Ch. 27 Pack Leader

Colton puts Purifier over his shoulder and begins his descent down the mountain. He takes extra caution since a slip here would send him crashing all the way down.

His path ends up taking him towards the parking lot so he decides to just check the place out first.

Colton moves along the still standing fence and gets inside where it's fallen. He sees a destroyed prewar cars and 2 trailers. One big one and a small one. There are three others but they look blown up, probably when the Powder Gangers drove the NCR out.

He hears the howls of Coyotes and…. the barking of dogs?

Colton decides to look around after he checks the trailers for loot.

Inside the smaller one is a bed that should be immediately burned. Who knows what the stains on it are. And there is a note that is too faded to read. Colton can't even make out anything besides a few letters. It also seems unfinished. Maybe somebody was here before the NCR, or maybe it's an old live letter that the NCR left behind. Either way the note was trash.

So Colton makes his way over to the bigger trailer that is maybe 3 times the size of the smaller one.

Inside seems to have been turned into an actual livings quarter. There was a bed at the very end with a dresser and metal shelves on either side. Colton makes sure to check for explosives as he enters. To his left is everything else. And to his right is just a table and some chairs, not much room for anything else since the trailer extends on his left.

Nothing in the oven. Just a pot and coffee maker on the stove. The fridge is missing it's door. And the metal shelves are empty bar an empty box. The dresser has a grimy prewar suit that nobody should wear.

Colton walks up to the bed and is surprised that it's actually pretty decent. Sure he would prefer the ground, but if somebody was desperate it could work.

When Colton turns to leave he notices a crate he nearly missed. And on its wooden side were three capital Xs. "If explosives keep finding their way into my pockets I might actually increase my Explosive skill"

"Hahahaha!" He laughs at what he said. There's no way he will increase Explosive skill before he maxes a few other skills out first.

He opens the crate and his eyes bulge at how many sticks of TNT are in it. He carefully takes one out and inspects it to see if it'll explode at the slightest bump in his pack.

To his 34 Explosive skill, the TNT should be fine. And he might be able to sell it for a pretty penny…. pretty cappy? Pretty cap.

He exits the trailer with a smile on his face considering he didn't blow himself up. But considering where he is, he'd rather keep his 1 luck in check.

He hears a bark and looks beyond the fence and sees a wild dog. And soon a red marker appears on his compass and he instantaneously draws Lucky.

The dog begins barking and runs around the fence and leaps towards him.

*Bang*

The dogs skids to a stop after doing a front flip. It's head begins to bleed heavily. The .357 round seems to have done considerable damage.

Colton looks around and notices two white markers on his radar a bit away. And he sees two more wild dogs, but these don't seem aggressive.

Colton doesn't want to find out though so he turns towards the entrance of the NCRCF. He takes two steps before hearing a scuttling sound like that of multiple Radscorpions. And then he hears the dogs barking furiously.

He looks back towards the dogs and sees around 9 Bark Scorpions were attacking the small pack of dogs.

Colton runs to the dogs aid. He draws his 12.7mm pistol as well and begins firing at the oversized scorpions.

They may be small, but their carapaces are more dense than he expected. At the distance he shot at the bullet barely went in. And it only seemed to piss them off. But it drew their attention away from the dogs.

Colton reloads and continues running forward.

[ [Rambo Style] in effect ]

Colton gets closer and notices the effectiveness of his bullets increase. It's the combination of his perk and the decrease in distance.

He quickly ends the Bark Scorpions lives and saves the dogs. He makes sure the dogs don't attack before he holsters his weapons.

Colton looks at where they came from and he can barely make out a passage in the mountains that he didn't climb and descend. Maybe it was a way to Novac without having to go all the way around and through Nipton.

Something to check out later.

Colton takes out the poison glands from the scorpions because why not. Somebody probably wants them for some random reason.

And when he is done he turns around and sees the small pack of dogs sitting down and looking at him.

"What do you guys want?" Colton looks at the corpses of the Radscorpions and wonders if they're safe to eat. He did only take the poison gland so they are still mostly intact.

"If you guys wanna eat them go ahead" Colton motions towards the scorpions.

There was a bigger dog in the front of the small pack. Maybe 1.5 times bigger than the others. And the big boy got up and quickly went to the Bark Scorpions bodies and started eating. After their leader moved the others followed as well.

