I stroll across the outskirts of West Vegas. Not even a mole rat in sight, I slip into an easy gait down the decrepit road. Beneath my feet, faint notes of carnal merriment float from a sewer grate, a match in The Thorn no doubt coming to a swift climax. An urge to descend into the pit of debauchery surfaces. It proves underwhelming.
My body hastens towards the remains of a prewar house as my eyes descry my objective. Kneeling behind a slat of rotten wood, I survey my surroundings with a cursory sweep through binoculars.
No NCR patrols, no lurking Scorpion Gangers, no Fiend scouts. All-clear. With no moon nor stars, New Vegas's neon visage is the only light source on the horizon. For the task at hand that should be enough.
Within a gray footlocker, my target lies just shy of fifty meters before me, guarded by three Fiends. Animal skull capped helmets, reused tires, and mismatched furs and leathers sewn into armor makes the savages easy to spot. The drugged up bandits stand sentinel about the case, a cache of goods, and a fire. Two carry guns. One plasma rifle. One assault. The other has a knife. As I examine their movements, I ease my revolver out of its holster, feeling for six slugs. The Fiends rotate counterclockwise about the flickering fire. I pay no real mind to their shifting, just their body language. Replacing my gun, I see my opening.
She's in withdrawal. Her purple hair flies haphazardly to and fro as she jitters with paranoia; her assault rifle stays at the ready on her hip. The others are too high or don't care to take notice of their weak link. From my back I unsling my hunting rifle. Silencer already screwed in, I cock it and take aim.
They jump and spin towards the fire after the bullet sends pieces of woods flying. Startled, the purple-haired junkie squeezes off a handful of rounds into a her plasma rifle wielding comrade. Clutching his wound, the bandit slumps to the ground atop his weapon.
Purple and her knife-bearing friend stare in frightened confusion at their fallen mate. I furrow my brow waiting for either of them to make the next move. My patience dissipates in a flourish with the realization that there will be no next move unless I make it myself. Dammit. In one fluid movement, I rise, sling my rifle over my back, and unholster my revolver. I step through the frame of the dilapidated house and crouch, advancing with silent speed.
Mere moments after I take off, the Fiends ease out of petrification and rush towards the footlocker, knife and rifle at the ready. They hadn't been shocked into stillness. They'd been thinking. High functioning addicts. Just what I need.
"You'll die screamin' for your mother if you take another step, Red." The brunet to Purple's left steps forward, challenging me. The wind carries his threats past me into the cool night air. He signals for Purple to stay back. Now upright, my body lurches into a full sprint to its own accord.
With a roar, he swings his knife at my face in a sweeping arc from my left. Anticipating his speed, I step into a twist, allowing my body to roll along his right arm. The impetus of our collision causes him to stumble away as I skid to a halt between him and Purple.
Enmity in her eyes, she seethes, "You did this?" Looking between the unconscious Fiend and the brunet, a grin tugs at the corner of my mouth and I shrug. "You're mine, Red," she growls before throwing down her rifle. Oh! How I love a junkie.
Her form is sloppy. I sidestep her, catching her foot as I go. She tumbles toward her friend. I let the momentum pivot my body on my left foot and stop to scrutinize my foes. Having recovered, Purple jitters excitedly next to the Brunet. They both eye me steadily, no doubt noting the .44 in my hand.
Behind me I hear the dragging crunch of dirt and with just a look I fire two shots into the downed Fiend. The recoil sends a familiar warmth through my arm into my chest. My lips quiver into a sick grin as I let off two more slugs. Violent howls sound from Purple and the Brunet. Angling my head to face them completely, warm satisfaction of the kill blooms throughout my body as I notice Purple and the Brunet shaking with rage. Or withdrawal. Or both.
They charge in unison, coming from both sides. I'm caught short by their speed. I feel twin searing pains. A jagged slice into my left thigh and a clean headbutt knock me onto my side. A groan slips from my lips and my revolver slips from my hand. Groggy, I roll onto my feet and attempt to steady myself. My eyesight is blurred. My head throbs. The New Vegas lights overwhelm me.
Through my obscured vision I just make out their horned shapes shoving aside their comrade's bodies. Grasping their intention, I dive to my gun. I land on my wound with a grunt and grab my weapon with a quickness.
"Sly, get my gun, I'll get this. Hurry." Like a dog, Sly does as commanded.
I curse at the realization that I can't sit up in time with my rifle on my back. Instead, I take aim lying on my side.
"Agh, fuck," the Brunet, Sly, gasps.
One.
"No!" Purple's scream gives me the warm fuzzies. I whistle at the distraught purple-haired Fiend. In her arms I see the familiar green glow of a plasma rifle.
Revolver cocked.
Plasma charging.
Battle cry.
Two.
She goes down as a blast of plasma is loosed from the rifle. My eyes go wide. I attempt to roll onto my back and once again I am stopped by my damn rifle. Before I can brace myself, the molten green liquid scathes my bicep, leaving behind the acrid smell of dead flesh. The pain makes me nauseous.
