Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) (2 page)

June 25, 2029

Olympus Station, Near Earth
Orbit

  Derek and Rora strapped in
while the colonel quickly disengaged the shuttle from the station and began
slowly maneuvering away. They could see small thrusters firing on the station,
but it was obvious they wouldn’t be enough to keep the station in orbit. The
station was now dark and was only lit by the pale glow of the sun reflecting
off of it. It seemed like forever, but they finally cleared the station and the
pilot maneuvered them away. They turned and headed back towards the atmosphere
to make re-entry.

    The shuttle was suddenly
rocked by several large impacts and they were all thrown around hard in their
harnesses. Warning lights lit up the console and both Anna and the Commander
began frantically working on the controls. A second set of impacts struck them
and the shuttle slewed sideways.

   “What is that?” Derek
yelled at them.

   “Something is striking the
shuttle and it is causing serious damage.” Anna yelled back in a panic.

   “Major.” The Voice
suddenly spoke. The phone was still on speaker so the whole cabin heard it.
“There is an armed spaceplane in pursuit of you. It has stealth properties so I
didn’t see it until it fired.”

  “Who is that?” The
Commander asked, perplexed.

  “A friend.” Derek snapped.
“What do we do about the spaceplane?”

   “It’s the Prometheus.” The
Commander moaned as the pilot started evasive maneuvers.

   “What is the Prometheus?”
Derek asked.

   “Our last project for the
DoD.” The Commander explained. “I assumed it was scrapped during the Collapse.”

   “Obviously not.” Rora
yelled. “How do we get away from it?”

   “We can’t.” The pilot
answered as he struggled with the controls. “It’s faster and more maneuverable,
and oh yeah, it’s armed.”

   “Let me see if I can
help.” The Voice offered. “Try to get some distance between you by turning
ninety degrees in thirty seconds and then accelerating.”

   Colonel Brandt shrugged as
if to wonder how that would help, but he did it anyway. They were still rocked
by another set of impacts as the turned, but now they could see their pursuer.
It was much sleeker than the shuttle and had a much thinner profile. The tiles
on its surface were a matte black which made it hard to see, but the glow of
the station behind it caused the outline to be visible.

    Rora was about to ask
what good the maneuver had done when the rail guns on the station opened fire.
The fire seemed indiscriminate as it blanketed the area of space around the
spaceplane, but she realized the stealth capabilities were keeping the
targeting for the guns from locking on. So the Voice was filling the area with
metal in hopes of hitting the stealthy craft. He had wanted them to turn so
they would be clear of his line of fire.

    It was hard to tell, but
some of the projectiles must have struck home before the guns fell silent. The
spaceplane suddenly veered off and headed away from the shuttle back towards
Earth. It swiftly vanished into space. Anna, the Commander, and the pilot all
gave a little cheer as they saw it pull away. Rora and Derek gave each other a
wary glance. The shuttle was still in bad shape based on the amount of lights
lit up on the console.

   “Make sure your harnesses
are tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” The commander informed them.

   After a while, Rora wanted
to ask them how it was going, but didn’t dare interrupt their frantic work. So
she just sat back and grabbed hold of the seat. She could see Derek doing the
same thing out of the corner of her eye. The shuttle was rapidly descending
into the atmosphere and it was really starting to shake violently. The front of
the shuttle began to glow as they began to encounter resistance from the
re-entry. She knew it was normal for the shuttle to heat up, just like anything
does when entering Earth’s atmosphere. The tiles on the shuttle should protect
against the heat and keep the shuttle from burning up, but they had taken some
damage and if the tiles were compromised too much…

   “We are going in too
sharp!” The commander called out.

   “It’s the best I can do.”
The pilot replied through gritted teeth. “The stabilizers were heavily damaged
by the attack.”

   “We are getting too hot!”
Anna screamed in a panic.

   “Just hang on!” The pilot
yelled. “I can do this!”

   They all held tight as the
shuttle shook more and more. It felt to Rora like it was going to come apart
around them. The glow had gotten intense and they could actually feel the
temperature in the shuttle rising. Suddenly the shuttle was rocked by an
explosion and an alarm started blaring.

