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8.32% Steel Waste / Chapter 59: Not just the flashy powder

章節 59: Not just the flashy powder

Afton continued to chat with these guys who he now knew as "Powder Gangers", they belonged to a larger group which was located within a former NCR prison that they'd somehow taken over.

Karl sighs and sips the bottle of whisky he'd uncorked, "The Deathclaws are expanding their territory... Know what that means? They're breeding." he states with a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"Surely the NCR will come and deal with them soon, right? Aren't they trying to control the whole Mojave?" Afton asks.

Karl shakes his head, "I suspect they have bigger problems than a Deathclaw infested traderoute right now..." he finishes the bottle and tosses it away into the sand before standing, "I'm gonna get some rest, we'll be headed back to base in the morning so you should do the same." he states as he crawls into a ragged-looking sleeping bag inside the ruined caravan.

Afton shrugs, biting into the cooked Rad-scorpion claw that Karl had prepared. If he had to describe it... It'd be like a firmer, and more disgusting-tasting crab, not to mention his Pipboy would occasionally go off to let him know about the Rads it contained. He couldn't exactly be a picky eater though, he was starving.

Once he'd finished that he laid atop one of the vacant sleeping bags and fell asleep.

The next morning he was awoken, not by the Powder Gangers, but by the blisteringly hot sun that was now shining down on his face through one of the cracks in the caravan. He quickly got up and glanced over to the others, noticing that everyone but Karl was still sleeping.

Deciding to stretch his legs he stepped outside and sat down on some scrap metal that was laid out around the burnt-out fire, he was already beginning to sweat from the heat, but he knew he'd have to get used to this eventually.

"Hm, you're up kid. Thought you'd still be sleeping like that sad lot over there." Karl murmurs as he wipes clean a powerful-looking revolver.

"Nice gun, what is it?" he asks, not knowing its calibre.

Karl gives a small smile, ".44 Magnum, got it from... Back in the day. Try to keep it well maintained, 'as never let me down before."

Afton nods, "I'm more of an Energy Weapon guy myself." he admits, though, that Revolver did look intimidating, more so than any Laser pistol could.

"Thing is son, those sorts 'o weapons have alotta movin' parts. Makes it easier to for 'em to break. This 'ere? Not so much. Easy to repair too, if you got the know-how."

Afton knew the man was right, Energy Weapons weren't known for being all that terribly reliable, this was partly the reason the Brotherhood constantly maintained their armoury. Most ballistics would continue to work even if it was rusted, dirty, or sometimes even completely broken. "So when are we leaving?" he asks, wanting to reach their destination and hopefully get out of the sun.

"I was thinkin' right about now." Karl says as he picks up a rock and throws it inside the Caravan, creating a large *Ding!* as it bounced around inside.

"Alright! I'm up, I'm up! Fuck sake, can't you let us sleep a couple more minutes old man?" Tommy shouts from inside, clearly, this wasn't the first time Karl had done this.

And so the group got moving, as they walked Afton couldn't help but notice the numerous broken vehicles left on the road... He'd asked his parents about it previously and they'd told him that due to them all being Nuclear powered, many safeguards were put into place to prevent a catastrophic chain reaction.

One of these countermeasures would permanently disable the vehicle if it sensed high levels of radiation outside its core. Obviously, after the bombs dropped the whole of America was bathed in it, rendering most automobiles useless.

Due to the oil shortage that led up until the war, all the gasoline-powered ones had been converted... This had been a government order as they claimed any gasoline they could get their hands on, even if it belonged to their own citizens.

Afton idly wondered if he'd be able to repair one of them if he reached 100 points in science and repair.

The group walked for an hour or two, passing a small community called Sloan. Karl mentioned that it was entirely inhabited by Miners who'd been hired by the NCR to work in Quarry Junction, the place most infested by Deathclaws. Apparently, after the prison escape the Powder Gangers seized all of the explosives the Miners were given for the task. Without the NCR coming to help, they were stranded.

Eventually, they were able to see the large prison complex that the Powder Gangers called "Home", it was a huge area surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers. It looked to be pretty defensible, much more so than Helios One had been for the Brotherhood.

Surprisingly it seemed to be getting power by somewhere, as when they approach the large metal entrance slowly slid open by somesort of motor.

They walk towards the building and Afton notes the single man leaning against with wall with his arms crossed.

Karl tips his stenton to the man, "Dawes." he states as he enters the door beside them.

"Karl." Dawes replies back with equal apathy, warily eyeing Afton as he follows Karl inside.

Inside there were many people in the typical blue jacket and jean prison wears, most greet Karl with nods before getting back to whatever they were doing. Some playing cards, some day-drinking, and some even injecting various drugs.

Their group dispurses as they go to attend their own business but Afton continues following Karl as the man leads him outside and to the largest building in the compound where Eddie, the Powder Gangers leader was.


