Wasteland Rules: Kill or Be Killed (The World After Book 1) (13 page)

  Tex slowly stopped the truck as they reached the
new road. He and Derek both looked at each other and surveyed the surrounding
landscape. After a minute, Derek got out and went to inspect the gate. He
approached slowly and kept his hand on his pistol. The gate was well set in
thick concrete pylons and made of heavy duty steel bars and steel chain link
fencing. It was topped with barbed wire and locked with an extremely thick
chain and large padlock. All of it was slightly rusty and overgrown with vines,
but it looked in very good shape.

  “So?” Tex asked him as Derek climbed back into the
truck.

  “It’s in very good shape and very sturdy. Which is
odd.” He replied.

  “Why is that odd?” Rora asked.

  “We are out in the middle of nowhere, heading to a
nothing town; but the road to town is in great shape, unlike every other road
out here, and the gate makes no sense. Why block the road to town? If I didn’t
know better I would say it was done Pre-Collapse. But there would be no reason
to block access prior to the Collapse.”

  “It is odd.” Tex agreed. “But can we get by?”

  “I don’t think we can ram it, it is pretty solidly
built. Maybe we can blow the lock with your dynamite?”

  “It’s in the back. Wire up a stick and let’s see
what happens.”

  “Be alert for anything the blast may draw.” Derek
instructed Tex.

  He agreed and grabbed a scoped M-14 rifle with a
black composite stock from the rack behind them. He also got out a pair of
binoculars and handed them to Rora.

  “Get up on the hood and keep a look out.” He
instructed as he climbed out to cover the road behind them.

  “What for?” She asked.

  “Raiders or wild animals.” Tex replied over his
shoulder.

  Derek grabbed a stick of dynamite and a length of
fuse from the back of the SUV. He quickly wired the dynamite to the lock and
lit the fuse. He rushed back to the truck and took cover behind the driver side
door. Rora covered her ears and ducked down as the explosive went off. The lock
blew apart and tiny fragments of metal pelted the truck like rain drops. They
all waited for a few minutes to see if there would be any response or reaction.
When nothing happened they all released a collective sigh of relief.

  They all got back in the truck and drove through
the now wide open gate. It was an easy drive up the road towards the top of the
mountain. The road was fairly straight and led up around the mountain into a
small valley. They arrived at a small paved area that looked like a parking
lot.  In front of them was the town and on their left a small concrete building
with tiny slit windows. It was surrounded by a high chain link fence topped
with barbed wire which had a door sized gate in it.

  But that wasn’t the weirdest part. The town
itself, which was very small, was surrounded by three high chain link fences
topped with barbed wire. Derek noticed that the barbed wire on the town’s
fences faced inwards. Guard towers were located at the corners of the outer
fence and large gates, similar to the one at the beginning of the road, blocked
entrance to the town. The town was maybe fifteen two or three story brick
buildings along a single main street with smaller houses behind them.  All of
the brick buildings looked run down but were still intact. The houses had
collapsed completely and were overgrown with weeds. The road led around the
town and headed further into the mountains. A sign at the beginning of town
announced, “Welcome to Zinc Population 53”.

  “I wonder who they were keeping in?” Derek mused.

  “How do you know they were keeping anyone in?” Rora
asked. “Maybe they just needed a lot of security?”

  Tex responded before Derek could. “Look at the
barbed wire on the blockhouse. Notice how the barbed wire faces out. Now look
at the fences around the town.”

  Rora examined the fences and made a small grunt of
surprise as she recognized the fact that the barbed wire faced inward. “Is it a
prison? That would explain the gate earlier.”

  “I doubt it.” Derek replied. “I have never heard
of a remote town being used as a prison Pre-Collapse. They were always
self-contained compounds in more populated areas.”

  As he looked closer himself he noticed a couple of
other things. There were polarized plastic domes on the blockhouse, the towers,
and as far as he could see all throughout town. Each building had one and some
had several. They were also mounted on poles amongst the dwellings. It looked
like every square inch of the town was covered by the cameras. There were also
faded signs bolted to the fence by the gates with a bio-hazard symbol on them.
He moved closer to examine them.

  “It looks more like they were monitoring people in
the town, more like a quarantine than a prison.” Derek said and gestured to the
signs.

  The signs were very faded but he could make out
the faint words stenciled in red on the white painted steel. “Quarantine Zone
Bio-Hazard Suits Required” above the biohazard symbol, with “U.S. Department of
Defense” and “Genetik Solutions Corp” in very small print at the bottom.
Interesting. He had never heard of Genetik Solutions, but it was very odd that
a private corporation would be working on a project like this.

  Tex and Rora had come over to stand by him and
read the signs as well. Tex had involuntarily taken a step back and looked
visibly nervous.

