After the events that had transpired the night before, Artyom found himself with more than he expected. There was food, water, drinks, and some ammo for the gun he looted off his attacker. The stalker enjoyed the warmness of the meal he cooked the morning after and refreshed himself with a bottle of Sunset Sarsparilla. Although he could stay and enjoy his spoils, he had to go to Primm and learn about the whereabouts of the men who shot him.

He soon went off into the desert with his weapons at hand as his Pip Boy acted as his inventory manager.

As the remains of the road grinded against his boots, Artyom noticed two figures stumbling in his path from afar. One was dressed in blue and the second barely had enough clothes on his person. Why they were in the middle of the road, perhaps he didn't want to know. With each step, the two strangers came closer than he had liked. Then he noticed the color scheme of the dressed man, it was almost similar to the one he had seen on another, but he could put his finger on it.

Artyom slung his Bastard away as he switched it out for his double-barrelled shotgun, the Duplet. At the moment, he needed to conserve his ammo for the time being until he truly needed it. Soon, he was confronted by the two men, whose eyes glared at them along with a smile on their lips. "What brings a guy like you 'round these parts?" The half-naked man asked.

The stalker's finger was close to his trigger. "I'm traveling."

The half-naked man scoffed at his answer before turning his head away to spit. Afterwards, he spoke. "So stranger, do you know who you are?"

Artyom slowly shook his head as his eyes fell upon the stranger's compatriot. He remained silent with his eyes hidden away underneath those sunglasses. His arms were folded with a baton in hand. "No, not at all."

He glanced to his companion with a smile. "Steve, can you believe this guy? I think we should teach 'em where he is." Then the stranger turned his full attention on him. "You're in Powder Ganger territory now, don't you forget that." He said with his finger pointing at him.

"Apologies, I'm not from around these parts." It was an honest answer, but a half answer nonetheless.

"You're new here? Well what do you know, we have a tourist to treat. Why don't ya pay a fee for crossing into our turf? It's a… protection for traders who come across our territory."

"Pay you?"

Offended, the man shook his head. "Of course you have to pay us for crossing into our land. Give us the bottlecaps, otherwise we'll show you how raiders like to handle the poor folk. You don't want to know, do you?"

It was an extortion. Artyom had seen it before. Bourbon had to pay the Hansa guards back at the market station in order to allow him out. This was no different, except that he was armed and they were not. Yet, there was a small detail that concerned him. "Bottlecaps?"

"Yeah, bottlecaps. You know the small caps you see on top of that Sarsaparilla or Nuka Cola drinks? C'mon, you can't be that dumb."

"You don't use bullets?"

The two strangers glanced to one another and began to laugh. "Is this guy serious?" As soon as they stopped laughing, their attitude changed. "Enough bullshit, give us your shit."

"No." Artyom said in a firm tone. "I will not. I have a gun."

"I bet that piece of shit ain't loaded." He replied. "Hell, no one has them loaded 'round these parts. Leave your shit here or the Powder Gangers will be after your sorry ass." The half-naked ganger pulled out a switchblade from his pockets and readied himself.

The Duplet's barrels were aimed in their general direction as Artyom's finger rested on the trigger. "Try me."

"Let's gut this fucker, Steve." When the ganger took his first step, it would only become his finale one as well.

A loud blast echoed throughout the area as Steve jumped back in shock. Blood splattered all over his blue uniform with his head turned away from his companion. When he turned to see his remains littered on the ground, Steve glanced over to the stalker with the shotgun. There was one more shot left for Artyom to use. "You're going to pay for this!" The ganger charged forth with his baton in hand.

A second blast was wrought upon Steve, causing him to fall forward and land on the ground. Artyom pitied the man for what he did to him. He'll only have one leg to use for the rest of his life. The stalker opened his barrels as he tossed the empty shotgun shells aside so the new ones could replace them.

After he loaded his weapon, Artyom came over to the criminal and stomped his boot on the baton. Then he kicked the weapon to the side, only to put away his double-barreled shotgun and unsheathe his trench knife.

Steve turned his head with tears in his eyes. "Y-You shot my leg off! Why'd you do that you motherfucker?" His hands began to hold onto the remains of his left leg, screaming in agony.

