Audrey turned up her nose at the gecko Sunny was hunched over. This was a lesson in how to prepare your own kills, one that Audrey was not enjoying.
She nearly threw up at the smell that came when Sunny gutted the creature, and the entrails spilled out on the ground. And the sound. Oh, God, the sound. Audrey swallowed hard.
"You're looking a little green around the gills." Sunny smirked at her. She nodded and looked away. "I reckon you'll be around town a while… Why don't we continue this tomorrow. I'll bet that gecko Cheyenne scared off will be back." The dog barked loudly at her name, and Audrey flinched. The dog really did seem friendly, but Audrey's mysteriously fearful disposition to dogs overrode her senses and kept her a safe distance from the canine.
"Promise she won't bite ya." Sunny cocked a hip. "She likes her chin scratched. You do that and you'll be the best of friends…" Audrey shook her head and took a step back. Sunny sighed and shook her head. "Alright. You can head back, if ya like. I need to finish gutting this. Do you remember the way back?" Audrey shrugged. She thought she did but she hesitated at the idea of her walking alone, and not being able to shout or scream for help. "Alright. Cheyenne knows the way, just follow her." Sunny looked at the dog. "Cheyenne, go home. Take Audrey home." The dog barked and started to trot towards town. Audrey shuffled to catch up.
Sunny understood her better than the Securitron had, but not by much. But with all the shooting they had to do, the pencil-paper method didn't work. She was lucky none of the geckos managed to bite her.
It scared her that she had no other way to communicate. If a gecko had bitten her, there was no guarantee she could indicate to Sunny, or anyone else for that matter, that something was wrong.
The walk back to town was long, but uneventful. Cheyenne was well trained, and she lead Audrey right back to the saloon. Audrey stepped away from the dog warily and opened the front door. Something brushed up against her leg and she nearly shot straight up straight into the ceiling. Cheyenne pushed past her and into the room, flipped around and barked at her. She pushed herself up flat against the door and closed her eyes. Cheyenne barked again and came closer. She whimpered and pressed back more.
"Cheyenne!" A gruff voice shouted, which caused the dog to turn. The sharp tenor of his voice startled her and made her jump. She turned and shrunk against the door. The man who had sat at the bar now stood, staring at her. The dog rushed him and sat excitedly at his feet. He leaned down and rubbed the dog's head. "Where's Sunny?" He asked.
Audrey shook. He was taller than her. Wider. Bulkier. Her heart raced up her throat. Blood drained from her face. She scrambled backwards and dove under one of the booth's tables, smacking her hip on the chair as she did.
"Hey!" He shouted, and she heard him coming after her. She whimpered and stayed where she was. He would be too big to fit there with her.
Cheyenne wasn't, though, and she stepped in to sniff Audrey. Audrey whimpered audibly and pulled her knees to her chest.
"Where's. Sunny." The man growled. She shook her head and closed her eyes, waiting to be yanked out of her hiding spot.
Just then, the door opened. Audrey saw the light flood in. The dog backed out from under the table and barked happily.
"Who wants gecko steaks!" Sunny questioned happily. "Adam?" Her tone changed. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything." He growled. "She came back with your dog. I worried she'd done something to you and she didn't answer me when I asked where you were."
"Well where is she?" Sunny asked, sounding irritated.
Audrey heard footsteps and cracked open her eyes. Sunny crouched and stared at her.
"Sorry, Audrey. Adam can be a big meanie, huh?" She offered Audrey her hand. "It's okay, though. He's all bark, no bite."
Audrey eyed her hand warily before hesitantly taking it. Sunny helped her out from under the table.
"You're pretty jumpy." Sunny grinned. "Adam got you, Cheyenne gets you… I bet Trudy could scare your socks off." She smiled at her. "Speaking of Trudy… she's been wanting to meet you. Come on." She pulled Audrey gently around the corner. Audrey wanted to resist. Whoever this Trudy was, they didn't sound pleasant when compared to the dog and the man. But they rounded the corner, and the only person in sight was a woman-older than her, and definitely older than Sunny- who was cleaning glasses behind the bar. She looked up and saw them, and smiled.
"Well, now. You've been causing quite a stir. Glad I finally got to meet you; Someone's told me a bit about you... Welcome to the Prospector Saloon." She glanced behind her. Adam had slumped into a booth far behind them. "I'm so glad to hear you're up and about. The nerve of those scumbags… I wish Adam'd been able to hit 'em. Who goes around shooting young women like that?" She scoffed. Audrey's head started to hurt worse, and she felt herself sway slightly. Sunny and Trudy both noticed.
