Chapter 26: Prophets in the Wilderness
The new guardsmen were understandably disturbed by the baptism and execution of the raider. I on the other hand was more concerned that the gunshot would draw others towards us. I did my best to muffle the gunshot by placing the barrel firmly under the raider's chin, and my worries about the trajectory were void since it apparently had the intended effect when he moved no more. As the others stood, Rhynes was seemingly satisfied by the muffling of the gunshot, and Granger was evidently a bit more collected than his comrades because he was kind enough to refill my impromptu baptism canteen while I sat momentarily captured by the raider's face. The face the recently baptized and killed wore after the bullet exited the top of his skull was the same one he wore beforehand: It was utterly indifferent. Either way, he was with God, facing his judgment, and only a few short seconds passed before I returned to my responsibilities toward the living.
Upon standing, the new men were relatively distant, exchanging quiet words about the affair while looking around at the scene of battle surrounding this old gas station.
"Should probably head out soon," said Rhynes.
I looked at him, nodded in agreement, and my eyes went towards the north when my heart skipped a beat.
"Where's Logan?" I asked, staring at the spot just past the campfire and trey of raw meat where he previously stood watch over the north. Rhynes, Savitt, and the new men looked at me in terror as I began trotting towards that spot and shouted, "Logan! Barnett! Where are you!?"
I began to sprint, passing the sight around the pump, and reached the now dead campfire where that raw meat sat on a tray before I heard a somewhat near response, "Over here, LT! Come take a look at this!"
My mood went from terror to anger the second his voice entered my ears. I rounded the corner of the gas station building, hearing the thudding footsteps of the others following when I caught up to Barnett staring at something between the dumpsters on this side of the building.
"Why on earth didn't you say something before leaving our sight! I was going… to…"
I couldn't help but trail off when I saw what he was looking at. He just stared at this heap of flesh and it honestly took me a moment for my brain to register what I was looking at. The footsteps came to a halt behind me and Barnett; silence lingered for a moment as we all took in the sight.
"Is it dead?" asked Mr. Fleischer.
"That one looks so," said Rhynes.
There between the two dumpsters were two large brown scaly skinned animals splayed out with long arms, hands over five times as big and long as ours with long claws and legs stretched out with more giant claws on the feet. One laid out belly up, spattered in blood, and with large chunks carved out of its abdomen. This one was smaller than the other which lay upon the pile of trash and debris from the building. The larger one sat curled in a fetal-like position, but its long horned tail went along the pile of trash and into the open dumpster on the right. Both laid there full of bullet holes, the splayed-out one didn't have a head visible to us where we stood, but the other one sat with its head propped up on a small pile of cinder blocks as its white eyes, terrible teeth, horned head, and devilish face stared right at me.
"Aint seen a Deathclaw in a while," said Savitt.
"I didn't really think they were real," said Mr. Hansley.
"Are they good?... to eat, I mean?" asked Granger.
I thought back to the tray of meat beside the fire before the 80s attack and the scene made a bit more sense. Sense that was articulated by Rhynes who said half-jokingly;
"Don't you hate it when the 80s interrupt your deathclaw barbeque?"
The new men forced a chuckle, probably grateful for a little distraction from the horror they'd seen since arriving at this place. It was only Barnett and I who remained quiet. My eyes went briefly to the carved-out chunks of the splayed-out deathclaw at mention of the meat, but they seemed to be driven right back to those white eyes of the beast that stared into Barnett and I. I looked into the eyes of that terrible creature and heard the words, "Is it dead?" echo in the back of my mind.
As soon as I heard this again, I thought of all the dead I'd seen around this patch of the wilderness. I thought a lot about the defiled and mutilated woman by the pump, and then the face of the wounded raider after the bullet passed through his brain. Then I thought a past I hadn't seen first hand that merged with what I had seen. I saw the White Legs taking down these deadly mutant creatures, ready to indulge in the spoils of their victory around the campfire before the 80s interrupted them. A sudden crips breeze hit my cheek, and for whatever reason, I began to think of Michelle at the same time I thought how every dead thing around this gas station got what they deserved.
I thought back to something I hadn't had time to think about this whole trip. Between teaching the new men the duties of the road, I had busied myself with so much on this two-week trip that I hadn't been able to consider till looking into the white eyes of that still beast between the two dumpsters.
I remembered that early morning the day Michelle left. The sun wasn't even a glimmer above the east when Dani and I stood with Michelle beside the little gate to our front yard. We were counting down the minutes until Mr. Padilla would arrive with Sarah Parsons to meet up with their escorts and head out to the Sorrows tribe of Zion. As I stood there with Dani, Michelle was standing slightly distant, nearly hopping up and down in eagerness to depart. It was then that Dani whispered to me something I'd forgotten after the departure ceremony, and again at the party that night. She pulled the little box she brought to the ceremony from the large pocket of her sleeping robes. Dani handed it to me and whispered,
"I think it's best that you give it to her, hon. It's now or never."
