Chương 99: Naught but Crosses

The duo slowly made their way towards the town of Nipton. From a distance, it looks like a relatively small shanty town, using old-prewar buildings for homes and businesses. Fortunately, the black smoke didn't seem to be coming from burning buildings... Instead, it should be originating from the centre of it.

Just as the two are about to enter the town's streets they're approached by a man wearing Powder Ganger attire, an almost manic grin on their face. "Hehehaahahah! I won, I won the lottery! Suck it work!" he suddenly shouts, putting both Afton and Karl on high alert, their hands resting on their respective weapons.

"What lottery?" Afton quickly inquires, feeling like something's amiss here... And not just because of the heavy smell of charcoal and... Burning flesh?

"What lottery? THE lottery! The lottery of life, and I'm the winner! You two losers can suck it, I'm going to New Vegas and seeing how far my luck can really go!"

"Boy, you really think they'd let you into New Vegas wearing Powder Ganger gear?" Karl asks as if he were stupid.

"Hah! With my luck they'd bow down and blow me! You two downers can go do one! Cya later losers! Hahahaha!" he shouts before running off into the desert... He had no visible supplies or weaponry, so he was definitely going to die... Afton shakes his head, if they wanted to die so much then he'd let 'em, no point in trying to help someone like that anyway.

"Seems like somethin' fucked up has happened here." Karl mutters, moving his focus from the man to the town, his nose twitching.

Afton nods and they slowly walk into the town, the smell of burning flesh only gets stronger the further they progress, with the added metallic scent of blood. They come out onto a path that cuts through the middle of the entire town and are appalled by what they see.

Along the sides of the road are crucifixes with people nailed to them, a few are black with burnt corpses but most still have living people on them... On the floor of the street there are many corpses, presumably of those who'd tried to resist.

"What the fuck is this?" Afton growls, slowly becoming more enraged the more he sees. Why would someone do this? yeah, sure, he'd raided a couple caravans... But this wasn't for survival, no, it was some sick show of dominance...

"Legion demoralisation tactics." Karl states, "Seen 'em before in my time... Like to put 'em in places the NCR can see and torture those nailed to them." he sighs, "We should put them out of their misery, they look to have been here for a couple days now."

Afton raises a brow at Karl and walks over to examine one of the men, he was sure there was something they could do, right? But, upon further examination he could see that they had indeed been here too long. The limbs that'd been nailed had begun necrotising, it was clear their wounds were infected aswell... He didn't know how long the necrosis had gone on so it'd be a miracle if they survived... Even if they did he'd have to amputate all of their lims.

"You're right, death would be a mercy." he admits, who'd look after the men if he somehow saved them? They'd be completely incapable of taking care of themselves... And what kind of existence would it be without arms or legs?

He feels a pat on his back and turns to Karl who was looking directly at the largest building at the end of the road... People wearing red sports-gear had exited in formation, There was around thirty of them, with fifteen vicious-looking dogs accompanying them. There were burning piles of clothes weaponry, and supplies next to the building and these people were probably responsible for it.

"Legion." Karl quietly says through gritted teeth.

Afton's about to draw his weapon and start firing at them, but Karl stops his hand with a firm grip, "Stop, we're outnumbered and out-geared... They haven't shot at us yet which means they have something to say. I get what you're feelin' Afton, but we can't throw our lives away here... We still have much to do." he says, claiming the eighteen-year-old who was about to start firing.

They slowly make their way over and are greeted by a man who seems to be the leader of the group, they have pale skin and wear a dog's head as a hood, black goggles that conceal the eyes. They grin at the duo and Afton struggles not to pull out Lucky as bore another hole into their face.

"Don't worry, I won't lash you to a cross like the rest of these degenerates... I want you to witness the fate of Nipton, to memorize every detail and let other's know the strength of Caesar." he says in a surprisingly youthful voice, though if Afton had to place it, they man would look more fitting wearing a rat's head.

"And what crime did this 'degenerates' commit to deserve this?" Afton asks, cold fury in his voice.

The legionary grins, "Why, the entirety of Nipton brought this upon itself... It was a blasphemous town of whoring, gambling, and any other vices human's tend to dabble in. It didn't matter whether we were strong and they were weak, this destruction was wrought by their own hands."

"What do you mean?" Afton asks, not getting what the man was referring to.

"The mayor of this immoral and debased town had accepted an offer we made... To lure the NCR troops who were... Enjoying the town's facilities so we could execute them. It was only afterwards that the trappers became trapped, before you on the crosses are the men helping us capture the NCR..."

"Where are the NCR troops then?" Karl asks, wanting to know if there was a chance of possible rescue.

"Hm, you may have already seen them... The bones you stepped over on the way here belonged to them, they put up a much more valiant fight than the rest of these cretins."