Chapter 4
Bounty Tommy
Several days pass by and little has happened. The youngest of the bounty hunting pair practices reading while both of them heal from their bullet wounds. After enough time has passed and their wounds are more of a phantom feeling, they decide to get back to their 'jobs'.
Walking back to the shack without a visible limp, the two walk inside and see their boss once again typing away on the typewriter. Moonlight just stares blankly at the scene that is becoming a common occurrence in this 'profession' while Clayton walks up to the desk.
Steven looks up, not even bothering to stop typing. "I've got another bounty lined up if you're ready."
"The both of us are ready," Clayton replies.
"Alright, your target is Tommy, a hotheaded wiseguy associated with the Omertas." Digging into his desk, Steven grabs a sheet of paper and continues on. "Tommy was always quick to throw down, but the other night he got worked up after some guy cracked a joke about his shoes. Can you imagine?"
Shaking his head at the stupidity of such a thing, Steven resumes the summary. "Anyway, Tommy whipped out his pistol and capped this fella, right there outside the casino. As it turns out, this guy was sort of… connected, so to speak. In short, Tommy fucked up, and now he's gotta pay."
Steven leans back into his chair, "My contact says that Tommy is probably hiding out at the old Tumbleweed Ranch. They say he's jumpy as shit and prone to shoot anything that comes through the door, so be careful." Reaching over his desk he hands the pair the bounty sheet. "Good luck you two."
After receiving the paper and nodding in appreciation the wish of good luck, the two exit the shack. Pulling out the Readius, Clayton moves the map around to show the route to the supposed location of their quarry.
Moonlight grabs the bounty sheet and tries to read it out loud.
"Property of Randall and Associates. Target is Tommy. Race is Caw… Caw… -Caucasian little lady- Right that. Allegiance or Faction is Omertas, who are they?"
"The Omertas are a tribe of folks that own one of the bigger casinos in the New Vegas Strip. They double as a brothel and drug den, sadly one of the more popular casinos because of that."
"Huh… continuing on. Location is supposedly Tumbleweed Ranch. The notes say Tommy worked as muscle for them for years until he killed an associate with witnesses around. The Omertas want him handled by someone outside their group and sent the request of sorts to us. Says Tommy is always on Jet and Psycho and the advice we got is to go in guns blazing."
Handing the sheet over to Clayton, he sticks it into his rucksack and readies himself for the journey. "Good job with the reading little lady, you definitely improved quite a bit."
Moonlight smiles at the praise while he continues. "We'll be traveling north on I-25, keep an eye out for powder gangers and fiends. The trip will take awhile so we will have to take a few breaks and rest up at Westside."
Nodding in acceptance of the plan, she ensures that her rucksack is on her and starts walking to the road they frequent with Clayton a short distance behind.
Arriving at Sloan, they take their first break, drinking down their canteens and filling them up with the bottle water. They rest for a quarter of an hour listening to the radio. Packing back up and leaving, the two continue north. They come across a couple of powder gangers and after looting their bodies of anything useful march on.
The two start to near Westside when the sun starts to set. Moonlight stops and takes a few sniffs of the air. "I smell blood," taking a few more whiffs, "Over there," points to the northwest.
Following where her finger… paw is pointing and grimaces a little at what the general direction holds. "Well, whoever the blood is coming from probably pissed off the Scorpion gang or the Fiends." Letting out a sigh, "Let's go see what we can scavenge then."
Moving towards the apartment building, the two come upon the source of the bloody smell. Resting next to a dumpster was the body of male wearing a bounty hunter duster. Surrounding him was the bodies of six Fiends and next to him was a tan and black dog. Within the corpse's hands was a note with some blood on it.
The dog looks up to them and whimpers to the two of them. Moving to the body and grabbing the note, Clayton reads it out.
"Don't know why I want to write. Bleeding out, can't get to Westside. Fiends keep coming, but I've managed to fend them off. It won't matter much longer, though. At least Guts" the dog perks up at the mention of that last word, "is still with me. My good friend, the only one who's been with me to the end. Better than my ex-wife, that's for damn sure. At least dogs won't fuck the neighbor and then steal everything you own. I guess it's fitting that he's here with me. Feeling woozy, always thought I'd be cold at the end. If you read this, and Guts is still here, please take care of my friend. I would like… just trails off there."
