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Alex sat quietly on the edge of a cliff side, her feet hanging dangling freely in the air, her eyes quietly scanning vast open wasteland terrain stretching out before her as far as the eye could see. Dull lifeless terrain, dried up shrubbery and bleached bones, a sandy little hell pit. Her home...

The light from the moon shinned across the worn black finish of her Combat armor, riddled with scratches and dents, revealing the silvery metal underneath the polish as it reflected the light. Her hand slowly traveling over each dent, stopping momentarily to reflect over the past, using each dent and scratch as a mental road map to help count the days she had been gone. She had been gone long, to long. She taught as she lifted her self back up on her feet, neatly stowing her armor back in her pack.
"It's good to be home..." She said to her self as she swung the pack onto her shoulders, talking to her self had become a habit through the long lonely nights she had spent wandering the wastes, trying to keep what little sanity she had. Not that there was much to begin with.

Turning her heels and heading back down the small natural ramp leading up onto the cliff, stopping only to pick up her M60 and what few remainders of her supplies she still had in her camp. Alex sighed and squared her shoulders as she stared back at the empty camp, trying to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, yet she had that nagging feeling as if she did have forgotten something. Shrugging her shoulders at the whole ordeal, as she quietly slipped into the night, the faint light from the moon casting shadows across the wastes, giving the vast, dead quiet terrain an almost Erie feel as she continued to stride on.

Stopping suddenly in the middle of no where hunched behind a stone, Alex stood staring forward almost frozen, several feet upfront, behind a large bush. A large wild male deathclaw quietly stood senting the air, its large nostrils flaring in and out as its head slowly turned scanning the area in front. Its superior night vision appallingly obvious as the creatures eyes almost seemed to shine in the darkness that surrounded them both. Alex could feel a large knot in her throat as she took a defiant swallow and slowly knelt down, feeling as if the creature would pounce her any minute now. Her hand quickly moved up to her mouth almost instinctively as she licked index finger and stuck it up in the air. The air was blowing her way, Thank god. She taught as she as gingerly as possible, laid her self flat across the ground, giving the light sensitive beast no silluet to make out against the black canvas that was there world. As she began to crawl, very very slowly to make as little noise as possible. And at this slow pace, Alex dragged her self across the ground for almost an hour before she finally mustered up the courage to stand up and scan her vicinity. The beast was obviously long gone, probably feasting upon whatever creature it was stalking. She taught as she leaned back, and with a loud thump, connected with the ground as she let out a loud sigh of relief.

It had feelt like hours before Alex's body would allow it self to move again, her face sickly pale as her eyes quickly darted back and forth trying to make anything out in the darkness before her. As trickles of cold sweats ran down her face, the knowledge of the creature being in the area seemed enough to brake her spirit as she slowly and cautiously made her way from cover to cover. A sudden loud snap of a dried branch somewhere behind her, her body worked almost automatically after her years of training, almost moving on its own accord. As it reacted to the sound by suddenly throwing itself flat on her stomach staring straight towards the sound, her heart beating heavy inside her chest as a small string of images flashed before her eyes over and over, like a tape on constant loop.
It always started out the same.. She was standing outside a cave, accompanied by two men that where slowly making there way into the cave. After a while gun shots could be heard from within as she saw her self run head first into the cave, and after a minute or two of running and shouting she ran into her two companions busy running from something as a large roar bellowed from behind. As she had seen so many times before, she stopped turned around and raised her Minigun, just as a large talon extended from the shadows followed by a vicious snarl filled with jagged teeth and horns. The rest was always an incomprehensible whirl pool of images and screams that she couldn't quite make out. But the pain she could remember quite clearly as her hand shakingly extended to touch the large scar on her face. She had fought and killed dozens of deathclaws before, but ever since that one night, every time she sees one she freezes up as if expecting the creature to suddenly leap at her.

Deep breath in... Deep breath out.. Alex kept telling her self as she tried to calm her self, make her mind wander off and forget the past. As she began to slowly feel her unnatural calm wash over her again, she instinctively reached for her side arm. The only weapon who's muzzle flash wasn't bright enough to blind her sensitive eyes in the dark.
A banged up old Desert eagle that had seen one battle to many, its chrome finish almost dull and metallic, the handle scraped and faded. Tapping the muzzle against her temple twice, hard enough to give her self a sharp pain from the taps. The sudden shock to her nerves jump starting her senses, her primal fear towards the deathclaw nothing more then a dot in the horizon. As she slowly rose to her feet, digging her work boots into the sand as she took a steady stance, almost expecting to see the creature standing right behind the rock she was hiding. As her eyes slowly scanned her surroundings, she couldn't find the deathclaw.
It has to be here.. It couldn't have missed me considering all the racket i made trying to get away from it. She taught as she stared into the darkness trying to make anything out, but she couldn't see anything moving, but she knew something was there. Suddenly something caught her eye as a hunching silluet sprinted across the dunes, stopping to look around before continuing on its way. Alex sighed once more as she holstered her side arm, assuming the creature that she saw fleeing the scene was the deathclaw. Turning around chuckling quietly to her self for having panicked in the first place.

