ch 4 trouble at drumlin diner

"We had a deal trudy, now hand over the goods you owe us!" Wolfgang called out across the parkinglot from behind the rusted out chevy truck he had chosen to hide behind, aiming the barrel of his shotgun over the bedside. beside him, his men hunkered down behind the cab, waiting eagerly for him to give the order to open fire on the old, run down, rusted out diner that hick woman called a trading post.

"I aint giving you poison shooting chem users anything- do you know what that junk has done to my boy?" She called back stubbornly, despite the odds being stacked against her. In response, Wolfgang rolled his eyes- her tenacity was admirable, but his patience was starting to wear thin.

"He bought them fair and square trudy- aint our fault your kids strung out...now dont make me come in there and shoot up that little trading post of yours." He argued, resorting to threats after his attempts at reasoning had floundered.

Catching movement in his peripheral, Wolfgang turned sharply to his left, reflexively aiming as their little mexican stand off was interrupted by an unfamiliar party creeping up the short drive into the lot, backed only by a rather ferocious looking attack dog.

"Woah woah, easy there- this doesnt involve you." He warned the girl cautiously, shooting the dog a nervous glance before refocussing on her. She was short- at least twenty five years old, with a soft, slender, curvacious body covered from neck to ankles in a tight, form fitting spedex blue suit that accented the grey hue of her wide, heavily lashed eyes.

"Dont shoot!" She told him, raising her free hand in a gesture of peace. "Im friendly- i heard shouting, and I just came to see what was happening..." She explained quickly, voice trailing off as she starred nervously down the barrel of his weapon- all the while keeping her own aim trained on him.

For a few tense moments, Wolfgang deliberated, concidering her attire and demeanor carefully as he took a mental inventory of each item carried on her person- from the black bag bulging on her back, to the small 10mm pistol gripped tightly in her hand, before eventually deciding she wasnt a threat, and at last lowering his weapon.

"Its a simple business dispute." He told her calmly, dark green eyes lingering on her breasts shamelessly beneith the tightly clinging material of her vault suit, before raising to meet her own. "Trudy in there, is sitting on a pile of goods she owes me- ive tried reasoning with her, but it looks like i gotta take whats mine by force..." Nora followed his gaze to her gun as he starred at it thoughtfully, before offering her a proposition.

"Wanna make some easy money? Help me out- I could use an extra gun." He asked, making one last attempt at stacking the odds in his favor. " ...Unless you think you can talk some sense into her?"

Nora's brows furrowed, and she reminded herself to maintain eye contact as the men by the cab eyed her predatorily behind him, making her feel vulnerable and self concious.

"Whose Trudy?" She forced herself to ask, ignoring their stares- she couldnt very well take a side, without first knowing who she would be dealing with. Wolfgang jerked his angled chin in the direction of the diner, peering carefully over the truck bed toward the hostile woman posted up inside the run down building.

"See that diner in front of us?" He asked conversationally, turning back to face her. " Trudy owns it- shes converted the structure into a small shop, and we made an agreement... i sell her chems, and in return, she gives me caps and certain parts i need..."

Nora nodded- she had gathered that the dispute was over drugs from what little she had heard upon her arival, but that still didnt explain how the standoff had come about.

"Okay- so what happened then?" She asked suspiciously, promting him to finish his story. His green eyes slid away from her slyly as his narrow lips involentarily twitched into a smirk.

"Well, when her son Patrick had his eighteenth birthday, I mighta sold him some Jet...Then a little more...then a lot more- now hes in debt." He admitted smugly, looking almost sheepish as he reached back with one hand to scratch the nape of his neck- the oldest trick in the book. Get someone hooked, extort them for all there money, and then take them for all their worth...

Jet? Nora wondered idly as she listened. What happened to good old fasioned crack?

"looks to me like they shouldnt have bought it, and you shouldnt have sold it to them..." She concluded drly, unimpressed by the dispute.

"Yeah?" He asked sarcastically, eyes flashing dangerously as he spit toward the grass." well, life's a bitch, and im holding the leash- now you gonna help us out or what?" He asked gruffly, demanding to know where they stood so he could make a decision on what to do next. Nora's eyes narrowed in response to his tone.

"And why would i help you exactly?" She retorted haughtily, instantly regretting her brash words-Thankfully, he didnt seem perturbed by her attitude. if anything, he seemed to respect it, giving her another quick once over as he came up with a sales pitch that would convince her to support him.

"look, i deal in chems- you know, medicine. kinda useful in these parts, if you know what i mean- stimulation packs can patch up most wounds in seconds." He explained, using his product as a bargaining chip to sway her in his favor. " Not to mention the fun stuff...i got some of that too- you help me out, and maybe we can do business..."

Now, it was Nora's turn to deliberate, weighing her options- she could walk away, and let a woman die when she possibly couldhave mediated and difused the situation- or she could try to reason with the woman, and risk getting caught in the crossfire of someone else's drug dispute.

" Trust me- im a good friend to have." Wolfgang appealed one last time, emphasizing the word "friend" in a way that conveyed a subtle threat as he waited for her answer. Nora looked back across the parkinglot toward the diner uncertainly- she understood the womans reluctance to pay her sons drug debt, but an agreement had been made and as far as nora was concerned she was in breech of a verbal contract.

"Alright- i'll see what i can do..." She decided after a long moment, exhailing heavily before turning toward the building with a look of determination, beginning to approach it with hands held high. Amused, Wolfgang watched her go with interest, a wide grin breaking across his face as he looked back toward his back up with an incredulous expression.

"Get a load of this chick." He told them, eliciting a round of chuckles from the men as they peeked around the cab to watch her enter the lions den, flanked by her furry companion.

