16 Chapter 16

She chose an arena match for Benny's fate, though she had been dangerously close to deciding upon a crucifixion. Some of her spirit, that previous stalwart goodness remained within her. The Legion hadn't entirely consumed her soul. And so she dispatched Checkered Jacket with ruthless efficiency. Her machete blade found itself embedded in his chest. He managed to choke out some sputtering words of, "Find Yes Man. In The Tops," before she shoved the blade further and he fell lifelessly to the ground.

His signature checkered coat was soaked in his blood and hung outside the Inculta tent as a testament to her accomplishments. While she was not allowed to keep weapons, Vulpes kept the firearm that belonged to Benny. A 9mm pistol with elaborate markings named Maria. When Vulpes showed it to her, she was able to identify it as the weapon that killed her. She might have chuckled at the irony of its name.

But her mood after surfacing from the bunker remained in ill humor. Something deep and unsettling soured within her. She felt cold, distant. Even from her lord husband. And he could not pry its reasoning from her, no matter how hard he tried, not matter how much he calculated. Their nights were once more filled with stiff silence. She wondered if her efforts in the bunker even mattered.

And so it was, she was once again summoned before Caesar.

"I want you to kill Mr. House."

And once again, no specifics were offered. No insight into the mechanics of the Lucky 38. She was just once more reunited with her leather armor and her hunting revolver.

And even, the Maria gun. A gift from Vulpes. He was worried about her, though he did not say it. She saw his concern in the lingering gazes he fixed upon her. She did not have the heart to quell his fears.

The night before she was set to leave Fortification Hill, there was a change in plan. Only a slight change. Someone managed to remind Caesar that she was not fully trustworthy. As such, Vulpes would accompany her as far as the strip. She was assured that he would watch her movements, make sure she would not wander, not become distracted. Her glimpse of freedom was instantly shattered.

"Why would Caesar ask me to do this?" she wondered.

Vulpes didn't look at her when he answered. "His opinion of you hasn't much changed. He still believes you unpredictable, but he does recognize your power. He thinks it a shame for it to go to waste, and so he has you in charge of the most important task before we attack Hoover Dam."

Before they attacked Hoover Dam. It was an inevitable event. There was no question why the Legion began mobilizing in the Mojave. But she was still shocked to hear of Vulpes revealing some measure of their sensitive plans and military intentions.

"And he trusts me to do that?"

At this, Vulpes looked at her. "He doesn't trust you. I don't know if I trust you to be loyal to our cause. That's why I'm coming with you."

But there was something in his words that alerted her of an astounding truth. She turned to him. "You told Caesar that I wasn't trustworthy."

He at least looked her in the eye when he admitted his shame. "Caesar asked me of my opinion, and I decided to be forthright."

"And all this time, I had suspected that it was Silus who didn't trust me," she muttered darkly.

"Don't worry. He doesn't. However, I thought you might find it preferable to have me as your escort instead of Silus."

She might have, if that was indeed the context, but she had no way of guaranteeing that, of believing it.

They left the next morning, she in her leather armor and Vulpes in his Frumentarii garb. A gambler's suit and hat. They made a funny sight.

"What's our story?" she asked as the Cursor Lucullus pushed them down the river.

He managed half a smile. "What a sight we make." He glanced at her. "You look the part of a mercenary. The armed escort of some rich gambler with his sights on New Vegas."

"Have you ever been to New Vegas before?" she asked.

"I have been to New Vegas many times. This is not my first trip and certainly not my first in disguise."

Something about that annoyed her but she shouldn't have expected anything else. "What's the plan when we get there?" she asked, folding her arms.

"You'll go to the Lucky 38 and carry out your mission. I won't be able to go with you. The Lucky 38 doesn't accept visitors. I'll be in one of the other casinos waiting for you."

"How am I supposed to get inside?" she asked, starting to feel panic rising in her chest. She tried hiding it from Vulpes.

"You'll figure something out."

"You're not going to help me?" she asked, her voice rising. She noticed Lucullus glaring at her with indignation.

Vulpes took his time in answering. "I believe you will find it easy to enter the Lucky 38 once we arrive. I won't be as welcome."

"What does that mean?" she demanded.

But he refused to elaborate.

They made their way north after Cottonwood Cove. Their biggest threats were the occasional radscorpion scuttling across the road. Instead of going through Novac, they circumvented the town. She gazed at the weathering T-Rex statue in the distance with a welling sense of longing. She barely saw the muzzle of a rifle, but perhaps she imagined it. She wondered if Boone and Carla had returned there with Baby Craig. No matter how hard she strained her ears, she didn't hear the cries of an infant. Which didn't mean much. They were too far away to hear anything.

After Novac was the scrapyard. Then Helios One. Vulpes chuckled at its sight. "The Brotherhood of Steel used to control Helios. Then the NCR drove them away. The Legion will have our turn."

The malevolence in that chuckle, in his words, showed a dark side to his calculating mask. She watched him carefully, beginning to understand why Vulpes Inculta was called the Most Evil Man in the Mojave.

They passed through Trading Post 188, through fields of the NCR sharecroppers, through Freeside and the establishments there. She lingered upon seeing an ancient wall constructed of gray stone. Vulpes identified it as the Old Mormon Fort, the oldest building in the Mojave, ancient by prewar standards. It was where the Followers of the Apocalypse resided.

"Who?"

Vulpes paused, looking away. "Tell no one what I'm about to tell you."

She waited anxiously for what he had to say.

"Caesar, before he formed the Legion, came from the Followers of the Apocalypse. But that was a long time ago. Caesar saw their weakness. He took their knowledge and his own power and made the Legion."

"So what do they do?"

"They're doctors and scientists, mostly. They treat and feed every debased profligate that comes to their doorstep. They've never been strong enough to sustain themselves. They likewise depend on the generosity of others. This is why they won't survive. They will fall with Hoover Dam."

She turned away then, clenching her jaw. She did not have the desire to argue with Vulpes in that moment, but she did not think the Followers deserved such a fate.

Or perhaps they did for creating Caesar in the first place.

They made it to the North Gate of New Vegas, where the securitron there demanded to see their passports or go through a credit check. She looked the robot up and down, noting its weapons systems, and nervously turned to Vulpes for help.

"Vulpes?"

He was already holding two passports for the securitron to process, and a strange new, debonair smile graced his features. "Please, darling. It's Mr. Fox."

Then they entered New Vegas.