You three are the exception to that and the whole stick here part. I've still got some time left on my contract with the NCR unless I wanna pay a cancelation fee or whatever bullshit they had me sign. Would've been fine if I was making caps but I'm just wasting away in here"

They continued talking through the evening and night.

Colton went to the bed and looked at his first Companion perk and got ready to get some rest. Fighting ants and falling from the ramp did take it out of him a bit.

[ [Whiskey Rose]

-While Cass is a companion, she and you gain Damage Threshold when you drink Whiskey. Additionally, you don't suffer intelligence loss from consuming alcohol and ignore the negative effects of alcohol addiction ]

"Kinda sucks, I can still get addicted. But at least I'll be fine if I have to drink. Not like she will be going anywhere I'm not for a while. I wonder if I can have many companions… God I hope so" Colton stretches his body as he lays down and gets comfy.

He looks across the room and sees Hank and Dan still out. They were apparently more hurt and tired than they let on, Colton wasn't able to do anything for them anyway. And it wasn't like they were going to die, he would have done something at that point.

——————

Colton was woken up a few times, just people being loud or people getting into their own bunks.

What did surprise him was when Cass climbed to the top bunk above him in the middle of the night.

He eventually goes back to sleep and occasionally wakes up through the night like usual.

In the morning, before the sun even shows itself to the world, Colton wakes up. He stands up and turns to wake Cass up and sees her sprawled out on her back. He was surprised she wasn't snoring.

He moves his right hand to her shoulder and shakes her. "Cass, you better not ha-"

*WHAM!*

*thud*

"Don't fuckin touch me!" Cass shouts, waking more than a few people up.

"Cass! What the fuck?!" Colton is holding his nose. "It's me Colton damn it!"

Colton was now on the ground leaning against the opposite bunk, which nobody was occupying. He just got docked right in the nose without warning.

Cass sat up after decking someone who tried touching her in her sleep. "Why did you touch me?"

Colton looked at her. "Would you have woken up if I just called your name?" He didn't blame her for defending herself. But he wouldn't be happy about getting punched in the fast first thing in the morning.

Most people went back to sleep after realizing it wasn't anything serious.

Cass thought about it. "Fair point. But I don't recommend touching me without my permission"

Colton stood up and wiped the small amount of blood that trickled from his nose. "Don't worry, I don't plan on seeing how many hits it takes to break my nose"

Cass stretches and swings her legs off the bunk. "I'm surprised it didn't break from that one honestly"

Colton touches it to see how bad the damage is and notices it's just going to be sore for the rest of the day. "Yeah well, I'm more durable and resilient than you'd expect"

Cass yawns into the back of her hand. "Ok tough guy, can we get something to eat before we hit the road?"

Colton grabs his pack. "Yeah, and I need to stock up on some ammo, forgot to do that yesterday" After taking his rifle and hat he walks turns around to walk towards the bar.

Cass jumps down behind him. "Man~, I'm going to miss my whiskey. Hopefully the places we stop at are stocked up"

Colton turns around. "And how have you paid for your whiskey? I think you've drank more than what most could afford"

Cass stretches her back and looks at Colton's bed-head. "I'll have you know Cassidy Caravans did decently well while it was still alive. Wasn't super rich or anything, but significantly more well off than most"

Colton runs his hand through his hair, shocking Cass that his hair just stays back. She would kill to have her hair be like that. She has to spend time to get it the way she likes, but she mostly just leaves it in a ponytail at the back of her head and throws her hat on. "Lucky son of a bitch" Cass comments beneath her breath.

Colton puts his hat on and shoots finger guns at her. "Lucky's my middle name, don't wear it out" He yawns and covers his mouth with the back of his right hand. "And my mom was also jealous of my hair, so don't worry"

Cass grabs her shotgun and throws it over her shoulder so it rests on her back. "What am I supposed to worry about? And how does your mom being jealous help that?"

Colton thinks for a minute. "I dunno" He shrugs and walks towards the bar.

"He's definitely unique if nothing else" Cass says to herself. She wonders exactly what Chloe was talking about when she explained what she saw in Colton. She wasn't a home-wrecker kinda gal. But they weren't even dating. And she wasn't exactly looking for a relationship yet either.

Cass followed Colton to the bar and nobody was there….. Lacey was but she was asleep behind the counter.

"Does she always sleep here?" Colton asks.

Cass looks at Lacey sleeping in her usual outfit that is revealing more than usual. "Yeah, but nobody fucks with her. People tend to leave here less than they were when they came in if they do"

Colton turns to walk outside. " I'll take your word on that" He opens the door. "I've got something we can eat while we walk, so let's get going"

Once outside, Colton took his pack off and grabbed some food and split it with Cass. Then he went to the merchants by the pens and bought some ammo.

