Part 25: A Wasteland Journey
Back outside, we took one last good luck at Freeside just to see it for the last
time in a while, even though all my memories of it are pain and suffering. We
quickly departed through the East gate and felt a lot safer. With nothing
around us for a long distance, any attacker would have to charge straight at
us. So with that feeling in our chests, we headed in the general direction of
Cottonwood cove; the way into Caesar’s camp.
“Hey Micheal.” Arcane said, looking worried.
“What?” I asked him.
“I’m not certain that joining you was a good idea. We’ve only managed to jump into
extreme danger every step of the way. And now, the Tops want to murder me. What
do you think?” he gave out a chilling, but true opinion on our situation so
far.
“You’re right about that. I’m sorry, truly I am. When we get to the camp, I’ll have to
say goodbye to you. I know that you despise them, and I do to, but you could
cause all matter of trouble there and get yourself killed. For your own sake,
let’s make a decision. Do you want to come, head back to Freeside, or camp out
nearby and wait for me to return?
“I suspected as much. I don’t mind camping nearby and awaiting your return. But once
you’re done, and you get back, let’s finish our business with House and leave
immediately.” He suggested, considering that New Vegas is dangerous to us now.
“Agreed. He’s given us plenty enough caps to live well, and then we can choose to stay
wherever we want in Vegas.” I said.
With that decided and out of the way, all that was between us and The Legion’s camp,
Fortification Hill. We could take weeks to get there, so we would have to find
something to do in-between then. Eventually, we set off, and headed northwest.
Under the crushing heat of the sun, we trekked slowly across the barren wasteland,
taking a rest behind big rocks to catch our breaths, get some sleep, and cool
down in the shade. It felt like there was no one around for miles; but I shouldn’t
expect less in an apocalyptic environment. After what seemed like hours, we
finally came to a narrow passageway in the mountains, and on the other side, we
could see Primm. Primm was a settlement, made in the remains of a few old
casinos, but far from Vegas. I remembered the town, from the time when I was
delivering packages around the wastes; before I took a bullet to the head, of
course. The gap was so narrow that I had to go through without my bags, and
Arcane heaved them through as well as he could. It took a while; what with them
getting stuck on the jagged, sharp rocks, but finally we had both passed, and
took the steep hill down to the town.
The rusty road signs of better days hung nearby, and confirmed the towns name. it
was surrounded by fence, with three entrances to get in, all covered by
makeshift barricades to keep the town protected. It’s one of the few settlement
that actually still has a lawman. Sherrif Beagle has his own shack to the side
of town, and wanders around the town with his trusty six-shooter, keeping the
peace in town. Sure, most criminals don’t get a fair trial, but it’s the best
for miles.
Oddly, the streets were dead empty, nothing but the cold breeze blowing old papers and
rubbish about. The street lights still worked, but an eerie sense came past me,
as if I walking head first into a trap.
“I don’t like the looks of this.” said Arcane, smartly. “We should pass through
the destroyed buildings, over in the east corner. I’ll give you a leg up, and
you check the area with your rifle’s scope.”
“That’s a brilliant plan.” I remarked. “Ok, move slowly and keep your head down.”
I couldn’t lose the feeling that something was not right, and once we had reached
the rubble, Arcane lifted me up to the second floor, where I took cover, and carefully
peaked my scope out of a concealed window. I put my eye to the scope, and felt
sick to my stomach. I was right, bandits hid behind the walls, waiting to
ambush travellers, and corpses lined the streets, their thick, gooey interiors
lined the streets, the Bandits making no effort to clean them up, but push them
out of view instead.
By the looks of it, the surviving citizens had barricaded
themselves into the “Vikki And Vance Casino” as the big sign out front put it,
as many bandits stood by the door, finger on the trigger and all. I felt like
dispensing wasteland justice, but I was vastly outnumbered. If I was going to
do something, it wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
P.S I'm Back For Now, Let's See How Long I Can Keep It Up
