Mayor Winsor

Julia shot him in the face. They both dove for his gun, but she got to it first and she took a wild shot. It blew his face inwards, and the recoil threw her into the dirt.

They finally reached the Hoover Dam after taking a long road up the Colorado. Really could have made the journey in half the time, but they meandered and enjoyed each other's company. She taught Julia how to spot and how to snipe using her carbine. They practiced on what Really called lakelurks but the Twisted Hairs called cha'l taaqa, which were easy sport for Really but gave Julia trouble.

"It's the gun," Really offered by way of apology, "You'd've hit 'em right between the eyes with somethin' a little lighter."

Even though Really's big beautiful gun and big beautiful bullets did not make an ideal weapon to train with, Julia took to sniping well, and had a natural talent for it.

Really continued to tell Julia stories about being a Viper and being a Ranger. Julia even opened up with a few stories of her own, although she didn't think her stories were as interesting. In an effort to keep up she mostly told stories of interesting injuries she'd treated.

"I guess they thought it would go away on its own, or something. I mean, it was stupid enough to not see me after he chewed his leg up 'cause he coulda got tetanus or something, but to actually have stuff crawling around in there..."

"Yeucchhh," Really playfully shuddered.

"Yeah, so, eventually he got so sick they had to come to me, but before I could clean his wounds I had to get rid of these wriggling, like, they looked like bloatfly larvae. I must've picked out about a hundred. Anyway, I figured that wouldn't be the gross part 'cause he waited so long to see me I figured he'd have a bunch of necrotized flesh and probably MRSA and the dead only know how many fucked up infections, but!" she gestured to Really, "The wound was mostly clean!"

Really gave Julia a disbelieving look, "It's true! He was even emitting less radiation than a typical wastelander. I guess the maggots ate all the infection and stuff, cleaned him out."

"Why was he sick, then?"

"Botulism. From a damaged can of beans," Julia laughed, "I tried to experiment more with maggots to see if they were a good method of cleaning wounds, but it was too difficult to keep a steady supply, and sometimes they didn't work," she admitted, "Also the maggots grew up before I killed them and antagonized the whole village. I actually got in big trouble for letting a swarm of bloatflies hatch in the center of Dry Wells," she sheepishly confessed.

"But maybe if I'd had some support I could've revolutionized tribal medicine. I could've revolutionized all wasteland medicine! It was hard to find and keep the maggots but it was a lot easier than getting disinfectant," she groused. Really conceded she had a point.

"But, I'd have to be in a bad, bad way to let maggots all up in me," Really shuddered.

"Everybody is in a bad, bad way," Julia argued, but let it drop. She was sensitive to getting shut down, but knew Really wasn't actually trying to discourage her like her grandfather had for years. Once while they were walking along the shore Really accidentally provoked that raw nerve.

Julia was explaining her experiments with colon cleansing to get rid of parasites, claiming that urine had the ideal pH and availability to reliably flush out most worms when Really abruptly cut her short, and told her on no uncertain terms that colon cleansing and urine treatment were both thoroughly debunked three hundred years ago. Although curt, the statement was meant to be helpful, as Really admired Julia's hard work but understood there was simply some information she didn't have access to, but Julia only heard all of the discouragement and abuse she'd taken from her grandfather and his people and took Really's help as a personal attack. In a quick moment she unleashed all the frustration and resentment that she'd been harboring on her friend and then immediately regretted it. Really was apologetic and understanding after catching her best glimpse yet of what Julia's life was like among the Twisted Hairs, the isolation and disenfranchisement that had only been hinted at obliquely through Julia's stories come to life in a flash, terrible and sad. After each of them made their apologies, Julia was quiet for the rest of the day, but the next morning she was in high spirits again.

When they neared the end of their journey, she became the first Twisted Hair to ever see the Hoover Dam.

"Holy fuck," was what she said when she saw it. Really waggled her eyebrows and conceded.

"Yeah."

"No way," Julia countered, to which Really simply shrugged her shoulders and smiled her lopsided smile.

They walked to the grand Dam, Really lead and Julia followed in stunned silence. They'd known each other for more than a month, but Really didn't expect her friend to be so impressed. To Really the Dam was simply another facet of life, no more impressive than her rifle or the setting sun. It didn't occur to her that Julia had never seen any human accomplishment that rivaled the Dam, even though she herself had never actually seen any human accomplishment that rivaled the Dam. She'd just come to accept it long ago, even as its immensity loomed over all of the Mojave.

"Yeah, we took it over after we killed off all the trogs," she informed Julia as they made their way to a building that was visible for miles around, "They were living in the dark, yeah. That's what they like, but it's not like they can talk or whatever. So, we killed 'em all and we set up shop. Couple of other people livin' in there, too, I dunno. Can't say spend a lot of time there, y'know? Prefer the outdoors myself. I'm not a trog, huh?"

Julia nodded her head numbly. She couldn't take her eyes off the Dam. She didn't know what a trog was, but she didn't actually hear anything Really said.

"Yeah, y'know, the rangers use it as a base. Plus, like, fresh water and e-lec-tricity, huh? Yeah, I guess it's pretty rad. Still not my scene, though."

"E-lect-tricity?" Julia asked, only vaguely familiar with the concept as an abstract gleaned from old books.

