บท 118: Nerves = Grated
It was the next day and before Afton was able to get his hands dirty repairing the motorbike his aid was needed over in the medical tent... Now that he had a project to work on he was rather miffed that he'd agreed to help the town... He couldn't really refuse now though.
Fortunately he'd made sure to lock up the motorbike tighter than a safe, the brand new vehicle parts that he'd "created" would probably be worth a shit ton of caps. Definitely enough to convince any usually good man to pick it up and sprint for the hills.
He'd locked access to the bike's internals with pieces of thick metal that he'd scavenged. If someone wanted to get access to the expensive parts they'd either need a plasma welder or a controlled explosive... All of which would allow him to run over and kill the poor bastard who'd made the attempt.
The bike still needed replacement axle, wheel, and tire. So he wasn't able to drag it into view on the tent, even with his 8 points in strength the reactor core and heavy frame made it impossible to lift on his own.
Over in the medical tent Afton was greeted by Ada giving advice to a young adult who'd somehow injured their knee.
"Now, the best way to help your knee heal is lots of squats. A hundred deep, weighted squats a day would have you feeling as good as-"
*Smack*
Afton slaps Ada in the back of her head before she can corrupt the boys mind any further, "Ignore everything and anything you may have said to do. Squats are literally the worst thing you could do right now... Anyway, what's the problem?"
The boy gestures to his knee and shrugs, "I was working the farm when a stepped into a pothole, twisted it good... Hurts whenever I move it."
Afton slowly nods and pulls their jeans up to get a better look, there wasn't any visible bruising yet but a part of it was slightly swollen. He gets the man to move his knee around a bit to see his range of movement and eventually determines that its just a knee sprain, not "great" but not debilitating.
"You've injured your ACL, not much can be done about it except rest. You'll need to be careful on it for at least two to three weeks... If the pain gets too much then use painkillers."
"Er, what's an ACL?" the patient stutters out.
"Anterior cruciate ligament, keeps your knee joint stable and helps with movement. Terribly painful if its injured though. As I said, best you rest with minimal activity if you want to get better faster."
"Do... Do I have to pay for this?"
Afton gives a 'kind' smile to the boy and shakes his head, "Nah, I didn't have to do anything. The painkillers won't be free if you want them though.
The boy limps off and Afton looks to Ada, "I still have no idea how you believe you're qualified for this, do you even know what a ligament is?"
She shrugs, "No, but I'm learning, a ligament is on your legs right!?"
...
Afton shakes his head and sighs, "No, that's not even close to being true. If that's all then I've got something else to attend to-"
As he's saying this a few people approach the tent, all either holding a limb, sniffling pitifully, or coughing exaggeratedly. "Sir, could you help us?"
Oh for fuck sake, I just want to get back to fixing my bike! The thought runs through his mind but he puts on a fake smile for them, "Of course, take a seat... What seems to be the problem."
In the end, Afton has to spend four hours treating people. At first he was greeted with actual patients, people who'd injured themselves. But gradually the injured gave way to the idiots.
"Doc, my back hurts, my feet are numb, my thoughts are fuzzy, and I think my cock is about to fall off."
...
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Afton growls out, having heard this exact set of symptoms for the third time in a row now.
"Ah, I can't afford proper treatment but if you would be willing to give me some chems then-"
"I refuse, now fuck off back under the rock you crawled out from under!" he exclaims, sending them running away.
These pieces of shit had started bothering him after he'd given free chems to a child who was having an incredibly bad allergic reaction to something. He couldn't identify what he was and the boy's parents couldn't afford treatment so he offered the chems that's reduce the reaction for free.
Course, word of his "selflessness" got around quickly and he'd been greeted by a constant stream of people trying to take advantage of him. Someone had even somehow gotten the exact symptoms that'd require the use of some rather strong chems. Of course, this also made it very, very easy to distinguish the ailed from the mentally deficient junkies.
After all was said and done Afton had made around 400 caps from the treatments. The day had been terribly busy and all he wanted to do was get back to his other project. Waving to Ada he left and headed straight for... WHERE THE FUCK IS HIS BIKE!?! He'd only started fixing it up yesterday! Was it that unlucky that someone would instantly try to steal it!?
He rapidly looks around to see if anyone was nearby but doesn't spot anyone... Instead, he sees drag marks in the dirt leading somewhere. Must be around four people at a minimum to drag the bike like that, he pulls out Lucky from its holster, not that four people would be a problem... It was just helpful to know how many graves he'd need to dig.
