Bountiful Bounties~! (Open!)

"Wheeeeeeeee~!" Melodee giggled as she spun around and around the swiveling stool, attempting to reach some level of which she spun so fast that the stool somehow reached some kind of critical point of which it would suddenly fly into the air!

Man, wouldn't that be awesome! she thought excitedly. But for some reason it wasn't doing that. It was rather boringly staying firmly planted on the floor of the bar. She wondered why that was. Perhaps it just wasn't moving fast enough? Was she too heavy for it to properly lift up? Maybe all she had to do was spin it fast enough, and then jump into the air, which would then obviously mean that the stool would be light enough to actually launch right up into the ceiling, successfully creating a freakin' time warping black hole which would destroy all--

"Oi, kid. Stop that, you'll break the stool," the boring bartender said irritably, in which Melodee responded by swiftly grabbing the front bar as she whizzed past and hung on for dear life, rapidly ending her spinning spree as she struggled to stay sitting down. Dizzy and near disorientated from the stimulus, she shakily brought her hand up to her forehead in vaguely mocking faux-salute and grinned cheerfully.

"Roger, sir! Operations ceased!" It was an interesting sight to behold. A supposedly teenage girl with a holstered sawn-off axe and shotgun coupled with a perpetually smiling face, sitting next to, and supposedly travelling with, a tall twenty-something modern day cowboy, complete with hat, beard, and astonishingly appropriate accent. She had been travelling with Mister Karl Shanks for quite a while now. Roaming the fine new world that had been carved by nuclear fire and explosions! They stopped at a little place called Baratheon's Bar… So was the bartender she was talking to called Baratheon? That was a pretty awesome name. Reminded her off those things people used to siege castles. You know, in which they would jump over the top of the castle and slaughter everyone inside. "Might I ask for somethin' stronger than a soda, then? Ya know, to keep me amused 'n' all that." She pointed down at her Sunset Sarsaparilla, which seemed to pale in comparison to the more-than-likely foul home brewed alcohol they served at the bar. But still. The drink just didn’t seem… extreme enough.

"Your friend already said no," he nodded to Karl. Melodee still beamed at the bartender, her face full of smiles, cheers, and colourful rainbows, before saying her next stupendously bright words in just slighter more than a whisper.

"I'll beat you to death with your own severed arm, moron."

"Wait, what?"

"I said I'll be at a dance with your own shaken arc," she said, using whatever similar word came to mind.

"I wish that sentence made any sense to me."

"Me too." She turned up to Karl, smiling at the cowboy. "What're we doin' here again? Somethin' 'bout a bountiful bounty?"

"Wheeeeeeeee," Melodee said as she spun around on the bar stool. Karl let out a deep chuckle as he watched the kid go 'round and 'round. He paused to take a deep swig of whiskey, the amber drink of his dreams, and his lover. The drink went down hard as he gulped almost all of the cup down in one gulp. He slammed the glass back onto the table. "Oi, kid. Stop that, you'll break the stool," the bartender said to Melodee, who obeyed his command with a mocking salute. One had to think that the two of them were an odd sight to hold. Him, a cowboy, with hat and accent and all, and her, a young teenage girl, probably a little too happy for living in a world like this.

"Might I ask for somethin' stronger than a soda, then? Ya know, to keep me amused 'n' all that," she said as she pointed down at her Sunset Sarsaparilla, it wasn't alcohol, but it was good stuff. Karl let out a small chuckle again and rested his forearms on the table. Thankfully, the bartender payed attention to his request and declined Melodee's asking of alcohol. Though, he did hear the remark in which she said just a little bit low for the bartender to hear. The girl did have some issues, but she was almost kin to him, and he wouldn't leave her behind. He'd get her help some day.

He looked back to Melodee as she asked, "What're we doin' here again? Somethin' 'bout a bountiful bounty?"

Karl grunted and downed another gulp of whiskey as the bartender refilled his glass. "Well, yeh, that's what we'll be doin'. Although, sure as hell don't know what 'xactly what kind of job we'll be doin'. But th' ad said there was gonna be a lotta caps for it." Karl took another swig before continuing. "'Said some suit is gonna be here t' greet us. Dunno who."

And just in time, Karl's eyes peered to the entrance to the bar as a man entered, he seemed nervous, like he'd never been in a place like this. He wore a startlingly clean white suit and walked with an air of pride, thinking he was probably better than all these dirty people. Karl waved a hand to the man and stood up from his seat and dropped a small sack of coins onto the counter as he nodded to Melodee to follow him. He walked back to one of the booths, and sat down on the inside as the Suit sat opposite from him. Karl gave the man a stern look before grinning and leaning back against the seat.

"So, yer' the person who was lookin' fer' some bounty hunters, right?"

The Suit nodded before he spoke up, "It had come to my attention that you were bounty hunters. What I've got before me is a cowboy and a little girl. Why is that?"

"What, y' don't think we can handle th' job? Ah'm sure this 'little girl' could kill you in twenty, no, thirty more ways than ah could."

The Suit gulped nervously in response. "U-uh, I'm sure you two can handle the job, of course," he said as he tugged on his collar before calming down a bit. "Now, the job is simple. But, it is very important!" The Suit took out a small object, a small, round thing, it glistened with metal parts and electronics, it wasn't big, but it seemed important.

"You need to get this to The Capitol. It is very urgent that you get it there."

"Th' capitol, why th' hell do y' want us to give it t' them? Ah heard they just kill people fer' comin' near that place."

"E-er, yes, they do, but I'll contact them and tell them not to harm you, I promise the caps will be heavy. Half here and half on delivery." The man began to take out a large sack, it had to contain at least fifteen hundred caps! Karl's eyes widened as they wandered over the container.

"What d' yeh think, Melodee? Ah think we shuld take it, we ain't got any problems with them Warui, right?"

"Well, yeh, that's what we'll be doin'. Although, sure as hell don't know what 'xactly what kind of job we'll be doin'. But th' ad said there was gonna be a lotta caps for it. Said some suit is gonna be here t' greet us. Dunno who."

"Hmmmmm, questions, questions, que-- Whoa that guy is clean!" Noticing Karl wave to the man, she figured he was the one they were meeting. Melodee +1 to Deductive Thinking! After grabbing her drink, she followed after Karl with a spring in step as they moved to one of the booths, Melodee jumping to sit next to Karl. From the corner of her eye, she attempted to copy his expression to the man, feigning a his same stern frown to the man -- which didn't last more than two seconds before she burst out giggling. Just couldn't do it. She sipped her drink as she listened to Karl assert their position as hyper competent roamers of the wasteland!

"Ah'm sure this 'little girl' could kill you in twenty, no, thirty more ways than ah could."