Lowering the letter to look at the dog, he gives off a sad smile. "Little lady, go through the bodies and grab what you can, leave this one alone though. The dog will come with us." Seeing no real reason to be against that, she goes through with her instructions.
Clayton kneels to the dog, "Hey there boy, I apologize you lost your buddy. He said to take care of ya if someone read his letter, so how about you come with me and the little lady." Guts, the dog sniffs him and licks him, giving the acceptance of the invitation. Smiling, Clayton stands back up and turns to help Moonlight with the looting.
After compiling all that was good to sell, the three begin heading to Westside to offload the loot. The night sky full of stars and the moon shedding the light that guided their path while pleasant to look at, did not improve their disposition.
Entering the settlement through a gated door, Moonlight looks behind her for a brief moment and asks Clayton, "What was that 'Thorn' place?"
Continuing on towards the pawn shop, he answers her. "The Thorn is an underground fightin' ring. Usually for animal on animal violence, folks bet on a side and winners get a good amount of caps. People can go in and fight the animals and they get a very large portion of the pot that was collected from the bets."
Humming at the response, "Sounds fun. Shall we go and look at some of the fights on our way back?"
"Sure, it will help get you used to seeing the various creatures of the Mojave. Just a word of warning, do not aid or hinder a side that is fighting or you will be shot."
The trio arrives at the pawn shop and enters it. Shelves with various items greet their eyes. Shifting his eyes around the shop, Clayton finds the owner and walks towards him while getting his attention.
"Excuse me, we're here to trade for supplies."
Looking back towards his customers, the owner greets them. "Ah hello there, the name is Miguel. What are you looking to trade?"
Removing their rucksacks, they begin to pull out all the weapons and other valuable items they 'freed' from the Fiends. Miguel lists them off as this is being done.
"Two revolvers, a laser pistol, a switchblade, a 9mm pistol, and a pool cue. They don't really equal up to much in the condition they are. Roughly 120 caps for all that, so what are you looking to buy?"
Looking around a bit, something sticks out enough to peak his interest. He grabs it and replies to the pawn shop owner, "I'll take this and some ammo, 5.56 rounds if you have them."
Taking the item and moving towards the counter, Miguel grabs a box containing the requested ammo. "Only got 12 rounds, so the total comes out to 98 caps. Let me grab 22 caps for the whole transaction."
Receiving the items and stashing them away into his rucksack the trio leave the store. "What was it that you grabbed," Moonlight asked.
"Just a crowbar… surprised that no one else went for it though. It will help us get into places if they are boarded up while not burning them down. Can also block off a door for awhile, stalling whoever or whatever is trying to get through."
Shrugging at the response, the three head a short way west towards the apartment building. Looking down the street, Moonlight spots something odd.
"What is that thing over there?"
Looking in the same direction, Clayton answers her, "Ah that's Mean Sonofabitch. That is his actual name and not an insult. He is pretty much the protector of Westside, kind of odd since he is extremely nice. He is what everyone calls a Super Mutant."
"Wait, that is what my strength is based off of?"
"Yup, well come on little lady let's get some sleep." Clayton said pointing towards the apartment building.
Upon renting a room to sleep for the night, the two and their dog companion enter the room and proceed to lock it. Looking at the bed and the floor, Clayton brings up the important question for the night.
"Bed or floor?"
The fox girl switches her gaze between the two a couple of times then looks at him. "Floor will be more comfortable to me."
Shrugging and removes his duster and rucksack he lays down next to the bed. The blonde lies next to him while Guts the dog does to the same. Using the duster as a blanket once again, the group of three begins to sleep.
The morning comes in quietly as the sun peaks through the cracked windows. They get up and prepare their breakfast, cooking up the gecko meat in their rucksack and offering one to their newest partner. The group set out to their destination to claim the most recent bounty.
A few hours of walking and the three arrive at Tumbleweed Ranch. "The place seems abandoned," the girl pointed out. "Meh, it is places like this that folks like to hide out at, far out of place and almost nothing nearby."
Readying his rifle, the three stealthily walk up to the door. Turning to Guts, "Stay here boy, keep guard to make sure no one but us comes out." Guts barks in acknowledgement. Shifting his gaze to his partner, he nods his head towards the door.
