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

June 26, 2029

Palmdale, California

    They pulled the mini-van
over just outside of Palmdale, CA according to the exit signs. There had been
no sign of pursuit and no mention of them on the CB radio installed in the car.
Rora assumed it was tuned to the common channel the gangs used, which meant
they would have heard if the gunmen they had left behind had called in their
escape. But all that they heard over the radio was normal chatter amongst bored
gang members patrolling various areas.

   Rora and Commander
Khodorov inventoried their situation in the mini-van. No one was wounded, which
was a small miracle; although Anna was practically catatonic and hadn’t spoken
since the escape.  They had three AK-47s with two magazines for each, and one
knife. The grenade launcher on the roof had eight grenades left, all high
explosive. They were still in their space suits, which they stripped off so
they were only wearing the body sleeves you wore under the suit. They had no
food or water besides a small cooler with eight water bottles they found in the
back. And they had no shoes.

   Up ahead they had spotted
a checkpoint blocking the highway. They currently sat facing the barricade,
staring at it thoughtfully. Concrete barriers blocked all but a narrow path
through and they were staggered to force the vehicles passing through to slow
considerably. Two armored cars with open cupola turrets sat behind the
barriers, each armed with a machine gun. Armed and armored men dressed all in
black stood guard alongside the armored cars.

   “So what’s the plan?”
Colonel Brandt asked quietly.

   “We have to go through.”
The commander insisted. “The only nearby way into the city is through that
mountain pass up ahead.”

   “Who do you think they
are?” Rora asked.

   “I would assume they are
the Praetorians the Major mentioned.”  The commander told her. “He did say they
had all the heavy weapons.”

   “If we get close enough we
can sneak attack those technicals and then race through.” Rora suggested.

   “Those aren’t technicals.”
Commander Khodorov informed them, shaking his head. “Those are Lenco Bearcat
armored vehicles that are similar in style to an SUV. They were standard issue
to large city police forces prior to, and during the Collapse. They have
purpose built armor capable of stopping heavy rounds and diverting explosions. They
mount heavy machine guns in open turrets on the top. The grenades won’t do much
damage and the assault rifles won’t even scratch them. The tires are solid
rubber so we cannot blow them out.”

   “What about the turrets?”
Rora asked. “They are open on top. Wouldn’t a grenade kill the gunner if you
hit it right?”

   “Hmmm. That’s true, but it
would be a hell of a shot on the move. Hitting both would be almost
impossible.” The commander mused.

   “Are you sure we cannot
blow out the tires?” The colonel asked. “Even if they are solid rubber, blowing
a piece of them off would slow pursuit.”

  “Still, it would be an
incredible piece of shooting…” The commander replied.

   “I think if we keep our
heads down we can get close enough for you to do it.” Rora said. “They will
think we are gang members returning to the city after a little trip so they
will probably let us get to the barriers. At that point we open fire with
everything we have and hope we kill enough of them we can get by. The
mini-van’s armor should be enough to protect us from the guard’s assault
rifles. If we catch them by surprise and do enough damage to the vehicles they
won’t be able to follow.”

   The two men looked at each
other and sighed. Both nodded their heads in agreement and looked resigned to
taking their chances with the blitz attack. Anna still sat silently, now she
was rocking back and forth with a blank look on her face. The colonel helped
her into a position lying on the floor where she would be safest and out of the
way. The colonel grabbed an AK-47 and checked that it was loaded and the safety
off. The commander manned the grenade launcher and Rora gripped an AK-47 in her
right hand.

   When they were ready, she
threw the min-van into drive and headed for the checkpoint at a high rate of
speed. The men manning the barriers looked up at the approaching vehicle but
didn’t seem to be concerned. They apparently recognized the vehicle and didn’t
see it as a threat. The gunners in the armored cars didn’t even rotate their
turrets towards the oncoming mini-van. Rora smiled as she realized the plan
might just work.

    They were almost on top
of the checkpoint before she slowed. There was a moment when the guards
realized that the driver of the vehicle was female and white. Their mouths
formed O’s of surprise and their eyes got wide. Before they could react or
sound a warning, Commander Khodorov put a perfectly placed grenade into the
cupola of the armored car on the right. The explosion knocked out the gun and
killed the gunner with a blast of flame.

   Colonel Brandt popped up
and fired through the window to the right and Rora fired to the left. Guards
scattered as bullets flew all around them. A couple went down, but their body
armor may have protected them. Rora tossed her rifle aside as she tried to
navigate through the barriers at the highest possible rate of speed. The
commander rotated the grenade launcher and fired at the other armored car, but
she grazed a barrier just as he fired. The grenade went high and missed
completely.

