Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4) (6 page)

   “Yes sir!” The Ranger in the front passenger seat
agreed snappily as the Rangers complied with his instructions. “Any idea who we
have incoming?”

   “I’m guessing Reconquistadors, but they seem
awfully well equipped from what I have heard.” Derek replied.

   “We had heard rumors that the U.S.T.G. was arming
them…but we thought that was a rumor started by the C.C.A. to get us to join
them.” The Ranger, a corporal, told Derek.

   “What about backup?” He asked quickly.

   “A Rapid Response Force is on the way, but it will
be at least twenty minutes before the gunship gets here.” The corporal replied
matter of factly.

   “What about ground forces?” Derek asked sourly.

   “At least forty minutes, maybe a little more.” The
corporal informed him.

   “Wonderful.” Derek muttered ironically before
issuing more orders. “We need to clear this building. I’ll go in first.”

   They pulled up in front and Derek jumped out with
his carbine at the ready. The building was boarded up with plywood over the
windows like all the others. Spray painted signs indicated drinks, food, and
women inside. It was a typical wasteland saloon catering to scavengers and
renegades, and possibly some Rangers on leave since prostitution was illegal in
the N.R.T. Oddly, the front doors were wide open and there was no movement or
sound from inside.

   “Aren’t you worried about Rule #12?” Rora called to
Derek as he moved towards the front doors.

   “I’m counting on it.” He replied with a grin as he
loaded a grenade into the under barrel launcher and slammed it closed.

   Pointing the carbine at the opening, he fired a
grenade into the foyer of the hotel. There was a muffled crump of the grenade
exploding. Then a second later a much larger and louder rumble and the hotel
exploded outward. The flames from the blast roared out of the open entrance and
launched Derek across the street. He flew all the way across the street and
bounced off the wall of the building on the opposite side. He hit the ground
and tumbled to a stop.

   The blast blew out the plywood on all the hotel
windows and pelted the SUV with debris. The ground shook from the blast and
every remaining piece of glass in the town shattered. Flames poured out of the
openings as the entire building became engulfed in seconds. Smoke rapidly
filled the street as the fire roared and crackled as it consumed the building.

   “I was not expecting THAT!” Derek shouted as he got
to his feet and dusted himself off.

   “MAJOR!” Derek could hear the Voice yelling in his
ear. The blast must have temporarily blown his hearing. He could barely make
out what the Voice was saying. Something about the satellite view being obscured
by the flare. That meant no eye in the sky for this battle. It wouldn’t have
mattered much anyway other than to alert them to additional troops joining the
battle.

   Derek saw the flash of the .50 caliber machine guns
on the Ranger SUVs as they opened fire. The gunners had acted on their own
after seeing him blown across the street. They had risked the snipers and
popped up as soon as the enemy technicals had poked their nose around the
corner. None of the gunner had been hit by sniper fire and they shredded the
first two pickups rounding the corner. The large caliber rounds easily
penetrating the light armor on the pickups.

   Both had exploded into flames as the heavy machine
gun rounds had punched holes in their fuel tanks and ignited them. The gunmen
in the back had bailed out, but had been cut to pieces by the heavy gunfire.
The burning shells of the technicals sat in the intersection with all of their
tires blown out. Since snipers hadn’t taken out the gunners, Derek assumed
there weren’t any. But it did look like the entire street was wired with
explosives. He still didn’t want the rest of the Rangers to dismount for fear
they would be hit by shrapnel if whoever set the explosive decided to detonate
them or if they were detonated by a stray round. But the SUV technicals would
be a deathtrap if they were hit by a recoilless rifle round. Plus the Rangers
weren’t adding their firepower to the mix.

   “Everyone except gunners and drivers get out and
take cover along the sides of the street.” Derek ordered. “The buildings are
probably all wired so don’t go inside and stay away from the windows and
doors.”

   The Rangers rapidly exited the vehicles and took up
positions along the street. Rora joined Derek near the burning ruins of the
saloon. The thick, black smoke from the burning vehicles and the saloon had
begun to obscure the street. He knew it would provide enough cover for the
ambushers to attack them. Now that they knew the saloon blast hadn’t eliminated
the Rangers they probably wouldn’t come straight in again. He expected them to
come through the alleys and from all directions. Without the Voice providing
satellite surveillance, they would be almost blind.

   “Keep both directions of the street covered and
watch out for attackers from the alleys.” Derek yelled out to the Rangers.

