-They Went That-A-Way-

I didn't make it far from Goodsprings when I stopped near a three-way with a sign saying "Jean", "Primm", and "Las Vegas". I turned my head to the right and saw my next destination about a mile or more ahead of me. The only thing I know it is Primm is the huge roller coaster Sunny told me before I left. "Wait...Primm..." I reached into my pocket of my ripped up jumpsuit to get the folded piece of paper with the information written on it. "Yep, Primm. Seems like I need to find this Johnny Nash there and figure out about this kind of delivery." I eyed the important item with a few underlines under it. "And maybe ask about that stupid chip I was suppose to deliver." I folded the note and place it back in my ripped pocket. "Ugh, I need some new clothing...I fucking hate this damn vault suit!"

"I reckon you get yerself a new hide if ya want to high tail onward towards Primm." Someones voice made me almost jump out of my ripped clothing. I turned to see the metal armored, one wheeled Securitron Victor rolling towards me. "Whooooo whee! Bust my bumpers, you look like you wrestled a pack o' wolves from what I'm seein'! Why're your jumpsuit looking all torn up?"

I sighed, eying my torn and dirtied jumpsuit. "Long story short, tackled a bunch of mutant geckos, fighting off a fucking fink over some stupid stash, and killing off coward Cobb and his stupid Powder Gangers. Does that expain a lot!?" I yelled. "And by the way, why haven't you shown up while the gun fight was going on back in Goodsprings!?"

Victor's screen flicked a few times. "Huh, a gun fight happened back there? Can't say I recall the sound of heavy fire where I was at. Maybe I kinda dozed off back at the shack..." Victor used one of his robotic arm and made it look like he is scratching the top of his metallic body.

I groaned. "Some kind of Securitron you are, Tin Man...Maybe something is wrong with your wiring, let me try and examine it-" Before I could take a step ahead, Victor's hand transformed into some kind of gun and point right at my torso. "W-W-W-Whoa, Vic-"

"Now wait just one gosh darn minute!" Victor interrupted me, even though his usual cowboy picture in his screen is unchanged. "I can't just let yer grimy palms rootin' in my hard drive. Its technical-like. In fact, with yer amnesia condition, I'm afraid that you'll electrocute yourself and turned you into a squirrelly shish kebob." His robotic gun reverted back into a three finger hand. "On a side note, my apologies for not assisting you. Was their anything else you need help on?"

I eased up when he unarmed himself. Hell, I think I might've pissed my pants from that sudden gunpoint. "Not really, except that I need to get to Primm and also this so called 'Strip' the checker suited guy is at." I eyed to the west of me. "Maybe if I take that road," I jabbed my finger down that direction. "I'd probably make it there in no time!" Just as I was high tailing west, I felt my collar of the jumpsuit being pulled back, making me choak at the same time. "ACK! What the fuck!?" I yelled, turning to see Victor having a hold of my collar.

"I'm afraid yer death sentence will be waitin' if you take that direction." Victor said, making me turned my attention to him. "Heard a pack of nasty critters call DeathClaws would slice you like gecko steak and feed therm to their young. Not only that, brisk flyin', fast moving' Cazadores would catch up to you lickety split and puncture you with their venom riddled stinger. I reckon you skedaddle on to Primm, just to be on the safe side." Victor made a gesture as if he was taking his hat of and put it back on. "See ya on the flip side, pardner!" Victor turned and rolled onward north from my position.

I huffed a disappointed sigh quietly, followed by my eyes looking on the cracked pavement below my feet. So much for a damn shortcut to that so called Strip. Guess Primm is the place where I need to go. I thought to myself. I looked at the town with the big roller coaster before taking my pace onto that direction. Al I can hear is the sound of the wind, dark skin geckos running after some big bug, and a couple of people near a small mobile home to my left. "Damn, this dead silence sure even makes the sunlit wasteland so eerie." I looked down on my Pip Boy, reading the map and the time saying 12:13 PM on the upper right hand corner. I looked at one of the options saying "Radio". "What's this?" I said, turning on the "Mojave Music Radio" and sound coming out of the speaker.

