Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4) (28 page)

   Backing up, Derek continued to give ground; but he
was running out of room. Then he spotted a wooden nightstick in the belt of one
of the Faceless soldiers. Snatching it up, Derek also grabbed a second one from
another soldier’s gooey belt. Twirling them experimentally, he quickly found
the balance and took up a martial arts stance with a nightstick held against
each forearm. The two monsters smiled and continued to march towards him.

   When they were within ten feet of him they suddenly
charged at him swinging their axes wildly. Their frenzied attack forced Derek
back and it was all he could do to deflect or block their blows. Their strength
and speed was incredible, but he was keeping pace. They pressed him hard,
keeping up the brutal pace and continuing to swing wildly at him. They were
undisciplined and untrained but their speed and strength made every swing a
potentially fatal strike. It also made it impossible for Derek to counterattack
since he couldn’t time any of their moves.

   They battled around the room, avoiding gooey piles
of clothing that were once Faceless soldiers. The speed and ferocity of the
creatures was amazing and even when Derek found an opening, they blocked it
with their riot shields. Derek amped up his defenses and tried to
counterattack, but they sped up as well. The three combatants were locked in a
furious blur of weapons and shields as they danced around the room. They were
too evenly matched for either side to gain an advantage. Normally Derek would
wait for his opponents to get tired, but he suspected these two genetically
altered beasts wouldn’t tire.

   From what he could tell they had been given a
modified version of the virus that created the Drinkers. That gave them super
strength, speed, and toughness; but they maintained the intelligence of a
human, or at least a close approximation of that. They were grinning ferally as
the battle continued and it was obvious they were enjoying themselves. It was
probably rare that they got to face a worthy opponent and were genuinely
relishing the test. He understood that feeling all too well.

   “Major. Deimos is approaching.” The Voice whispered
urgently in his ear.

   Wonderful. They were running out of time to end
this adventure. He knew he couldn’t defeat Deimos in a straight up fight, so
they needed to be gone when the fearsome giant arrived. But he couldn’t get
past these creatures defenses. Derek tried to circle towards his weapons but
they kept cutting him off. They continued to slash at him wildly and
unpredictably, nearly decapitating him or severing a limb several times. Each
time Derek barely evaded the blow.

   They continued to battle violently with neither
side gaining an advantage until one of the monsters struck the nightstick on Derek’s
right arm with the blade of the axe. The baton cracked under the heavy blow and
when the beast pulled the axe away half of the nightstick went with it. All
three combatants paused for a second to process what had just happened. Both of
the monstrous soldiers smiled broad grins and redoubled their attacks.

   Derek was contemplating just fleeing out of the
room, but he didn’t want to leave Rora behind. He was torn; Rule #31 said every
man for themselves, but he had a lot of loyalty for Rora. That was something
new for him and it was confusing. They had been through a lot together and she
had rescued him from Homeland Security. She was closer than a friend and there
were no rules for how to deal with that.

   His internal debate was cut short when a small
blast blew one of the creatures past him with a smoking hole in its back. Both
he and the remaining monster looked to where the blast had come from. Rora
stood by the throne holding the grenade launcher with a grim look on her face,
a wisp of smoke coming from the barrel. Derek could have sworn there was a look
of surprise on the monster’s face as Rora fired again. The thing instinctively
turned and blocked the grenade with its shield.

   The shield absorbed the blast but stunned the
monstrous soldier. Derek quickly took advantage and jammed the sharp end of the
broken nightstick into the monster’s neck. Black blood spurted as the monstrous
soldier collapsed, clutching at its neck. Fortunately the creatures did not
seem to have a healing factor, but Derek chopped their heads off with an axe to
be sure.

   “Nice save.” Derek told a shell shocked looking
Rora.

   Clapping from behind the throne startled Derek and
he was surprised to see the Faceless Man step out from behind it. “Bravo!” The
Discordian leader said fervidly. “You are impressive. I was right about you.
You are worthy of a place by our side.”

   “Where is the ARK?” Derek growled as he placed the
axe blade to the man’s neck.

   “Forget about the ARK.” The Faceless Man told Derek
dismissively. “Let’s talk about our future.”

   “Kill him.” Rora suddenly insisted.

