With the front doors still locked getting out of the casino would be a challenge, but Chloe would cross that bridge when she came to it. She had made her way through the main Casino area and back to the lobby, then left towards the Restaurant. She hadn't noticed it when she first went through the Restaurant, but she realized she could hear water dripping. She walked around the front desk and pushed open the extravagant doors to the Cantina Madrid, the sight beyond making her gasp.

The casino thus far had been intact and remarkably well-preserved. The Cantina Madrid, however, had suffered greatly. A water pipe in the floor had burst, the water still running, leading to two centuries of water damage. The floor of the restaurant had partially collapsed and was sloping down, the walls crumbling and the tables warped. It was shocking, really, to see a part of the casino that resembled the state of the Villa. If she was going to leave, it'd have to be through here.

She shut the doors to the Cantina Madrid and headed back to the lobby, standing by the stairs and tapping the barrel of her gun against her leg. She knew what she had to do, but she still needed to come up with a plan. Elijah was nowhere to be seen, having gone off somewhere to do God knows what, but she wasn't concerned about him. She didn't trust him, but he had no ties to her. If she wanted to leave, he wouldn't care.

Jackson was the problem. With the treasure sealed away forever, there'd be no big payday. Once he found out, he'd continue his hunt. Even if she made it to the Mid-West she'd be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life. It had to end here, and now. She jogged up the stairs and walked briskly toward the theater, gun in hand. She made her way through the lobby and around the corner to the side entrance. The Tampico was clear, no sign of the hologram she'd seen earlier or Jackson. She crouched low and slowly walked into the room, keeping close to the wall. She had just made it to the edge of the double doors when she heard Jackson's voice.

"Knew you wouldn't be able to help yourself. It's in your blood. You just take and take, always out for self. It's why you abandoned your duties to the NCR, why you stole from them, and why you've been on the run for months. You can't take responsibility. When you heard about the treasure that was it, you had to have it all for yourself" Jackson said. She looked around the room but couldn't hear him, and realized he was speaking through the speakers.

"The treasure's sealed away, Jackson! The lock can only be opened by a woman named Vera Keyes, and she's been dead for hundreds of years" Chloe said.

"I don't care about your lies. Between your bounty and the treasure, I'll be set for decades. The pay's higher if I bring you in alive, but that won't matter once I have that treasure. What do you think it is? Gold? I'll bet it's gold, a big fucking hoard of it, stashed away by a paranoid megalomaniac. I'm sure all sorts of people have come here over the centuries, looking for it. They've all met their end here, just like you will."

Chloe looked up in time to see Jackson standing on the catwalk behind the curtains, rifle in hand. "Time's up" he said, and took aim. Chloe scrambled down the stairs and behind the stage as Jackson opened fire, his Garand thundering harshly in the cavernous room. Chloe holstered her pistol and unslung the Single Shotgun, holding it tightly as Jackson pinned her down, his bullets tearing chunks out of the edge of the stage.

Chloe heard him run dry and when she stood up to return fire he was gone, and her blood ran cold. She took the opportunity to run towards the side door, the butt of her shotgun against her shoulder. She scurried into the hall and closed the door behind her, vaguely aware of it automatically locking behind her. She ran up to the stage door and peeked around the corner, no sign of Jackson anywhere. She pulled the door shut, edged up to the corner, and peeked around it.

The bullet missed her by sheer luck, hitting the wall behind her. She screamed in surprise and fell back onto her butt, the shotgun pointed at the ceiling. She scrambled back to her feet, stuck the shotgun around the corner, and blind-fired. She ejected the spent round and shoved another into the chamber, cocking the hammer after. She peeked around the corner, the coast clear, and she rushed across the hall into the storeroom. The room was filled with large wood crates and mannequins, along with other sundry things. She crouch-walked across the room, a thunderous shot blasting off the head of one of the mannequins. She raised the shotgun over the crate and fired blindly, hoping she was at least keeping Jackson's head down.

She was in the process of reloading the shotgun when Jackson appeared around the corner, rifle in hand. Chloe dropped the shotgun and scurried backwards, fumbling for her pistol. She scrambled around the edge of a crate as Jackson fired, the bullet hitting the floor by her feet. She stuck the gun around the corner and fired, her ears ringing. She peeked back the other way and there was Jackson. She fired, the round actually hitting Jackson's Garand, and he dropped it. She fired just as Jackson ducked behind the crate, the round shattering a coffee mug on a table by a door. She ejected the empty magazine and shakily inserted a fresh one.

"Just... Just let me go, alright?! I'll give you whatever you want, whatever will prove I'm dead to the NCR. You can collect your pay and let me be on my way!" Chloe shouted, hoping he could hear her.

"HAHAHA! Think I'd trust you, you bitch? As if. Hell, at this point, after all the shit I've been through killing you will be for pleasure just as much as business!" he yelled, and Chloe swore. She scrambled back out of the room and down the hall, past three skeletons, and around a corner. She pulled open the door at the end of the hallway and there was the security hologram. It saw her, turned red, and raised its hands to its head. She slammed the door shut just in time, the laser beam scorching the metal.

She turned around just in time to see Jackson round the corner, magnum in hand. Without thinking she flung the door open and ran to the railing by the stairs to the stage. The hologram had turned around to continue its patrol, giving Chloe her chance. She dropped to the floor, crawled through the railing, and quickly rose back to her feet. She just needed to get into a good position, take one good shot.

