When she entered the dingy bar, a dirty black and white dog perked up at the sight of her. "Cheyenne stay." A woman ordered it and the dog instantly sat down. The woman turned to her and smiled, "Don't worry. She won't bite unless I tell her to. I'm Sunny Smiles, the town guard. Well, the only town guard." She added sheepishly. Sunny Smiles had dark red hair tied back in a ponytail, and wore decent leather armor. A rifle was slung over her shoulder and rested on her back.
"You must be the patient that kept Doc real busy. I've seen you around here before, you're that courier right?" she asked, reaching down to pet the dog Cheyenne, it's tail thumping on the wooden floor.
"I am." She confirmed, "The doctor said you can help me. I'm short on caps, and I only have with me a pistol but it won't get me far."
"We're you heading?"
"New Vegas."
She whistled, "That's a long way from here. But I suppose you being a courier and all you get used to that. Yeah, I can help you, since what you been through, you need all the help you can get after what they done to you."
She scowled at the reminder. Why did people have to bring it up? Her stomach growled loudly then, and she looked down, placing a hand over her belly. Smiles heard it too and slapped a hand on her head. "Look at me keeping you from your food. Go on and eat, I'll be out back. Don't worry, take your time. I know how awful it is to be starving like that." The woman walked ahead of her, Cheyenne trailing behind.
They entered the next room, which was the diner, and Smiles exited through the back door. She took a quick scan of the room, seeing booths lined up to the left, and a counter with stools to the right. The only occupants in the room was a middle aged looking lady stacking bottles on the shelves behind the counter, and a man sitting down at the end of the stools. She settled down on the nearest stool and the lady approached her. She was about to say something, but was hushed by the lady.
"Oh, I know who you are. Everyone in towns been talking 'bout you. Saying you got shot in the head, and by that scar right there I reckon it's true. I'm surprised you're even alive." The lady said. "I'm Trudy, but you must know that already. Doc must've told you 'bout free food too, and I ain't one to give hand outs since caps these days are hard to come by. But," she reached down under the counter and brought up a plate and set it down before her. "I know it ain't much, but its all I got." She said, motioning to the cooked gecko steak.
"Thank you." And she truly was. Her stomach felt like it shrank to the size of a penny, and she felt sicker than the time Swank convinced her to share a harmless drink with him, since it was his 27 birthday. A drink which was juiced up with Absinthe, and had her throwing up in the morning with a severe headache. Benny, her loyal and always there for you friend, laughed at her.
"It's not my fault you accepted a drink from a man, kid." He told her. But he held her hair from her face and rubbed her back soothingly afterwards.
"I'm never gonna drink again." She swore, face down in the toilet, taking in deep breaths.
Benny smirked, "That's what they all say kid. That's what they all say."
She dug in, and shoveled the lizard steak down her throat. All to soon she finished the meal, and downed a glass of radiated water. Her stomach grumbled at the sudden intrusion of solid food, and she was still hungry, but she didn't ask for more.
"You know Sunny got that Gecko you just ate. She's our local Gecko hunter, and thank god for that for if it weren't for her, this place would've been overrun by them nasty creatures." Trudy said, as she took the empty plate and glass and set them down in the sink. She got up from the stool.
"Thank you again for the meal."
"Oh, dear it was nothin'. You come back anytime now whenever you're hungry. Course with some caps next time." Trudy said smiling. She gave a nod and walked out the door Smiles went through. The lady was nice, but she hated being called dear. Actually, any pet names got on her nerves. It was condescending, and she felt like people didn't take her seriously. Honestly, she's traveled through the Mojave Desert more times than she could count, and survived.
She spotted Smiles standing next to a crop field and made her way to her.
"How's the food? Knowing Trudy she probably gave you a fresh Gecko." Smiles said when she got close enough.