I couldn't tell if the tear in her eye was because of the bitterness of the cold wind, the thought of her baby leaving for the dangerous wilderness, or the contents of the departure gift, but perhaps it was all three. The memory hit me as the present was placed in my hands, and I looked up to see two figures coming towards us down the street in the light of the lamps. Michelle turned to us, about to say she was going to run and meet them, but I told her to come here and she obeyed. She kept stealing glances towards her oncoming friend and escort, but I captured her attention when I handed her the box with the words;
"Your mom and I have one more gift for you." She looked down at the box and then up to us for permission and Dani was too emotional to say anything else, so I nodded permission to open it.
Michelle tore off the brown wrapping paper and Dani collected the trash under her shawl before Michelle lifted the lid up and became confused. Her confused expression only lasted a second before the reality of the gift cemented itself and her eyes became resolute with determination. Dani leaned on me, making short glances at the figures just reaching the edge of our neighbor's fence and I told Michelle;
"I know it's been a while since you and I have gone shooting, but I know you know how to work that, and I want you to keep that on you at all times when you're out there…" She looked at me in a way that told me she was no longer my baby girl, but knew she would remain my baby girl forever. I gulped, the departure of my eldest daughter now hitting me even harder as her face studied my own worry.
"… Go ahead, take it out. Keep it safe and keep it in a place you can always reach it…"
Michelle lifted the small .45 pistol out of the box and removed the two loaded magazines before setting the box down. In an effort to keep myself from succumbing to emotional devastation, I couldn't help but go on about the weapon.
"… It's just like the one your dad uses on watch, just a little smaller since my hands are bigger than yours, ha." It was hard to conceal my tears behind the chuckle at the end, and the whole thing was even harder to handle when I saw how she handled the weapon. Just like I taught her many months ago, she kept her finger straight and off the trigger, and the barrel downward. She checked the chamber after a moment and placed the thing in the front pouch of her travel satchel before throwing her arms around me saying;
"Thanks dad. I'll stay safe, I promise."
Before releasing her embrace, she kissed my cheek, and then threw her arms around her mother. Dani wept and Michelle placed a hundred kisses on her mom's cheek before her friend and the missionary, Mr. Padilla stepped up to us. It was time for her to go, and I can only remember walking Dani back to the warmth of our home as Michelle departed and I assured Dani that she would be fine.
I truly believed it when I told Dani those things. I assured her that the wastes were much calmer than they were when she and I were going on our first missions. As I've said in previous sections, it was never my intention to lie, ever, but maybe things were more peaceful than they were in my youth… However, that seemed pretty hard to believe when I thought of all the death that surrounded us at this little rundown gas station. Man had triumphed over the worst creatures, like these between the dumpsters, then man had fallen to man in savage thirst for blood, and here we were staring at the remnants.
Barnett had broken himself free from the deathclaw's eyes, and we must have all been taking in the scene for only a minute before he answered Mr. Fleischer's question;
"I think it's dead."
Logan moved over towards the left side of the beast on the trash pile, and I was firmly returned to the moment at the same time the men's hearts froze.
The head of the deathclaw painfully followed Mr. Barnett, and there we noticed the chest of the beast going in then out almost imperceptibly. Mr. Hansley and Rhynes let out a short scream that they immediately caught, and it occurred to me that this beast was the mother, and the shorter one with the chunks carved out was the child. The mother watched her child get killed and carved to pieces by raiders it couldn't save its baby from, but remained alive long enough to watch the killers get their dues by men who would have done the exact same thing to her and her baby.
I watched the white eyes of the mother deathclaw follow the motions of Mr. Barnett's slowly waving arms, and the calm chest went in then out again and again as the rest of the men placed themselves another 20-foot distance. All at once, I said to the wind;
"We need to go." And I don't much care to write any more about this time in my life.
About 2 or 3 Days Later
Narrative Continued By Nathan Porter
It's not often I write in my journal, but I still did it here and there. I think I swore I'd never write again after all the notes about my first mission were completed a few years back. I still write here and there, but only if it's about big things really. Like, I wrote a lot about Alyana Mituskrona'ka'na, and the time I was best man for Diego Marquez. That was fun, but I think the last thing I wrote about was when I learned that guy Paul dragged in from the desert was Joshua Graham. That was Wild. Anyway, Paul wasn't really himself after getting back from that trip with the new guys, and it made a lot of sense when I learned why.
Not to mention what happened an hour or two after he got back.