She heard Jackson pull the door open behind her and he fired, the magnum barking so loud in the air Chloe was deafened. The bullet missed her, and she looked over her shoulder in time to see the hologram turn, its attention focused on Jackson. He vanished back into the hall and the hologram turned its attention to her. The first laser roared past her head, torching her ponytail and filling the air with a heavy stench of ozone and burnt hair. The next shot hit her canteen on her left hip, blasting it open and vaporizing the water within. She stumbled by the edge of the stage and fell over, landing on a table with a heavy slam. Sharp pain lanced through her sides and she writhed in agony, knowing she was wasting precious time but unable to move.

She rolled off the table and rose on unsteady feet, her left hand around her ribs, just under her chest. Breathing was painful, but possible, and she was grateful that her ribs weren't broken. Fractured maybe, but not broken. She made it to the stairs when she heard the thunderclap of Jackson's magnum, and fresh pain ripped through her. Her hand dropped from her ribs to the bleeding hole in her side, the bullet having torn through her lower abdomen. Her vision blurred and she collapsed to the ground, her free hand on the railing. "Don't... Don't do it, don't do it..." she said as Jackson walked over. He scooped up her pistol and stuck it into his waistband.

Chloe waited for the shot but it never came. She looked up and saw Jackson duck, the hologram gunning for him. He grabbed her by the collar of her tank top and dragged her away, back towards the backstage door. Her blood streaked across the floor and she struggled weakly to escape, her hand clawing at Jackson's wrist. He shut the door and dragged her through the backstage area, to the room with the mannequins. He released his hold on her, unslung his backpack, and began rummaging through it. "Rangers want me to bring your head back, but I don't have time for that" he said, and crouched down. "Your gun will be proof enough."

Chloe weakly grabbed his leg and glared up at him, eyes blurry with tears. "I tried...so hard..."

Jackson looked down at her. "We all do" he said. He pulled on the cowl of the same chemical suit the Ghost People wore, and Chloe realized what was about to happen. Fresh adrenaline pumped through her, her heart thumping wildly. Jackson grabbed her by the collar of her tank top again and dragged her towards the emergency exit, the door shrouded in the Cloud. He pushed the door open, the outside thick with the rusty haze, and tossed her out. The light of the room was quickly shut away, and Chloe was left outside in a heavy bank of the blood-red mist. Her vision swam and darkened, her lungs and skin and intestines burning, her head pounding. She writhed and writhed on the ground, unable to do anything to help herself as the Cloud mercilessly and unrelentingly destroyed her. She vomited onto the ground and rolled onto her back, staring up at what little of the sun could be seen through the lethal haze.

And then she was gone.


Jackson left his empty backpack where it lied, the chemical suit unfolded on the table by the emergency exit. He unloaded Chloe's M1911 and stuck it back into the waistband of his pants, making sure it was held tightly in place by his belt. He set down his Desert Eagle and pulled on the chemical suit, securing the clasps and making sure all of the fasteners were in place. He pulled on the cowl, cinched it down tight, and stretched all his limbs. Everything was in place and he was ready to go.

He picked his Desert Eagle back up and prepared to leave. It was too bad about his Garand, but with the money from the bounty buying a new one wouldn't be a problem. He pushed open the emergency exit door and saw the target's corpse on the ground next to it, covered in her own sick. He left her where she lied and started making his way around the side of the casino to the plaza outside the front door. The Ghost People looked at him but didn't attack, and he noticed all the spears embedded in the frame around the front door. They'd clearly tried their best to get in, but had given up after a while.

The entire plaza was covered in the Cloud, but the chemical suit worked wonders. He walked effortlessly through the Cloud and past the Ghost People, the air inside the suit stale but breathable. He hit the stairs that led back down to the Villa and began the descent.

Halfway down he began to feel a little fatigued, his head faintly aching. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept, and he was looking forward to getting out of this insane place and back to fresh air. After a few minutes he continued on, soon reaching the bottom of the steps. He made his way through the winding streets and back to the gate that led to the Town Square, the holographic woman still standing on the fountain.

Jackson reached up to open the gate and realized he'd dropped his Desert Eagle. Confused, he turned around, the whole block mired in thick Cloud. He tried to think, to remember where he dropped it, but found he couldn't. He shrugged and decided it didn't matter. He had the pistol from the target tucked in his waistband. He'd have to wait until he was outside of the Villa to take the suit off, but he figured he'd be safe until then.

He pushed open the gate, closed it behind him, and proceeded across the Town Square. He reached the gate that led out of the Villa, the streets there also blanketed in the Cloud. He walked briskly into the Cloud, the air absolutely thick with it. He stopped by an archway to recover his breath, his hand on the wall.

Something was wrong, he could feel it. His skin was tingling, his nose burning. Why? He walked back to the Villa, just to get out of the Cloud. He headed West, towards the Police Station, but stopped halfway. Even though he was outside of the Cloud, he still felt terrible. He could still feel it, seeping into him, and when little wisps of red mist swirled in his vision he realized it was inside the suit. He looked down, the clasps on his arms and legs corroded. He scrabbled clumsily at one, unable to release it.

The suit had failed. The Cloud had penetrated it, destroyed the filters and warped the clasps. He was trapped inside the suit, unable to escape. He groaned, first in frustration, then in fear, as he pulled and tugged and yanked on the clasps of his suit, but they wouldn't give. He had to get out of the suit, it was the only way.

Jackson dropped to one knee, feeling weak. His breaths were shallow and labored, and he collapsed to the ground. He could see the Sierra Madre Casino looming over the Villa, visible even over the tops of the buildings around him. He gazed up at it as his vision changed. It blurred, turned red, then...green? He could feel himself fading in and out, the grand tower of the magnificent casino beckoning to him. Calling to him. He reached up to it, the beauty of the structure and the black rubber of his gloved hand the last thing he saw.

When he woke up again, he wasn't himself.