Chapter 4
Primm
After the firefight had ended, I ran over to check on Sunny and Ringo. Both of them appeared to be fine. Sunny was a little shaken from being stuck next a rock with bullets careening off of it. Ringo admitted that once the fighting started, he snuck out from behind the Express bin and darted from rock to rock in order to reach the Powder Gangers. Sunny began to question the traps I set up but to play it off, I told her that being a Courier, things can be dangerous depending on the routes that you take. It was just something that I had done when fending off against fiends one day. I thanked her for the help and told her to get checked out by Doc Mitchell. Ringo stopped by before leaving town to talk to me.
"Thanks a lot for the help. I owe you a lot. Take these caps and if you ever make it out to the Crimson Caravan, I'll be sure we help you out and even offer you a discount." Ringo said handing me 100 caps.
"I'll keep that in mind, take care Ringo and stay out of trouble."
He departed Goodsprings, heading back to the Crimson Caravan Company. I headed back to the Saloon to speak with Trudy about the man that shot me in the head. As I walked into the Saloon, I noticed there was glass all over the floor. Obviously, some of the Powder Gangers had shot into the windows of the Saloon. Trudy was over by the bar cleaning up the floors.
"Everything all right Ms. Trudy? The Powder Gangers are gone. Sorry about the Saloon.", I said
"I'm ok and its nothing that can't be fixed."
"Well can you tell me about the man who shot me?"
"Well I never did catch any of their names but they did say that they were heading south to Primm. Didn't really say what they were doing but from the look of them I didn't want them to stick around long."
"Thank you Ms. Trudy and again I am sorry about the Saloon."
I left the Saloon and stopped by the General Store where Chet was cleaning up his floor. Much of the merchandise had fallen off the shelf when the dynamite had exploded. I bought more ammo and a suppressor for my varmint rifle. I also bought a few bottles of water and some containers of Cram and some Junk Food. With Primm being a about a day of walking I wasn't going to take any chances. When I left the General Store I stopped by Doc Mitchell's and rested for the night.
When I awoke the next morning, I felt sore all over. The firefight from the night before had really exhausted me more than I thought. I got up and Doc had made breakfast, brahmin steaks and Dandy Boy apples. I graciously accepted. I realized that this was the first time I had had any food in four days.
"Easy now Mathis, don't make yourself sick. Wouldn't want to wind up here for a few more days now would you?", said Doc
"Thanks for breakfast and letting me stay the night Doc, but I should probably get going."
I got up from the table and handed Doc my dirty dishes, and left his house one more time. I began walking South towards Primm. The road was quiet as most roads in the Mojave Wasteland were. I checked my Pip-Boy for my location as to the location of Primm. The walk wasn't too far and I should be able to make it before the day was over. Just as I made it to the end of the road to Goodsprings I spotted a shack labeled Jean Sky Diving. As I thought about checking out the place, I noticed movement from the side of building. I saw two men laughing and smoking cigarettes. Looking at their clothing, jackets and pants, I noticed the etching, NCRCF, on the back of their jackets. Powder Gangers had taken up position along the road to prey on weary travelers heading toward Goodsprings and Primm. I hid behind a few rocks and thought about what needed to be done. I checked the time on my Pip-Boy, it was only 10am. The sun was high in the sky. Fearing for the safety of the people of Goodsprings, I snuck around the other side of Jean Sky Diving. I peaked around the corner, and it appeared that the only Powder Gangers were the ones smoking on the side of the building. I thought about how I was going to take them out. Both seemed to be pre-occupied about a conversation they were having about meeting up with some of the other Powder Gangers and staying together as a large group. One had heard a rumor about groups in Nipton, a large group at the NCRCF, and that a group had even managed to secure an old vault. Upon listening to their conversation, I made notes in my Pip-Boy for later on how to deal with them. Looking in my bag, I thought about my options. I saw an empty Nuka-Cola bottle next to me, and I picked it up and threw it onto the roof on the frontside of the building. Both Powder Gangers were immediately alerted to the sound and drew their weapons. Both were carrying 9mm pistols. I popped around the corner and pulled my combat knife from my boot and quickly took out the first Powder Ganger. Before he fell I caught him and dragged him around the back of the shack. When his buddy came back around the corner, I heard him say:
"Hey...Mullins, where'd ya go this time?"
As he walked around the corner his eyes got really big when he found his buddy, Mullins, dead on the ground with a knife wound in his back. He started to yell, but I leveled my .22 pistol before he could make a sound and pulled the trigger. I checked each Powder Ganger and found each had two sticks of dynamite, a few 9mm bullets and a lighter. I put all four sticks of dynamite in my backpack as well as 18 rounds of 9mm bullets. I placed one of the lighters inside of my backpack and the other, inside my pants pocket. I peaked inside Jean Sky Diving, and found that the shack was empty. A few lockers were placed against the backwall, and a table containing a broken terminal was in the center. I dragged both Powder Ganger corpses into the shack and hid them inside the empty lockers to cover my tracks.
