Wasteland Rules: Born to Fight (The World After Book 2) (2 page)

June 16, 2029

South of Tallahassee, FL

    Derek dropped his weapon and raised his hands
and Rora followed suit. They were both wearing Federal Police BDUs and he
didn’t want a trigger happy militiaman to gun them down. They waited patiently
as an older man in an old school camouflage BDU disembarked from the lead
vehicle, a heavily armored Ford Expedition, followed by two similarly dressed
younger men carrying M-16 assault rifles. The pilot, with his hands bound
behind his back, was pushed out of another vehicle by a young woman who had a
gun to his back.

  Other soldiers got out of the technicals and began
stripping the weapons and spare parts from the Reaper vehicles and the
helicopter. In a world where few new weapons or vehicles were produced those
things were worth their weight in gold. Rora was sure that those weapons would
be mounted on new technicals within days. The militia practiced Rule #9 as
well.

  “Put your hands on your heads and interlace your fingers.”
The older man, a captain from the insignia on his shoulder, instructed Derek
and Rora.

  When they complied he continued. “Now kneel down
and cross your legs.”

  After they had done that the officer waved the two
younger men over towards them. The two militiamen used zip ties to secure Rora
and Derek’s hands behind their backs. Then they searched them for weapons and
removed everything they found. After being satisfied that Derek and Rora were
unarmed they dragged them to their feet and pushed them over to stand with the
terrified looking pilot. The officer looked at a tablet seeming to ignore them.

  Derek tried to address the officer. “We’re not
Federal Police Commandos; we just have their uniforms on. We hijacked the
chopper and…”

  “I know who you are Storm.” The officer snarled.
“If it were up to me I would give you to the Reapers. Poetic justice if you
will.”

  Rora noticed that Derek’s face turned pale, his
head dropped, and he got a sick look on his face. For some reason the officer’s
comments had struck home. He paused before responding sincerely and quietly.
“For what it’s worth I’m sorry. I was just following orders, I had no idea what
would happen.”

  “I’m sure my daughters will be comforted by that.”
The officer sneered. “Well, I’m just following orders as well.”

  “Why are you here?” The officer demanded.

  “I’m just trying to get the girl to NASA.” Derek
explained.

  “What is so important about the girl? Why is
everyone after her?”

  “She isn’t important. She is just the daughter of
an old friend.” Derek lied.

  “I’m not buying it Storm. The U.S.T.G. wouldn’t
send two full teams of commandos to stop you if she was just some random girl.
The pilot here already told us everything, so you can stop lying.”

  Rora glanced at the pilot. From the way he refused
to make eye contact, the officer could have been telling the truth. But what
did the pilot actually know? He was just a random pilot from the local base.
She could sense Derek was mulling that over as well before he responded.

  “I don’t know what he told you, but this is a
personal mission for me. Nothing else.” Derek again lied.

  “Come on Storm. You expect us to believe you just
suddenly came out of retirement to help this girl?” The officer pressed.

  “I don’t know what else to tell you. The U.S.T.G.
must be after me personally. After all I’m supposed to be dead and I left some
very powerful enemies behind.”

  The officer just stared at Derek, obviously
frustrated by his inability to break Derek’s story. He glared at Rora, but she
just stared back. Men thought so little of young women, especially in the World
After. Strength and martial prowess were most prized, and it was common to
assume that women were weak and helpless. It didn’t hurt Rora any to let him
continue to think that. But over the last week she had come to realize that she
was anything but weak. Derek had taught her valuable skills and more
importantly had given her confidence in herself. She was never going to be a
victim again.

  But right now, she was going to follow Rule #6 and
keep her mouth shut. She didn’t think they were going to kill them or it would
have already happened. And there was no reason for the militia to hold them
prisoner, so it was likely they would let them go. It wasn’t any of their
business what she and Derek were actually up to. She would help them follow
Rule # 6 for themselves, even if they didn’t know it.

  Finally the officer growled and spoke. “Release
them.”

  The two militiamen cut Derek and Rora free from
their bonds. She massaged her wrists where the plastic zip ties had cut into
them.

  “What about me?” The pilot asked hopefully.

  “You are a prisoner of war and you are coming back
with us.” The officer declared with an air of finality.

   The pilot looked at Derek for help, but he just
shrugged. Then the female soldier dragged the pilot to a technical and shoved
him in the back. She got back inside with him and the two militiamen moved to
stand beside the officer. All three looked at Derek and Rora. The officer
seemed to be deciding what to do.

  “You were already warned once about leaving C.C.A.
territory, but since this is technically free land I’m not going to shoot you.
So get your gear and get out of here.” The officer snapped.

  “What about a ride to the nearest roadhouse?”
Derek asked.

