by ES Richards
BANKRUPT
Wipeout Series
Book 6
By
E.S. Richards
Mike Kraus
© 2021 Muonic Press Inc
www.muonic.com
***
www.esrichards.com
www.facebook.com/esrichardsauthor
***
www.MikeKrausBooks.com
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/MikeKrausBooks
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, without the permission in writing from the author.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Want More Awesome Books?
Want More Awesome Books?
Find more fantastic tales right here, at books.to/readmorepa.
***
If you’re new to reading Mike Kraus, consider visiting his website and signing up for his free newsletter. You’ll receive several free books and a sample of his audiobooks, too, just for signing up, you can unsubscribe at any time and you will receive absolutely no spam.
***
You can also stay updated on E.S. Richards’ books by checking out her Facebook page or heading on over to her website.
***
Special Thanks
Special thanks to my awesome beta team, without whom this book wouldn’t be nearly as great.
Thank you!
Chapter 1
“On my signal; three, two,” Dennis counted down with his fingers, his voice fizzling out from a whisper into nothingness as he prepped for their attack, the words no longer needed as everyone watched his hand. Two fingers turned to one and then Dennis gave the signal to go, thrusting his arm forward in the direction of the bay and his team charged forward. They ambushed the soldiers about to board the little dinghies and make their way back to the main ship moored just outside of the harbor. For a second, the soldiers had no idea what was happening and then all hell broke loose.
“Get the weapons!”
The cry was nothing more than a reminder, Dennis’ team was fully aware of what they needed to do. The eight of them were outnumbered two-to-one already, so they needed to quickly gain the upper hand and secure the weapons, or risk losing their lives. Thankfully the element of surprise had worked to their advantage, the soldiers were tired and simply wanted to get back to the ship and go to sleep, they weren’t prepared for a fight at this late hour.
The team worked quickly. Jason picked up a rifle that had been carelessly left in the hull of one of the dinghies and used it like a bat, knocking out three of the soldiers before they even had a chance to fight back. They weren’t there to take lives or cause any serious damage, but they needed to subdue the soldiers as quickly as possible, so knocking them unconscious was the best and simplest way to do that.
“Commander…”
Dennis turned and saw one of the soldiers, a slighter looking woman whose eyes radiated fear, pressing the button for the radio which was pinned to her shoulder and beginning to relay a message of the attack. He couldn’t let that happen. Lurching forward, Dennis flew through the air and grabbed the woman around the waist, sending the pair of them tumbling backwards into the ocean. They spluttered as salt water invaded their mouths.
The woman thrashed and panicked beneath him. Dennis pinned her body under the water. Her arms flailed out of the water like wild tentacles, clawing and scratching at him as she desperately tried to pull her head above water once more and draw in a breath. Dennis had no intention of drowning the woman – despite the reputation he had on the island, he had no desire to bring anyone pain or cause suffering – but he also knew what he needed to achieve that night. He waited until the very last moment, the woman growing weaker and weaker beneath him, then he wrenched her body out of the water and heaved her into one of the dinghies. She collapsed into a heap, coughing and spluttering as she sucked in deep mouthfuls of oxygen.
“Dennis,” a familiar voice dragged his eyes away from the woman and over to his team, the elite group of them successful in their mission, but not without loss.
“Indra’s been hit.”
Wading through the shallow water onto the beach where several of his group stood, Dennis locked eyes on the woman in the sand. Indra’s lifeless eyes were wide open. The shot to her chest had been quick and deadly, piercing her heart and ending her fight in seconds.
“At least it had been quick,” Dennis thought to himself, “A couple of inches lower and she would be bleeding out on the beach for hours.”
Bowing his head in silence for a second, he took a few moments to reflect on Indra’s life. It was all they had time for and while everyone, Dennis included, wanted to mourn the loss properly, they all knew if they delayed for much longer that the ships would be late leaving the island and the soldiers who remained on the main vessel would start to get suspicious.
All they could do was drag Indra’s body up the beach so that the tide didn’t get her, slide her eyelids closed and promise to return for her later.
While the rest of his group quickly dragged the soldiers’ unconscious bodies to the nearby beach hut and locked them inside, Dennis returned to the woman he’d heaved into one of the dinghies. She was laid on her back, her chest heaving up and down as she still recovered from the near-death experience in the shallows.
“Get up,” Dennis instructed. “I need you to relay a message back to your commander.”
The woman sat up slowly and opened her eyes, seeing Dennis holding a radio transmitter out to her that he’d taken from another soldier, the one she had worn on her shoulder lost as she’d plunged into the sea. Steeling herself, the woman folded her arms across her chest and shook her head.