Colton watched as they used their front paws and teeth to rip and tear apart the carapace of the Bark Scorpions and get to the meat. It was something new and something Colton hadn't expected to see.

There was the leader, probably alpha, of the group. And then there were 7 other fully grown dogs ranging from deathly skinny to almost as swoll as the big boy himself.

Colton was caught up in the sight of the dogs eating that he lost track of time until they finished eating. And once they were done the alpha dog went up to Colton.

"What do you want bud? I don't have any food for you" Colton says to the approaching dog.

Once the alpha gets to Colton it turns to face Colton's right and lifts its back leg and begins peeing.

Colton immediately jumps back and kicks his now wet shoes. "What the hell?! Is that how you say thanks!"

The alpha lowers its ears and its tail slows down to a stop as it sits in front of where Colton is now standing. And then the dog looks down at the ground.

"Oh what? Now you feel bad?" Colton checks his socks. "Oh thank god"

"No piss socks" Colton puts his pant leg down and looks at the alpha only to see the rest of the pack behind him and on their backs.

It takes a moment for Colton to realize what they're doing. "No. Nope. Not gonna happen. I'm a cat person!"

The alpha gets up and moves to Colton's side where his hands are on his hips. And the alpha licks his hand.

Colton shudders at the sensation of the tongue going across the back of his hand. "Guugh"

Colton lifts his hands into the air to stop the alpha from licking him.

The alpha whines once and then goes back to his pack but sits and looks at Colton's feet with its ears lowered.

Colton has mixed feelings about this. On one hand it would be cool to have a pack of dogs. On the other, he is going into very dangerous situations where the dogs are likely to die. Maybe he can leave them at Primm, Goodsprings, or Novac if he gets there?

Colton scratches the back of his neck. "Fine. You guys win. But I don't speak dog or anything so good luck understanding me"

The alpha dog immediately barks and gets up with its tail wagging fast. The other dogs do the same but stay behind the alpha.

Colton shrugs. "I can't promise nothing but I guess letting you guys eat the meat of the animals I kill won't hurt. And it might keep bigger animals away from the roads I kill them on…" He begins talking to himself about the benefits of this.

The alpha walks up to Colton and headbutts Colton's knee.

"What?" Colton comes out of his thoughts. He reaches down and holds his hand out.

The alpha sniffs it and then moves to his side which perplexes Colton. But as he was confused the other dogs moved in and began sniffing his hand. It was a bit overwhelming since the 7 dogs went in all at once.

But Colton just let them do whatever it is they're doing. After a minute the alpha barked and the other dogs sat down where they were standing, in a sort of half-circle around Colton.

This made absolutely no sense to Colton. "Names?" He asks but only gets greeted by pants and what could be interpreted as happy smiles as some dogs panted with their tongue out of their mouth. All their tails were wagging rapidly and hitting eachother.

"I guess I'll have to give names then" Colton says to himself as he fully stands up and looks at the dogs around him.

Colton thinks and realizes something. He sucks at naming things.

"Belly up" Colton says but the dogs do nothing.

"Uhhh…. Lay down" Colton commands.

The dogs all get down on their stomachs in unison.

"Roll…. to your backs" Colton says uncertainly.

The dogs turn their heads to the side.

Colton tries to think of something. He goes to the alpha and taps his side and, as gently as he can, moves the dogs to its back. "Belly up" He says.

The other dogs seem to get the idea. But they all roll into eachother. Eventually they sort themselves out and are now all laying on the ground on their backs.

"So we have 5 males and 2 females, besides the male alpha dog. Ok" Colton thinks for a second.

He thinks of names as he goes around and scratches their bellies which causes them to become even happier that their savior accepted them.

"You…" Colton looks at the big alpha dog. "…. I'll name you Raksha"

Raksha barks happily and goes up to Colton who scratches his head.

Colton pets Raksha as he looks at the others. "Alright. Boys first"

"Zeus" The second biggest dog

"Duke" The dog with the cleanest looking fur

"Joe" The one that looks average.

"Charlie" The dumb looking dog

"Abe" The skinniest dog.