Artyom knelt beside him with his knife above his head. "I want you to tell the rest of your gang, to keep to themselves. You understand?"

"My friends are nearby, they have more guns than you do!"

"Then you better hope you don't bleed to death." The stalker replied, before he smashed his knuckles into the back of the man's head. That should be enough to knock him out. As he rose from the ground, he knew he had to leave. If what he said was true, it was better to leave and hope they wouldn't follow him onto the road.

The young man was quick to depart from the bloody scene as his boots continued to grind in the sand. Hopefully, the Powder Gangers wouldn't come after him for this.

Once the patrols of these Powder Gangers were nowhere to be found, Artyom continued on his path. As the sun was high above him, his brow was covered in sweat as he saw the first sign of human habitation, a town. The closer he got, the more he noted the details of the location. "This must be Primm." He whispered to himself.

The stalker saw the town split in two, with a roller coaster surrounded by a grated fence on the left and remains of buildings on the right. A good place to rest at. Artyom continued walking as he noticed the bridge and it's underpass connecting the town together. Perhaps his attackers bypassed the town, but he needed answers. What better way to find answers than to ask the people who live here.

As he continued to walk into the only road within the town, he saw its outer defenses manned by armed men. Based on their uniforms, they were soldiers. Two men manned their posts with their rifles lowered, but still at hand. Their eyes looked far and wide at their surroundings before their gazes fell upon them.

When Artyom walked at the edge of the town, one of the men left their guard posts and came forward. With his weapon holstered, he hoped these men would not be terrible as the stories heard about the Nazis or the Communists.

The guard's silence did little to comfort the stalker, but once he finished a quick look at him he spoke. "Strange, we don't get travelers come by every now and then. Still, I think you need to be notified about what's going on here."

The Metro dweller was curious. "What happened?"

"You don't know?" The soldier asked. "Well, time to give you a run-down of the situation. Awhile ago, there was a prison breakout at the NCR Correctional Facility. The Powder Gangers killed the guards and took the place for themselves. If I were, I would head back and leave before the rest of their lost spill into the surrounding area. A few of them already found themselves a place in Primm."

"Are you soldiers of the NCR?"

"Aye. What about it?"

"Aren't you going to go and stop these Powder Gangers?" Artyom wondered. Why haven't these people taken care of them if they are an authority?

The NCR trooper shrugged his shoulder. "Orders. You can talk to Lieutenant Hayes, but the gist of it is that we don't have many men to put them in their place."

"Aren't you going to retake the town?"

"Again, we don't have enough men. If I were you, I suggest you head back." He replied.

Soon, he turned away and walked back into his defensive position alongside his companion.

How could these people be so complacent? In the Metro, there were bandits, but once groups like Hansa finally found a bandit's hideout they would expel them as soon as possible. Yet, here the people didn't do their job. What was wrong with this place? For soldiers, these people had less discipline than his neighbors in the home guard.

When Artyom stepped into the town, he noticed the area was in shambles as NCR soldiers walked passed him. Most of these men were around his age, but they expressed their boredom being in their duties. He heard stories of guards back at Exhibition that would mention their duties, but it wasn't as bad as this. Even as a stepson to Sukhoi, he occasionally found the guards happier doing their duties with others.

Then the young man walked towards the bridge, only to have the back of his collar grabbed by a heavy hand. "Are you crazy?"

Artyom turned around, only to find an NCR trooper holding his collar. "What?"

"The bridge is mined for crying out loud. One more step and you would have turned into red meat."

Looking down at the bridge, red dots blinked atop circular devices. These were mines, but they were not the kind he had expected. Artyom recalled stories about using regular grenades and turning them into tripwire mines. As he made a step away from the mine, the NCR trooper continued to chastise him.

"Watch where you step, it might be your last, kid." He soon walked away as Artyom continued down his direct path across the bridge. Unlike the traps that the bandits developed in the Metro, the mines were easy to detect. They beeped based upon vicinity as Artyom slowly moved to the right side of the bridge and began to crept past them by the edge.

Once he was across the bridge, the stalker made his way into the town with his Bastard gun ready. With each slow step, he began to notice the strange sights as he continued to step closer with caution.

