That I will step out.

“Fine. I’ll step out.”

Before you break concealment, you voice a small prayer under your breath. Then, you announce you’re out, and when you do that, you are joined by a girl with blonde hair tied back and braided down her back. She studies you like an excited expression before gasping slightly.

“Holy shit,” she says. “You’re Warren Visser.”

She lowers her rifle and smiles. “Kenji! Step out. This isn’t— this is a big misunderstanding.”

The girl extends a handout. “I’m Scarlet. Private contractor and runner.”

The man named Kenji steps out. At the end of his rifle is a bayonet. The hilt as charms that dangle. He’s Asian and bundled up loosely for the weather, unlike his partner, Scarlet, who has everything strapped close to her body.

You shake Scarlet’s hand and nod. “How do you know me?”

“No reason in particular. I’ve just seen your face on contracts— uhm, I mean, good contractors for hire and whatnot,” she looks at Kenji, mouthing something to him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you out here. I thought you were operating in—“

“Tiny’s Tavern,” you cut in. “It’s in a town—“

“Not far from here,” Kenji says. “Funny you say that. We were heading in that direction.”

“What for? It’s dead there. This contract was the last piece of work for miles until winter is over.”

“Scarlet and I are working with an outfit that’s going to spend a few nights there before moving on,” he looks at Scarlet. “We’re familiar with the place. We operate there frequently.”

“Been there since spring, never remember seeing you. How long has it been?” You inquire.

“Nearly a year now, so seeing you as a new face isn't surprising. You notice anything exciting going on there?” Scarlet slings her rifle around and breathes into her palms. Her voice is friendly, but her eyes are cold. “Any fun faces in town?”

“Fun faces?”

“Eh, yeah…mutants. Russians… bandits?” Scarlet probes, her eyes fixated on you.

Arabella and the twins…

Scarlet continues. “Kenji and I will be in town, so I guess we’ll see what’s new. WHO is new…”

“Not much has changed,” you tell them.

Kenji spits. Between his feet is a green wad of gum. He takes off his bayonet and stows it away. “What’s the latest news?”

“This contract,” you gesture to the forest. “Speaking of which, who was that in the stream?”

Scarlet’s eyes finally leave yours. “One of those vampire freaks. The type that thinks they need to drink blood and prey on the weak. I caught him skulking around last night and tracked him today. Little queer was kinda hard to trap.”

Kenji nods, his eyes staring at your rifle. He supposes you should put it away. You bounce next and sigh. “Don’t suppose you’ll want to split that contract cash one more way, do you?”

Scarlet smiles, her eyes not matching her smile again. “Sure. We don’t need it.”

…

…

The contract is turned in rather uneventfully. The unintended trio (you, Kenji, and Scarlet) begin the trek back. Scarlet pays you about 20% of the money earned, more than you expected.

You notice that they don’t seem to be in any kind of uniform, but the two work with each seamlessly. Picking up on any discomforts they have and finishing each other's thoughts. Scarlet seems to be the keenest on talking, but Kenji is usually the one that voices the more serious topics.

Scarlet tries to ask about Tiny’s Tavern, but just like the last few questions, Kenji clears his throat and finishes it. “She’s wondering if anyone has said anything about the recent increase of raider movement outside your AO.”

“Nah. The last major thing we had was—“ you stop for a reason. Should you tell them about the foxes? Did that count as your area of operation? “Nothing, I guess? Out of all honesty, nothing has happened around here in months. Just outside problems with smugglers and whatnot.”

“What kind of smugglers?” Scarlet asks with what you think is genuine interest.

“Weapons and material— the regular stuff.”

“Who were they?” Scarlet follows with.

Fox girls and fox boys. Even though you wanted to explain the contents of the contract, you got a little nervous when she pressed. Something inside you told you to avoid telling Scarlet the truth.

“I can’t say,” you start. “It wasn’t my contract. I just got pulled in with a group of bounty hunters to take care of it. So I never saw the full picture.”

Scarlet groans. “Bounty hunters? Where’s professionalism?! How did that go?”

“It was alright. We got the contract…well, bounty completed. Killed three guys.”

Scarlet muses and then stops to face you. “3 guys?”

Kenji is behind you, so you’re surrounded on both ends. “Yeah…What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Scarlet lies. “Do you know who the bounty hunters were?”

“You got beef with bounty hunters? I try not to snitch here.”

“Fewer bounty hunters means less competition for contracts– they’re like locusts during the thaw. They gobble up every contract and bounty within a 50-mile radius,” Kenji says. “We wouldn’t kill them, but knowing who they are might tell us whether or not it’s worth sticking around here.”

“Ashley, Flicker, and I think a Dolin? There was another, but I don’t remember his name. Hopkins, I think?” As soon as you say Hopkins, you realize you’ve said too much.

“Hopkin, eh?” Scarlet grins. Her blue eyes flash briefly before she continues walking. “Ashley, Flicker, Dolin, and Hopkins…That’s interesting.”

The silence is uncomfortable. You wish Kenji was in front of you. You wish you knew these woods well enough to run out. You start wishing a lot of things as you realize how hopeless you are with these two.

”I’ll cut through it,” Kenji grunts. “Are you familiar with the Automatic Rifle Syndicate? ARS?”

“Yes,” you tell Kenji. “I got a letter from them a while back. From it was marked with a TM, but I didn’t take.”

You see Scarlet nodding. Somehow you could see her grinning, too, as if she remembered a funny joke and was dying to tell it again. “So, you reject a letter and then smoke some of their people? That’s mean.”

“Am I in trouble?” You laugh, trying to lighten the mood for yourself.

The little marching order you made doesn’t stop or slow down, but Kenji speaks for the column. “Of course not.”

In the outskirts of the town where Tiny’s Tavern resigns, you stop. Scarlet is on your left, and Kenji is on your right. Even without meaning to, they trap you in an awkward situation. Scarlet moistens her lips and looks at you. “We’ll go our separate ways here, but would you like to meet later? Doesn’t have to be tonight, I have stuff to do, but I’d like to get to know you better.”

You’ve had women look at you before, but how her eyes washed over gave you goosebumps. Your fingers twitched, and your brain made up scenarios for defense. Another smile. It’s fake but not ****. “Don’t say no. I’ll make you regret it.”

You **** a smile of your own. “Well, I wouldn’t want that. How’s tomorrow at noon sound? In front of the tavern. I’ll take us all out to eat.”

“Kenji will be busy,” Scarlet says. “Just you and me. I won’t bite, I promise.”

Kenji grunts. “Scarlet?”

“Flora’s with Alex. They hate each other. Round them up. I’ll be fine.” Scarlet’s eyes haven’t left you. She’s killed you a dozen times in her mind, and you’ve only won once in yours. “I’ll stay here for the day and get to know Warren Visser later.”

She extends a hand out to you. “Pleasure meeting you, Warren. I can’t wait to learn more about you.”

You shake her hand. “I’ll catch you around, Scarlet.” You turn around and bow slightly to Kenji, who doesn’t have much emotion in his eyes either. Scarlet and Kenji regroup and walk towards the town, but they start leaning in a different direction of Tiny's Tavern, giving you only a little relief .