I'll admit something right now. Part of me didn't want to leave behind our NCR escort upon leaving Nipton. Having walked from Goodsprings to Primm to the Mojave Outpost, I'd followed a major highway that would normally see at least some traffic. Add to that the road was wide, the land was flat, and I could see anyone or anything approaching, leaving me time to prepare in case they wanted to attack.

The road out of Nipton was anything but comfortable, the road winding its way along a valley, hills rising to either side, which I just knew was going to be filled with arseholes ready to try and kill us. Cass and I walked with caution, weapons in hand, eyes constantly searching for any sign of movement, whether human or otherwise. The robot continued to float above our heads. I would actually forget about the thing, considering it was rather silent, only remembering it was there when it beeped, or that music started to play before it went in to attack.

Cresting a rise, I brought us to a halt as I could see the perfect ambush spot. Ruined vehicles. Hills to either side. The road turning sharply to the left, so we would have no idea what we would run into. Crouching down with Cass, I called the robot closer. "Check around the corner. See what's around there. Open fire if they look… bad."

The robot beeped before flying forward. Before it even managed to shoot, gunfire erupted. I noticed a pair of bandits appear to our right, while one or more must have been high to our right.

And the shit well and truly hit the fan when a grenade landed just ahead of us. "Shit! They must have some sort of launcher!" Cass cried.

I grunted my agreement, already lining up one of the bandit to our right. A bullet hit the ground barely an inch in front of me, only missing me from the ricochet as it was slightly to my left. I took time lining him up, as he fired again.

That one hit me, straight in my chest, relieved that I was still wearing the body armour. Cass cried out in surprise, probably figuring I'd keel over dead. I won't lie, it hurt like hell, but I ignored it as I returned fire. My bullet went right where I aimed, straight into his gut, and he wasn't wearing body armour. I watched the rifle drop from his hands as he fell to his knees. I still had him in my sights and fired again, this bullet hitting him in the throat. He would have been dead by the time his head hit the dirt.

Glancing to see that Cass was ready to move, we raced towards the wreckage for cover, hearing a thump behind us, figuring another grenade had been fired. We took cover behind what I hoped was a solid structure, hearing bullets clang into the steel frame. I chanced a quick peek and could see one man on the hill, armed with a grenade launcher, while a pair of women were walking down the hill towards us.

The robot had floated back to us, so I made a series of gestures, watching as it flew towards the two women, opening fire as it did so. I took a deep breath and stood out of cover, immediately raising my rifle and aimed towards the bandit at the top of the hill and fired. I missed, but the shot caused him to duck down. And having taken his interest, he didn't see Cass to the other side, and her shot hit him in the shoulder.

As he went down, I was already moving, looping the rifle over me as I withdrew a pair of pistols. The two bandits were now in cover as my robot continued to fire at them. Distracted as they were, they didn't see me swoop around the other side of the wreckage, putting a bullet in the side of the head of one. The second saw me in time and opened fire. My body armour worked a treat again as I opened fire, putting a double tap in her chest.

Gesturing towards Cass, we raced up the hill, swinging off the road and pounding through the dirt to where the bandit with the grenade launcher was. We found him hobbling away from us, so I fired, putting a bullet in his leg. That sent him sprawling to the ground as Cass and I closed on him. He nearly surprised us by turning around, showing a pistol, so I made sure I shot that out of his hand, hearing him scream as half his hand disappeared with the pistol. As he held his bloody hand with the other, ignoring his cries, I asked Cass, "So, what should we do with him?"

She answered my question by lifting the rifle, aiming and firing. I couldn't help raise my eyebrows as she just shrugged before stating, "Fucker deserved it. A grenade launcher is just cheating."

Holstering my pistol, I shrugged myself before turning and heading back to the road. We continued to follow it for at least another hour before coming to an intersection where Cass called me to a halt. We didn't have any sort of map, so we were making it up as we go along, but as she'd been a trader, walking these same roads, I was sure she'd have a better idea than me.