   The SUV nearest him swiveled to cover the street
behind them to the east just in time. Three technicals full of gunmen appeared
through the smoke on the other side of the mines. Derek could see the gunmen
were dressed in regular clothes, mostly jeans and long sleeve shirts. But they
all had red, white, and green bandannas pulled up over their faces. That
confirmed the gunmen were in fact Reconquistadors.

   Two of the technicals opened fire with their machine
guns peppering the Rangers’ SUV technical with bullets. The armor of the SUV
resisted the lighter rounds from the machine guns and the gunner returned fire.
The heaver .50 caliber gun spewed brass as it fired a stream of bullets into
the first of the pickups. The front of the pickup technical exploded as the
heavy rounds tore it apart. Gunmen bailed out as the technical burned.

   But that bought enough time for the third technical
to open fire with their recoilless rifle. A high explosive anti-tank or HEAT
round ripped through the front for the Ranger’s vehicle instantly killing the
driver. The SUV caught fire, but the gunner kept firing and switched his aim to
the technical with the recoilless rifle. He unleashed a hail of heavy bullets
that blasted the recoilless rifle and gunner to pieces.

   Derek screamed at the gunner as he watched the
flames spread throughout the vehicle. “Get out, it’s going to blow.”

   But the man stoically stayed at the gun and kept
firing. He redirected the stream of bullets from the machine gun into the
second pickup as it tried to run. The rounds blew out the rear tires and then
stitched the gunner full of lead. The storm of bullets must have also struck
the driver because the vehicle spun out of control and flipped. The heavy
machine gun ran out of ammo and the Ranger tried to climb out of the vehicle,
but it was too late.

   The gas tank caught fire and exploded making the
vehicle awash in flames. The Ranger was caught in the blast and tumbled from
the SUV with his clothes afire. Derek rushed over and tried to snuff them out,
but it was too late. The man’s heroic act had cost him his life. Derek snarled
in anger. He wasn’t usually impressed with people in the World After, but these
Rangers had proven to be good men worthy of his respect. He wanted revenge on
whoever was behind this ambush.

   He scanned the street to see what the situation was
for the other Rangers. Smoke was smothering most of the street, but he could
still see flashes of the other two SUVs firing west down the street. His
hearing was returning and he could hear the distinctive sound of the SAWs
firing and the M-16s, so he knew at least some of the Rangers were still alive
and fighting.

   Return fire was coming from multiple directions and
was small arms as well as the machine guns mounted on the technicals. As he
watched, two RPGs streaked through the smoke and struck one of the SUVs. The
armor withstood the blasts but the front was heavily damaged. A couple more of those
and the vehicle was done for. The Rangers were pinned down and they would
eventually be overwhelmed. All it would take was the brief lull when they
reloaded the .50 cals and the attackers would rush them.

   “Follow me!” He shouted to Rora. “We need to flank
them!”

   She followed closely behind as he rushed down a
nearby alleyway that lead north. One of the gunmen popped up from behind the
rubble blocking the alley to shoot at them, but Derek shot him in the face with
a controlled burst. The man collapsed as Derek and Rora clambered up the
rubble. They popped out into a parking lot behind the buildings and found
themselves free of the thick choking smoke.

   Two more gunmen appeared in the open area. They
must have had the same idea of flanking their enemies as Derek did. He shot one
and Rora shot the other as they raced across the parking lot. They were across
the parking lot and nearing Route 11 when he heard the explosion.  It was
larger and louder than the pickup technicals when they blew. He could only
assume the damaged SUV had been destroyed. They needed to hurry before their
last technical was blown up and all their escorts killed.

   He ran across the blacktop of the highway and
darted behind the building on the other side. Rora was close behind him, but
breathing heavily.  They gunned down two wounded gunmen sheltering there
without mercy, Rule #3. They paused briefly and he could hear gunfire on the
other side of the building south of him and he knew the main force was there. He
quickly reloaded, dropping the almost empty clip and slamming home a fresh one.

   “Stay here and cover my back.” He ordered Rora.

   Without waiting to see if she listened he charged
out from behind the building. In the intersection there were two surviving
pickup technicals firing on the Rangers and two more wrecks burning nearby. The
bodies of gunmen littered the street but there were still at least a dozen
still fighting. They were firing from behind the cover of the surviving
technicals and from behind piles of rubble. Derek shot one from behind as he
readied an RPG-7 to fire. The gunman pulled the trigger as he went down and the
rocket shot into the sky and disappeared. Derek quickly switched his aim and
dropped a grenade into the bed of one of the surviving pickups. The gunner and
machine gun were sent flying by the explosion.

