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Interlude: Wasteland Commerce

It was another typical day in the Rivet City Marketplace. Flak had just had a quick breakfast of Bloatfly Stew and cheap watered down beer. "Man that food is not good at all. Too bad Gary and his girl are so nice." Flak sighed, "Who am I kidding, I would probably starve if it wasn't for them, I can't afford anything else." Resigned to this fact Flak headed over to his shop and opened up. He had not been in a good mood since last night. It was his and Shrapnel's anniversary, and Shrapnel decided to celebrate by nearly overdosing on Med-X. Flak had to shell out 100 caps of the shop's profit in order to pay Doctor Preston to cure him. Well he certainly wouldn't be getting any for a long time.

At about 10:05 Shrapnel decided to show his ugly mug at the shop, bleary-eyed and sick looking.

"Mornin"

"Speak for yourself"

'Groan'

"This is your own fault deal with it"

"Whatever" and with that Shrapnel sat on the sofa and began to do inventory.

The slamming of the bulkhead door above the marketplace caught Flak's attention. The figure in Talon Combat Armor met his eyes. It was Verea the Lone Wanderer, one of Flak n' Shrapnel's best customers, who walked down the stairs to greet Angela Staley, whom she had a bit of friendship going. She had a bulging duffle bag. Maybe he would get back those 100 caps.

"Hey kid, here to buy?" He asked perhaps a little too eagerly.

"Sorry Flak, selling" Flak wasn't surprised. The girl did a lot of selling. Almost every time she came around his inventory got a little boost.

"What've you got today?"

With a frown Verea pulled out a pair of brass knuckles, a lead pipe, 3 kitchen knives, a tire iron, a .32 pistol, a Chinese Pistol and seven packs of darts. "That's it?"

"I only encountered one group of Raiders this time around! The pickings are slim," she said incredulously.

Sighing Flak handed her the caps, which she pocketed. "Come again soon" he said resignedly. Verea nodded and turned over to Potomac Attire. As she did Flak noticed the Plasma Pistol at her waist that looked fairly new. Shrapnel noticed this as well. "Look at what she's got there! Lying bitch!"

"Come on Shrap you know how it works with people like her. They keep the good stuff send the rejects to us, just the way it is. Now shut up and inventory this stuff!"

Bannon was busy in his clothing store. He always tried to keep busy mending the clothing and armor in his store. In fact it wasn't uncommon for him to deliberately tear clothing just so he could sew it back up. It all was a ploy to keep himself from thinking about where he was, among all this lower-deck riffraff. First he had to eat at that detestable excuse for an eatery everyday. Today instead of his usual Brahmin steak with scotch, he naively tried the Mole Rat pie with vodka, just to see if it tasted better. He was wrong. It sickened him to work in such a place, but tis the life a resident of D.C.

Looking up from the Pre-War Relaxed Wear he was mending, he saw Verea the Commando approach him. Her arrival always conjured up mixed feelings in him. On one hand, it gave his ego a good stroke when he told people that such a famous individual was a proprietor of his shop. On the other hand, the only thing she ever seemed to by was the bobby pins he sometimes had in stock. She also refused to help him oust Seagrave, but then many people did the same. Also she was always so dirty.

Putting on his patented "I talk pleasantly even though I want to back away" persona, Bannon stood up and faced the lone wanderer. "Welcome to Potomac Attire. How may I be of service?"

"Hey Bannon, got some clothes for ya"

"Excellent what see what you have for me." (thinking) "Selling! As usual"

Verea drew out of her bag, some Raider Blastmaster and Sadist armor. "With those horrible hands on them!" Thought Bannon. A Brahmin Skin Outfit, Merc Cruiser Outfit, a motorcycle helmet, a Red Racer Jumpsuit and a pair of sunglasses she extracted next. Bannon took the merchandise, and Verea pocketed her caps. "See you soon" and she departed. As soon as she was out of sight, Bannon shoved the clothes into his trunk. "Ewww bloody Raider Armor". Bannon shuddered. Then he sat back down and resumed sewing.

Seagrave Holmes was an optimistic person by nature. He usually woke up in a good mood. Putting on his motorcycle helmet, he strode out into the market. After a breakfast of Dog Meat Sausage and Brahmin Milk, he went over to Rivet City Supply and opened up. As he was doing so he noticed a familiar face doing business with Bannon of Potomac Attire. It was the Lone Wanderer; Verea. She always had some good junk to sell.

Seagrave Holmes never tried to delude himself into thinking he was a high-end upper-decker like Vera Weatherly, he was a junk dealer, nothing more, nothing less. And even two hundred years after the Great War there was still plenty of junk to go around. Also one thing Seagrave liked about Verea is that she often bought from him, said she needs "components" for something. Well whatever it was, caps were caps.

"Hello Verea!" He said cheerfully

"Hey Seagrave" She said cheerfully back

" What can I do for you?"