"That's east," she stated, pointing down the road we were walking along. "But that's north," she added, pointing to a different road. "Novac is that way. The road isn't as great, but it's a shortcut, and will save us time. Might run into some bandits, but I think we've proven we can handle them."

"How much time will it save us?"

"Quite a few hours. Plus, we'd avoid Camp Searchlight. You don't want to go anywhere near there."

"Why is it best we avoid that?"

"I guess you wouldn't have heard. It was an NCR base before the Legion blew it up. But it wasn't just the fact the Legion blew it up. They made sure to blow the radioactive waste that had sat there since the Great War. It's not known how many NCR troops died, but it's a big reason why the NCR detest the Legion as much as they do."

"Okay, so I think heading north here might be the best option for us then."

Cass smiled. "I figured you'd agree."

Turning north was probably the sensible option. We were still surrounded by hills, but they were not as high as before. Add to that, the sun was still out, but it didn't feel as warm as it had walking the highway from Goodsprings south. I wasn't sure why that was, but though I was still sweating, it wasn't the buckets I was originally.

Cass and I continued to talk about nothing of importance as we strolled along. I didn't really have much to share about my own life, considering I couldn't remember it, so Cass told me about her life. Or, at least, as much as she was willing to share for the time being. I figured she was holding a few details back, which I didn't blame her for. We'd barely known each other for more than a couple of days, so while she obviously trusted me enough to be a travel companion, I guess there's a difference between doing that and sharing private or intimate details of your life before.

Then she asked me a question that led to an interesting discussion, and a slight personal realisation. "So you don't know if you have some girl somewhere?"

"No idea. No-one has known me wherever I've been so far. I'll admit to being a little sweet on a girl in Goodsprings, but I think that was just due to her being one of the first I met after waking up without a memory."

"Oh, do share."

"Not a lot to tell. She helped me get back on my feet along with a few others there. She was definitely cute. But I guess it was never going to go anywhere."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"Yep."

Cass burst into laughter. "Well, you work fast."

"As I said, she was nice. I liked her. And I guess she liked me in return."

"So why isn't she with you right now?"

"She has a job to do in Goodsprings. I couldn't ask her to leave, though I do wonder if she would have left if I had asked."

"Goodsprings. Goodsprings," Cass muttered to herself, then she clicked her fingers, "I know a couple of people there through trading. It wasn't Trudy?"

"No."

"Well, then I can only assume it was Sunny." The smile that must have appeared on my face gave it away. "Ha! Well, you have good taste in women, Uhtred."

"I'm glad she meets your approval. But, as I said, I'm not sure I'll ever see her again. But we enjoyed a last night together, and I'll admit that I enjoyed her company even before that. At least I left with a good memory of Goodsprings."

"And you've seen nothing so far that's helped jog your memory?"

"Not a thing. It's like I'm seeing everything for the first time. Perhaps I am? Maybe I've never walked the Mojave before? Maybe I am a new wanderer of these lands? I just don't know. But I've met no-one who's recognised or knows me so far. Maybe that will change once we hit New Vegas?"

"So how do you know how to fire a gun so well? And I understand you fixed the robot above our heads?"

I could only shrug, almost helplessly. "I don't remember learning any of it. I hesitate to say it came naturally, as it obviously wouldn't. I've had training, that much is clear. It's almost like muscle memory, particularly the shooting. When Sunny handed me the rifle, I just instinctively knew how to stand, how to hold it, when to open fire. All of it." Thumbing towards the robot, I added, "As for that thing, I simply can't explain it. I just did what I thought was right, and it was. Like hacking that terminal at NCRCF. I couldn't remember being trained, but I just seemed to know what to do."

We didn't stop as we had eaten a quick lunch while walking along. Nothing particularly satisfying, already understanding that food was rather scarce, and whatever was available provided some nourishment but not a lot else. Passing a ranger station on the way, I was half tempted to stop and ask about the situation, but it appeared deserted, and I figured whoever may have still been on site probably didn't want a pair of civilians wandering around, so we kept following the road.