It was pretty much any other day when they got back. Me, John, Carl, Dean, and Ramos were manning the gate station for entry duty when we saw Paul and the others coming in. They would have been expected days ago, but Constable said Paul was taking the new guys out to get some experience for a few additional days. Paul had to head in immediately to report in with the Constable, but Carl, Dean, and I got the the fun and details from Rhynes and the new guys when they stayed by our gate station awaiting Paul's return.
Overall, it sounded like things went real well for the new guys, so that was nice. They did see a couple pretty grisly sights on the return trip, like that thing around the gas station was pretty bad from everything they said, but it happens. The only one who still looked shook up about it was Hansley, but that was alright. I knew his parents and he I can only say that they were always a bit more "protective" than most parents in town... I was honestly pretty surprised that it was them who suggested he join the guard in the first place. Anyway, we were shooting our mouths off about this and that for the better part of an hour and it was about noon when Paul came back out telling Rhynes to take the new guys inside to return some gear they borrowed, check in with the Constable, and whatnot.
Paul seemed pretty fine, and so did the rest of them, but in the end, he had nothing but good things to say about how well the new men did and how Rhynes and his boys served as instructors. The big thing was definitely the baptism they did for the raider a few days ago. Paul agreed with our conclusion when he said Hansley seemed a bit shook up, and me and the other fellas started talking about all the messed-up stuff we'd seen in the wasteland. I decided I'd check in with Hansley after the shift since we all knew what it was like to see stuff like that for the first time. A baptism is usually such a wonderful thing, but it really throws you out of your element when you see the baptism "party time starting pistol" pointed at the head of the newly saved.
The deathclaw incident sounded interesting, but Paul didn't have much to say about that and I thought how the last time I saw a deathclaw was about two years ago. Luckily John had brought the anti-material rifle with him on the escort job to the folks at Jude, so I didn't really get a look at it beyond the 50 cal tearing through it in the distance creating a cloud of dust. John definitely took this moment at the gate station to remind me and Carl and Dean how we called him stupid for bringing that heavy rifle till we watched that deathclaw's arm get ripped away in a little dust cloud.
After this, Paul asked about Graham and I pointed up to the tower while John went on about how he's been great up there. Paul wondered who he was accompanying in the tower since the rest of the detachment was down here at the gate station or out with him for the escort job to 89 City. John thought Graham was with some of Camden's men, but I could have swore that Canady's guys were up there. Regardless, the guys up there were too hard to make out with the noontime sun directly above them, but Paul said he'd go up there to check in on him.
Before he went to depart our company, and after talking about this, what happened next is pretty hard for me to talk about. I think it was pretty hard for everyone to talk about, but I can only imagine how hard it was for Paul to see this. It didn't look like much at first, especially because of how crowded the market was at this time when Spring was getting so close, but all our attentions turned when we saw a group of people coming towards us at the gates in an unusual condition. Ramos noticed it first, asking;
"What's happening over here?"
We saw the crowds splitting or making way, and the first we could see was one of Herbein's men on patrol in the markets leading the way. When enough people had cleared, he shouted ahead towards us;
"John! Get that gate open and get someone over here, now!"
John leaned down to the electrical box on the table behind the barricade, flipped the switch, and the gates gave their signature opening creak as I was already on my way towards Herbein's man with Carl and Paul.
The crowds parted more and revealed three people trailing behind Herbein's man, two men in brown and black combat armor suits and wide-brimmed hats I'd seen on only a couple other occasions, both men on each side of a woman with long straggly reddish brown hair in torn up jeans and a flannel long sleeve covered in stains that looked like a mix of dry and fresh blood. The woman's feet were dragging behind her as the men in combat armor moved her forward with both her arms over their shoulders. Her head hung low, and the sight made me anxious for some reason I didn't yet know, even when I looked to my left only to see Carl beside me… Paul had stopped, and only my peripherals showed Paul standing several paces in the rear with both hands over his mouth.
Carl and I both stormed past Herbein's man whom I recognized as Clay when he said, "Carl, Nathan, take over for those gents, would you?"
Without any word, and without even really looking at the two soldier types, Carl and I wordlessly took the arms of the battered young woman and proceeded towards the gate. For whatever reason, I couldn't bring myself to look at the young woman, even shunning her in my peripherals as the transfer was made seamlessly between the strange soldiers to Carl and I. The gentle sobbing of the woman between us didn't make it easier, and still, I did my best to not think about her as I looked forward. Doing that didn't help either since between us and the gate station was still a frozen Paul. My Lieutenant's hands remained clasped over his mouth, but it didn't take more than a glance at his face for me to see how red it was and how there were tears streaming from his eyes beneath the visor of his cap.
Just then, the words, "Don't worry, Michelle. You're home now," came from the voice of one of those soldiers behind us, and the crying of this young girl was all I could hear from that point forward.
