Chapter 223 - Cook-Cooked...

Afton, Boone, and Karl were all currently set up in one of the abandoned buildings deep within Fiend territory. They had used the sewers to reach their current position, but decided that it probably wasn't necessary in the end...

"Huh, I wonder where all the Fiends went?" Afton asks, looking around from their raised position at the desolate streets.​​

"Kid, you literally dropped a nuke on them. If I were them I'd be hiding in a bunker until people forgot we existed." Karl states.

Boone looks through his scope and gestures a few hundred meters ahead, "They're not all gone, there's a good amount still patrolling the territory, probably trying to get the NCR out for as long as they can... This'll be a problem if Cook-Cook has hidden like the rest of them."

"If that's the case then we'll just come back for the bounty later... They can only hide for so long, they'll need to get supplies eventually."

Karl shakes his head, "If they start eating each other then we'd have to wait for months, maybe years if they're smart about it."

"Well, as much as I'd like to try and infiltrate their main base, I don't think we're prepared enough for it... I'd like to keep my other arm, thanks." Afton says, semi-sarcastically.

"Atleast there's some good that's come from this." Boone says from the side, "Now that they're locked down and unable to move like the had before, I doubt they'll be in any position to buy any slaves. No demand means that the slavers'll be outta luck, anything that harms those fuckers is a good thing."

Afton looks over the landscape and spots small groups of Fiends patrolling... The only thing he can see though is just EXP. Now that they lack numbers and are scared of getting nuked again he doubted they'd be willing to engage in another large-scale battle. "How about we start picking off Fiends on our way to Cook-Cook?" he asks, receiving an almost manic grin from Boone.

"I was waiting for you to say that." the sniper says, looking into his scope and pulling the trigger soon after, he'd done it so quickly that he must've found a target an hour or two ago...

*Bang!*

Afton could see a Fiend's head explode in the distance, their allies fleeing in all directions after looking around in confusion for a couple seconds, probably to try and find the shooter.

*Clink* *Bang!*

Boone fires again, blowing away another Fiend. Afton wanted to get involved in the action but felt his missing arm would drastically affect his effectiveness... Not to mention the fact he'd probably drop his Anti-Material rifle off of the building accidentally. The recoil was almost unmanageable with one arm, so unless he had a position that allowed him to compensate for it, it was unusable...

Obviously, on the roof of a building he didn't have the luxury of space, especially when the angle required him to almost literally be hanging off the side of the building to get a clean shot. So, he gave Karl his rifle instead, the man wasn't the greatest shot with a rifle around, but he was certainly better than Afton was currently.

"You two cover me while I cut the ears from the dead." Afton says as he makes his way down the building, That Gun in hand and fully loaded.

Reaching the ground floor he went around cutting the eats from the Fiends corpses while looting anything valuable. All while his companions continued firing at any visible enemies.

A few hours later and the group had thoroughly gotten rid of most Fiends still willing to patrol, Afton now had a sack full of a few hundred ears. However, the group still had a bounty to collect.

Due to their... More brutal method of accessing Fiend territory, Cook-Cook likely already knew they were headed for him. It didn't take a genius to realise that their destination was where Cook-Cook usually hung out.

Afton had spoken to one of the bounty hunters that'd almost managed to kill the man and learned that Cook-Cook was obsessed with a brahmin named Quennie... This was the main reason he knew Cook-Cook would not be hiding, the animal would take up way too many resources to be viably hidden.

Eventually, after cutting a swath through Fiend territory the group spotted their quarry... Or atleast, their quarry's base of operations. They were atop one of the highest buildings around, but couldn't locate Cook-Cook from their position, Afton could see something of interest though... Quennie.

There was a single brahmin grazing outside the base, and the only reason it hadn't been butchered and eaten was probably because of Cook-Cook. "So, which of you wants to kill that brahmin over there?" Afton asks, not hiding the grin on his face.

"I got this." Boone says as he lines up his Hunting Rifle.

Elsewhere :

Cook-Cook taps the metal spoon against the rim of the large pot he was using to make a stew. If you asked him what meat he was using in it he'd say "Just eat it pussy."... Yeah, most folks knew he'd rather butcher and eat people than his precious brahmin, and with the recent lack of supplies he'd had to make do with what he had. Unfortunately, he had an abundance of human flesh that they needed to use for something, especially now that Violet and her dogs were all fucked.

Of course, Cook-Cook wasn't stupid, with Violet dead and now Nephi? Whoever was hunting would be coming for him next. He'd wanted to retreat to the Vault with everyone else, but Motor-Runner, the bastard, had refused to allow Quennie inside. So, he was left out here, without enough forces to properly maintain the territory or to even protect himself.

The gunfire had begun to get closer and closer, and the men who'd survived it had reported that the enemy was slowly encroaching on his position.