Two hours later, and a brief run to a cache she remembered as she saved the woman from town from the geckos, Verita found herself moving back up the dusty paths to the saloon. Lightweight leather armor now encased her slim form, hugging the curves of her body with mild creaking from the used leather began its slow wear down. On her back rested a caravan shotgun, well cared for and sturdy, while a .10mm pistol sat on her hip in just as good state of repair. She smiled at Sunny as she walked in, feeling more confident with weapons on her than she had when she first walked in after waking. Sunny looked to her distractedly and nodded back, causing the female courier to pause and walk over with a concerned look on her face. Without answering the look verbally she motioned to the bar where a dark skinned male came out, spouting threats at the older woman who was calmly watching his back.
The male brushed against her, still spewing his nonsense, which had Verita rolling her eyes before she tilted her head at the other woman. Sunny tapped her shoulder and motioned for her to follow before walking into the bar and waving at the other woman who was walking around the bar. "Hey Trudy. You gonna be ok?"
"Yeah I'll be fine. Joe Cobb ain't any scarier than a radroach. Who's your friend?" Trudy answered, her hands pulling a cloth from under the bar that she used to wipe down the counter. Verita moved beside Sunny, taking a seat on a bar-stool with a small smile. "My name's Verita. I'm the one who was up at Doc Mitchell's place."
"Ah that makes sense. Pleased to meet you." Trudy replied as she looked over the courier. Verita got the feeling she received this kind of scrutiny a lot, though she found Trudy's gaze wasn't a bother. It felt as though she was checking on her well-being rather than judging her. She nodded back to Trudy as she glanced around the small bar, noting some of the regulars already sitting at the bar before her eyes went back to Trudy.
"Pleasure to meet you as well. I was hoping to get some information about the men who shot me. I figured guys bad enough to shoot someone in the desert could have been dumb enough to pass by the local bar before heading off to where ever they were going. I was wondering if you knew anything about them." Verita's voice was calm, even coming across slightly amused, though her wry smile gave away the small amount of anger bubbling under the surface of her playfulness. Trudy paused in her actions to think then nodded.
"I seem to remember them coming in. Bunch of freeloaders who expected a few rounds on the house. Managed to get them to pay up though. Course one of the the Great Khans 'accidently" knocked my radio over and the thing has worked since." Trudy said, returning to swiping the counter. Verita took this in, pausing to glance over at the small radio that sat silent. Her eyes quickly returned to Trudy as her head tilted to the side. "Did they mention where they were heading my any chance?"
"They were having some kind of argument about it, though the man in the checkered coat kept shushing them. Sounded like they came from the north through Quarry Junction. If that's the case then I don't blame them for not wanting to go back."
"Why's that?" Verita asked, even as she motioned to Sunny to grab the radio as she spoke. Sunny blinked a few times then shrugged and went to fetch it, while trudy shifted from cleaning the bar top to cleaning a mug. "Whole areas covered in the kind of critters that ust get mad if you shoot 'em. Merchants avoid that whole stretch of I-15 like it's radioactive. Which it could be for all I know."
As Trudy finished her words Sunny placed the radio in front of Verita, who had pulled a small screwdriver she had found from one of the pockets on her armor. She nodded to Trudy before beginning to open the radio carefully. "So where were they headed if they weren't taking the path north through I-15?"
"I didn't hear exactly but the leader was talking about the Strip. Fella wants to get there and avoid I-15, he'd have to go east. Take Highway 93 up." Trudy answered, watching as Verita opened the case. The courier quickly found the problem and fixed with little issue, smiling to herself as she turned it on and the radio station from the strip poured from the speaker. "Well I'll be. Thank you for fixing my radio. Let me give you some caps for fixing it."
"You don't have to do that ma'am. It was really simple. By the way who was that angry man who left earlier?" Verita responded as she pushed the radio closer to Trudy. The older woman lifted the thing and placed it on the counter behind the bar, shaking her head a bit at the young courier's question. "That was Joe Cobb. He is a Powder Ganger who is looking for a guy named Ringo who came into town not long ago."
"Why's he looking for Ringo?"
"No clue. Ringo came into town not long before you talking about his caravan killed off and him being the only one to escape. Not too long after we let him find a place to stay did Joe and his buddies show up and start hassling us about him." Verita's eyebrow raised before she sighed softly and slipped off her bar-stool. There was no way she could just let Joe Cobb and his group hurt the people of this town after all they had done for her already. "Where's Ringo? Maybe I can find a way to solve this mess and get rid of the Powder Gangers for you guys."
"He's staying in the old gas station up on the hill. I was just hoping he would leave after awhile and the Powder Gangers after him but if you can get things done I and everyone around here would be very thankful." Trudy answered, watching as Verita started for the door. She smiled to herself, seeing a bit of herself in the younger woman, before placing the glass in her hand on the counter. "Don't go off and get yourself shot after Doc fixed you up."
"No promises but definitely not gonna be shot in the head again." Verita called back as she opened the door and stepped out the door in to the Mojave heat.