創作者的想法
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois enjoyed the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.

章節 60: New Crew

Once inside the administration building they headed straight up to the second floor, a few guys wearing what looked like bulletproof vests eyed Afton suspiciously, but when they saw that Karl was with him they let him through.

They entered the main office where Eddie had his feet kicked up on the desk, and was shooting some jet. He had a relatively handsome, broad face, with hair that seemed to defy gravity while it stood in the air. He was paler than most of the other guys around here, though, whether that was because of his ethnicity or because he didn't leave this building much, Afton didn't know.

Behind the man was an ornate painting of some sort of NCR leader, perhaps a former president? He couldn't really tell due to two reasons... One because that Afton had never bothered to research much about the NCR, and second because the Powder Gangers had drawn graffiti all over it to make the man resemble a clown.

Eddie slouches into his chair and tosses the empty jet away, it skidded across the floor and joined many other discarded ones. "Karl? I see you've brought an outsider here, gonna give me a reason I shouldn't have them flayed and left out for the coyotes?" he says threateningly, Afton found it hard to take this guy seriously though, from his attitude to the small twitches he made probably due to the jet, he didn't seem much of a leader.

Karl just blankly looks at him, "I didn't bring the kid here to ask for permission, I'm telling you they're one of us. They've got history with the NCR, killed his folks, could use some more hands if the NCR does decide to attack us." he explains.

Eddie looks to Afton, "You know my name, yet I don't know yours."

"Afton Parker." he states.

"Afton Parker huh? Never heard of you. Where you from?" Eddie questions.

"California, travelled here with my parents before the NCR killed them. Karl helped me out as a Deathclaw was trying to tear me a new one." he explains.

Eddie's brows raise, "California? Know the Hub?" he asks curiously.

Afton shakes his head, "We tried to stay away from NCR territory... Not that it matter nows." he admits with a sorrowful look.

"Hm, whatever, you're one of us now. Also, some advice, try stay clear of Scrambler. One with the eyepatch, look at him wrong and he'll fuck your day up." Eddie says, but before they leave Karl looks at him.

"The trade route is dead Eddie, Deathclaws have stopped anyone from coming through, we gotta think about our options." Karl says.

"What options? There's fuck all East of here apart from that shitty town Goodsprings, south of here is miles of canyon passages that are invested with mutated creatures, and the NCR have set up outside Primm." he spits back, knowing full well that their situation was worsening every day.

Karl shrugs, "I'm just saying, lay off the jet and start thinking about our next moves. We start running outta food and people start fighting, there'd be nothing we can do." he says and leaves, Afton following after him.

"How bad do you think the situation is?" Afton asks as they leave the building.

"Bad. Doesn't matter how organised we are now, our group is still just a bunch of criminals and misfits. First problem appears and people'll be leaving like we're a sinking ship." Karl explains.

Afton nods at his answer, he couldn't imagine people were sticking around due to some sense of loyalty. "What now?"

"Now?... We'll get you a gun and go see if we can find any NCR caravans heading to Goodsprings, not much else there is to do besides that."

Afton ends up spending some time at the bar, he didn't have any caps so he just drank the slightly irradiated water he was given. Karl was going around to gather up his gang to look for caravans, most of their group as disturbed and gone to do their own thing, so it was pretty annoying to have them all reconvene.

Eventually though everyone was present, Karl, Tommy, Reggie, Louis, and Blank. Reggie and Louis were relatively normal guys, who'd been down on their luck and had resorted to stealing to make ends meet. Obviously, they got caught and were imprisoned in the NCR Correctional Facility.

With Blank? It wasn't his real name, but the man was so incredibly stupid that he'd just constantly give blank stares at people when they tried to explain something to him. Strange thing was he didn't try to correct anyone, instead just adopting the nickname as his own.

"So what's the plan?" Tommy asks as Karl approaches. The man walks by Afton and tosses a couple of things in front of him, one being a blue jacket with NCRCF on the back, and the other being a poorly maintained Laser pistol that looks just about ready to fall apart. Fortunately, he was given a couple of Energy cells to go with it.

Afton ties the NCRCF jacket around his waist as he didn't want to wear any more layers in this desert heat. It'd get the message across that he was one of them though. He grabbed a nearby cloth and started cleaning the gun aswell, as a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, it'd been ingrained into him to keep his weaponry well maintained.

He quickly took it apart and started cleaning the individual components, this stopped whatever Karl was going to say as the whole group watched him meticulously look at every part for damage or signs of stress.

"You some sort of mechanic newboy? Never seen someone take apart one of those like that before." Tommy finally breaks the tension.

Afton glances up having not understood they were talking to him, "Hm? Oh-er... I've been taking these things apart all my life, a business my parents used to own youknow?"


創作者的想法
Niggross Niggross

Hope you guys liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know.

If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.

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