I release a shaky sigh and roll onto my stomach, trying to ignore the pain. My boots crunch against the Mojave dirt as I stand up. Avoiding the expanding pool of blood around the bullet-ridden corpse, I approach Purple and her cohort. From my back pocket, I retrieve my switchblade and into my holster goes my revolver. Purple lays on her stomach, only just holding on. She shudders and growls as I place a hand on her head, putting my knife at the nape of her neck. My nostrils flare and I inhale as the blade punctures her skin and severs the vertebrae. Not keen on being shot in the back, I make quick work of repeating the procedure with Sly. Before making for my objective, I rip my shirt down the middle, tearing through the sleeves with the switchblade. I tie the rag around my thigh above the knife wound.
A grimace on my face, footlocker under my arm, I trek out of the South Vegas outskirts. I'm past the Sunset Sarsaparilla Bottling Plant and the Monte Carlo Suites before the adrenaline of the kill wears off. A limp works its way into my long stride. The pain is a pulsating wave that rocks through my leg with each heartbeat. I can feel the chilling, wet, and sticky stain of blood growing steadily. Its only reasonable considering how deep the gash is, but I can't help but frown at the pinpricks of fear along my scalp.
I shift the footlocker under my arm. There is no switching arms to be done. The mere thought makes me cringe. I mentally berate myself for leaving my stims and equipment with Mean Sonofabitch in Westside.
The residual heat from the plasma reminds me of the slow burn of a cigarette butt. I grit my teeth and distract myself. My boots drag and stomp across the crumbled pavement like an old world machine as thoughts of a bed and a bottle of scotch, to numb the pain away, surface. A room at Gomorrah would be ideal. Booze, food, and best of all no Fiends.
No.
Best of all would be Dazzle.
A cloud of dust floats from my red hair as I shake the thought from my head. These wounds hurt enough without a bad case of blue balls to agitate me.
And damn if this shit don't hurt. Fuckin' Fiends. I'll be happy when the Legion takes New Vegas for its own and Caesar destroys these revolting bandits. I hope they let Lanius loose on them. No tolerance for hopped up addicts in Caesar's Legion.
Of course that all depends on us winning the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Hoover Dam...I hope, for the sake of what I learned from the Divide, that this operation is successful. If the profligates win, my efforts and sacrifices will be rendered worthless. Rolling my shoulder I glance at my right bicep. The burnt skin around the wound makes my arm look like a piece of burnt toast. Luckily the burn isn't deep, but it is rather long, wrapping halfway around my bicep.
Big Sal had better pay well.
I'm bathed in relief when I glimpse Westside's South Entrance. Two of Westside's drunks hobble about the street, making their way to an abandoned house to crash for the night. Quaint.
Careful not lose more blood than necessary, I lope with a limp toward the makeshift wooden door, footlocker in tow. Won't Marco get a kick outta this sight?
"Make sure the locks are secure, Perch. Judah thinks the Scorpions are planning something." The gate of wood and metal squeals behind me.
"Judah Kreger is an old veteran with too much time on his hands," I snort, "and if he thinks they're up to something, he'd have taken care of all security precautions. But to be frank, Marco," the footlocker clatters to the ground against the barrier of prewar cars and cables, "I don't give a shit." I unsling my rifle, plop down onto the metal case, stretch my legs, and let my rifle rest on my lap.
"Of course you don't, killer. Did you find the 'shipment'?" Marco's air quotes frame his face from the angle I'm sitting. I grunt and pat the footlocker. He kicks a rock into the side of the case eliciting a solid thunk. "Weapons, huh? Where's it goin'? The Kings? NCR? Come on. Lemme in on the actio-," the only lamp post flickers for ten seconds and when Marco's eyes refocus, they're full of disgust. He points to my arm. "Aw, man who's bad side did you get on?"
I feel fatigued by his blabbering. Languor coating each syllable, I reply, "Three Fiends. And no, you get enough action in your little whore den. Send me that ugly green sonofa bitch and then clear a room in the whore den." Its then that the metal armored ass sees my blood-drenched pants leg. He turns tail, bolting towards the center of Westside. I squint as his silhouette fades and disappears around the corner, the New Vegas lights blocked out by the buildings of West Vegas. Letting my head rest against the still warm metal barrier, I try to occupy and keep myself conscious.
My blood pressure is dropping steadily, the gash in my thigh never having stopped bleeding. I don't understand how it's possible that my blood hasn't coagulated. I'm not anemic. No hemophilia. Dust settles on my nose as I lazily shake away light-headedness.
There is no reason I can presently fathom that would prevent blood clotting. Blood thinning medication? When would I have...Fucking Fiends.
"Poison!" My exclamation makes the ground shake. No. Its footsteps. Mean Sonofabitch is running.
I can feel my heart beat quicken.
Too fast.
Inhale. Exhale.
Too fast
My super mutant savior.
Too slow.
As my consciousness is snuffed, as loud as physically possible, I call out, "Anti-venom, Mean."
The beginning of a roar penetrates my mind before silence envelopes me.