    The guards had started to
return fire but the mini-van’s armor was absorbing their gunfire. The colonel
had reloaded but was forced to keep his head down so he was firing blindly. Rora
straightened out the mini-van and they were through the obstacles. She slammed
down on the accelerator and the vehicle lurched forward. Bullets were bouncing
off of the technical as they raced away. She could see the guards scrambling
around in their wake. Two stayed down, and she assumed they were dead or badly
wounded.

    The rest jumped into the
armored cars and started chasing after them. The armored cars obviously had
much more powerful engines and began catching up, even though the mini-van had a
head start. Heavy rounds from the intact machine gun on one of the armored cars
became to impact the rear of the mini-van. The armor would probably hold, but
the gunner would eventually switch to the tires and disable them. Then they
would be sitting ducks.

   Colonel Brandt and
Commander Khodorov both fired their AK-47s out the rear of the technical, but
it didn’t do any good. The main problem they faced was the same one that Rora
and Derek had faced in D.C. Their main weapon was affixed to a pintle mount and
could only be fired in a forward arc. Unfortunately their enemies were behind
them, which meant only one thing.

   “Get on the grenade
launcher.” She screamed at the commander.

   “But it only fires
forward.” He yelled back.

   “I know.” She announced
seriously. “Get on the grenade launcher and everyone hang on!”

      The commander and
Colonel Brandt shared another look and the colonel shrugged. The commander
climbed up to man the grenade launcher and hung on. The colonel braced himself
and stared at Rora dubiously. Rora slammed on the brake and the gas at the same
time and spun the wheel. Even though the colonel was ready, he still screamed
involuntarily as the mini-van swung around wildly. Rora quickly slammed the
gear into reverse and they were now driving backwards down the highway at full
speed. But the grenade launcher now faced their pursuers.

   The commander only took a
second to compose himself and he opened fire. Rora knew he had some military
training but didn’t know where or what his experience was. It must have been
something involving combat because he was doing amazingly well for an
astronaut.  The first two grenades took out the remaining turret. A direct hit
blew it apart completely.  The pursuers were still firing their assault rifles
through the gun ports on the armored cars. It wasn’t having much effect, but a
lucky shot to the tires could still take them out.

   The commander switched his
aim to the armored car’s tires and used three grenades to obliterate the left
front tire of the left hand Bearcat. The driver lost control and swerved
crazily to the left, colliding with the other armored car. Then he over
corrected and the armored car flipped and rolled along the highway spraying
sparks and pieces of metal and glass. It finally slid to a stop upside down.
The other armored car slowed and circled back to the wreck, allowing the
mini-van to escape.

   “That was awesome!” The
commander howled gleefully. “Where did you learn to do that?”

   “Derek showed me once.”
Rora replied cheerfully.

   “I can’t believe that
worked.” The colonel added breathlessly. “Now we just need to get to the
airport.”

June 26, 2029

Soledad Pass, San Gabriel
Mountains, California

    They were ten minutes
down the road and about halfway through the pass when the radio chatter took an
angry turn. The idle chatter ended and several angry voices were demanding to
know who attacked the Praetorians. Curse words and angry insults flew as the
speakers ranted about the punishment they would inflict on the idiots who had
attacked the checkpoint. Panicked denials followed the angry questioning.

   “Uh oh.” Rora said with
alarm.

   “What?” The commander
asked her.

   “I think they are about to
figure out we have the mini-van and that we aren’t gang members.”  She replied.

   “You speak Spanish?” The colonel
asked in surprise.

   “Among other languages.”
Rora replied distractedly.

   “What are they saying?”
Commander Khodorov asked.

   “The leaders are demanding
to know who attacked the checkpoint and everyone is of course denying it was
them.” Rora told him.

   “So they don’t know it was
us then?” He replied questioningly.

   “It won’t take them long
to figure it out when the original occupants of this vehicle don’t respond.”
She explained. “So much for our hope they would be distracted blaming each
other.”

   The loud yelling and
denials on the radio quieted after another ten minutes and there was an
announcement to tune your radio to AM station 721 for an important message.
Rora quickly turned on the car radio and tuned it to that channel. At first
there was just the tone for the emergency broadcast system. But then the tone
ended and a calm voice with a commanding presence began to speak.

   “This is the Imperator.
Infiltrators from the East have dared to attack my Praetorian Guard. This
insult cannot be forgiven and is a direct attack on our alliance. The
perpetrators are driving a stolen La Eme mini-van technical and were last seen
heading through the pass into the San Fernando Valley. The infiltrators are
wanted dead or alive, but preferably alive. I am offering ten thousand dollars
in gold as a reward for every one captured alive and five thousand if they are
dead. Your gang will also get two Bushmaster carbines and one thousand rounds
of ammunition for each one you bring in dead or alive. Now get out there and
find them!”

