I spent most of yesterday working through shit in my head. I can be such a depressing morose fuck at times. I would rip the page out from yesterday, but I have some pretty good shit on the other side of it. So it stays. Maybe I'll just line it out and forget about it...
Today was interesting. Walking back to DC netted a few more sellable items from more dumbass raiders. These dickheads just can't let a guy walk around without trying to take something or kill someone. Four of them thought they were clever and approached me as a group. Their faceman tried to extort caps from me, but he got a little too close and I ended up using his body as a bullet sponge while the other three tried to shoot me. It never ceases to amaze me when I see the spread of gore coming out of the back of a man's head when you shoot it with a .44. The entry hole is so small, but damn... When the brain goes out the back, I swear it could suck the eyes right out of their sockets.
The ironic part is that the leader of the pack was toting a .50 Desert Eagle with a full magazine and 4 more in his pocket. Why even talk to me? You had a .50 hand gun for fuck sake... Dumbass.
I will likely use it for trade if Arturo finds my RSh.
Speaking of Arturo - I almost killed him today. Well, sort of...
When I got back to DC I found both Heather and Piper at Home Plate and there wasn't any blood... This both pleased and worried me. Apparently they had come to some kind of truce/understanding. I am grateful to not have to deal with that crap, but by the same token, the two of them in cahoots freezes my blood. They both bum-rushed me when I walked in and welcomed me home. They even worked together to cook up some food while I took a shower. Piper and Heather as BFFs. Yeah.. I am nervous.
Arturo came calling about an hour after I returned. He had a fairly sizeable suitcase with him and an odd air of mystery. He asked if we could speak in private. The girls heard his request, told us to behave, and walked out of the house giggling with each other. Giggling? It was the most frightened I had been since getting de-frosted.
Arturo smiled and told me that he had something special for me and wanted to bring it over himself before anyone else knew he had it. I admit, I was feeling a little excited. Arturo is a guy that could make you excited about buying 10 rounds of ammo... He told me that he picked it up from a caravan coming from the west. I was thinking what used to be west Massachusetts, but he meant WEST, as in west coast of what used to be the USA. He opened the case and pulled out a full length, ballistic lined, exterior Kevlar plated, black leather trench coat. It had to have weighed close to 50 pounds.
It was beautiful.
"Holy shit... Where did that come from and how much?" were the only words that came to my mind.
"I know right?" He smiled that big Arturo smile. "NCR officer coat. For you - 500 caps and an answer to a question."
"500 caps and a question? What the hell is the question?"
"Are you Mogui?"
Call it instinct, but before I really put any though into what I was doing I had Arturo against the wall, left forearm against his throat, Kellog's revolver at his temple.
"Where the fuck did you hear that name?!" I growled.
"Oh boy! That'd be a yes!" Arturo seemed oddly calm.
I jammed the barrel hard into his temple. "Arturo... Do not fuck with me. Answer the question or so help me I will paint the walls with your brains."
"Ok! OK! Can I breathe?" I released him but kept my weapon on him. He laughed in a oddly disarming way. "Next time remind me to ask you questions in public!"
"Arturo..."
"Sorry.. sorry. There is talk around the Commonwealth that someone is killing raiders at a pace never seen before and leaving messages in blood and guts. Last week in Goodneighbor their watch caught a resident painting the words "Mogui lives!" onto the side of the mayor's house. You are the newest addition to the family, so to speak, you buy and bring in a lot of guns and ammo, so I was just putting things together."
"Someone was painting "Mogui lives" on a wall where? Who... who was doing that?" I felt an odd mix of rage and nostalgia.
"Goodneighbor. The guy they caught is named Xao. He is a Chinese pre-war ghoul. Story goes he immigrated about a week before the bombs dropped. Started rambling about the devil has come to take his due from the scum of the Commonwealth, and other crazy shit. They have him sedated at the mayors house over there. I heard about it from a few of the caravans that have passed through."
