Joshua couldn't help but keep his eyebrow raised at the incredulous attitude the man before him displayed. He offered to hire the super mutant for some kind of hunt, and for it he could kill the glowing ghoul at any point of Joshua's choosing. The mutant mentally scoffed at the hunter. If he had intended to kill the ghoul, he'd have done so already and saved the trouble of hauling around a living, unwilling thing. Clearly this man, this "Carver" had absolutely zero respect for the ghoul. Even if it had been a mindless animal, Joshua would have found the man's attitude distasteful. Since this was once a person, with real thoughts, emotions, relationships... Well, Joshua found that "distasteful" was too soft of a word.
Before he could rebut, more occurred. Others entered the tavern, a few making their own spectacle of things. One was an elderly human who entered by asking if anybody needed medical attention, following with a statement that he intended to get drunk. Now Joshua was no doctor himself, but he felt that sort of behavior was somewhat unbecoming of a medical professional. Of course, he did ask if anybody needed help before, so at least there was that measure of responsibility. The next one to enter was a human woman, who garnered the attention of everyone in the room by declaring that she had a job, a dangerous one. A dangerous job that had already failed twice. In the jungle wastes. Joshua had heard that the jungle had come back to Florida. Apparently before the war Florida was thick with wetland and wildlife, but he hadn't heard much about it during his (considerably long) lifetime. Recently though, rumors had found their way to his ear that the Everglades were back. Such a thought fascinated him.
The old hunter heckled the woman, proclaiming that he had announced to be hiring for his job first. Joshua turned to him and said, "I accept your terms." He then unceremoniously stamped on the glowing ghoul's head, crushing its skull and putting the thing out of its misery. He then turned back to the old man and spoke in the most dry, deadpan tone he could muster. "I quit."
Without further fanfare, Joshua turned away from the old man, leaving behind a headless corpse in shackles and a mushy stain on the floor to be cleaned, and he approached Victoria Rose. Lumbering forward, he took another drink from his barrel of wine, wiped his chin, then hoisted his trusty Red Glare upon his shoulder. "My name is Joshua. Mercenary for hire. Most know me as the 'Megaton Mutant' on account of, well, I'm sure you can guess." His eyes quickly glanced over to his rocket launcher before he addressed Victoria again. "I haven't come across anything yet I couldn't blow up or put back together. Specialize in pre-war military technology. If the price, or the cause, is right, then consider me on board."
Leaves