The road curved between a couple of high hills, and I came to a stop once we could see what was in the distance, even in the gloom as the sun was beginning to set. Must have made some good time. Jackson said it would take us a day to get here. Or maybe it was the shortcut?

"What the fuck is that?" I just had to ask.

"It's a dinosaur. Or, at least, it's a big arse statue of one."

"I assume that's Novac?"

"It is. Even better is that there's accommodation. A place to rest your head. There might even be running water. When was the last time you had a wash?"

"No idea. I've had the chance to have a wipe down once since waking up. Nothing that I'd consider a bath."

"We might just be in luck. Keep those finger crossed."

There was little to Novac that we could see, though the sun had well and truly disappeared by the time we walked into town. What couldn't be missed was the fact there was electricity, as we could see numerous houses with lights on inside. Making our way down the main street towards the hotel, there appeared to be numerous lights on inside. And it was while walking towards the hotel that I saw someone, or at least something familiar.

"Howdy, stranger!" Victor called.

"What are you doing here, Victor?" I asked, friendly like.

"Thought I'd mosey on across to New Vegas. Knew you were probably heading this way, so thought I'd stop by and say hello."

I was a little suspicious as to why he just happened to be following me. But considering he'd been responsible for dragging me out of a grave, I figured he just happened to following the same path. "How do you know this thing?" Cass wondered.

"Victor pulled me out of the grave in Goodsprings."

"Oh, that was nice of him."

"Anyone else would have done the same thing. I just happened to be in the area at the time," Victor added.

"Well, nice seeing you, Victor, but Cass and I really need to get a room and rest. It's been a long walk."

"No problems, Uhtred. If you see me in New Vegas, make sure you holler!"

"Will do."

The motel had rooms available, of course, as there were few travellers along the roads. Cass and I took a room each, and even better news was that we could keep the rooms until we decided to leave Novac. The lady behind reception was helpful, particularly once I explained the reason why I was in Novac to begin with. She pointed me in the direction of the two snipers who protected the town, two men named Boone and Manny Vargas. There was also a Ranger in town, named Andy, though the receptionist explained that he'd recently been injured, compounding an earlier injury that had almost left him crippled.

Thanking her for the information, Cass and I headed upstairs to our separate rooms, the robot following me inside mine, where it then settled on a chair beside the bed. It didn't exactly switch off, but I assumed it was 'resting'. The first thing I did, after dumping my coat and weapons on the bed, was test to see if there was running water. Of course, there wasn't. I thought the chances of that were slim at best, but I still felt a twinge of disappointment.

The next morning, there was little point wandering around Novac, as there was next to nothing to see. Letting Cass know what I was doing, I headed up into the dinosaur, past a gift shop and out into the mouth of the statue, where a man was standing watch. He turned upon hearing the door open.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"You Manny Vargas?" He nodded. "My name's Uhtred. I've been told you might have some information for me."

"Oh yeah, about what?"

"A man in a checked suit apparently came this way." I removed my hat to show my bald scalp, having used the knife I had as a razor the previous night. I had no idea if I'd shaved my head before, unlikely as Doc Mitchell had left me with half a head of hair, but I liked keeping it shave while letting my beard grow at the same time. "He also put a bullet in my head. I would like to speak to this man about it."

"Shit," he muttered, "Okay, we'd better talk. Follow me." I followed Manny back down the stairs. He told Cliff he was taking a few minutes to talk to me as we then headed out into the yard, following him to one of the three bungalows. Once inside, he offered me a seat and a beer, taking a seat across the table from me. "Listen, stranger…"

"Uhtred."

"Okay, Uhtred. Look, I can help you. But I need a favour for a favour. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. You get it?"

I couldn't help sigh. "What do you want?"

"Look, I know you want the information I have. Considering those scars, I don't blame you."

"I have a score to settle with whoever it is."

"You help me with this, I'll tell you everything I know. I promise. I know honour doesn't mean much in the world nowadays, but I like to think my word still means something. You know what I mean?" I nodded. "Let me ask you this; can you handle yourself in a gun fight?"