"Xao? Are you fucking shitting me?" Xao - the guy who carried and dragged me almost 20 miles back to his village after I was mauled by a goddamn tiger.
"Why? Do you know this guy?" Arturo pressed a little too much. I put my finger to my lips.
"Arturo, we never had this conversation and you never asked me that question. There are things you don't know and don't need to know. We need to keep what you know under wraps. I will continue to give you the cream of the crop of the stuff I acquire, you profit and sell me the good stuff. I will continue to do what I do and we don't need to talk about this again unless I bring it up. deal?" I put 500 caps on the table.
He smiled at me and took the bag of caps and agreed. I doubled his caravan profit since I started to deal with him, and I know he is not going to risk that. I feel I made a safe bet. As he left, he turned and smiled.
"One last thing, and then never again... you know, this Mogui... He could be bigger than the Silver Shroud... Just saying.. See you later boss."
Yeah... that I need.
In order to keep up appearances, I made my usual daily foray out into the market, grabbed some noodles for lunch, made a few deals with Arturo and Crazy Myrna, and added some extra heavy locks to Home Plate. Over lunch I asked Heather if she knew the way to Goodneighbor and got the expected talk about how I didn't really want to go there, etc., etc. I insisted and she buckled. She said it would be about a 40 minute walk and that she knew a way that would minimize interference from raiders and super mutants. True to her word, she got us there in no time.
We weren't in good neighbor for more than 10 seconds before some asshole had to go and ruin the flow of my day.
"Your new here and I know that you haven't paid for insurance yet... It'll help you stay out of the kind of trouble you don't want to get in..." It wasn't a very intimidating routine.
"How about this, you fuck off and I don't shoot you in the face."
"Oh, you're threatening me? Do you know who I am?"
I pulled the .44 and had it under his chin before he could react.
"I am guessing the dead guy with no brains at the gate, or... you are the guy that realizes he just fucked up and apologizes to the person you just offended... Which it is going to be?"
"S..s..sorry to have disturbed you..." His eyes were the size of eggs.
"Good choice." I holstered the pistol and walked past him and was stopped by a ghoul dressed to the nines, revolutionary style, and sporting it well.
"Welcome to Goodneighbor. I like your style. I think your going to fit in fine here. Name's Hancock. I am the mayor of this little corner of Hell."
This guy had both swagger and style. He was one of those guys that you knew was a badass in his own right and didn't have to tell you about it. He was real and upfront. I couldn't help but like him.
"Actually, Mr. Mayor, you are just the man I was looking for."
"Mr. Mayor?" He replied in a surprised tone. "Oh yeah, we are going to get along fine! What can I do for you?"
I told him that I was an old friend of Xao's and that I was there to take him to Diamond City where I could keep better track of him. I lied and told him that Xao had a history of mental illness and that I had made arrangements to keep him safe and out of trouble. Luckily for me, Hancock was very happy to let me have him just to get him out of Goodneighbor. The only concern he had was the caps it was going to cost him to get the paint removed from his house. I handed him a bag with 500 caps in it and he gave me an odd look.
"Well, damn... I was going to ask if you could come up with 200. This might even be enough for me to forget Xao was ever here if that would be something you were interested in."
"Are all ghouls mind readers, Hancock?" I replied, smirking.
"Naw... Just me. I'll have some of my boys bring him down. Um... you may need to carry him, I have him pretty loaded up on chems."
"Was he violent?" I admit, I was a little worried he had lost his mind.
"No... Just acting weird. He was just kind of dancing around when we caught him. Almost giddy." the door opened behind him and two well dressed ghouls were helping Xao out of the building. When he looked up and saw me, I wanted to smack him for what he said right before he passed out again.
"It is... It was.. It is you.." His eyes were focused on my scars.
Then down he went. Heather and I dragged his sorry ass back to DC and now here we are.
Xao is crashed out on my bed, sleeping til he wakes to what will probably be the biggest hangover of his life. Now I just have to figure out how he got here and what the fuck he is doing here.
Yeah. This keeps getting better.
