Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) (13 page)

September 4, 2029

Maximus Casino, Las Vegas Strip,
Nevada

   The billboard had been
advertising an upcoming fight night to be held at the Maximus and that fit
perfectly with Derek’s skillset. All he needed to do was get a fight with a top
fighter and create an epic fight that would have everyone glued to their seats,
and every eyeball watching on the Jumbotrons in the casino. While everyone was
watching him, Rora could sneak into the security office and disable the guards.
Once they were disabled she could plug in the phone and let the Voice go to
work. Simple.

   “Are you insane?” Rora asked
in disbelief after he laid out the plan. “How do I get into the security office
and disable the guards?”

   “You waylay a cocktail
waitress and take her outfit. Then you collect some drinks from the bar and
take them to the security office. You tell them you have drinks for them. They
will probably be so distracted they will just take them.” Derek explained.

   “Wait, how am I going to
disable them? I can’t knock out two guys at once.” Rora interrupted.

   “You can if their drinks have
these in them.” Derek said as he held up a small baggie with blue pills in
them.

   “What are those?” She asked.

   “Roofies. They will dissolve
into the drinks and be undetectable, but they will knock the guards out quick,
and they have a short term amnesia effect so they won’t remember you were
there.” Derek said with a smile.

   “How did you get those and why
do you have them?” She asked with concern.

   “I got them off of a drug
dealing scumbag I collected a bounty on, I’ve been saving them ever since.”
Derek informed her. “Rule #15, always be prepared.”

   She sighed and took the bag.
“Hold on a minute. I have to wear a cocktail waitress outfit? Aren’t those
pretty skimpy?”

   “I don’t think it would fit
me.” Derek joked.

   “Somehow your plans always
seem to revolve around me showing off my assets…” Rora pointed out caustically.

   “That’s the world we live in,
I’m afraid.” Derek said with a grin. “Now let’s go get me a fight.”

   That task proved easier than
she expected. They had gone back into the casino and asked the concierge if
they could speak with the person who ran the fights. The concierge looked Derek
over and nodded.

   “Now that seems more fitting
for you.” He had sniffed.

      A young man wearing a toga
had escorted them into a gym area where a number of fighters were working out
or sparring. They had been led to an older man with a slightly sagging beer
belly and gray hair shaved into a short Mohawk, who was barking at one of the
fighters to keep his hands up. The man was in halfway decent shape and looked
like he had once been a fighter himself. He ignored them until the sparring
match was over and then turned to regard them.

   “What? I’m busy.” The man
asked angrily.

   “My girlfriend and I, we’re
down on our luck and I was looking to make some money.” Derek said, trying to
sound desperate.

   “And you want a fight. Why
does every big guy think he can fight?” The man lamented. “Look pal, these are
trained fighters. It takes more than size and strength to win in the cage. You
need training and experience. You can’t just walk in off the street and demand
a fight.”

   “How about a tryout at least?”
Derek insisted.

   “Fine, Mikey here can get you
some gear and I’ll grab a fighter to spar with you.” The man said with a sigh
as he pointed to a young man nearby.

   Derek went with Mikey and
disappeared into a locker room for a few minutes. When he came out, he was
wearing shorts and gloves and she could tell he had a mouthpiece in. After a
few seconds she realized that he was wearing shorts that had “Born to Fight” on
the front and “Die Fighting” on the back. It matched the now visible tattoos he
had on his chest and back. Where did he get this stuff?

   When the fight manager saw
him, the man stopped short and stared at Derek. “Whoa, you have got a lot of
scars. Is that all from one fight?”

   “No that’s twenty years of
battles all over the world.” Derek replied.

   “You don’t look that old.” The
man said with a thoughtful look on his face. “And where did you get those
shorts? I haven’t seen those in years.”

   “These? I’ve had them for a
while.” Derek told him. “I’m ready, let’s do this.”

   “Okay, get in the cage with Kevin.
He’s one of my up and comers. This will be a full speed match; he isn’t going
to hold back.” The man warned Derek.

   “Good.” Derek said as he
entered the cage.

   The other fighters started to
gather around the cage and Rora noticed they were all grinning. They obviously
expected Kevin to teach Derek a painful lesson.

   “When the bell rings you
fight.” The fight manager announced. “No time limit. No groin or eye strikes,
no fish hooking, no holding the cage, no small joint manipulation, and no
holding the shorts or gloves. Other than that, all strikes are legal including
knees or kicks to a downed opponent. Fight until your opponent taps or the bell
rings. Got it?”