I checked the time on my Pip-Boy, it was now 11am. I took out a bottle of water and drank a few sips then placed it back into the backpack. It was time to continue to Primm. After avoiding another encounter with Powder Gangers, who were camped out at an old RV not too far from Jean Sky Diving, I eventually made my way to the town called Primm. I had been here before to collect packages to deliver to various locations. While I was here, I was going to report my package stolen.
As I got closer to Primm, I noticed how quiet the town had become. There was an NCR soldier stationed next to the town entrance. When he saw me, he ran up to me.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to turn around, it's not safe to enter Primm at the moment.", said the soldier.
"What is going on in Primm? I am a Courier with the Mojave Express, and I need to speak with Johnson Nash about a package that was stolen.", I said
"Sir the whole town has been taken over by a group of Powder Gangers that escaped the prison. They are held up in the Bison Steve Motel. The residents that are still alive appear to be staying in the casino for the time being."
"I can take care of myself sir, and I might take care of the Powder Ganger problem for you. Why haven't you moved in on them?"
"We would but we are short on manpower as it is, we are doing good just to keep them from leaving the town. If we were able to send someone to the Mojave Outpost for reinforcements, we would have done so by now."
"Who do I see about that?"
"That would be Lieutenant Hayes sir. You can find him in his tent back at the camp."
"Thanks"
I continued on into Primm. I stopped by the NCR camp and managed to find Lieutenant Hayes looking at a map on the table in the center of his tent.
"Who are you and what do you want?", said Hayes
"My name is Levi Mathis, a Courier with the Mojave Express sir, and I want to discuss what is going on in Primm sir. I need to get through."
"Well you do so at your own risk, the entire town is overrun by a group of Powder Gangers, they managed to kill the sheriff and kidnap the sheriff's deputy. He's being held at the Bison Steve Motel along with the main group of Powder Gangers. We aren't sure if he is still alive."
"Sir if I can sneak past the Powder Gangers and speak with the townspeople who are left, can we see if we can get there help in bringing order back to the town?"
"We aren't leaving until they can assign a sheriff and clean out the Powder Ganger threat. Another option would be to speak to Major Knight at the Mojave Outpost about sending in more troops to clear out the Powder Gangers and seize control of the town. The only problem with that is we would be stretching our already thinning numbers."
"I'll see what I can do sir."
"Thanks Mathis", said Lieutenant Hayes as I exited his tent.
I made my way up to the guard shack leading into town the guard at the stand told me to be careful and watch for mines. I thanked him and continued on. Shortly after I found the mines that I was warned about. All in all I saw three mines scattered across the bridge leading into town. I checked and made sure that the guard had his back turned, and disarmed the mines and placed them carefully in my backpack. I made my way across the bridge and readied my varmint rifle. As I drew closer to the center of town I saw the Mojave Express. Someone was on the ground by the door. Looked to be the body of Courier 4. I barely recognized him as I didn't speak to the courier's from my last assignment much. But Courier 4 seemed to be holding a note and had a bullet hole in his head. Without alerting myself to anyone that may be watching, I decided to leave his body alone. I heard a commotion around the corner by the casino doors. Two convicts were standing outside yelling, "...YOU HAVE TO COME OUT SOMETIME!" I heard the other one say, "THIS TOWN IS OURS NOW!", I leveled my varmint rifle and shot one in the head. Before the other could realize what happened, I fired again. Both men lay on the ground with blood spilling out into the street. I quickly checked their supplies. Each had 5.56mm bullets and varmint rifles. I pulled some parts from each rifle to make repairs to my own and took each convicts' bullets. I noticed that one of the convicts was wearing leather armor and a pair of goggles. Wanting to blend end for the time being, I stripped the corpse of the armor and goggles and took off my prospector suit. After dressing in the leather armor and goggles, I headed towards to the Bison Steve Motel. I began to think to myself, I really hate Powder Gangers.
I entered the motel and noticed a guard sitting in a chair in the hallway directly across from the entrance. I also noticed that the convicts had managed to erect a barricade of sandbags leading to this hallway. I guess the guard had recognized the outfit and paid no attention to me. As I got closer to him, he began to realize that I was not apart of the group. I quickly pulled my knife and stabbed him in the throat. He collapsed to the floor. dead shortly after. I heard another convict coming my way and I quickly shot him in the head with my varmint rifle. The guard fell quickly. I picked up the first guard and began to drag him to a hiding place when I heard voices coming from a large room around the corner. Wanting to keep the element of surprise, I placed a mine at the end of each hallway leading to the large room. I also placed one of the dead convicts on top of each mine. I snuck back around the corner and waited.
