THE BIG GOLD TOWER

Dawn and Maddie were off the strip in an abandoned part of town. There was a big gold building ahead. The only letters that remained at top were "T", "M", and "P." They were in raider territory. Dawn had her combat gear on and Maddie was wearing her face paint along with her usual attire. Dawn had her combat rifle ready and Maddie had her trusty dagger in her hand. As they approached the gold tower, they saw fires which appeared to be new. Dawn saw a turret in a busted-out window. It was moving side to side. Dawn signaled for Maddie to take cover behind a large slab of concrete. She aimed her rifle at the turret. In one shot, the turret exploded. This attracted the attention of the raiders nearby. They were dressed in ragged clothing. Some wore hoods made of canvas with eye holes in it. They ran out of the gold tower ready for combat. Dawn kept her eye on them as she remained hidden. She looked for Maddie, but she had disappeared.

"Hope you know what you're doing," she whispered to herself.

The raiders ran towards her. There were two men and two women. Dawn knew they were on Buffout or Med-X or any other combination of chems. Dawn moved out of cover and fired her rifle at them. The raiders ducked for cover and shot back at her. As she was in cover, one of the raiders let out a scream. Maddie had stabbed one of them to death and she had a smile on her face. Dawn shot down two raiders. The last one ran back to the tower. Dawn aimed her rifle at him, but Maddie tackled him. She repeatedly stabbed him while laughing. Dawn approached her. Maddie looked at Dawn with a smile.

"You shouldn't step in my line of fire," Dawn cautioned.

Maddie stood up.

"That felt incredible," Maddie said.

She walked towards the tower and Dawn followed. Near the entrance was the letters "R" and "U." Both letters had cracked the pavement. The gold windows near the ground level were boarded up. Dawn and Maddie stood in cover as Dawn checked inside for an immediate threat. Then, they entered the gold tower. The lobby looked as if it were once a nice hotel. Instead, there were bullet holes, broken walls, glass on the floor, and sandbags near the stairs.

"This looks like place some rich assholes would enjoy," Maddie criticized.

"They got the money to piss away," Dawn replied, "And all that money does shit for them now."

They ascended the stairs and were ready for any raiders. As they searched around the dirty and torn area, a raider snuck behind Maddie. The raider had a knife in hand and was about to strike. Maddie quickly turned around and sliced his neck. She held him by the hair and stabbed him in the chest. Dawn smiled. The top of the tower was a long way up and there was an undetermined amount of raiders. Only one raider mattered to them, Sully. He had information that James had wanted. It was unknown to Dawn what that information was. James also wanted the raiders in the gold tower to be eradicated. James still believed be was a colonel. He wanted a war, Dawn did not.

Dawn and Maddie walked across the halls. No elevators they came across were in working order. Some of the halls remained untouched by war. Dawn tried another elevator and it was inaccessible. She slammed her hand on the door.

"Damn place!" She shouted.

Then, a raider entered the hallway and began shooting at them. Dawn ran into a room and waited. The raider was wise enough to stay put. Dawn took out her .45 pistol and shot back at him. He scurried away. She quickly chased him down another hallway. He shot back as he ran. Dawn dodged the shot and dove through the air while firing shots at him. One shot hit him in the leg and he limped into a room. Dawn ran after him and entered the same room. The trail of blood gave him away. It went all the way into the bathroom. He leaned against the bathtub as he held his leg. Dawn pointed the gun at his face.

"Where is Sully?" She asked.

He kept breathing heavily. She stepped on his leg and he grunted in pain.

"Where the hell is he?" She asked again.

"He'll kill you," he whimpered, "Face off with him and you're as good as dead."

"That's for me to worry about. Now, are you gonna tell me or not?"

The raider showed her a middle finger. Dawn grabbed it and he screamed as the bone broke. She dragged him out into the living room where Maddie was waiting and smiling. He looked up at her and began to shiver.

"Here's an interrogation expert," Dawn scolded, "She'll make you bleed and enjoy every minute of it. She hopes you don't talk. Giving pain is her pleasure."

Dawn let him go and Maddie circled around him. She began laughing as she twirled her knife around. Dawn sat on the frayed couch and crossed her legs. Maddie placed a knife to his throat.

"If I tell you he'll kill me," he wept.

"I promise you that I will cause more suffering than he could ever dream of," Maddie warned.

She made a small cut on his cheek.

"You gonna scream for me?" She mocked.

She put the tip of the knife right under his chin. He tried to scream but could not. Dawn chuckled.

"Top floor!" He spluttered, "The big office."

"That's a shame," Maddie sighed, "I really wanted to kill you."