   “What was that?” The pilot
asked in a panic.

   “One of the fuel tanks
just caught fire!” Anna screamed.

   “Dump the fuel! Dump the
fuel!” The commander yelled at them.

   “I won’t have enough to
land if you vent it!” The pilot yelled in concern.

   “JUST DO IT!” The
commander ordered. “If we burn up, landing would be the least of our problems!”

   Anna did as ordered and
dumped the fuel. A couple of lights went off on the control panel and the alarm
stopped. They all breathed a sigh of relief, but the shuttle was still getting
insanely hot. Rora was starting to sweat inside the space suit. She wanted to
take off the helmet, but she knew they could lose cabin pressure at any minute.
And then, just as suddenly as it started, it was all over.

   They were through the outer
layers and the resistance normalized. The temperature began to fall rapidly as
the shuttle cooled. Everyone congratulated Colonel Brandt and relaxed a little.
They still had to land, but they had survived the most dangerous part.
Commander Khodorov actually slapped the pilot on the back and laughed.

   “Well that was something.”
He said jovially. “You can’t practice that in a simulator, can you?”

   They all laughed the
nervous laugh of those who have cheated death and are trying to make light of
it. Rora was glad the suits had been designed to wick away sweat because she
must have dumped a gallon of it. Her mission had almost ended in the cold
vacuum of space. That would have been a tragedy, since she was born for a
purpose. This one trip was enough of space for her. But they still had to land
before she would be on solid ground again.

   “Mission Control, do you
read?” The commander radioed.

   “We read you.” Mission
Control replied.  “That was a tough re-entry. What is your status?”

   “We suffered a lot of
damage, but we are structurally intact. We are low on fuel.” Anna informed
them.

   “That is unfortunate…”
Mission Control replied after a pause.

   “Why?” Commander Khodorov
growled.

   “You will need to land at Edwards
Air Force Base.”

   “Are you freaking kidding
me?” Colonel Brandt interrupted angrily. “I specifically asked about this in
the briefing and was assured we could land in Texas!”

   “Texas won’t grant us the
right to land.” Mission Control replied calmly. “They are worried that our landing
there will trigger a shooting war with the U.S.T.G.”

   “How are we going to get
back from Edwards?” The commander asked. “L.A. is G-21 territory and I’m sure
they aren’t going to like us landing there.”

   “We will send a plane to
pick you up. They should be waiting on the tarmac when you get there. The base
is far enough outside the city that you should be able to land and then take
off again before any of the gangs can get there.” Mission Control assured them.

   “Wait. You have a plane?”
Derek asked pointedly. “What about the navigation problems and the weather?”

   “Everything looks fine for
now. The plane is already on its way. Mission Control out.”

   The crew and Derek all
looked at each other and exchanged looks of concern.  “What?” Rora demanded.

   “We are very low on fuel.”
Colonel Brandt informed her. “I think we have just enough to get to Edwards but
it will be close. But that isn’t our real problem.”

   “The air base is just
outside of Los Angeles.” Derek told her. “That’s where our friend the Pope
calls home, but he isn’t our real concern. It’s G-21.”

   “What is G-21?”

   “It’s an alliance of
twenty one gangs that took control of the city during the Collapse.” Derek
explained. “When civil order broke down the police stopped controlling the
gangs. They went on a bloody rampage throughout the city. They raped, killed,
and looted with abandon. Fired broke out and since the fire department didn’t
feel safe, the fires burned out of control. Entire sections of the city burned
down. Once the rampage had more or less run its course, the gangs turned on
each other. Resources were limited and there were decades old hatreds and
perceived wrongs to avenge. So they started fighting each other all throughout
the city.”

   “Why did the police stop
working?” Rora asked.

   “They wanted to protect
their own. And as it turned out they were betrayed from within. The L.A.P.D.,
just like any large police department, has always had trouble with corruption.
One of their high ranking officers decided that the city and the country were
going to fall and he was going to take advantage. He convinced a large number
of the SWAT and HRT members to follow him and they basically launched a coup
within the police department.” Derek continued. “They seized control of the
armories and vehicle yards and jailed the commanding officers. Some of the officers
fought back but were wiped out by the superior firepower and training of the
revolting officers. The leader styled himself the Imperator and the defecting
law enforcement officers his Praetorian Guard. He has added some ex-military
over the years, but they are still mostly loyal former LAPD officers. Very well
trained and well equipped.”

