Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4)
Read Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4) Online
Authors: J.G. Martin
Wasteland
Rules:
Die
Fighting
(The
World After #4)
November
2014
Dedication
I want to
dedicate this to everyone who died fighting, who never gave up. To those who
died fighting a terminal illness, for civil rights, and especially for those
who made the ultimate sacrifice and died for this country. They are the true
heroes.
Available Books
Book 1 –
Wasteland Rules: Kill or Be Killed – Available via Amazon
Book 2 –
Wasteland Rules: Born to Fight – Available via Amazon
Book 3 –
Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn – Available via Amazon
Book 4 –
Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting – Available via Amazon
Wasteland Angel –
Novella Available FREE via Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble
Table of Contents
September 11, 2029
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
As soon as Derek saw Rora move towards the podium
in the cave he knew it wasn’t going to end well. Nothing about the situation
had added up. There were no freezer units or storage devices capable of keeping
genetic material or embryos. No facilities to store seeds or even computers to
store the data electronically. All they had found was a mostly empty cave with
the small podium and several rows of large steel boxes.
It wasn’t until he saw the glimmer of a laser beam
from the corner of his eye that he realized it was a trap. He tried to stop her
from breaking the beam, but it was too late. She triggered the trap as she
moved towards the podium. The lights had gone out leaving only the soft glow of
the emergency lighting bathing the cave in red light giving it a hellish
appearance. Then the boxes had opened to reveal one of his seemingly
inescapable nightmares.
Drinkers, there were freaking Drinkers in the boxes.
They had either been drugged to keep them calm or in some sort of hibernation,
but the minute the boxes opened they woke up. Their howls of hunger echoed
through the cave, a horrible cacophony of animal rage and fury. Derek wasn’t
sure how many of them there were, but even a handful would be too many in close
quarters like this. The howls quickly became deafening and he knew there were
just way too many to fight. They only had one option.
They had been lured here by the promise of
salvation for the planet and now it might be their grave. He didn’t spend any
time worrying about who set them up or why, he just acted. Pulling his pistol
out Derek calmly shot the Red Beret captain in the leg. The man fell to the
ground screaming in pain and clutching his wounded leg with his handcuffed
hands.
“What did you do that for?” Rora screamed as the
gunshot broke her from her frozen state.
“We don’t have to outrun the Drinkers; we just have
to outrun him.” Derek cold-bloodedly informed her. “Now run!”
She swallowed hard and nodded. They turned and ran
for the entrance as the Drinkers exited their boxes. Derek noticed the hacker,
Shilling, was already gone. He had disappeared without a word when the lights
went out. That man was a mystery they needed to solve. He was like a ghost when
he wanted to be, and yet he seemed genuinely interested in helping them. Once
they were out of this, he needed to track the man down and get some answers.
“Lead the way!” Derek ordered Rora. “I know you
memorized the way out.”
She scrambled out of the cave and he followed.
Derek didn’t even spare a glance backwards at the bleeding captain. He could
hear the man moaning and pleading for help, but Derek ignored him. The man
meant nothing to him, and Rule #31 was every man for himself. If the captain
hadn’t ambushed them he wouldn’t be in this situation. So Derek didn’t feel any
pity for him.
They ran down the stone corridor using the lights
on their M-18 carbines to show the way. When they reached the gate, Derek was
relieved to find that it was still unlocked. He had been slightly afraid that
the hacker had somehow locked it behind him. Derek had taken the padlocks as a
precaution, but that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t have had their own. He
paused briefly to use one of the original padlocks to secure the gate. That
ought to buy them even more time to escape.
Derek was startled as the Red Beret captain crashed
into the gate, his crazed face pressed against the chain link fencing. Derek
was impressed, even with a badly wounded leg; the man had managed to catch up
to them. There was a trail of blood leading back into the cave and the captain
looked pale in the minimal light provided by the light on Derek’s gun. There
was a look of madness in the man’s eyes and he was practically foaming at the
mouth. Derek could hear the howls of the hunting Drinkers coming from the
corridor behind the gate. It wouldn’t be long now before they caught up.