"Yeah, yeah! Electricity! All the arcing bolts and such. You think the building's great, wait till you see what it's meant for!" Really was excited. The structure itself didn't get much respect from her, but she couldn't deny her respect for its purpose. Although in Nipton she'd lived a fairly comfortable life as powered by fusion batteries, after her time as a Viper she couldn't deny the magic of electricity. In that time it became to her like something divine, and when she realized (in those brief minutes after they first witnessed the legacy of pre-war America) that Julia had never once in her life enjoyed the comforts afforded by electricity it made her very excited. They quickened their pace, but they weren't fast enough.

Richard Winsor had once been the mayor of Boulder City. Mayor Winsor was a strong man, who came from a long line of hardy stock and he took no guff and he gave no quarter. He became mayor because he was big and tough and no one fought him for it. The people of Boulder City didn't care who was mayor because up until Mayor Winsor the title hadn't meant anything, a relic of a bygone era that had symbolic significance and nothing more.

Mayor Winsor had a vision for a yet-unrealized Boulder City, a Boulder City that was the main hub of the Mojave, a new capital of a new empire. He was a man of plans, and after becoming mayor he set about making his plans reality. His Utopian vision started with consolidating not just Boulder City but the area around Boulder City under his authority. He started by kidnapping people and forcing them to work repairing buildings and tilling fields, while he turned citizens of Boulder City, who he called the 'first citizens', into a militia. They went along with him because holding old guns and spears was easier than repairing crumbling architecture and harvesting corn and cactus fruit.

It took no time at all for Mayor Winsor's 'first citizens' to draw the attention of the Desert Rangers, especially given Boulder City's proximity to the Dam. The Rangers had taken on raider bandits before, but Mayor Winsor was the first true warlord they took on.

In the end, after realizing his 'first citizens' were little more than the intimidated residents of Boulder City, the Rangers turned Winsor's people against him, and he was deposed with minimum bloodshed. The people of Boulder City awkwardly apologized to the people they'd enslaved, and offered to let them stay, and Mayor Winsor was cast out into the wastes.

But he never forgot the Rangers, and he never forgave them for what they did to him. He wandered the wasteland for years, making pacts and consolidating power. He finally amassed a big enough force of drug addicts, psychopaths, and degenerates to take on the Rangers, even in their stronghold, and in the end he was shot in the face by a fifteen-year-old girl using his own gun.

Julia and Really approached the Dam at the same time Winsor and his forces attacked. They could hear the raiders' war cries before they saw them, a force of at least a hundred. Without hesitation the two sprang into action, Really and her rifle and Julia and her grease gun. Julia laid down cover while Really picked them off one by one. Really didn't miss a single shot, but there were too many and they had to retreat. Thankfully, Winsor's men were targeting the Dam, and very few of them followed Really and Julia as they withdrew.

"Alright, finally some decent action!" Really smiled as she reloaded her rifle, "We need to swing around and hit 'em from behind. Got a good opportunity here, can't waste it."

Julia nodded in agreement as she loaded a new clip into her gun. Her heart was pounding, but it was excitement rather than fear. For a moment they paused and listened to the machine gun fire echo from the Dam. They steeled themselves then broke cover.

They maneuvered their way around Winsor's army. Julia laid down suppressive fire while Really sniped. By the time they flanked the enemy Julia was completely out of ammo, and Really was out of rifle ammo. Together they'd done serious damage to the raiders, cutting off their retreat and forcing them into a veritable meat grinder the Rangers established on top of the Dam.

"We need to push our advantage, I gotta get right up their assholes," Really slid her helmet on and drew her pistol, "Will you be okay if I leave you back here?"

Julia nodded enthusiastically, pumped full of adrenaline from the fighting, "I'll hide. You go!"

With Julia's approval, Really dived deeper into the fray. Julia retreated away, heart still pounding in her ears but she was unable to stop grinning maniacally. As the sounds of battle grew fainter she could hear someone talking.

"I don't care!" Mayor Winsor screamed into his radio, "Somebody get the detonator, then! I don't care if you have to blow it while it's still attached, I want them dead dammit!"

He was too distracted by his rapidly failing plan to notice her sneak up behind him. She pointed her empty pistol at his head and told him to put his hands up. Mayor Winsor was a big man, at least six feet tall. The years he'd spent in exile were not kind to him, but he was still at least twice as big as Julia. She managed to bluff him anyway.

"You don't want to do anything stupid little girl," he snarled at her like the trapped animal he was. He wore a cloak made of animal pelts, and at his hip was a big Colt Navy revolver with silver snake grips. His face was scarred into a permanent sneer, but she could tell he was afraid.

"Take off your belt, and throw it over here," she was fifty feet away from him, far enough that he couldn't tell that her gun was empty. He glared at her as he took off his belt and threw it. It hit the ground between them, a little closer to him than her. He could tell something was off.

"Well?" he said after a moment, "Aren't you going to shoot me?"

"I want you alive," she improvised, anxiously wishing Really was there, "So the Rangers can hang you from the Dam."

Mayor Winsor didn't buy it. He licked his lips, "See, here's the thing. I don't think you've got any bullets. Otherwise you woulda just shot me, none of this stick-up brahmin shit."

She didn't bother trying to come up with more lies. She tossed her empty gun to the ground and took off like lightening for the gun between her and the mayor. He tried to race her for it but was too slow. He was right on top of her when she pulled the Colt from its holster, stuck it in his face and fired. The recoil knocked her to the ground. Mayor Richard Winsor's brains flew out the back of his head and his corpse was flung backwards onto the cracked wasteland dirt. Afterwards, Julia kept the revolver, even though at the time she could hardly use it. As a Daughter of Hecate it became her signature weapon, second only to The Lady.