Would you look at that? Two updates in one weekend. Those of you who don't know, I update every weekend. :P Either way, leave reviews! I really don't know if you guys are liking my story or not. That and I need criticism on whether I need to fix things or not.
The sunset was probably the most beautiful thing Troy has seen in a while. He'd watch as he stood in front of the Dinky statue. Manny's shift was either finished, or close to finished. It would be best if Troy were to let him know about the ghouls. As Troy passed the gate, he noticed Harley leaning against the wall next to their room on the second floor. She was smoking a cigarette, and ignored Troy's gaze at her.
The courier uttered a sigh. It's no surprise that she and Griffon were gonna treat him harshly for a while. Especially after what Troy did.
When the three headed back to Novac from the facility, everyone was quiet. Troy led the group while the other two remained behind him. Any valuable loot was left behind. Everyone was too discouraged and shocked at Troy's actions, that they just completely ignored the value in anything.
Troy pulled on his leather armor. A lot of chunks of it were missing, and certain areas still burned from the laser weapons. He'd then stop after spotting Manny exiting the t-rex. The nighttime sniper, Boone was ready for his shift. Troy couldn't help but notice the two snipers glare at each other as they passed by. Must have been a hell of a history.
The courier approached the daytime sniper. "You have any luck with the ghouls?" the sniper asked. "I'm counting on you."
"They're all gone" Troy simply answered.
"Really?" Manny's eyes widened with joy. It must have been that big of a deal then. "Unbelievable, man! I knew it wasn't gonna be easy, but I had a good feeling about you" Manny examined the damaged look on Troy. The courier didn't have a much of a pleasant face. If anything, it was just a blank expression.
"You look like you've been through a lot" Manny indicated.
"Tell me about it" Troy replied with an uneasy tone. "So about the man I'm looking for..."
Manny nodded. "Okay, I'll tell you everything I know, like I promised." The sniper's expr"ession was lot more serious now. "The guy you're looking for, Benny, he was traveling with some members from my old gang. They were going to Boulder City."
"Where's Boulder City?" the courier asked.
"It's straight up Route 93 from here. Just keep following the road north" Manny answered.
The courier let out a sigh. He found another lead. "Thank you Manny" he thanked. The two would grasp onto each other's hands.
"Hope that helps you. I owed you after all" they'd shake their hands before letting go and parting ways.
Troy looked back and watched the daytime sniper enter his room. The courier looked at his room door to see that Harley was no longer there. He would then utter another sigh before leaning against one of the pulled out a pack of his cigarettes as the door of the Dinky statue opens. The t-rex cashier would walk down and wave at the courier. Troy politely waved back as he watched Cliff enter the bungalow he was leaning on. Troy would place the cigarette in between his lips and pull out a lighter. The moment he lit the cigarette another door opened. He'd turn his head and noticed it was the door of another bungalow. An NCR soldier would walk out with crutches.
The old soldier gave Troy a warm smile as he leaned against his own bungalow. "We haven't met yet. You must be new in town. I'm Andy."
The courier would put away his lighter and walked towards the soldier. Troy had his hands up in front of him. Since Andy leaned against the structure, he had an easy time shaking Troy's hand. "I'm Troy" the courier greeted. "So what's your business here?" Troy asked trying to start a conversation.
"Right now?" Andy looked up at the sky. It was dark. "A whole lot of sitting on my keister and counting cracks in the ceiling. I wouldn't wish it on anybody." Andy didn't look too happy.
Troy removed the cigarette from his mouth and puffed out some smoke away from the soldier.
"On better days I help keep the peace. Boone and Vargas watch the road, I watch the town. Tell myself I'm doing some good."
Troy would place the cigarette back in between his lips. He examined the injured soldier and noticed some dog tags. "NCR?" Troy assumed. Then again, that faction is the only one with dog tags. At least the only one Troy knows about.
Andy chuckled. "Was. Was with them. That was back when my arm and leg used to work better. I still like to pretend I'm a Ranger, though. I'll check in with the guys at the station pretty regular on the ham radio." Andy formed the same warm smile as before. "Sometimes they stop by, tell me they're paying their respects, the smug bastards. They haven't been responding to me, last couple of days. I guess they got tired of hearing me talk, but it's still got me a little worried" Andy explained with a concerned look. "Hell, listen to me talk. Like some damn mother hen."
"I could go and check if you want. I don't see myself sleeping anytime soon" Troy offered.
"Uh... no. No. They're gonna think I'm having trouble letting go. They're good soldiers. I don't give them enough credit." Troy shrugged. He honestly was thinking about checking on them either way. It's not like he has anything better to do.
