Post by Raz on Jun 24, 2015 21:54:55 GMT -5
No one ever liked traveling at night, especially Katja, but the faint combination of natural moonlight, and the artificial light produced from one of the merchants lamps helped ease the discomfort. Their goal was to get to Arroyo before sunrise, but was it really worth the risk? Katja knew that there were many more predators at night, whether it was coyotes, radscorpions, or even just a junkie high off jet. One of her fellow caravan guards found a sadistic joy in striking the fear into her, with some sort of rumors about predators that weren't just concealed in the dark, but completely invisible. All of his stories always ended with 'But they say that only happens in New Vegas'. That's how she could tell which of his stories were bullshit, and which weren't. Still, the idea of some sort of invisible snake-wolf monster was not something she'd be interested in investing her spare thoughts on.
Like expected, the caravan arrived a couple of hours early, before most of the population was awake. It gave many of the members of the guard, and even some of the merchants, a chance to get some rest, or maybe even a drink. Katja cocked the bolt back in her rifle, allowing the chambered round to pop out, and attempting to catch it while it was in mid air. ting. A miss. She knelt over, thankful no one was there to mock her failed attempt as she then slung her unloaded rifle onto her back. It was unlikely that anything in the town would cause trouble, especially with the guards patrolling the area. The bar, which was on the outskirts of the city near the rest station for brahmin, was not yet open, so she trekked herself farther into the city, finally finding a small hole-in-the-wall bar.
By the looks of it, the guard shifts had just changed, with many others getting a chance to order their first drinks. Many of them had pieces of NCR, or town uniforms on, pieces missing where they felt uncomfortable. Most of their jackets, if they were not already off, were unbuttoned and unprepared for any sort of officer visit. Surely, there were a few officers in here, anyways. She didn't care much to learn the insignia for the NCR. A pre-war song ringed out from the jukebox, something about shaking, but it became slightly hard to hear, as the other patrons' voices escalated in volume. Katja muddled her way through the crowd, and over to an open spot in the bar, dropping a few Republic notes in exchange for a beer, before moving over to a table by the wall.
The table was designed for four, but all the single and double tables were taken. Surely, unfortunately, she'd likely have to share the table with another patron at some point, but she relished in the alone time. Katja took a sip of her drink, feeling the stinging of her scar as her throat muscles had moved to swallow the drink. A couple of drinks from now, that feeling would be gone, though. The girl tossed her dusty cap onto the table and ran her hand through her hair, before resting her heard on the wooden wall beside her, taking a brief moment to rest her eyes, before she would go in another drink.