"Thirty-two," she said with an empathic nod, as if affirming that anything less was an insult to her ability. Staring at the man without blinking even once, she wondered just what his sparkly clean white suit would look like splattered in blood. She thought the white and red would set up quite an aesthetically pleasing contrast of colour. Although she wouldn't have known it, the staring hardly did much to diminish the man's nervousness. Listening only vaguely to the discussion of the job, about how they needed to deliver the whatever-the-hell-it-was-who-really-cares thing to the Capitol.

"What d' yeh think, Melodee? Ah think we shuld take it, we ain't got any problems with them Warui, right?"

"Hm," she thought for a moment, making a somewhat faked contemplative expression, before smiling widely. Casually, while still making 'hm' noises, she reached around her side, almost as if she were stretching, and brought her sawn-off axe out onto the table, it landing on the wood with an audible 'thud'. She leaned forward to the man, still smiling sweetly. "Good sir, I dunno much 'bout politics or whatever it is ya' fancy people do, but ya' see, people who mess with us usually end up with their head on a pike and their torso mutilated in about... thirty-two different ways." Melodee spoke with exact same level and decibal of cheerfulness that usually did, in regular conversation, there wouldn't be much wrong with the actual sound of her voice. "I dunno what's so important 'bout this round thingamabob, but ya' see, we don't die easy, and if the other half ain't given upon delivery then I think I'll hunt ya' down personally and..." she showed some teeth in her grin, "experiment."

She leaned back non-chalantly in the seat. "But, yeah, seems cool. Adventure, yah!"

"Hm," Melodee said as she smiled and brought up her sawn-off axe and let it thump onto the table, "Good sir, I dunno much 'bout politics or whatever it is ya' fancy people do, but ya' see, people who mess with us usually end up with their head on a pike and their torso mutilated in about... thirty-two different ways."

Karl grinned, if there was one thing about Melodee, it was her intimidation factor. "I dunno what's so important 'bout this round thingamabob, but ya' see, we don't die easy, and if the other half ain't given upon delivery then I think I'll hunt ya' down personally and... experiment."

"But, yeah, seems cool. Adventure, yah!"

The Suit's eyes widened and he was breaking up a fast sweat. "I-i'm sure we won't b-betray you at all, you'll get the caps, I p-promise." He stood up from his chair and backed away slowly before looking back and fast walking away.

"Hahahah," chuckled Karl as he slapped his knee, "Good job, Melodee, ah'm sure he won't come short on th' deal. Man, looks at all these caps," he said as he hefted the large bag and began counting, sure enough, there was at least fifteen hundred caps in there. "Ah think we should do a little shoppin', what do y' think?" he said as he tossed the sack into his pack, the weight felt pretty good to him. "C'mon," Karl said as he grabbed his stuff and got up, he waved for Melodee to follow him as he exited the bar and went out into the hot sun. He tucked his hat to cover more of his face and began walking to the market.

It was a pretty decent place, there were tons of stands set up along the sidewalks and between the ruined buildings that once stood tall in the city. Karl's eyes wandered from stall to stall while undoubtedly Melodee was admiring all the fancy things. God damn there were some good weapons here. He hefted a sturdy automatic riot shotgun that would have made him cream his pants if he didn't have any self control. He noticed the sign that said, 'You Break it You Buy it' and made sure to be gentle with the fine weapons.

"Hmm. Got some mighty fine weapons here, partner."

The shopkeeper was a tall, broad shouldered man with a manly mustache that could compete with his own facial hair.

"Mmyup. Top quality. That there shotgun is 350 caps. 20 gauge shells are 5 caps each."

"Dayumn.. pretty expensive..."

Maria took another sip out of the shot glass, letting the vodka drip down her throat. Ah, the sweet taste of alcohol. It didn't matter to her that she was too young under normal circumstances. Maria felt that if half your body is charred then you pretty much earn whatever drink you want. As long as you had the caps, anyway.

The people she was sitting next to were quite lively, however. To her right were a cowboy and a very-likely-to-be-insane girl that looked about her age. Unfortunately, the man behind the counter didn't let the girl have a drink.

Maria inconspicuously sipped her drink as they talked about a bounty. They eventually got up and sat at a booth with some bastard that carried an air of arrogance. She saw out of the corner of her eye the man handing the duo a bag, presumably with caps. Judging from the size, it was a lot of caps.

Maria had an idea.

She quickly swallowed the rest of her shot of vodka, before asking for a can of beer to take on the road. She left the required caps on the table, and left.

Outside, she followed the group into the marketplace. She saw the cowboy run off to inspect some guns. Maria approached the girl.

"Hey, want a beer?" She asked, holding it out for her, with a smile. "It's on the house."

"Buh-bye~, mister!" she cheerfully called out to the man in the white suit, all the while excitedly waving at him -- something which strangely seemed to make the man walk even faster. She wondered why. Perhaps he felt she wasn't waving hard enough. Well, screw him then! She prides herself on her waving abilities!

Letting Karl take all of the caps for safe-keeping -- apparently her philosophy of instantly using every single cap she finds on cake and chips was apparently a waste... Did that count as a philosophy? She wasn't even sure what the word meant, but damn, it sounded sophisticated. Well, whatever, that meant Karl was the treasurer, and dictated their output of funds.

Whistling cheerfully as she skipped alongside Karl, she went to the first stand that held her interest for longer than a second. In this case, it was a stall selling various amounts of knives, her eyes first going to biggest one there, naturally. It was also littered with seemingly irrelevant items that had no place in a weapons store. Such as a Rubik’s cube. And a toy dinosaur.

About to pick up the multi-coloured cube, she instead spun around as she heard footsteps nearing, both her hands around her back --  her usual demeanour, but she actually had her hand clamped around her sawed-off shotgun, completely ready to whip it out into the person's face if necessary. An unnecessarily cautious endeavour, it seemed. In front of her was a seemingly friendly teenage girl holding out a beer can towards her, saying how it was 'on the house'.

As usual, she smiled brightly towards the stranger with half of her entire face covered with hair, as her mind raced trying to figure out just what it was she said, the idiom being completely unknown to her. On the house? The beer can was on a house? What? What did that mean? It clearly wasn't on a house. Maybe... it was on a house? But why? Is beer brewed on rooftops? But why was that relevant?

Well, obviously it was just too difficult for the likes of her to understand, and that the woman was some kind of genius intellect who understood the intricate ways of the English language infinitely more so than she did. But what she did know that she was being offered a beer! See? The moral of this is 'wait, and everything you want shall come walking right up to you!'