"Why don't you head on back to Doc's?" Trudy spoke softly. It was less a suggestion, and more a command, Audrey thought, and she agreed. She nodded and headed out the door, back to Doc Mitchell's house. She was looking forward to food, and then a long, well deserved nap.
Adam watched the woman walk out of the saloon and stood up. He walked to where Sunny and Trudy stood.
"Did I hear right earlier, that you scared the poor girl?" Trudy put her fists to her hips and cocked her hip to one side.
"He put her under the table." Sunny nodded. Adam glared at her.
"Adam! That's not very nice." Trudy scolded.
"I don't appreciate you tag-teaming me." Adam pointed at the two women. "Look, she was jumpy, okay? She was as soon as she saw me. It was a mistake. I yelled at her because Sunny didn't come back with her and Cheyenne."
"Aww. That's sweet, Adam, but I can handle myself." Sunny smiled up at him. He rolled his eyes.
"She could have got the drop on you." Sunny gave him a look.
"Her?" Sunny snorted. "Adam, she barely hit any of the bottles out back, and she killed one gecko. I think I can take her."
"Don't underestimate your opponent." Adam replied gruffly. Never underestimate your opponent. He learned that the hard way, more than once.
"She's not my opponent, Adam. She's a girl who was shot in the head and who needs all the help she can get." Sunny snapped a little. Adam shook his head.
"I'm worried about her." Trudy sighed. "Sure, Doc's keeping her close for a few days, but as soon as she leaves, the Mojave is going to eat her up." She shook her head. "Would be a waste of good life."
"We don't know it's a good one." Adam commented. Both women glared at him. "It's a valid point, okay? None of us know her."
"Maybe I'll convince her to set up here." Sunny mused. "Have her move in next door to me." Adam scoffed.
"She'll never answer the door. She'll jump under the table and cry until you go away." Sunny elbowed him in the side.
"Those bullets left her mute, shit-for-brains." Adam frowned. Oh. Chalk that up on things he wished he'd known before he spoke. Guess it wouldn't be considered rude not to answer people if it wasn't possible.
He wondered just how much of his foot he could shove in his mouth.
The front door flew open, and slammed shut, which startled all three of them. The dog turned, bared her teeth, and growled at the man who entered. He was dressed in prison clothes. Adam hovered his hand by his hip. A Powder Ganger, in town… only one person responsible for that. Ringo. Suave bastard, got the whole town caught in his mess.
Adam kept his eyes on the man.
"What are you doing in here?" Trudy scowled. "You're not welcome here."
"I'm here to give you fuckers a warning." He sneered. "Name's Joe Cobb. I want you to remember that, because if you don't hand over that fucker Ringo, we'll burn him out of this fuckin' dump." Adam scowled.
"We'll keep that in mind. Now, if you're not going to buy something, get out." Trudy snapped, and pointed to the door. Joe Cobb turned and made his way to the door, but not before sneering at Adam.
The door slammed before they spoke again. Trudy sighed and rubbed her face.
"We ought to just throw Ringo out." Adam said, earning more glares. "He's caught the whole town in his problem and it's turning dangerous."
"Well I think we should fight. Joe Cobb talks about leaving us alone if we hand over Ringo, but I know his type. He and his friends will come after the town eventually. We need to nip this in the bud." Adam shook his head. He was the most experienced fighter in town, with Sunny just behind him. And she mostly shot geckos. The Powder Gangers were people-terrible people, at that, but still people.
"I was planning on sitting this one out, but… That was the last straw. No Powder Ganger is going to raze Goodsprings. Not if I can help it." She shook her head. "Let me have a word with a few other folks and I'll see if I can't round up some more members for this militia we're creating. It would be great if Chet would offer up some supplies to help." Sunny and Trudy both looked at Adam.
"What?" He blinked at them, before their intentions were made very clear. "Seriously?"
"Chet's a little frightened of you. You'll have a better chance of convincing him." Sunny smirked. Adam rolled his eyes.
"Doubt that. Sniveling little shit is persistent… Why don't you convince Easy Pete to hand over some dynamite?" Sunny laughed.
"We all know he doesn't trust anybody but himself with his dynamite." She bit her lip.
"Chet just doesn't want to take a loss if anybody actually ends up needing that armor." Adam rolled his eyes. "…Coward..." He shook his head, again.
"Speaking of finding help," Trudy hummed, "what about her?"