"But the day that I stop countin', that's day my world will end..." A male voice sang through the Pip Boy, giving me a more relaxed and calm relief.

"That's better." I said, jogging my way to Primm. It took me about two minutes to get to the gates of Primm, and to actually see the town a lot more closer than afar. "Hmm, I wonder how I am going to get pass those gates..." I said, continue to walk slowly to spot an opening.

"Hey, what in the hell are you doing here?" Some guy called to my right. "Primm is strictly off limits." Appearing before me is a mid-30s make wearing a tan uniform with a hat and goggles. "I am going to ask you to turn around and head back from where you came."

I pulled my eyebrows together. Hell, I'm surprised he is not in shock by how my vault suit looks like. "Wait, what do you mean 'strictly off limits'? Is there something going on in Primm?" I asked calmly.

"Some convicts from prison over by the west have set up shop here and tooken over the town." He replied, glumly. "Everyone has gone indoors so they wouldn't get themselves killed. What's more is that there are two tribes of raiders causing trouble in the area as well. Be safer if you would head back to Goodsprings."

Now things are even more confusing. "Wait, first off, who are you? And second, shouldn't you be protecting the town or something? You look like someone who should do that..." I asked, crossing my arms.

The guy groaned and shook his head. "I am a trooper, for one part. And I'm afraid to say that it doesn't fall under NCR jurisdiction, though I'd love to. But even if we did we are in no shape to protect them against those heavy number of convicts. We don't have the equipment to take them out, and even we did we would bpneed some extra hands for backup." He pulled his thumb up and pointed behind him. "My suggesting is to talk to Lieutenant Hayes in the tent right down the road behind me. Just stay on the west side of the overpass so everyone, even the snipers, won't shoot you." He turned and walked off.

"Glad to know..." I mumbled. I looked right to Primm before running to the west direction. Along the road I see some rubble and buildings that are still standing, yet almost broken apart. "Smoke?" I eyed the black smoke coming closer and notice a huge barrel with fire roaring in it. Behind the first barrel are two tents, and another trooper person walking around. I ran up to the trooper as I waved my hand to grab his attention. "E-Excuse me, sir?" I stammered, though the guy stopped and eyed me. "I am looking for Lieutenant Hayes, is he here?"

He simply nodded. "He is, he is in the tent to the left. Just don't try to start trouble." He walking towards the tent on the right.

I walked over to the left tent, opened up the flap to see two people residing in it. They both turned and eyed me. "Excuse me, if you got business here, please state it. Otherweise, I might ask you to leave the premises immediately." The one sitting down, a male, spoke up.

I stood at attention, and gulped. "I-I'm looking for Lieutenant Hayes, sir."

The male crossed his arms, eyeing me with a stern lookin this brown eyes. "That is me, Lieutenant Hayes of the New California Republic Army, 5th Battalion, 1st Company. Please state your business."

"I am here regarding the convict activity going on in Primm." I replied quickly. "And maybe asking if you would like some help."

Lieutenant Hayes stood quiet with his arms a still entwined on his chest. "We were sent as an order to be over here to back away the tides of convicts that escaped the correctional facility. As you can probably tell, we aren't doing one hell of a job out there. Just the main factor is the supplies, and the convicts out there are better armed and organized than our Intel initially could. I'm trying to get more reinforcements here, maybe get some guns with more firepower, but...shit...things are just going slow."

"Any idea who these convicts might be, if I may ask?" I said.

Hayes just shook his head. "Not much, other than the fact that they call themselves the Powder Gangers. Mostly because they've taken use of explosives like dynamite and made them into a weapon besides blasting boulders. They got organized faster than I would've thought. Well, most of them at least. But thankfully a small group in town seem to have split off from the main force, so there is barely anything for support."