Eyeing Karl within the corner of her eye, who was looking at some shotguns, and gave the girl a big grin. "Thanks, miss!" Grabbing the can, she figured that is was better that Karl didn't see, and that she got rid of it quickly. After all, breaking rules are the entire point of rules in the first place, isn't it? Quickly pulling the tab, she brought the can to her mouth, and tried to chug it down as fast as humanly possible. She got about half way before she had to take a breath, and even then, she instantly went back to drinking.

Upon finishing, she instantly began to giggle. "Maaan!" she laughed with a huge smile on her face, "That was awful! Shoulda listened to Karl!" That just made her laugh even harder. "So, heh, what's with the charity, stranger?"

The girl looked momentarily confused towards Maria. She didn't know why, however. Was the girl unsure of what she was being offered? Or just confused that someone was offering her something? Well, whatever the case, she gave a hearty "Thanks, miss!" before promptly chugging the thing in two gulps. Maria mentally applauded her ability to do so; had Maria tried it, she'd have probably choked to death.

"Maaan!" the girl giggled at Maria. "That was awful! Shoulda listened to Karl!" However, despite her bubbly appearance and demeanor, she wasn't a complete fool. She next asked, "So, heh, what's with the charity stranger?" Maria noted a slight southern twang in the girl's speech; t'was probably from hanging around that cowboy too much, who's name was apparently Karl.

"The beer was secretly poisoned with a mind-control serum. You are now my slave," Maria replied with deadpan sarcasm. "Actually, it's just I've been low on caps recently, and needed some work," she said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly, "and I wondered if I could accompany you two on your trip." Maria figured honesty would be the best policy, and if first impressions were anything to go by, this girl would probably be okay with it. She couldn't really see her getting angry or turning down someone that offered her charity like that. Of course, Maria didn't know the girl all that well.

Karl happily shook the hand of the man in front of him, he'd learned the mustachioed man's name was Clarkson, and Karl happily deposited the five hundred and fifteen caps for the automatic shotgun and ammo, all high quality, including a small box of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes for Melodee. Damn, the gun was so good, it fired 20 gauge shells at a devastating high fire rate. Still, it swallowed ammo like a starving slave and would fire twelve shots in a few seconds according to what Clarkson had said.  He gave his leave and turned to see a young woman next to Melodee, he walked slowly up behind her and listened in.

"...Actually, it's just I've been low of caps recently and needed some work," the woman said as she scratched the back of her head, "and I wondered if I could accompany you two on your trip."

Karl cleared his throat and hefted the shotgun over his shoulder so he could look badass as he stood a few heads higher than the girl. The spurs on his leather-hide boots clacked as he stopped. Even though there were no horses, at least none that he knew of, he still liked the boots a lot, and would keep them as long as they were still good.

"So," he said as he tossed the package to Melodee, "Y' wanna join up with us? Why should we let yuh? Y' don't seem like much." He eyed the mere revolver lying at the girls hip and raised an eyebrow. The girl obviously wasn't much compared to a giant like him with a huge shotgun.

"Ah mean, not t' be mean or anythin', we kin' handle ourselves. That girl can kill in thirty-two ways," he said as he grinned at Melodee. Then he noticed the hidden can of beer. His grin evaporated. "Aww, come on, Melodee. Why did yuh drink that? Its not good for kids," He groaned and shook his head. "Now don't tell muh, y' gave it to her, stranger."

"The beer was secretly poisoned with a mind-control serum. You are now my slave." What?! No! So the moral isn't 'everything you want will come walking up to you', it's actually 'strangers should be shot on sight to decrease the chances of spontaneous mind control'! Yes. That makes sense. From now on, all strangers die! Painfully! With screams! And pain!

"Actually, it's just I've been low on caps recently, and needed some work, and I wondered if I could accompany you two on your trip." Oh. She wasn't being serious. Her therapist always told her that she was always rather bad at picking up subtle social cues. Something about a 'lack of empathy'. Whatever that meant.

Before she could answer the girl with the highly complex question of whether or not she could do a handstand, Karl appeared with a freshly purchased and intimidating shotgun, asking just what it was the girl could do, and throwing her some snack cakes! It was awesome. It was so awesome. He looked like he could mow down every single person in the marketplace in the span of ten seconds. Well, maybe that a bit much. And cake! Sweet, sweet cake! Was there anything that it couldn't solve?

"Ah mean, not t' be mean or anythin', we kin' handle ourselves. That girl can kill in thirty-two ways."

"Thirty-three." Wait. Crap. There was something she was supposed to be hiding wasn't there?

"Aww, come on, Melodee. Why did yuh drink that? It’s not good for kids." She looked down at the beer can, suddenly remembering, and looked up sheepishly, rubbing her head. "Now don't tell muh, y' gave it to her, stranger."

"Aw, she was just bein' nice and, ya' know, interestin'. No need to be..." she trailed off as she stared at the girl more, and tilted her head curiously. There was a strange thing that she happened to notice when a light breeze came by. As if her hair was hiding something that most certainly did not correlate with the rest of her face. Leaning in closer and slowly, she tried to see around the clump of hair, and found she still couldn't see properly. Disregarding about every single social rule of not violating a person's personal space, she leant in even closer, her face being mere centimetres away from the girls. She brought her hand up to her face, brushing aside her brown hair.

"Whoa," was all she said as she leant back, and didn't say anything for a few seconds, still staring at the girl. She then burst into a fit of giggles. "That's amazing! I mean, how does that even... Wow! We are so bringing this girl!"

Maria was about to voice her rebuttal to Karl the Cowboy's refusal to bring her along. However, it seemed that the girl would help her.

After an amusing swapping of words between the two involving the girl admitting to being able to kill someone in 33 different ways (a number Maria found pretty easy to beat, if you counted all the various areas of a body you can shoot and with the various guns to do it with, though she was probably thinking in more vague and sociopathic terms), and Karl giving the girl some kind of package of some sort of Twinkies, the girl suddenly stopped mid sentence and stared at Maria.

This was a bit unnerving, but Maria held the girl's stare unflinchingly. The girl's eyes, however, were very wide, and never blinked. Was she having a staring contest? Judging from her mannerisms, Maria wasn't entirely sure this wasn't the case.

Then she brought her head closer to Maria's, her face getting within a few inches of Maria's. Maria didn't move backward or flinch, or even blink, but she did blush a bit at the awkwardness of it. Maria briefly wondered if she was going to kiss Maria, but that was soon disproved when the girl brushed Maria's hair aside before stepping back.

"Whoa," the girl said, apparently stunned, having seen Maria's previously hidden burns. Despite them being extensive, and covering most of her right side, she kept them well-hidden under her hair and clothes.

However, rather than the disgust Maria thought the girl would show, she rather reacted with amazement. Hell, the girl even insisted on bringing her along. Maria briefly smiled, for someone actually didn't react negatively to her scars.