   “Storm what have you gotten us into? I don’t want
to get any nasty disease!” He stated angrily.

  “Relax.” Rora told him. “It wasn’t airborne or
they wouldn’t have a sign here at the gate, and no virus or germ could survive
in this environment for fifteen years. It should be perfectly safe.”

  “How do you know?” Tex asked, still concerned.

  “My dad was a scientist and worked on stuff like
this for the government.”

  “Actually, he probably worked on this specifically
since he hid the device here. How else would he have known about it or had
access?” Derek pointed out.

  Rora frowned at that but didn’t reply. Her
father’s work and whereabouts prior to the Collapse would have been largely
unknown to her and Derek doubted he shared many details with her. Especially if
this was what Derek thought it was. A testing ground for biological weapons on
human test subjects. Possibly unwilling subjects based on the security around
the town.

  “Let’s go check out the blockhouse. “ Derek
suggested. “It is probably the command center for the project. Let’s see what
we can find in there before we enter the town.”

  Tex and Rora agreed and all three of them headed
over to the gate in the fence around the concrete bunker. To their surprise it
was unlocked. The plate with the lock in it seemed untouched so it was likely
the men stationed there had left it unlocked when they left. The entrance to
the concrete building was a solid steel security door. There was no visible
lock but there was a sealed panel beside the door. Derek opened it to reveal a
hand print scanner and digital display. Unbelievably it looked to still have
power since there was a message blinking on the digital screen.

  The screen displayed the message “Emergency
Lockdown” in red and below it the message “Top Secret Access Only”. Other than
the screen and the hand print scanner there were no other features to the
panel. No keypad or U.S.B port to link up a computer. Derek carefully examined
the panel, feeling around the edges and examining it closely. There were no
hidden switches or anything else. No seams that would allow him to pop the
panel open. It would require someone with access to get in.

  In a fit of pique he stuck his hand on the
scanner. They were all very surprised when it scanned his hand and then beeped.
The screen flashed “Major Derek H. Storm U.S. Army – Access Granted” and the
door unlocked with a loud metal snap of deadbolts disengaging. It opened
slightly with the hiss of air escaping from a sealed environment. Both Tex and Rora
looked at him with shocked faces.

  “Hunh” Derek exclaimed. “Well, once upon a time I
did have the highest security clearance allowed. I guess this system is
self-contained and old enough that the clearance is still good…Let’s check it
out.”

June 11, 2029

Outside Nevada, MO Freehold

   Maximillian watched the small town with minimal
interest. He and his drones were parked in their armored van behind a small
hill about two miles outside of town. He had engaged the active stealth
capability of the van and it blended into the grassless brown landscape. The
electronics suite was also actively jamming any sensors that might sweep the
area. No one would be bothering them while they waited. He didn’t suffer from
boredom since his ascension; he could access the entire conscious of the
Collective and see anything anyone connected was seeing. So he waited patiently.

  The only thing interesting about the town was that
his prey had gone inside. The Major hadn’t come out yet which hopefully meant
that he was either incapacitated in the prison riot Maximillian had engineered
or still in Regulator custody. Hacking the Regulator systems had been
relatively easy and inserting the video and arrest warrant had been child’s
play. He guessed they assumed no one had the ability to access their LAN
remotely. Of course Maximillian was more than just anyone, he was the First. His
skills and abilities far superseded that of mundane humans.

  He had watched the fights in the prison courtyard
with barely contained glee. He was supposed to be above emotions, evolved
beyond them. But Storm just pushed buttons he hadn’t even realized he still
had. It was disappointing that Derek had defeated all of the inmates including
that monster, the Yeti. That had been a bonus. Maximillian had not expected
someone like that to be in there. But Derek had beaten him too, which was
fairly impressive. Maximillian had pulled up the records for the Yeti and the
man hadn’t been just a dumb ox.

  Storm had been injured though, and it looked
fairly severe based on his appearance after the fight and the injuries
sustained during. Maximillian had lost control of the cameras when the
Regulators had managed to reset their LAN and lock out any external access for
the time being. While he waited, Maximillian watched the town through the
town’s security cameras. Thank goodness for Big Brother, he thought. Storm had
not exited the Station House and his vehicle was still booted in the parking
lot, so he must still be in the infirmary or locked up.

  After several hours it was getting dark. Maximillian
was starting to get anxious. Something should have happened by now. Dr Carter’s
daughter, who had gone into the Station House with a Regulator, had not exited
either. Something was wrong. So he aggressively searched for any access into
the Regulator network. He didn’t get into the LAN for this Station House but he
was able to access their broader network. The one used by Regulators in the
field. Accessing their database he searched for Derek Storm and was alarmed when
the database showed he had been released. How could he have escaped Maximillian’s
monitoring?

