CHAPTER 2
"Oh, and one last thing, there is a holorifle under a loose panel in the fountain." said Elijah.
"Thanks, but I'm not really into energy we-"
"Would you rather travel through these streets unarmed? You are expendable. Many have come for the Madre's riches, and many more will come. Now gather the others and return to the fountain!"
The Courier began his search for the others, referencing the notes on his Pip-Boy. Each person had been given a sort of profile. They read:
Collar 14: Dean Domino, Residential District
Collar 12: Christine Royce, Medical District
Collar 8: Dog, Police Station
The Courier was curious as to what Dog was. Many raiders in the Mojave had nicknames, but he was willing to bet that Dog was no ordinary person. The Courier decided to start by finding Dog, which meant he should be headed in the direction of the police station. He set a marker on his Pip-Boy map and set off.
The Courier moved fast through the streets of the villa, searching every corner, box, shelf, and container on the way for supplies. In one corner, he found a lone briefcase with a white handprint on the wall. Inside he found a .357 revolver with about 25 rounds, which he tucked into a pocket.
"Now that's a gun." the Courier thought to himself.
As the Courier moved forth, he heard a sound unlike he had ever heard, a kind of choked muttering. He instinctively retreated into one of the recessions in the wall and drew his pistol. The sound became louder. He heard light footsteps shambling towards him. He leaned over the wall and no more than 3 feet in front of him was a hazmat suit with glowing green eyes emitting that same noise that he had heard. Except now, it became more of a strangled scream, like it was going to attack. Wasting no time, the Courier shot into the suit, hitting it right where its heart should be. The suit fell to the floor without a sound. The Courier did not understand how something like this could move and speak with no one inside. As he backed away and continued to the police station, he heard the hissing of gas. The same hissing he had heard in the room with the radio on the table.
He swung around to see the suit standing back up, like a balloon being inflated. The Courier could not believe that this… thing had just resurrected. It had cheated death, much like the Courier had. He smirked at this thought as he aimed for its head and pulled the trigger. The revolver kicked back in the Courier's hands and launched a .357 magnum round straight into the creature's face. The helmet of the suit crippled inward while gas and yellow matter ejected itself from the newly formed aperture. The entire suit collapsed on the ground as if it was a marionette whose strings had been severed.
Upon the arrival at the police station, the Courier found a skeleton leaning against a wall, a revolver in its hand, and several rounds of ammunition scattered about. The skeleton was veiled in a thick red gas, as was the alley it rested in. Believing it to be just a haze, the Courier walked up to the skeleton and began collecting the rounds on the ground. The Courier's eyes began to water, his lungs burned. He gathered his remaining strength to stumble back out of this mysterious cloud into the courtyard of the police station. He opened the door and the one thing that instantly caught his eye was behind the bars of the holding cell. A Nightkin sat holding its legs, oblivious to the outside world. The Courier could make out the word "Dog" carved into its chest, a bear trap on his arm, and various other scars on its body.
"Uh… Dog? We need to get to the fountain."
Dog didn't move a muscle.
After several more attempts at communication, the Courier gave up and went to loot the remainder of the police station. The basement was the first place the Courier searched, but not without a constant nuisance. There was a speaker at the end of the hallway. Its light shone bright red. The Courier's collar began to emit a high pitched beeping. Elijah began speaking through the collar.
"I see that there is a disturbance in your collar's frequency. Move away from any speakers or radios you find."
The Courier did as he was told and the beeping stopped.
"You see, time took its toll on the electronics here, except for those inside the Sierra Madre itself."
"Get to the point Elijah." said the Courier, rushing the elder.
"It's my choice to help you, so you best accept it. The speakers and radios have decayed to the point where their frequencies will disrupt those of the collars. The speakers with blue lights indicate a system failure. These will be easy to destroy, as anything shot or thrown at them will easily puncture the speaker cone. A red light indicates that the speaker is working fine, these are near impossible to destroy, and are best left to disabling through power shutoff."
"You mentioned radios?"
"Yes those are much simpler to deal with. Just turn them off in time."
"In time? What happens when time runs-"
The Courier's question was cut short. He could only stare at that taunting red light at the end of the hallway. He recollected Elijah explaining about the explosives in the collar. There was only one thing that could happen when time ran out. The Courier decided to run past the speaker anyway. He engaged a full sprint forward, gaining speed as fast as his collar's beeping. He could see the armory on the right side of the hallway. He had probably ten feet left to run. The Courier could only hope that the last noise he ever heard wouldn't be that beeping.