   The gunner on the second pickup tried to bring his
gun to bear on Derek, but it wouldn’t swing around that far. Derek cut him down
with a short burst. The other gunmen recovered from the surprise attack and
began firing on their ambusher. Multiple rounds struck Derek as he scrambled
for cover behind one of the burning pickups. His new vest stopped most of the
rounds but a few punched through the vest or struck him in the arms and legs.

   The wounds slowed him down and tripped him up. He
fell to the ground and rolled behind the pickup, taking cover behind an
oversized tire. Bullets whizzed all around him ricocheting off the pickup and
the ground. Sparks flew as the gunmen concentrated all of their fire on him.
They had him pinned down and he could tell some of them were advancing on his
position. If he didn’t move they would soon catch him in a crossfire that he
wouldn’t survive. He reloaded the grenade launcher and put in a fresh clip.

   Gathering himself and ignoring his wounds, he
jumped to his feet and dashed for the alley. As soon as he popped up he fired a
grenade into his attackers, killing and wounding several. He fired blindly as
he ran until his clip ran dry. Bullets flew all around him and he felt a few
pass through him, but he kept running. He was almost to the alley when a burst
struck him in the back and knocked him down. The vest stopped the rounds, but
he couldn’t breathe.

   Derek was lying there waiting to die as the gunmen
approached. Then, suddenly, the Ranger SUV burst through the smoke like an avenging
angel with its heavy machine gun firing on full auto. The few remaining Rangers
on foot came charging after with their guns blazing. The gunmen were caught
completely by surprise and quickly gunned down by the heavier firepower of the
Rangers. They disarmed and secured the few gunmen who had survived the sudden
assault and the town fell silent.

    Derek was grateful they hadn’t turned and run once
the gunmen had stopped firing on them. He had been pretty sure they would rise
to the occasion, but you never knew. These Rangers were impressive, Derek would
be grateful to have them by his side any time. That was his last thought before
he succumbed to his wounds and passed out. That seemed to be becoming an
annoying habit.

Deming, New Mexico

September 13, 2029

   The first thing Derek saw when he regained
consciousness was the face of a Ranger medic. The man had a confused look on
his face as he examined Derek’s wounds. Derek sat up and looked around. The
Reconquistador and Ranger technicals had stopped burning and the air had
cleared. He could see that the Rapid Reaction Force had arrived and secured the
town. Heavily armed Rangers backed by more armored cars had formed a cordon
around the area. A gunship circled slowly above them, its gunners constantly
seeking targets.

   “I heal fast.” Derek told the medic with a smile as
he jumped to his feet.

   A tall Texas Ranger saw Derek get up and moved
towards him. He was surprised to see the Ranger was a young black woman. It
looked like the Rangers were truly a color and sex blind organization basing
their promotions on ability and not politics. His estimation of them rose even
higher, which he hadn’t thought possible. The Ranger was dressed like everyone
else with their standard uniform and body armor, including the duster. But she
wore a gold badge indicating she was at least a captain.

   “Captain Jacobs.” The Ranger said with a drawl as
she stuck out her hand.

   “Derek Storm.” He replied politely.

   “Thanks for saving my men.” She told him earnestly.
“I heard you were quite the hero charging right into the enemy.”

   “Any of your men would have done the same. I just
wish I could have saved all of them.” He told her, humbled for some reason.

   “That’s not how they tell it.” She said with a
laugh as she jerked a thumb at a group of Rangers being tended by medics.

   All of the Rangers that had survived the ambush,
and there were only ten left from the original twenty one, were all wounded in
some way. One saw him looking and gave him a big smile and a thumbs up. The
other saw that and followed suit. He nodded back and gave them a quick salute.

   “They would follow you into the gates of hell.” The
captain told him respectfully.

   “I would be honored to have them fight by my side
any time.” He replied very seriously. “Some of the bravest men I have ever
fought with. One of your men sacrificed himself to hold off the assault. He
kept firing the machine gun on his technical until it blew up underneath him.
He deserves a medal at least.”

   “Every man who fought here will be getting the
recognition they deserve and the families of those who died will be taken care
of.” She told him. “Don’t worry about that.”

   “That’s good.” Derek agreed as he looked around.
“Any sign of the townspeople?”

   “Unfortunately, we found their bodies in the
Marshall’s Office when we retrieved the lieutenant’s body.” The captain
informed him sadly. “They had all been executed.”

   “That’s pretty cold hearted even for the
Reconquistadors.” Derek said, shaking his head.