That day was a lot. It wasn't nearly over, but on our way inside and joined by Ramos, we ran into Rhynes, Savitt, and Barnett just as we stepped through the gates. The group of New Canaanites waiting to exit the town parted ways, and looked in shock at the sight of the wounded girl, trying to determine who she was as she cried and moaned in terrible pain between Carl and I. Rhynes leaped into immediate action as he called for Savitt to go get the Constable, for Logan to get Dr. Franklin outside the wall, and directed us to follow him to Dr. Stepp whose clinic was on the south side of the town square.
The poor girl sobbed and cried in pain and the rest is a bit of a blur after Carl and I escorted her through the clinic doors and spoke with Dr. Stepp. Within 30 minutes, Michelle was stripped and changed into a patient gown, chairs were overturned, nursing staff ran about in all directions, and the young girl was sedated. I remember how frightened, how angry she was, and my heart sank in its entirety when I saw one of the nurses sheer off Michelle's clothes exposing that fair skin stained in so much dirt and dried blood. I remember how frantic she was, the sound of her sobs and screams for her mother before the needle went in, and the sight of her limbs falling to her sides. Carl and I were escorted out shortly after this, and I don't think it was just my mind that was a blur as Carl and I sat in the little hallway surrounded by wooden walls, only watching as the swarm of people like nurses, Dr. Franklin, Paul, Daniella, and Dr. Stepp enter or exited the room.
I remember making eyes with Paul just as he passed, and I didn't even know what to make of it. I don't know if I should have said something, but I think there wasn't much to say since his face showed a devastation I hadn't seen in it since I joined his detachment over five years ago. Paul disappeared into the room with his daughter, and there Carl and I sat, the screams of that poor angel echoing in my mind over and over again. Matters weren't made any better when we saw his wife Dani enter the hall and not even notice us as she entered Michelle's room with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Looking at the closed door to the room Daniella entered, there was nothing for Carl and I to do but wait on that bench outside. Under normal circumstances, we would have dropped off the injured person at this clinic or Dr. Franklin's, but this felt much more different than a typical case. Paul, Dani, Michelle, Hannah, and Joseph were practically family to anyone who called themselves a guardsman, and I can only compare this incident to ones where our guardsmen returned with the bodies of our brothers who were killed outside the walls.
Time seemed to stop, and normal duties didn't have any weight when stuff like this happened. I think it was even worse because whatever happened to reduce Michelle to that state, happened to her. We knew awful things could happen to the guard when they go out into that wilderness, but it's really easy to forget that the same things could happen to even the most precious of our home.
There on that bench, I couldn't help but think of the last time I saw Paul's eldest daughter. It was at the party that evening before her departure. The party definitely got a lot more fun in my opinion when I arrived, and when the other boys of the guard showed up too. It was good to talk to Paul off-duty, chat with Dani, the Parsons, and the boys at the party. When night arrived, the whole of both families and the entire detachment posted up around the fire and it was a very nice time. Michelle sat with her friend Sarah across from me and Ramos. It was really nice to see Michelle laughing and talking with Sarah, surrounded by her friends and family in the firelight. She was very pretty that night in that flowery dress and furry jacket. I don't think I'm alone when I say it put smiles on all our faces to see just how excited she was for the mission in all her innocence.
I can't help but mention that Michelle was objectively very pretty and wonderfully kind. It was actually that night by the fire that I had to correct Joseph on this when he got tired of running around and perched himself between Ramos and I. I'll admit it was super weird when out of the blue, Joseph turned to me and said unlike a hyperactive 7 year old;
"Is Alyana really nice? My sister wouldn't be too sad at first if she married you."
…
How the kid even knew the name of the pretty tribal girl I accidentally lost my virginity to at 18 is beyond me. That and my brain was sent into a spin by the other thing he said. Thankfully everyone around the fire was too lost in their own conversations to hear any of this, but I could only say in return;
"Yeah, Alyana's nice… And I don't want to marry Michelle… But why would Michelle be sad 'at first' if she married me?"
Unfortunately, Joseph didn't answer my question as he immediately turned to Ramos on my left;
"You're going to marry Cathy Elisandro. Sarah's going to be busy-"
Immediately, the child got hit with a pebble thrown by the Hughes boy from across the fire, so Joseph ran off to chase him, leaving Ramos and I bewildered. I had noticed Ramos looking at Sarah Parsons quite a lot that night, and there I remembered his mentioning of a certain girl he'd been talking to during many guard Bible Studies…
Anyway, I don't have hidden feelings for Michelle… although if she and Paul both came on their knees asking me to marry her, I would send Alyana Mituskrona'ka'na a final letter and consult Elder Larsdale about the situation immediately. Still, I wasn't alone in this feeling. Most of the members of the guard have loved Michelle in some form or another, whether that was like a sister, a daughter, or like a sweetheart, it was the same. Michelle was loved and adored by everyone who knew her, whether in town or in the ranks of the guard, and it was really hard to compare the version of her from that night by the fire to the girl Carl and I had just brought in. One question did come to me however when I recalled that night of celebration, "Why was Michelle's missionary partner Sarah going to be too busy to marry my friend Ramos?"