“Radio your commander,” Dennis instructed her firmly, tossing the device into her lap. “And tell him everything is fine; tell him one of the engines wouldn’t start if he asks why you’re late but tell him you’re on your way over now. Tell him,” Dennis continued to speak slowly and clearly, withdrawing a pistol from his waistband as he spoke and pointing it at the woman. “Or else.”
At the sight of the gun, the woman visibly started to tremble, her hands picking up the radio from her lap and looking at it for a moment. Dennis didn’t like to have to threaten her this way, but he knew it needed to be done. After everything these people had done to him and the others on Kauai, he shouldn’t feel guilty about doing this to get their lives back.
“Go on,” he urged her, “make the call. No funny business.”
Eventually the woman did as she was told and then obediently trudged over to the beach hut to be locked away with the other soldiers, all her resistance gone. With that done, Dennis and his team boarded the two boats and headed for the larger ship that floated in the distance. The first part of their challenge was over, but the night was still only just beginning.
***
Across the island, Art and Kitch had
already taken three of the watch posts, the soldiers who stood guard replaced with members of their own rebel group, their radios changed to another channel so they could continue to communicate even when people were left behind.
There were just two more posts to take control of now and four of them left to do it. Kitch and his friend Tarek were up next, leaving Art and April to take the final post alone. Being former military, April led the group of them as they crept silently through the sleeping town of Kauai, careful not to rouse any locals who weren’t yet aware of the uprising.
The Chinese had set up their base in the surf shack where Jamie used to live. The former owner hadn’t been seen on the island for over a week now, rumors of what had happened to him circulating throughout those that remained and fueling the uprising. They needed to put all thoughts of what may have happened to him to the back of their minds now though, emotion could only serve them poorly in moments like this. The surf shack might not be the final post they had to take, but it was potentially the most dangerous due to the number of soldiers there and it needed all four of them to work in perfect harmony if they didn’t want to raise an alarm.
Art reached the door to the bar first and waited, biding his time until a wave crashed against the rocks nearby and he could push it open, the sound of the water hiding the creak in the hinges. Holding it steady, April, Kitch and Tarek moved past him and crept inside, Art securing the open door in place with a rock he’d taken from the beach. Now they were in and the real fun could begin.
The bar was still laid out pretty much as it always had been. Everyone that lived on Kauai had spent many hours in this place, the surf shack becoming the hub that catered to locals and tourists alike. When people on the island first learned what had happened with Trident and what was about to happen to the world, the surf shack had been a place of safety and comfort where they could all come together and be reminded that the world hadn’t quite ended yet. They shared meals and memories, making new ones and feeling comforted by the one constant that was the building. To have that taken away from them had been hard on the locals, the invading soldiers not quite understanding the prowess that such a building could have.
It was perhaps why it didn’t seem so hard to sweep through the building and nullify the threat there. April had made quick work of the two guards who they’d met outside, leaping out on them with the stealth of a professional and capturing both them and their weapons before they had a chance to respond. She acted like a woman who was still very much in her prime, not one who had been retired for many years.
Inside the surf shack, they all had to work in unison. With some soldiers sleeping separately from the rest, they targeted them first one by one. Art went for the legs, waking the first soldier from his slumber with a start just as Kitch grabbed his head and pressed a hand firmly over his mouth, stopping the man from screaming. April then quickly played her part, striking the man with the butt of a pistol she’d taken from one of the soldiers outside and knocking him unconscious. In a matter of seconds, the soldier was returned to his sleeping state, Tarek immediately stepping in to tie his limbs together and affix a gag to his mouth. One down, plenty more to go.
“Uhh, hey!”
Just as they were tying up a fifth soldier, the last one sleeping separately in one of the booths, a voice came from across the room. April jumped into action immediately. The rest of the soldiers were all camped out practically on top of each other, sleeping on the floor against the bar. Diving over a couple of them, April wrapped her arms around the one who had woken and pinned him to the ground.
She made it in time to stop him getting to his feet, but not before his scream had woken the remaining five sleeping assassins.
“Don’t move!” April boomed as the five men all woke with a start. She held her pistol against the temple of the one who had woken first, using his body as a shield between her and the others. Dazed from their sleep, the soldiers took a second to process what was happening, but when they saw Art, Kitch and Tarek as well, and the soldiers the four of them had already tied up, the atmosphere in the surf shack erupted like a bomb.