"Maybe I can find a way to get rid of those convicts for you." I hesitated, hoping a burst of laughter will break out from them.

Hayes, instead, scowled at my idea. "Either you are just plain insane and walking into an early grave, or you are trying to shoot yourself for a pat on the back. But the way I can see how you dressed, I doubt you are a match against them. But, if you are able to get rid of therm, I will probably ask you a favor afterwards regarding the support." He dropped his arms down. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have some business to sort out and I must ask you to leave. Report back once you've handled the problem."

I nodded immediately before exiting out of the tent. I began walking and thinking about a way to get into Primm. When I noticed an opening with a small bridge connecting the two areas. I ran forward, only to stop near another person with the same uniform. "Umm, is it safe to cross here?"

The soldier turned and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if you got business here, but if you can manage to pass through the mines planted on the bridge ahead of me, you can. Just don't get yourself blown up." He said, taking a drink of water.

I looked at the bridge to see about four mines planted on the bridge, even two on the wooden plank to the right. "Oh boy..." I gulped, hoping for a prayer or some kind for my safety. Another wave of pain entered in my head as, yet, another memory of mine was shown of me eying a group of mines yards from me as I was running from a stampeding herd. "Shit! Got to jump it!" The voice of mine echoed loudly as I see the image of myself hopping over the mines and landed safely while proceeding my brisk pace. An explosion sounded, seeing the herd flying up in their air from the blast. "Whew! That showed those Bighorners!" I reopened my eyes back into reality, seeing the bridge ahead of me. With a deep breath, I ran forward to the right and jumped over the mine before it exploded seconds later. "Yes!" I yelled.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here, bitch!" A guy from afar held his gun at me. "This place belongs to the Powder Gangers, so beat it or I won't mind shooting your fat ass down!"

I groweled, only audible for me to hear. I unsheathed my shotgun oout of its holster and pulled the hammer down. "As if I'd listen to you cowards!" Pulling the trigger hard, the bullet went through its throat. "Holy fuck!" I never expect anything like that before.

"The sound came from this way!" I heard one cvoice echoed from afar. About two more men came running and started shooting with bullets and beams of red light at me. "Die, bitch!" One of them yelled.

I made a run towards the wall while avoiding the barrage of fire power, though a couple of burn marks appeared after the red beams of light hit my right arm. My back hugged the wall against me as I pant heavily. "Fuck, now I'm in trouble!" I took one Stimpak and inject the liquid into my arm, making it heal slowly. "Alright," I said, pulling the hammer of my shotgun back again. "Time to put these guys down!" I notice them appear to my left as they held their guns at me. "Fuck me..." I groaned.

"Say goodnight, bitch!" One of them smirked, hearing a click afterwards. Two shots echoed from behind me and hit the guy's head, making them instantly fall down to their death.

"I don't know what has brought you to Primm, youngster, but you might want to rethink your plans." I turned to see a dark skinned, middle aged man with a tatter awhile shirt and darkened blue pants with a rifle in his hands. "But before I can decide to kick you out of this town, I think we need a little talk about your unexpected presence here when you know it is overruned by convicts. Come with me, and don't do anything sly."

I just glared at him quietly, then pushed myself up as order and followed this mysterious person up. "Excuse me, but who are you if I may ask..."

The male didn't turn his head to my direction, even not moving his gun away from his hands. "Name's Nash, Johnson Nash. Or me might refer to me as Johnny Nash." That's when the everything started to click in now he revealed himself.

"Mr. Nash, do you know anything about this delivery I was suppose to deliver?" I handed him the unfolded order over his shoulder. He took it and read it while still walking, only to stop near a set of doors to our right. I stopped feet away from where Nash is, still glaring at the piece of paper. "Is there something wrong?" I asked.

"Youngster, we definitely need to talk..." His voice sounded serious all of a sudden.