   “So what happened with the
gangs?” Rora asked.

   “The Bloods and the Crips virtually
wiped each other out and dragged all their allies and subsets into the war. The
survivors were forced to band together into a new gang called The Nation to
keep from being wiped out by the other gangs. The Mongrels and Vatos Motorcycle
Clubs joined forces to run the Hells Angels out of town. Most of the other
gangs, of which there were hundreds, merged into larger gangs along ethnic
lines to survive.” Derek informed her. “The Mexican Mafia was the largest gang
with the most connections and they controlled the most territory. But they were
still engaged in small clashes with gangs that refused to accept their rule.
The gangs were slowly wiping each other out. So, the Imperator offered to
broker a deal carving the city up into fiefdoms run by each gang with him as
overlord.”

   “Why would they accept
that?”

   “Because he controlled the
only heavy weapons and armored vehicles in the city, and he had the best
trained and equipped troops. Together they could defeat him, but individually
he had the power to crush each and every one of them. They could never work
together so he was the most powerful person in the city.” Derek explained.
“They set up a feudal system with each gang leader as a Lord and the Imperator
on top. He mostly just collects tribute from them and maintains order. He has
also fended off any external threats to the city, like from Aztlan or the
Collective.  He and his troops mostly live in the Castle, which is their old headquarters
now heavily fortified. They also have outposts at some of the old stations
throughout the city.”

   “So why is the name G-21?”

   “That was the number of
gangs that signed the accord plus the former police force.”

   “Not very creative.” Rora
pointed out.

   “Gangs aren’t usually
known for their creativity. They are however known for their territoriality and
their propensity to shoot first and ask questions later.” Derek replied.

   “Now you see why I’m
worried. “ The colonel chimed in.

   “Let’s wait and see.” The
commander insisted. “If the plane is there we should be okay.”

June 26, 2029

Edwards Air Force Base,
California

   It turned out they had
just enough gas to land at Edwards. The shuttles thrusters gave out just before
they landed, but Colonel Brandt was able to glide them in for a landing. It
wasn’t pretty, but any landing you can walk away from is a good one. The
shuttle’s landing gear failed and they ended sliding off the runway and into
the desert in a trail of flame. Once the shuttle had settled they unbuckled and
deployed the emergency hatch to exit.

   As they staggered out of
the shuttle they were greeted at the edge of the tarmac by two black Humvees
without any markings. Men in black BDUs, body armor, helmets, and face masks
manned machine guns on top. The Humvees screeched to a halt right in front of
the stunned crew, Derek, and Rora. More men in black piled out of the Humvees
and pointed guns at them.

  Derek drew a pistol, but
they were hopelessly outgunned by the six armed men wielding M4 carbines. He
slowly lowered the pistol, realizing that even if he could somehow survive the
fight; the others would surely be killed. The gunmen kept their weapons trained
on the group, but parted to allow another man to come forward. He was obviously
the leader as the other deferred to him, but he had no insignia and his face
was also covered.

   “Derek Storm. You need to
come with us.” The man announced.

   “I’m guessing they aren’t
our ride?” Derek asked the commander sarcastically.

   “We don’t have much time.
You need to come with us.” The man in black repeated.

   “What about the others?”
Derek asked.

   “We don’t need them. Our
orders are to pick you up.” The man replied coldly.

   “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
Derek told him. “I’m guessing you need me alive so you won’t shoot and I’m not
going anywhere without a fight.”

   “Have it your way.” The
man said, and then drew a Taser and hit Derek with ten thousand volts.

   Derek crumpled to the
ground as Anna screamed. The gunmen rushed forward and herded Rora and the
others away as two of them grabbed Derek and dragged him into one of the
Humvees. Without a further word the gunmen got back into the Humvees and raced
away. The four of them were left standing dumbfounded on the edge of the runway
as the gunmen disappeared into the airfield.

   “What was that?” Colonel
Brandt finally asked.