Sarah did set off with Michelle, and why was it only Michelle who returned?... Whatever it was that brought Michelle back home in that condition made me feel the worst for Michelle, Sarah Parsons, and whoever was their missionary escort… I hadn't heard who that was at the moment.
In the end, before I could contemplate any of this further, Carl and I both looked up to see the Constable standing before us. The hulking giant commander of the New Canaan Guard was looking down at Carl and I twisting the end of his mustache as his eyes were red and wet with knowledge of who was behind that door across from us. All he said was very calmly and full of restrained emotion;
"Carl, Nathan, I need you boys up at the guard house outside. John and Rhynes are making a log for the strangers' accounts of what happened to Michelle and her mission party. I'd like you boys to serve as witnesses."
Carl and I looked at each other, and then up to the Constable, "Right away sir,"
Carl and I silently departed, and the door opened and shut as the Constable entered Michelle's room. Only a brief glance through the closing door showed me Paul holding Dani before the still feet on that bed.
It felt impossible to continue on with the "normal day" that I started this diary entry with. It was still only a little after 1pm, and Carl mentioned on the walk to the gate that it was always so strange when a normal day could be turned completely upside down in only a few short moments. I agreed wholeheartedly, and I think something told me that the day would not get any more "normal" when I saw the figure up on top of the west tower staring down at us. The man was a silhouette, but I could not see the outline of a cap, and I think Carl and I both felt those eyes upon us. That man up there was not with Camden, or Canady's men, he was one of Paul's, he was one of New Canaan's. He had seen the whole thing. He watched us bring the sobbing shell of Michelle Young into the community and watched all those people who loved and cared for her flock to the clinic from atop the tower.
I waved at him just before we reached the gate, and he remained a watching statue just before the gate began to creak open.
The guard house belonged to whoever was occupying the east gate station that day, or whoever was in charge of pressing the button to open or close the gates. The sign was put up outside that nobody would enter the community for the rest of the day unless on official New Canaan business. It was only Logan and Savitt who stood watch behind the barricade, both of whom gave Carl and I a nod as we passed them and stepped into the guard house.
That structure wasn't much. It was merely a small brick shack built into the wall directly beneath the east tower with two windows. Inside the little 20x12ft room was a clutter-free desk, a few locked filing cabinets against the far wall, six chairs, and a few footlockers for emergency weapons and ammunition. The floorboards gave a creak at our entrance, but our entry went unnoticed by the men around the desk.
Sitting behind the desk was John and Rhynes stood over him on the left, both looking intently at the two men across from them. The two men seated before John and Rhynes were the strangers in the brown combat suits who brought in Michelle. Their wide hats were in their laps, and the two soldiers were sitting upright in a military fashion, they too not even noticing us as Carl and I took our places on John's side of the desk.
Just as I rounded the desk though, I caught sight of the little symbol on the two men's right shoulder guards. I knew I had recognized that armor before as the little yellow and black symbol with the red star brought to mind the time I had seen it during an expedition towards some relay towers in the far southwest. These men were Rangers of the New California Republic.
I couldn't think about this much more because my attention leaped into the conversation for me at the words;
"… Well who would we be able to talk to about entry?" asked the ranger on the right, the older one with the little tag above his right chest plate reading "Banks."
John stared at them with his eyebrows furrowed, saying without any emotion in his voice whatsoever, "That would be the Constable. But he's busy."
There was a short silence as the two rangers looked to one another for a moment before adjusting in their seats. The younger one with a nametag reading "Hale" opened his mouth as if to respond when "Ranger Banks" instead broke the short silence;
"I figured we would have earned some favor with you all for bringing the girl back..." he paused, looking to each of us behind the desk before resuming, "… Michelle's a fine girl, and it's really unfortunate what happened to her. But we didn't bring her back here because of how important she is. We just figured we had an obligation to help her. It's what we rangers do, but we still have our orders and would like to work with you all."
Rhynes broke out with a small laugh at this and Carl and I stayed serious like John while the two rangers' expressions turned somewhat sour.
"What's so funny?" asked the young ranger with the "Hale" nametag on his armor.
Although Rhynes' laugh was short, the rangers weren't alone in wondering what Rhynes found so funny before he said, "Rangers have something of a reputation down in the southwest. 'obligations to help' our people or the tribals down that way isn't something I thought I'd hear from NCR Rangers today in all honesty."