"Yeah," she said, as she pulled back the hair covering the right side of her face, showing her burns, and her dead eye, to the group, "I'm a little overcooked." She sighed wistfully, before letting her hair drop back into place. Then she met Karl's gaze, a feat made slightly harder by the massive difference in height between the two.

"And I'm good with a gun, by the way. And don't worry about looking after me, I can heal pretty damn quickly. Want a demonstration?" Without waiting for approval, she pulled out her hunting knife, rolled up her sleeve, and rested the knife on her right arm, where there weren't any burns. Then she sliced it; a small wound that wasn't dangerous, but still painful enough to make her flinch. Then, right before their eyes, it slowly knit itself back together, until it was entirely gone. Not even a scar remained.

"So, how 'bout that, eh?" She said, a bit of pride in her voice. "Mind if I come along now?" She briefly wondered if it was odd that she thought it a bit fun to mildly freak people out with her rapid regeneration, and to flaunt it about, but she was mostly doing it to convince him to bring her.

"Aw, she was just bein' nice and, ya' know, interestin'. No need to be..." Melodee said as she trailed off, suddenly in a trance at the girl before them. Slowly, Melodee's face inched closer and closer until suddenly she swatted the long brown hair out of the girls face.

"Whoa, that's amazing! I mean, how does that even... Wow! We are so bringing this girl!"

Karl grimaced a bit as the girl showed off her face, trust Melodee to find interest in everything she saw. "Yeah, I'm a little overcooked." Karl had to admit, even he chuckled at that one, he chuckled as she looked up at him, the girl had spirit alright. "And I'm good with a gun, by the way. And don't worry about looking after me, I can heal pretty damn quickly. Want a demonstration?"

He watched with intrigue-ness as the girl took out a knife and cut a deep slit within her arm, she must've been one of those Surviors he'd heard about, mutations caused by massive amounts of radiation from the bombs dropping. After a few moments, the wound healed up quick, without even a scar to show for it. "So, how 'bout that, eh?" She said, a bit of pride in her voice. "Mind if I come along now?"

"Well, kid. Yuh got gusto, ah admit. And, since Melodee likes yah so much, ah guess y' could tag along with us. 250 caps when we get to the end, hows that sound? Don't try t' haggle with meh, yeh prolly won't even be doin' anythin' except walkin'. And no, ah ain't payin' for yer' equipment either." Karl let out his signature grin and pointed to Melodee. As yuh might have 'eard, her name's Melodee, and ah'm Karl, nice t' meet ya. And no, ah don't mind th' steak face. So what's yer' name?"

Only 250 caps? Certainly they got much more than that! Oh, well, if it's an easy job like he says, it's easy money.

"Alright, sounds good to me," she replied. "You want my name? It's 'Bacon,'" Maria replied, sarcastically.  Then she grinned, and added, "Nah, name's Maria. Seriously, though, don't call me Bacon. Anyway, if we're going to be going out, give me a moment to make sure I have everything I need. I'll be back in a minute."

Maria left the group momentarily and made her way to an arms vendor. "How much for a box of .357?" Maria asked the man.

"100 caps, missy."

Maria looked through her pack. Dammit, not enough.

"I only have 40. Uh, box of .38 Special?"

"Deal."

She shook on it, and put the box of ammo in her bag. That makes only half a box of actual .357 ammo for her revolver, but at least she now had some backup cheap ammo. Too bad it wasn't as good, but here was only so much you could do.

Damn, she needed those caps.

"Alright, I'm back," Maria said, as she returned to Karl and Melodee. "Mind telling me about this job?"

Melodee watched in awe as the wound healed right in front of her, eyes locked above to her arm. If she weren't interesting, the healing might have brought some fascinating opportunities for amusing experimentation. Of course, she was interesting, so the very idea of doing something like that was the most horrendous thing she could think of, and quickly banished those thoughts from her mind, merely making a note to search for other people like her in the future. She could imagine the possibilities.

Whistling to herself while she waited for Maria, she wondered for a moment, just a mere moment, why a delivery job was worth so many caps, before disregarding it as being something that required too much thought. Not her forte.

She smiled as Maria, a.k.a. Bacon returned from her shopping. If she hadn't specifically asked her not to really call her that, Melodee probably would've continued calling the girl 'Bacon'. She wasn't actually quite sure what the girl had against such a name. It sounded a lot more memorable than 'Maria', but she wasn't going to push it.

"Welp, ya' see, we're delivering a weapon of mass destruction to the Capitol. The plan is, we sneak in, find a good place t' hide it, get out 'n' watch the beautiful mushroom cloud from the distance! Wahahaha~!" She gave a giant grin, before it dropped quickly into a frown. "Well, it should be that, but the guy was boring. We're just delivering a round metallic thingamabob. Boring."

"Alright, sounds good to me, you want my name? It's 'Bacon,'" Maria replied, sarcastically. Then she grinned, and added, "Nah, name's Maria. Seriously, though, don't call me Bacon. Anyway, if we're going to be going out, give me a moment to make sure I have everything I need. I'll be back in a minute."

Heh. Man, he could go for some bacon right about now, he nodded and let her go and do her stuff. Karl walked up to another stall while Melodee whistled to herself as she waited for Maria. He bought a few bottles of fresh water, another 50 caps taken, and a bit of food, some cans of 'meat' called SPAM and some cactus fruits. Thirty more caps for that. Karl paused on a old raggedy teddy bear. Would Melodee want one? He paid the ten caps for it and grinned as he handed it to the girl as he walked back, and what do you know, Maria had arrived.

Karl listened in to Melodee explaining it and laughed. "Hah. Well, it would be a lil' more fun t' drop off a bomb, ah sure don't got any like for them 'Warui' folks." He grinned as he held out the bear to Melodee. "Hey, Melodee, ah got ya somethin', hope ya like it. Dunno if you're too old for toys, but it din't cost much." He hoped the girl liked the present, it wasn't much, but it still was a decent present.

"Alright, so ah assume ya'll 'r ready t' leave? Come on, then."

Melodee wasn't too sure how to react to being given a teddy bear as a present. For a moment, she just held it up silently and stared at it. She didn't give Karl an immediate response into whether or not she liked it, merely tilting her head in vague confusion. It was somewhat familiar. Maybe not the actual toy itself, but the design was. After Karl said for them all to get a move on, Melodee was still staring at the toy even as they travelled, furiously wondering just where she knew it from. It was going to drive her mad. The memory was just out of reach. Where was it from? Where was it from?! Where was the damn bear from?! She went on staring at it as they moved for about a whole two minutes, her face becoming less and less cheerful with every passing step, until it was a dark, downturned and lightly frowning picture of tranquil fury.

