26 Ch. 26 Sheriff Finder and a Hike

[Objective Complete:

- <Primm's Deputy has been captured by Powder Gangers in Bison Steve and needs to be rescued>

- •<Beagle has been rescued from Bison Steve. Talk to him about protecting the town>•

- •Beagle wants a new sheriff for Primm. He suggested an ex-sheriff at NCRCF and the NCR as potential candidates•

2/3 Objectives Complete]

"Are you really going to recruit a Powder Ganger to be sheriff?" Cass asks with some anger in her voice.

Colton turns to face her as she stomps her way towards him. "Only if he is a good man. I know they are all pretty bad but maybe this Meyers guy is different. If not, we can always have the NCR take this place over. It'll only take me a day to get there. And at most another day coming back depending on how well things go with them"

"I know that they all can't be bad Colton. But fuck, I still don't like the idea of you walking right up to their front door and inviting one of them to come back and be the new sheriff of Primm" Cass kicks a small rock down the street.

"Look. I'll make sure he is the right man for the job. I might even be able to destroy the Powder Gangers while I'm there. Who knows. But I want you here with Chloe and Lauren" Colton scratches his neck. "I trust you more than those damn NCR jerkoffs to protect them"

"Fine, but I ain't gonna be happy" Cass says as she begins walking toward the Vikki and Vanse Casino.

Colton follows her. "I've got some things that'll make you happy, don't you worry"

"Better be as much whiskey as there were empty bottles in that room" Cass says as she marches forward.

——————

Deputy Beagle was welcomed by the townspeople. Some were more enthusiastic than others to have him back. The ones that were happy only cared that this meant the Powder Gangers were gone. Beagle wasn't really something that would make them more safe to have around.

Cass began bargaining with some people to sell their loot they collected.

Colton went to Mr. Nash to talk with.

"What can I help you with youngster?" The old man asks. "Heard you cleared out those Powder Gangsters. I know that was a hard task, but we still don't got law around here. Even with them gone, everyone is still too scared to leave this here casino. I heard from Beagle you were thinking of bringing some law in, but I'd feel better hearing that from you"

Mr. Nash then begins thinking. "Do you have any interest in machines?"

Colton thinks for a little. "I guess? Haven't really come across any. And I was planning on getting Primm a new sheriff"

"In my shop, there's a broken machine that I haven't been able to fix up. May as well be scrap metal. Haven't been able to get rid of it either. If you want, it's yours. And when I get back to business, might be able to get you a discount for what you and Cass have done. I know it ain't much, but it's basically all I can give you besides the thanks of an old man" Johnson smiles at Colton.

"Oh, pushing the unsellable merchandise onto me huh?" Colton jokes. "And it sounds like a deal to me"

"Whatever gets it out of the shop. Ruby was getting annoyed by it cluttering up the place anyway. Two birds with one stone. I get a happy wife and you get a fancy shiny metal ball of scrap" Johnson jokes back. "Happy wife, happy life"

Colton smiles back. "Smart. Well, I should give Cass the rest of our things to sell. I'll see you around Mr. Nash"

Johnson "See you around, Colton"

Colton goes to Cass and gives her the miscellaneous items he doesn't need like the packs of cigarettes and extra weapons. Including his extra .22 silenced pistol and .357 revolver. He wants to keep the baseball bat just because.

Cass gives him the extra chems she had in her bag. She was really happy about getting them out of there.

"And with that, I'll go check on Chloe and Lauren with the NCR" Colton says as he leaves.

"I'll head over there after I'm done here" Cass says.

Colton then heads out of the casino. He looks at the mines near the front of the Bison Steve. He decides to leave them for someone else to deal with. He doesn't exactly want to test his 34 Explosives skill.

He makes his way back under the bridge and gets to the NCR camp where Chloe and Lauren should be.

Most of the soldiers had turned in for the night but a few were still up and at their stations. And they looked at him in disbelief.

Probably because they saw him and Cass enter and exit the hotel. Along with the explosions that they could probably hear all the way over here.

It doesn't take long for Colton to find the only Brahmin in this camp, if you can call it a camp.

The Brahmin were put in the back next to a makeshift tent without a door, the tent just overlapped it's flaps to close itself. The wagon was beside the tent with various things to alert anyone to a potential thief. But it wasn't very advanced. Some glass bottles to clank together, and some other amateur traps. But it would do the job for a NCR protected place like this with them right next to it.

Colton goes up to the flaps of the tent. Since there isn't a metal door like the NCR tents have he wondered how to get their attention.

Colton stomps on the ground a few times with his left foot. "Chloe, Lauren"

The tent slightly opens to reveal Chloe's head poking out with bags under her eyes. "Colton!"

