When Jackson awoke, he had no idea where he was at. As far as he could tell, he was inside the Sierra Madre Casino. Checking the holographic system in Puesta del Sol had been easy, and once he saw that the holograms there were working he knew it was time to enter the Casino. He remembered running through the streets of the Villa, past the fountain, and up a stupid amount of stairs to the Casino's front entrance. Elijah and the target were there, and then...

Gas? He remembered hearing a hissing noise. Some kind of security system, he guessed. He was lying on top of a leather-padded bench, his hands folded over his stomach. He sat up, all his limbs intact and body working. He took a look around the room, a bank of lockers to his left and some shelves to his right, a Hunting Shotgun and a few boxes of shells on it.

Jackson swung his legs out onto the floor and stood, his Garand lying against the bench and the Desert Eagle still in his holster. At least the system hadn't taken his weapons. The Garand was still out of ammo, but he had 16 rounds, two full magazines, for the Desert Eagle remaining.

He walked around the benches and started pulling open the lockers, looking for anything useful. One of the lockers had a box of .44 Magnum ammo in it, along with a spare magazine for the Desert Eagle. There was a closet beside the lockers, the doors open. Jackson looked around on the shelves occupied by guns and ammo, a few boxes of .308 FMJ on one of the shelves. He brought the boxes down and set about refilling the clips for his Garand.

As he pressed a loaded clip into the Garand's magazine Jackson smiled. He slung the rifle and stepped back into the security office, noticing an intercom on the wall. He approached it and pressed the key on the face of the intercom. "Hello? Anyone there? Did anyone else make it?"

There was silence for a few seconds before a woman's voice came on. "That you, Jackson? It's Chloe. Elijah made it too, though I'm not sure where."

"He'll show himself soon enough, I'm sure. Where are you?" Jackson asked.

"Wish I knew, but I wouldn't tell you anyway. Look, I don't trust you and you won't trust me. Suits us fine, I'm sure, but I understand we have to work together to find this treasure. I'm going to take a look around and see what I can find out. Bye."

Jackson released the intercom's key and frowned. He'd probably end up killing her on principle alone. He opened up the door and peeked out into the hall, a closed door just across the way. The hall turned left at the end, the floor lined with red carpet and green runners. It would've been a nice place, before the bombs fell. Jackson walked down the hall, Desert Eagle in hand. There was a metal emergency door at the end of the hall, closed. The hall turned right, partially collapsed down the way, a door right beside the rubble. He tried the emergency door and it opened with ease, a hallway beyond. He stepped into the hall, the door to his right locked. To the right was another hall, an elevator at the end.

Jackson pressed on, following the hall East all the way to the end. There were two doors around the last corner, both closed. He opened the one on the left, a hotel room beyond. Pre-War books littered the floor, and Jackson realized the whole Villa was a treasure trove of pre-War books. It was a shame they weren't worth any money, otherwise he'd be picking up every single one.

He cleared the room and headed right, towards a bathroom. The wall to his right had collapsed at some point, exposing the room beyond. There was a hologram standing in the next room, identical to the one in the Villa. She stood in the room for a few moments before she turned around and walked through a door.

"Ah Hell" he said. He retraced his steps back through the halls and headed for the elevator. To his surprise it still worked, and he waited patiently for the lift to arrive. When the elevator he arrived he stepped inside and pressed the button for the lobby, riding it all the way down.

It would soon be time to wrap this all up.


Chloe had to admit, the casino's security had a certain sense of humor. When she awoke, she found herself lying in the kitchen, right by a coffee machine. She had sat up, rubbed her head, and stood. She'd taken a few minutes to help herself to the food and water and was about to get moving when Jackson's voice had come through a nearby intercom.

After explaining herself to him she'd headed through a storage room and out a door to some kind of lobby, where she now stood. The high, vaulted ceiling had a nice chandelier hanging from it, still lit. She walked around to the front of the reception desk, the wall behind it declaring 'Cantina Madrid.'

She walked back the way she'd came, the doors to the bathrooms open. There was a poster on the wall, 'Love Sets Sail, starring Vera Keyes.' Some trash pre-War movie, she guessed. A quick check of the bathrooms revealed nothing of interest besides a radio on top of a trash can(what the Hell?) and some bobby pins. The mirrors were all smashed to pieces, but Chloe had tied her hair up enough times she could do it with her eyes closed. She put it up in a ponytail and used the pins to hold it in place.

The doors to the Cantina Madrid restaurant were sealed, so she decided to head back to the kitchens. The place was mostly a mess, but she was glad that so much food remained. She stepped through an open doorway, a terminal on the desk to her left. She pulled up the chair and sat down, curious to see what the terminal held.

