Journal of Honcho Biggs - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of the Journal of Honcho Biggs, titled "How Not to Do a Job".

How Not to Do a Job
So I'm writing in this here journal to chronicle the events of this latest job - the one that should make me big. I figure that if this job goes right, with this chronicle, I could publish it as some sort of guide to being successful. Make a good bit of side money. You always gotta hustle. There, that's the first lesson of the book.

The second lesson is the title of this chapter. Because boy is this job going off to a rocky start.

I'm just a simple enforcer - thug implies a simpleton with some muscle, I'm much more than a ripped body - for the Atomic Wrangler, hoping one day to make it to the Strip. I got my wish when this securitron comes in. One of them robo cops deployed by House. He's bringing an offer, a job offer, real simple. I'm one of the Garrets favorite enforcers and she gives the job to me. Good amount of caps up front, many more in advance.

The job was simple. A courier would be coming through to New Vegas through Goodsprings in the coming weeks. Meet him in Goodsprings, escort him to the Strip. After that, a weekend in Vegas, on the house. On the House, from what it seems. Whatever that courier is carrying, it must be worth something.

I got to Goodsprings a week ago. Quiet town. Hit the Vikki and Vance Casino down the road once, but I'm stuck in Goodsprings with that jailbreak. Jailbreak must've delayed the Courier or something, or else he was taking his sweet time getting here. Let me tell you, the Long 15 is boring, real boring, especially when you don't know when you can leave.

Townspeople are all squares too. They spend all day in the fields farming and taking care of brahmin. I didn't come here to deal with brahmin dung, but Vikki and Vance somehow managed to take all my caps so I needed the money. The folks spend the nights at the Prospector Saloon, but nights in there might as well be a church service. Nothing like the Atomic Wrangler, and especially nothing like the Strip from what I've heard.

The town only got one real looker. Sunny Smiles. All week I've been real sweet to her, even helped her clear out some geckos (for a price of course - here to get paid!). But nothing stuck. I guess one night in the saloon I had too much to drink and came on a bit too strong, because next morning I woke up in a trailer with my eye swollen and my caps gone. Not my fault I like women with hips and a gun.

They took all my stuff as punishment, bum town. Took my clothes and hat too! Left me with some rags. Anyway, as I was coming to, a settler helped me to my feet. Edgecomb or something like that, local mechanic. And he said Mitchell was seeing to me but had to dump me when something much more serious came up - a courier shot and left for dead in the cemetery.

"Courier?" I ask. He nods, and my face turns white.

As I write this, the courier is healing up in Doc's house. No one is sure if he's gonna pull through. Shit, this is definitely not the way to do a job.