“You’re going to pay for this Storm!” The captain
shrieked. “I’m going to make you pay!”
“Good luck with that.” Derek said sarcastically as
he turned away.
“You think you’re better than me?” The captain
said, suddenly very lucid. “You’re a killer just like me. And you enjoy it.”
Derek paused and turned back. “I’m nothing like
you.” He said vehemently.
The captain laughed. “You shot me in the leg so you
could escape, knowing I would be eaten alive by those beasts. You left me
handcuffed and unarmed. I don’t think it gets any more cold blooded than that.”
“You’re a monster, you deserve your fate.” Derek
snarled.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” The captain
said snidely, as the howls got closer. “At least give me a fighting chance.”
“We have to go!” Rora insisted. “We don’t know if
that gate will hold them.”
Derek took a few seconds to think about it. He
certainly wasn’t unlocking the gate, but leaving the man handcuffed and unarmed
to face certain and horrible death did seem particularly coldhearted. He wasn’t
a cold blooded killer. He was a hot blooded one who killed other killers. He
enjoyed it yes, but it was the thrill of combat and the feeling of justice he
enjoyed; not watching people die.
He decided he was better than the Red Beret
captain; that even though the man had a lot of blood on his hands, he at least
deserved a fighting chance. Derek would have wanted the same. With a sigh, he unlocked
the captain’s cuffs and jammed a knife through the gap around the gate. The
captain grabbed it like a drowning man grabs a life preserver and smiled
nastily.
“Good luck.” Derek said quietly and sincerely.
The captain nodded and turned to face his foes.
Derek’s flashlight reflected off the sharp white fangs of the bloodthirsty monsters
as the came down the corridor in a wild rush. The captain screamed a battle cry
and charged them. Derek turned and ran before the two collided. The blood
curdling screams behind him told the story. The screams followed them as they
ran back through the cave network.
Derek and Rora passed back through the Ruins of
Karnak. It was completely empty. It looked like the captured U.S.T.G. soldiers
and the partisans had fled, taking every scrap of equipment with them. Derek
and Rora continued to run on, both eager to get as far away from the bloodthirsty
monsters as possible. The screams had faded away when they reached the
entrance. They emerged into bright sunlight forcing both of them to pause to
let their eyes adjust.
Derek’s enhanced eyes adjusted quicker and he was
able to study Rora’s face briefly. She was completely pale and had a look of
horror and disgust on her face. It was possible she was in shock. When her eyes
adjusted she turned to Derek.
“Let’s get out of here.” She whispered. “We need to
get back to NASA and start looking for another possible location of the ARK.”
“Are you okay?” Derek asked in surprise.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just disappointed. I thought we
would find the ARK. My plans cannot move forward without it.” She replied.
“Your plans?”
“The plans to reseed life on Earth.” Rora said
quickly. “We need the ARK for that.”
“Right.” Derek said, unconvinced.
Something wasn’t right about this whole situation,
but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Rora had been acting strangely since the
rescue from Stone Mountain. She had seemed more callous and self-centered. But
that could very easily be his influence and that of the harsh realities of the
World After. She had always had some secrets, but they hadn’t affected him.
Now, they were started to impact him and he didn’t like it. He never liked to
be caught unprepared. Rule #27, never walk into anything blind. They would need
to have a serious discussion once they got out of this mess.
The whir of helicopter blades cut short any further
reflection on his part. It sounded like two large choppers were approaching.
Grabbing Rora’s hand, he pulled her up the entrance stairs and behind the
visitor center. He pushed her down behind an abandoned dumpster just as two
Chinook transport choppers emerged over the parking lot and prepared to land.
Glancing out from behind the dumpster he could see they had U.S.T.G. markings
on them. But the black clad men who disembarked once the choppers landed were
definitely not U.S.T.G. Special Forces.