   Derek gave a thumbs up and
focused on his opponent. Kevin was young, in his early twenties, and he was
heavily muscled. Derek was in great shape, but he didn’t have a weightlifter’s
physique. This kid looked capable of wrestling a bull, and he had an angry
intensity in his eyes. Rora didn’t doubt Derek, but she hadn’t seen him face as
well-trained and as physical a specimen as the man in the cage.

   She shouldn’t have doubted
him, because the fight was over so quickly if you blinked you might have missed
it. When the bell rang, Derek swarmed the poor kid with punches and kicks. The
kid was caught off guard and could barely defend himself. A vicious uppercut
actually lifted the young fighter off of his feet, and he was out cold when he
hit the canvas. A collective “OOOOH!” was uttered by the onlookers, followed by
stunned silence.

   Derek looked over at the fight
manager, who was simply staring at him in open mouthed amazement. It took the
man a moment and he gathered himself enough to ring the bell signifying the end
of the fight. Two of the other fighters and Mikey rushed into the ring to check
on Kevin. The fight manager slowly entered and stood in front of Derek,
considering him thoughtfully. Finally, he put his hand out.

   “Charles Slidell. Fight
Manager for the Maximus.”

   “Derek Storm. Currently
unemployed.” Derek said smartly.

   “Not anymore. We pay one
thousand in chips for every fight, plus another three thousand for a win. You
get more after you win a few fights. Free room and board, but you have to live
here. You in?” Slidell asked.

  “I’m really only looking for a
couple of fights to get us back on our feet.” Derek lied.

   “Pretty much all of them said
the same thing.” Slidell said as he gestured towards the other fighters. “If
you are good, and I think you are, this can be the easy life.”

   “We’ll see.” Derek offered.
“How soon can I fight? I saw you have fights tomorrow night.”

   The man glanced over at the
still unconscious Kevin. “I do have an opening.”

   “I’ll take it.” Derek said
quickly.

   “Don’t you even want to know
who the opponent is?” Slidell asked in surprise.

   “Doesn’t matter to me.” Derek
informed him.

   “Really?” Slidell said with
raised eyebrows. “You are that confident?”

   “You saw what I did to Kevin,
and that was without warming up.” Derek stated confidently. “Put me in against
someone who I can put on a show with.”

   “Hmmm. I might have a possible
opponent for you. But no one has been willing to fight this guy for a year now.
Are you sure you still want the fight.” Slidell asked cautiously.

   “He sounds like the perfect
opponent.” Derek agreed.

   “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t
warn you.” Slidell said with a chuckle. “Mikey, get this man some sparring
partners. He’s fighting Hercules tomorrow night.”

   The collective gasp that met
that statement worried Rora, but didn’t seem to faze Derek. He merely watched,
slightly disinterested, as they carried Kevin out of the cage and into a
training room. She found a seat and watched as Derek grappled and sparred with
several men over the next few hours. She noticed Slidell nodding his head as
Derek worked through some of the maneuvers and holds.

   “Does your boyfriend train at
home?” He finally asked her.

   “He’s not…not that I know of.
But we’ve only been together for about four months.” She replied with a little
hesitation.

   “He’s pretty good for somebody
who doesn’t fight regularly. He reminds me of a guy that used to fight years
ago before the Collapse, but he’s too young to be the same guy. Same tattoos
and last name though, I wonder if they’re related?” Slidell mused.

   “I don’t know. I don’t ask a
lot of questions about his past. None of my business.”

   “Always a good rule to follow,
especially around here.” The fight manager told her.

   “Hey, what about his
opponent?” Rora asked, curious and slightly worried.

   “Hercules? He’s the current
champ of the Strip. Undefeated. No one wants to fight him, so he wasn’t
schedule to fight tomorrow night. But he has an open challenge, so I know he
will take the fight, even on short notice.” Slidell explained. “Which reminds
me, I need to go set that up and start promoting it. It will be a huge draw.”

   Rora could see from the gleam
in the man’s eye that he was anticipating a huge payday from the fight. He
didn’t care about Derek’s welfare one bit. She knew Derek was a great fighter,
but a fighter so good that no one wanted to fight him? In a city full of
fighters? That didn’t sound good. She hoped Derek knew what he was doing.

