Wasteland Rules: Born to Fight (The World After Book 2) (18 page)

   A blast from both barrels turned the raiders on
the ATV next to them into bloody messes and the now driverless ATV struck a
hump and flipped. It bounced crazily throwing the dead raiders free. One of the
bikes struck the wrecked ATV throwing the raiders forward over the front of the
bike. They landed hard, bouncing through the weeds, and didn’t get up.

   The remaining raiders on the dirt bike swerved wildly
to avoid the crashing ATV and gave Derek time to reload. They tried to flee but
a blast from his shotgun blew out their front tire causing them to suddenly
flip over head first. They screamed as they flew through the air and also
landed hard. He wasn’t sure if they were dead, but they were certainly out of
the fight.

   He slapped Rora on the shoulder and pointed ahead
to the transporter. He felt her grimace as he hit her and worried that her
wounds may be more serious then he realized. He might heal quickly but she
didn’t. He needed to be more careful risking her in these situations. He had
come to view her more and more as a partner and so he hadn’t even hesitated in
taking her to chase the raiders.

    She increased the throttle and they quickly
moved up behind the massive transporter. It wasn’t designed to go off-road but
it’s enormous solid rubber tires were having no trouble crushing their way
across the wasteland. There were still several raiders on the transporter
itself and they opened fire as Derek and Rora got closer. Covered by the metal
frame of the vehicle Derek would have great difficulty hitting them, and he
didn’t want to take a chance on damaging the shuttle.

   “Pull up behind it.” He said in Rora’s ear as he
shoved the shotgun back into its sheath. “I’m going to climb on board.”

   “What?” She yelled back. “Are you crazy?”

   “Just do it!” He ordered.

   She shook her head and did as requested. The
gunfire directed at them stopped as they got close. The raiders on the side of
the vehicle couldn’t get a shot on them as they were blocked by the bulk of the
vehicle itself. The ATV rattled and bounced wildly as Rora tried to get closer.
The ruts torn by the massive tires were making it difficult for her to maintain
control and the dirt and rocks sprayed back at them were making it hard to see.

   Derek braved the steady stream of debris and
climbed over her onto the front of the ATV. With one final burst of speed she
got close enough and he jumped for it. He almost didn’t make it, but he managed
to get one hand onto the frame. He was dragged for a brief second and ate a
mouthful of dirt, but he pulled himself up. Rora dropped back as soon as he was
off and watched as he climbed up onto the transporter. He gave her a quick wave
to let her know he was okay and started making his way forward.

    The massive vehicle was surprisingly stable even
moving at a high rate of speed. The incredible weight of the transporter and
the shuttle kept it from bouncing too much and its large size and wide base
kept it from shifting too much. It still had the occasional shimmy as they
crossed over a particularly rough patch of ground, but was otherwise fairly
easy to navigate. Derek moved forward, ducking under the shuttle for cover.
There was no gunfire from the raiders on board and he supposed they couldn’t
believe anyone could have jumped on. Moving slowly and quietly he was on top of
the first raider before the dirty thug dressed in worn jeans and a black jacket
was aware of him.

   The man barely had time to gasp as Derek leapt
onto him. A quick strike with the blade of Derek’s hand to the throat left the
scumbag breathless and choking. Derek kicked the hapless man off the
transporter. He struck with a thump and bounced limply a few times. Derek
turned to see another raider coming towards him with a pistol in hand. He
rushed along the edge of the transporter straight at the startled raider. The
pistol spat lead, but Derek’s vest absorbed the rounds and he barely slowed.

   They met in a crash of bodies and Derek bowled
the raider over. Landing on top of the filthy man, he smashed the raider’s head
into the metal frame until the man stopped moving. Then he tossed the body off
the side like a piece of trash. Normally he would collect the tattoos for the
bounty, but he had a bigger mission to fulfill. There were certainly more
raiders on board, but he wasn’t sure how many. More important was stopping the
transporter before it got much further away. Derek didn’t want to run into the
Humek and his drones or a larger raider group.