   As the last demand
thundered from the radio the colonel let out an involuntary gasp. Rora flicked
off the radio and they all sat in silence as they drove further into the
hornet’s nest. They couldn’t go back and their only way out was through the
heart of gang territory. The entire city had been alerted to their presence and
a huge reward was being offered. They were pretty much screwed.

   “We have to go back! Every
gangbanger in the city will be hunting us!” Colonel Brandt cried in a panic.

   “Even if we get to the
airport, there is no way someone will be able to come pick us up.” The commander
agreed.

  “No. Our only way out is
through the airport.” Rora insisted. “Besides, they will have the exits
blocked. The only way is forward.”

   “Are you insane?” The colonel
asked her. “Or do you just have a death wish?”

   “I’m going to do what
Derek would do, and get us out of here. We have to at least try to escape.” She
replied.

   “What if we turned
ourselves in and explained what happened?” The commander wondered.

   “Do you really think this
Imperator will be forgiving after we killed his men and wrecked his vehicles?”
Rora asked them. “We made him look weak. He has to crush us to maintain his
image.”

   “We are so screwed.” The colonel
moaned.

   Any further discussion was
cut short by the appearance of a roadblock on the highway ahead of them. Three
vehicles had been positioned to block any progress. One was a pickup technical
with a light machine gun on the back, and the other two were regular sedans
painted in gang colors and missing their windows. All three were painted black
and gang signs painted in gold all over them. Armed men were positioned behind
the vehicles with their rifles resting across their hoods and trunks.

   “There’s only one grenade
left!” The commander warned.

   “Use it to blow a hole in
that roadblock.” Rora ordered. “Wait until we get closer.”

   The commander scrambled up
into the hatch and manned the grenade launcher.  Rora held down the accelerator
and they roared straight at the blockade of cars. The machine gun opened up on
them as soon as it saw them. Initially the distance was too far to be accurate,
but as they got closer the rounds tore up the front of the mini-van. The gunmen
added their fire but the rounds couldn’t penetrate. Sparks flew as the bullets
ricocheted off the front armor and the grill over the front window. She ducked
low as a few rounds pierced the grill and zipped through the mini-vans
interior.

   The commander fired the
final grenade as they got close. It was a beautifully aimed shot. The grenade
struck the front of the sedan on the left and ignited the gas tank. The
explosion blew the car apart and created a hole for them to narrowly scrape
through. They exited the cloud of smoke and fire created by the blast and raced
away. The two remaining vehicles didn’t even wait to pick up the dismounted gunmen
before pursuing.

   “Shoot at their tires!”
Rora yelled at the two men.

   They got onto the back
seat and began frantically firing on the pursuing vehicles. They managed to
shoot out the two front tires of the technical before they ran out of ammo. It rolled
to a stop on two front rims streaming sparks. The other car continued the
pursuit. Two gunmen leaned out of the windows and fired relentlessly and
ineffectively at the mini-van before pulling back in to reload. Rora took that
opportunity and slammed on the brakes. Both the commander and the colonel were
thrown from their seats as the vehicle’s momentum was suddenly arrested.

   The move caught the
gangbangers by surprise and they roared right by. They were past the mini-van
before they could reload and bring their weapons to bear. Rora slammed on the
gas just as suddenly as she had braked and the colonel and the commander were
thrown back into their seats. She smiled at their panicked expressions. She
could see why Derek thought this was fun.

   The sedan had slowed and
started to turn around when Rora clipped them with the mini-van. The mini-van
struck the front driver’s side of the sedan right at the wheel well at full
speed. There was a bone jarring crash of metal as the two vehicles collided.
The heavier mini-van sent the sedan spinning around as it smashed through. The
sedan came to a rest on the side of the road with its driver’s side front tire
bent at an odd angle and smoke coming from under the hood.

   The mini-van raced away
and Rora headed for the interchange with I-5 and the direct path into the city.
The makeshift armor welded onto the mini-van had prevented any significant
damage but they were out of ammo and the vehicle couldn’t take much more damage.
As she pondered what to do, a slightly bruised Commander Khodorov gingerly
climbed into the passenger seat next to her.

   “We need to get off the
highway.” He stated. “They will have more road blocks and we are easy targets
out in the open like this.”

   “Where do you suggest we
go?” Rora asked. “I don’t know my way around the city, do you?”

   “No, I don’t.” He replied.
“But I bet we can find a map in an abandoned gas station convenience store. You
have an eidetic memory so you only need to see it once. We will be harder to
find on the side streets; it’s a lot of territory for them to cover.”