I waited for about 5 minutes when I realized these guys need motivation. I pulled my 9mm from my backpack and aimed down the hallway close to the big room and fired. I heard the sound of tables and chairs being knocked over, and voices of startled convicts.
"What the hell was that? Sounded like a gunshot. You two go check on Reese and Gunner."
"Will do boss…...HOLY SHIT! BOSS IT'S REESE, HE'S ON THE FLOOR DEAD!"
"You sure? Check him…
BOOOOOOOM
A large explosion followed by a scream of terror errupted.
"HOLY SHIT ITS GUNN….."
BOOOOOOOOM
"DAMNIT! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE OUT THERE BUT WHEN I FIND YOU, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU THEN MAKE YOUR CORPSE MY BITCH!", said the leader, "WHERE ARE YOU!?"
He had walked out into the hallway and stayed at the entrance. He was becoming cautious. He yelled, "HEY JACKASS, STOP GUARDING THAT DEPUTY AND GET OUT HERE!" It was good to know that the deputy was still alive.
A door right next to me opened. Before the man could step out I stuck my knife in his chest just as the gang leader came around the corner and spotted me. I quickly pulled the knife from the dying convict and threw it at the leader. Just before he could fire the knife landed in his throat. With blood spewing everywhere he fell to the floor and further drew the knife into him.
Breathing heavily and sweating profusely, I walked over to the man laying in the floor and retrieved my knife from his neck. I wiped the blood off onto my armor and placed it back into my boot. I slowly made my way into the large room the leader had just walked out from and made my way to a kitchen area where I found a blonde hair man dressed in leather armor with his hands bound. I looked at him and he looked back at me.
"Am I to assume you are the captured Deputy?", I said
"Yes sir, Deputy Beagle, I don't suppose you are here to set me free? I would have taken them all myself but given my current predicament I am incapable of doing so.", said Bugle
I took my knife and cut his binds. "I have taken out the convicts, it is safe to leave now."
Without a word, he got up and ran for the entrance. I followed him outside as well. When we made it outside of the casino, the deputy looked at me and said, "Whew wee, we sure did a great job taking on those convicts! I must say I am impressed on how I handled the situation."
"I believe you have your wording wrong there Deputy, I saved your ass from the convicts, perhaps you would prefer I tie you back up and place you back inside the casino?"
"Uh, that won't be necessary stranger. Now that I am free what can I do for you?"
"Primm needs a new sheriff and I need to see Johnson Nash about a package I was to deliver but was stolen."
"Well everyone was at the casino last I checked, but they may be gone now. You are welcome to look. As far as the town sheriff, we will need to start the process of looking for one."
"Aren't you the sheriff now?"
"Me? No I couldn't be sheriff, I'm the deputy. But I did hear of a fellow at the prison who used to be a sheriff, he might do. Of course he is still at the prison with the Powder Gangers, that's if he is not dead yet. There is always the NCR but we here in Primm don't wish that unless we have to. There is also Primm Slim, the protectron at the casino. If you know anything about robots, you could reprogram him to be our sheriff.", said Beagle
"The prison, as in full of Powder Gangers that I've been killing and want to kill me as well?"
"Yep, I'd handle it myself if I didn't have to stay here and protect the town."
I pulled my knife from my boot and put the tip to his throat. I leaned in real close and looked menacingly into his eyes.
"Listen dumbass, cut it with the bullshit. I know you are full of it and that you're really a coward but cut it with me."
He eyeballed my knife and started to shake.
"I see your point and I understand. Just don't make me go out there or tell others what I really am."
I put my knife back into my boot. He collapsed and urinated on himself.
"I'll help you Beagle. Obviously the NCR is a bad choice for both sides, the robot probably won't be able handle protecting an entire town, and you are to scared to save anyone let alone your own hide. The best option for the town is for me to go after this guy in the prison. Do you have any ammunition or supplies at your home that I can use?"
"I have some guns and ammo sir, take what you need. Feel free to rest there if you need to before leaving"
I walked over to Beagle's shack. It had a musty smell along with a minimalist feel to it. There was a bed, a few cabinets, a refrigerator, an oven, a desk, and a computer. I looked in the cabinets and found an ammo box and hunting rifle. The ammo box contained a few rounds of 5.56 ammo along with five .308 bullets. I wasn't planning on using the hunting rifle since the stealth approach is my only option, so I left the rifle along with the .308 bullets. I loaded the 5.56 rounds into my backpack. I sat on the bed and ate a container of Cram and finished off the bottle of water I opened earlier. After eating, I didn't realize how tired I had become, I laid back on the pillow and passed out.