Dressed in black BDUs and body armor, they carried
the ubiquitous M4 carbines all tricked out with laser aiming devices, red dot
holographic sights, lights, and suppressors. Their faces were covered by black
ski masks and they wore black Kevlar helmets. Oddly they all seemed almost
uniform in size and body shape and they moved in almost perfect unison. It was
somehow familiar to Derek and it only took him a few seconds to realize why.
“Faceless.” Derek hissed when he realized who they
were.
“Here?” Rora whispered. “What are they doing here?”
“I think we know who the captain’s new friends
are.” Derek whispered back as he watched the Faceless troops descend into the
caves. “We need to get out of here before they start searching the area. There
are too many of them to fight.”
“Where are we supposed to go?” She asked. “I tried
to memorize the route we took here, but all the trees and rocks start to look
the same after a while. We will just get lost.”
“That’s better than staying here.” Derek insisted.
“Hey Voice, how about some assistance?” Derek
sub-vocalized.
“Major, I am unable to access any network.” The
Voice replied in a slightly alarmed tone.
“What does that mean?” Derek hissed.
“It means I cannot access any satellites, computer
networks, or do anything except talk to you.” The Voice explained frustratedly.
“I’m working on it.”
“How is this possible?” Derek murmured.
“Someone is blocking the channel I use to access
the networks. It is supposed to be protected by an unbreakable encryption and
the frequency shifts constantly to prevent someone from locking on. This just
shouldn’t be possible.” The Voice replied seeming agitated. “The only way would
be if someone was locked onto this signal and only this signal and knew the
encryption key and frequency shift algorithm they could block it. But that
shouldn’t be possible either.”
“What about NASA?” Derek asked quietly. “They
blocked the signal at Cape Canaveral.”
“They used a massive jamming array that blocked all
signals. There is nothing nearby or even portable that has enough power to
replicate that.” The Voice explained. “No, this is targeted at me directly.
Until I can figure this out you are on your own.”
The Voice’s statement that it was targeted caused a
lot of concern. If it was indeed targeted that meant the Faceless not only knew
about the Voice, they knew how to shut him down. That elevated their level of
threat considerably. So far he hadn’t been able to figure out their motives,
mostly because he knew nothing about them. But if they had access to this level
of information and technology, they were indeed a major threat. He and Rora had
to get out of here.
Derek debated launching a surprise attack on the
Faceless choppers. They only had a few troops to guard them and he might be
able to seize one and escape. It might also allow him to check out the jamming
device they were using. Or they could try to sneak off before the Faceless
troops who went into the caves returned. When they found out that he and Rora
were not in the caves, they would likely search the area; so they couldn’t just
hide until the Faceless left.
The sound of more choppers approaching made the
decision for him. He gestured for Rora to follow him and he began running for
the edge of the desiccated woods. He stayed crouched over as much as possible,
but speed was more important than stealth at the moment. The trees didn’t offer
the cover like they used to when they had leaves, but they were still dense
enough to provide protection and some concealment.
As they got near the tree line, he noticed movement
in the woods and raised his carbine. Just before he pulled the trigger he
realized it was the partisan leader, Micah. The young man was artfully
concealed in the brush and was frantically trying to get Derek’s attention.
Altering course, Derek led Rora over to where the partisan leader was hiding.
They dropped down into a small gully covered in weeds along the edge of the
park area.
They watched in silence as two Huey gunships flew
into view and circled the area. Both had gunners with mini-guns in their doors
and rocket pods under their stubby wings. They continued to circle as some of
the Faceless gunmen reappeared from the caves. Several of them seemed to be
carrying something, but Derek couldn’t make out what it was. This was very odd.
It appeared the Red Beret captain had been working with the Faceless; but if
the whole thing had been a trap, why were they retrieving something?
More concerning was the apparent pull they had
within the U.S.T.G. Were they working with or for the government, or did they
have people deep inside allowing them to use U.S.T.G resources? He wasn’t sure
which one bothered him more. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any more
complicated, they always did. He was starting to wonder why he was on this
crazy crusade anyway. He could have dropped Rora off and gotten paid.
