Chapter 2

The Gangers

Number 5, get up! Number 5, get the hell up!

The Boy woke up from his dream in a frenzied state. His memory was blurry, but it all came back to him. He looked around at the old gas station he had taken refuge in last night after the incident at the bar. He walked over to the door and opened it slightly. Rays of light penetrated the crack. It was late morning. The Boy grabbed his duster and his hat and snuck out. As he made his way through the streets avoiding the on looking eyes and careless whispers, he heard a commotion at that bar he was at last night.

"You killed our brothers, our freaking family! You all have dug your own damn graves!" a man was screaming as he made his way through the doors. He was wearing an NCRCF jacket with a bandolier of dynamite.

"And this time you won't have Sarah to gun us all down!" He screamed after he had made his way past the boy. They bumped into each other due to the man's backwards walking. "Watch where you're going, damn fool." The man cursed as he made his way down the dirt road. As he walked by, The Boy used all his strength not to pull out his revolver and kill him. There will come a time, just wait He thought, as he walked down the road. He made his way over to one of the water storage areas in Goodsprings. He sat down on the edge of one and dipped his hand in. He brought it back up and let the water flow through his hand. He heard a rustling in the bushes. Suddenly a young Gecko sprinted out and came full speed towards The Boy. Instead of pulling out his revolver, he caught its neck and squeezed it until her heard a pop and felt a trickle of blood from the creatures mouth, signaling the creatures neck being broken. The Boy released it from his cold grip and put his hand back in the water.

"Well that's one Gecko to take care of." A women wearing leather armor and carrying a Varmint Rifle walked down the beaten path. The Boy just stared at her.

"Say, weren't you that boy who was in the bar last night?" She asked, trying to get a better look of The Boys face.

"No ma'am, you must be mistaken." He coldly replied.

"Oh, well anyways my name is Sunny, Sunny Smiles." Sunny said, expecting a response. The Boy just stared down into the water.

"Who are you?" She finally asked.

The Boy smirked. "Nobody ma'am." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Sunny looked the boy over as he talked. She noticed that, while his sleeves on his duster were rolled up, he had them covered with some sort of armor. Other than his face and the tips of his fingers, no skin was exposed.

"Well you have to be someone," Sunny informed." You are here, ain't cha?"

"No ma'am, I'm not." He said, getting up and walking off with the midday sun beating down on both of them.

As Sunny began walking back to The Prospector, her loyal companion Cheyenne came racing towards her, barking.

"What is it girl?" She asked Cheyenne, only to see her run back towards Goodsprings. In the pit of her stomach she knew something was wrong. She started running when she smelt smoke and heard screaming. She then came upon the burning remains of the town. Only Doc Mitchell's, The General Store and The Prospector were left standing. Through the flames she saw the man in the Bar earlier and a few tougher looking mercenaries.

"Well boys, let's burn this hell hole to the ground!" The man shouted, raising a Molotov Cocktail. She hid behind the burnt remains of Trudy's house to watch. She noticed that they were better equipped than most Powder Gangers. She then saw the one thing that stood in their way.

….

"Sir, I ask that you lower your weapons and please leave this town alone." The Boy asked, stepping out of the shadows in-between the Bar and the General Store.

"Boss, that's the little punk I was tellin' you bout this morning, please let me put a bullet through his head Boss, please!" The man pleaded, shouldering his Assault Carbine. There were ten of them, but the Boss stood out. He was wearing Reinforced Metal Armor with a Marksmen Carbine.

"Now hold up Johnson, somethin' different bout this boy," He said in a deep western drawl," Nor, maybe its somethin' familiar." The Boss said.

"I don't care Boss, I'm itchin' for some target practice." Johnson said.

"Shut the hell up Johnson," The Boss snapped," We might be steppin' in something awfully bad here."

"Sir, will you respect my wishes?" The Boy asked, taking no notice in their side argument.

"Naw, we're just going to kill you." Johnson replied, firing two rounds. The Boy pivoted on his left leg and stood sideways to his assailant, hand on his revolver as the bullets passed him.