"So, I hate to ask" Troy started. He'd take the cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it. He'd step on it before continuing the question. "What happened to your leg?" he'd ask out of curiosity.
Andy uttered a sigh since the sensitive topic came up. "Two things happened" he'd start. It turns out he isn't gonna shy out of the topic after all. "The first time though was more like half my body. Knocked me out of the Rangers" he explained. "This time it's mostly just reminded me how useless I've gotten."
Troy slowly nodded giving his full attention. Andy took note of it.
"A few years back, we get a tip that some Legion slavers were holed up in this burnt out house a few klicks from where we were stationed. We get there and it's deserted. No sign anyone's been there. I mean nothing. As we're leaving, I hear something behind me. I turn around and there's this kid, just skin and bone, and he's looking up at us and he's scared half to death. Been hiding in a closet."
The courier nodded again, motivating the retired soldier to continue. Even though the memories were painful, Andy didn't stop the story right there.
"I go to grab him out of there and I notice he's holding something in his hand. Something metal. He shuts himself back inside the closet and that's when I see the grenade he's left by my feet." The soldier uttered a sigh and crossed his arms as he leaned against his bungalow. "They do it a lot, the Legion. Using kids. They know we'll hesitate." Troy shook his head. Something like that is just another disgusting thing this world possesses. "Anyway, that was the first time. Second time I fell down those stairs in front of the motel. Just in case I got to thinking I'd put it all behind me." Andy chuckled at that. It was an attempt to lighten up the mood. Even though it was hard, Troy managed to tag along.
"So what about you?" Andy suddenly asked.
Troy raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't exactly know what the soldier meant.
Andy pointed at his forehead. "You got a scar there. Figured you might as well share your story."
Troy nodded now that he fully understood. The courier took in a deep breath. "You see, I was just a mailman" he'd start. "I never really thought people would be desperate to take what I carry. I found out how wrong I was after getting shot in the head."
Andy was pretty interested in the story as he listened.
"Some say I was lucky to survive that shot. I honestly wish I died that day. My past life, I have no memory of. And what's worse, I've been getting into shit situations along with getting a bunch of pounding headaches" the courier explained.
"I'm sorry to hear" Andy comforted. "So what are you doing now?"
"Well, I guess I'm trying to get my package back" Troy answered. It was partially the truth. What he really wanted was Benny's death.
"Why not move on?" the soldier asked.
Troy only shrugged which made the ranger frown.
"Sounds like you want revenge to me" Andy started.
Troy slightly grinned and lightly nodded. "Perhaps." The soldier has keen eye that's for sure.
"You should stop before you become as useless at me" Andy suggested.
Troy's smile faded as he looked at the ranger. "Your body might be injured but your mind sure isn't. You're wrong if you think you're useless."
That seemed to have hit the ranger hard. Andy smiled. "Heh. People don't exactly line up to find out what's in my head. Can't remember the last time someone suggested I knew something worth knowing." Andy grabbed his crutches and stood up as straight as he possibly could. "You know, maybe there's something I can do for you. Since you've gone to all the trouble of flattering a crippled old soldier."
"Why do you keep defending him?" a female voice bitterly asked.
Griffon wouldn't look at Harley as he refilled his magazines on the couch. "Look, we've all done shit. We can't belittle Six after his damage."
Harley through his hands up in the air. "He murdered all those people!" she argued.
Griffon stopped and looked up at Harley. "Them people were gonna die either way. That religion of their's were compete bullshit dontcha think?"
The blonde shook her head in disbelief. She'd lay down on her bed and stare at the ceiling. Tension has been high ever since they came back. One side believes that they should control the defective courier. The other believes to give him a chance.
Griffon stood up and walked next to Harley. "Ya know I used to kill innocents too right?" This made the girl look at him. She thought he was lying. "I'm trying to repent. If I get the chance, dontcha think Six should too?"
Harley sat up and looked at the ground. She'd then sigh.
Troy sat against a rock and stared at the penned brahmin. It was now around close to midnight. Ever since Andy taught him a few things, Troy's been busy. He went back to Ranger Station Charlie only to be met with a bunch of mutilated corpses. Some investigation led to the Legion. The thought of it made Troy scowl. It was hard to tell the already broken Ranger of the news. Thankfully Troy was able to comfort the old man.
After helping the Ranger out, Troy managed to find some traveling merchants to trade with. It was even more fortunate that they had a doctor with them. Thanks to her, Troy managed to grab some mentats, and a couple of jet... The female doctor had informed Troy that the mentats will help him with his memories. They were supposedly suppose to ease the headaches as well. Troy's been getting used to them though. However, it'd be best for him to completely get rid of them.