"Got some stuff to sell" and with that she extracted a baseball glove, four boxes of Abraxo Cleaner, a harmonica, two pilot lights and a stack of pre-war money.

"Great more merchandise! "

Seagrave put away the stuff and handed Verea her money.

" I would also like to buy"

"Really! Well here is my selection" Verea…always a loyal customer

She cleaned out his supply of bobby pins and his meager supply of ammo. She also purchased a fission battery, a belt, a motorcycle handbrake and to his surprise 3 tin cans. No one ever bought tin cans. He usually sent those to be melted down in what used to be the aircraft carriers nuclear reactor.

" What are the cans for?"

"Weapons Components gotta go! Need to finish selling so I can get to Underworld before nightfall." And with that she strode off before Seagrave could protest.

Sighing in resignation Seagrave began to count his caps. While he did this he muttered an undeniable nugget of wisdom…"Dames who can figure them?"

Cindy Cantelli was not a happy person. She did not have breakfast this morning. What was the point, another horrible meal of a bowl of Ant Meat Bits!? Cindy could barely stomach it. Also there was her pathetic excuse for a husband who only spent his days scrounging for junk in the lower levels just to make the meager caps necessary to drug himself into a stupor with Psycho. Cindy sighed, "Bannon wouldn't be like that," she thought dreamily. But no she had to get married to Paulie and now she was paying the price. It seemed a she had going for her was this measly chem. shop.

Cindy heard footsteps approaching; she looked up and saw the Lone Wanderer. The young women looked down at her with a peculiar look on her face, was it derision? Ah who cares?

"Welcome to A Quick Fix! We've got all kinds of chems" putting on her best voice.

"I need stimpacks, med-x, and psycho" said the wanderer

"Of course" Cindy stood up and walked over to a shelf to get the lady her chems. After handing her the stimpacks med-x and the detestable psycho. Verea then said, "I am also here to sell."

'As usual' "What have you got for me? With that the wanderer handed Cindy some Jet, various flavors of mentats, ant nectar, and many cases of cigarettes. Cindy handed over her caps, which she noticed that the whole transaction caused her to break even. No profit this time. "Thank you visiting A Quick Fix" The Wanderer nodded and left. Cindy sat back in the old ratty chair and began to organize her wares. As she was working two Rivet City Security passed by. They were muttering how Paulie Cantelli had gotten into a fight at the Muddy Rudder during a Psycho trip. Cindy placed her head in her hands and said: "I hate my life."

"Life is Good"

Gary Staley was cleaning plates at the galley, whistling a merry tune. Lets face it he had all he really wanted. A nice, safe place to live. A successful restaurant, a beautiful daughter, who was going to get married soon to a clean, wholesome boy seriously what more could he ask for? Well maybe he could use a new pair of shoes. Well that's what the restaurant is for. And he was doing pretty well thanks to that Verea girl, bless her heart. She was really helpful. She sold him new plates, cups, and silverware, and he well never have to want for pilot lights for that old oven ever again. And she always brought business every time she stopped by. She would always clean out his supply of stimpacks, and she always bought a meal. On top of all that she seemed to making friends with Angela. "That's a good thing," thought Gary. Ever since his beloved wife died, Angela had to grow up really fast, she needed at least some contact with a girl her own age. And speak of the devil; here she comes, after her trading session.

"Hey Angela" Verea said cheerfully

"Hey Verea" said Angela sharing a one armed hug with the girl "Hullo Gary"

"Hi Verea how are you today?"

"Hungry, Starving, Ravenous! I have eaten anything except for 3 nuka-cola's in 3 days!"

"Well that's what we like to hear down at Gary's Galley," said Angela.

"What would you like today?" said Gary handing her a menu.

"I am in a "bowl" mood today. I'll have the Pork N Beans, Blamco Mac n Cheese, Noodles, Squirrel Stew, Mix-Meat soup with Dog, Mole Rat, and Brahmin."

"Coming right up" said Gary grinning at that last order. Mix-Meat soup was an idea by Angela's fiancée Diego. A customizable dish, customers could order a meat stew with their choice of meats. It had been a great success.

"I'll have the Mix-Meat soup too, but this time with Ant, Bloatfly, and Radroach."

"In the mood for bugs today?"

"Unfortunately yes. I don't why. I have never been particularly fond of insect meat but now I can't seem to get enough of it."

"Well there's no accounting for tastes. Thank you Gary" as Gary set her food down in front of her. "And a bottle of purified water please" then she popped a few Rad-X and eagerly dug into the noodles.

"So I hear someone's big day is approaching" said Verea in between bites. Angela blushed "Oh yes the big day will be in two weeks just as soon as we get our affairs in order. Verea busied herself with the mac and cheese, she felt no need to reveal to Angela that the wedding due to her convincing Diego to give up the priesthood. "I really hope you'll come to the wedding Verea"

"Count on it." Verea finished of the Squirrel Stew, belched and pushed the five empty bowls back to Gary.