Wasteland Rules: Kill or Be Killed (The World After Book 1) (16 page)

June 12, 2029

Zinc, Arkansas

   The armored van carrying Maximillian and his
drones arrived at the town just after dark. He had watched the satellite feeds
as they had driven to the location. He had seen Storm, the girl, and the
Regulator arrive and examine the bunker. Who knows what they found there. Then
he had watched them go into town and enter the building and the girl come back
out. The heat reflecting off of the roof had prevented him from using thermal
to see inside so he had monitored the outside. The arrival of the two Humvees had
been a surprise. Apparently another player was now in the mix.

  Maximillian had watched the armed men drag the
girl back inside. The sun had started to set so he was able to switch to
thermal at this point and see what looked like a battle inside. A blast of some
kind had rendered the inside of the building hot for a few minutes leaving the
satellite effectively blind. When he was able to see inside again, there were a
few people still in the building but not moving much. Then a large group had
entered from the back and as far as he could tell, still inside.

  The van rolled to a stop by the Regulator vehicle
and one Humvee. Maximillian looked at the two with concern. Where had the other
Humvee gone? Had Storm escaped him AGAIN? He rushed inside with his drones
flanking him. Using his augmented vision, Maximillian could see that a
desperate battle had been fought here. Bodies of mutants and soldiers lay
scattered about the room. Piles of them in some places. There were pieces of
blasted and shattered desk all over the place and shell casings covered the
floor.

  To his disappointment, the “people” still in the
building were the mutants created by Project Eris, known as Drinkers. The
monsters stopped their feeding and turned to look at the new arrivals. Maximillian
had his drones cut them down with a mere thought and started checking the human
bodies. His drones executed the beasts with remarkable efficiency, the beams
from their rifles lighting up the room.

  None of the bodies on the main floor belonged to
Derek or the girl, so Maximillian descended down the stairs. He found the vault
room empty except for the cooling body of the Regulator. Seeing that one box
had been blown open he knew the Major had retrieved the device. He must have
taken the other Humvee and left during the brief satellite blackout. Anger
warred with fear. How could that traitor Storm continue to escape him at every
turn? His luck was unbelievable. Worse, how would Father react to the news that
the device had been taken? Maximillian had failed at his most important
mission. Or had he?

  Storm had the device, but he almost certainly
didn’t know how to use it or even what it was. Possibly the girl knew, but
unlikely the doctor had told her. And even if she did know, she wasn’t the
buyer so she probably would tell the Major. Maximillian still had a chance to
stop them. If could regain the device or even destroy it before Storm could
make the exchange, his mission would still be a success. Maximillian strode up
the stairs with new purpose. His waiting drones falling into place behind him
as he exited the building.

  Entering the remaining Humvee, Maximillian
accessed their onboard computer. As he had suspected, the soldiers belonged to
the Outfit. Given that the Major had killed them and his Regulator friend, it
was easy to figure out that the friend had betrayed Storm to sell the device to
the Outfit. But they were merks, so who was their employer? Likely it was the U.S.T.G.
since they often used the Outfit to perform their dirty work in the wastelands.
But if the U.S.T.G. was after Derek as well, who was his buyer? Maximillian had
assumed it was the U.S.T.G..

  The Collective had provided the network software
that the Outfit’s predecessor used so he was able to access the locator code
for the other Humvee and track it via satellite. The vehicle was not that far
away and was heading east out of No Man’s Land. He could catch up without too
much trouble. But what was concerning were the dots representing the other
Outfit vehicles closing in on the stolen Humvee. They would reach Storm before
he would and might get the device first. No matter, Maximillian could retrieve
it from them. He disengaged from the computer system and got back into the van.
With another thought he engaged the drive and they headed after Storm and the
device.

June 13, 2029

Near Jonesboro, Arkansas

    They had picked up the pursuing choppers just
after they had exited the foothills outside of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Two black
MH-60K Blackhawk helicopters had been waiting for them as they broke out into
the open. The choppers had swooped in and opened fire on the Humvee Derek and Rora
were riding in. Bullets from the mini-guns in the chopper doors bounced off the
armor and starred the bulletproof glass windows. In response Derek had floored
the accelerator and taken evasive action. He knew the armor could probably
withstand the mini-guns, but the choppers also had rocket pods mounted on them.

  The chase had lasted for about thirty minutes when
the gunners in the choppers changed tactics. Flying on either side of the
fleeing Humvee, they focused their fire on the wheels. The wheels were solid
rubber, but the relentless stream of lead started chewing them to pieces. As
the ride got bumpier and bumpier, Derek realized that eventually the tires
would come apart and they would crash to a halt, leaving them helpless.

  “We need to find cover.” He announced to Rora.
“Start looking for a town or buildings, anything we can hide in.”

  “I thought the armor would protect us.” She asked.

  “It will, but if they disable us they can just
wait us out or even burn us out.” He replied grimly. “They don’t want to damage
the device so they won’t blow us up, at least not without trying everything
else first.”