She nearly jumps out of the tent. But she closes the tent and leaves it closed. "Are you alright? There were a few explosions. The NCR soldiers said that you guys got to the end of your luck…."

Colton looks up at the night sky and sees the moon and stars. "Me and Cass made it. A few close calls. But nothing permanent. We even managed not to get any splinters" He takes his gloves off and looks at his hands that are a bit red. The incinerator was really hot and if he didn't have his gloves it probably would have taken some skin with it.

He can hear shuffling from the tent.

"That's good to hear. And did you get all of them?" This was Lauren's voice now. She sounded tired and groggy.

"All of them. There was even a guy with an incinerator. But Cass practically shoved a stick of dynamite up his ass" Colton jokes. He doesn't mention the one that nearly went up his own. "Is there a place to sleep for me around here?" He looks around but doesn't see another tent like theirs.

Chloe responds this time. "There are two more cots in here for you and Cass. Just wait a second"

A minute later Chloe opens the tent and lets Colton inside. It wasn't very fancy inside and it was nearly pitch black in the tent. There were 4 cots inside with sleeping bags inside them. And Lauren was inside one half asleep.

Colton looked at Chloe and could barely see her face when she was standing next to him. He could barely see her wearing sleepwear. He was getting more and more tired as the day's fatigue was hitting him harder. "Which one is mine?" He asks

"You can use that one" Chlo points to a cot at the end of the line of 4.

Colton takes his pack off and Purifier and sets them next to his cot away from the bottom of the tent. He also sets his bat next to them as well. He debated taking his holsters off but decides to just leave them on. It's fine as long as he doesn't roll onto his sides.

He falls onto the cot and Chloe closes the tent, sending it into darkness again.

As Colton shuts his eyes he can feel his body relaxing and getting ready for some well deserved and much needed sleep.

He hears shuffling in the cot next to him. It was Chloe getting into her cot. Her and Lauren took up the two middle cots which left Cass also on the end cot. Colton didn't think much of it and went to sleep.

He woke up an unknown amount of time later to someone opening the tent. It was Chloe letting Cass in and showing her to her cot. Colton went back to sleep after making sure nothing was happening.

Cass only sounded slightly drunk before she went to sleep. Colton remembers something he meant to give her. He could just do it when he gets back.

——————

Before the sun got to rise too high in the sky Colton was already back on the I-15 heading North.

The NCRCF is only about 10 miles if he goes straight to it. But Colton wants to stay on the I-15 until he can go straight East and get there.

So he has a few extra miles until he gets there. But it's kinda better than just wandering through the open land. But Colton is luckier than most, his Pipboy has a map that shows him his location and which way he is facing.

Colton grabbed the packages and cartons of cigarettes that didn't get sold and brought them with him. If anything, he can sell them to the Powder Gangers.

He also left Cass a gift on his bunk before he left. It was some alcohol and some Fixer for her. He planned on giving her the Fixer to cure her addiction sooner, but he forgot about it. But it's all the same in the end. She didn't end up suffering withdrawal anyway.

Before he can even turn his radio station on he sees 3 geckos running at him. And a closer look let's him know that they are Gecko Hunters.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Colton draws Lucky and blasted them each in the skull. It made Colton feel like he was in the Wild, Wild West.

He holsters Lucky and skins the Geckos simce their hide can be sold.

Colton might have ass Barter. But it's better to sell the hide and cigarettes than have them take up space until they can sell them much later.

Now Colton can turn his radio on and continue traveling down the road.

——————

When Colton makes it to a billboard he had already killed around 15 Gecko Hunters. He even had to kill a group of 5 young ones that ambushed him. Or at least they tried to. They were smaller targets, but their hides weren't as thick as the adults. If he wanted to he could kill them if he kicked them hard enough. Which he did when one got too close.

The little ankle bitter was hiding in a dead bush. Colton was walking towards the red marker on his compass and luckily noticed the thing before it tried biting through his ankle.

Colton decided to take a small break near the billboard after walking for a few hours. He walked around to the back and saw something interesting.

THE BURNED MAN WALKS!

This was painted on the back of the billboard and made Colton scratch his head. There wasn't any context. He just chalked it up to someone taking the good stuff and enjoys his purified water and some food.

15 minutes later he got back on the road after walking around a small crater with radioactive barrels in it. This wasn't the first time Colton had heard his geiger before, but hadn't in a few days. It was reassuring to know it still works.

Colton walks past another billboard as he gets near his turning point. This one was facing North. It was about the Vikki and Vance Casino and told people to take Exit 1. It was very worn but Colton could make out the basic info.

He notices friendly markers on his Pipboy to the East. He had seen the markers but hadn't been able to catch a glimpse of anybody. He walks around a prewar semi truck and sees a small camp with a fire pit. There was a small trailer as well.