Understanding what he wants, she grabs the handle to the door and waits for his mark to open it. Counting down from 3, the door opens and a rifle is shown through the opening. Entering the large shack as quiet as possible, the two stop for a moment in the large room.
Looking towards the fox girl, she closes her eyes and begins to try and hear out their target. Hearing something towards the back, she points in that very direction. The two begin moving towards the back room.
Their target comes out of the room and attempts to draw his pistol when he notices them. Three rounds from the 5.56 carbine put a stop to that. Without looking at her, Clayton taps his ears as a way to ask if she hears anything else. Repeating her earlier action, she doesn't hear anything else inside the shack. She says as much.
Placing his rifle onto his back, Clayton begins sifting through the corpse's pockets. His striped white suit makes it quite easy to determine if there is anything of note. Finding a small stash of Psycho and Jet in his pants pockets, his 9mm pistol tucked into the backside of his pants. A note is tucked away in his suit pocket. Grabbing it, Clayton reads it out to his partner.
"Tommy,
I understand you recently left the Omerta organization under less than favorable circumstances. In the Mojave, to find yourself alone often implies extreme peril.
With that in mind, I'm willing to make you an offer. My firm specializes in contracts of a very risky, specific nature – assassination. We are always cultivating new talent, and at first glance you definitely possess the acumen for our business. I am willing to offer you a position, under one condition.
Soon you will be visited by a contractor from my rival, Randall & Associates. Killing your assailant would be conducive to your health and beneficial to my business interests. If you bring me the head of Clayton, consider yourself hired.
It would be wise to accinge yourself for the imminent confrontation – the aforementioned individual, while new to the profession, is apparently precocious and quite capable.
Sincerely,
The Judge"
Clayton continues to stare at the letter, focusing on the latter part of the apparent warning. "Well shit, now our targets are essentially being tested to kill me. At least they did not mention you little lady."
"Yes cause the mentioning of you getting killed to get hired by some guy named 'The Judge' is such a wonderful thing." She looks at the chems that was on Tommy's person. "What exactly do those do if someone takes them?"
Glancing at the psycho and jet, "Psycho essentially increases someone's aggression, effectively making them similar to a berserker while Jet increases one's perception of time. Basically makes whoever takes Jet see everything move in slow motion. I would not suggest taking any chem as they are very addictive. They do happen to sell for a pretty cap though."
Clayton kneels down while pulling out 'The Emasculator' and cuts off Tommy's finger and places it into a bag. Standing back up and readies his rifle, the two exits the building.
"Come on boy, our job here is done." Guts barks happily and the three trot down south.
The three reach Westside and begin climbing down the ladder to the Thorn. After having to carry their canine addition, they reach a large room with spotlights illuminating the arena on the lower floors. Occupying the arena were a large scorpion and three geckos.
After finding a decent spot to sit and watch the carnage, Clayton informs the young girl of what the competitors are.
"You already know of the geckos, since we've killed plenty of them while that is the Radscorpion down there killing them. As you can see, the geckos will not win this fight."
Not long after the Radscorpion defeats its opponents and vacates the arena floor, a voice is heard across the room. "The upcoming fight will be between a Deathclaw in the red corner versus a brave (but stupid) soul who challenged it in the blue corner!"
Clayton snorts in amusement, "Whoever decided to fight a Deathclaw better be quick with strong firepower or they will not last long."
A few minutes pass and the 'contestants' arrive behind the barred gates. The fox girl sees the human challenger over where there is a blue light, and then switches her gaze over to the red light's origin. A large bipedal lizard with a slouched posture is seen. Protruding horns on the top of its skull, tan hide that bulges with muscle and a tail with small spikes at the end. The most frightening aspects seen however were the claws that extended a good distance and its face. The claws looked very slim, able to cut through anything they are swung against. The face shows blank white eyes, as if the creature is staring into one's soul. Its teeth looked as if they can chew through metal and bone just as easily as meat.
A countdown begins and when it ended, both gates opened allowing the inhabitants to come out. The deathclaw charges forward with its arms spread wide open to catch the prey it smelled. The poor human kept shooting center mass with a low caliber rifle, hardly causing enough damage to puncture the thick hide of the beast.
