A few seconds after Vito commented on the result of the battle, a group of five people walked down from up on the hill, wearing the rather distinctive black ranger combat armor that consists of the Desert Rangers' traditional trench coat worn with pre-War riot armor. The woman in the lead threw a look over all of them before signaling her men to stand down. The woman then took her helmet off her head before walking in front of all of us.
"So you are the ones that helped the Outpost with their bug problem huh?"
"That's true mam. I'm Dante and these are my companions. The big green guy is Vito, the one dressed like a knock-off version of a sheriff is Beagle and this eyebot is ED-E."
"A pleasure meeting you four. My name is Amanda Joy, a major in the Special Forces. I take it these bloody buggers were not on your target list?"
"Not quite. Kiddo and I cleaned the nest that was close to the Outpost before we took a detour through their tunnels, ending up near Primm."
"I heard about that on the radio. You two did a good job helping those people, despite…being a mutant and a kid."
This might be the first time someone has shown their dislike so bluntly in front of Vito and, to be honest, this woman had every right to feel like that considering that most if not all of the super mutants that reside around these parts are far from friendly.
"Anyhow, what are you folks going to do now? "
"We were on our way to the Mojave Outpost when we stumble across those ants, and since we had some experience dealing with them we thought that it would be a good idea to clear out the nest so that the road could be just a little bit safer for caravans."
"Well then, it seems that lady luck has smiled upon you. Me and my team were going back to the outpost to refill our supplies and rest when we saw you getting attacked by those things. Would it be any problem if we tag along or do you guys travel with some illegal stuff on you?"
I have to admit, while Amanda seemed to be a nice woman, she was far from being a person that would simply turn a blind eye to things that could endanger the life of her people, and for some reason, she does seem to have some kind of bad memories related to drugs and super mutants. Nevertheless, she glanced at each one of us, keeping her glance on Vito for a few seconds longer than the rest of us before she smiled when she saw us stiffen.
"Don't be like that boys, I was just joking…Unless you really do carry drugs."
"Miss Joy, as an ex-law enforcer, I have close no desire to use anything illegal and I can confidently say that neither my companions have those desires, despite what one might think considering my rather unusual friend's appearance."
Amanda didn't say anything and just smiled before turning to face her men. She nodded at one of the rangers that were caring one of the biggest backpacks I have ever seen in my life. The man in question simply climbed down the tunnels and after three minutes he climbed back up this time thought without the backpack. He walked until he was standing in front of his leader before he reported.
"The bomb has been planted, mam. We have ten minutes before it would detonate. "
"You heard the man, let's move out before we are blown to kingdom come."
Both of our groups left the area almost as soon as Amanda said those words and before we all knew we were almost at the top of the small hill where the outpost was built. Surprisingly though, compared to how it was before, now the outpost seemed more alive if I could call it like that.
On the right were the pens, which now had much fewer brahim, most likely thanks to the road that we had cleared a few days ago. This time thought the woman sniper wasn't glancing at us the same way she did the first time Vito and I walked here, instead, she looked at us with some kind of neutral look as if she didn't care at all about us. At the same time, Sgt. Kilburn walked towards us smiling from ear to ear when he saw us.
"My two favorite guys, you came back and you brought company, as well as Major Joy. Good day to you mam."
"To you as well, sergeant."
Amanda then dismisses her men before turning to face me. "It was nice traveling with you, maybe in the future we would meet again until then stay safe out there boy."
She didn't wait any longer after she said her goodbye, however, if Kilburn's was a sign then I'm more than sure it was nothing good. Along the way, Amanda did strike up a conversation with me, mostly asking me a few things here and there, trying to figure out how in god's name I ended up with Vito and like always, I told her the story Vito and I made up for such occasions.
"Dante, you are in trouble."
"Why are you saying that sergeant? What's going on?"
"Well, how should I say it… do you guys think the top brass would have sent someone as good as Joy in this shithole of a place? Despite the war with the legion, her team is more specialized in taking out heavily armored enemies if you know what I mean."
"She's a Steel hunter huh? "
"Steel hunter?"
"That's what some of the folks in the Mojave call those rangers that specialize in fighting the brotherhood. Anyways, why do you think our kid here is in trouble?"
"Major Joy has a past with younger boyfriends, though most of them were of age, you know she was in her mid-thirties chasing teenagers. As for why I think Dante is in trouble well, she might be after him too, since she was sent here, she didn't exactly have time to find a boy toy for her."
"Dante, you, my friend just got a cougar after your ass. Good luck getting out of this predicament alive."
Vito, Beagle and even Kilburn laugh at my luck, despite me not understanding what Beagle means by having a cougar after my ass. Thankfully for me, Sgt. Kilburn had to return to his post leaving the four of us to enter inside the outpost.
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