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Niggross
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บท 119: Hammer time
Afton stealthily follows the trail leading to whoever stole his bike. Yeah, it was probably a stupid idea to leave it out here, but its not like he could take it inside or something. Maybe he should've carved his name into it? As of now he was considering using the perpetrator's blood as paint for such a task.
The trail wasn't actually all that long, it leads to a shack that was about the size of a regular pre-war home that was situated not too far from the Novac motel itself.
The shack had one regular-sized door on the left side of the building, as well as a large one that resembled a garage door... Though, he didn't think whoever built this scrapheap was good enough to install the necessary motors to make it open.
He snuck close to the door with Lucky in-hand and could hear someone banging on something made of metal with a hammer. Hopefully with this going on they wouldn't notice him sneaking through the door.
He grabbed the doorknob and opened it, sneaking inside the rather brightly lit building. Strangely, there weren't any divider walls separating separate rooms, there was only a single large room that seemed to have a kitchen at the left-most corner, the rest was filled with vehicle scrap and other mechanic tools.
*Tink! Tink! Tink!*
An elderly-looking woman with white hair, adorned in a duster and cowboy hat was hammering a car wreckage's frame. This must be the person who stole his bike.
He stands and pulls the hammer down on Lucky with an audible *Click*. "No sudden movements bike-jacker. Or you might find yourself with a head to wear your at." he states.
She glances over her shoulder and seems amused by him, a smirk gracing her wrinkled lips. "Now, is that really a way to treat an old lady? Also, I've heard more intimidating threats from my grandchildren, and they've only just started talking."
Afton growls at her and fires Lucky at the hammer she was holding, it hits the metal head and throws it straight outta her hand and skidding across the room. "I'm not in the mood for jokes." he seethes.
"Hm, you're a fine shot you know. Coulda used someone like you back in Navarro... As to your bike, I've not touched it at all, only moved it to stop any would-be thieves." she says, for some reason not all that shocked at his accuracy and willingness to discharge a shot.
"Yeah, I believe that." he says sarcastically, "It was fine where it was, the only reason to move it would be if you wanted to crack it open and steal the shit inside."
The woman shakes her head, "Rumours get around in this town, the monster harming the big-horners, crazy doctor who also happens to be a drug dealer, things about Legion spies... The most recent one is that you've been trying to recreate a pre-war vehicle... With some success from what I've seen."
"Bullshit, no one was around while I was working on it." he states with confidence, having checked to make sure of it.
"You sure? I walked past you twice while you were wiring. Seemed pretty enthralled by what you were doin'. Not to mention the fact you were doing this at the back of the motel... That place has windows you know."
...
Afton feels like slapping himself in the face, had he really shown the supernatural [Jury Rigging] to all those people? As well as his efforts in fixing the bike up? "What else does the rumour say?" he asks warily.
She shrugs, "Only that you were fixing a pre-war motorbike up in plain view of everyone. This is why I thought it best to move it to a more secure location, why else did you think I had the boys leave a big trail leader here? I'm not a fool boy, only someone without a brain would steal and leave a trail directly to their location." she states.
This was strange, either she was telling the truth, or she was an incredible liar... "Who are you?"
She crosses her arms and smiles at him, "Daisy Whitman, I recover useful components from scraps people bring me. Not my favourite job but it puts caps in my pocket."
...
"I'm sure you already know but, I'm Afton Parker." he says, deciding to put his weapon away and trust the woman. He could draw Lucky faster than most could blink so it wasn't really putting him at a disadvantage anyway.
Daisy nods and sits down on the wrecked car she was hammering, "I'm like a sponge to gossip, not much else for an old girl like me to do. You and that guy Karl, Mercs that've done the NCR a lotta good, wiped out the Powder Gangers and many other annoying pests. I'll personally thank you for that as Powder Gangers used to occasionally come by and harass the farmers."
"Seems like word about us has gotten around..." he mutters, not sure how to feel about it. He didn't know if they were gaining notoriety too quickly... It'd bring unwanted attention towards them, all he wanted.
"It has, along with word about an axe-wielding Courier searching for a man who'd wronged her."
Afton raises a brow, "You know Tamia?"
Daisy nods, "Lass came by maybe a week ago? Spoke with some robot named Victor, questioned a few people before vanishing. My guess is boulder city, doubt she'd still be around there any longer though, doesn't seem the type to stick around places too long."
He nods and decides to get back to the matter at hand, "Where's my bike?"
Daisy points over at the corner where the motorbike was sitting... Its hull was now shining with a new sheen and seems to have been cleaned of all dust and grime. The metal reinforcements he'd put on to prevent people from trying to access the vital components doesn't seem to have been touched at all, lending credence to Daisy's intentions.
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