Choose STEADY

You pick up the firearms manual and read it while you wait, learning a lot. Your understanding of guns prior to this could best be described as common sense. You knew how to use the sights to aim, how to load them, and how to practice basic gun safety.

You now have a more complete understanding of different firearms and their types, as well as ammunition types and ballistics. Having more knowledge about weapons themselves and how to use them will allow you to fire in a more controlled and accurate fashion. You can also perform a tactical reload now while making more efficient use of firing positions and cover.

Knowing more about guns changes the way that you look at the wares offered by Sadie and Eric. You no longer feel like you need to rely on idiot-proof guns like that sawed-off shotgun.

You trade in the weapons and ammunition that you have and make several purchases.

The book taught you the importance of penetration with your bullets. An SKS rifle should give you a range advantage, and a much higher chance of getting through something tough than your shotgun or 9mm would have. The shotgun was a good choice for short range, but a 10mm SMG offers more destructive potential, now that you know how to handle it. The SKS has a makeshift folding stock made of bent metal, but it’s solid and the weapon is functional. The SMG has a threaded barrel and mounts for various attachments, although the handle is wrapped in tape and the magazines are small.

You are much better armed now, but you have learned a few other things from that book. You are too easy to spot in the swamp. You purchase some battered green fatigues and a half-mask to make you less visible in the Florida Wasteland. You are not sentimental about your Vault Suit, which was getting a little gross anyway.

This look will not turn heads the way that your Vault Suit did, but getting the advantage in combat is worth it. These clothes are not sexy, but wounds aren’t sexy either. If this can help you take care of yourself, you will come out ahead.

You also purchase a minimalist harness that will go over your vest to hold your spare magazines. You feel safer and more powerful, but you do not feel very stealthy.

Sadie and Eric appreciate the business. As you hand over your caps, she runs her finger suggestively along the barrel of the SKS.

“Are you doing anything later?” she asks, glancing at Eric, who wipes the gun oil off his hands with a towel. She bumps him lightly with her hip.

“Sure,” he says, picking up on what she’s getting at. He smiles at you. “You’re a good customer, Jane. We’d, uh… hate to see you cold and lonely.”

Very subtle. You laugh.

“Let me get back to you,” you say.

“Oooh. Hard to get,” Sadie says as you leave.

You find Chastity looking after Reggie’s bar, although Reggie doesn’t seem to be around. You don’t see Shiv and Shank anywhere, either. Chastity is busily trying to handle everything herself, so you step in to help her. It’s impressive that Chastity has earned Reggie’s trust so quickly, and it’s also impressive that she can handle this business without the ability to speak. She’s come a long way in the short time that you were in the Wastes.

As you stand there, admiring her, an image pushes its way into your mind: that of a lovely, feminine figure in a Vault Suit, leaning against a doorframe. It’s Daisy. You shake your head and walk into the bar.

For hours, you serve drinks and assist Chastity before Reggie shows up. Reggie isn’t much older than you are, but she has a rugged look about her wiry frame all the time, but today she looks rough. Not as though she’s been beaten up, but something is stressing her out.

Maybe this is why Chastity seems less like an employee and more like a co-owner of the bar now. Reggie has something going on. Maybe that’s why she was so eager to use you as a distraction not so long ago.

You like Reggie, but you don’t feel like you know her well enough to try to dig into her problems. You have to think about your next move. And maybe have a little fun while you’re at it. After all, it’s almost evening. Even if someone else gives you a job, you don’t want to leave at night if you can avoid it.

Reggie… seems to be having a difficult time. You doubt that she’s feeling horny. And Chastity is busy helping her. So neither of them will be keeping you company tonight.

But Boss Murphy likes you, and there’s no doubt that she will have another job for you if you ask.

Then there’s Sadie and Eric. Eric is a stocky, powerful package of masculinity and Sadie is a soft and playful package of, you expect, some kinkiness from the way that she openly flirts with you in front of her husband. They run a business that’s critical to this settlement. You can’t imagine that they don’t have work that they need done.

Find Boss Murphy?

Or find Sadie and Eric?