Stumbling Through Life

I woke up to the faint light of day simply relieved to not be underground anymore. Detective Paul was cooking breakfast at the fire. The man gave me half, and when we were done eating; he tossed me a set of clothes. I happily stood up and discarded the miners overalls, but I kept the work boots because they were surprisingly comfortable and worn in. The set of clothes he gave me was a pair of tan cargo pants, a black hooded jacket with the sleeves cut off and a brown padded jacket. It was then that I noticed the brisk morning air and donned the jacket. He tossed me a brown leather pack that was empty and apologized for not knowing where all my stuff went. Paul then gave me six inhalers full of Jet and showed me how to dilute them with water. I asked if he needed them, but he showed me a little case with 12 more similar inhalers. I didn't know how much Jet cost at the time, or in this region, but that amount of Jet looked super expensive.

I shook the containers, but felt sad that I'd be addicted to that crap for the rest of my life when he asked, "What you gonna do now, Sean?"

I said while shaking a diluted Jet inhaler, "You mean I don't get to join you as a co-detective?"

He smiled, "I didn't know you had jokes? You've been so high and confused the past few weeks I hadn't had the chance to meet sober Sean."

I asked, "What you gonna do now?"

He responded with, "After I radio everything that happened to my superiors… I don't know."

He looked up at me and said, "I'll tell you what You should do though..."

I was pondering the question myself when I asked, "What?"

He said, "Get the Hell away from Redding as fast as you can. I'd hitch a ride going anywhere. The mine is definitely closed after the mutant attack and all the supervisors will be idling around town."

I said, "Yeah, if Supervisor Slimm made it out, he'll definitely recognize me..."

I thought for a second, remembering that I had no supplies and just a bag full of diluted drugs. I asked, "Where should I go if I don't have any supplies?"

He said, "Good question..." and tossed me a little bag that made a metallic jingle.

He said, "75 NCR Dollars in there. Get some stuff from the general store and don't draw any attention to yourself. I'd hitch a ride with a caravan if I was you going anywhere… Not sure I'd head to New Reno though."

I asked inquisitively, "Still don't know where you're gonna go?"

He said, "Not yet. I got a radio hooked up near the Wanamingo Mine, so I'm gonna head there first."

I asked if he was worried about being recognized and he reminded me that he was a "Supervisor."

With that, I thought for a little while by the dying fire. I broke my trance when the man slung a combat shotgun over his shoulder, and he left me saying, "I'm headed out. I suggest you take my advice… Maybe I'll see you again someday."

He lowered some sunglasses over his eyes and left towards Redding before I could even say "Thanks again!"

I gathered what little stuff I had and counted the "NCR Dollars" in the sack. There were in fact 75 gold coins in there all identical. The coins had a man's face on the back and a woman's face on the front. The text was too small for me to read, but I figured they were important somehow. I stamped out the fire and followed my savior's trail towards the bustling town and smoking mine in the distance.

Back at the town, I approached with caution. The sign said, "Welcome to Redding" but there was a new makeshift sign nailed to it that said, "Township of Vault City." I remembered what Paul said about the power struggle in town and stuck to the crowds avoiding anyone with dirty overalls or "S" caps. Looking through the crowds, I noticed that none of the miners had red or pink eyes and wondered who they were. It was then that I remembered Paul saying there were different mining companies in Redding and began nervously wondering where the "Jet induced Morning Star slaves" were. Then, I wondered if the supervisors killed their employees with the Mine's shutdown.

Blending into the shadows, I walked past alleyways full of squatters going crazy on drugs or passed out from the effects. Many in the alleys had the signature smile and red eyes of Jet and I realized the town did have a big drug problem. I stepped onto a wooden walkway and noticed the sign that said, "General Store." I walked in feeling safe from the general public and roaming "supervisors."

A bell rang as I entered and an old man with a scowl aimed a double barrel shotgun at me. He shouted, "Aint dealin with…"

I raised my hands in surrender and he adjusted his glasses saying, "Sorry. Customer? Aint no place for squatters to crash."

I nodded and he motioned for me to step on up to the counter. I explained that I needed supplies for the road and told him what I needed.

I got six cans of food, a leather satchel like my old one, two lighters, a cooking cup, a rusty 10mm pistol, 28 rounds of ammo, a 4inch switchblade, five bottles of water, and a few other essentials for "Veteran" wasters.

Placing them on the counter, I asked, "How much?"

He responded with, "90"

I said, "65"

And he said, "75! Final offer!"

Perfect, I had the perfect amount. So, I poured the coins onto the counter. Ready to hit the road going anywhere, I had to wait as the old man slowly counted the currency. Suddenly, a woman and four men barged into the little shop knocking over a coat rack.

The woman shouted at the old man who stood there in shock, "Is he patched up yet!?"

The old shopkeeper muttered aloud, "No, he aint gonna be walking for a while…"

The group carried weapons at the ready and all of them had makeshift armor made of leather, steel, and even parts from old military combat armor. The woman looked remarkably similar to the Trapper from Klamath named Maddy, except this woman's hair was black and her eyes a bit narrower.