  He scanned the town and found no sign of him. Then
he went back through the video footage for the town and looked for anyone
entering the parking lot outside of town. Maybe he had taken another vehicle or
been in disguise. No one matching Storm’s size or with a woman had left town
since then. Nor was there any footage of him or the girl leaving the Station
House. Then Maximillian saw it, a Regulator vehicle driven by the man who had
accompanied Dr Carter’s daughter into the Station House. That was the only
possibility.

  He accessed the surveillance satellite feeds and
locked onto the truck. They had accessed the GPS system and he was able to get
the coordinates. His van started with a thought and he headed out after his
prey. They were hours behind, but without need for sleep or stopping for gas he
should be able to catch up. Once he did, Storm and his friends would be
trapped. No more incompetent intermediaries, this time he would take care of
Storm himself.

  Their location was in a valley with only one way
in or out. Interestingly, the location triggered a file in the Collective
database to be displayed. Its contents were very interesting indeed. Storm
might have a very hungry welcoming committee waiting for him.

June 12, 2029

Zinc, Arkansas near Harrison, Arkansas

  Derek, Rora, and Tex entered the dark bunker,
pushing aside cobwebs as they moved through the door. The inside was dimly lit
by emergency lighting which reflected off of the pieces of paper scattered all
over the floor. A large wall of blank, non-functional TVs took up one side the
large open room they entered in to. The other side had multiple computer
stations with large flat screen monitors and cushy chairs now covered in
cobwebs. Two doors led further back into the bunker, probably housing living
facilities and equipment. Along the wall on the side they had entered from were
massive filing cabinets. Most of which were hanging open and files were
scattered on the floor beneath them.

  A large shredding machine sat in the middle of the
room. Piles of paperwork and files sat in front of it. The mouth of the machine
was jammed with more paper from the files. Derek went to the files and started
sifting through them as Rora moved over to the computers and was amazed they
still had power. Tex stood at the entrance taking it all in.

  “Looks like they left in a hurry.” He offered.

  “A big hurry. They tried to destroy everything but
left before finishing.” Derek agreed.

  “The computers look like they are wiped clean.” Rora
chimed in.

  “Can you get the cameras back online?” Derek asked
her.

  He continued to look through the files. They were
very thick and very detailed, and they shared one major thing in common.

   “These files are for prison inmates. It has their
prison record, personal background, and their medical history. Some of it
postdating their incarceration records and continuing to just after the
beginning of the Collapse. I think they were the test subjects in something
called Project Eris.”

  Rora froze at the mention of Project Eris, but
tried to cover it by continuing to tap on the computer keys. Derek noticed her
reaction and went over to her. She tried to ignore him as he stood over her
shoulder.

  “Rora…what is Project Eris?”

  “How should I know?” She asked innocently.

  “You reacted when I mentioned it and your father
obviously worked here. Did he tell you about it?”

   Rora let out a long sigh before answering. “Yes.
It was one of the reasons he left the Collective. The military wanted a weapon
that could disrupt local populations and deny enemy combatants support or
comfort from them. They tested biological and chemical weapons on monkeys and
were able to make them combative and irrational by putting certain things in
their food and water. The military wanted human subjects to test it on, but Dad
never said they weren’t volunteers. He just didn’t like the idea of using those
weapons on principle.”

  “They must have brought the prisoners here
promising them some sort of enticement to participate in a medical experiment.
Probably explained the security and monitoring being there because they were
convicted felons, but it was really for the researchers’ and guards’
protection. When the Collapse happened they abandoned the facility and tried to
destroy any evidence of it, but the shredder jammed so they just left. They
just left all the people inside to die of starvation. Pretty cold, even for the
military. I wonder why this town, did they build it?”

  “I can answer that.” Tex announced. “There is a
map over here of the valley. Beyond the town there is a mine, probably zinc…I
bet it was abandoned when the mine played out and the government moved in. It
would be a good testing ground for all sorts of stuff.”

  “Makes sense.” Derek agreed. “But why not take the
prisoners with them?”

  “Maybe they were already contaminated and moving
them would have required a lot of effort and specialized equipment. They did
leave in a hurry…” Tex theorized.

  Derek didn’t respond to that. It bothered him that
the country he had sacrificed so much for was capable of such horrible actions.
He continued to explore the bunker heading through one of the doors on the back
wall. The first door led down a set of stairs to living quarters for what
looked like thirty to forty people. They even had a game room with game
consoles set up in front of a massive television. He went back up to check out
the other door.

 Behind the second door was a full medical suite
with multiple operating stations and expensive medical equipment covered with
plastic sheets. There were enough beds for six people to be patients at one
time. This equipment was worth millions, especially in today’s world. A lot of
money and manpower had been thrown at this project. Then it had been quickly
abandoned. Very odd.