   “It is, but they obviously didn’t want to take a
chance on anyone warning you about the trap.” She replied. “Why would the
Reconquistadors have such a hard on for you?”

   “I don’t know.” Derek replied in confusion. “Are
there any prisoners to interrogate?”

   “The Reconquistadors we captured couldn’t tell us
anything except that they were ordered to do it. But we did capture a man who
wasn’t a Reconquistador, who they claim was in charge.” She told him.

   “Really, who is he?” Derek asked in surprise.

   “He wouldn’t tell us and he has no ID, but he is
asking for you by name.” The captain said wryly.

   “Let’s go see who wants to kill me today…” Derek
muttered sardonically.

   The captain led the way to where they were holding
the prisoners. Along the way they passed by Rangers scavenging the burned out
vehicles for parts and weapons. The dead bodies of the gunmen had been piled up
on one side of the street and the prisoners were on the other. They sat on the
ground with their hands secured behind them. Angry looking Rangers kept guard
with their weapons pointed at the prisoners, ready to shoot if they moved.
Several had been bandaged and Derek was impressed that they still treated the prisoners
with respect even after the gunmen had killed over a dozen of their comrades
and murdered all of the townspeople.

   Rora joined them as the captain and Derek reached
the prisoners. She gave Derek a smile and a nod. His miraculous recoveries were
nothing new to her at this point. They walked past the downcast Reconquistadors
and approached a muscular man sitting next to a Ranger Technical being tended
to by a medic. Two Rangers stood guard over him and he was secured like the
others.

   The man was dressed in denim jeans and a bloody tan
shirt. A desert camouflage jacket, black Mexican-style cowboy hat with silver
adornments, and bulletproof vest lay discarded nearby. The minute Derek saw the
hat he knew who the man was. His nickname, and the only name Derek ever got
from him, was Zona. He and Derek had worked together a few times as bounty
hunters.

   Zona was a third generation Mexican-American, and
Derek remembered that Zona did have ties to Aztlan, occasionally carrying out
bounties for them. He was very handsome and charismatic and had done very well
with the ladies. He also had a propensity for getting in trouble with cuckolded
husbands and boyfriends. He and Derek had never had a falling out, so he had no
idea why the man would want him dead.

   They had worked together as part of a small team
hunting down hijackers for the Hauler’s Guild. For four months that had tracked
down a band of raiders that were hijacking the big rigs and killing the drivers
and escorts. They had received a nice payday and everyone had parted ways
happy. Derek remembered that Zona had been an effective and skilled operator,
but he had never had a problem killing their prey instead of taking them alive.

   “How did you catch him?” Derek asked the captain.

   “He and another man were in an armored SUV heading
west when the gunship arrived.” She told him. “They ignored commands to stop
and fired on the gunship, so they naturally fired back. The SUV was disabled
and they came out shooting. He survived the other guy didn’t.”

   “Where is his body?” Derek asked.

   “Over there.” The Ranger captain said as she
pointed.

   Derek followed her finger to a body nearby. It was
a short man wearing dirty and faded denim jeans and jacket. He had a
bulletproof vest over a gray shirt. Blood covered his entire body and he was
badly burned. His face was unrecognizable, but Derek noted the black leather
gloves the man was wearing. His left hand was missing a finger and that clued
Derek in to who he was.

   It was another bounty hunter Derek had crossed path
with, a redneck nicknamed Huey Luey. He was well known for his explosives
expertise and that explained the heavy use of IEDs and bombs. That surprise at
the hotel had been his. Derek was baffled. Neither of the men had any bad blood
with him, and they hadn’t even had an interaction in years. Why were these guys
working with the Reconquistadors to kill him?

   Derek walked over to Zona and waved off the medic.
Zona looked up at him and grimaced with pain. He had several wounds, but a
gaping hole in his shoulder looked to be the worst.  Derek crouched down so he
could look the man in the eyes.

   “Zona.” He stated simply.

   “Storm.” Zona replied through clenched teeth.

   “They said you wanted to talk to me.” Derek
inquired.

   “Get these guys to let me go and I’ll tell you what
I know.” Zona begged him. “I can’t spend the rest of my life in a Texas prison.
These guys will make sure it is a living hell.”

   Derek glanced up at the Rangers guarding Zona. They
glared daggers at the bounty hunter. His bombs and traps had killed many of
their friends and comrades. Derek was sure they wouldn’t let Zona just walk
away. He needed to make the man talk, he needed to know if the computer core
even existed and who had ordered the ambush. With a sigh Derek leaned forward
and stuck his thumb in the bounty hunters shoulder wound.

