Ripped off...

The axe was alright but he'd rather stick to ranged combat as opposed to charging while shouting about Scotland... Or whatever you're supposed to do.

He straps the axe to his backpack, he might hold onto it to see if Tamia wants it, if not he'll just sell it... Three thousand caps wasn't anything to scoff at after all.

Not long after they arrived at the Fire Station they departed, it was a pretty poor haul with everything considered. Even the Elementary School had some Chems hidden in the nurse's office...

The duo continued killing feral ghouls, most of the streets were clear of them but the residential buildings still had a few inside. Afton would usually just breach the door and blow anything behind it away with his sawed-off shotgun.

They continued collecting irradiated dog tags until they had a good 230 of them. Astor had paid 400 for 40 tags last time, so the duo were hopefully in for 2300 caps when they finally returned. Once they sold all their loot they might be able to start going on the offensive against the Legion, as well as finding some leads on Afton's own target.

They'd just reached the last unchecked house and kicked the door in, guns raised to fire at any ghouls they saw... And indeed there was one, sitting in the kitchen with a bottle of whisky in front of them.

It took all the discipline Afton had not to blow their head off, the despairing expression on the ghouls face painted a different picture to the feral ones outside. They took one glance at the duo and gave a weak smile, "So, you're here to finally kill me?... Well? Don't wait on my behalf, just do it." they say in a gravelly voice that grates on the ears.

"Boy, shut your mouth, we don't kill innocent people... Most of the time." Karl muttered the last part.

"What're you doing here?" Afton asks, taking note of the ghouls NCR uniform. Could this guy be the only ghoul here that retained they sanity?

"What do you think? You two are out there killing any ghoul that moves and you think I'll stay put and wait to get shot? I may be like. THIS, but I still wanna live damn it!" he exclaims.

"What's your name son?"

"Priva-No... Just Kyle Edwards." he says, correcting himself before he used his old rank. He doubted the NCR would allow a ghoul among their ranks.

"I'm Karl, this here's Afton. We've been clearing out the ghouls for Sargeant Astor, you know him?"

Edwards nods, "Yeah... I tried to approach him once but him and his squad shot at me. Said it was a mercy killing... It might be, but I'd rather live like this than die like that."

"Maybe we could talk to Astor?" Afton asked, wondering if his maxed out Speech skill would somehow allow him to convince the man. They had a relatively good relationship so maybe he could?

Karl shakes his head, "Son, just head up to Ranger Station Echo north ease of here. Almost everyone in there are ghouls. No point sittin' here feeling sorry for yourself... Why not get revenge on the Legion for turning you into a ghoul and killing everyone in this town?"

...

Edwards slowly nods, "Youknow what... You're right. it's their fault I'm like this, fucking bastards killed everyone!... Alright. I'll head up to Echo, oh, here... Thanks." he says, passing them his irradiated dogtag.

The duo watch the ghoul leave, Afton regards Karl for a moment before asking, "Do the NCR really allow ghouls into their ranks?"

Karl nods, "Kid, the NCR'd take talking dogshit, anything that can hold a gun is prime soldier material to them. Some may not like it, but most ghouls are tough mother-fuckers, think there are some from even before the Great war. Imagine, having access to someone who not only knew how to use pre-war tech, but actually used it in a military setting. The NCR aren't stupid enough to pass that up."

Afton nods in understanding, his time with the Brotherhood had skewed his view on ghouls slightly. From his time playing Fallout 3 he knew that there were many intelligent ones that were more capable than regular humans. He thought from the Brotherhood's teaching that this world might lack those exceptional ghouls, but apparently not.

With that, the duo make their way back to camp and present the ungodly amount of dogtags they'd collected. Sargeant Astor's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets when he saw the pile presented to him.

*Cough*, "Hmm, I... Didn't expect you to retrieve so many, I. May not have enough caps to cover your efforts..." he sheepishly admits.

...

Afton scowls at the man, "So, you ripped us off? Funny, I thought you guys were better than the Legion but, apparently not."

Astor looked as if he'd been punched in the stomach at his remark, "I'll pay you everything I can but I doubt I can cover everything you are owed."

...

"Just pay us what you got and we'll see if we need to start shaking you down." Karl states.

...

Astor walks away and comes back with a large bag, inside were around 1300 caps, almost half of what they were promised.

Afton looked to Karl, "What should we do? I don't want to shoot up an NCR encampment for something like this, but I won't take it laying down either." he whispered.

Karl shrugs, "Not much we can do, truthfully Astor shouldn't even be hiring us as he's in no position to negotiate on behalf of the NCR. Not to mention his rank is too low to actually commission anyone. I do have one idea on how they can repay us though..."

Afton raises a brow and is about to question his partner further when time stops for the N'nth time.

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 15]

[WELCOME TO LEVEL 16]

"Couldn't this shit wait until we're done negotiating?" Afton sighed as the notifications sprung up.