I too was slightly familiar with some of the incidents down in that part of the wilderness regarding NCR Rangers and the "prospectors" who operated that way. Now I hadn't had as much experience in that part of the wilderness as Rhynes, John, or Lt. Young, but I believed their stories, so Rhynes had a point. Still, the professionalism of the rangers was admirable as they seemingly swallowed the shot at their organization's rep and the older Ranger Banks replied simply;
"We protect our citizens, even in frontier lands… I'll just leave it at that before we go off on anything irrelevant to the matter at hand,"
Another silence ensued as we guardsmen looked sternly at the seated rangers while the rangers looked equally as sternly at us. Neither Carl nor I knew what they were talking about before our arrival, but the rangers apparently wanted entry to New Canaan and were given the news that this request was out of the question for the time being. Perhaps I missed the part where the rangers explained how they happened across Michelle, but their bringing Michelle back was truly appreciated by everyone who'd seen the state she was in when Carl and I brought her to the clinic. John Langdon must have been considering this as well because he broke the silence by allowing the conversation to proceed;
"Now I'm sure you understand the extent of your authority here, as you should understand that of Rhynes and I. Nobody who can authorize the entry of men like yourselves is available at this time, and given your reputation, you're going to have to be a bit clearer with us. As much as we appreciate you returning that daughter of our community, I need something to tell the Constable. Why are you even this far out here?"
The whole tone of the room relaxed a bit as a sense of lingering frustration in the rangers' demeanor remained. The older one motioned with his head to the younger Ranger Hale before the latter answered;
"We want to speak with the leader of your community. Discuss relations, as well as some other matters of diplomacy. That's all. That's also all we're authorized to give to someone not directly in charge of community relations…" He paused before boldly going for broke, "… How soon would we be able to get an audience with your Bishop Mordecai?..."
I don't think it was intentional, but that question made all of us guardsmen crack a smile not intended to offend the Rangers. John explained this possible offense quickly by saying simply;
"You don't. Outsiders don't just 'See' or 'Get an audience' with Bishop Mordecai. The best you Might be able to get is one with Constable Hanshaw. That said, I'm still going to need more details from you before I bother him about anything."
Both rangers sat back in their chairs before Ranger Banks shook his head in even more frustration, "Again, I'm afraid we're under instructions to not detail anything to anyone other than Mordecai, or in the worst circumstance, his direct subordinate, this apparent 'Constable Hanshaw' you've been mentioning."
Again, the tension in the air was detectable. Carl and I were still ignorant of all that was discussed before our entry, but Mr. Langdon and Rhynes seemed entirely on top of things as Rhynes said more diplomatically than John;
"We may be able to help, but don't expect to meet with him in the next few days, Constable is a busy man who happens to be pretty close with the family of the girl you brought in. We all are close with them in fact, so I must thank you two once again for bringing Michelle back home… but now I have to ask: why did NCR send two Rangers this far into Utah to 'discuss relations' as you say…"
Frustrated silence stood in the air again before Rhynes added; "… Surely you can at least answer that."
The rangers both became more "comfortable" in their seats while their faces got even more serious. Almost with a scowl, and in a tone of near embarrassment despite the sternness on his face, Ranger Hale glanced to his partner before saying;
"All we can say is that our orders, and who gave us them…" he paused, "… Just believe me when I say it's a waste of both Banks and I's time. Also, believe it when I say we'd rather be with our brothers down in the Mojave rather than running this 'errand'…"
None of us guardsmen could decipher what was in the rangers' minds, but their tone made us believe that they truly didn't want to be talking to us when their usual services had them fighting Legion and raiders in and around the New Vegas area. With this general frustration at us, their situation revealed itself further when Ranger Hale added in traditional Californian fashion;
"… Perhaps there's a deal we can work out to expedite this whole thing?"
Then it was John's turn to crack, "Ha. I was waiting for this question since I recognized that symbol on your shoulder plates. Maybe when you return to California or the Mojave, you can tell your merchants, and your brothers in the service that we aren't really the kind of people you can make underhanded 'deals' with…" The rangers both bit their lips and John concluded, "… but you can humor me if you want."
The rangers looked to one another for another moment before briefly but meticulously scanning each of our faces. As if completely unaffected by any of the shots John and Rhynes sent their way, the two each grinned as if they knew something about us that we didn't and Ranger Banks said;
"Get us an audience with Constable Hanshaw as soon as possible and I'll tell you where we found Michelle. Down to the coordinates. We can even tell you what to look for. The guys who did it shouldn't be Too far, but that was a week ago, and the winds can take tracks away if you don't act soon."
John immediately looked to Carl and I. I thought I had it under control, but John focused on Carl and I's faces for what felt like an incredibly uncomfortable amount of time. The offer of the ranger must have made my face show what it had earlier when Carl and I were waiting outside the door to Michelle's room in the clinic. I think it was in this exchange of eye contact that he saw and felt what Carl and I felt when we learned the name of the young woman we brought to the clinic inside. I felt this because I myself started to internally hear the screams of Michelle once again. I think John too knew what Carl and I saw when Michelle was stripped and shown to be covered in so much dirt and blood before the sedative went into her arms.
