บท 159: Trouble finding you

Afton and the other's looted the Fiends bodies, collecting a good amount of weaponry as well as chems. The dirty drug addicts may have taken most of the chems before their deaths, but they had so much that a small quantity was still worth a good amount of caps.

While he did want to gather as much stuff as possible to make the most gains when they eventually arrived at the Gun Runners, Afton wasn't going to strip the Fiends for their clothes... They may be worth a few caps each but it simply wasn't worth it. Some were covered in blood and most smelled like shit.

Once they'd packed everything valuable up the group got back on Dirt-Bird and started driving towards the Gun Runners.

There were a few things that Afton had noticed as they were driving. His Pipboy buzzed to life as they passed a large rocky outcropping, looking at the map there was apparently a Vault placed there... Vault 34, well, he could check on that later on, it was more important to sell of their loot and get to the Gun Runners first.

Though, even when Afton was determined to reach their destination, trouble always seemed to try and get his attention. They were driving past someplace called the Aerotech office park when they noticed an NCR soldier wearing a beret start shouting in a rage.

"FUCKING SCUM! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN! OH MY GOD!" he roars to no one imparticular, kicking up stones and dirt as he tries to get his frustrations out on anything.

"Think we should check this out? I ain't never seen a Captain this troubled before, hell, I knew one who was calm even when surrounded by Legionary Assassins and Mongrels." Karl says from behind him.

Afton shrugs, "Fine, but we aren't taking any jobs until we properly equip ourselves." he says, pulling over to the side of the road, hopping off of Dirt-Bird and walking towards the enraged man.

"Yo, Mr NCR-hulk, what's up?" Afton asks with a small wave, his introduction causing Karl and Boone to give him a sideways glance.

"Wha-Who? Who are you?" the man says after almost pulling out his pistol to fire at them, clearly he was too high strung to think rationally right now.

"Just some mercenaries, if you need help then we're your guys." Afton continues.

The man shakes his head and wipes his face of the moisture that'd gathered, though, whether or not those droplets were sweat or tears would be anyone's guess. "It's too late now, I've failed my duty... Those sick bastards!"

Afton crosses his arms and sighs, "Can't really help if you won't tell us the problem."

"The problem? Some fuckin' sicko's have made their way into my refugee camp and kidnapped some children. You hear me? Ch-il-dren! All while I was supposed to be protecting them!"

All of the group's looks sharpen at hearing this. While they wouldn't be considered the most morale group in the waste, they wouldn't sit idly by while children were going missing.

"Tell you what, once we've completed our business at the Gun Runners, we'll be back to help you out. Deal?" Afton says.

The man slowly nods, "If you think you can help... Ah, I'm Captain Parker by the way."

...

Karl raises a brow and points, "Kid's name is Afton Parker, any relation?" he asks semi-sarcastically.

Captain Parker shakes his head, "I hope not, my bitch ex-wife kept the name but you ain't old enough to be hers... Parker's a common name anyway..."

The other two introduce themselves to Captain Parker before they all retreat back to Dirt-Bird. Afton glances at them as they begin riding to the Gun Runners.

"There isn't anything I hate more than people who hurt children. So when we find this fucker I'm going to make sure they get what's coming to them. If the NCR wants to arrest them then they'll have to scrape them off of the floor first."

Karl nods, "I'm with ya' kid, it's one of the reasons I hate the Legion so much."

Boone just grunts with them, but its plain to see how much anger he's holding back at the thought.

After a couple more minutes of driving the group finally arrive in front of a large fenced-off building. Dirt-Bird halting before a shack with no visible entrance containing a Protectron. It was filled to the brim with weaponry and shielded with what looked like bulletproof glass. The only other thing of notice was the Reloading Station next to the shack, as well as the man operating it.

The man with tanned skin and black hair hidden by a baseball cap raises a brow at them as they arrive, "Hey, didn't think anyone was rolling around on one of those anymore." says while looking at Dirt-Bird with interest.

Afton just shurgs at him, "I know, she's a beauty. We're just here to buy some weaponry though." he says, not wanting to enter a conversation with them.

"I see. Well, the Vendertron will handle everything, no need for me to get involved." he mutters before going back to his work.

Afton steps up to the glass and looks at the robot, "Er... What're you selling?"

"He-ello sir, or madam. I am designated unit Vendertron, how can I be of service to you today."

...

"Guns. Lots, of guns." he states with shimmering eyes.

The Vendertron proceeds to list all of the weapons that are currently in stock. And boy was there a lot of weapons. All of them were in perfect condition, probably having been personally built by the Gun Runners, or restored through a long process.

Though, this was good and bad... Good, because he wouldn't need to spend time fixing anything he bought here... And bad because he wouldn't be able to buy any broken weapons for cheap and quickly fix them via his Perks.