"Fine. Why're we out here?" Smiles pointed to the back wall of the saloon. There placed on a wooden fence were lined up glass bottles. "Now, see those sarsaparilla bottles on that fence, there? Take this and try to hit a couple of 'em." She handed her a varmint rifle, and she inspected the gun. It was okay, and it would be some protection but if she happened to cross something bigger than a gecko then she would be in trouble.
She brought the gun to eye level, squeezed her left eye shut, and shot down all the bottles in a row.
"I'm impressed. Who taught you how to shoot like that?" Smiles asked.
"It's part of the job." She replied, not wanting to indulge the woman's curiosity.
"Tell you what. I gotta go chase geckos from our water supply. Darn critters are attracted to it. Why don't you come along? I could use some help."
She pursed her lips. She wanted to get going right away, but these people had been nice to her and she felt like she should repay them in some way. "Ok."
Sunny smiled, "Follow me. It's just down to the southeast a short ways." She took off in a light jog and the Courier followed her.
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It turns out there were more geckos than Smiles expected, and a woman from Goodsprings who decided to fetch water by herself was killed before they could save her.
"I told them not to go out alone. People don't realize how dangerous these lizards really are." Smiles said, as the Courier shot a retreating gecko. She glanced at the mutilated body, chunks of flesh missing, especially around the face.
"Why don't you go on back. Here." Smiles handed her a container filled with irradiated water. "Can you take this to Trudy? I'm sure her stock is running low and I don't want anyone else coming out here."
"Also," She gave her a small woolen pouch. "Here's a little spending money for the trouble."
She took it with a thankful nod and jogged back to town.
When she entered the saloon again, she was greeted to the sight of a strange looking man confronting Trudy, who looked more annoyed than alarmed.
"I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?" The dark skinned man threatened.
Trudy looked unimpressed. "We'll keep that in mind. Now if you're not going to buy something, get out." The man looked like he wanted to punch her, but instead turned on his heels and marched pass the Courier. They heard the slam of the door and Trudy headed behind the counter.
"I recognize that outfit. What does a powder ganger want with you?" she asked, placing the water container on the counter. Trudy thanked her for the supply and set it down under. When she got up, she looked like she aged years.
"His names Joe Cobb, and they don't want me, they want Ringo. He came around 'bout a week ago. Said he was a trader and that he survived some kind of attack. Bad men were after him and he needed a place to hide."
"We figured he was just in shock, so we gave him a place to lie low. We didn't actually expect anyone to come after him. That was our mistake, and now it seems our little town is in danger because of him."
"Why not hand him over? The town doesn't owe him anything." she said. She didn't get why they didn't do so right when a bunch of powder gangers showed up. She knew of their gang, had bad run in's with them in the past. They weren't as bad as the fiends, hell compared to the fiends they were a bunch of pussies. But they were a violent gang of convicts, and should be considered a threat.
Trudy looked at her with a frown. "Is that the way you view such things? No, we couldn't do that. It isn't right, and Sunny would've stopped anyone who tried anyways. If Ringo asked for help, she would be the first one on the list. But he hasn't."
"Personally, I hope he sneaks out of town one night and takes the Powder Gangers with him." Trudy confided. "I just don't want nobody getting hurt over this mess."
And now suddenly, she felt herself torn. She had this overbearing urge to help these people out but the logical part of her brain told her this was none of her business and she should be done with it and go. She had to deal with her own problems. But just thinking about leaving these people behind to a terrible fate, because she was sure what that gang member said about burning the town to the ground was true, made her sick to her stomach.
She didn't know what to do. Benny would tell her to look out for herself, and only herself. But her pa told her to always do the right thing, no matter what. And why was she even thinking about following Benny's advice. His opinions didn't matter to her anymore. Right?
Damn her and her morality code.
"Where is Ringo now?" she asked finally and she didn't know if she asked to help out, or just out of spite to Benny. Either way, she wouldn't leave this town to certain doom.
Trudy rested her arms on top of the counter. "You don't plan on talkin to him, are you? But if you really want to know, he's holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill." She started to leave but Trudy called out to her. "I don't want you getting into our trouble. No sense in doing that."