   “I have no idea.” Rora
replied in confusion.

   “Who were they?” Anna
asked slowly.

   “More importantly, where
are they taking him?” The commander interrupted.

   “I don’t know, but we need
to find out. We have to get Derek back.” Rora insisted.

   “Let’s get out of here
first!” The colonel stated emphatically. “If someone else was here before we
were, they may have alerted G-21 to our presence.”

   “Too late.” Anna moaned.

   There was a squeal of
tires as three heavily armored and garishly painted technicals roared onto the
tarmac from inside the base. Two extended cab pickups with men manning machine
guns and a mini-van with a 40mm automatic grenade launcher on top screeched to
halt in front of the still shocked group. All three vehicles had an
eagle and a snake atop a flaming circle over
crossed knives painted in black on their doors.

 
 Armed men in a variety of clothing and armor exited
the vehicles and surrounded the crew and Rora. Most of their clothes were red,
green, or white; and a few wore bulletproof vests or flak jackets. The one
thing they all had in common was that they were all armed with AK-47 assault
rifles. This new group of gunmen screamed at Rora and the crew to get on the
ground until they fearfully complied.

   The men all looked
Hispanic and were speaking Spanish with each other. Rora could understand them,
but didn’t let on. They were debating what to do with their prisoners and who
they might be. A couple of the men wanted to rape and kill them, but most of
them seemed to believe they would get a reward for turning them in to the
Praetorians. While the men were debating, a cargo plane painted gray and with
no markings took off from somewhere else in the airfield. It looked big enough
to hold two Humvees, and it headed east.

  This only got the gunmen
more excited. They fired at the plane is it passed overhead and started
screaming at Rora and the crew. All of them maintained a fearful silence as
they waited to see what would happen. The gunmen, whom Rora had determined to
be from the Mexican Mafia based on the colors the trucks were painted and the
fact they spoke Spanish, finally tied them up and bundled them into the back of
the mini-van. The three technicals then took off towards the city at a
breakneck speed.

   The rest of the air field
seemed abandoned as they passed through it. There was some damage that could
have been from a firefight, but mostly it looked like it had been stripped bare
for parts and materials. They exited via the main gate and pulled onto a
highway heading south.  The mini-van was sandwiched between the two pickups as
they convoyed down the road.

   In the mini-van with them
were three gunmen. One was driving, one was in the passenger seat, and the
other sat on the passenger side in the second row of seats. Both the man in the
passenger seat and the man behind him kept their guns on their prisoners. Anna
was in the second row and Rora, the commander, and Colonel Brandt were in the
back row. All of them had their hands zip tied behind them, but their legs were
free and they weren’t gagged.

   Rora was stuck between
Commander Khodorov and Colonel Brandt and she began squirming trying to get
comfortable. This caused the man in the second row to start screaming at her to
stop moving.  Terrified by the screaming Anna broken down and began bawling.
Both the gunman in the second row and the gunman in the passenger seat diverted
their attention to her. And that was when Rora struck.

   She had cut through her
zip tie with the piece of glass she had palmed when they were on the ground. 
She lunged forward with her hands now free and pushed the barrel of the assault
rifle wielded by the gunman in the second row forward. Startled, he squeezed
the trigger instinctively and fired a wild burst. The bullets tore through the
driver’s seat and then the driver. He slumped forward over the steering wheel
and died.

   The vehicle swerved out of
control as his foot stayed on the gas, but he was no longer capable of
steering. Everyone in the mini-van started screamed as the vehicle began to
swerve wildly and then slewed towards the side of the road. The gunman in the
passenger side desperately struggled to get into the driver’s seat and regain
control.

   Meanwhile, Rora struggled
with the gunman in the second row. She smashed her elbow back into his face
shattering his nose. He howled in pain and let go of the gun. She pulled it
forwards and then slammed the butt backwards into his face, knocking him out
cold. The gunman in the front seat managed to stop the out of control vehicle
and it came to a rest on the side of the road at a ninety degree angle to the
roadway.