On his right, he noted the building that expressed its job in bright lights.

'Mojave Express'

When Artyom looked at the building's front, a body lay there with blood staining his clothes. It must have been the work of the Powder Gangers. With the dead man's body pressed against the wall, Artyom walked towards the body.

Then he stopped when he heard a person shouting in the distance. "Open the door old man!"

He turned around and learned the voice was originating from the left side of the road. There were pillars that supported the building, but it would be useful to him as cover. The body can be taken care of after these people were taken care of.

Artyom slowly found a place behind a pillar that viewed the scene from afar, but enough to see what was happening before his very eyes.

Three men were standing at the front of the door with their guns drawn, with a fourth man knocking on the door. "You hear me, Nash? If you don't let us in, I'm going to bring the rest of my boys out and knock this door down."

An old raspy voice dismissed his threats. "Yeah, but we got every gun trained on that doorway. You wouldn't stand a chance even if you did break it down."

"Don't get so cocky ya son of a bitch." The man at the door took a step back. "We know you don't have any food in there to last you a week. The NCR ain't gonna come after us once this place is ours."

They were threatening the people who lived here. Artyom gritted his teeth. Just across the bridge, the NCR had soldiers that could come here and stop this from occurring. Why couldn't they just take a simple action and stop these people? It didn't make any sense at all.

Drawing his submachine gun, Artyom aimed his weapon down upon the men surrounding the door. Then he remembered the good advice when handling this weapon. Shoot the gun in short bursts. His sights focused on one of the men behind the rest of the group. As he was smoking a cigarette between his lips, Artyom placed his trigger finger into place. One single shot would end his life, but it would also alert the others.

Yet, he would also be outnumbered if it became a firefight. Then Artyom recalled the man mentioning the others. There had to be a better way to end this in a short matter. Soon, he saw a red stick attached to a man's belt. "I wonder…" Artyom trailed off.

One shot echoed out of his silenced weapon, but it was enough to do everything he wanted. The shot landed upon the red stick and a great explosion erupted from his beltline. However, it also affected those around him. The blast was enough to kill anything in range, but if it didn't the survivors would be bleeding to death.

Artyom rose from his cover as he began to walk forward towards the building's entrance, only to find the four bodies dismembered by his shot. It almost made him sick, thanks to the smell. As he walked over the dead, he began to loot their bodies for whatever ammunition he could use. Maybe he could find some ammo for the gun he had?

Upon looting the bodies, Artyom pulled a gun out of a dead man's grip. It was almost similar to the other weapon he looked upon his previous attacker, but it's design was simpler. "Interesting."

Before he could reach to a second body, he felt a barrel stick into his face. "Don't move, stranger." The young man froze in horror as his eyes began to look to his left. The doors were blown open, but that was not his concern.

What really mattered was the dozens of people aiming their revolvers at his general direction.

Then Artyom looked up to the man, whose revolver was pressed against his face. He was a bald, dark-skinned man, whose forehead had seen better days. Soon, he dropped his Bastard.

The stranger holstered his weapon as he nodded to the others. "See if you can find some way to put these doors back up. Don't want the others to find out." Then he turned his head back to the young man. "Why a youngster like yourself is here, I don't know, but I appreciate what you did here." His hand reached out to Artyom with an honest smile. "Name's Johnson Nash, I'll see if my wife can cook you a meal for what you did." Johnson's gaze fell upon his weapon. "Fancy gun, never seen that before?"

Looking back to his weapon, Artyom grabbed it from the ground as he rose from the bodies. "Sir, I have some questions for you."

"Get inside, I can answer 'em for you."

Author's Note: Sorry about not posting chapters, I have been busy with life and almost forgot about my fics. Do not worry, I like where this is heading enough to keep it alive.

b0ss: No, sadly I will not make that crossover. I haven't played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. long enough to make a Metro 2033/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. crossover possible. Plus, I need to do plenty of planning since relics are involved.

DocHoliday0316: Oh, Artyom will encounter the Courier later on, but those moments will be few.

Guest: No. I will not.

Brandon Vortex: Yeah, decided to have some of the Wild Wasteland perk that allows me to have some of the weird stuff included.