Now they were on their way.

As Colton walked past the Barracks he looked up at the roof and saw Ghost on top. He gave her a salute and turned back around and walked out of the Outpost.

"I didn't think I would ever get out of there, at least with my caravan papers still intact" Cass looks up as she walks underneath the two metal statues.

"And here you are" Colton turns around to face Cass. He holds his arms out at his sides and has a wide smile that shows off his teeth. "Welcome back to Mojave"

Cass smiles and shakes her head. "Oh yeah? Some welcoming party"

Colton turns his radio on. "If it's a party, I can do a little bit on my own" He puts his mask and goggles on.

*'Im Gonna be - (500 Miles), by The Proclaimers starts playing. (But a more modern remix)*

Colton begins singing while walking backwards and avoiding the cars and cracks in the road.

"When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be,

I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you

When I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you

When I get drunk, well I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you

And when I haver, hey I know I'm gonna be

I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you"

Cass wasn't sure what she was expecting. But this was not it.

"And I would walk five hundred miles

And I would walk five hundred more

Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles

To fall down at your door"

Colton continues to walk down the hill without falling or even tripping. Cass just walks and watches him as he performs.

He gets about halfway down the hill when the song finally ends.

"So, what do you think? I can't select which songs play yet, but I think that was a song that was applicable to our situation at least a little bit" Colton says, a little out of breath. Mainly to him having to try and not fall and focus on singing. He knew Ghost would shoot anything that went up the hill so they were relatively safe for now.

Cass raised an eyebrow. "What do I think?"

Colton nods as he continues walking backwards.

"I've honestly never heard that song before. And you can actually sing?" Cass is surprised. When Chloe said he could sing, she didn't think he would be good at it.

Colton turns around and walks normally. "You don't gotta sound so surprised" He complains. "And I recommend you get used to my amazing and soothing voice. It's at least better than the eerie silence or random noises of the Wasteland"

"It is better than nothing, and it wasn't half bad" Cass admitted.

"That's the spirit, now onto the next one!" Colton continued walking and began singing another song.

They get to the fork in the road where the I-15 breaks continues North and where route 164 begins and snakes Eastward. Colton sees 'Nipton' clearly on the sign to the East and confirms it on his Pipboy. "Anything we need to worry about?" He asks Cass.

She shrugs. "Nothing in particular, I'm not sure if things have changed too much. I think there might be some giant ants along the road. Might have to be a bit delicate unless we want to draw the entire nest out"

Colton slumps his shoulders. "More ants?"

Cass looks at him. "What, you a one and done type of guy?"

Colton looks to the East. "No, but I won't be able to protect you and myself at the same time. I hope you know how to use that boom-stick of yours"

"Boom-Stick? You mean my shotgun? Yeah, I know how to use it. And I like blowing things up too" Cass says with a smirk, she's thinking of blowing things up currently.

Colton looks at a traveling merchant stopping by a bus nearby. "What types of explosives? Might need to use some to clear the giant nest here to make the road completely safe. I'm thinking some fuel from an incinerator and a couple sticks of dynamite should clear them out. Or at least trap them in underground. The plans still in the revision phase"

Cass looks at Colton. She didn't expect him to think that far ahead and already have a plan. Maybe he really will do some good around the Mojave. "I like chucking the occasional stick of dynamite. Haven't lost any fingers….yet"

Colton looks at her. "That just fills me with confidence in your abilities"

"Good!" Cass smiles and gives a thumbs up, then she reaches for her belt but finds nothing. "Oh" She sounds disappointed.

"What, no alcohol?" Colton mocks.

Cass sends a glare his way. "Why don't you try drinking for a while everyday and then try and quit cold turkey. This ain't gonna be a rodeo"

Colton waves her off and begins walking East. "I've got something to help with that. But I need you to understand the consequences of your actions. So tough it out a bit and then I can help"

Cass looks at his back and wonders what he has planned. Or if he has any alcohol.

They begin walking and they sneak around off the road when they see giant ants picking apart the corpse of a big and blue radscorpion. They'd rather save the ammunition and not risk it.

They make their way past successfully and get back on the road. It's better than getting lost in the desert, even if you risk the chance of being ambushed.

They walk for 35 minutes or so, Colton was singing and dancing. Cass found it amusing how he keeps his head on a swivel and stays on his toes. She wonders if this is how he makes sure they don't get attacked from any side. Most people just focus on what's in front of them, and behind them. But Colton seems to be checking every direction while making it as less tedious as possible for himself. She approved. As long as he didn't ask her to join him.