   When he finished his sparring
she pulled him aside. “Slidell told me about your opponent, and I’m worried.”

   “Yeah, the other fighters
talked about him. They actually seem slightly in awe of him, and they are all
afraid to fight him. Kevin was working his way towards that fight, but he
wasn’t ready yet.” Derek told her.

   “That’s what I’m worried
about. This guy has never lost a fight. He must be good.” Rora said worriedly.

   “He’s never fought anyone like
me. I’ll be fine.” Derek said reassuringly.

   “If you say so. I need your
help to get the ARK, so don’t go getting crippled or killed in the cage.” She
said affectionately.

   “I won’t. I can only keep the
fight going so long before people start to question if I am dogging it, so make
sure you get into the office and get what we need as quick as possible.”

   “I will. Did you find anything
else out from the other fighters?”

   “I did. It turns out that
every casino has a stable of fighters that they employ. Winning fighters are a
huge draw and are treated very well. The champion of each casino lives like a
king. They also use the fighters to settle disputes between the casinos. The
two champions fight and the winning fighter ‘wins’ the argument for the casino.
It’s like something out of a gladiator movie. I may move here after we are done
and live the champion’s life.” Derek said with a laugh.

   “How about you win tomorrow
first before you start planning your championship reign, okay?” Rora reminded
him.

   “Don’t worry. I have it
covered.” He replied confidently.

September 5, 2029

Maximus Casino Arena, Las Vegas Strip, Nevada

   The casino’s arena was filled to capacity. From Rora’s
viewpoint in the owner’s box all she could see was a swarming mass of humanity
as people tried to find their seats. Allegedly the interest in the fights,
really the fight between Derek and Hercules, had been so great that they had
sold standing room tickets in the aisles and crammed an extra row of seats in
at ringside. The other casinos had also bought the rights for a closed circuit
feed and were selling seats in their arenas for people to watch on the Jumbotron.
The excitement and anticipation of the crowd was palpable, and the arena
literally vibrated from everyone moving around and the heavy music pounding
from the speakers.

   She tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible
and kept near the door. While everyone else was watching the fight she would
slip out and get the cocktail waitress outfit and drinks, then head to the
security office. As drunk as the people in the box were, it wouldn’t be too
hard to slip out unnoticed. People were already slurring their words and having
trouble standing. Most of the people in the box were either very wealthy high
rollers or politically connected, which meant they were probably wealthy too.
It was disgusting to her, but according to Derek this is how it had always
been.

   There were a few warm-up fights prior to Derek’s fight.
The champion, Hercules, had accepted the challenge immediately and it of course
would be the main event. It turned out the champion hadn’t fought in over a
year because everyone was too scared to fight him. The last opponent was
permanently injured in the fight when the champ snapped his arm. Rora could
tell no one believed Derek would win, but they were expecting another brutal
finish by the champ.

   The other fights finished and then the fanfare began for
the main event. Derek walked out to the strains of “American Badass” by Kid
Rock. He seemed totally focused and virtually ignored the crowd, causing them
to boo him. The champion followed him out to the cage shortly after, making his
entrance to “I’m the Man” by Aloe Blacc. The champion was the exact opposite of
Derek, playing to the crowd and getting a huge reception. The cheers were
almost deafening, even inside the luxury box.

   Everyone in the box had moved to stand at the window and
they were all totally transfixed by the impending fight. While they were
distracted, Rora quietly slipped out of the box. She walked down the hallway,
passing a cocktail waitress on her way to the bar from one of the boxes. Rora
waited until the waitress passed by and then choked her unconscious from behind
with a rear naked choke. She quickly dragged the unconscious girl into a nearby
service closet and took her outfit. Grabbing the serving tray Rora headed down
to the bar area and collected some drinks.

   No one questioned her or paid her any heed. They were all
watching TV monitors showing the pre-fight activities. All the people booed
when Derek was introduced and cheered for the hometown favorite, Hercules. Rora
had also heard that opponents had been brought in from around the country to
try to beat him, but he had defeated all comers. Vegas considered him a hero
and had been waiting for another chance to see him fight. They were going to
get that opportunity, but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t turn out the way they
thought.

   After she got the drinks she moved to a secluded spot
near one of the steel doors that led into the secure part of the casino. At
some point in the near future, a security guard would leave to make his rounds
and she could slide in before the door closed. Once she got inside, the guards
would hopefully be so distracted they wouldn’t notice her ID badge didn’t
exactly match her face and she could get into the main security office. All she
had to do was wait for the right moment.