She attempted to stab him, but Dawn held her arm.

"Hold on!" Dawn said, "He gave us what we wanted."

Dawn kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. She smiled at Maddie who was angry.

"You should've let me kill that scumbag," Maddie argued.

"Oh relax," Dawn replied, "It's okay to let some people live."

Maddie pouted. Dawn felt her pigtails and smiled. She held up her chin and stared into Maddie's eyes. She was still angry. Dawn kept smiling and then wrapped her arms around her. She kissed her on the lips. Dawn leaned her back and continued to kiss her. Maddie smiled and giggled.

"Damn you," Maddie moaned.

"Gets you every time."

Maddie shoved her on the couch and the two kissed. They walked down the hall and saw an elevator ahead. Dawn pressed the button and the doors opened. They entered and held hands as they ascended to the top floor. After exiting the elevator, they saw that there were sandbags, metal scraps, metal crates, plastic flowers, cracked vases, and more broken glass on the floor. The ceiling was covered in gold and white and most of the windows had been broken and shattered. Suddenly, two raiders wearing metal suits stepped out of the room and fired Gatling laser rifles at them. Dawn and Maddie dove in opposite directions. Dawn got behind a large column made of stone and Maddie ran down a hallway. The lasers left black marks on the walls. Dawn returned fire with her combat rifle and hit both raiders but the bullets bounced off their metal suits. Maddie waited behind the hallway for the raiders to approach. She peaked around the corner and saw that the metal cage around them had an opening on the side. She took out her throwing knives and dove out of the hallway. She threw a knife and struck one of them in the neck. He fell to the ground and grunted in pain. The other raider shot at her, but Maddie made it back into the hallway.

Dawn emptied her combat rifle into the raider. Parts of the metal suit were dented and began to break apart. The raider shot at her and she dove near the shattered window. Then Dawn jumped out. The raider laughed and Maddie was concerned. When the raider came near the window, Dawn suddenly appeared and grabbed the metal suit. Using just enough force, she pulled him off the tower. He fell 64 stories. She pulled herself up in time to see Maddie stab the other raider to death. Then, they approached the penthouse suite. When Dawn kicked open the large doors, shotgun blast struck the door. They remained in the hallway.

"Just give us the holotape," Dawn demanded, "Refuse and you'll have a long way down."

Another shotgun blast was heard. Dawn peaked inside and saw no one.

"I guess this has to end with your death," Dawn warned.

Sully sprung up from behind a couch and fired the shotgun but was out of bullets. Dawn and Maddie rushed in. He had brown and gray shaggy hair and a scruffy beard. Maddie took out her katanas and Dawn pointed her gun at him.

"No, no," Sully panted, "James…he wants it destroyed."

"Wants what destroyed?" Dawn asked.

"The cure. If it's destroyed they will run rampant. They will kill us."

"What cure?"

"For those vampires. I was gonna get it, but the damn NCR stopped me. I know where it is."

"Just tell us where and we will take care of it."

He backed up towards the window.

"I ain't gonna get killed by them," he whimpered, "If James knows where it is he'll destroy it all. Humanity has no chance against the Legion."

Sully turned around and ran towards the window. It shattered upon impact and Nate fell to his death. Dawn looked on in shock.

"Damn it!" She said, "No holotape."

Maddie notice the holotape near a terminal. She picked it up and smiled at Dawn. She took it and tried to upload it but the terminal was locked. Dawn looked on in disappointment as the combination of numbers, letters, and symbols filled the screen.

"Now we're screwed," she sighed.

Maddie cleared her throat.

"Let me take care of it," she proposed.

Maddie began hacking the terminal. In a quick session, she unlocked it.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Dawn asked.

"My daddy taught me. He used to say computers are what the government uses to spy on us. There's some kind of chip inside the terminals. It can detect every key you type and it sends it to any secret agency."

Dawn smirked.

"Well, anyway, thanks," Dawn said.

Maddie uploaded the holotape and the information that James wanted appeared on screen. The holotape was filled with nonsensical ramblings from Sully. He was paranoid over the Legion and lived in fear because he thought vampires would drain his blood. He also discovered the secret lab where a cure was being developed.

"It says here there was a lab in Goodsprings," Maddie explained, "It was destroyed by a vampirical cult."

"The Legion," Dawn acknowledged.

"There's a cure being developed at Nellis Air Force Base."

Dawn had a wide-eyed look on her face. She'd been there before and it was where Kurt was.

"That's northwest of here," Dawn said, "And it's Brotherhood territory."

"We should let James know."

Dawn looked out the window at the New Vegas Strip. She knew she could get in through Kurt, but locating the cure would be difficult.