"Hey!" He called to her across the parkinglot before she entered, reclaiming her attention momentarily. " We appreciate you- If things go south, well back you up!"

Nora rolled her eyes, throwing a quick wave over her shoulder to tell him she had heard before ducking through the doorless threshold into what she remembered was once a rather charming retro style diner- only to walk face first into the end of the defensive womans non-automatic rifle.

"Hey..." She greeted breathlessly, holding her hands out to show she was unarmed. Behind her, Dogmeat snarled menacingly, lips pulling up over his teeth and hackles raising as he moved around to put himself between his human and the hostile woman should she make any sudden moves- Defensively, Trudy stepped back behind the counter, eyes never deviating from her target as she put a barrier between her and the intimidating canine.

"I saw you and that poison seller talking- well, he aint getting his money. Period." She declared stubbornly, jaw set as she looked from Nora, toward Wolfgang where he waited behind the safety of the truck. She was a short, sturdy woman- probably in her late forties, with silver hair pulled tight into a severe bun at the top of her head, dressed in a plaid button down shirt and ripped, stained jeans.

"Why? whats this all about?" Nora asked carefully, hoping to gain the womans trust by giving her a chance to voice her side of the dispute.

"Oh, that chem pusher didnt tell you?" She asked bitterly, jerking her chin toward the back of the diner, where a young man lay lamely on a thin bedroll, shivering furiously as sweat soaked his tattered, dirty clothes. " he got my boy hooked on Jet, and sold him a bunch of dope on credit- and now he expects me to pay him off...that bastard aint getting a single damn cap from me..."

Nora watched the boy toss and turn pitifully, feeling nothing but sympathy for the pain he was enduring- he mighthave been eighteen, but he was still just a kid, and it was obvious he had been taken advantage of- but it still didnt change the consequences of his mistake. In college, she herself had formed a bit of a drug habit, while studying for her doctrate durring one of Nate's earlier tours of duty- and it had very nearly destroyed her career before it even had a chance to begin.

"Look- Bottom line is, you owe him money and he has you out gunned." Nora pointed, calling it how she saw it. " If you just pay them, then this will all be over- Everyone walks away without getting hurt."

The stout woman exhailed heavily from her spot behind the counter as she thought about it, and Nora could tell when reason won out by the resentment in her eyes as she glared toward the parkinglot, before reluctantly giving in and lowering her weapon to the counter.

"Alright- ill pay...But that bastard aint gonna sell one more drop of jet to my boy." She declared seriously, before shouting out the window. " hear that, wolfgang? youll get your damn money, but i better not catch you selling chems to my boy again!"

"Fine by me Trudy- Your sons broke as shit anyway." He answered back, accepting her terms without negotiation. Rising, Wolfgang wandered into the open parkinglot cautiously, followed closely by his entourage.

"Alright, crisis is over, if your here to trade step up to the counter- if not, get lost." Trudy ordered bluntly, nodding toward the doorway with narrowed hazy blue eyes. Silently, Nora complied, shooting the shopkeeper a dirty look before taking her leave to rejoin Wolfgang outside. He waited patiently for her a few yards from the entryway, eyeing her and her attack hound appreciatively as she approached while his goons waited nearbye, giving him some room to conduct business.

"Great, we get paid and i didnt even have to shoot nobody- good job." He complimented, looking pleased. "Now how about i show you all the pick me ups i have on offer?"

Nora nodded, and he wasted no time in unzipping his form fitting black leather jacket, reaching inside with one hand to grab something out of the inner side pocket, before holding it out for her to take- it was a large rolled up ziplock baggy, and when she unravelled it, she could see several different objects in the bag. An inhailor, a half full pill bottle, a stimulation pack, and a small syringe filled with a light pink liquid she didnt recognize.

"Thats a full inhailor of Jet, twenty buffout tablets, a Stim pack and sixty mililiters of psycho- and since you did me a solid, im willing to part with it all free of charge...this time only though." He told her, rewarding her for her service while attempting to create a new customer at the same time.

Nora held the bag stiffly, looking inside at its contents with a thougtful expression as she toyed with the idea of indulging in the free samples- why not? She wondered vaguely. its not like i can be arrested and charged- and wouldnt it be amazing not to feel for a while?

"Thanks...How much is all this worth, anyway?"

Wolfgang shrugged, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a dented cigarette pack before popping it in his mouth and lighting up with a match.

"Depends on where you are and who your selling to. Stim's more expensive as a commodity- around sixty caps in the big city, but the Jet and psycho can be bought for anything between twenty and thirty five per container. The steroids go for around ten." He informed her casually, exhailing a cloud of smoke over her head as he ashed on the pavement.

"Caps?" She asked strangely, brow furrowing as she recalled both he and Trudy saying something about caps being involved in their agreement- she had assumed they were referring to bullets.

"Yeah- you know, money?" he informed her, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Nuka cola caps?"

"...Right...Thanks..." She responded lamely, looking away awkwardly as she absorbed the new information. "Can you tell me how to get to boston from here?"

"You trying to get to daimond city?" He asked, taking a likely guess as he kicked a small rock across the eroded asphalt lot boredly with the toe of his shiny black boot.

"Yeah- i need to find someone there." She told him, hoping to get clear directions into the city.

"Your heading the right direction- your gonna want to keep on this road and follow it south until you make it to the bridge on the right just outside of cambridge- You can cross over into boston from there." The directions were vague, but simple- and that was as good as she was going to get, so she would have to run with it...

"Thanks." She told him again, shooting his crew a quick, nervous glance before issuing a parting line. "Best of luck with your...Endeavours."

Again, Wolfgangs lips turned up at the sides in an amused smirk.

"Back at ya sister."

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