Kapitel 79: Full leaded tip

Earlier :

Karl had just sat down and ordered a whisky from the barman, idly waiting for the signal to be given... It'd been a couple hours now and he'd just finished his second glass when an old friend sat next to him. "Meyers." he mutters in greeting.

"Karl, you doing alright?" Meyers asks as he sits, his balding black hair concealed by his desperado cowboy hat. He wore the typical Powder Ganger uniform and had a short stubble forming on his chin. The man was slightly overweight due to inactivity and drinking, but he couldn't really be blamed for that.

He'd been in the prison when people started breaking out, he chose not to participate and stayed outta the conflict. Karl had quickly made friends with the man, his pragmatic view on the world matched his own, even if he lacked the hatred for the NCR he did.

Karl nods at his question, "I'm alright, just got some things on my mind."

"Like what?" Meyers presses.

Karl shrugs, "You happy in this place? They refuse to let you go and blabber to the NCR, in exchange for you keeping quiet they booze you up and keep you fed... Is that really the life you want?" he asks his friend.

Meyers shakes his head, "No, but I don't have a choice, do I? I'll be shot if I try to leave, the drinks just make it bearable." he confirms with an almost despairing nod.

Karl orders another drink and tosses some caps at the barman, "Well, what if you had another option?"

...

Meyer leans in, "I'm listening..." he says in almost a whisper.

Karl's about to speak what an explosion causes the building they're within to shake, the bottles of alcohol placed on the shelves shuddering and causing the barman to frantically keep them from falling off.

The tremors quickly subside but Powder Gangers started rushing out of the bar in-order to see what'd just happened... Karl downs his drink casually and audibly slams it on the counter, "Hey barkeep? You wanna tip?"

The man who'd just finished steadying the bottle turns and nods with a greedy look, Karl stands and places his .44 Magnum on the man's forehead before pulling the trigger. Their head explodes and the bottles of alcohol are covered in blood as the former-ranger hops over the counter, dragging Meyers with him.

The other Powder Gangers in the room who'd not left yet immediately draw their weapons and start firing at them, Meyers looks at Karl as if he were crazy. "What have you done! We're fucked now!" he exclaims.

Karl shakes his head and removes his blue jacket, "You better take that coat off before the NCR gun you down, you gotta choose now boy. You wanna sit here doin' nothin'? Or do you wanna escape with me?"

Meyers only has to consider the offer for a moment, he tears the blue jacket off and tosses it over the counter, the jacket getting riddled with holes as the Powder Gangers reactively shoot at it. "I'll be shot if I leave now, you've not really left me with any options Karl, but I'll help you out, fuck sake." he pulls his bulky 10mm pistol and starts blindly firing over the counter.

Karl grins, "That's the spirit." he says, pulling the pin of a grenade out with his teeth before chucking it over the counter.

All the duo here is "What the fu-"*BOOM!* before the grenade goes off.

Some of the Powder Gangers barely survive the release of shrapnel, the furniture around the room allowing them to find some sort of cover from the explosive. Most are incapacitated by it however, limbs crippled, eyes pierced, and fragments cracking their skulls.

Karl uses this distraction to peak over the counter and fires two shots, each killing one of the downed Powder Gangers who were struggling to recover. He quickly had to drop back into cover however as bullet start flying towards him.

Meyer glances at him as he reloads his weapon, "You got anymore of those?"

Karl shakes his head, "Sorry to say no, I don't." he states as he picks up a bottle and tosses it over the counter while shouting "GRENADE!"

This gets the reaction he wants as he hears people scramble to get out of the way, standing and firing a few more bullets at the enemy. Meyers gets up too and they both manage to finish the rest off.

*Creaaaak*

The door leading to the front entrance of the prison slowly opens and Dawes pokes his head in anxiously. His eyes widen at the corpses of his friends and was about to run but finds himself incapable... His mind is blown, literally, as shards of bone and greymatter coat the door as his head explodes.

Karl blows the smoke away from the barrel of his magnum and walks over to Cobb, rifling through his pocket until he finds the key to the door. He'd need this to lock the entrance in-case the guys who left to ambush the 'mystery NCR caravan' came back due to the commotion. No doubt they'd be able to hear that explosion, even Sloan might've heard it.

He drags the body inside and locks the door, looking to Meyers and nodding, "Let's go, sounds like the fighting's still going on, we're in position to flank the Powder Gangers so let's get to it before we miss out." he explains before heading for the backdoor.

The duo dip out and are greeted by the sight of upturned tables and Powder Gangers hiding behind them for cover while NCR soldiers fire at them. The tables weren't thick enough to stop bullets but were only used to block line of sight.

Karl could see a few people dropping dead and noticed that it was Afton who was responsible, the kid firing at them from the nearby watchtower. Afton sends a wave at him before continuing to fire.