Two of the men leapt for April. Acting entirely on instinct, she slammed her pistol into the head of the soldier in her arms knocking him unconscious and then quickly fired off two bullets, catching both men in the legs. They fell to the ground immediately, clutching their wounds as utter chaos commenced.
Tarek was thrown to the ground as another soldier tackled him around the waist, the rope and cable ties he’d been holding in his hands skidding across the bar. Fists flew at his face as Tarek did what he could to protect himself, shielding his head and trying to throw the man off of him. Kitch quickly came to his aid. With a heavy kick, he forced the soldier off his friend and onto the ground, his steel-capped boots winding him for a split second. Kitch took the opportunity quickly and swung his fist at the man, punching him square in the jaw and knocking him unconscious. If the soldier had been ready for the blow, it probably wouldn’t have had the desired effect, but in his dazed and winded state, Kitch easily overpowered him.
“Kitch!”
There wasn’t time to revel in the victory as April screamed his name from across the room, Kitch turning just in time to see the last soldier standing and pointing a gun in his direction. From the ground, April pointed her own weapon at him, the two of them locked in a stalemate as Kitch froze, his life hanging on the line.
“Drop your weapon,” April instructed the soldier. “Don’t shoot.”
The Chinese man moved his head very slowly in her direction, not changing the angle of his weapon as it pointed at the young farmer.
“Drop it,” April repeated as he locked eyes with her, his mouth forming into a faint smile. April had seen situations like this countless times before and she knew what was about to happen. Before the soldier had a chance, while his eyes were still locked on hers, she squeezed the trigger of her own pistol and watched as the bullet hit the man square in the chest, his body falling to the ground before he was able to process what had happened.
“Everyone okay?” April asked immediately, climbing to her feet and walking over to Kitch. She offered her hand to pull the young man up, his eyes still fixed on the soldier who had targeted him. “Try not to look at him.”
With a shake of his head, Kitch did as he was told and turned to April instead. “You saved my life,” he stated bluntly, still in shock over what had happened. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” April replied with a smile. “Come on, let’s get this place cleaned up.”
Blood smeared the floor of the bar – one soldier dead and another three wounded in the attack. Finally though, they had them all tied up and gagged behind the bar, unable to move or cry for help once they regained consciousness.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Kitch offered as April and Art prepared to leave, one last thing to complete before they waited for contact from Dennis on the main boat. “It doesn’t seem like these guys will be much trouble now.”
“Best to stick to the plan,” April replied. “They might seem easy to manage now, but you’d better keep a close eye on them.”
“Should we check them?”
April nodded. “And keep them separate from each other as much as you can. I’ve seen people untie someone else’s bonds behind their own back.”
Kitch swallowed and nodded. “Okay.” This wasn’t any time for him to chicken out; he’d been elected onto the leadership council when the island first started to struggle and he was a key member of the uprising now. He needed to show his strength was still there despite his young age. “Good luck then guys, we’ll wait for your signal.”
“Roger that,” April replied, “we’ll see you soon. Thanks.”
Art smiled at Kitch and Tarek as he exited the surf shack behind the woman, his night still not over yet. The last port of call for him and April was the communications hub the Chinese had set up, it was their way of keeping the radios working and
staying in contact with whoever was on board the large ship on the horizon. Art and April hoped it was the key to taking back control and to finding out more about what was happening in the world. The mystery behind why the Chinese were here and what was going on across the sea still plagued each of their waking hours. It was no secret that winning back Kauai was only the first step in returning to their normal lives, if that was even possible.
***
“Over there!”
Bryce pointed to the stern of the ship as ladders were thrown out for them to climb up when they arrived. This was the next part of the plan and as soon as the first one of them reached the top of those ladders, the game would be up, and the real fighting would begin. Dennis and his group knew what they needed to do as they attached the dinghies to the ship and allowed the waves to pull them closer in, they’d watched it through binoculars several times and knew the process like the back of their hands. Doing it was something different all together, though.
Despite all their preparation, they still had no idea what waited for them on the main vessel. They could only guess at whether the ship was overrun with soldiers or used as a home for civilians who simply supported those that had come to shore. They hoped for answers, but had no way of knowing what they would find until they reached the summit of the ladders and came face to face with their adversary. Dennis was the first to start the climb, leading his team upwards to their next challenge, only able to hope and pray that he wasn’t leading them to their deaths.
Chapter 2
Samuel sat with his father, neither of them sure what to say to one another. Miles had his back to them across the room, playing with Bowie and distracting the young boy as best he could from the wailing and crying that echoed behind Austin and Dante’s closed bedroom door.