"Hey you! Take your mask off before I blow you back to where you came!" A rough voice shouts.

Colton turns to see a man wearing the convict attire. It's basically gray or black pants, white dress shirt or undershirt, with a blue jacket. It's a dead giveaway for the Powder Gangers.

Colton could easily kill him, but it might make his job of getting into the NCRCF harder. So he takes his goggles and face mask off. "I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to get to the NCRCF"

The man doesn't lower the dynamite in his hand. "Why would anyone be trying to get into that place?"

Colton holds his hands up. "I'm looking for someone inside. He was a friend my my dad and…" Colton pauses and looks down. "….and after my dad died he's the closest thing to family I got left"

The man lowers the dynamite. "Shit. Well, it ain't like we will blow you up if you don't deserve it. I just didn't like the way your goggle glowed. And you were hiding your face. I don't recommend having it covered unless you need it to be. Makes you look suspicious" He walks up to Colton and puts the dynamite into his back pocket. "You've made it to the Powder Ganger Camp West. East of here is the NCRCF. You are probably going to want to watch out for the mines"

The man points at a few mines around camp. "We were told to set them up. If it's not the geckos it's the damned people"

Colton sees a corpse half eaten with its legs blown off. "Thanks for the warning"

"Not a problem. Be warned, some of us aren't as friendly as me. Take Jerry for example" He points towards a guy walking out of the trailer. "Jerry is a piece of shit"

"Fuck off!" Jerry shouts. "Not my fault you just want to talk to everyone" He grumbles and walks to the fire pit.

"Anyway, be careful" Thw man says. "You can just cut through camp. The mines are only on the outside"

"Thanks. I'll be making my way there" Colton waves at them and continues on.

Colton avoids the mines on the ground and exits the camp. He saw in the trailer and there was ammo boxes stacked up in there. He assumes there was an ammo caravan that got wiped out by them recently.

Once he got out of camp he put his goggle on but left his face mask down. Might as well take some advice from someone. He'd rather not get blown up for looking suspicious.

As he was walking, he had to avoid some Bloatflies. The damn things are decently dangerous.

They can't fly like their non mutated counterparts, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.

Blowtflies attack at long ranges by shooting out an engorged stinger, with a larva attached to it, that can pierce through most materials.

Once the stinger pierced a target it injects a neurotoxin capable of incapacitating larger prey, allowing the bloatfly and its larvae to feed.

Luckily it's neurotoxin doesn't work on anything larger than a human so the stinger only causes localized necrosis. And if that's lucky, you know the bloatfly is dangerous.

But, Bloatflies don't generally engage humans or anything larger unless they get too close. Which makes avoiding Bloatflies an easy task for even the most stealthy handicapped.

And for Colton, moving alone, avoiding them is easy. It just takes longer since he can't just go straight. He has to take detours.

"In the games these guys weren't even a threat. Now these fuckers can kill me with a lucky hit. Damn" Colton mutters to himself as he sneaks around an irradiated water source with 6 groups of 3-5 Bloatfly. They normally stay in groups of 3-5, and this water source is big enough for 6 of these groups to call home. The water source isn't big, it's just that the Bloatflies don't require all that much water. And the nearby Geckos provide a good source of food for the oversized and mutated flies.

As Jay makes it to the other side he notices train tracks going around the mountain in front of him.

"How the fuck did I not see this? Did I think I could just Skyrim horse my way over? Damn" He kicks a rock and looks left and right down the tracks.

He decides to just climb the damn thing. At least he could use his sniper rifle to scout the place out. It's better to know where your exits are when entering enemy territory. But it's optional if you plan on killing everyone.

He begins his climb and it's not that bad except for a few really steep parts. Colton was like electricity as he took the path of least resistance. Choosing the longer path rather than the shortest and quickest.

At the top he looked down at the NCRCF below him. He also got a good view of the bumpy terrain all around him including mountains across from him on the other side of the NCRCF.

The Correctional Facility itself was heavily defended. A fence completely surrounding it with plenty of barbed wire that is nice and rusty yet still strong. 6 sturdy watch towers that allow for guards to fire on the inside and outside of the facility. Only one entrance in that doubles as an exit out, and it happens that it is facing Colton's direction. And a few buildings. It also seems that in order to get in you need to go through a building just to get to the courtyard.

There is another fence that was more for show back in the day. Colton guesses that because it's currently barely standing in some parts. But the parking lot is still surrounded by the flimsy looking metal. But maybe it's stronger, Colton doesn't really care to bother checking.

There are plenty of Powder Gangers inside. He counts around 9 per guard tower and a lot more moving around in the courtyard. Who knows how many are in the buildings.

Colton tucks his .22 silenced pistol into the back of his pants just to be safe. They might demand his weapons if he wants inside. And with that he decides it's time to go in.