Barton the Fink



Barton the Fink is an unmarked quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Detailed walkthrough
Head to Goodsprings source and towards the water trough, and the Courier will see Barton Thorn wandering around aimlessly. Talk to him, and he'll plead for the player's help to save his girlfriend trapped by geckos. He'll give the Courier clear directions on where to go: head towards the broken radio tower, then turn right. There the player should be going up an incline.

As the Courier goes further up, they should see a path forking off towards the right. There is a refrigerator, bed, footlocker, and some loot (the optional cache). Be careful, however, of the three bear traps. This area is also a Wild Wasteland trigger area. Once at the top of the incline, the player will discover that there is no one to be found, and as the player is heading down the hill, Thorn will run up to them and tell them he's "sorry," but he needed someone to clear out the geckos so he could get to the stash. At this point Thorn will become hostile and attempt to kill the player. Killing him ends the quest.

Behind the scenes
The title is a reference to the Coen Brothers movie Barton Fink.

Bugs

 * Sometimes Barton Thorn will not come up the slope behind you, but after waiting or sleeping he completes the quest.
 * If the player storms the hill and takes what they want before they activate this quest, Barton will not confess and become hostile until the geckos have respawned and are killed again.