  Derek exited the medical suite to discover that Rora
had gotten some of the cameras working. Only three were still working, the
other screens displaying fuzz. Two showed external views of the main street and
one was back amongst the dwellings. None of them showed any signs of activity
or life.

  “Great job Rora, how did you get them working?”
Derek asked.

  “The files and databases were erased, but some of
the root programming still exists. So I can access basic systems but everything
else is gone.” Rora responded. She hit a few more buttons and the lights came
back on in the bunker. They all blinked at the sudden light.

  “What else can you control?” Derek asked coming
over to stand at her side.

  “Not much else. Probably nothing that helps us.
But I can tell from the access log that the Emergency Lockdown was initiated on
August 21, 2017.”

  “That was a month after the nukes hit the East
Coast.” Derek offered. “They were probably recalled to active duty and the
project abandoned. The inmates were just left here to die.”

  “C’mon Derek, that was a very chaotic time. We all
thought the world was ending. They were just looking after their own asses.
Everybody was.” Tex argued.

  “Still. They could have let them out.”

  “Maybe they did? I don’t see any signs of bodies
anywhere.” Rora offered hopefully.

  “I guess that’s possible, but we won’t know for
sure until we go in there. Are you sure it’s safe?” Derek asked Rora.

  “If this date is right, there are not any known
biological weapons that maintain their potency this long. We shouldn’t eat or
drink anything obviously and be careful touching any liquids. But other than
that it should be safe.” She responded.

  “Let’s go get your device. This place is freaking
me out.” Tex announced.

  Derek and Rora agreed and they all headed back out
into the daylight. Derek pulled the door shut behind them, initiating a series
of clicks as the bolts re-engaged. Before heading for the truck he smashed the
scanner plate with the butt of his shotgun. The other two followed behind him
sharing a look over him resealing the door. Ignoring them he checked out the
grill on the front of the truck.

  “Why did you smash the scanner?” Rora asked.

  “Some secrets should stay buried.” He said in a
serious tone.

  Rora nodded thoughtfully and whispered a soft.
“Thanks.”

  “I think we can just ram our way through the gates
and drive up to the bank. We go in, grab the device, and then get the hell out
of here. Easy.” Derek informed them.

  Tex glanced at the gate, nodded his agreement and
got in the truck. Rora and Derek climbed in next to him. He flicked the engine
to life and tapped on the accelerator causing the engine to race. Throwing the
truck into gear Tex stomped on the gas. The truck lurched forward with a squeal
of tires and raced forward towards the gate. They smashed through the gates
with loud metal screeching, clanging, and popping noises as the padlocks
snapped and the gates collapsed under the large vehicles onslaught. He skidded
the truck to a halt inside the gates and they all looked back at the wreckage
behind them.

  They had demolished the gates completely. Fencing
and metal poles lay scattered about the entrance. The padlocks had held on two
of them and the gates had actually been yanked free of the posts. The third
gate, the padlock had broken, and the gates hung loosely from their posts. Tex
released the brakes and they rolled down the street slowly before coming to a
stop in front of the bank, Zinc Federal.

  Derek noticed that the buildings were in good
repair, that no windows were broken, and that there was no trash anywhere. What
was odd was that the windows had all been covered over on the inside with
blankets or newspapers. The town was completely still, nothing moved. No birds,
no animals, no insects, not even a breeze. He thought he saw a blanket move as
they passed by, but it might have been his imagination. When Tex turned off the
engine, they could hear that it was completely silent as well.  They all got
out and stood there for a minute surveying the dead town.

  “Creepy, isn’t it?” Tex asked.

  “It’s giving me the chills.” Rora agreed.

  Derek had a bad feeling about the place, something
he couldn’t put his finger on, but he kept quiet not wanting to alarm Tex and Rora
further. He pulled out the phone and looked at the GPS tracker. The dot
indicated the location was the bank in front of them, but the third coordinate
was off.

  “The device must be in a vault below the bank.
Time for the box number Rora.” Derek demanded.

  “You promise you will take me to NASA?” She asked
quietly.

  He looked her directly in the eyes and told her.
“I promise. You have my word.”

  She hesitated but finally told him. “327”

  Derek looked over at Tex who was inspecting the
underneath of the SUV for damage from the gates. He stood up and nodded
indicating everything was fine.

  “I’ll grab the dynamite, let’s go get paid.” Tex
said excitedly.

  He grabbed some dynamite and fuses from the back
of the truck, threw them in a small duffel bag,  and then joined Derek and Rora
in front of the bank. It was an imposing three story building with large two
story windows along the brick front. Green painted double wooden doors provided
entry into the bank. Like every other building, the windows were covered from
the inside and the doors were closed. Seeing that Rora and Tex were hesitant,
Derek stepped forward and opened the door.