Chapter 1
Muttering the muttering is so fucking loud. I opened my eyes and looked around and saw I wasn't alone. There were five other people I immediately recognized Doc Mitchell. Just as a stab of pain hit in the back of my skull and it all came flooding back…. The courier the doc found two weeks ago after that weird robot named Victor dug him out of the ground miraculously still alive after being shot in the head…For almost a week the courier running back and forth running salvage to Chet at the store doing odd jobs for people around town meeting Ringo... The powder gangers storming up the hill shooting and lobbing Dynamite…. The lit stick bouncing off the wall and landing in the middle of our squad. That poor bastard Trenton Haralson dived to throw the stick back at the powder gangers when it exploded his body shielding the rest of us….
With a rush my mind snapped back into the here and now to see doc Mitchell snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Well look whose back in the real world. How are you feelin Terry?" I looked slowly around "Better now doc did we…?" The doc looked around with a sad look on his weathered old face "For what's it worth….we won." Looking around "Doc how many did we lose? I know Trenton died but whom else?" Mitchell glanced around before answering his voice heavy with sadness. "We lost three James, Brandon and Talon dead and…" I interrupt him "Talon how did he die he was supposed to be back at the schoolhouse protecting the livestock and children." Doc looked upset as he answered "he was protecting the school house right up until we heard several explosions he left the others to see if there was any wounded he could bring to me to save just in time for that bastard Cobb to gun him down moments before the Courier and Sunny shot him full of holes. He continued from before and counting you five wounded". Terry slammed his fist down "If only we had been ready and able to defend ourselves before this." Looking pass Doc anger alight in his eyes "Next time we will be ready I promise you" the dead only he could see nodded back at him.
The next few days' passed in a blur our wounds slowly heal and the defenders are released one by one when I finally leave the only one left is Connor. As we joined the courier at the bar we gratefully thank him for saving our town a couple of the other militiamen sits together with me and we start talking. "What happens the next time the powder gangers or who else may want our town for their own, decides to come knocking are we going to be able to be lucky enough to stand up to what forces they send? Looking around Terry continues "Look around at each other the still healing scars from our wounds, the two members of the militia that died if it wasn't for The courier and his marksmanship we would have been blown apart and the powder gangers would be running things now…" No one says anything otherwise because they know it's true too… "What we need is a true defense force and defenses to fall back upon instead of meeting whoever in the open like we did if we had sandbag positions or used some of these old wrecks of cars or trailers as cover we could have slaughtered the powder gangers without being the open." A look determination and thoughtfulness enters mine and everyone else's eyes at the table. "we need to be ready next time"
As the days pass over the next two weeks patrols go out monitoring the end of town and the road watching for anyone or anything trying to sneak up. The only instances where fighting happened was, with a couple radscorp's, geckos and coyotes that got too close. During that time we use the bighorners David's been raising two pull several of the old pickup trucks and campers to the edge of town over the road as well as pulling down the useless telephone poles to fortify the road. Scavenger teams started heading out no more than one or two people lightly armed and told when in trouble hide we cannot afford to anger anyone right now.
A working generator from the old skydiving School that David knew he could get working was brought back as were a pair of jet turbines from the plane to make a new generator other teams started working on ensuring we can become self-sufficient repairing the three broken windmills around town providing us with more electricity to use but the biggest thing we were lacking in was manpower not just for farming and raising animals but also to fight and defend we need more people.
I was voted as commander of the militia unanimously behind my back. However due to the few numbers of gunman we have the best we could figure without sounding hollow was Captain the leaders of our community was unanimously decided as well a co- leadership job and Doc Mitchell and Trudy the two most influential people won the votes. They both agreed that to better protect ourselves in the future we need more people now. So an expedition was mounted. Three people would travel to Primm in search of people who wish to emigrate the commander of the militia me as well as a member of our newly found government Trudy as well as another guard Sunny to ensure her safety. It took two relatively uneventful days to get the primm having to stay off the main road and be careful of both human and animal threats.
Arrival in primm was easier than expected only to find the Courier had passed through recently as well almost a week prior picking off other convicts that escaped the local NCR prison otherwise known as powder gangers. Took part in a NCR assault on the prison. the prison back under NCR jurisdiction. And brought law and order to the town a full squad of NCR troopers was visible walking patrol they didn't give us any issues and wished us well when we arrived in town we discovered that a man named deputy bugle was unhappy with the way things have turned out and was no longer a member of the law enforcement there as well as several others did not like the NCR coming in and taking over and forcing them to become citizens and pay taxes.