Colton then looks at the two females. "You two are pretty similar"

"Lola" The bigger female dog

"Coco" The smaller female dog with some brown fur compared to the others.

Colton feels mentally exhausted since he had to think of names for 8 dogs. And he has to think of feeding them and giving them water. "Definitely dumping you guys somewhere useful the first chance I get"

The dogs just look at him as they sit in a line panting and wagging their tail.

Colton looks towards the entrance of the Correctional Facility and at the guard towers. He waves at a few guards that are staring at him. Some more violently than others.

He walks towards the entrance but pauses after a few steps and looks over his shoulder. The dogs didn't move an inch from where they sat. "Come"

The dogs get up and all run to him. Raksha going to his side while the others stay behind him.

"I don't know if I should be happy or sad that I know have you guys" Colton mutters to himself as he continues walking.

Colton gets the the entrance and there is a few men waiting for him. Guns out and at the ready. One dumbass has a stick of dynamite ready.

The guy who looks to be in charge walks up on the other side of the metal gate that can slide to the side. "Look at you, walking in here like you're one of us. Don't you know this is Powder Ganger territory?"

Colton holds his hands in the air. "I know, I'm actually looking for somebody inside. What did you guys do to this place?"

"This? This is - or was - the big house. The New California Republic Correctional Facility. Not much "correcting" went on here, just slave labor. One day, us prisoners decided to liberate ourselves. Killed the warden, killed the guards, took over the whole damn territory" The guy says proudly. "And who you lookin for? Better not be any trouble"

Colton lowers his hands to his sides. "Just some guy who used to be a sheriff. Have a few questions for him. And the names Colton. You?"

"The names Dawes. Don't forget it" The man says and crosses his arms with his .357 magnum in his hand.

"Alright Dawes. Mind if I ask who's in charge of the prison since you guys took it over? Must be a great guy to be able to keep all the inmates mostly united" Colton asks utilizing his Speech skill.

Dawes nods. "That'll be Eddie. You can usually find him sitting in the warden's old chair up in the main building"

"Hm. Eddie" Colton says to himself as he looks down to his side at Raksha.

He then looks back to Dawes. "I don't suppose you will let me walk in will you?"

Dawes shrugs. "Well, I don't know. Depends on if you can make it worth my time. A hundred caps sounds right to me"

Colton looks at the men behind Dawes that are closer to the building. "Fine" He reaches into his pocket and begins taking caps out and counting them.

Dawes looks at the dogs. "How did you take those things? They been out in front of the second gate for days and didn't bother anyone but didn't listen to anyone either. Some people already saying you are a dog whisperer or something"

Colton finishes counting 100 caps. "Here, and I'm just that good"

Dawes smiles as he takes the caps through the fence. "Whatever man" He then slides the gate open. "You can go on in. Can't guarantee your safety, though. Just saying"

Colton walks past him and whistles for the dogs to follow. "I think I'll be fine"

He walks to the door and opens it as the others watch him. The dogs glaring and growling at the men that have their weapons drawn.

Colton walks into the place that is labeled Visitor Center. Inside it's dark and the lights are flickering and struggling to stay on. There are some tables, a few knocked over. And a fuck ton of empty bottles and cans on the ground and lots of people wearing the Powder Ganger outfit.

To his right is a desk which is probably the receptionist area. The terminal on the desk is busted as well.

Colton looks around and spots a man wearing a cowboy hat. A few others are wearing hats. But they all are talking while this man is by himself.

So Colton walks up and sits across from the man.

The guy looks up from his nearly empty beer bottle. "Didn't know anyone would willingly walk into this place, not unless they were looking for trouble. What's your story?"

Colton relaxes his feet and leans back in his chair. "Sit"

The dogs all sit behind him besides Raksha.

Colton looks at the man in front of him. "I'm looking for somebody. Do you know a man named Meyers. You know him?"

The older looking man scratches his beard. "Depends who's asking and why they're doing so"

Colton leans forward on the table. "Names Colton and I'm looking for him because he used to be Sheriff. I wanna know if he wants to be a Sheriff again after I ask him a few questions. So where is he?"

The man gives a small smile. "You're talkin with him. So what kinda questions do ya have?"

Colton gives a short nod. "What did you do before you ended up incarcerated?"

