These things seem to get more and more connected to each other.
At least after this we'll never have to visit the Omertas again.
Gomorrah (Again)
For a moment, Meda didn't say anything, staring dumbly at the holotape.
That was always a bad sign.
Eventually, Veronica stood up and checked to see if the hallway was still clear. Cass put her hand on Meda's shoulder and the courier got to her feet in a daze, pocketing the holotape. There really wasn't much to say, but there was going to be a lot to do in short order.
After a while, as they were wandering the halls of Gomorrah and trying to figure out where the stairs had disappeared to, Meda said, "He's not getting away with this."
"He won't." Cass agreed as they met Boone in the lobby. The resident sniper had elected to stay there, mostly because he wasn't allowed any further into the building without handing over his rifle. Which wasn't going to happen, ever.
"Who's not getting away with what and why?" Raul asked. The ghoul had elected not to leave the lobby because it had chairs and he had, in his words, very creaky knees. He could just about sneak up on a brahmin, if it was blind, deaf, and crippled. Not to mention dumber than a sack of bricks.
Oh, sure, he could have snuck both of the handguns the courier had given him past the guards, but where was the fun in that? Besides, she would have driven him crazy. At least Boone was quiet.
"Oh, um…well." Meda said, glancing at the receptionist. Then she leaned in and whispered, "The Omertas are working with the Legion."
"When do we start shooting?" Boone asked with a grim set to his features.
"It's not just that, though." Meda said quickly.
"Not sure how much more he needs to kill them, Boss." Raul said dryly.
Meda stifled a groan and held out the holotape. "Look, I've already been asked by Cachino to figure out what the fuck is going on here. That isn't going to get done until both of the new guys—whatever drugged-out dumbass is upstairs and the man on this holotape—are sent packing. And that's not going to work if we just start shooting people!"
"Actually, the 'kill 'em all and let God sort it out' strategy works pretty well if you actually do manage to kill them all." Cass put in. "Works best with Fiends, though."
"Not helping!" Meda hissed. She paused. "Okay, you know what? Who actually wants to go on a shooting rampage?"
Boone inclined his head, though Cass looked like she wasn't really looking forward to it and Raul just wasn't interested. Veronica didn't have her power fist, either.
"Boone, you're outvoted." Meda said. "'In the interests of still letting you wreck their plans, though, I need to see someone really quick." Her smile bordered on malicious. "Be back soon."
She met them in the hallway near the elevator—they'd knocked the receptionist and the footman out and stashed them behind the counter to avoid making Boone hand over his guns—with what they would later agree was one of the most evil smiles they'd ever seen. She handed Veronica and Boone four old coffee cans full of brownish-red powder.
"What is this stuff, exactly?" Veronica asked, watching Boone jam the lid back on the tin. Dealing with the courier had only enhanced his natural paranoia.
"Thermite."
Veronica squeaked.
"So, while you two go and blow the weapons' cache to kingdom come," Meda went on mildly, pressing a map into their hands, along with some of the longest knives any of them had ever seen. No one asked how she managed to sneak them past the footman. "Cass and Raul will come with me so we can teach Clanden the error of his ways. See you in ten minutes, and feel free to take anything in there that you like. Our gun-runner said so."
After the explosion and the deaths of two extra Omerta thugs for the crime of getting in the way, there wasn't a while lot left of what was once the biggest stock of guns Veronica had seen since leaving the Brotherhood of Steel. Boone didn't really seem to care one way or another, still somewhat annoyed that this was all they could do.
That was when they heard muted shooting from upstairs.
Veronica was faster, and she'd already explored Gomorrah once. She led Boone up the stairs, and they met the other three walking down the hallway. Meda looked somewhat disappointed and relieved all at once, Cass looked almost smug, and Raul was completely unreadable. Then again, ghouls were always hard to read.
"So, what happened?" Veronica had to know, noticing that Raul was stowing the two unique handguns back in his many pockets.
"I tried blackmailing Clanden." Meda said, still sounding slightly downcast. "It didn't really work."
Cass rolled her eyes. "We showed that dumb fucker the tape, and what does he do? Say he's gonna leave and keep raping and torturing somewhere else! And then Raul shot him in the face." She grinned. "Speaking of, Tejada, that was some real quick shooting. Did you use to steal brahmin or something?"
"That was a long time ago," the ghoul said dryly. "And no, I never stole anything. No point."
"Why's that?" Veronica asked. Most wastelanders were scavengers, after all.
"Mexico City didn't have enough people left for it to count as stealing."
Meda cut in then, stalling any further conversation that would probably dig too deep. "Okay, the last thing we've got to do is meet up with Cachino. And then maybe kill the top two Omertas."
"Fine by me." Boone said. He indicated the assault carbine he'd "liberated" from the Omerta stockpile. It was an expensive piece of crap compared to the equipment they'd scavenged and repaired while wandering with the courier, but it worked.
"Raul's got Lucky and Maria, I have a switchblade and…a 10mm." Meda murmured. "Cass, do you still have that combat knife?"
"Yep." Cass said. "And a silenced .22, though I'm pretty sure it was yours a couple of minutes ago. Unless one of you has a shotgun?"
"I've got boxing tape, but there's a sawed-off shotgun in my pack." Veronica said.
There was a brief scuffle wherein everyone switched weaponry until they had what best suited them, and then it was time to meet Cachino.
Said balding man had apparently come to the conclusion that, yes, Big Sal and Nero were in need of a skull-ventilating session. It was almost too easy, considering that the two idiots had put Cachino in charge of the investigation into the destruction of the weapon stockpile and then allowed him to bring not just Meda, but also all of her companions into the room.
Raul and Cass later agreed that they were asking for it, as the courier led their entire motley band into the wastes, including Arcade (who had spent the previous few hours sleeping), Lily (who had been knitting with railroad spikes), Rex, and ED-E (who had been antagonizing each other).
Boone adjusted his sunglasses and kept his eyes on the horizon.
Bitter Springs was only twenty miles away.