   He looked back into the
mini-van just in time to get the barrel of Rora’s rifle shoved into his face.
She winked quickly and fired a short burst right between his wide eyes. Not
pausing, she tore a knife from the unconscious man and swiftly cut the
commander and the colonel free. Anna was still screaming, but Rora just ignored
her.

   “Get on the grenade
launcher and shoot those technicals!” She ordered the commander.

   He scrambled up into the
open hatch and she could hear him release the safety. The other two technicals
had come to a stop nearby and sat waiting to see what the problem was. One was
still in front and one was still behind. He fired twice at the technical in
front of them. The grenades blew the gunman manning the machine and the machine
gun itself clear off the back of the pickup. The commander rotated the grenade
launcher and fired two more at the technical behind them.

   The grenades struck the
metal screen covering the front windshield and blew it in. The driver and
gunman in the passenger seat were killed almost instantly in the blast. The
gunner on the back was stunned but quickly recovered and opened fire. Commander
Khodorov was forced to duck back inside as the heavy rounds filled the air.
Rounds bounced off the side armor of the mini-van as Rora frantically tried to
dump both of the dead bodies out of the front seats.

    Gunmen piled out of the
extended cab of the technical in front of them and added their fire to the
rounds coming from the machine gun behind the mini-van.  Bullets beat a steady
rhythm on the mini-vans armor and ricocheted off the metal screens over the
windows. Some of the heavier rounds made it through the screens and whizzed
through the mini-van forcing everyone to keep their heads down. Anna had
stopped screaming because her voice gave out, so she was just shaking violently
instead.

   Finally, Rora got the
front seat clear and restarted the vehicle. She slammed it into drive and
pressed hard on the accelerator. They lurched forward and drove onto the
shoulder in a squeal of tires and a spray of gravel. She whipped the wheel
around and they raced past the technical in front of them. In the rear view
mirror she could see the gunmen getting back into the pickup to follow them.

   “Take them out!” She
screamed at the commander.

   He quickly got back up on
the grenade launcher and sent three grenades flying backwards at the technical.
The first two blew out the front tires and heavily damaged the armored grill.
But the third one must have struck something important because the technical’s
gas tank blew and sent it flipping backwards in a ball of fire. The mini-van
rapidly pulled away leaving the two wrecked technicals and gunmen behind them.

   Colonel Brandt shoved the
unconscious gunman out of the side door as they drove away. The gunmen hit the
pavement and hard, bounced once, and rolled to a stop. He didn’t move, but he
probably wasn’t dead. He then turned to try to comfort the shell shocked
mission specialist.

   “You should have slit his
throat!” Rora snapped at the pilot.

   “What? Are you serious?”
Colonel Brandt replied with a shocked look on his face.

   “Rule #3, never leave an
enemy at your back.” Rora informed him coldly.

   The rest of them just stared
at her in disbelief. She ignored their stares. They had been sheltered inside
the safe and comfortable confines of NASA. They had no idea what it took to
survive out here. And now that Derek was gone, their chances of survival took a
big hit. Her plans took a big hit. She needed to get Derek back.

   “Now what?” The commander
asked as he dropped down beside Rora.

   A good question. They were
stranded on the other side of the country from NASA, and they were now without
their one man army. They had to get out of L.A., back to NASA, and then find
and rescue Derek. Pretty simple really. It had been a very chaotic day, but she
embraced chaos. Chaos brought opportunity.

   “Do you have a way to
contact Mission Control?” She replied.

   “Not with the radio in
this thing.” The commander sighed. “The only place that might have a system
capable of communicating is LAX.”

   “LAX?” Rora asked,
mystified.

   “I forget how young you
are.” Commander Khodorov chuckled. “Los Angeles International Airport, or LAX
for short. Before the Collapse it had a hardwired communication system for use
in emergencies. As long as it is still intact, we should be able to access it
and contact Mission Control.”

   “Why wouldn’t Edwards have
the same communication system?”

  “Every base in California
was abandoned after the disastrous campaign against the Collective. It was part
of the terms imposed by the Collective. The military disabled or stripped
everything they could from the bases they had to abandon, including any
communication systems.” The commander explained.

    “All right, LAX it is
then.”

   “One problem, it’s in the
heart of L.A.” Commander Khodorov said ominously.