They get to big billboard along the road facing the East. They can only see the back of it. Farther down the road are a few collapsed buildings. Colton wasn't able to tell if they were houses or pit stops.

They continued walking until they got to the billboard. Colton had shut off his radio and gotten serious.

Cass was about to continue forward when Colton suddenly tackled her.

She hit the ground behind the billboard and was about to shout at Colton. But before she could shout he put a hand over her mouth and a finger over his to tell her to be quiet.

He was still ontop of her and pinning her down while covering her mouth. It wasn't like Cass could do much in their situation. But she knew a few ways to get a man off of her if she doesn't want him there. But she nods signifying that he can get off of her.

He gets off her and crouches at the end of the billboard. He signs for her to stay low. He grabs his sniper rifle and begins scouting the area.

And as he suspected he finds signs that people were there. A fire that had been put out recently, it wasn't smoking but it looked too fresh to be days old. Maybe an hour or less. And there were some footprints that he had to look very hard to see. Maybe some points into Survival would help.

But he doesn't see the actual people.

Colton turns to Cass who was crouched down behind him with her shotgun drawn and ready to fight. "People we're here. But I don't know where they are. Let's move to the opposite side of this billboard and check the backs of the buildings.

Cass nods and allows Colton to take the lead. They stick to the back of the billboard and Colton checks the backs of the buildings with his scope.

"I see people in mostly leather. They have some decent weapons. But it looks mostly like they're melee weapons. I see a cowboy repeater and a 10mm pistol. About 5 or 6 people. Can't tell what group they're members of but they aren't NCR" Colton holds his rifle still and let's Cass take a peek.

"They're definitely not NCR. They're part of a gang, probably hoping to catch anybody off guard and take their supplies" Cass informs him. "Nice eye. That could have been bad. How do you wanna play this, I'm not sure if they know were here or not. But the gangs are hostile to anyone and everyone besides their own"

Colton nods. "I'll take em out from here, I've got 6 shots per magazine. You move to the other side of this thing" He taps the billboard with his knuckles lightly. "and wait for anyone to try and sneak up on us. You know how to greet them right?"

Cass gives him a grin. "I can think of a few ways"

Cass moves into position and readies her shotgun and double checks her extra rounds.

Colton scopes them out for a minute to see what they're doing. They seem to just be waiting behind the building and chatting. But they're weapons are up and ready like they're going to attack.

Colton holds his fist in the air and looks at Cass. She nods and then he drops his fist and begins shooting.

*pew*

He takes out the man holding the repeater.

This causes the others to jump and look around.

One of them jumps towards the repeater and picks it up….

*pew*

He doesn't even get to stand up with it.

The woman with the 10mm pistol looks around and then notices Colton. She raises her pistol and is about to shout.

*pew*

She drops to the ground with a bullet between the eyes.

This causes the others to start panicking. He counts three.

One grabs the repeater and another grabs the pistol. They notice Colton and begin firing at his position.

Colton ducks behind the cover of the billboard and looks at Cass to see her focusing on anything that comes around the other side.

Colton hears the clicks of the guns sognifying they ran out and have to reload. And he can hear their footsteps getting closer. He perks around the side and is greeted with a lead pipe.

He ducks and pushes his rifle into the guys sternum and looks the woman in the eyes. "hasta la vista, baby"

He blows her anew hole and her body falls backwards. He puts his rifle down with the barrel pointing to the sky.

Just as he does so two guys turn the corner and stare at Colton. They're in leather gear and holding a bat, and the other a knife.

Colton takes his knife out and holds it in his right hand in a reverse grip and gets into a combat stance.

The guy with the knife looks at Colton's knife and laughs. "Haha! Mines bigger!"

Colton grips his knife tightly but doesn't move. "It's not about the size, it's how you…"

*bang* *bang*

Both gang members fall to the ground.

Colton blows the smoke of his revolver and holsters it.

"What the fuck? That's the fastest draw I've ever seen" Colton hears Cass comment.

"Arent you supposed to be focusing on your side?" Colton adds.

Cass defends herself. "Sorry I wanted to make sure my traveling companion didn't get the shit beaten out of him and got distracted. It was a 2 v 1 and you drew a knife. Then you proceeded to shoot both men dead. Next time I'll leave you to it" She sounded a bit pissed.

Colton moved over to the his rifle and put his knife away. He uses Vats to freeze time and look around the billboard. He sees two more people come out of the collapsed building. He turns Vats off and Croat he's down.

He aims his rifle and-

*BANG*