"I know." she said and went out the door before the lady could say anything else.
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The gas station was like any other building, rusted, worn down, and centuries out of business. She crossed under the roofing that shielded her from the sun's heated gaze, and passed missing pump machines. Some people in the past probably ripped the machine from it's screws, just to get the oil inside. She thought it queer how people long ago used to drive these things called cars. Said it could take you miles and miles, and you didn't even have to walk one bit. The vehicles that survived the blast were now just wreckage, and extra spare parts to build a place to sleep.
She halted at the door and glanced at the boarded up windows. A sarsaparilla vending machine was placed next to the entrance and she pushed her hand inside the open compartment and groped around for anything. Days, sometimes weeks, in the desert taught her to always search thoroughly for anything she could find. It's what kept her alive most of the time. The machine only offered her two filled bottles of the pop and she downed one and decided to save the other for later.
She pushed open the door and entered only to have a gun pointed at her. "That's close enough. Who are you and what do you want with me?" She raised her arms warily and stood perfectly still. The man was jumpy, and she was sure if she made any sudden movement he would shoot her, on purpose or not.
"A powder ganger came in asking for you. Said he'd get his friends and burn the town down." she said. He licked his lips nervously, but didn't lower his gun. "You're not one of them are you?" He asked warily, darting his eyes from her to the door and back. She raised a brow and let him come to his own conclusion.
"No... no what am I sayin', you're just a vaultie." He put down the gun and she relaxed. "What do you want? Did one of the people from town sent you? I'm not going to leave. They don't know I'm here and if I wait long enough they might forget 'bout me."
"No one sent me. And that's the problem. They're not leaving anytime soon, and they will come back and get you. The only thing you're doing is putting these people's lives at risk."
"And what do you suggest? I go out there and get myself killed?" He snapped. "I'm sorry but that ain't an option I'm willing to take."
She clenched her teeth at the man's stubbornness. "I'm not asking you to. But I want to know what you did to a man named Joe Cobb."
His face turned white at the mention of the gangbanger's name and asked, "Why do you wanna know?"
"So I can decide whether you deserve what's coming to you or not." She knew it sounded harsh, but she learned that people were not all what they seem. For all she knows, he could've fucked with the gang first and they just wanted some revenge. There was no point in protecting someone who brought it upon themselves.
His face flushed. "I didn't do nothin'. My caravan was on the return trip from California and heading back to the company branch in New Vegas when we got jumped. Not even a drop your weapons and hands up before the bullet started flying." She watched him frown at the memory. "We put up a good fight, but there was too many of them."
"I took a few of the bandits down before I ran. So I figure their friends are out for revenge." So she was right about them wanting revenge, just not for the reason she thought it was. "I'm not afraid of Joe Cobb. In fact I say he's afraid I'll shoot him if he comes near me and I would. But now you say he's bringing friends and..." He trailed off, worry creasing his brows. "I've got no chance against the gang on my own."
She pursed her lips. Dammit, she was hoping he would've turned out to be an asshole just so she could get rid of him and leave the town knowing it was safe. Turns out he's just like her. Trying to live for tomorrow.
"How many are there, you know?" If she was going to help him, then she wanted to know how high the odds were against them.
"I can't say. But if what you say is true about them going to burn this town down, then I'd say about six or eight at most."
"Why so small? This is a town. People aren't gonna sit back and watch them burn down their houses." She knew she wouldn't.
"I don't know if you noticed but there's only one town guard. The rest are farmer folk."
Well that took them a million steps back. If the majority of the town couldn't fight back then that only left Smiles, Ringo, and herself. She could handle herself in a gunfight, been in a few before, but she wasn't cocky. Just the three of them wouldn't be enough. There must be someone else who could help.
"Where are you going?" Ringo asked as she pushed open the door, letting sunlight stream in.
"I'm going to even our odds."