And then she stopped moving altogether, the right side of her mouth upturning into an unsteady and off-putting smile, her eye involuntarily twitching occasionally, and body lightly shaking as her breathing became heavier. That's right. The kid next to her cage had one of those. He was a nice boy. Didn't cry as much as everyone else. He was less annoying than the rest of the whining morons in the other cages. Always slept with the teddy.

First person she didn't actually want to kill.

He was a fun boy. He was a nice boy. He was interesting. So why? Why?! Why?! WhywhywhywhywhywhyWHYWHY?!

With in the span of a second, the toy went flying straight into the air with one heavy throw. Swinging her other arm around, her shotgun whizzing forward and aiming to the sky, and single blast echoed through the landscape, the weapon recoiling back. The bear exploded into pieces of fluff and cloth, and fell to the ground with a light 'thud'.

She stood there in silence, trying to get her breathing under control to steady her rapidly beating heart and heightened adrenaline. Blinking back into reality and staring at the crumbled piece of cloth, she questioned just why on Earth she did that. It... seemed like the right thing to do. But why was it the right thing to do? Karl bought that thing for her! And she shoots it?!

"I..." she choked out. "I don't know why I... I... I'm sorry..." All she did was stare wide-eyed at the bear. She wanted to shoot it again.

Maria was caught off guard. Blowing up the Capitol with a mininuke? That sounded like quite a dangerous job. Melodee even gave an adorable yet evil-sounding laugh to go along with it. It was then explained that the actual job was a more "boring" metallic object to be delivered. Maria was just out-sarcasmed.

Karl came up carrying a teddy bear, which appeared to confuse Melodee upon giving it to her. Maria thought the teddy was perhaps an odd gift; surely Melodee was at least 16, and a bit too old for a teddy bear. Well, whatever the case was, the group started to head out.

Until they were stopped by the crack of a shotgun from behind them. Maria turned around to see Melodee brandishing a shotgun, the remnants of the teddy bear raining from the sky.

Sheesh, if she didn't like the gift, that was one thing. But to use it as skeet seemed a bit overkill. And stupid, seeing as the majority of the market's population aimed their guns at Melodee, before putting them away shortly after upon seeing she wasn't aiming at anyone (though they kept suspiciously glancing in her direction).

"I... I don't why I... I... I'm sorry..." the poor girl choked out. Eh? Was it intentional, or not? Or was the girl just completely fucking insane? Perhaps the fact that she knew 33 ways to kill someone should've been a tip-off, but she just assumed that came with being living in this crapsack world, or at the least a light-hearted joke. Now, however, Maria was wondering if sanity even applied to this young girl.

Maria looked at Karl expectantly, with a look that said 'She's your friend, do something!'

Karl didn't notice Melodee's confused expression as they walked. It was rather uneventful for a little while, they walked out of the massive metal gates and out into the harsh heat of the desert sun. He was thankful for his hat as it helped shield his beautiful face fro- and suddenly, he heard the crack of a  shotgun, and as he turned, he noticed the massacre of the poor teddy bear he had bought for Melodee, and the smoking barrel of her double barrel.

"I... I don't why I... I... I'm sorry..." the poor girl choked out. Karl bit his lower lip. Poor thing... probably remembering more of what had happened to her. Whenever he had talked to Melodee about this sort of thing, about her past, it always got bad. Maria gave him an epactant look that said 'She's your friend, do something!' Karl didn't notice the many guards pointing at them, but he wouldn't have paid them any attention.

He walked calmly up to Melodee and crouched down beside her. He gently took the shotgun from her and put aside his manly values and hugged Melodee tightly. "Shhh. Its not yer' fault, Melodee. Yeh remember, don't yuh? Look... if y' want to talk 'bout it, we can.."

He sighed and hugged the poor girl even tighter. Some times he thought of her as a little sister, or, even a daughter.

She silently let herself be hugged, still not understanding a single thing that was going on. Why was she was being consoled for killing an interesting person? She should be punished for that!

Well, just for that one. Most of the other ones were justified, right? They weren't as fun as he was. And it wasn't like Karl knew which specific part she was having a reaction to. She had talked about her life on past occasions with Karl, but she hadn't had much of an emotional reaction concerning them, if anything, she had acted as her usual cheerful self. There were only very few things that she ever regretted doing when she was at the arena. After all, it wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter.

After a minute of silence, Melodee pulled away from the cowboy's arms. She rubbed her arm awkwardly for a moment, before grabbing her shotgun back from Karl, and holding it loosely down her side. Absentmindedly, she reached into her front breast pocket, bringing out a single shotgun shell. She ejected the spent shell from the sawed-off shotgun, replacing it with the new one.

"Uh, let's just go," she said as she rubbed her eyes. There weren't any tears there, it just seemed the right thing to do. Don't be sad! Be awesome! "Alright!" She tried to put a smile back on her face. "Let's go bomb the Capitol! Or deliver something. Same thing."

Maria just stood back and watched as Karl hugged the distraught Melodee tightly. Maria wanted to give her a hug too, out of sheer pity for girl, but she was afraid it'd either be very awkward or Melodee would skin her alive for it, seeing as Maria wasn't too sure on her mental state.

After the world's most awkward minute of silence ended, Melodee loaded a shell into the gun. Maria noted that Melodee was at the very least a pragmatic type, remembering to reload even following a mental breakdown.

"Uh, let's just go," Melodee said, followed by a hearty "Alright!" At least she wasn't one to mope.

"Let's go bomb the Capitol! Or deliver something. Same thing," Melodee added, much to the surprise of nearby patrons, who gave her some odd looks.

"Kidding! She's kidding!" Maria intervened, hoping that no one that worked for the Warui now assumed they were terrorists or something. This seemed to placate the curious onlookers.

Then again, if they were bombing the Warui, she'd be fine with it. She never met one in person, but she heard stories of their atrocities towards those that were mutated. Delivering something to those that essentially want to kill her on sight was probably a stupid idea, now that she thought about it. Oh, well, too late to back out now. She'd just have to keep herself covered.

"Once we get near the capitol, I'd prefer it if we didn't shoot off guns and threaten terrorism in the middle of a crowded marketplace. I'd like to not be given bullet-acupuncture, thank you," Maria said, a bit exasperated. "Anyway, let's just get going."