'Another Shipment?

Another(!) shipment of kitchen knives for the Cantina Madrid came in today, with their new "space age" alloy polymer material. We've got way more than we need for the blah blah blah. Chloe backed out and checked the other terminal entry.

'These Knives!

These knives are sharp, too sharp! One of the chefs almost lost their thumb when dicing vegetables, and we're losing cutting boards at a rate of at least one per day. The knives just slice right through them! Running out of dishrags to mop up the blood.'

Chloe frowned, wishing she'd picked up one of those knives back in the Villa. She had plenty of ammo left, plus her own knife, but it sounded like these cosmic knives were better. She stood up from the terminal and walked down the hall to a metal emergency door. It opened with ease, and she emerged in a rather plush hallway. She took the stairs to the right down, and at the bottom she saw a skeleton. The hallway was T-shaped, a bookcase against the wall. She peeked left and, when she saw a security hologram patrolling the office, she scurried down the hall.

There was another skeleton there, lying next to a refrigerator. She stepped past a partition and found herself behind a bar, bottles of beer and liquor still on the shelves. She walked around the bar and out onto the floor, admiring the rather nice chairs and couches around. She walked over to the railing and saw the casino below, the tables and slots silent.

She was about to walk over to the stairs when she saw Elijah walking up it, his gun slung. He saw her standing by the railing and nodded. "You. Where is your bounty hunter friend?"

Chloe shrugged. "Around, that's all I know. I talked with him on the intercom."

Elijah finished walking up the stairs and approached her. "We're almost there, I can taste it. It won't take us long to figure out where the vault is and how to get in, and then the treasure of the Sierra Madre will be ours."

Chloe sat down in one of the chairs, crossed her legs, and put her hands on her knees. Elijah gazed over the railing at the security holograms patrolling the casino and frowned. "Where should we begin, then?" Chloe asked, and Elijah looked back at her.

"I know just the place."


The elevator had taken Jackson all the way to the lobby, as expected. He stood at the railing, looking down at the sealed front doors. The Ghost People were pounding on them, from the sound of it. He headed right, through a threshold marked 'Theater', and walked down the hall to the door. The Theater's lobby was clear, the lights still on. He proceeded into the foyer and noticed a pair of skeletons by a door lit by a neon sign. 'The Tampico.'

Ignoring the skeletons and heading left Jackson found himself presented with another door and skeleton. He pushed the door opened and stepped into the silent theater, amazed by how clean everything looked. The Tampico's refreshments bar was even still stocked, bottles of liquor and packs of cigarettes on the shelves. He walked past the bar and noticed a security hologram patrolling the far end of the Theater.

Jackson looked down and saw a pair of skeletons still in their seats, and wondered how these people had died. He guessed the security holograms had killed them, but if so, why? He kept to the left as he proceeded through the theater, keeping an eye on the hologram. When he passed by the stage he knew he was in the clear, and walked up to a door labelled 'Authorized Personnel Only.' The door was unlocked and he pulled it open, the hall beyond clear.

There was a terminal on the wall, the label on the side proclaiming it to be for ambient audio control. A quick check confirmed that, the speakers apparently on. Not that any music would ever play from those speakers again. Opposite the terminal was a fancy dressing room, mostly intact except for the shattered mirrors. There was a poster on the wall of a beautiful woman, the text on it saying 'Begin... Again. Sierra Madre.' Jackson knew he'd definitely be getting a new beginning after this. A quick check of the room produced only a locked first aid kit, which made Jackson wonder. Who would lock something so important?

He walked back out of the room and pushed open the door directly across it, finding himself backstage. There was a staircase in front of him and a terminal at the top of it, an open threshold to his right. He walked up the stairs to the terminal and found it was locked, an electric junction box beside it sparking. Even if he had the password he wouldn't touch the terminal, not unless someone came by and helpfully fixed the junction box.

Jackson proceeded back down the stairs and decided to take a look behind the curtains. There was a playing card on the floor, an Ace of Clubs, and some miscellaneous equipment down the way against the wall. A locker, some suitcases, a car tire(?), and a clothes rack. He looked up the ramp behind the curtain and saw the door that had been next to the terminal and decided there was nothing else to see. He was about to step through the curtains and head back to the lobby when he heard a gun cock behind him.

"Freeze."

"Damn it. Maybe one day we'll meet each other without having to reach for our guns" Jackson said, and turned around, his hands raised. There Chloe stood, .45 Auto in hand.

"Hopefully after today we'll never see each other again" she said, and Jackson nodded. She lowered her gun and Jackson lowered his hands. "I found Elijah. He said we're almost there, but there's one more thing that needs to be done."

"And what is that?" Jackson asked.