  “My orders didn’t say anything about giving you a
lift. So I’m going to leave you here. Good luck.” The officer said with a nasty
smile. The two militiamen just smirked.

  Derek waved to her to follow and he turned back to
the chopper. She followed as he went over and began grabbing their gear and
weapons. He handed Rora her stuff which she took without a word. He seemed lost
in contemplation and she didn’t want to upset him further. So she just followed
as he began walking away from the playing fields. Looking back she could see
the militia troops finish stripping the vehicles and leave the area.

  Rora watched in dismay as the only transportation
nearby rolled off in a cloud of dust. One more thing she had learned in the
last week was that she hated walking, especially with a full pack. And boy did
her head hurt from the bump she had gotten in the crash. What she wouldn’t give
for a few ibuprofen. Other than her father, what she missed most from their
house was the fully stocked medicine cabinet.

  After they had walked for a mile or so, curiosity
got the better of her and she had to ask. “What was that about with the
officer?”

  Derek sighed before answering her. “He lost his
daughters to the Reapers and blames me.”

  “Why would he blame you?” She asked.

  “Because my actions led to the creation of the
Reapers. I’m sure most of the people who lost family or friends to them blame
me.” He said sadly.

  “What did you do?”

  “The Reapers are the remnants of a European Union
force that invaded the U.S. in the Aftermath. They landed at Savannah and took
control of the port and the city. The U.S.T.G. couldn’t allow them to maintain
a foothold or they would appear weak, so we sent troops to drive them out.
Unfortunately the E.U. forces were too well entrenched and the U.S.T.G.
couldn’t afford to lose the troops and equipment to dislodge them in a siege.
So they sent me in with a nuke to destroy their command center and damage the
port.” Derek explained. “It was successful and the invaders were forced to
leave Savannah. They were without supplies, leadership, or a way home.
Desperate and starving they turned to cannibalism to survive. The remainder of
the East Coast was still in anarchy after the Collapse and had no central
government or organized defense forces. The invaders still had heavy weapons
and the ability to use them. So they started raiding for food and supplies.
Their main food source being the people living along the coast.”

  Derek paused to let that sink in. “The invaders
split into two groups. One headed north and the other headed south. They moved
city to city killing everyone who resisted and taking the rest prisoner, and
ultimately eating them. That earned them the nickname the Reapers and made them
the most feared threat to the Southeast. Tallahassee in particular fought
numerous vicious battles with them before ultimately driving them off. While it
isn’t my fault that the invaders became the Reapers, my actions did lead
directly to it happening. It is one of my greatest regrets.”

  From the look on his face and the sound of his
voice, Rora could tell it was something that haunted him. Now she understood
why he had said that sometimes unintended consequences resulted from actions in
reference to her father inadvertently creating the Drinkers.

June 16, 2029

South of Tallahassee, FL

   Stranded in the wasteland without too many
options, Derek turned to his only possible solution. Maybe the Voice could
magically send him a vehicle. Rora certainly wouldn’t survive a long hike to
civilization. Pulling the phone out, he tapped the icon for the Voice.

  It only rang once before the silky voice answered.
“Major. Why didn’t you land at NASA?”

  “They shot down the chopper; we barely escaped
with our lives. We’re fine. Thanks for asking.” He replied curtly.

  “That is unfortunate. This does seem to be a
pattern with you. How many vehicles have you lost in the last two weeks?”

  “Very funny. We need another ride. Any help you
can provide there?”

  “Let me see if there is anything nearby that could
provide you with a ride. Just a minute.”

  The phone went silent in Derek’s ear. He glanced
over at Rora and could see she was hiding a slight smirk. She must have heard
the crack about the vehicles. It wasn’t his fault people were trying to kill
him. Although thinking back on it, he couldn’t remember any vehicle he had ever
owned or used lasting more than a few weeks. Huh.

  The phone sprang back to life. “You are in luck.
There is a FEMA cache about two miles from you in an abandoned state highway
maintenance yard. According to its beacon it hasn’t been opened. The file shows
that there is a truck inside.”

  “A FEMA cache? I thought that was a myth?”

  “No, they are very real. FEMA prepositioned
equipment and supplies around the country in anticipation of a coming
nationwide catastrophe. But the Collapse happened so quickly FEMA never even
got deployed. Most of the caches have been looted, but since this one is in
Reaper territory no one has probably even tried to get to it. I’m sending the
location to your GPS now. Good luck. See if you can keep this one intact for a
few days.”

  The phone went dead before Derek could give a
snappy response. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Slinging his gear onto
his back he waved for Rora to follow him. They would have to hike to the cache
and hope the vehicle was still there and in drivable condition. Then they could
work on getting rid of the Reapers so they could enter NASA and complete this
crazy quest.