This woman was very upset as she slammed a fist through the wall and shouted, "Fuck! I knew I shoulda taken him to that Vault City fuck and his retard slave at the clinic! Where's my man!?"

The old man stumbled away from the counter and I pocketed all the stuff I bought. I briefly considered stuffing some of the coins in my pack too, but one of the armed men gave me a look and slowly shook his head in disapproval. The old man limped toward an open side room with a man lying on a cot that I hadn't even noticed. The woman ripped the heavy wool blanket off the man exposing an amputated left leg just below the knee. She shouted more profanities, knocked the old man to the ground, and held a large revolver to his head.

I stood there paralyzed with disbelief and shock as the old man shouted, "Please! I had to! He was going to die if I didn't amputate it!"

She pulled the hammer back on the gun and shouted, "I need to leave this evening, and you knocked my man out of the fight!?"

The man in the cot sat up and shouted half consciously, "Sarah, stop! I'll be fine!"

Eyes still fixed on the cowering old man, "Sarah" continued to train the gun on him while the injured man said, "He's gonna get me a prosthetic and I'll meet you back home when I get my bearing!"

The psychotic woman turned her head towards the injured man while still aiming at the frightened geriatric store owner. Her shrieking rage all but disappeared as she said almost sweetly, "I need a full team for this job and you're my best shot…"

I stood by the door eavesdropping while one of her armored men stared me down through his sunglasses. The injured man raised a hand towards me and said, "What about that guy? He could take my place?"

I immediately darted my head away from the conversation, started whistling, and studied a rusty tin can on a nearby shelf (Obviously pretending not to hear anything). I continued my pathetic charade even when she shouted, "I'm not going to replace you with some junkie off the street!?"

The injured man said, "Guy bought a bunch of shit? Stuff for the road? Guy sorta looked like a wanderer, not like one of the usual townies… Maybe he could just fill in for now? You know they won't hire us on if you don't have a full team, and I'm not gonna hold you back in this shithole for another month."

The scary woman lowered her gun from the old man, brought the hammer back down, and stormed towards me. I feigned surprise by the approach and turned to see the woman standing eye level and inches from my face. She looked me over like she was studying a possibly rotten vegetable and asked angrily, "Know anything about the wastes? Can you shoot? Who the fuck are you and why does my man here give a shit!?"

I looked at the only place I could, her forehead, and replied distinctly, "I've been living in the wastes about six years. I can shoot whatever you want…"

I stopped when I caught her penetrating gaze and crazy eyes, then added, "I don't know why your man gives a shit?..."

She stared at my face for almost a full uncomfortable minute and I tried to focus on her forehead which I felt was the safest place to look. However, I caught a glimpse of her eyes again and saw literal flames in them before she said, "I thought you looked young! You wanna make 400 bucks, Waster!?"

Confused and not quite sure what to say, I said, "Sure?"

Then, she thankfully broke our gaze. She turned to her guys and the cowering old man, then shouted, "Great! You're hired!"

She whipped around back to me and said, "Don't fuck me over and I won't cut your balls off!"

She stormed back to the old man still on the ground and the same guard by the doorway had a smirk growing across his face. The injured guy said, "Just give me a few days and I'll be right behind you with a new leg."

Sarah shouted at the old man, "You better hurry up with that prosthetic! If I don't see him again!?..."

She held back seemingly desperate tone, but caught it and added with clearly terrifying anger, "If he aint behind us!?... Next time I see you I'll splatter your fucking head with a hammer!"

That last part almost sounded like a whimper, and like she was holding back a tidal wave of emotion behind the horrifying threat.

She stormed out of the place and her entourage followed. The man who was staring me down from the doorway was the last one and gave a head motion for me to follow, still grinning. I quietly followed behind the men as they stumbled to keep up with Sarah. My new apparent "Boss" pushed past the people in the street with her arms un-swaying, held out to the side, and fists clenched. I remember thinking, "Wow, she even walked angrily." I followed the heavily armed team through the streets until we reached a fenced off building with loaded brahmin in pens around it marked, "VG Trading Op: Hands and Mercs Needed!"

She told the armored man out front that they were ready, and the man noticed me who looked very out of place. She said I was the team's marksman and there was a little scuffle. I didn't really hear too much, but the gate guard said he thought the team marksman was injured. He also asked where my armor was since I looked around all stupidly trying to figure out what was happening. Sarah looked back at me who was unintentionally twittling my thumbs and smiling nervously. She explained that I was still "loopy" from the pain killers and said I'd be fine by evening.

I pondered again and again what was happening, but I followed my "employers" through the fence and into the building. I walked past the gate guard and studied him curiously while he shook his head in apparent pity. Inside, Sarah approached a front desk and her guards motioned for me to follow them to a side room. We entered an open room with other armored people lounging around, rows of cots, lockers, footlockers, tables, chairs, and clutter scattered about. The guy who was staring at me in the store motioned for me to sit down. I did as he suggested, set my pack down, and sat down on the empty cot while the others dispersed to fumble through lockers or chat with the other idlers.