   Meanwhile, Derek was pacing his side of the cage like a
wild animal. The champion, Hercules, had made his way to the cage while Derek
waited inside. The man had played to the crowd and seemed quite vain. He wore a
lion skin over his fight gear like the legendary Hercules was reputed to do,
and he was escorted by beautiful women dressed in slave girl outfits. Derek
looked him over as he entered the cage.

   The man was much younger than Derek, probably in his late
twenties, and was very well built. He was nearly as tall as Derek, but much
heavier muscled. His blond hair was long and braided into corn rows, and he had
a burned in tan that was probably fake. He flexed as he entered the cage and
winked at Derek. He seemed to be taking the whole event as a big joke. Derek
figured the man had become so used to winning that he wasn’t taking this fight
seriously. That would be a huge mistake, but it worked further in Derek’s
favor.

   They were called to the center of the ring for final
instructions and stood eye to eye. The man gave him another wink and blew him a
kiss as Derek stared at him. Derek had to give it to him, the man was
confident. Maybe the champ was exceedingly talented, but Derek had the SuPERHUMAAN
edge and he plenty of previous experience from his youth. The real challenge
would be drawing out the fight without being obvious.

   He noticed the casino head of security, Jonas Blackmon,
at ringside. The man was eyeing him suspiciously, probably wondering why the
same man who had tried to scam his way into the vault a day earlier was in this
cage. Derek would have to keep an eye on him, to make sure he didn’t get up and
leave to go check out the security office. The referee had kept talking while
Derek was thinking and then sent them back to their corners. Derek waited
anxiously, he was ready to fight. That little warm-up the day before had gotten
his competitive juices flowing.

   The bell rang and the two men met in the center of the
cage. They began circling and studying each other. Derek didn’t want to blitz
him like he had Kevin during the tryout because he needed the match to go much
longer. So he threw a few jabs to find his range and test his opponent. The
champ responded in kind. Derek decided to hit the man with a hard shot to the
head and rattle him, so that he could control the remainder of the fight.

   Derek threw a punch at half speed at the champ’s ear with
that intent. He was stunned when the man caught his punch easily. Even at half
speed the punch should have connected easily. Instead Derek’s fist smacked into
the champ’s palm with a meaty smack and stopped. No man had ever caught one of
his punches, let alone stopped it cold. The force behind the blow should have
knocked the man’s hand back. The champ smile and leaned in close.

   “You didn’t think you were the only one? Did you Storm?”
He sneered.

   The crowd screamed with excitement as their champion
caught the challengers punch and then shoved Storm back. Derek eyed the man
with renewed interest. Was it possible this man had also undergone the SuPERHUMAAN
treatment? Derek had assumed he was the only one because he hadn’t heard of
anyone else, but that had been short sighted and egotistical. That put a whole
new twist on this fight. Here was someone of equal physical prowess, maybe more
since he looked younger, who possibly had more training and mixed martial arts
experience than he did. That made them the favorite on paper.

   Of course Derek had a lot more actual combat experience
and was a lot more used to withstanding pain and injuries. He was hoping the
man had gotten soft from always beating his opponents so easily. While this man
had been living the high life in Vegas, Derek had been fighting monsters of all
kinds across the country. That should give him the edge, he hoped. If nothing
else it would mean a good fight and he wouldn’t have to sandbag. It had been a
while since he had been equally matched in a straight up fight, man to man with
no armor.

   The champ smiled and launched a barrage of punches and
kicks causing the crowd to scream even louder. Derek weathered the attacks and
circled away. The champ smiled even wider as he saw that Derek was unscathed.
He was probably relishing the prospect of a real fight, and a chance to really
prove himself. Years of easy fights had probably grown old quickly, but like
most people he would have been loath to give up the easy life in Vegas.

   They nodded to each other and began to fight in earnest.
The two fighters came to the center of the cage and exchanged punches and
kicks. Striking and counter striking without holding anything back, their
exchanges getting faster and faster until they were literally a blur. Neither
man could gain advantage but they were both landing good shots. The crowd had
reached a feverish pitch and their screams had become a continuous roar that
drowned everything out. The arena shook from the jumping up and down and
stomping of feet.