"It'd be better to leave her with Doc Mitchell… She's in no condition to fight." Trudy and Sunny shared a look.
"I wouldn't turn down the help if she offered it. Who knows how many Powder Gangers Cobb will throw at us. One more person could make it or break it for us..."
"Yeah. Why don't you go ask her, Adam?" Trudy smiled. Adam gave her a sour look.
"Sounds like a great idea. Go check on her." Sunny elbowed his ribs.
"Fine." He grumbled.
Audrey groaned as Doc Mitchell woke her up for the third time that day. She glared at him through slitted eyelids.
"Ya got a visitor." Doc grinned. Audrey cocked her head at him. A visitor? Who? Sunny?
All Audrey wanted was to rest. Everyone told her she needed to, and yet her rest had been interrupted. Again. Why would someone visit now? She shook her head.
If it was Sunny, it was probably important.
She sat up slowly. The pounding pain in her head threatened to break through her skull.
Doc lead her around the corner and into his living room. A familiar figure stood in front of the couch. She jumped back quickly, and bumped into the doc.
"Careful, now!" He grumbled, grabbed her shoulders and gently held her to the spot. "Got a bum knee, ya know…" Audrey tried to back up further. Panic built in her throat.
"Look, I, uh. Sorry about earlier. My name's Wes. Adam Wes." Adam rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor. "Was wondering if you wanted to help Goodsprings with a criminal problem." Audrey relaxed a little. She stared at him. He stared back for a second. She held up a finger and ran inside to grab her pencil and paper. When she returned, she showed him the piece that said her name, the one she'd written just that morning.
"Audrey Booth, huh?" He nodded. She flipped the page and wrote a sentence.
'What criminal problem?'
He read the sentence slowly.
"Oh." He straightened up. "This guy Ringo's got the town mixed up in his problems with the Powder Gangers. We're fixing to fight 'em." He avoided her eyes. "…Sunny 'n' Trudy wanted me to ask if you'd help."
She stared at him for a moment, before nodding.
Goodsprings had been good to her. She would do this for them.
Adam's lips stretched into a thin line. He didn't seem to be happy with her. She guessed he was still upset from her reaction earlier that day. Fine by her- She wouldn't forgive him any time soon, either. He nearly drove her into a panic attack. Something told her they were frequent, that she'd had plenty before, but she knew she hadn't had any since her getting shot in the head, and anger rose in her stomach at the thought of him almost breaking that streak, and she'd just woke from surgery that morning. She put her paper and pencil aside and stomped past him. The setting sun stabbed at her eyes and she winced. Even at dusk it was too hot.
Adam stepped up beside her and sighed.
"We gotta go talk to Ringo. Those Gangers will be back soon, and he's the only one who's not filled in." He said evenly before starting up the hill, towards a derelict gas station.
The man inside was calm, calmer than a man on the run should have been. But he had a gun, and it was pointed at Adam.
"Easy, Ringo…." Adam warned.
"You come to kill me? Get rid of me so there'll be no more problems? I know Cobb came into town." The gun in his hand shook. "I'm ready for you, Adam. Try me. I'll fuck you up." Ringo's eyes fell on her. They were nice eyes, but he couldn't mask the panic. "And what's she doing here? Did you bring her along, hope she'd distract me? Soften me up?"
"Put the gun down, Ringo. I'm going to help you with the Powder Gangers. She is too." Ringo scoffed.
"Yeah. Wes, the helpful guy. You gonna help me like you 'helped' those other guys? Fuck you. How do I know you aren't going to shoot me when my back is turned?"
"I guess you're just gonna have to trust me." Adam growled. Ringo shook his head and scoffed.
"That's the thing, Wes. I don't trust you. I trust Sunny. Hell, I trust her more than I trust you." Audrey felt a little pleased with that comment.
"Look, Ringo. If I was going to kill you, you'd be dead already." Adam hissed. "And her? She's a wildcard; she doesn't even remember who she is!"
"Yeah, well." He looked at Audrey, really looked at her. "I talked to her on my way into town." Audrey's legs waivered a bit. What? "She was nervous, but nice. We talked a bit." She perked up. Adam noted and turned to Ringo.
"'Bout what?"
"Well, she told me she'd been a courier since she came West, almost 5 years ago."
"Came West. As in, from the East." Adam looked at her with an emotion she couldn't place. "How far east?"
"Midwest, I think."
"Huh." He spared her a glare and turned. "Well, I need to prepare and she needs to get back to Doc's-" Audrey rushed over to Ringo and hugged him. It was the only way she could think of to thank him for the first real information about who she was, before. He tensed at the contact and exhaled like he'd been hit in the stomach, but after a short pause, she felt his hands gently brush her back.
