Not So Lonesome Road 45 Veronica

I subtly kept an eye on her as she negotiated with travelling traders. She was probably trying to get supplies to sent back to Hidden Valley Bunker the Brotherhoods secret headquarters in the Mojave. But, watching her do her trading got me to think. In the game her job was to bring them food and supplies but, she was only one person who was a long way from their bunker, so how is she getting enough supplies to sustain the Brotherhood? And were is she getting the money to buy everything?

I know she isn't the only person they have out gathering for them but, even if they had dozens of people doing what she is it still doesn't seem like it would be enough. The Brotherhood is weak an defeated right now but, I refuse to believe that they have less than several hundred people living down in that bunker. So the only thing that made sense is that they have some other way to gain supplies. But, where were they getting money from?

They probably did have a bit of money saved up but, it wouldn't be enough to support a huge group like that for very long. So they must have undercover agents all over the Mojave making caps somehow but, I've already learned how hard it is to make caps?

I glanced back the caravans when it hit me wouldn't that be the perfect job for them? If the Brotherhood could set up their own caravan they could make tons of money and transport large amount of supplies to and from Bunker Hill without drawing much attention. But, what caravan were they running.

Unlike in the game where the only notable caravan's were the Crimson Caravan, the one Ca.s.s used to own, and the one that gets destroyed in the Honest Hearts DLC there were dozens of small and medium sized caravans all of the wasteland. They could secretly run any of them.

I wasn't sure how figuring all of this would help me but, it was good that I was starting to look beneath the information I already knew. And besides you never know what information might come in handy in the future.

While I was wasn't paying attention Veronica had came and sat next to me ordering her lunch. I internally smiled this was the perfect chance to start a conversation with her. I was about to speak up but, Veronica actually beat me to the punch.

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"So you came over from Goodsprings right" she asked "I've never been there but, I've talked with some traders who pa.s.s that way."

"Yeah, I came from Goodsprings. I wanted to head up to New Vegas but, there were too many Deathclaws north of there for me to risk it, so I had to take the long way."

"Those Deathclaws in the quarry are a pain aren't they? At least that's what I've heard, I'm Veronica by the way and I live in a hole in the ground."

"I'm Devin and it's nice to meet you, and I'm a traveller so I don't really have a home. Though that still sounds better than living in a hole in the ground" I laughed.

"It's actually a bunker but, I prefer to call it a hole sounds more interesting that way" she corrected.

I nodded "so what are you doing here? I saw you talking with several caravans."

"Oh, I'm out here collecting food and supplies for my family, whatever they need I get" she puffed out her chest.

"Well, good for you being the breadwinner in your family" I said while laughing at her antics.

She sheepishly rubbed her head "I'm not really all that important in my family, they can easily survive on their own. But, I still come out here to help them out, though I think they just want me out of the way. We haven't exactly been getting along that well recently. That's a whole other story though."

"I've got nothing but time" I took a sip of my sarsaparilla.

She waved me off "It's nothing my family just didn't take well to my choice of . . . 'companions' if you catch my drift."

"So they didn't like that you were gay" I asked?

"Well, it's not exactly that they were h.o.m.ophobic" she mumbled "it's more that they didn't like me dating outside the family."

"You're from an incest family" I pretended to do a spit take!

"What! No!" she panicked as her face was covered in a deep blush "Even though I call them a family we're more like community, I'm not actually related to most of them!"

"Alright, relax" I waved "I was just messing with you. You just didn't want an arranged marrage right?"

She sighed in relief "exactly, my family is kind of xenophobic and don't like outsiders and everyone is expected to marry someone else within the community."

"I see" I nodded without saying anything else.

"Hey" she grabbed my attention "I was wondering if I could get your opinion on something."

"Sure" I shrugged.

"So, I had a run in with a group calling themselves The Brotherhood of Steel. Pretty strange bunch, I was wondering if you knew anything about them?"

"Hmm" I tried to gather my thoughs "that's a tough question."

Veronica looked at me confused "what do you mean?"

"Well, I can't say I have a fixed opinion on them. I know they want to gather all the advanced technology in the world to keep it out of everyone's hands. I can see where they're coming from but, I don't really agree with it."

"They're keeping bad technology from being misused, what's bad about that?"

"Nothing, and I agree that they've stopped alot of bad people from abusing technology. But, I feel like in their quest to stop another apocalypse from happening they've forgotten something."

"What's that" Veroica asked clearly interested in my answer?

"That technology can be used for good and not just for evil. They're too negative and see the worst in everyone. They never try to actually better the world and only hole themselves up in their little bases and watch everyone from afar never helping and looking down on anyone who isn't a member of their group."

Veronica frowned I wasn't sure what she was thinking or what effect what I said was having on her.

"I think you right, they're too caught up in their ways" she finaly spoke with a sad look on her face.

"That being said" I continued "even with all their flaws I know that it's possible for them to do amazing things."

She perked up "what are you talking about?"

"Do you know what happened to the Eastern chapter of the Brotherhood over in the Capital Wasteland in Was.h.i.+ngton DC?"

She shook her head "from what I know after the Brotherhood fled from the NCR in California the groups that went east completely cut contact with the chapters that decided to stay."

"Well, there was a huge battle there where the Brotherhood fought tooth and nail to defeat the Enclave there. They were planning on using a Geck., you know what a G.E.C.K. is right?"

"It's a Garden of Eden Createn Kit. They were made by Vault-Tec to help purify and remove radiation from soil and water after a nuclear disaster."

"Right, well the Enclave in DC managed to get their hands on one and combined it with a modified version of FEV and were going to use it to poison the water basin to kill off anything that wasn't a 'pure' human."

"That's horrible" Veronica gasped "what happened?"

"Well, the Brotherhood there teamed up with a man called the Lone Wanderer and defeated the Enclave. Then they used the Geck to purify the water and shared it with everyone who lived there."

"That's amazing" she sighed "I wish the Brotherhood here was like that. How do you know all this stuff anyway?"

"Because I used to travel around there and I only recently came to the Mojave."

Her eyes glimmered "Incredible you travelled all that way you must have seen so much and have so many amazing stories to tell!"

I rubbed the back of my head "actually I don't really have know how I got to the Mojave."

Wait, what? How is that even possible?"

"Well, I got shot in the head not long ago and when I woke up I confused and had no idea how I got here."

"So you lost parts of your memory?"

"Yeah" I lied because it's not like I could tell her the only reason I knew all that stuff was because I played Fallout 3.

"Well, that sucks."

"Yep."

"So where are you headed next" she asked?

"To The Strip I have alot of business there."

"Ooo, very exciting gonna strike it rich, huh?"

"Yeah, and after that I'm not really sure what I'll do it depends how things go."

"Hmm" she hummed in though "I'll be honest with you, you're the first person who's come through here who I think can really handle themselves. I want to get out of her but, there are place too dangerous for just me. So, what do you say can I join your merry band of mercenaries?"

"I don't know? Can you handle yourself?"

"What don't think I can fight? Good, that's the look I was going for. Don't worry though I can hold my own, and if I do end up as dead weight then we can part ways no hard feelings. So, what do you say?"