   He moved along the transporter towards the giant
cab. As he reached the gap between the cab and the trailer a raider lunged at
him with a knife. Derek stepped back and narrowly avoided the strike. As he
went to grapple with the man, another raider dropped down on him from above.
The new opponent grabbed Derek’s arms and tried to hold him for the other
raider to stick him. A classic maneuver, one he had seen a thousand times. He
didn’t hesitate and smashed his head backwards into the raider’s nose and then
powered forward breaking his grip.

    The knife wielding raider’s grin turned to a
look of terror as Derek barreled into him and gave him a hard shove. The raider
dropped the knife and tried to catch himself, but stumbled and fell into the
gap. The wheels didn’t even jump slightly as the rolled over him and crushed
him. Derek felt the second raider crash into him from behind and twisted around
to engage him. The raider’s knife slid off Derek’s vest and cut his jacket. He
pulled back for another strike, but Derek didn’t give him any room.

   He surged forward and wrapped his left arm around
the arm holding the knife and pulled it tight against his body neutralizing the
raider. Then he smashed his forearm into the already bloody face of the raider
in front of him. The man’s nose was already broken and blood sprayed out when
Derek struck it again. The man howled in pain and slumped backward. Derek
released his hold on the arm and gave the scumbag a shove off the side of the
transporter. The raider fell with a scream that cut short when he impacted the
ground.

   With all the raiders on the outside of the
transporter neutralized, Derek climbed onto the vehicle cab. He moved forward
and yanked the driver side door open. He narrowly dodged backwards to avoid a
shotgun blast from inside the cab. The raider driving racked the slide and
waited for Derek to appear again. This posed a problem for Derek. He couldn’t
shoot the driver and risk damaging the controls or the wounded driver wrecking
the vehicle. But he was running out of time. The longer this went on the closer
they got to whatever rendezvous the raiders had set up.

       He decided to take a risk and feinted moving
forward. The driver fired into the empty space but quickly realized his
mistake. He frantically tried to rack the slide to reload the shotgun, but
Derek lunged inside and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun. The heat of the
barrel burned the flesh of his hand, but he ignored the pain and ripped the
shotgun from the raider’s hand. He flung the shotgun off the vehicle and
grabbed hold of the hand grips on the side of the door.

    Bracing himself on the hand grips, Derek
launched himself into the cab feet first. He struck the raider, a long haired
young man with yellow teeth, with all of his weight and knocked him across the
cab. The transporter swerved wildly as the raider lost his grip on the steering
wheel. He struck the other door and was momentarily stunned, but recovered
quickly. The dirtbag frantically grabbed for the gun in his waistband, but he
was too slow. Derek was on top of him in a flash and placed his hands over the
raiders when he gripped the gun. A brief struggle for the gun ensued and ended
with Derek pulling the trigger while the gun was still in the man’s waistband.

    The raider screamed and grabbed his now bloody
crotch. Derek smiled grimly and opened the passenger side door. A quick shove
and the wounded raider exited the vehicle headfirst. His screams also ended
when he struck the ground. Derek grabbed the wheel and struggled to regain control.
With such a large vehicle its mass kept it moving in the direction it had last
been going and it was slow to stop. It took all of Derek’s skill and strength
to steer in the direction of the skid and prevent the transporter from
flipping. For one hair raising minute it tipped onto one set of wheels and
almost rolled, but he managed to slow it enough and get it straight enough to
prevent the crash. The massive vehicle slowly rolled to a stop as Rora pulled
up alongside.

   They ditched the ATV, but Derek disabled it after
stripping it of usable parts. Rora used the first aid kit in the transporter
cab to bandage her wounds. She had been hit three times, but all were minor. It
looked like at least one was a fragment that had ricocheted off the ATV. She would
live, but it was her first time being shot so it was an emotional experience
for her. As the adrenaline wore off she cried a little. Derek put an arm around
her to comfort her.

   “Don’t worry, you get used to it.” Derek told
her. “The bonus is that chicks dig scars.”

   She laughed and replied. “What about guys? Do
they dig scars?”

   “Only if they are places you only show in
private.” He joked.