  “How did they find us?”

  “I’m guessing this thing has some kind of GPS
tracker on it. We need to ditch it and find another ride.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Rule #11. If you can’t fight, run. If you can’t
run, hide. If you can’t hide, fight. We need to try to hide; but if we can’t,
we need a good place to fight from.”

   They continued in the open, desolate plains,
rounds shredding their tires, for another ten minutes before Rora spotted some
cover.

  “Over there!” She yelled and pointed.

  Derek saw the silhouettes in the distance and spun
the wheel taking them off-road towards whatever the structures were. The ride
became very bumpy and he almost lost control of the Humvee. It took every last
bit of skill and concentration to avoid wrecking the bucking vehicle. The
choppers flew past at the sudden turn and began to circle back. They only had a
couple of minutes before the unforgiving rain of fire continued.

  As they got closer, Derek could see that it was an
abandoned solar power facility. Rows and rows of massive solar panels gleamed
in the rising sun. In the center was a small cluster of buildings housing the
control center and repair facilities. Solar had been very trendy in the 2010’s
despite having been proven to be inefficient and the panels faulty. Large
government loans had pushed through construction of many facilities like this.
Most of which never even actually produced any electricity. The debt incurred
and the agenda behind their construction had contributed to the Collapse. When
it had been happening, Derek had been very bitter about the waste of his
taxpayer dollars; but today he was grateful for the place to hide.

  The choppers reacquired them as they entered the
solar farm and opened fire again. Panels shattered as the Humvee raced between
them. Large pieces of the panels fell on and around the vehicle as the choppers
unloaded on the escaping Humvee. Several towers collapsed as their supports
were blown apart. Derek wove in and out of the debris barely avoiding the
falling towers. The Humvee bucked and jumped as they ran over large pieces he
couldn’t avoid. Rora hung on for dear life as they swerved wildly while headed
towards the center of the complex.

  The Humvee made it into the complex and crashed
through the corrugated doors of a warehouse attached to the main building. It
slid to stop, the wheels coming apart and the rims sending a shower of sparks
as Derek mashed the brakes. They spun sideways and nearly toppled over before
coming to final rest. Both Derek and Rora let out large sighs of relief. That
relief quickly ended as they saw the choppers pass by through the windows on
the warehouse.

  On their second pass, the guns on the helicopters
opened fire again shattering the windows and punching holes in the thin metal
walls of the warehouse. As they circled around for another pass, Derek
shouldered the M-14 and jumped out of the ruined vehicle waving for Rora to
follow him. They ran for the door into the main building, Derek blasting the
lock with his shotgun when it didn’t open. Both of them tumbled inside, safe
for the moment inside the concrete walls of the control center.

  He led them through the building up towards the
main control room. Derek had noticed the tower on top of the building and
remembered they had had to visually inspect the panels. The panels rotated with
the sun and had to be perfectly clean to get the most power out of them. A
misaligned or dirty panel could drop output significantly. So the main control
room was a tower with tinted glass on all sides allowing workers to monitor the
panels. It would also provide a great vantage point for Derek to see in every
direction. Maybe he could catch the choppers by surprise and shoot one in a
vital spot bringing it down.

  When they reached the control tower, he could see
that was now the least of his worries. Through the tinted windows they could
see the choppers land and disgorge Outfit troops. Each chopper dropped a squad
of heavily armed and armored gunmen. Derek noted that each squad had a man with
an M-249M4 Squad Automatic Weapon, a man with an M-32C1 Multi-Shot Grenade
Launcher, and a man with a Barrett XM-110 sniper rifle. These guys were packing
serious hardware and unlike the Outfit gunmen at Zinc, they were wearing
helmets and goggles.

  Before Derek could take a shot through one of the
broken windows, the choppers popped back up into the air and began circling the
complex at a greater distance. The soldiers they dropped spread out
professionally and moved into cover around the building. The snipers
disappeared into the complex seeking higher ground and better cover. Derek
ducked down and pulled Rora down next to him, worried the soldiers might
somehow see their movement and blast the tower apart. As he pondered their
options he heard a blast of static and then a loud voice projected by a
megaphone.

  “You inside, we have you surrounded. There is no
way out and nowhere to hide. Give us the device and we will let you go. All we
are interested in is the device. You have ten minutes to throw the device out
or we will come in and get it.” The Voice informed them.

  “Let’s give them the device.” Rora whispered.

  “We can’t. They’ll blast this place apart and kill
us once they have it. We, I, killed a bunch of their friends and anyway I doubt
they want anyone to know they have the device.”

  “Can’t you just kill them like you did everyone
else?”

  Derek gave her a glare. “I’m not Superman you
know. A bullet will still kill me and these guys have us seriously outgunned.
Even if we get by the troops outside we still have the choppers to worry about.
And even if I did manage to kill most of them, at some point they will decide
to destroy us so no one can have the device. I don’t know what this thing does,
but it seems like everyone else wants it.”