  “Where are we going?” Rora asked as she fell in
beside him.

  “An old state highway maintenance yard nearby.
There is supposedly a vehicle there we can take.”

  “And after that?”

  “We head to the nearest roadhouse and hope those
refrigerated trucks we saw in Alabama are still there.”

  “What good will that do?”

  “Those trucks are supplying meat to the Reapers
which is allowing them to stay in one place versus hunting for victims. Because
they are all fed they aren’t fighting with each other either. If we remove the
food source we can trigger a fight and they will hopefully leave to go find
more food.”

  “So we prevent the trucks from getting to the
Reapers?”

  “Not exactly. We sabotage some of the trucks so
the meat spoils. When they deliver only a little good meat the Reapers ought to
fight over who gets it.”

  “How do we sabotage the trucks?”

  “I have an idea, but let’s wait until we make sure
the trucks are there before I tell you.”

  Rora frowned at that, but didn’t ask any more
questions. They hiked in silence the rest of the way across the desolate
flatlands of North Florida. This had once been a lush paradise with warm
weather year round, but the Collapse and the Aftermath had killed most of the
vegetation and the global cooling had done the rest. Now weeds and dust
dominated the landscape.

   They arrived at the abandoned FDOT yard which sat
just off of what was once a state road. It was small and consisted only of a
trailer used as an office and a storage building. The storage building was made
of concrete with a steel rolling door in the front. It was in the common arched
bunker style used by most road maintenance facilities. The whole yard was
surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. The gate was still
chained shut which was a good sign.

  Derek shot off the lock and unchained the gate.
The gate swung open with a loud creak and they slipped inside. He approached
the trailer with his shotgun drawn and ready. Rora stayed behind him but she
had her pistol out and was ready to shoot as well. It looked abandoned but you
could never be too careful. Rule #7, always pay attention.

  The windows of the trailer were broken and filled
with cobwebs. Derek carefully kicked open the door and rushed inside. The cloud
of dust he created as he entered swirled about him and threatened to choke him.
It was almost completely empty. There was nothing inside but debris and trash. He
exited the empty trailer fighting back a sneeze.

  “It’s empty. Picked clean long before the
Collapse.” He informed Rora. “Let’s check out the garage.”

  They walked over to the garage door and inspected
it. Derek groaned aloud. The door was made of solid steel plates and it was
padlocked shut with a giant steel padlock. It was a complicated lock and
hardened against being cut with a hacksaw. The vehicle had to still be there if
the lock was still on the door; but only the key, a blowtorch, or explosives
was going to remove that lock. None of which they had on hand. Frustrated he
kicked the door.

  “Maybe there is another way in?” Rora asked him
optimistically.

  Derek circled the building and noticed that it
didn’t even have an exhaust vent. The building was made of reinforced concrete
and the shape was designed to withstand earthquakes and explosions. They had
certainly not wanted anyone getting inside. Which, short of a miracle, they weren’t
going to be able to do themselves. When he returned to the door to tell Rora,
he found her playing with the lock.

  “I think I can get it open.” She told him without
looking up.

   He stared in disbelief as the lock suddenly
popped open and she slid it off. “Since when can you pick locks?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw you do it at
the prison and it just felt right when I started fiddling with the lock. Why?
Is picking locks hard?”

  He stared at her for a minute trying to determine
if she was playing dumb or genuinely didn’t realize what she had done. “It can
take years of practice and training to pick locks even with the right tools.
You used a piece of scrap metal.” He replied incredulously.

  When she didn’t reply, Derek shook his head and reached
for the door. He slid it up to reveal an F-350 extended cab work truck with
tool boxes and a rack on the back carrying ladders and other gear. It looked to
be in mint condition and loaded with supplies and tools. The truck was painted
flat blue and had the FEMA logo on the doors and hood.

 The garage itself was filled with jugs of water and
MREs, as well as medical supplies. He smiled. Jackpot! This stuff was worth a
small fortune. Things were finally looking up. He threw their gear into the
truck and loaded up all the supplies it could carry. Always follow Rule # 9, take
everything you can carry. Then he spent a few minutes denting and scratching
the truck, as well as scraping off the FEMA logo.

  “What are you doing?” Rora asked him.

  “Camouflage. We want to attract as little
attention as possible and a brand new truck will surely attract attention. So
I’m making it look worn and used. Rule #19. Don’t draw any attention to
yourself.”

   They had a ride and supplies. Now all they had to
do was go sabotage the refrigerated trucks delivering meat to the Reapers. That
would trigger a battle amongst the Reapers and they could sneak into NASA, turn
over Rora, and then Derek could go get paid. Simple.