   That caused the Faceless Man to drop his seeming
nonchalance. “Kill me?” He blustered. “But I built all of this for us.”

   “Kill him, Derek.” Rora demanded forcefully.

   “What about the ARK?” Derek asked her, confused.

   “He is too much of a threat. Kill him. Rule #3.”
Rora replied coldly.

   “We have the location of the ARK Major.” The Voice
informed him through the earpiece. “And Deimos is here, it’s time to go.”

   “I built all of this for us, you cannot…” The
Faceless man ranted before Derek spun around and cut his head off with a
backhanded blow.

   The head dropped to the ground followed by the
body. It toppled over and landed in a heap in front of the throne. Both Derek
and Rora stared at the body of the man who had allegedly created the World
After.

   “What if he is just a clone?” Derek asked. “How
would we tell?”

   “Let’s wait and see if he dissolves.” Rora
suggested. “If he is the original I don’t think he will.”

   Both of them were standing there staring at the
body when Sterling joined them. “Is he dead?” Sterling asked looking down at
the Faceless Man’s headless body.

   “I think so.” Derek confirmed after a couple of
minutes. “The body didn’t dissolve, so I think he was the original.”

   “Great. I have the location of the ARK; let’s get
out of here before Deimos gets here!” Sterling said insistently as he tossed
Derek the phone.

   “Too late.” Deimos rumbled from the doorway behind
them.

Great Junk Market, Wichita, Kansas

September 16, 2029

   The battle in the Market in Wichita had turned into
a bloodbath. Deimos’ source hadn’t told him the Red Berets were already
infiltrating the city in preparation for a takeover. At first, he had been
ecstatic at the chance to pay back his former employers for their betrayal.
Slaughtering Red Berets seemed an excellent way to hurt them, and so he had
gotten caught up in revenge.

   But that had greatly reduced his numbers and
distracted him from the main mission, which was killing Derek Storm. Then the
N.R.T. had joined the battle in large numbers and with heavy weapons and
vehicles. His small army of Makai had been cut to ribbons and they had been
trapped within a shrinking perimeter as the other combatants focused on wiping
them out first. Their helicopters destroyed, they had no way to escape.

   He was preparing himself for a suicidal charge to
take as many with him as he could when the Android calling itself Nibiru had
intervened. The android had destroyed everything in the Market except him. The
carnage had been incredible and exciting to watch. Deimos watched mesmerized as
the android had run amok with seeming ease amongst the N.R.T. and U.S.T.G.
forces. The firepower displayed was impressive; and as Tom Zabrowski, Deimos
would have been intimidated when the android had landed right in front of him.
But as Deimos, he was simply impressed. He waited as the android drew closer;
anxious to see what it might say, but ready to fight if it was hostile.

   “Deimos.” The android said monotonously. “I salute
you my brother. I am Nibiru, the Destroyer.”

   “My brother?” Deimos asked, curious.

   “We serve the same master, you and I.” Nibiru
explained. “You might be flesh and blood, and I metal and electronics, but we
are brothers in battle. We both exist to create chaos and destruction and bring
about the new world.”

   Deimos had looked into the android’s red eyes. It
was the same robot that had intervened in Omaha, but it was much more heavily
armed and armored now. It also sounded different and behaved differently.
Something had changed it but he wasn’t sure what. He had some doubts about the
sincerity of the android, but its next words removed all doubt. The new mission
that Nibiru gave him was of the utmost importance and he would play his part to
perfection.

   With his transportation destroyed, Deimos had been
forced to commandeer a ride. The technical he had taken from one of the
militias had gotten him back to ADX Florence, but it had taken him awhile.
Storming into the facility, he had arrived in the main room just in time to see
Storm kill the Faceless Man. His death caused a weight that Deimos didn’t know
existed to lift off of his shoulders. He suddenly felt free. There must have
been a compulsion to obey the Faceless Man, and probably not to harm him. That
was why the enigmatic leader had been unafraid of Deimos.

   Now the Faceless Man was dead, and he could pursue
his own course. He could pursue the true path of chaos and not that
megalomaniacal fool’s. Everything was unfolding as promised. Soon his revenge
would be at hand, and the ascension could begin. But first, he needed to rid
the world of one troublesome man.