   Rora nodded and exited the
highway at the next off ramp.  There wasn’t much development as they exited,
but they quickly found themselves in a much more urban area. Most of the
buildings were burned out and missing all their windows. At least half of the
buildings had collapsed into rubble or had gaping holes in them. Ruined cars
littered the streets and it looked like anything of value had been stripped
from every car, building, and light pole.

    The commander spotted a
convenience store and they pulled into the parking lot. The building was rundown
and missing all of its windows. The parking lot was scattered with trash and
debris and a stripped car sat up on blocks. The inside looked trashed, but at
least it hadn’t been burned out. She parked the car in front but left the motor
running. There was glass everywhere, and the commander didn’t have any shoes.
So he wrapped strips of cloth around his feet to protect them.

   “Wait here.” The commander
told her. “I’ll go look inside. If I’m not back in five minutes, you drive off
and don’t look back.”

  He got out without even
waiting for a response. He didn’t need to, it was the obvious plan. There was
no need for all of them to die for a map if there was something bad in the
store. Rora had learned that you couldn’t get too close to people because they
had a high likelihood of dying; and because you might need to leave them behind
to save yourself. Her mission was the most important thing right now. She
couldn’t die here and let that die with her.

   There was nothing to worry
about and the commander came back in several minutes with a map in his hand and
a smile on his face. That quickly turned to a frown and he ran to the mini-van
as he looked behind them. Rora turned and saw a car slowly approaching. She
pulled out of the parking lot as soon the commander scrambled in and headed in
the opposite direction from the approaching vehicle.

   The car was an old model
sedan, possibly a Cadillac. It was painted on the same black and gold scheme as
the vehicles at the roadblock. The gangbanger’s car rode on four oversize truck
tires and had an enhanced suspension system. That made it sit a few feet off
the ground and gave it a menacing appearance. With a throaty roar it sped up as
the mini-van drove away, and began to chase them.

   The monster car quickly
caught up with them as it easily rolled over sidewalks and parking blocks to
cut across the parking lot. Gang members popped their heads and upper bodies
out of the windows and began firing on the fleeing mini-van with pistols and an
assault rifle. None of the rounds penetrated the armor of the technical, but
the bullets striking the vehicle made a deafening metallic hail noise.

   Unable to shoot back, Rora
would have to lose them quickly. They might not be able to do much damage to
the mini-van but they could shoot out the tires and worse they would draw more
pursuers. She could hear the screams and yells of the pursuing gangbangers as
they enjoyed the chase. She kept them behind her as she headed into the denser
urban area to their south. She would try to lose them in the maze of streets.

    The shuttle crew held on
for dear life as she careened around corners and over curbs. At one point the
mini-van was on two wheels as she took a corner too tight. The sedan had a
larger turn radius because of the oversize tires, but the gangbanger’s driver
was able to stick with them. A lucky shot hit the passenger side rear tire of
the mini-van and they all felt the lurch as the tire blew. The mini-van slowed
dramatically and Rora had to fight hard to maintain control.

   They were now in a section
with large rundown apartment buildings and she spotted a narrow alleyway.
Fighting the wheel, she drove them into it. The alleyway was so tight it
knocked the side view mirrors off and she sent old trash cans and trash flying
as they barreled down it. Just as she suspected it was too tight for the
monster car, but they stopped just in time to avoid crashing or getting stuck.

   “We need to find a place to
hide.” The colonel insisted.

   “We need another vehicle.”
Rora told him.

   The blown tire was now
gone and they were running on the rim. It was leaving a trail of sparks behind
them and slowing them almost to a crawl. Rora pulled the mini-van over behind a
large pile of garbage. It was obvious that trash pickup was not provided by the
Imperator or his men. So the inhabitants had taken to piling trash and junk in
the alleys. Disgusting, but it would provide a little cover.

   “We need to take one of
their cars.” Rora said decisively.

   “How do we do that?” The colonel
asked, almost sarcastically.

   “We create a diversion and
then ambush them when they come to investigate.” She replied calmly.

   “What kind of diversion?”
The commander asked.

   Rora sighed and began
stripping off her body suit. “Grab the guns and be ready to look dangerous.”

   “What are you doing?” The
commander asked in shock.

   “Creating a diversion.”
Rora informed him. “I will lure them down here and you ambush them. They don’t
know the guns aren’t loaded. Order them onto the ground and we can tie them up
and take their vehicle and guns.”

   She didn’t wait for their
agreement; they all knew it was their only option. Rora paused to dirty her
face and mess up her hair. Not that it took much doing to look disheveled, the
last day or so had been very rough. Bared to the waist, she walked into the
street. The jacked up car slowly prowled by looking for them; and as soon as she
saw them she called out.