June 21, 2029

Raider Camp near Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Atlanta,
GA

   The raider camp was a makeshift affair, built
from scraps of corrugated metal siding and lumber. Blankets served as windows
and doors, and there was trash everywhere. Guttering torches provided the only
light in the primitive camp. Maximillian’s olfactory sensors detected a strong
smell of human waste everywhere in the camp. It was in short, a disgusting and
pathetic place that he had no wish to be in any longer than he had to.

   If everything had worked as planned he wouldn’t
have had to be here much longer. The raiders should have been returning with
the transporter and shuttle shortly. Then he could have taken the shuttle back
to his base in Seattle. It would have been simpler to just destroy the shuttle,
but Father had been explicit in his instructions. He wanted the shuttle captured
and returned to the Collective.

   To that end, Maximillian needed the transporter
and the only remaining ones were inside the NASA complex where he couldn’t get
them. So he needed to wait for them to come to him; and they had. He had
upgraded the cultist wannabes he had found living in the airplane graveyard and
armed them with more advanced weapons. Their pathetic imitations of the true
glory of a Humek had sickened him, but he had to work with what he had
available. The leader had been especially sycophantic once Maximillian had
provided him with the armored exoskeleton.

   He hadn’t expected the imitation cyborgs to kill
Derek and destroy his convoy, but he did count on them weakening them
significantly. Their main mission had been to disable the other vehicles to
prevent pursuit of the transporter once it was taken. Maximillian had even
provided a jamming device to allow them to conduct an ambush and increase their
odds of success. He knew someone was helping Derek, but he had been unable to
determine the origin of the mysterious signal.

   The raider scouts had provided a good play by
play of the ambush and the disposition of the surviving convoy forces.
Maximillian could see the airplane graveyard with satellite imagery, but the
device was preventing him from seeing an area around where he assumed Derek to
be; so he had to rely on the scouts. He had instructed them to go ahead with
their phase of the operation. At nightfall they had attacked the survivors and
kept them pinned down while they stole the transporter.

   The raid had gone perfectly. The raiders had
executed his plan surprisingly well and had gotten the transporter without any
casualties. He could see the transporter on thermal from the satellite as it
pulled away from the graveyard. The raider’s vehicles were small green blobs
alongside and behind the massive blob of the transporter. They moved away from
the graveyard at a good pace and he waited with anticipation to finally
complete this part of his mission. Father would surely be pleased.

   But then it had started to go all wrong. The last
raider vehicle had disappeared and Maximillian had assumed it destroyed, but
then other vehicle blobs began to disappear. One shrank and stopped moving,
indicating that the riders were dead. Another exploded in a ball of flame that
glowed almost white in the thermal view. Yet there was no other heat source on
the view to indicate where the attacks were coming from and the convoy
survivors didn’t have a vehicle to chase in.

   Then he realized what had happened. Derek had
taken the last vehicle and was chasing them down. The device was blocking
Maximillian from seeing the pursuing vehicle. He watched with frustration as
the raider vehicles disappeared one by one, with one fleeing. Useless rabble,
he raged to himself. Then the transporter vanished from view and another
vehicle appeared. That meant that Derek had boarded the transporter and would
likely take it back. He held out a brief hope that the raiders on board could
defend it, but when it didn’t reappear after twenty minutes he knew that they
had failed.

   With the transporter vanished under the effects
of the device, he had no way to track it down. But he did know where it would
be soon. Time to execute the next phase of the plan and this time he would
handle it personally. He would kill Storm himself and then destroy the traitors
at NASA. Tomorrow he would end it one way or the other. That infernal device
was going to be a problem since it prevented him from “seeing” Derek, but he
had an idea on how to fix that.

   First though, it was time to dispose of any
witnesses and relieve some of his anger. Almost casually he drew his pulse
pistol and fired a blast at the raider chieftain. The energy bolt vaporized the
filthy man’s head, leaving a cauterized stump. The body slowly toppled over as
his followers stared in stupefied disbelief. Maximillian’s drones acted in
concert with his mental command and opened fire on the remaining raiders.
Following the execution of the worthless scum, he had the drones level the
rundown camp.

   He felt a little better. Now it was time to make
things right in the world. At his command they all got in the van and headed
south towards Cape Canaveral. It was time to reveal himself and have the final
showdown with the treacherous Derek Storm. He would not fail Father this time.