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“…we should be there in about an hour, provided we don’t step into something.”
“How could you step into anything on a boat?”
I was honestly shocked at that. That was the first time she had said anything besides “yes”, “no”, and “fine” whenever I said anything to her or asked a question. I had picked her up three days ago in Tennessee and for all that time, she barely made a peep, and now she starts making jokes.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have taken this job if it weren’t for the pay. 25,000 caps for one boat ride? I’d have been a fool to pass it up. Not to mention she was a damn good sight for all these days. Blond, thin, and beautiful. Finely dressed too, pre-war ware of good quality. If it weren’t for her being as cold as a vault, I would have invited her to bed.

Beautiful or not, I was glad this job was almost over. The Bayou was dangerous enough, but this close to Orleans was a whole ‘nother matter. I had heard enough rumors about the war going on, and a few shipping jobs to know that it was no place to make camp. Not to mention I was in the middle of a lake, with fog, and no radar. I was basically a sitting duck.

Still, if trouble came, I still had my Winchester…

“Say,” she said, knocking me out of my thoughts, “Since we didn’t talk much, you don’t mind if I ask about you, do ya?”

“Ask away, if I don’t like a question, I’ll just not talk.”

“What exactly do you do, other than just ferry people?”

“Well, I ferry items. Trade, contraband. Never touch slaves though, that just has too much baggage to it, not to mention I’m not the biggest fan of the trade. As well, I’m sort of an explorer. If someone wants to know about something, somewhere, and don’t want to go themselves, they hire me to take a look. Some pay me up front, some I give an extra charge for my grievances.”

“So, you need to know how to fight.”

“More like, I need to know how to survive. I can live fine on my own, I’m no slouch with a rifle, and I’m good at talking. It helps with making deals. Just as well-“

(VROOHM)

Oh shit! I know that sound anywhere! Boats, coming at us fast. I turned to see two small, fast boats approaching mine from the front, and both had a blue flag where one could see it. Blue Water. I lulled the engine, turned the boat so it didn’t hit them head on, and quickly got my rifle.
On each boat, I was about 4-5 people. While some were obviously raiders, I was a few decent pirates and mercenaries among them. That was more than I could handle. Not to mention…oh god, was that a missle launcher!? It was, in the arms of the mercenaries, probably couldn’t trust it to the raiders, to strung out to not blow themselves up.

“Alright,” one of the mercenaries calls out, “let’s make this short and sweet. If you have your papers, let’s seem ‘em. If you don’t in the next minute, we take the boat, and anything on board, and you can swim home. If you try to start a fight, we blow your ass out of the water, and sell the scrap.”

Papers. Well, at least I wasn’t in too much danger. I had dealt with Blue Water before, during a stint in South Carolina, so I knew how what to have at any given time. I had the papers, two way trip into their territory for any purpose, good for a year.

“Yeah, I got them.”

“Alright, were sending someone over to make sure. You try anything, we sink you.”

They sent over one of the mercs, big guy in combat armor. He hoped on the boat with a crash, and I was damn near afraid he had split the deck. He handed him my papers, and watched him take a look.
“Hmm, yup, these check out. Sorry for the trouble, but you know how business is. In truth, I don’t even know why we’re patrolling out here anyway, we’re too north for many travelers…” I heard him stop, and saw him start looking around the boat. I follow his gaze and saw he was looking at the girl. Belle. “Who’s she?” he asked, not even looking at me. Even as he spoke, I saw that Belle was looking suddenly alert, and making a move for her pockets.

“The one who hired me to come up here. Name’s Belle.” Even as I said, I knew I shouldn’t have. The second he heard that name, he grinned, like he was looking at gold, and shouted, “Well boys, looks like we just earned ourselves a bonus. We found Belle before anyone else.” He then turned to me and said “Kid, you let us take, and we’ll double whatever she paid you.” Now with armed men surrounding you, you wanting to get away, and the “cargo” not looking like she was willing to put out, this certainly sounds like a good deal.

“Well, I guess-“

“I’m afraid that our deal has been cancelled, Mr. Navigator.” I heard her call out from behind me, with a detonator in her hand. She pressed on the button, while at the same time jumping into the water. I heard the detonation before I felt it. It came from below decks, the bitch must have stashed some explosives near the bottom. Then, the blast came, and I went out. The last thing I saw was the water, and the last thing I heard was several men, sounding like less than who had been there before, shouting “After her”.

I blacked out.