Normally under any other circumstance, John, Rhynes, Carl, or I would have laughed off an offer like the one Ranger Banks gave. However, as I mentioned, everyone in the guard loved Michelle, loved Paul, and loved that family. That little offer, and the reality of that timetable hit us all in a very strange way that rendered us all nearly speechless, especially when I remembered the look on Paul's face when he stood frozen at who these two rangers had brought in from the wasteland.
"Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord."
Maybe this isn't correct way to view the word of God, but I feel that if the opportunity comes, we have a part to play in that vengeance as well.
John turned back to the rangers and said sternly as before, "Tell us everything about the attack and I'll make sure you speak to the Constable as soon as possible."
By the end of their account of how they found Michelle, I wanted nothing more than to go out immediately. The rangers left soon afterward, allowing John, Rhynes, Carl, and I to have a moment where we talked a few things over. It wasn't much, but after hearing what happened, we decided it best to leave the details out for the rest of the detachment, but I did bring up how I thought William Ramos should know some of it since I'd known he was close to or sweet on Sarah Parsons. John and Rhynes both agreed to this, and John said that either he or Rhynes would have a talk with him later. When all was said and done, the rangers agreed to stay at the Trinity Inn until they could get their audience with the Constable. John left the gate shack to head into town immediately after we decided to get back to our duty.
It was really hard to wait out the rest of the shift after hearing about the scene they found Michelle had survived. I wasn't alone in thinking about everything the rangers said, Carl too was mostly silent, and Rhynes was as well. By the time we took our places outside the guard shack behind the barricade, the gate station was occupied by Barnett, Savitt, Ramos, and Parrish who all seemed to understand the silence from me, Carl, and Rhynes. The men left out of the loop were all aware of who the girl Carl and I brought inside was, and so there was nothing to say, even as the rangers disappeared into the crowd heading towards the Trinity Inn.
As the minutes passed, John was still somewhere inside town, and Rhynes eventually went off to go check on the new guys while the mood amongst the others gradually livened up. It never got to the point of cracking jokes, or telling stories about this and that, but every now and then, the odd question would come towards Carl and I like, "What were those soldier types about?" Carl explained they wouldn't tell us exactly after saying they were NCR rangers, and the talk was short. Near the end of the shift, and after a few quiet patrols of the market grounds, Ramos would ask me the occasional question here and there.
I simply couldn't bring myself to even look at the boy, especially knowing who he liked, and who was on Michelle's mission group. Still, the occasional question came my way, "Is Michelle going to be alright?" and "She went on mission with Sarah Parsons, right? Hope she's ok." All I could say in response to questions like that was "We'll talk about it later." The minutes turned into hours, and the end of the shift was at hand, but still, there was nothing to talk about.
What happened to Michelle, what happened to Sarah Parsons, the missionary Mr. Padilla, and their two escorts under Herbein's scouts on their trek south about 3 weeks prior was not something I particularly care to write about at this time either.
All I can say about the ranger's account is that it was hard for me to stay the beacon of light and sole sense of humor amongst my friends in Paul's detachment after hearing it. I can also say that I believe what happened later was truly justified, but ultimately God will decide that, and I will get to what that looked like later.
John returned to us just before the end of the shift and rounded us all up before heading in with the guys at the other gate station. The replacements from the night guard took our spots and even they were in a somber mood even if they hadn't already heard what happened to the daughter of one of the guard's father figures. Anyway, John parted ways with the rest of us again after the gate shut behind the detachments of the day shift, but something told me he wasn't going home.
It was on the short walk back to the barracks with the rest of the boys that we ran into Rhynes and the new guys. Rhynes dismissed them and they joined Parrish, Savitt, and Barnett for the rest of the walk before catching Ramos and saying, "Do you mind if I have a chat with you?" I caught eyes with Rhynes, and Carl did too as we wordlessly told the squad leader that we should be there as well. Immediately, Rhynes invited Carl and I to join the meet.
As the barracks was filled with the boys of the day shift going about their evenings, Rhynes sat Ramos, Carl, and I down at one of the picnic tables outside. To keep it short, Rhynes talked with our little brother in Paul's detachment, William Ramos, about what happened to Michelle and the party she was with. Avoiding the worst details, he had been informed that Sarah Parsons, Mr. Padilla of Missions Outreach, and their two escorts were no longer on this earth. The poor kid was just as broken by that news as I expected, and Carl and I both took the young man under our arms as he cried. Rhynes was a great man, and he explained things to the kid as sympathetically as other fathers of the guard, but I still found myself wondering why John wasn't the one giving the news.