Karl let go of Melodee after half a minute, he hoped she was doing better, she was pretty much all he had for a family in this cruel world they lived in. Yeah, there were problems, but they would get better eventually. He handed back her shotgun and she reloaded. "Uh, let's just go," Melodee said, followed by a hearty "Alright! Let's go bomb the Capitol! Or deliver something. Same thing," she added. Karl let out a deep chuckle as Maria intervened quickly. 'course, he wouldn't mind either way. Though, the first option would probably need a bunch of guns and a plan of some kind. Karl held the small round object up to his eye as he examined it. It seemed like a bunch of electronics put together into a ball, it easily fit into the palm of his hand.

"Once we get near the capitol, I'd prefer it if we didn't shoot off guns and threaten terrorism in the middle of a crowded marketplace. I'd like to not be given bullet-acupuncture, thank you," Maria said, a bit exasperated. "Anyway, let's just get going."

"Yeah, ah suppose weh shuld. Alright, then. Ah'm sure everyone's ready to go? C'mon."

Karl nodded as he led the way out of the gates and into the desert. The sun immediately started to beat down on them, but he paid it no attention, he'd experienced it before. He was a veteran to the wasteland's challenges, and he wouldn't let no stinkin' sun get him down.

--Several Hours Later--

Karl eyed the setting sun, dark streaks of orange lit the brownish sky as they walked, it was slow going, and it sure as hell made his feet hurt, but they'd be stopping soon. He tore out his canteen and took a few swigs of the precious water. Liquid gold in the wasteland, everyone needed it. So far, it hadn't been very eventful, only the varmints of the desert had gotten in their way, and those had been easily taken down.

He looked back at Melodee and offered her the canteen as he started scouting for a place. There. A gas station a few hundred feet ahead, just off the cracked road a bit. "Ah'm sure ya'll are all tired, but weh kin stop here," he said as he pointed at the nearby petrol station. It'd be a nice place to hold up in, instead of sleeping outside. He waved to them to follow him as they made their way over.

He knocked loudly on the door, and like a dinner bell, came the sounds of a loud human-like growling. He kicked the door in, and sure enough, there were three ghouls, ugly, horribly mutated creatures, barely skin and bones, and rotted to all hell. But they were bloodthirsty cannibals who would eat you the moment they sighted you. "Dinner's served!"

Karl fired his riot shotgun, the 20 gauge shell ripping into the head of one of the beasts. He swerved his shotgun as they pounded toward him. Blam! Blam! Blam! Three more dead.  Only one remained and it jumped him. He brought up his arm just in time, and the ghoul only got a mouthful of reinforced armor under his coat. His bronze knuckled fist impacted hard into the ghoul's face and it let go and fell back. Karl stomped its head it, bits of gore splashing over the ground and his boot.

"Whelp. Think th' place is safe t' sleep in now, don'tcha think?"

Felix was, by all accounts, rather bored. Traversing across a fairly barren landscape with company that seemed to dislike, if not be outright allergic to, regular conversation. This was not something that boded well with Felix Warren, as he liked to think of himself as one that had spent his entire life in nothing but regular conversation. Regular conversation had allowed him to made incredible strives in both business and enjoyment. The addition it had to ones sanity was also a plus. Unfortunately, his company was unmistakable terse. As interesting a woman she was, she could work a lot more on general hospitality.

The woman in question was a rather large person named Florence. To say the least, that was not the name he would have picked for her. Standing at what must have been just under seven feet tall, almost her entire body was padded in some kind of clothing. Her jacket was thick and littered with pockets, all of which seemed to contain at least something. Her pants were similar, and gave him the impression that she was actually wearing at least three pairs of jeans underneath. At least. Worn leather gloves clasped around her sniper rifle, her sleeves tucked into the material, and in a similar vein, her pants tucked into her strangely metal looking worker boots. The only part of her that actually confirmed to him that she was at all human was her hazel eyes, the rest of her face covered with a bandana, and her head enclosed with her jackets hood. He couldn't tell much about her. She could have been anything from a particularly large teenager to a middle-aged woman -- the incredibly sparse moments when she actually spoke revealed even less.

She was the most intimidating woman he had ever seen in his entire life. Actually one of the main reasons she chose her as a bodyguard. She held a scoped hunting rifle in her hands as she strove on, in what he also assumed to be haste and confidence. He actually didn't want to know how many weapons she had on her -- her clothing was rather subversive, after all. He almost expected her to unzip her jacket at some point to reveal a ludicrous cavalcade of armaments and assorted weaponry. And not to mention her backpack. Jeeze.

They had been walking for at least five hours, and every attempt to start a conversation abruptly was thwarted by the woman's stubborn ability to defuse any topic. And he meant any. As he was about to start what he expected to be another futile attempt at contact, she held her arm out to the side, indicating him to stop. Turning around, she motioned him to follow her, and moved behind the burned out concrete of a destroyed house. Keeping low, he moved alongside her, peeking over the rubble to see what they were up against. He couldn't see anything at first.

"How many?" he asked, and she held out three fingers. "Do we know whether they're hostile?" She shrugged. He gave her a disbelieving look, before chuckling lightly. "Ah, what a world this has turned into. Doubt absolutely everyone, huh?" She said nothing. "Well, thankfully I'm not up to the point where I consider everyone to be a possible murder-rapist-sadist-torturer hell bent on destruction for the sheer sake of destruction." He spoke quickly, yet concisely, with an affable and slight smile, with an almost British twang in his voice. "Lemme see 'em." She was silent for a second before checking the weapon's safety was on, and handed him the sniper rifle. Inching around the corner of the rubble, he held it to his face. "Let's see, one man -early twenties- with a bizarrely appropriate cowboy-esque style. Ah, I miss old Western films. I actually played in one if memory serves me--" She gave him an unamused stare as he peered back. "Right. Digression. Sorry. Aaaaaand two rather small teenage girls." He would have described further, but the woman's stare was rather scary. "Hardly an intimidating force of mass destruction to be reckoned with. Although looks can be deceiving, I think they should be fine." She gave a hesitant look -- although he had to amp up his perception prowess to actually tell. "Oh, come on. It's getting dark and we've been walking for a while. Surely you want some other company besides my lovely presence? If they're hostile, well, I've seen what you can do to people's faces. Actually quite unpleasant what you can do to other people's faces, but absurdly appropriate for the state of the world. And we can ask about Joffrey! Doubt we'll get far with that topic, though. But who knows? We could come across a contrived coincidence. A wonderfully contrived coincidence. They do happen."

She rolled her eyes as if to imply that he was talking too much, before nodding. He beamed at her, handing back the rifle. "Lovely," he said, about to stand up, but shot straight back down when shotgun blasts rung out. Peering out, as far as he could tell without the scope, the group was moving into a petrol station -- he assumed for rest, as the sun quickly neared the horizon. He peered at Florence peering through the scope.