The Boss slapped Johnson with his armored glove, leaving a rather large cut.

"Damn it, Johnson!" The Boss hollered," I'm sorry son, we'll leave y'all alone." He said as he began to walk away.

"I always knew you were a coward, now you're going to pay!" Johnson screamed, hammering the stock of his rifle into The Bosses neck. To finish him off, he fired a round into his back.

"Now kill that little bastard!" He screamed as he started shooting down the alley. His men followed suit. The Boy found shelter behind boxes and barrels of various supplies. He took out his revolver and loaded it with Armor Piercing rounds. He had a plan.

"Gahh!" The Boy cried, pretending he had been shot and killed.

"Billy, go kick him around to see if he's still alive." Johnson said. A man wearing Leather Armor and carrying a Light Machine Gun walked down the alley to The Boys cover. Billy looked over the body and as he was about to give the all clear, The Boy grabbed the barrel of the gun and hoisted himself up and had the man's neck in his grasp. He took the grip of Billy's gun and tore it from his hand, and then pushed Billy up against the wall. He fell back into cover and fired a shot into Billy's chest. Behind cover, he pulled the bolt back and readied himself.

He pivoted out from cover on his left knee, revolver in one hand and light machine gun in the other. He fired in burst, reducing its terrible recoil, but shots still went all over the place. The Boy knew this, and had planned on it. His revolver was the real killer, taking out a majority of the Gangers as they tried to dodge machine gun fire. As both guns ran dry and the dust settled, only Johnson and The Boy remained.

The Boy stood to face his attacker, he raised his hand. In his right was his revolver and the machine gun lay useless on the ground by his feet. He opened the firing cylinder and let the casings fall out, to show he was out of ammo. Slowly, the casings hit his foot as he stood, impending death.

"We draw. One shot, at the count of three." Johnson claimed, throwing his assault carbine to the side. At his waist lay a 9mm pistol. The Boy took a .44 round from his duster and loaded it into the cylinder. He closed it and holstered it, keeping his hand near it when he had to draw. Johnson did the same.

"One." Johnson shouted.

The Boy could feel the eyes of the whole town on him.

"Two."

"Three!" Johnson shouted. The Boy drew his revolver as Johnson did with his pistol. Johnsons 9mm round found a home in The Boys duster, just on the opposite side of his heart, knocking the revolver out of his hand. The Boys round hit Johnson in the section between his right shoulder and neck. Blood flew on the wall as Johnson shouted. Johnson clamped his neck and stood up straight, holding his pistol in the other hand.

"This is what I love about magazine-fed!" He shouted.

A shot from a pistol split through the air as it split through Johnsons skull.

"Damn bastard took my legs," He said with a tone of sorrow and anger. In his hand was a smoking hunting revolver. "Ya'know boy, they're making an awful big attempt at finding you back in the NCR." He said, facing The Boy. He walked over the man on the ground and bent down. "I know sir, that's why I need to kill you. No one can know –" He began, but was cut off." I know, convicts need to stick together after all… and besides, killing me would be doing me a favor." The Boss spoke quietly, knowing his time had come. The boy stood up and loaded a single round into his revolver.

The Sun was setting as the shot was fired. The Boy stood there for a moment, then began walking North through the Cazador infested canyon.

Aftermath- Three Days Later

"Oh my God Sunny, are you alright!" Sarah, the famous Ranger, yelled when she arrived on a convoy of NCR trucks bearing supplies. She jumped down from the back of the lead truck and ran to her.

"I'm fine, we were all saved by someone." She said, wondering about the boy.

"Which faction was it?" Sarah asked.

"No, it was a boy, a teenager. He killed them all as if he had years of training." Sunny noted. An officer overheard her conversation and rushed over.

"Ma'am, we need you to tell us about this boy." He stated, signaling a few other officers over.

So Sunny told them about The Boy who had saved so many lives. What she didn't know though, was that the she had now just endangered His life. As she told them, word got out, search parties were arranged, and posters were posted: The Boy was in New Vegas.