- 5 hours later -

The dull constant sound of her boots sliding over sand was suddenly interrupted.
Beep! Beep! Her pipboy sounded off, as wave after wave of age old brotherhood news and updates flooded her pipboy. as she finally came within range of the brotherhood network relay located in the Outpost. Stopping to check her pipboy maps, now that she could finally pinpoint her location more accurately, to her surprise finding her self only five days away from the Outpost. As she had calculated that she was atleast a weeks travel away.
"I could really use the supplies..." She said thinking out loud as she pulled her canteen lose from her belt to satisfy her sore dry throat, she barely had a mouth full and swallowed, shaking the now empty canteen. Alex finally remembered her dwindling water supply, hastily dropping her backpack on the ground to check her water, finding to her dismay that she barely had a days worth of water, maybe three if she only traveled at night and kept out of the dehydrating sunlight. She taught as she turned around staring towards the horizon to the south. Maybe four or six hours before sun rise... I could probably cover a few miles. She taught as she began to repack her gear and once again continued trekking towards the north, navigating her way towards the Outpost.


As four hours passed and the sun was beginning to be come visible behind the curve of the horizon the horizon, Alex quickly located a little nook near a cavewall where she could set up camp with decent wind cover. Setting her self down on a rock for a chair, Alex slowly began to start a fire as she intented to cook herself a meal before sleeping the day away. It didn't take long until she had a fire going and warming her canned beans over it.

As soon as she had finished eating, kicking dirt over the open flame, cleaning her gear. Did she decide to tuck in, her head damping down hard on the small pillow as she stared up at the tent ceiling. She had her fill of excitement and such for the day, and the prospect of sleep seemed as good as any. Her eyes slowly trembling shut as she slipped off into a light sleep, another unpleasant side effect of traveling alone, one could never really get any sleep or one might risk never waking up again. A trick she had learned from the town she grew up in helped her stay awake, letting her mind drift back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness, allowing her body to drift around in light sleep rather then dozing off and leaving herself in a vulnerable state.

"Ah!" Alex exclaimed, as she raised her hand to shield her eyes from the bright light that shone through the tent wall as she grumbled dissatisfied as she was suddenly roused her from her sleep.

As the flash light was turned off a series of muffled swears escaped the tent as she slowly crawled towards the tent flaps, pulling them aside and dragging her self out of the small tent. Her eyes still not having had enough time to adjust to the darkness after having been so rudely awakened, her eyes squinting as they stared at the blurry siluett standing in the cave entrance. Her posture threatening as she kept her shoulders back and legs apart and her hands at her waist, an obvious combative stance to the trained eye.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear.." Alex stated rather annoyed as her left hand discretely reached for her side arm tucked behind her back, as the mans statement and unknown intentions had made her nervous. He must be a good tracker to have found me this quickly, i was damn sure i shook of the bounty hunters in the last town. Alex taught as her hand slowly slipped under her shirt, her fingers tightly wrapping around the pistols stock and her thumb gently flicking off the safety.

Her grip around the stock slowly unraveled as she squinted harder at the man, as the light shinning in from out side didn't quite allow her to see more of him then his silhouette, but she could make out the gun he pointed at her quite clearly, as the minimal light that shone into the cave reflected of its metaly surface.
"You should know better then to storm in guns raised without identifying your self first.." Alex stated as her grip on the gun loosened completely, but her palm still rested against the stock just incase the man was being untruthful about his affiliations.

"Now i suggest you tell me who the hell you are." Her voice commanded, her voice sounding more relaxed now but still quite annoyed, most likely due to the rude awakening she had been subjected to.

Alex let out a long drawn moan of dislike as she shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh, its... You.." Alex said sounding rather condescending as she suddenly turned around and went back to her small tent, as she hunched down and began to neatly repack her belongings as she spoke.
"So how did you know where to find me? I didnt exactly announce my return." Alex asked whilst she turned her head to look at Azure.

Alex eyes widened as she looked at the beast before going back to what she was doing. "Yes... I ran into one my self yesterday." Alex said trying to seem unfazed by its presence, as she continued packing she suddenly stopped to look up at Azure over by the entrance.
"Any estimates on how many there are in the area?"

"Um.. Several miles behind me." Alex lied, having no intention to actually inform Azure that she just ran for it. Turning her attention back to her belongings, Alex slowly made sure everything escential had been packed away before she sat down to tie her boots.

"Humph, i suppose the only decent thing would be to offer you my assistance if you require it.. Brother." Alex said sporting an insincere smile, leaning over sideways and dipping her hand into her pack pulling out a large tied sheet containing something bulky. As she gradualy begam untying the knots keeping it togheter, slowly revealing the banged up Combat armor as she unfolded it.
"I know my equipment isnt exactly in top notch condition, but im sure i could be of... Some, assistance either way." Alex stated sounding rather unsure of her self as she unhatched the locking mechanism on the brestplate and pulled it over her right arm, making sure the chestplate was properly positioned before she locked it and gently pulled at it to make sure it stayed.