"Ghouls," was all she said, her voice rather deep, yet at the same time soft-spoken. First thing she had said in about an hour. He remembered the last thing said having been the word 'no'. He had to applaud her ability to say so much with so little words. An ability he wouldn't enjoy having, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melodee grabbed her axe as Karl pounded the ghouls full of shells, but it was unfortunately over before she could actually do anything. Stepping on top and then over the ghoul with the smashed in face, she puffed out her cheeks in childish annoyance. "Boo~ what're ya' doin' takin' 'em all before I get in? I call kill-steal!" The annoyance apparently lasted about five seconds before being replaced with a cheerful whistle, twirling the axe around her hand, ever throwing it up in air and catching the handle as she moved through the building. Coming across a closed door, she didn't bother putting her ear next to it, or doing anything to ascertain whether there was anything dangerous inside. She just thought ahead by about two seconds. With a well-placed and heavy kick, the door burst open, the ghoul inside being knocked back as the wood slammed into it, but wasn't enough to knock it off its feet, it actually recovering fairly quickly. Apparently not quick enough to avoid Melodee's axe colliding with its leg, bringing it down. It attempted to lunge forward to take a chunk out of her leg, but she already had boot up in the air. She kicked forward into the abominations face, sending it back to the ground. Yanking the axe out of the ghoul's leg, she realized that the entire thing was way too easy. She could have finished the entire thing in about one second if she wanted to.

But where was the fun in it only taking a second?

Sighing lightly at the lack of challenge, the axe flashed through the air into the things forehead, its struggling ending. "Maaaan, need a bigger challenge. Like... a big spider! Yeah. We needa find a big spider." She began whistling again as she moved through the building, looking for anything of interest.

"Greetings, travellers!" a voice called from outside, instantly piquing her interest. Peering through a window, she saw two people. One appeared to be a man of at least late thirties, wearing a fairly simple dirty jacket and jeans, was at least just under six foot tall, with a calm smile on his face. Compared to the other person, who she actually couldn't tell if the person was male or female, due to absurd amounts of clothing covering the person's skin, was huge. Quite possibly the tallest person she had seen in her entire life. That was amazing. That person was amazing.

The other one, not so much, although he had a cool fedora. Although Melodee wasn't one to understand such concepts, for a man who appeared to be just under forty, he was actually rather attractive for his age, his stubble on his chin, instead of making his appear rugged and world-weary, actually made him seem friendly and approachable. He also didn't have any visible weaponry, but Melodee knew that just meant he had one hidden somewhere.

"We mean no harm, just merely wishing to stay somewhere for the night. My wife and I have been travelling for quite a while today," the 'wife', which Melodee now identified as female, although she still couldn't quite see anything under the clothing, gave the man a small glance before looking back forward, silent. Melodee didn't quite comprehend any meaning behind it. "My name is Felix Warren, and this is Florence," he nodded to his 'wife'. "Do you mind our intrusion?"

"Boo~ what're ya' doin' takin' 'em all before I get in? I call kill-steal!" said Melodee in annoyance to his easy take down of the ghouls. Karl chuckled and hefted the big shotgun over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. He watched as she let out a cheerful whistle and moved around the building before coming across the door to the bathroom. She didn't even put an ear against the door before she kicked it open. He let her take care of the ghoul that was inside of the tiny room. Her axe was easily able to kill it in a few blows. "Maaaan, need a bigger challenge. Like... a big spider! Yeah. We needa find a big spider."

Karl snorted and said, "Les' see yuh say that when yuh face a big horde of 'em. Fifty snarlin' beasts all comin' at yah at once." Karl shook his head and chuckled again. The girl was deadly, but she still didn't know it all. He paused as he heard foot steps. "Hold up. Someone's approachi-"

"Greetings, travellers!" a voice called from outside, Karl instantly swerved around from the door way to face them. He saw two people, one was a man in at least his late thirties, wearing a simple dirty jacket and jeans, and a suave fedora on his head. The other person was a giant, nearly seven feet tall, even taller than his tall stature, and wrapped up in what probably weighed about fifty pounds of clothing. He couldn't tell whether it was a she or a he. Still, the man was easily recognizable, with an attractive face, and a friendly look.

"We mean no harm, just merely wishing to stay somewhere for the night. My wife and I have been travelling for quite a while today," Karl eyed the 'wife', didn't seem mcuh like a couple at all. "My name is Felix Warren, and this is Florence," he nodded to his 'wife'. "Do you mind our intrusion?"

Karl sighed and glared at the two. They were acting too friendly. Most people weren't hostile, but they surely weren't welcoming and friendly. He pulled the riot shotgun down from his shoulder and held it in both hands. "Greetins', Felix. Florence. While ah don't mind ya'll usin' this place t' shelter like us, ah have had people try t' steal right under muh nose when ah agreed t' bed down with 'em. Besides... ya'll don't look like muchuva couple at all. Yuh could just be tryin' t' wait 'till ah'm asleep and then slit muh throat." Karl cocked the shotgun. "Now, ah'm sure this here automatic shotgun wouldn't mind pumpin' ya'll full of lead. Ah even bought a few 'Dragon's Breath' rounds. They light people on fire."

Karl laughed and hefted the shotgun back over his shoulder, letting out a grin. "Of 'course, ah wouldn't kill yuh on sight. Ah'm not a bandit or a raider. Ah'm a bringer of justice. Of course, if yah try anthin'... Th' name is Karl Shanks. That there's Melodee Coda, and this one is Maria," he said as he directed at the two in turn. "Well, come on in, weh might as well get t' know each other better."

He gestured for them to follow him inside.

For the next several hours, the group of unlikely heroes and heroines travelled the wastes together, braving... not really much. Maybe some minor discomfort and the occasional large rat, but the walk was rather uneventful.

However, the day/night cycle continued it's unending circuit, and the sun was about to move out of their visible area thanks to the Earth's insistence on spinning like a top.

The group came across a gas station, in which Karl found a bunch of ghouls. They did not last long, much to Melodee's chagrin, seeing as Karl's rather scary-looking shotgun cleaned them out quite nicely. Melodee did get one to herself, though, after bursting into the bathroom to find one apparently taking a bathroom break.

Melodee, of course, complained that the entire thing was too easy. Speak for yourself, I'm fine with just freeloading, Maria thought to herself. Easy money.

It wasn't long after that when Karl noted that someone was coming, immediately before someone outside called out to them.

In came a rather attractive fellow, followed by an absolute behemoth of a human packing a large sniper rifle and enough clothes to make a tent the size of the gas station.

They introduced themselves as Felix and Florence. Maria noted the alliteration. They also said that they were apparently spouses, but Maria had a hard time seeing how an attractive man not much taller than her short self was married to a woman who looks like she wrestles bears for a living.