John was a lot closer with Ramos, Carl, and I considering our time with him in the past 8 months. Again, Rhynes was great too, but the fact it was he who told Ramos what happened to his sweetheart left me wondering where John kept disappearing to since the meeting in the guard shack.
Eventually, Carl and I both told Rhynes that we got it from here, and Rhynes departed from us slowly as the sky got darker, telling us he had to go inform Herbein what happened to his two men if he didn't already know.
Normally, the barracks was a lively place at the end of the day shift. It wasn't uncommon for the guardsmen to kick or throw a ball around in the muster plaza long after the sky got dark and the streetlamps came on. It also wasn't uncommon for the little firepits to be surrounded by the dayshift guards cooking an evening meal or just chatting away. This night was different. It was as if everyone in the whole Guard Community had known what happened to Paul's daughter, and knowing that Herbein lost two men wouldn't help the matter if they didn't already know. Still, Carl and I sat with the boy as he slowly collected himself. By the time the streetlights came on, Ramos had asked us if we or the ranger knew who attacked Michelle and Sarah's party, and we said we didn't. I mentioned it was probably any other gang of raiders out that way, and as I did so I saw a flickering flame in his eyes that I hadn't seen before.
Just as I caught this, and before either me or Carl could say anything else, Doyle sat himself across from us at the outside table with a forlorn look in his eye. We asked if he heard what happened to Herbein's scouts on Mr. Padilla's escort, and he only nodded his head before saying he heard it from the man himself. He explained that Herbein was very upset, the two scouts assigned to that escort job were two of his closest men. The news was even more devastating for Herbein since his scouts were taking a route they thought was safe. Doyle's peer in the scouts explained he hadn't even thought of them since setting out because he had so much faith in their safety.
Ultimately, I concluded I would give Lt. Herbein my condolences personally the next time I saw him, and the four of us were left in silence for a long moment after Doyle was done talking until the wind picked up and the silence of the barracks this night was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming towards us. After a moment, all of us at the table turned, and there we saw two figures approaching us under the streetlamps. I couldn't make either of them out under the shadows until they stepped into the light of the lamps around the muster yard and I didn't know what to even think.
My body, and the body of everyone else at the table only acted for us when John Langdon said with a scowl, "You boys hadn't turned in your weapons I see,"
We all nodded, and I adjusted the sling of the Thompson submachinegun on my shoulder. Then, without thought, me, Carl, and Ramos all stood in unison, eyes full of determination, as Joshua Graham said, "Follow me."
The three of us followed Joshua Graham, and John stood by just for a second to tell Doyle, "Lt. Doyle, find Herbein, gather three men, tell him to do the same, and meet us at the end of the west road, southwest quadrant." A glance back showed Doyle nod and wordlessly carry out the instruction of the squad leader in his peer's detachment.
John caught up with Graham and the rest of us in a moment and we proceeded across the desolate streets of the town at night. Not a word was said as Rhynes came across our path and silently joined us as our boots rustled the cobblestone beneath us with each step. Eventually, the entire group stood at the end of the west road, staring at the last row of houses against the west wall beside a streetlamp. We stood quiet for ten minutes, and I looked at that house for a long time until more footsteps from behind joined us. Joining us at the end of that street was Lt. Doyle, Hudson, Ray, Mr. Schmitt, Lt. Herbein, Bell, Clay, and Klyto. Every one of us had our duty weapons, rifles, or automatics, and as the men of Herbein joined us, they each handed Carl, Ramos, and I a filled field pack before we walked towards that home illuminated by a single light.
Graham, Rhynes, and John approached the door to Paul's home, and the latter thrusted a field pack into the arms of the deadened silhouette of my Lieutenant. Doyle unslung an extra machine pistol off his shoulder, and Paul disappeared into his home for about a minute and a half before reemerging into the night in the uniform of the guard, pack on his back, and weapon in hand.
Paul stormed past the rest of us without a word, followed close behind by Graham, John, and Rhynes, while the rest of us joined them all in the silent march toward the gate.
While we were waiting for the members of the night guard to lower the gate, Rhynes turned to John, Paul, and Graham at the head of the caravan, removed the magazines of ammo from his duty vest, and handed them to Graham before saying just loud enough for a few to hear,
"… I'll do it, I'll stay behind and speak to the Constable. Make sure you use this ammo."
Rhynes departed our group with a look of determination on his face as John nodded in acknowledgment and approval of Rhynes' decision. Just as the gates began to creak open in the dead of night, all 14 of us in this posse of guardsmen stood eyes forward, ready to set out.
… When we entered the sparsely populated market grounds at this time of night, I heard something spoken by a few wasters huddling around a fire that made me take another long look at the one leading us and Paul out into the wastes.