Capítulo 39: Conversation in The Campfire
We didn't spend too long in Nipton, particularly because we wanted to reach Novac as fast as we could. However, traveling at night would be equivalent to looking for trouble. So, we stayed in one of the best places I could think of. We stayed the night at Wolfhorn Ranch. The empty ranch in the middle of nowhere served the best purpose for us.
It was located on a high ground, which meant ambush became very difficult. Since it was an abandoned ranch, there was also a well that we could use as our source of water. The only problem was the lack of food, but since we packed them into the brahmin, it didn't come out as an issue. Burnable woods and planks were also scattered all over the place.
"Good choice of place, Enzo. I know I wouldn't regret having you as a bodyguard," Bob said.
Jansen and Jensen were cooking inside of a pot. The content was simple, beef jerky with corns alongside flour soup. It sounded worse than it taste. I have tried to lick the thing, and it was not that bad. It was just unappetizing. In comparison to the snack bar, I'd rather have this. Still, the king of field meals was MRE.
"Jansen, do you still got that bullion cube that you bought from a trader in I-15?" Jensen asked.
"Brother, I thought you pack them in your pocket," Jansen said.
"Really? I don't think I have even touched that. C'mon, check again."
The two were bickering about the lack of flavor in that ration that they were cooking. Bob just smiled while I watched them eventually grabbing each other's pockets to search for the bullion cube. It was in Jensen's pocket after all. He then put the bullion into the soup.
"These two, are they fighting a lot?" I asked.
"Not really. It's just the usual sibling bickering, nothing less, nothing more," Bob said.
"It's rather interesting that you see it that way," I said.
"Well, the story with both of them is not as happy as I preferred it. Still, to be honest, seeing both of them grow up like this is enough for me," Bob said.
"Huh?" It became interesting again.
"Jensen and Jansen are twins, that I picked up when the Legion was not so intense on the other side of the river. Both of them were very little back then, but again, they were at least 10. Man, I felt like an old man now," Bob said.
"Hmm? Where did you find them?" I asked.
"Caesar's Legion is not known to be clean, in fact, they were quite clumsy. In this regard, I found both of them hiding inside a wardrobe in a burned town in the other side of Colorado. I raised them up, with the best of my ability, and here I am, old and proud," Bob said.
So, both of them were his sons. That was quite interesting. Considering that Bob picked them up when they were ten years old, they must have been conscious enough to know that Bob wasn't their real parents. "So, how did both of them end up as your bodyguards?" I asked.
"Well, it was not my idea. Jansen still wanted to follow me around, and Jensen wasn't that far different. They both wanted to protect me, so here I am, having both of my sons as my own bodyguards," Bob said.
"That's quite an interesting story, Bob," I said.
"Yeah, I agree. Sometimes, life is weird, eh?" Bob commented.
Jansen brought a pot filled with food in front of us. He then gave every single one of us a spoon and asked me to start eating. Considering washing a plate in Mojave would be a great waste of water, there might be merit in eating straight from the pot.
I ate that weird-looking porridge. It was alright. It looked disgusting, similar to puke, but it tasted alright. Those twins were definitely not good cooks, at least in my opinion. They might be a good bodyguard, but for cooking? I had my own doubt.
"Bob, I am wondering about something," Jansen asked.
"Ask away," Bob said.
"Why do the Legion never attack our caravan? Even with him on our team," Jansen pointed his finger at me. A really good question in actuality, because at this point, it was weird that no Legion assassins had tried to take my life.
"I found you two in Colorado, right? What do you think I'm doing in there?" Bob asked Jensen and Jansen.
"Are you trading with the Legion?" I asked.
"Not with the Legion, per se. More like, with the settlements under the Legion's control. You see, Caesar's protected its citizen, especially caravans since NCR campaign has reduced the number of traders from the west," Bob said.
"Oh, so the Legion rarely attacked a caravan?" I asked.
"Not quite. You see, unless you're one of their old allies, they'd still attack your caravan. What makes you think I hire you in the first place without worrying that the Legion would come after us?" Bob gave a counterpoint.
"Oh, is that so?"
"It is. How do you think the Legion got themselves fed? Besides raiding and scavenging, that is," Bob asked me.
"I see."
After that dinner, all of us, but myself went to a night of sleep. I would stand guard for the rest of the night.
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Poder