Karl, being the pragmatist he was, warned the couple that if they were to try anything, he'd shoot 'em. Maria took one look at the monstrous Florence, then at her dinky .357 revolver. Something told her that trying to use that would probably just tickle.

Maria, as she was introduced by Karl, gave a half-hearted wave as her greeting. She then said to the attractive man and his pet mountain: "So, what brings you... lovely couple out here, anyway?" Maria was, understandably, a little nervous talking to them, seeing as the woman was at least two feet taller than her. Thankfully, she didn't let it show.

Accent and everything, thought Felix, rather amused rather than outright intimidated. Of course, considering that he wasn't actually planning on doing anything, he figured he was at least relatively safe from the bombardment of shells. His meeting with this small group of people was merely nothing more than an attempt of sanity salvaging. It wasn't that he thought his grasp of reality was slim, rather, spending the next however-long-the-trip'll-take with Florence, and her annoyingly terse disposition? Shoot him. Please.

"You have no idea how many times we've been told that," he said, chuckling, referring to how they 'didn't look like a couple'. "In fact, I'm fairly sure that the official who married us was thinking that too. Written all over his face." He honestly doubted his ability to 'light people on fire' with shotgun shells, but Felix was hardly an expert on weaponry. Although he did not note that Florence's eyebrows went slightly up upon hearing his claim of fire shells, as if not believing it -- although the woman emoted so little it was easy to miss. Now she seemed like someone who would have correct information on the matter. Perhaps he would try to ask her latter. He doubted his attempts would have been fruitful. "But I digress. Thank you very much, 'bringer of justice'." He didn't say that condescendingly; the world needed more who believed in justice, after all. He followed them in, carefully stepping over the freshly killed clumps of ghoul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melodee was too preoccupied to care about what the man was saying. The 'woman' was freakin' awesome. So awesome, that everyone else could have taken a bypass in her mind. She followed after Florence as she moved inside, the incredibly tall woman actually having to duck under the door way. The inside ceiling was, thankfully for her, high enough to accommodate her. Melodee continued to stare at her, wondering deeply as to how awesome it would be for her to be that tall. She conceded that it would be pretty freakin' awesome.

Apparently Maria asked them a question, but Melodee missed it, only vaguely hearing what the man said in response. "Well, we're actually looking for someone," he said as he sat down in a chair with a sigh. "You know the marketplace, around, uh, what was it called... Baratheon's Bar? Think that's it. My memory, unfortunately, is not too brilliant."

Unknown to Melodee, and about everyone in the room, Florence was actually feeling rather awkward about the much smaller girl constantly staring at her, as he eyes kept flicking back to Mel, as if to check whether or not she was still staring.

"We're going there to look for a man called Joffrey Gould. He has a rather distinctive appearance, wears a--"

"Can I... Can I climb you?" Melodee finally managed to say after a minute of musing over the request. Florence looked blankly down at her, either not responding because she didn't want to, or because she had absolutely no idea how to. Felix just seemed to be amused at it in general, instead of answering for her companion, he just left her to deal with it, waiting for her to answer in some manner before continuing.

After what seemed to be a rather painfully awkward five seconds for the woman, Florence slowly nodded. "Yes!" Melodee did a fist pump, and prepared to leap on top of her. But before she could do that, Florence held out her hand in a 'stop' motion, and pointed to the ceiling. While it was large enough to hold her, it wasn't spacious enough to hold her and someone else climbing on top. "Outside we go! Onwards!" Melodee marched through the exit, expecting Florence, who was feeling rather strangely about the entire situation, to slowly follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felix couldn't help but chuckling even more as his eyes followed the two out. "Heh, you'll have to forgive my wife. She hasn't talked much since the bombs dropped. I'm sure you understand," he said, trying to make it sound like a sore topic. "Now, as I was saying. Joffrey Gould owes us quite a lot of money, and we're trying to find him. He wears a rather distinctive white suit. Ridiculous, I know, considering the state of the world. Almost seems like he's oblivious that he just screams 'mugging target right here'. Uh, let's see, blond hair, and walks with this perpetual aura of arrogance. One that is brought down ridiculously easily, might I add. Seriously, I make one comment about his suit and he started spluttering about his heritage or something. Not that I'm expecting much -- that'd be quite the coincidence -- but have any of you seen him?"

Karl slowly walked back into the gas station, stepping over the corpses of dead ghouls. The guy didn't seem like much of a threat, and probably didn't have any bad intentions. Karl stopped at one of the least dustiest tables and picked up a chair that had fallen over and sat down at it. Everyone else followed suit.

"Well, we're actually looking for someone," he said as he sat down in a chair with a sigh. "You know the marketplace, around, uh, what was it called... Baratheon's Bar? Think that's it. My memory, unfortunately, is not too brilliant."

Karl nodded, that was the place. "We're going there to look for a man called Joffrey Gould. He has a rather distinctive appearance, wears a--"

Karl let out a burst of hearty laughter at Melodee's question to Florence. "Can I... Can I climb you?" Hell, even after five seconds of painful and awkward silence, she slowly nodded. "Yes!" said Melodee, with lots of gusto as she did a fist pump into the air and prepared to leap onto the large woman, who held out a hand in a stopping motion and pointed to the ceiling. "Outside we go! Onwards!"

"Heh, you'll have to forgive my wife. She hasn't talked much since the bombs dropped. I'm sure you understand," he said, trying to make it sound like a sore topic. "Now, as I was saying. Joffrey Gould owes us quite a lot of money, and we're trying to find him. He wears a rather distinctive white suit. Ridiculous, I know, considering the state of the world. Almost seems like he's oblivious that he just screams 'mugging target right here'. Uh, let's see, blond hair, and walks with this perpetual aura of arrogance. One that is brought down ridiculously easily, might I add. Seriously, I make one comment about his suit and he started spluttering about his heritage or something. Not that I'm expecting much -- that'd be quite the coincidence -- but have any of you seen him?"

"Mm. Yes, we've seen him," Karl said as he leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. "Yer' in luck. And yes, the suit does scream 'muggin' target'. Y' got th' aura right as well. Also, ah hope y' don't mind Melodee, she's a lil'... eccentric? Yeah, thas' th' word."

Karl reached into his coat pocket and tore out the object that the suited man had given to them. He held it in clear sight for Felix and then placed it back. "He had a job fer' us. Deliver this to th' capitol and promised three thousand caps fer' the job. Funny how y' got a thing with him, but we're just doin' a job. As fer' Maria," he said, looking at the girl in particular, "She's just along fer' th' ride. She's tougher than she looks."

"So. What're ya plannin'? Ah'm assumin' this guy owes ya'll a LOTTA money if yer' lookin' for 'im this hard."