Meyer looks down and lifts his nearly empty bottle up. " I was a sheriff, believe it or not, for a small town far to the west of here. The short version is that sometimes justice is a little slow, and I helped speed it up one too many times. I'm not sorry for anything I did, but I will do the time. Fair enough trade, if you ask me" He sternly says. Clearly not regretting what he did.

"I can respect what you did to a degree. But are you 100% sure you were right?" Colton asks.

"Of course. But it's not like I can go back and double check now. Even if I could I wouldn't. Those bastards deserved what they got even if they weren't the ones that did that specific crime. They probably did something worse or just as bad" Meyers nearly spits every time he mentions the people he skipped the process on.

"Fair enough. How about you tell me what happened here in the prison?" Colton leans back but keeps his arms on the table.

Meyers looks around. Everyone sent a look Colton's way when he entered since they don't have many visitors but are back to doing their own thing now. "I understand that Cooke was behind it all. I kept my head down the whole time. Didn't want any part of it. I stuck around, figuring the NCR would show up and put things back the way they were. No sense in making myself look guilty, right?"

"That's smart of you. You get to stay in here safe from the Wasteland and you just have to wait around. And I would probably have done the same thing you did" Colton agrees with Meyers. But now that he has the system he probably wouldn't just sit and do nothing as long as he had the chance to leave. "Who is this Cooke guy anyway?"

Meyer places his bottle on the table and shrugs as his gaze goes to Colton. "Some kind of anti-NCR rebel. Some people just don't like being pushed around and told what to do"

"I don't like being pushed around and told what to do either. Where can I find this guy?" Colton requests. It might be useful info in the future. Might get some brownie points with the NCR for bringing this guy in.

Meyers thinks for a brief second. "He went north with some of the other guys. Didn't say where, didn't say why. All I know is he's got some kind of score to settle with the NCR"

Colton tilts his head. "Huh. I figured he would have stuck around and led you guys. Guess he dipped and this Eddie guy stepped up?"

Meyers looks around again. "I guess you can say that. Pretty sure Cooke has something planned and Eddie just wanted to control everyone and everything here and in the area. Things just worked out I guess. Funny when you think about it"

"Yeah, funny" Colton looks into Meyers' eyes. "So, why are you still here?"

Meyers points out the doors Colton walked in from. "I'm not quite sure the kind of greeting NCR troopers will give an escaped con like myself. Figure it's better to stay put for now"

Colton wasn't sure if he expected a different answer or not so he moves on. "So how did Eddie take charge? I'm sure there were others who wanted the position of top dog"

*BARK*

Raksha barks and Colton pats his head.

"Very funny Raksha" Colton says unamused but the dog seems pleased by the praise.

Meyers looks over the table and at the dogs behind Colton. "Eddie and his buddies were the ones with guns and the dynamite. So nobody really felt like trying to stop them. And so they cal the shots, even now"

Colton puts both hands on the table and leans forward and motions for Meyers to do the same. "How would you feel about being the new sheriff of Primm?"

Meyers hears the offer and leans back as he shakes his head. "Assuming an NCR pardon comes with the job, and it had better, I'll also need to be able to do things my own way"

"Go for it man" Colton shrugs.

Meyers seems interested after seeing Colton's reaction. "Due process has its place, but sometimes it's just a waste of time. I'll need to know that I'm not going to end up right back in prison"

Colton thinks for a second. "As long as you don't go around shooting people and only the guilty I'm sure it's fine. I'll make sure your pardon is the fancy kind that extends to your sheriff position"

Meyers' eyes widen. "That's it?"

"What do you mean?" Colton asks. "I walked all the way here to come get you. I'm not gonna be picky. And if you take the law seriously and into your own hands I'd say it'll make Primm that much safer. So you have a deal"

Meyers smiles, clearly happy to get out of this dump or to be sheriff again. "All right, then. Guess I'll just make a quiet exit. No need for a goodbye party or anything"

Meyers gets up and swiftly makes his way out of the building, leaving Colton and his nearly empty drink at the table.

Colton would have followed but pauses when he sees his objective.

[ Objective Complete

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

- •Meyers, a former sheriff from NCRCF, is willing to be sheriff of Primm if he gets a pardon from the NCR•

2/4 Objectives Complete]