Welcome to Redding NCR/Vault City/New Reno

After a while of staring up at the afternoon sky (It was afternoon by that point), the stimpack had done its work, and I got up feeling refreshed. Suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps. Just down the highway, there was a caravan walking my way.

I headed towards the town and the forward guard yelled to me, "You coming from up North!?"

Still walking, I said, "Yeah!"

He asked if there was any trouble up that way and I said, "Just a bunch of cannibals and ghosts…"

The guy walked by with a look of bewilderment. Studying the caravan, there were eight people, and two brahmin loaded with supplies. Everyone, including the two headed cows looked at me curiously. I guessed they didn't get too many visitors from the north, but I was just happy that I made it to Redding.

Stepping off the road, I was under a large sign that said, "Welcome to Redding" and there was a crude, handmade sign attached to it that said, "NCR." I didn't know what an NCR was but studying it closer, I saw scratched out words carved into the big sign that also said, "Vault City" and "New Reno."

Anyways, I remember thinking Klamath was a big town, but standing on the main street, Klamath was nothing compared to Redding. Hundreds of people walked around going about their business. Many were just simple settlers dirtied up from a day of scavenging, but many wore overalls horrifically dirtied from "mining" presumably. Nobody paid any attention to me; I was just another face in the crowd. I certainly felt like an outsider as I looked around the town in awe. This place actually had electricity! Growing up knowing just mom and dad, I was amazed that there were this many people on planet earth.

As I walked the streets, the sun was just above the western mountains and I no longer felt the anger of Psycho. Instead, I was happy, and even excited as I saw the buildings light up one by one. I couldn't even believe that nobody was there to stop me from coming in if I didn't have caps. Between the farming plots in alleyways, I saw squatters and guards walking past them like they didn't exist. The sun was almost fully set when I noticed a large wooden and brick building lit up with electricity and a large marquee sign that said, "Malamute Saloon." That was where I headed.

I walked into the large building and nobody even noticed me enter. Dozens of people were laughing, drinking, and having a good time while scantily dressed women carted men off upstairs. I sat in an empty seat at the bar next to a scruffy looking man with a miner's cap. I sat there looking around the place in awe until the bartender came up;

The annoyed looking blonde woman asked, "What you want?"

I said cheerily but feeling weirdly agitated from the vaguely present Psycho, "What's on tap, barkeep?"

She spit a stream of tobacco juice on the ground and said, "Tap? What the fuck? We got alcohol, Dipshit. What the fuck do you think?"

Shocked at her overt hostility, I simply replied, "Liquor."

She asked, "How much you want?"

I said robotically, putting a stack of 20 caps on the counter, "However much this will cover."

She looked at the stack and said, "We don't take caps? What year do you think this is?..."

The woman stared at me awaiting… something. So, I responded, "I don't… get it?"

She let loose a long sigh, "We only accept NCR Dollars" flashing me a cap sized gold coin

I asked, "What's that?"

Getting fed up with my apparent stupidity, she responded, "Its MONEY. You know, GOLD? The thing we mine for in this town?"

I sat there puzzled and feeling the left-over psycho rage boiling up. Then she snapped, "You know what? Never mind! Just gimme the fucking caps."

The woman swiped the caps off the counter and muttered, "Stupid fucking tribals" as she turned away from me.

Moments later, she slammed what was practically a jug of liquor onto the counter in front of me. I tried to utter a, "Thank you" but she scoffed and walked away.

Just when I noticed the scruffy looking miner eyeballing me, he asked, "New in town?"

I took a long swig from my jug and said, "Yeah, why?"

He smiled, "Just hadn't seen you around before, couldn't help notice you looking around the place like a fish outta water... That, and the ancient currency you carry around, Ha!..."

He followed with a question, "Where you from?"

I said, "I came from up north."

He said curiously, "Oh really? You a tribal? You kinda look it if you don't mind my saying so."

I said skeptically, "No, just mix race. Came from Klamath, just got in tonight."

He gave me a nudge, "Oh! I've been there! Long time ago. Back when I was a boy. You from there? What brings you to Redding?"

I was taking drinks between each question, so by that point, I began to feel the effects of the potent liquor and my judgment started to cloud. I said, "Nope, grew up in the middle of nowhere. Place called Idaho. As for Redding? I got chased outta Klamath by some slavers from The Den…"

I looked past the man at the wall feeling buzzed, "Yep, no home, no real family to speak of... All alone out in the wastes…"

I finished off my 20 caps worth of liquor and the guy heartily said, "Well, welcome to Redding, Bud! Name's Slimm by the way!"

"Slimm" bought me another drink and that was where things started to get especially fuzzy. I chatted with my new "friend" for another hour getting drunker and drunker. I just remember brief moments of clarity from that night. I remember talking about my "Psycho" experience and he asked me if I ever tried "Jet." I said/slurred that I hadn't, and then I remember us in the alley next to the saloon.

He said he'd give me a hit of "Jet", but he had to charge me because it was his last hit. I asked how much it cost, and he asked how much I had. Being incredibly drunk, I ended up giving him all of my caps (over 600) and my pack of essentials. The guy gave me the little red inhaler device and told me to keep it in as long as possible. When I pressed the cartridge and felt the substance fill my lungs, I felt euphoric almost immediately. Being blackout drunk and having just taken a new drug, I don't remember hardly anything after that. However, I do remember one last thing before total darkness.

I had just inhaled the substance in the alleyway and Slimm asked, "Do you want Jet all the time?"

I saw myself in third person say very slowly, "Y-E-S!" and the letters escaped my lips as big balloon letters.

Then, everything went black, and I woke up underground.