Which Way Did He Go? Part 4
“Welcome to Primm and Proper.” Jack-E displays this sad smiley face. “This is as close as the Marejave has to law and order outside of New Pegasus and the strip.”
“Primm has a roller coaster?!?!” Princess is amazed, as well she should be.
“They ain’t run it in a hundred years at least, the way I hear it.” I laugh casually. We come in east of the NCR patrols. “Huh, usually I get stopped and questioned by now. NCR is all up into this shit since they oppened that new prison.”
“Do you mean the prison where the Powder gangers come from?” I think Jackie is expressing disapproval. It’s hard to tell when she projects that really flat face.
“Is that where they came from? Makes sense, and explains the weird orange jumpsuits. I thought it was an oddly specific raider cosplay.” Honestly out of all we’ve kept running for 200+ years I am disappointed that nopony ever kept up the roller coaster at the old Gladstone casino.
“Halt, Civilians!” Ah there it is. I can see I’m the only one surprised. It’s a pleasant surprise to be honest. At least at first.
“Courier Six reporting back to the Express, soldier.” I smile because he prolly knows me… I dunno? I know I come this way a lot. I pick up that he’s nervous though. “I got two civilians from Goodsprings. One Zony, one… sapient robot? There’s been a recent raider attack there. I also need to report in to the sheriff.”
“The Powder Gangers have taken over the Gladmane Casino, and mined the overpass. We have to assume the sheriff is dead.” The soldiers barks back. “We’ve called in for ranger support to breach the perimeter. But unless you plan on walking across a trapped bridge through the front gate… uh… sir? Sir?”
I pull my trusty 10mm that I really only just fired. I trust Doc done gave me a good gun. And the bridge explodes. Like all them landmines just go off and the explosion just encompasses the overpass, I am sure that is a word.
And then the overpass is still there, because it already survived the balefire bomb. I mean, it’s lost a lane, and it’s gonna need some repair before you take a caravan of brahmin across it. But it still functions as a one pony bridge I can gallop across. And Honestly I expected more snipers. The Marejave express is where it’s always been. I can hear hooves at the cross-roads. The wanna be raiders had a patrol, anyway.
And there she is in front of the office. Green coat, red mane, torn apart by makeshift thrown explosives. Courrier #9. I knew her name. Rose Thorn. And she knew my name.
I don’t remember galloping this close to the first raider. She was dead before she hit the ground and I don’t even care how many times her friends shoot me. There used to be three of em’ on patrol.
There’s a pause in the noise and the smoke. I holster Trusty and pull out Yield. They can both run. I can’t catch both of them.
I forgot about Princess and the one that runs faster than other one’s head explodes. I catch Slowpoke as he reaches the door screamin’ for them to let him in. Two swings. One to scrabble his brains. And one to shove the post of Yield into the door handles.
“I thought you were all about leaving witnesses!” Princess snarls as I kick the Gangers body against the edge of the front door. They’ve done me the favor of boarding up all the windows and side entrances to keep me from getting in.
“That was about setting an example.” I explain, as liquid grief runs down my scarified face. Jack-E, if you could just be dear and drag those other two Power Corpses over here quick as you could. This ain’t gonna hold em’ in there for long.”