"I'd like to say yes, but then again, I did take a bullet in the head. But I don't think I was in any position to stop that happening."

"Okay, here's the deal. There are currently two people protecting this town. Me, and another fellow called Boone. We worked together as a sniper unit for the NCR until we retired. Now while we protect the road coming in from the east, as there are always raiders and the like who see this town as easy picking, we're having problems with… things coming in from the west."

"What sort of things?"

"Ghouls."

"The fuck is a ghoul?" He appeared stunned that I didn't know, so I had to explain my personal circumstances. "In addition to the bullet, I was left with amnesia. I remember nothing from before I was shot. I've tried putting the pieces together, but no-one seems to know me. You don't know me, do you?"

"Never seen you before in my life. Damn, I almost feel bad for asking you to do this for me, but I have no-one else to ask. Boone and I can't do it as we can't leave the town undefended."

"Just tell me what I need to do. I won't say no. I need the information so, as you said, a favour for a favour. I'm already getting used to it."

"Follow me," he asked, and we wandered outside back onto the main road through town. We stopped at the crossroads as he pointed west, into the hills. "Up there is REPCONN. It's an old facility from pre-war. I think it was for rocket production or something. Who the fuck knows nowadays. Anyway, we've had no real problems with this place for years. Place was ripe for scavenging. But in the last few weeks, people started reporting ghouls showing up, and the scavengers stopped going. Worse than that, the fuckers have started coming into town. No-one has died yet, but they're getting more confident."

"Okay, so ghouls are coming into town. What are they?"

"From what I know, they're people who were caught up in the blasts during the Great War, if you run into older ones. Some are those unfortunate enough to be exposed to a bad dose of radiation."

I was unable to hide the surprise in my one-word question of, "Really?"

He nodded. "I've met a ghoul or two in my time. Some of them are fine, normal people, just with no skin. But then you get the one's that turn feral. Something must happen to their brains as they just lose all sense of reasoning and logic, and will attack anything at first sight. That's what we've been dealing with the past few weeks."

"So you think this REPCONN place is full of them?"

"It's possible, but I can't figure out where they've come from in the first place."

"How far away is it?"

"No more than an hour's walk."

"Okay, let me have a chat with my travel companion. I could do it with just my robot, but I've found having a second gun helpful."

Manny headed back to the dinosaur as I thought about what I was supposed to do. I guess this is my life now. Doing favours for people to get what I want. What will I end up doing next? I shuddered at the thought, as while most favours had been reasonable, I just knew some day in the future, I would probably end up doing something to make my skin crawl.

Cass was awake, knocking on her door and hearing her call of enter. Her hat was on the desk, taking note of her long brown hair, almost past her shoulders, before I noticed she was only wearing a shirt and underwear, my eyes moving down to her rather pale but long legs. It caught me completely by surprise, and I know I was staring as she laughed at my reaction. "Anyone would think you hadn't seen a woman in her underwear before," she added with another laugh.

I looked away immediately. "Sorry. I just thought… Never mind. It was just unexpected."

She took a seat on the end of the bed, still in just her underwear, gesturing for me to sit in the available chair. "So, what do you need to tell me?"

I did my best to keep eye contact, ensuring if I broke it, my eyes looked at a point on the wall behind her. "Guy keeping watch in the dinosaur, fellow named Manny, has the information I need. But to get it from him, he's asked me to do a favour for him in return."

"That's the way of the world, Uhtred. Everything has a price, even information. So, what are we doing?"

"You've travelled through Novac before?"

"Plenty of times."

"Know of the REPCONN facility?" She nodded. "That's where we are headed. Apparently there are ghouls inside that need removing."

She noticeably shuddered. "Ugh, ghouls. Fucking hate the things. Even the ones that haven't got a screw or two loose. Don't get me wrong, I feel sorry for the fuckers, but that doesn't mean I have to like them."