  “So what do we do?”

  Derek searched through his pockets to see if he
had any tricks left when his fingers struck the phone. The phone, he had
completely forgotten about it. Maybe the voice on the other end could help
them. He powered up the phone, shoved the earpiece in, and pressed the send
button. The smooth voice on the other end answered almost immediately as if he
had been waiting for Derek’s call.

  “Major! Where have you been?” The Voice demanded.
“What have you been doing? Do you have the device?”

  “I’ve been busy fighting my way to the device but
I don’t have time for a play by play.” Derek informed him testily. “We have the
device, but we are trapped in an abandoned solar facility by Outfit troops. We
have about three minutes left before they come in and take it. We need some
help!”

  There was brief pause before the Voice answered.
“The Outfit. How could they possibly know about the device?”

  “Does it matter?” Derek interrupted him. “They are
coming in soon and I won’t be able to stop them.”

  “OK, OK.” The Voice soothed. “Let me see what
assets we have in the area. Hang on.”

  That was interesting, thought Derek, the Voice
said we not I. Whatever this thing was, there were sure a lot of people trying
to get their hands on it. Annoyingly they all seemed to know what it was even
though he didn’t. Even more annoyingly, Rora didn’t seem to have a clue either.
He hated doing someone else’s dirty work and not having any clue why. That
hadn’t really worked out for him in the past. The Voice came back on the line
with a brief pop.

  “The closest asset is hours away, but you are
going to have other company very shortly. Something far worse than the Outfit.”

  “What could be worse than eighteen heavily armed
men and two gunships?” Derek asked.

  The answer was provided shortly when he heard the
distinctive hiss crackle of energy weapons being fired. Only the Collective had
access to those, adding one more player to the very crowded mix. Derek and Rora
heard screams outside from the soldiers and a loud crescendo of gunfire. They
could hear the choppers move closer and add their fire to the incredible racket
of the battle raging outside. The gunfire actually increased and they heard
loud explosions, including the distinct sound of rockets being fired. The
firefight ended with two large explosions that shook the building and Derek
realized that the choppers must have gone down.

  In the silence that followed, Derek and Rora
waited for some sign of who had won. When they heard nothing, Derek risked
using a piece of mirrored glass to look outside. What he saw stunned him. The
crumpled and burning wreckage of the two choppers lay just inside the solar
farm, black smoke billowing up into the sky. The bodies of the Outfit soldiers
lay scattered around the building amongst the panels and smaller outbuildings.
Walking amongst them were men in metallic silver full body armor and helmets
that encased their heads. They carried futuristic looking rifles that had to be
pulse rifles. None of the silver armored troops looked to be wounded, nor were
any down.

  Another man caught Derek’s eye. He was walking
towards the control center scanning his head back and forth. He wore similar
armor, except his was metallic gold; and unlike the others his head was bare.
His hair was close cropped and Derek could see metal glints on his neck
indicating cybernetics. He was a Humek, Collective agents that had willingly
accepted cybernetic implants to “improve” them.

  They were fanatical followers of the Collective,
and while they were a part of the LINC they still maintained some of their
independence. Humeks had been the first to flock to the Collective, people so
obsessed with technology that the idea of being always connected was like a wet
dream for them. The Layered Integrated Neural Connection or LINC made that
possible. It had started before the Collapse with the advent of smartphones and
then wearable smart devices. Becoming a cyborg was the next logical step,
making the technology a part of you. Humeks believed that they were superior
beings, the next evolution of mankind. That made the others combat drones.

  The Collective had managed to turn normal human
beings into robot-like slaves they called drones. They all had a chip implanted
in their heads that controlled all of their thoughts and actions via the LINC.
Some were clones, but many of the drones were people who were implanted either
unwillingly or under duress in the Aftermath. Most were used as laborers on the
Collectives farms and in their factories and mines, but some were specially
outfitted for combat. Unfeeling and unafraid they made excellent shock troops.
The U.S.T.G. had found that out to their great dismay when they had entered
Collective territory in an attempt to gain a Pacific port.

   The Humek looked familiar but Derek couldn’t
place him. His eyes glinted slightly as he looked towards Derek and Rora’s
hiding place. Derek realized the cyborg was using implants to scan the
buildings for them. Eventually he would discover their hiding place and come
for them. Derek knew there was no way he could fight them, they had wiped out
two squads of heavily armed men and two gunships without getting a scratch.
They needed a miracle.

  “Derek!” The voice in his ear startled him. “You
need to use the device.”

  “What?” He whispered in response.

  “The device; it was designed to evade the
Collective surveillance, to effectively become invisible to them. You need to
turn it on.”

  “How is that possible?” Derek asked.

  “You don’t have time for me to explain the science
to you. You need to become invisible. They will discover you any second.”

 “How do I do that?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen the device and I
don’t have schematics. That’s why you are retrieving it for me. Just turn it on
and start fiddling with it.”