   Waiting near the security door, Rora could feel the
vibrations and hear the roar from the crowd. Derek must be putting on a good
show to have the crowd so worked up that she could feel and hear all the way
out here. Finally, a security guard exited the door and Rora slid through
behind him before the door closed. He was so distracted looking at the tablet
in his hand that he wouldn’t have noticed her even if she had walked in front
of him.

   She quickly walked through the maze of corridors to the
security office door. She had memorized a floor plan that the Voice had
discovered from before the Collapse. They had hoped it was still correct, but
had counted on the fact that no one would spend money changing non customer
facing areas. That proved to be correct and she was there in no time. Luckily
she didn’t encounter anyone else in the hallways. It must be one hell of a
fight that everyone was paying such rapt attention to it.

   Just before she got to the entrance to the control room,
she dropped the pills into the drinks. They dissolved rapidly until there was
no evidence the drinks were drugged. According to Derek they would take effect
relatively quickly and render the guards completely helpless. They also had an
added benefit of creating short term amnesia, which meant they wouldn’t even
remember she had been there.

   The door was solid steel set in a reinforced concrete
frame. There was no way she was going to get in unless they let her. She sighed
and adjusted her outfit to display the most skin. Not that it could really
display more skin; it was generous to consider it an outfit. It was more like a
wisp of cloth held together by a prayer. She was glad she didn’t have to wear
something like this every day and she would be glad to get out if it and back
into her real clothes. But, it would provide a distraction for the guards
inside. The World After was pretty sexist and borderline misogynistic. That
would change when she ushered in the New Dawn.  

   She knocked on the door and smiled for the camera. 
“What?” A voice snapped from a speaker above the door.

   “I have some drinks for you, Jonas felt bad that you had
to work during the fight.” She said sweetly.

   “Hold on.” The voice said distractedly.

   A guard opened the door without giving her a second
glance. The entire time he was trying to keep watching the fight taking place
on the monitors. The other three guards were so enthralled by the fight they
didn’t even look over as she entered. She could see Derek and the champion
furiously exchanging blows in the center of the cage. Even in the security room
she could feel the vibrations from the crowd’s frenetic cheering.

   Placing the tray on a table, Rora served all four men the
drugged drinks. They took them almost absent mindedly and drank them without
hesitation. Never once did they take their attention off the action on their
screens. She probably could have just hacked the system while they sat there
they were so distracted. But she waited until the drug took effect and all four
men slumped over.

   She shoved one of them out of their chair and sat down in
front of the main terminal. Retrieving Derek’s phone from inside her outfit,
she inserted the earbud in her ear.

  “Okay, I’m ready.” She informed the Voice.

   “Hack past the firewall.” He instructed.

   She did as asked and she was past the firewall in a few
minutes. “I’m in.”

   “Good. Now open port 227 and plug me into the USB port on
the terminal.” The Voice said calmly.

   She opened the port and plugged the phone into the
terminal. Numbers began streaming across the screen in front of her and video
began flashing on another screen. It moved so quickly that even Rora couldn’t
follow it. So she sat back and waited for him to search the video archives for
the hacker. While she waited, she looked at the monitors and watched Derek
battle in the cage.

    Derek glanced up at the clock on the scoreboard hanging
over the cage. Unlike before the Collapse, the clock counted up instead of down
showing how long the fight had lasted. They were approaching the nine minute
mark, which was an eternity inside the cage. He wasn’t feeling fatigued at all,
and he was pretty sure his opponent wasn’t either. The champ’s smile mirrored
his own, and had become a maniacal grin as the fight had gone on. Neither of
them had participated in a fight that had lasted this long before, and both of
them were thoroughly enjoying it.

   The crowd noise had subsided somewhat as many people had
already lost their voices. Some were just staring in awe as they watched what
would probably be the greatest fight they would ever see. No one had ever
pushed their champion this far or given him such a challenge. Everyone was in
the stands or the boxes, no one dared to go take a bathroom break. This fight
would be talked about for years and they were all determined not to miss a
second of it.

    The two men finally broke apart and circled each other.
They took a moment to size up their opponents and do a quick check on
themselves. Both men were bleeding from slight cuts on their faces, and they
had bruises all over. Neither man was breathing hard and both had just barely
begun to sweat. They were very evenly matched and Derek knew he could make this
fight last a while longer. He just hoped he could finish it when it was time to
leave.