The merchants were also selling some outfits. Troy managed to ditch his ruined leather armor for a dark brown long sleeved buttoned up shirt under a kevlar vest and a military green duster. The merchants were also able to give him a pair of dark gray jeans as well. Unfortunately it was pretty costly in Troy's standards.
The courier would chew on a couple tablets of mentats as he adjusted his rifle's scope. He offered to locate the assailant of these brahmin. The livestock belongs to Dusty McBride. According to the farmer, every midnight a brahmin is killed.
So far, nothing is seen approaching the penned brahmins. It until the sound of a stealthboy deactivating that made Troy jump. He'd look through his scope to see a familiar large blue humanoid. A Nightkin. The difference with this one, it had a minigun.
"Oh shit" Troy muttered. The Nightkin roared as it placed its finger on the trigger. Before it had a chance to fire at the livestock, Troy pulled the trigger. The bullet fired and went through the mutant's left shoulder. It'd let out a painful roar before dropping its weapon and running. Troy stood up and pulled the bolt back. He'd aim through the scope and see the mutant sprint away. He carefully placed the crosshair in front of the Nightkin. After the trigger was pulled, Troy witnessed the Nightkin run into his bullet. He'd lower the hunting rifle to approach and investigate.
"Well I don't know how you done it, but I do know how I can thank you" Dusty walked over to his fridge in the kitchen. The farmer picked up a pouch and placed it in Troy's hands. "Please take this, compliments of Alice and myself. And help yourself to anything in that freezer over yonder. We got more steaks in there than we'd be able to eat in a year."
Troy nodded. He didn't feel like refusing reward. All the stress that built up had him just accept it without arguing. "Hey Dusty, I found this holotape on the killer" Troy started as he pulled the tape out. "Can I borrow your radio? I'm kind of curious on what it says."
"Really now?" Dusty asked. The farmer happened to be curious as well along with his wife. They walked into their living room to the radio.
Troy would insert the holotape into the radio and began to play it. All that was heard were a bunch of gibberish by the mutant. Just the big monster talking to itself as it mowed down its victim. The cow was heard letting out painful and fearful cries as bullets fired. The Nightkin would roar from time to time.
Dusty had a confused look. Alice had her hands covering her mouth and had a horrified look. Troy remained with a blank expression.
Troy stopped the tape from playing midway. "I guess there wasn't any useful information after all."
After swinging the door open, Harley covered her eyes from the bright sunlight. Griffon followed behind her and did the same. The two noticed their courier companion sitting against the Dinky statue. Troy's backpack was off and leaning against the statue as well.
As the two approached the courier, a horrified look formed on Harley's face. Used jet pipes were scattered in front of the sleeping courier's backpack. The blonde couldn't contain her anger any longer. "Hey!" she'd scream as she slapped Troy across the face. If it weren't for Griffon holding her back, Troy would have more than just a red mark on his cheek.
Troy looked up at his companions with a confused look. "Good morning?" he'd confusedly greet them.
"What the fuck is up with the chems!?" Harley angrily screamed.
Troy looked at the jet he used before slowly standing up. "I got stressed" he'd simply answer. The courier then grabbed his backpack and would put it on.
"Oh really?" Harley sarcastically asked. Griffon could tell that she eased up so he'd let go.
The courier sighed. He'd pull out a couple small small pouches and toss it at both his companions. The two looked at him with puzzled looks on their faces. Based on the weight of the pouch, the amount of caps inside were pricey.
"Where'd you get this?" Harley and Griffon asked in unison.
"I sold a minigun" Troy answered.
Harley and Griffon widened their eyes as they looked at each other, then back at Troy. "WHERE'D YOU GET A MINI-"
"Irrelevant" Troy interrupted. "I'm going now. I'll see you guys later." Troy would turn and began to walk away, but Griffon would put his hands on one of the couriers shoulders, and Harley ran in front of him to keep him from continuing.
"What's this about?" Harley asked. She wasn't as angry as before, but the tone of her voice was still of displeasure.
"I think it's time to part ways" Troy said with a blank expression.
"What?" Harley asked. She had raised her voice a little bit.
Troy sighed. He expected that he'd have to explain things. "I think it's safe to say after what I did, I'm too unstable to be around. I don't want to worry you guys so much."
Without hesitation, Harley grabbed the collar of his shirt and threateningly pulled him towards her. Griffon's grip was loosened due to this. "Are you fucking kidding me Troy!? Just because of that, you're gonna run away from us!?" The blonde was furious. Troy didn't respond.
"Six, we ain't gonna leave ya" Griffon stepped in.
Troy sighed again. "Fine with me." Harley loosened her grip. "Just know that if you guys continue to interrupt my goal, don't expect us to be friends" the coureir threatened.