One foot in front of the other, that was all she had to do. 

Well, one foot in front of the other, keep both eyes peeled for anything hostile, watch for anything dangerous underfoot, stay hydrated and fed along with lugging the extremely heavy pack she now had fixed to her back – those were the things she had to do. Annelise didn’t know how long she’d been walking for before she finally spotted her destination, the silhouette of New Reno looming at the edge of her vision. 

The sun had been bearing down on her for days and she felt thoroughly exhausted, both physically and mentally. The last time she’d stopped Annelise had realised that she was now entirely out of food from the vault, she’d eyed up some of wasteland food and settled upon some irradiated junk food from before the bombs had fallen. The thought of how old they were had almost made her nauseous, but then the taste of them definitely did – but it was a far lesser evil than the crusty chunks of god-knows-what meat or the poor shrivelled little squirrel with a skewer up its ass. Or at least that was what she told herself.  

As she approached she saw a group of people with some pack brahmin heading directly towards her, most of them carrying weapons and covered in generous quantities of makeshift armour. She froze and gripped her laser pistol with her left hand, her heart already pounding as she considered what to do. What if these people were as bad as the raiders she’d already run into, what if everyone in the city was heading to was as well? She entertained her paranoia for a few moments before she pushed it away. She was certain that everyone out here wouldn’t be a murderer, she knew for a fact that the settlements were generally much safer than the huge stretches of lawless wasteland she’d been making her way through, or at least that was what the others believed. Either way she’d come too far to simply freak out and give up, so she continued to grip the pistol as she marched forwards with her eyes flicking from person to person as she got closer her heart pounding the whole while. 

The lead wastelander was a woman, she had short shaggy muddy coloured hair and a stern gaze. As Annelise looked at her she stared right back at her. It took her only a few seconds to realise that the group were being as cautious as she was, worried looks and hands gripping weapons as she approached. 

“Greetings friend” growled the woman with a slight hand gesture as Annelise got within speaking range. Her heart skipped a beat but Annelise quickly found her tongue.

[color=DA70D6]“Hey”[/color] she croaked somewhat meekly, her voice dry and cracked from the lack of water.

“Vault dweller is it?” the woman asked gesturing to her apparel and pip-boy as the caravan guards came to a stop just behind her. Annelise nodded slowly as she eyed the array of goods and supplies that was loaded onto the odd two-headed creature. 

[color=DA70D6]“You’re a trader?”[/color] asked Annelise returning the gesture.

“Yup, looking to do business sweetie?” she retorted already heading towards her merchandise. Annelise hesitated for a moment before she nodded and started to remove her own pack somewhat cautiously. She was weary but spent about twenty minutes bartering back and forth with the woman, exchanging the chems, weapons and other possessions of the raiders for some of her various things. Annelise soon got carried away looking through the junk that the woman had, specifically the components and gizmos. Annelise walked away with various supplies for a few days and more importantly the things she needed to fix her rifle. Unfortunately though with her lack of experience and knowledge she’d been ripped off considerably, not that she knew but as she trudged into New Reno the trader watched her go before shaking her head and continuing on her way. 

New Reno itself was... impressive to say the least. A mix-match of salvaged buildings and shanties with numerous huge neon signs that dotted what seemed to be the main centre of the settlement. Annelise wandered in trying not to gawk like she’d never seen anything even remotely like this, only half succeeding. Numerous individuals moved around the streets, some looked like farmers, others their occupation less easy to divine. Everyone though seemed grimy or dirty, or lacking that generally had an edge of hardness about them that she found rather unsettling. Some of the men she passed looked almost like raiders themselves – granted well dressed raiders but the same signs were definitely there. She gave them a wide berth as she looked for what the trader had described as fine establishments to ‘wet her whistle’ (the trader had been reluctant to part with her own water seeing as how they had a long journey ahead of them and Annelise could just get some in New Reno).  The trader pointed her to a place called the Desperado with a casual warning to keep away from the more unsavoury types. As she approached she frowned, it wasn’t exactly the kind of place she had been looking for, but then she had no idea where else to head. At least she knew she could get a drink and sit down, rest and recuperate. Hell, she even could do with a drink after everything she’d been through – at least she knew the alcohol would be sterile. 

As she walked up to the door a rather corpulent man practically collapsed out of the doorway, stumbling slightly as he held himself on the railings just outside. He turned a beady eye towards Annelise and mumbled something vulgar whilst grinning and trying to wink, the stench of booze wafting towards her. She shuddered inwardly as she quickly moved past him, already wondering if she was going to regret her decision. She moved inside and took a few moments to take in the room. The air was a little smoky and it was a little more occupied than she’d have thought but otherwise it wasn’t quite the hive of scum and villainy she’d expected. With her face down she made her way to the bar before she stood awkwardly at one end trying to avoid any attention. The bartender was in conversation with an older looking man, one of the several sat at the bar drinking. She removed her now considerably lighter pack before she sat on one of the stools, almost sighing as she took the weight off her feet. She still felt bruised in numerous places and her legs too now were almost agony, but she’d actually made it. Despite the hopelessness that threatened to overwhelm her at any moment she actually felt like she’d accomplished at least something and as she waited at the bar she couldn’t help but smirk to herself as she started to eye the bottles behind the counter uncertainly. She absently rubbed her neck which still ached too and couldn’t help but remember the raider who’d done it. She remembered his grotty body pressed down on top of her as he’d tried to first subdue her and then tried to kill her before she’d managed to kill him. She shuddered snapped her gaze up from the point on the bar she’d been staring at. She decided that she definitely wanted a strong drink, her smirk gone and her mood plummeting as she finally realised she had to figure out what in the world she would do next.