"That's it, huh? You two are planning to leave our small town in a few days?"
"As much as I would have loved to remain here, the truth is that I'm not exactly ready to settle down, same for Dante, at least that's what I think. What do you say, Dante, did I get it wrong?"
"No, you are right, Vito. I'm young and I don't want to spend the rest of my life in one place, even if that place could be a good home for me."
"You know what's best for you, Dante. However that doesn't mean that you will always be in the right, but that's what we old people call to learn from your mistakes."
I could only smile at the sheriff's words, and while he was right about that, only a fool would argue with him, after all even the perfect human can make mistakes, it's simply how we are born.
"So what are you two going to do until you leave?"
"Well, I don't know about the kid, but I'm planning on checking the farms and the surrounding area, just in case."
Both Vito and the sheriff turned towards me, waiting for my answer. The only problem was that I had no idea what to do in my free time. Just as I was about to answer, I remember what I talked about with Lily and James when we first met.
"Sir, would it be possible for me to work with the damaged, broken, or straight-out unusable guns you guys have in storage?"
The sheriff threw me a surprised glance before he smiled at me. Maybe James told him that I would be asking him about the guns or maybe it what his own intuition, after all, I did manage to repair quite a few things in this past week or so for almost everyone, earning me almost 334 caps. It wasn't much, but it was honest work, at least that's what Vito kept telling me.
"Well, I don't see any problem, but would you tell me what they pay for your services? I mean this ain't your usual stuff that people usually request be repaired. Forgive me for saying this, but I'd rather not pay more than our community can afford for a gun or two, especially since you two alongside the Silvers brought us quite a few guns in the past week or so."
He had a point, even more so when most of the wanderers that have a tiny bit of knowledge about these things would usually bleed the people dry for a few extra caps. Then again, right now, we kind of need the caps to buy ourselves a nice place in the Mojave and start our business, at least that's what I want to do. A steady income was better than going out and hunting for marauders, bandits, raiders, or mutant creatures.
"I won't lie to you, sir. I need the caps, however, I'm willing to forfeit those, if I can get two of the assault rifles I repair as payment."
"Now, now, kiddo. I do respect you and Vito, heck I'm grateful for what you two have done to us, but there's a limit to my gratitude and let's be honest, those guns are our most valuable things. The most I can do is one rifle and a pistol, nothing more. We simply can't afford to lose more of those weapons, at least not with the incertitude that the NCR would keep a constant garrison in our town for protection."
Once again, the man was right. Without an NCR garrison in the town, they are forced to fend off all of the raiders and mutants by themselves, however, that also means that the NCR won't get any tax money from them as well. While that might seem like a bad deal for someone people, in reality, that would mean that the NCR won't have any kind of right to regulate what kind of goods you sell.
Nevertheless, I turned towards my partner and I saw him nodding at me, not being bothered by the fact that we won't get an assault rifle each if I manage to repair those guns. Still getting one is well, one more than what we have right now.
"We have a deal then, sir. An assault rifle and one pistol, both in decent quality as payment for repairing the guns you have in the storage."
"And here I thought that you would be a hard bargain like most wanderers."
"I got to know you sir in the past week and I'm pretty sure that you won't budge any higher than this, so what's the point then?"
"Would you look at that, already learning how to bargain with people. Well, then are you planning on starting now or later?"
"Lead the way, sir. The sooner I finish, the more time for other jobs would I have before I leave."
Vito left to do his own job, while Jackson and I made our way toward the biggest building in town, the militia headquarters. The HQ wasn't anything too astonishing, nothing like that, however, it was quite a good place to defend in case of a huge attack. I have to say, turning a police station into the headquarters of the militia was probably the best choice for them since the place had quite a few guns and police-grade vests in the armory, alongside one of the best protection against small arms, at least compared to the rest of the houses in the area. As soon as we made it inside, Jackson led me down to the basement where a tall woman was standing guard reading some old magazines that survived the war.
"Oh, is that the mechanic, Jacky?"
"Yes, Lisa. You always said that we need those guns ready just in case. So like a good mayor, I found a mechanic, trustworthy enough to repair those antiquities back to life."
"If you say so, now shoo shoo, let the boy do his work."
Jackson rolled his eyes at the woman before turning around, leaving me alone with the woman. As soon as he left, I turned my head towards the woman looking at her, not knowing what to expect from her. However before I could find something about her from her body language, she brought me back from my thoughts with a question.
"I know that I'm still a beautiful woman in her late forty, but aren't you too young for that kid? Or do you perhaps prefer them with some experience?"
"Sorry for starring mam, it's just a habit of mine to observe new people, trying to read their body language."
"No offense taken kid. If I were to get angry or offended every time someone glanced at me, the wasteland would have been much quieter than it is today. Nevertheless, let's go get your new toys."
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