   Zona screamed in pain as the thumb jabbed into his
body. The two Ranger guards flinched but looked away. The Ranger captain
stepped forward involuntarily, but Rora pulled her back and shook her head. The
woman got a displeased look on her face but didn’t intervene. Derek was sure
she didn’t like the idea of torturing prisoners, but sometimes you did what you
needed to on the field of battle.

   “Why are you trying to kill me Zona?” Derek asked
as he removed his thumb.

   Zona gasped in relief as the pain subsided. “Damn
Storm, I don’t remember you being so mean.” He whined.

   “You weren’t trying to kill me before.” Derek
snarled. “Now tell me why you tried to kill me or I will keep going.”

   Zona hesitated and Derek leaned forward angrily.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Zona pleaded. “I’ll tell you. Just promise me they won’t
hang me.”

   Derek looked over at the Ranger captain and she
nodded. “Okay, now talk.” Derek ordered the bounty hunter.

   “You have a five million dollar bounty in gold on
your head, man.” Zona moaned. “We just couldn’t pass that up.”

   “Who put a bounty on his head?” Rora interjected.

   “The U.S.T.G.” The bounty hunter hissed. “Who
else?”

   “Wow! They must really want you dead.” The Ranger
captain interrupted. “What did you do to piss them off so much?”

   “I killed about a dozen Red Berets, twenty or so
Fedpol commandoes, fifty or more soldiers, wrecked a train, stole a chopper,
destroyed a border fence, blew up some vehicles, and generally frustrated
them.” Derek replied off handedly.

   “Don’t forget the space plane.” Rora added.

   “I could see where they might have some animosity
towards you.” Captain Jacobs said slowly.

   “It wasn’t personal.” Zona interrupted. “They just
offered us too much money.”

   “Who is us?” Derek asked.

   “There are at least seven other bounty hunters they
called in and made the offer to.” Zona answered with a groan. “Can you patch me
up please?”

   “Who else?” Derek grilled him.

   “I don’t know. Only me and Huey were at the
meeting, but they told us others got the offer in an attempt to motivate us.”
The bounty hunter replied.

   “How did you get the Reconquistadors to help you?”
The Ranger captain interjected.

   “The government spooks knew I had connections with
Aztlan and set it up.” Zona whined. “The Reconquistadors knew me so they agreed
to it. I was in charge of the ambush, but they were pretty psyched about
killing Rangers.”

   “There’s your proof, if you needed more, that the
U.S.T.G. is arming your enemies.” Derek said pointedly to the captain. “If you
think they will leave you alone after they take out the C.C.A. you and your
superiors are sadly mistaken.”

   The captain spit on the ground and stormed off.
Derek watched her go. He hoped the N.R.T. would smarten up and join the fight
against the U.S.T.G. before it was too late. A brazen massacre and attack in
neutral territory this close to the N.R.T. was tantamount to a declaration of
war by Aztlan. And if they were being armed by the U.S.T.G. it wouldn’t be as
easy of a conflict as before.

   “Was there a computer core?” Rora asked Zona as she
squatted down.

   “I have no idea.” He told her. “I was told to set
up the site to make it look like something crashed and to lead you back here.
After that it was up to us to take you out.”

   Rora groaned in frustration and stormed off. If
there was no computer core than they had been led all the way out here just to
be killed. The core was merely a lure. But how could the U.S.T.G. have known
that the core would be of interest to them or to even think to use that as the
lure? That seemed highly unlikely to Derek, there must be some element of truth
to the story to make it believable.

   “How could you be sure we would show up?” Derek
asked Zona.

   “The spooks said you wouldn’t miss a chance to get
your hands on the core.” He explained.

   Derek nodded and stood up. “Good luck. Next time
follow Rule #29, don’t start a fight you can’t win.”

   He waved the medic over as he walked away. He could
hear Zona laughing softly behind him, followed by cursing as the medic began
stitching the wound without any anesthesia. Derek put that aside to consider
what the bounty hunter had told him. The bounty was ridiculous enough to entice
every lowlife with a gun or a knife to come after him, but they hadn’t made it
public. It sounded like they had only given the notice to a select group of
killers. They wanted it done, but they wanted it done right. Derek had
definitely pissed them off.

   But, Zona’s comment about the core had been
interesting. It implied there was a core and that the U.S.T.G. knew they wanted
it. But it also implied the U.S.T.G. didn’t have it. Maybe Augie’s “sources”
could figure out where it was. They needed to head back to NASA and regroup. He
rushed to catch up with Rora.