The midday sun hung lightly above the Mojave Wasteland. David walked side by side with Sadie. He thought of long treks across the Mojave in his few years as a Courier. He wished Sadie could have been by his side for those lonely walks, as she was now. That would have made my job a lot easier, he thought with an inward chuckle. But the present was all that mattered, and so he was glad that right now, Sadie walked alongside him. They had made good progress and were most of the way to Novac. Up ahead, a few hundred yards on the right, stood the towering HELIOS One structure, second in prominence to the Lucky 38. David's mind wandered as it usually did on long journeys. A memory from before David was shot in the head suddenly flashed by, seemingly before his eyes. His mind took hold of it.
It was the day his father had died. In fact, it was only a couple hours after David had discovered Irvine's lifeless body outside of their ranch house near Nipton. David had just completed his first job as Courier before the death flipped his life upside down. He stood outside of a mineshaft door leading into a cave. He had tracked down the people that killed his father.
It was a relatively simple task. The raiders-David assumed they were raiders, after all, since raiders attacked the ranch house previously and he had tracked them back to a cave-had left an obvious trail. Perhaps they didn't realize that David would find his father's corpse so soon, or maybe they thought Irvine lived alone. They had led at least one brahmin away from the ranch house. There were intermittent brahmin tracks leading all the way to the cave. The trail was further solidified with a few cigarette butts, discarded pistol and rifle magazines (these lay closer to the ranch house), and of course, human footprints. David estimated there were four or five raiders who attacked his home, judging from the prints. One of them walked with a limp. About halfway between the house and the cave lay the body of one of the raiders. He had taken two bullets to the gut, and apparently when he finally succumbed to his injuries his allies had simply kept walking. It took an hour and a half for David to follow the trail to the hideout, and he estimated that, since he had lost the track a couple of times, it would only be an hour's walk at full speed. He made sure that both of his revolvers were fully loaded, and then entered the cave.
He was fully determined to avenge his father's death that very afternoon, no matter how many raiders he encountered inside and even if he had to die trying. He didn't even feel as if he were a human being, but some weapon manufactured expressly for the purpose of avenging Irvine. His only thoughts were of killing, and he didn't think about resting until the task was accomplished.
Inside of the cave was a passage that veered sharply to the left before going down a slight decline. This was advantageous. This meant that nobody could see David as he entered. He made sure to tread silently. The passage was illuminated by firelight. David could hear voices, most likely emanating from a chamber at the end of the passage.
"Damn, Irvine was a tough old man…" One voice began.
"You're telling me. Piece of shit shot up Derrick and hit my leg too," a second voice added.
"I don't think it was worth it, man. At least we can get some meat out of it. We'll slaughter the brahmin when the other two wake up," the first one said. David absorbed the information. At least two raiders occupied the chamber with the first.. Two were sleeping, either further in the cave or in the chamber with the fire. He wasn't going to wait until they were all awake. He pulled out both revolvers and took a cautious step into the passageway, taking the left turn. Two raiders sat across from each other on the log, one to the right of the passage entry and the other to the left. Neither paid attention to the passage. David thought about the scenario. The thing to worry about, when starting a gunfight in a small cave, is the ricochets. Missing the target could cause the bullet to bounce off of several surfaces and even come back and harm the shooter. David concluded that the best way to prevent a dangerous ricochet would be to hit every target. He raised his revolvers and pointed one at each visible raider. He fired.
Both raiders were hit in the head and fell away from David. The noise of the dual gunshots echoed through the cave. David walked quickly into the chamber. It was small, probably 12 feet by 10 feet, containing logs, a fire, and two recent raider corpses. To David's left was another passageway leading further into the cave. A voice issued from the passage.
"What the hell was that?" it asked. David heard rapid footsteps and then saw not one man but two running down the passage towards him. The raider in front fired several shots wildly with a 9mm pistol. None of the bullets found their mark, but they went on dangerous ricochets around the chamber. David fired both revolvers at this assailant. Two bullets ripped into his chest a couple of inches apart. He collapsed mid-stride, falling ungracefully down to the ground in front of David. He would be dead in a couple of minutes. The only people left were David and the last raider. The raider was armed with a large butcher knife, no doubt for the purpose of turning Irvine's brahmin into steak. He stood still at the mouth of the passageway, surveying his dead comrades before locking eyes with David. David felt a pang of mercy.
"Here's the deal. You all killed my dad and burned my house down. I have no reason to spare you, but I have two guns and you have a knife. Hardly fair. If you drop the blade now I'll spare you. Your move," he declared. He didn't imagine that the raider would possibly try him. But he did. He lunged forward with the knife attempting to close the distance and take David by surprise, but David had always been, and still was quicker than that. The raider received two .357 bullets to the face. He collapsed unceremoniously in the same manner as the one before him.
David realized that he hadn't taken a breath since he fired the first shots. He let out all of the air in his lungs before resuming a normal breathing pattern. He looked at the brahmin. It appeared scared and confused. David realized that he cherished the bovine, as it was the last thing that remained of his father's estate. At the same time, he wasn't going to keep it. He was interested in being a courier, not a caravaneer. He began untying the brahmin.
"David?!" called Sadie. He snapped back to the present. He stood next to Sadie on a highway in the Mojave near HELIOS One.
"Yeah what is it?" he asked, looking inquisitively at Sadie. She pointed ahead on the road. Near a billboard stood two figures, one in reinforced leather armor and the other in metal armor. They didn't appear friendly.
"Stay here. I'll handle this." He ordered gently, advancing up the road. As David got nearer he could see clearly that they were Viper gang, but he didn't shoot. A code of honor that he had adopted when he woke up after Benny shot him prevented him from shooting first. He put his hands on the handles of his revolvers. Sure enough, when he entered pistol range, the Vipers opened fire. A bullet hit and went through his duster where it hung down behind his right leg. David swore silently. He hated having to patch up his duster. Another shot hit him square in the chest where it was deflected off of his armor. It still hurt like hell and slammed into David's sternum. He fell to one knee. Twenty meters behind him, Sadie gasped.
He raised his revolvers and aimed at the raider in leather first. He was armed with a .357 himself, albeit one with a regular length barrel. He unloaded, emptying six rounds into the Viper's center of mass. He fell backwards, barely breathing. David stood up. The Viper in metal armor grinned maniacally. Only his head was exposed. During the shooting he had walked forward and now was only ten or so paces from David. He aimed for David's head. Just before the Viper pulled the trigger, David swayed quickly to the left, and heard the bullet whistle past him a couple of inches to the right of his head. My turn, David thought as he pulled the trigger on his right revolver.
The bullet moved through the air at roughly 1,200 feet per second directly towards the Viper's face. The round went straight through the raider's eye, first piercing the cornea and iris, then the pupil and lens after it, and causing an explosion of vitreous humor as it passed through. The bullet began to expand as it passed through the optic nerve, shredding the hypothalamus and grazing the brain stem. It tore through the cerebellum and passed through the back of the skull where the parietal bone and occipital bone meet.
The one-eyed, half-brained raider fell to his knees, swayed slightly, and then fell forward.
Sadie caught up to David and wrapped her arms around him. He held her close, and apologized for the violence. Then he promised to get her a gun once they made it to Novac and teach her how to shoot and protect herself once he got back from Red Rock Canyon.
The rest of the walk to Novac was uneventful.