   The trio was caught off guard by his entrance, but
recovered quickly. He was gratified to see that Storm didn’t even consider
trying to fight him. All three turned and ran as soon as they saw him. Half the
battle was won then, he had succeeded in terrifying his soon to be former
nemesis. Deimos smiled predatorily as he stalked after them. Storm was pulling
on his weapons and gear as they ran, but it wouldn’t do him any good.

   Storm and the others moved swiftly and seemed to
know where they were going. That wretched Voice must be guiding them through
the complex. Deimos couldn’t wait to get his hands on that phone and crush it
to pieces in front of Storm. It was one more pillar of support he would remove
before killing him. Deimos didn’t race after them; he followed close behind but
never rushing. It would build up the sense of terror and panic the trio was
feeling. He had a pretty good idea of where they were going and he would strike
when they got there. Right before they thought they were safe.

   Accessing a locked door, he took a shortcut that
led outside. Storm and his companions were heading for the helicopters that
were kept in the central part of the prison. The facility was built like a ring
around open grounds that made up the interior including a baseball diamond and
soccer field. That open area was used to park the choppers they used on various
missions. The interior access doors were sealed to prevent access and since
they didn’t have to worry about fire safety regulations any more. According to
the records the hacker accessed the only exit was next to the choppers. So Deimos
could use his superior knowledge of the facility to ambush them.

   He arrived at the choppers before they did and hid
behind one of the Huey gunships. Storm was sure to pick the chopper with the
most firepower, it appealed to his ego. Deimos wasn’t disappointed as the trio
rushed out of the prison looking harried and constantly checking behind them.
He waited until Storm and the girl had boarded the chopper before appearing
behind the now boarding hacker.

   The look on Storm’s face as Deimos ran the hacker
through with the machete he had taken from Storm was priceless. The hacker
looked down at the blade extending out from his chest in disbelief and the girl
looked horrified. Storm had a combination of anger and terror on his face as he
watched his comrade die. Deimos chuckled throatily at the scene before him.
After a moment of savoring the scene he tossed the body aside and started to
climb into the chopper.

      Storm surprised him by managing to break out of
his shocked state and react by raising his grenade launcher. Despite the fact
that a blast inside the chopper would possibly kill or at the very least
seriously injure him or the girl, Storm fired anyway. The grenade struck Deimos
in the chest and the blast knocked him back off the chopper. He hit the ground
and rolled to his feet. The armor had protected him, but it gave the girl the
opportunity to slam the door of the chopper shut.

   Roaring with rage at being denied, Deimos jammed
the tip of the machete into the crack of the door and tried to pry it open. The
blade snapped under the pressure as the blades of the chopper started to
rotate. He threw the broken machete away and tried with his hands to pull it
open. The metal groaned and gave a little but still didn’t open. He was forced
to back away as the chopper blades whirled up to full speed.

   He had left his gun behind, assuming he wouldn’t
need it and preferring the blades anyway. Deimos hesitated for a second, then
turned and ran as he realized the chopper was heavily armed and Storm knew how
to use them. He dashed for the prison entrance as the gunship lifted off and
then began to circle around. He dove inside as the rockets struck. The blasts
sent him flying but his armor protected him from any damage.

   Deimos snarled in anger as Storm circled again and
launched a barrage of rocket and gunfire into the remaining choppers. He blew
them apart in a spectacular assault that created multiple fireballs and left
the remainder of the chopper fleet as burning wrecks. Rockets streaked down and
covered the area in waves of flame as heavy rounds blanketed the makeshift
airfield and shredded everything they struck. Thick, oily smoke covered the
field and hung like a dense fog obscuring everything. Storm circled again and
unleashed the remainder of his ordnance onto the prison entrance again, blowing
the walls apart and collapsing the entrance, before flying off.

   Pushing the wreckage aside, Deimos climbed out from
under the ruins of the prison entrance. Storm had won this round, but as
annoyed as Deimos was, he wasn’t worried. The gunship didn’t have the range to
reach Alaska. Storm and the girl would have to stop and refuel or make other
travel arrangements. There was plenty of time for him to catch up. Everything
was still unfolding according to plan.