Sunny and I scavenge what we can from the bodies of the dead Powder Gangers while Victor transported the bodies to the graveyard. Sunny and I made a deal, she kept all the caps found on the bodies, and I could get their weapons, armor, food and water. I kept a few of the weapons and sold the rest, as well as the armor. I stored the food and water in my pack. An hour later, Trudy comes up to me.
"So, Primm?" Trudy asks me. I look at the sun to judge the time. I could definitely get to Primm by nightfall, but I need a place for shelter. I seem to remember there being three casinos in Primm, I'm sure I could secure a room in one for the night, so I reply, "Yeah. Thanks for everything."
"Will you come back?" She asks. The truth is I don't know. Couriers don't really have permanent homes. We travel about the wasteland, staying in different places, meeting different people; it's one of the things I love about the job. I also like the challenge of navigating the wasteland. "I might. I don't know if I'd stay though."
"Well, you're always welcome," she says with a warm smile before touching my shoulder with her palm. She looks like the hugging type, and it's probably pretty obvious that I'm not, so she keeps her distance. I smile back at her and thank her and the rest of the townsfolk one more time before turning towards the narrow road out of town.
Pre-war road signs still exist that tell me how close Primm is. Once I'm out of the town boundary of Goodsprings, I have seven miles left, which, to a Courier, isn't much at all. The road is long and narrow with not much to look at, but I am close enough to the small city of Primm to see the top of the rollercoaster, or what used to be a rollercoaster, and I arrive at the overpass for Primm by dusk.
But I can't get into the town. The overpass is destroyed. It looks like there is a bridge to get into Primm, but it looks as if the NCR has built a base around it. As I approach, I am stopped by an NCR officer who tells me that Primm is off limits.
"I'm a courier, I won't cause any trouble. I need to pick up a package," I lied.
"All the same, ma'am, I'm afraid I can't let you pass."
"Well is there someone who will?"
"You can try talking to Lieutenant Hayes, in a tent up the road, but my guess is he's gonna tell you the same thing."
The base is small, I don't think they have set up a permanent operation here. Among the abandoned buildings, there are only a few tents, and only about six soldiers. I reach the bridge but it's guarded, so I make a slight right and go into the center tent. A middle-aged soldier is there and I can tell by the stripes that he's a lieutenant. "How did you get in here? We normally don't get visitors this time of night."
"I'm a courier, and I need to get to Primm to pick up a package. The guy at the front told me to see you."
"Sorry, ma'am. No one goes into the town and no one goes out without a special escort. And I simply can't spare any men right now. You can stay in one of our tents for the night if you like, but come morning, you got to go."
"And if I cross the bridge unescorted anyway?" I ask.
He looks more than surprised. "That hasn't happened before. Normal people who see a guard with a gun turn the other way. But, if you've got some kind of death wish, ma'am, be my guest. Though I'd rather send you on somewhere else tomorrow morning."
"Death wish?"
He told me about the problems they've been having with the Powder Gangers. Pretty much the same stuff Sunny told me, except they've got the entire city of Primm under their control.
"I'll be sure to watch my back," I say while leaving. The guard at the gate gives me a problem too. "Whoa I ain't letting you by, even with Lieutenant's consent."
"Don't you have to follow orders?"
"I do, and I don't want to sound like a jerk or nothin, but you're a woman. I can't let you go in there alone. I'd feel too guilty if you didn't come back out."
"I got here alone, I can leave alone."
It took some convincing, about my weapons skills and survival skills. But eventually, he stepped aside and I crossed the bridge. Luckily I kind of figured the NCR would put a couple of landmines on it, I was able to sidestep them- into Powder ganger territory.
I'm really not even sure where to go, but I guess it'd be smart to start at the casinos. The first one I see is the Vicki and Vance casino.
Don't know what had the NCR all worked up, I only ran into two powder gangers, and one didn't even have a gun, and I got the sneak attack on one who did. Didn't take me long to dispose of them.
Inside the casino, I came upon a man that I recognized. His name, he said, was Johnson Nash. Slowly, a few memories came back to me. Before I got shot, when I was in the Jean/Sloan area, I got my jobs from him. He is still the sweet old man I remember, and I was, and hopefully still am, good friends with his wife. He asked me what I was doing there and I showed him my delivery order, and a whole lot more about my situation began making sense. Someone had Victor the robot hire six couriers: five carrying a decoy, and one, me, carrying something called a "Platinum chip."
I'm not sure what it's for, and neither is Johnson Nash. But at least I know what I have to retrieve, and who to retrieve it from. I just wish I knew his name. I'll be sure to ask him his name before I kill him and take back what's mine, or, at least mine to deliver.