"Okay. When you're done hugging, we can all hold hands and sing kumbaya. And when the Gangers come, maybe they'll join us, instead of blowing us to pieces." Adam deadpanned. Audrey pulled back. Ringo smiled at her. Adam pointed his finger at Ringo.
"Be ready to fight. We're doing this for your sorry ass."
"I'm not a coward, Adam. I can and will hold my own. Just don't throw me to the wolves." Adam grabbed Audrey's wrist and pulled her towards the door. They stepped out, and he let her go as quickly as he'd grabbed her.
"From back east, huh?" Adam said after a few steps. Audrey shrugged. She'd left her pad of paper at the Doc's house. "Doesn't make me feel much better about you." He said, kicking up a little bit of dirt. "But I guess I feel better knowing you were just a courier." Audrey narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't notice.
"Anyways… go get some rest. We'll call on you when they arrive." He walked her to the door. She nodded and stepped inside. Doc Mitchell was waiting up for her, a book in hand. He looked up as she walked in.
"How'd it go?"
She shook her head. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep.
"That bad, huh?" She shook her head again. "Well, go get some rest. We can talk about it later." He went back to his book, and she climbed back in bed.
Adam kept watch through his scope, waiting for the first sign of Powder Gangers, as he had for the last three and a half hours. He could see Sunny from his perch on top of the saloon. She was keeping watch, too, with Cheyenne laid at her feet.
A loud explosion quickly drew his attention. He whipped towards the road into town, and saw six men. One had thrown a stick of dynamite at the Goodsprings sign. Scorched earth and splinters of wood were all that was left of it.
Adam looked through his scoped rifle and counted. There were six, for sure, and Cobb was with them. He started to aim for him, when he saw one getting closer to Sunny. He switched and aimed for the shirtless convict, and pulled the trigger.
The bullet ripped through his shoulder. Adam fired again, and hit the man in the chest. He dropped. Adam turned to aim at Cobb again, but couldn't see him anymore. He cursed and moved to get down from the roof.
Gunshots rang out. Adam looked for the source and saw Ringo and Audrey coming down the hill. Ringo was firing at the Powder Gangers, and Audrey had her little pistol in her hands. Her shots popped off in quick succession, but from what Adam could tell, none hit their mark. He sighed and pulled out his rifle, and advanced towards the Powder Gangers.
In front of the saloon, Trudy led a small contingency of townspeople, Easy Pete among them. Chet was absent, but that didn't surprise Adam. He pulled up his rifle as a Ganger came close to the group, but before he could pull the trigger, the Ganger fell. He looked up and saw Trudy reload. He turned back to the remaining three. Cobb was still missing, and likely not among those already dead. Adam glanced around, but another stick of dynamite blew, this time knocking Ringo back. The Ganger who threw it ran forward to finish him off. Adam sprinted forward.
Audrey threw herself in front of a prone Ringo and fired her gun. Each shot hit - at that range, she would have had to been blind to miss - but the hits weren't lethal, nor did they slow him down much. Adam stopped and pulled his rifle up to make the kill shot. He looked down his sights, aimed for the head, and squeezed the trigger.
The Ganger's head exploded, spraying Ringo and Audrey both. He crossed the distance between them quickly. As he arrived, Ringo was starting to sit up some. Blood dripped from a cut on his forehead down the left side of his face.
"Are you okay?" A gunshot echoed out, and he turned in time to see another Ganger fall in front of Easy Pete.
"I'll live." Ringo grumbled. Adam held out his hand, and Ringo took it. As he helped him to his feet, a shot whizzed past them. Adam recognized it as coming from a laser pistol. He spotted Cobb behind Ringo, taking cover behind the corner of one of the houses.
"Sh-Shit!" Ringo stood up and rushed past him. Adam turned and fired off a few shots Cobb's way to keep him pinned.
"Ringo were you hit?" He spared a short glance his way.
"No, I'm fine, but it grazed her arm. Looks bad." Ringo's voice shook. Adam fired more shots Cobb's way, and took a few steps that direction.
"Sunny!" He shouted. "I could use some help with this one!"
"Little busy here!" She replied, followed by gunshots. Adam dodged as Cobb fired off another laser.
Cobb ducked back behind the house as Adam fired off more shots. He broke through the line of fire and fired his pistol quickly as he went for new cover. Adam hid behind an old fence post and felt a shot fly past him.