I shrugged. "Never seen one myself, but I can take a guess at their appearance from what Manny told me. If you get dressed, we can leave in a few minutes and get this done quickly. Or, as quickly as possible."

We met up downstairs ten minutes later. Figuring we'd be heading inside a building, I told the robot to stay in my room. It beeped at me, and I think I made it either sad or angry that I was leaving it behind. But it settled back on its chair and appeared to go back to sleep. That's if a robot does sleep.

The road quickly rose into the hills to the west of Novac, and I could only assume the facility was nestled somewhere in the hills. Hmmm. Was it a secret facility before the war? As we approached what appeared to be the entrance, I noticed figures ahead. Cass wasted little time taking the rifle from her back. I followed suit as our pace slowed.

"There are your ghouls, Uhtred."

There were four of them, one of them glowing a bright green, and as soon as they noticed us, they damn near sprinted in our direction. Cass and I were ready, putting the first one down each before they'd run ten metres. The third one was taken down a little closer, but the fourth glowing one could take a little damage. But a bullet from Cass and I, each of them into the head, pretty much took its head off.

"Don't go near it, Uhtred. It's radioactive. Take a wide path around it."

"How the hell is a ghoul radioactive?"

Cass shrugged as we forged a wide path around the body. "No-one knows a whole lot about ghouls. No-one really cares either. They're reminders of a previous world. The day the bombs dropped."

Whoever or whatever was in charge of the facility had spent a lot of time building defences, as we had to work our way or climb over a number of barricades. In addition to that, we found plenty of supplies, including plenty of ammo, so I happily added a number of clips to my bag. We also found some medical supplies, bandages and whatnot. I'd taken a few nicks and scrapes so far, but figured I was bound to take a bad injury sooner or later, so grabbed those too.

We also found ghoul bodies that appeared different to those we'd first seen, primarily because they were dressed in robes, and appeared to have been armed themselves. Cass crouched over one of the bodies. "Hmmm. Never seen this before."

"Any idea who they might be?"

"No idea. But anyone dressed in robes means some sort of cult, as far as I'm concerned anyway. So we could be looking at a cult of ghouls. But this is a laser rifle. Feral ghouls are not armed, so who was this guy fighting off?"

"It's a mystery."

Cass just looked up at me. "I'm just hoping we don't run into armed ghouls who think we're there to kill them. If we can talk to them, we might find out what's been going on up here."

We must have passed through what must have once been an entrance tunnel, the road turning and descending into a natural, wide valley, the REPCONN facility ahead of us to our right. In front of the building was a half-destroyed statue of what I assumed was a rocket, and the name of the facility underneath it. And, in front of all that, were another half a dozen ghouls.

Cass opened fire as I looped my rifle strap around me and withdrew a pair of pistols, continuing to walk forward as I opened fire. The ghouls were cannon fodder, not a hint of self-preservation as they simply ran into our bullets. The six of them went down with ridiculous ease, Cass and I simply strolling by their bodies as we approached the entrance of the facility, walking by another couple of robed ghoul bodies.

Someone must have been watching us, as I heard a voice calling from us. I looked around for a moment before noticing the intercom on the wall by the entrance. "Hey, smoothskin."

I glanced at Cass. "Smoothskin?"

She shrugged. "It's what ghouls call humans. Take it as a term of endearment."

"Endearment, my arse! Listen, I've just seen you take care of all those ghouls outside. They were feral, so we understand. But I take it you're here for a reason. The other ghouls, right?"

"Correct."

"Okay, what you need to do is head inside and head right. You'll eventually find a metal staircase leading up. Watch out for the ghouls and also… um, the other things."

"What other things?"

"Never mind that. Just get up here as quickly as possible."

I heard the intercom switch off. "So, what sort of other things do you think he means?" Cass asked.

I couldn't help groan. "I really don't want to know."

There was no point delaying our entry. After making sure my rifle was full of ammo, and checking my pistols that they were full too, we shared a glance, took a deep breath, and entered the facility.

I should have known I'd be asked to do more favours eventually.