The Courtesy of Consciousness
The sun was setting when we finally started moving again, and we left the deathclaw ambush site far behind. Sophia sat on a crate atop one of the brahmin and I walked beside her with the rest of the party. As we moved, I took account of my share from the fallen's belongings. Sophia and I had an extra $500 to our names and more provisions, but somehow the haul felt wrong. At the beginning of 2241, I stumbled across those dead slavers in the snow and thought, "My lucky day" when I took their stuff. I never looked at stealing from the dead as a bad thing for all my time in the wastes, but this was different somehow. Something changed in me that I can't exactly pinpoint when. Somehow, the idea of owning a dead person's stuff left a bad taste in my mouth now.
As night was falling, we were still in the mountains and the veteran guard halted the caravan for a brief rest. I grabbed a couple foldout chairs from the brahmin and sat down with Sophia, reflecting on the exhausting day. Suddenly, the veteran guard approached me while the others went about their business and asked how we were holding up. The conversation went casually until he strangely changed topics and asked me to hook him and the surviving traders up with some Jet. I asked what he was talking about, and he said he saw me and my wife sneaking hits in the early days of the hike. I asked why he wanted Jet and he said he'd do anything to reach Shady Sands before another deathclaw attack. He figured that if everyone was at least somewhat high, they could go all night and not risk being exposed in sleep. I couldn't argue that fact, but was hesitant in the company of NCR rangers. The veteran assured me that they wouldn't approve, but these were the open wastes and they didn't have any true jurisdiction outside of their cities. Not knowing anything about the NCR and their laws, I was sold, but still skeptical and declined. All that changed when he offered the amount he did.
The veteran guard offered me $200 for a single hit. Even though I told him it was diluted, he responded, "Even Better." So, almost everyone in the caravan (minus the rangers) subtly approached me under cover of darkness and gave me whatever they could just to get out of those damned mountains. During that brief rest stop, I made a little over $2,000. It didn't seem like the rangers even noticed what I was up to, and I couldn't stop thinking how rich I would be when I got into town.
The rangers were all perplexed when the veteran explained their intentions to travel through the night. They even assured us that they'd keep watch all night just for us to get some, "much needed rest" but the entire party declined. So, the surviving caravan crew continued on into the night under the influence of my drugs, despite the NCR rangers' ignorance as to why. Turns out, the rangers were disciplined enough to not need any drugs just to keep up. I took a hit myself and had just the proper high to remain alert while numb to time and pain. I got plenty of cash that night, but our shared stash of 8 diluted Jet inhalers was cut in half.
I wondered about NCR's rules for drugs but didn't feel any desire to ask the rangers in our party considering what they may or may not have seen. The road led on into the dark hours of the morning when we finally reached the end of the pass. Standing there at the gateway to the road north, we saw lights in the distance. It was 3AM and the sky was still dark, but there it was; Shady Sands. Everyone took the moment to breath and take in the sight. Shady Sands wasn't nearly as bright as New Reno, but the lights of a civilized town were stretched across the open desert for miles.
The rangers were beginning to suffer from their own exhaustion when the veteran guard ordered the group forward. There was another brief protest and suggestion from the rangers, but the veteran told them to set up camp if they needed. However, Ranger Lucas said they got updated mission orders and needed to enter town with us. I was initially confused about how they got new orders in the middle of nowhere, or even what those orders were, but I would soon find out. The distant town grew closer and closer as we advanced through the lifeless desert surrounding the city. The sun's glow peaked over the mountains getting brighter as the minutes passed. 5AM and we reached the outskirts of Shady Sands, Capital of the New California Republic.
The place was amazing even from the outside. It was clear that this was a "Post-War Town" but something was far different. Usually post-war towns were set up in the ruins of old ones and walls were patched together with scrap wood and hollowed out cars, or scrap structures were cobbled together with old sheet metal, and leftover bricks from grander structures, not Shady Sands though. As the sun got higher and illuminated more of the surrounding town, I saw all the buildings were made from adobe or stone, in a manner unseen in pre-war ruins.
The roads got more crowded as the people of the outskirts began their day of farming or herding livestock, while caravans began passing us going north. I couldn't stop marveling at the outer city itself. New Reno was thrown together on the ruins of an old-world city, but Shady Sands was built entirely from scratch and retained an unheard-of essence of civilization. As we stepped onto a clean asphalt road at the north edge of Shady Sands proper, I noticed something interesting.
Just before the gates to the city itself was a large marketplace with stands selling wares and a brick facility with chain link fences around it. There was a construction crew taking down the fence, and people in tan hazmat suits hauling what I can only assume were corpses wrapped in black bags. The sign on the facility was being painted over by a man on a ladder, but I thought I saw the word, "Slaves." The Jet high was mostly gone at that point, and I remembered Detective Paul talking about the NCR's dislike of slavery. I remember thinking, "How could the NCR have a slave outpost so close to the city wall?" Then I noticed the black smoke rising from the place and the people carting bodies away. Something happened there.
I followed the caravan to the "Bazaar", and they began to set up between a gun shop tent and the chain link fence of the former slaver facility. There was no grand speech from the veteran guard or the rangers. Instead, the surviving caravan members went about their separate ways and I helped Sophia off of the brahmin. I couldn't believe it, we made it. Just as I gave Sophia a giant hug and thanks to whatever god is out there, something unexpected happened.
As soon as we released our embrace, I felt strong hands grab me from behind and twist my arms behind my back. Before I could shout, "What the Hell!?" I heard and felt the metal clank of shackles around my wrists.
The familiar voice of Ranger Lucas said, "You are under arrest for the crime of Drug Trafficking in NCR Territory."
Sophia shouted, "What!? No!" and I was pushed along while the rest of the Rangers held their guns at the ready.
Confused, shocked, and outraged, I simply accepted the situation and thought about the myriad of times I'd been dragged somewhere against my will that year alone, "At least they didn't knock me out."