"Stop- Hey!"
Adam heard Ringo shout, followed by popping behind him and glanced back. Audrey rushed forward with her left arm held to her chest. She held her pistol in one hand and fired it in Cobb's direction.
"Are you stupid? Get behind cover!" He shouted at her. She ignored him and rushed forward. He looked towards where Cobb was hiding and saw him pop out from behind the wall. Audrey fired off a few more shots, but an empty clip forced her to reload. Cobb took the opportunity to come out from behind his cover. He fired off a single shot before Adam fired at him, forcing him back behind the cover. Audrey had reloaded by then, and rushed straight for the house. Adam watched her run around the corner and heard gunshots. He left his cover and ran for the house. He vaulted a fence, and sped to the house. Just around the corner, he let out a breath and stopped.
Audrey was standing over Cobb's body, holding her 9mm in shaky hands as she breathed hard. He strode up to her and looked.
Cobb had six bullet holes in his torso. Adam looked at Audrey, who still had the gun aimed at the body.
"No wonder I had to pull you out of your own fucking grave." He breathed, looking at the body. "You're a motherfucking idiot." His words seemed to strike a nerve, and she turned towards him. Her glare could melt metal. Adam glared right back.
"Anyone who rushes into laser fire is just begging to be killed."
Audrey opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again and scowled. She shoved past him and stomped away.
"Moron…" he huffed under his breath. He had no doubt; She'd be dead days after leaving town. Fighting like that, he was surprised she lived long enough to survive being shot in the head.
Adam looked down at Cobb and sighed. He grabbed the body by an ankle and drug it around the corner. In front of the saloon, the others seemed to be celebrating their victory. Audrey and Ringo stood to one side of the group. Adam marched towards them with the body in tow.
"S-Sorry." He heard Ringo as he neared the duo. Audrey winced again as Ringo continued to examine the laser burn on her arm.
"This is why we have a doctor in town, Ringo." He said as he approached. "Stop poking at her, you'll make it worse." He dropped the body. Ringo turned to look at him, and saw the body.
"Jesus Christ, Adam-"
"You owe Goodsprings." He growled. "You were the one who pulled us into your mess, and we got you out of it."
"I'm grateful for everything this town's done for me." Ringo sighed. "I can't repay the kindness that was shown to me, but… maybe I can get the Crimson Caravan to make more stops through here. It'll take some convincing, but I think I can present a good case." Adam glanced at Audrey. She refused to look at him.
"Hope so. God knows this place needs the trade." He held out his hand. Ringo blinked at it, then took his hand and they shook. "We just went through all this trouble to keep you alive. Don't waste our efforts and die on the way home."
Ringo's lips pulled up at the corner as he stared at Adam.
"Yeah. Sure thing." Ringo turned and looked towards Audrey. "C'mon, I'll walk you to the Doc's."
Adam ignored them as he made his way into the saloon. The celebration had moved inside too, but his spot at the bar was waiting for him, as were Sunny and Trudy.
As he sat down, a bottle was set in front of him. He looked up.
"On the house." Trudy smiled. "You did a mighty fine thing today, Adam. Ringo's safe, the town's safe, and that good-for-nothing Cobb won't be botherin' us anymore."
"Yep." Adam sighed. He picked up the bottle and took a drink.
As he put it down, he noticed two pairs of eyes watching him. He grumbled under his breath.
"What are you two getting at." He eyed Trudy and Sunny, who were both giving him the look that told him they were going to ask him to do something he wouldn't like.
"Well…" Trudy started, half shrugging.
"She's leaving town soon, Adam." Sunny gripped the bar. "You know the Mojave's going to swallow her up the minute she leaves."
"Not my problem." Adam took another drink.
"Oh, so you saved her life in the first place, but you wouldn't do it again?" He glared at her. "What? I'm not asking you to follow her to the ends of the Earth… Just take her to Freeside, or Vegas, Novac even. Somewhere she can hire help." Adam sighed. "Please, Adam."
"Why can't she go with Ringo?" Adam stared at his beer.
"'Cause he's leaving today." Sunny looked away. "Said so after it was all said and done."
"And we'd both feel a lot better if she left with you." Trudy added. Adam groaned.
"You were going to go to Camp McCarran anyways, weren't you?"
"Yeah; Alone." Adam took a long drink. To get a shot at that bastard, he'd have to join up with the NCR again. And he knew they wouldn't turn him down. Who in their right mind would turn down a former Ranger, especially with Caesar breathing down their necks again?