The lizard grabs the foolish person and slams him down to the ground. Using its free hand to stab forward into the body of its captured prey, it impales the soon to be corpse and simply swipes to the side. Blood and internal organs are splattered across the arena floor and walls. People cheer at the violence while the victor enjoys its newly acquired meal.
Turning to face her older companion, "That was over quick."
A chuckle is barely heard over the crowd, "It happens like that for everyone not prepared to kill a deathclaw. First mistake the idiot made was trying to kill one with that weak ass rifle of his. Second would be that he shot at the chest, better to shoot the legs at or around the knee joint to make sure it cannot get to you. After that aim for the face, so much easier to immobilize it so can't use your flesh as a chew toy."
Watching the deathclaw walk back into the gated area from which it came with the remains of its meal Clayton speaks back up.
"So, you want to watch another or shall we leave?"
She takes her eyes off the red haired male and looks towards the arena floor then back at him. "Let us go ahead and leave. I get the feeling I would stay here far too long for your tastes just to watch humans get mutilated like that."
Shrugging his shoulders at that, partially because it was correct, the three head back to the ladder. Again, Guts needed to carried while they exit the sewers and begin their trek back south.
The sun peaks then sets during their trip back to their boss with very little happening. The trio stops at Sloan and rests up for the night.
Continuing on in the morning, the three arrive back at Randall & Associates with the sun almost at its peak. Entering the shack and approaching their boss, Steven notices them and begins the inquiry.
"Did you kill Tommy or what?"
The two nod with the younger speaking up, "Yes we did." Clayton hands over the finger.
"Terrific work you two." Guts barks out for recognition. "Three now I guess. Anyhow here's a bonus." Reaching into his desk, he pulls out the small bag of caps and hands it to Clayton. "Come back when you're ready for more work," and goes right back to his typing.
The three exit the shack and head back over to the playground that is essentially their 'home'. Heating up more gecko meat for lunch, Clayton pulls out 'The Wasteland Survival Guide' and sits down against the rocky wall. Finishing up her meal, Moonlight walks over and sits with him to begin the reading lesson. Guts is content with just lying in the sun with a bowl of water nearby.
The two enjoy the down time while their newest companion is basking in the sunlight. Music and the news come from the radio highlighting more raider attacks and the constant NCR skirmishes with Legion forces.
The day passes by quickly, the sun sets while the fire burning for their dinner shines brightly. After downing the last of her gecko steak, the blonde of the two speaks up.
"This lifestyle is becoming somewhat comfortable to me. I still prefer to be back at my cave."
"Heh, well don't get too comfortable. I can guarantee that a shit storm will happen when you do and it makes a large mess of everything. It happens all the time. Just look at Guts, his previous partner died."
She looks at him blankly, "Don't say stuff like that, makes it sound like you will die soon. You are the only human that I actually like. Steven is getting up there too but you are the only one actively helping me."
"Good to know, but don't start falling in love with me now. I'm old enough to be your dad, so it would be a little creepy if ya do."
She scoffs, "Please, if anything you are… what is the word for a brother to a parent?"
"Uncle."
"Yeah, you're an uncle if that was the case. Not sure if there are problems with seeing you as one but I already had a father."
Shrugging his shoulders, "Way to make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside little lady. I honestly enjoy being an uncle, I'd make an awful parent with how I'm living. Especially since my life expectancy is fairly short so any kid I end up raising will likely be an orphan before they become a decade old."
"With how you're teaching me, I doubt that will be a problem. If you do end up raising a kid though, I reserve the right to cause bodily harm if they annoy me enough."
With a small chortle of laughter, Clayton pats her on the shoulder. "Only if you give me to same if you get a kid."
"Deal."
Sorry about the extremely late update. I enrolled into a school near the beginning of the year and before that was all the good game releases that occupied my time. Lately been searching for a job so that will take up time as well as school work. I will try to write bit by bit of the future chapters when I can.
On a brighter note, I did end up drawing Moonlight Flower with her clothes. The downside is that I could not do the same for Clayton as I did not have a still picture of him… until recently anyways. Now I just need a working scanner to put the drawing up and find a place on the web to upload it to. A side note, I apparently still suck at drawing proportionally.
If yall feel like it, review the story. Tell me how I am doing, the good and bad.