He put his drink down and sighed loudly.
"I'll take her to Freeside, and that's it. Not a step further." Sunny and Trudy shared a look before smiling. Sunny reached over and wrapped him in a hug.
"Thank you, Adam." Adam sighed and hoped her really wouldn't regret this later.
"You're welcome."
"Why'd you do that?"
Audrey turned to Ringo as they walked up the hill to Doc Mitchel's house.
"Run at Cobb, I mean. Adam was right- you could have got hurt a lot worse."
Audrey shrugged. She wasn't exactly sure why she'd done it. When Cobb shot her in the arm, she just… got really angry. She didn't even really remember running forward. The time between her getting shot and when Adam was yelling at her was a blur.
"Well, I appreciate that you were so willing to help me, a complete stranger, while you're dealing with your own problems." Audrey nodded and smiled at him.
They stopped at the fence just outside the house. Ringo put his hands in his pockets.
"Well, I guess this is where we part ways." Audrey looked at him. "I gotta get back to headquarters, let the Crimson Caravan know what happened." He held out his hand for her to shake. She ignored it and hugged him. He chuckled.
"Look me up if you're ever passing through." She nodded, and released him. He smiled at her and turned to go back down the hill. Audrey turned towards Doc Mitchell's house and saw the doctor watching her from the door.
"Battle went well, then?" He asked gruffly. She nodded and walked up to the house. She turned and pointed at the burn on her arm. His brows furrowed.
"I was hopin' I wouldn't have to treat ya for injuries again so soon." He stepped aside. "Better come on in."
Doc Mitchell injected a stimpak into her arm and put a bandage over the burn. Audrey reached for her paper and pencil and wrote out a question. She showed it to Doc.
'Do I have brain damage?'
Doc Mitchell read her note and gave her a look.
"Yeah, I'd say so. Your inability to speak would indicate that. Why'd ya ask?"
'I got angry and couldn't remember shooting Cobb.'
Doc nodded and looked up into her eyes.
"Don't surprise me… brain injuries like yours have been known to do things like that. Not uncommon to see unexplained or unprecedented mood swings or recklessness, or even a regression in fine motor skills, which we've seen already." Audrey felt herself blush as she recalled her earlier troubles with eating. "There ain't much we can do about it but give ya time to heal."
Audrey picked up her pencil again.
'Do you think I'll ever be able to talk again?'
She held up her paper. Doc read it, and sighed.
"Truth be told, I don't know. I doubt you'll ever be back to normal, but I wouldn't get yer hopes up. Better to adjust to it than wait for something that may never happen." She nodded and sighed.
'I want to leave town soon.' She wrote, and showed the doctor.
"How soon?"
'Two days. No more. I need to move on.'
Doc Mitchell nodded and left the room. He returned with a small box.
"I was gonna give this to you sooner, but the past few days have been rough." He handed her the box. It held a slip of paper and a knife. "Found these on ya. I'd hoped it would point me to next of kin."
She pulled the paper from the box and read it.
"INSTRUCTIONS:
Deliver the package at the north entrance to the Vegas Strip, by way of Freeside. An agent of the recipient will meet you at the checkpoint, take possession of the package, and pay for the delivery. Bring the payment to Johnson Nash at the Mojave Express agency in Primm.
Bonus on completion: 250 caps.
MANIFEST:
This package contains:
One (1) Oversized Poker Chip, composed of Platinum
CONTRACT PENALTIES:
You are an authorized agent of the Mojave Express Package until delivery is complete and payment has been processed, contractually obligated to complete this transaction and materially responsible for any malfeasance or loss. Failure to deliver the proper recipient may result in forfeiture of your advance and bonus, criminal charges, and/or pursuit by mercenary reclamation teams. The Mojave Express is not responsible for any injury or loss of life you experience as a result of said reclamation efforts."
She blinked.
"Was all ya had on ya when you was brought in, other than your 9mm and some ammo."
Audrey read the paper again, and paled. There wasn't a platinum poker chip in the box. She didn't know where Freeside was but she knew it wasn't here.
Whoever shot her must have taken it, and according to this paper, she was still responsible for it.
"What's the matter?" Doc looked at her. She pointed to the clause on the paper. He nodded. "Oh. Yep, there was no chip on ya when ya came in. Wonder if the thugs that shot ya stole it."
Audrey nodded. That was the conclusion she'd come to. She grabbed her pencil again. If they'd stolen it, they already had a huge head start. She needed to leave sooner, before their trail got cold.
'I need to leave tomorrow.'
