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

by J. G. Martin

  “Well, you’re plan worked and we are inside. What now?” Rora asked.

  “We will sneak out and you will distract the guards at the warehouses while I go inside.” Derek started to explain.

  Rora cut him off angrily. “No! I’m your partner not rape bait. I’m tired of my breasts being your go to distraction. What did you do before I came along?”

  Derek was forced to laugh. “Fair enough. That was disrespectful on my part. I apologize…We will do it the old fashioned way then.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I will wear his uniform and take out the guards one by one. We sabotage the lab and then we escape using one of the patrol boats. Okay?”

  “That sounds much better.” Rora agreed.

  Derek started stripping their guide and taking his clothes before he paused. “Hunh.” He said.

  “What?” Rora groaned.

  “I hope they have female recruits because these aren’t going to fit me.”

  “So I’m still the bait?” She asked snarkily.

  “No, no, no. You pose as a lost recruit and distract them. I will sneak up behind them and take them out. You aren’t bait, just a distraction. You can keep the jacket buttoned all the way up.” He assured her.

  She looked reluctant, but took the clothes anyway. “Turn your back while I change.” She instructed him.

  He turned his back and busied himself tying up their guide. He took the young man’s keys and pistol. He checked the pistol and was pleased to see it was in good condition and loaded. The pistol was a Berretta 9mm, which was a reliable gun. Unfortunately he didn’t have any extra clips or a knife. The guards had to be killed silently so he would need to get one along the way.

  “Okay.” Rora informed him and he turned around.

  The gray and black uniform was a bit loose on her in places, but it would do. He had her pull her hair back in a severe pony tail which would be likely for a female recruit. He handed her the cap the young man had been wearing and had her pull it down over her face. There probably weren’t any female recruits, but the uniform would be enough of a disguise to let her get close without the guard sounding the alarm.

  “What about him.” Rora asked. “Aren’t you going to kill him? Rule # 3.”

  Derek sighed. “He’s just a kid. He isn’t really our enemy.”

  Rora smiled. “So you do have a heart…”

  Derek ignored her and led the way out of the room. They stalked silently through the building retracing their steps in. Derek had them pause a few times as men moved around in the hallways, but no one spotted them. They did make a slight detour into a kitchen area so Derek could retrieve steak knives for each of them. It wasn’t his preferred weapon but it would do. They made their way back to entrance to the building and paused there.

  Derek looked through the small window in the steel exit door and surveyed the yard. All three warehouses looked dark and there seemed to be no activity, which was odd. Drug labs usually ran night and day. The guards were still at their respective posts. They looked bored and two of them were smoking cigarettes. The truck that Derek and Rora had arrived in had been moved and the yard was now completely empty. The only way to get to the guards was to cross the wide open and well lit yard. This was going to be interesting.

  “Okay, let’s go.” He told Rora.

  “How are we going to sneak up on them? There is no cover.” She questioned.

  “We aren’t.”

  “What?” She asked incredulously.

  “New plan. We walk across the yard like we belong there. Only low rank members would get guard duty. The problem with fascist groups is that they are trained not to question authority. So if we act like we are supposed to be there they probably won’t question us. Once we get to the first guard just follow my lead.” He explained.

  “And if that doesn’t work?” She asked.

  “We fight our way out.” He said matter of factly. “Alright. Let’s go”

  Derek pushed her out the front door towards the guard on the left. They walked quickly and purposefully towards him. Derek stayed in Rora’s shadow as much as possible and tried to block the view of him from the other guards. She kept her head down and walked right up to the guard. The man was watching them with some disinterest, but also a little bit of fear. Derek knew the man was worried he had done something wrong and was about to get questioned.

  That look changed to confusion as he realized Rora was a woman and Derek didn’t have on a uniform. Before he could call out, Derek swiftly grabbed the guard and stabbed him in the throat. The man’s questions died in a burble of blood and he sagged to the ground. Derek caught him before he fell all the way and propped the body against the wall of the warehouse. Then he called out to the other guards.

  “Hey! We need some help here! He just collapsed!” He yelled.

  The other two guards looked at each other and Derek could tell they were debating what to do. Neither wanted to abandon their post, but neither did they want to ignore their comrade’s plight. He didn’t want them to raise an alarm or call for other help, so he yelled to them again.

  “I think he’s drunk! Come help us so he doesn’t get in trouble!” Derek added.

  The two guards rushed over to help their fallen friend. Derek and Rora stepped back to give them room to attend to the man. In their haste, neither guard noticed the blood nor that Derek and Rora weren’t Black Jackets until it was too late. Derek grabbed the one guard from behind covering his mouth with one hand and slashing his throat with the other. Before he could turn for the second man, Rora imitated his actions a second later with the other guard. She wasn’t as smooth as he was, but she hadn’t had a lot of experience.

  “Nice!” Derek complimented her.

  She acknowledged the compliment with a nod, her face a cold mask. She hadn’t even hesitated to kill, which was good, since hesitation got you killed in the wasteland. The transformation she had undergone in the last week or so from naïve girl with no survival skills to speak of, to a survivor willing to kill without hesitation was amazing. He knew it was taking a small piece of her humanity each time, but it was a necessary evolution if she wanted to survive and maybe even thrive in the World After.

  They used the guard’s keys to unlock the ware house door and they dragged the dead guards inside. Derek looked back outside and didn’t see or hear anyone else in the yard. No alarms went off or sirens, so he assumed they were in the clear. They probably didn’t have much time until someone did come to check as to why there weren’t any guards on duty. So he quickly went through their pockets for anything useful. He gathered some cigarettes and matches from the smokers and a Swiss army pocket knife as well as their weapons and ammo.

  These guards had been armed with M4 carbines and Beretta pistols along with combat knives. He upgraded his and Rora’s weapons and ditched the bloody steak knives. He felt better holding a substantial weapon instead of the steak knife. Suitably armed, he stood up and looked around the warehouse. Plastic barrels of chemicals filled the open space stacked four or five barrels high on pallets. Several forklifts were parked along the walls. It wasn’t an active drug lab, but the chemicals stored here were precursors for making meth. There was enough there to make millions of pounds of the drug. No wonder the Cartel was worried.

  It was odd though. Derek was curious as to how they had gotten so much of the chemicals. As far as he knew, no one was making this stuff anymore. If the other two warehouses held as many chemicals it was an unbelievable amount of supply for a small regional faction. So where had it come from? He examined one of the barrels for any identifying marks. He found a symbol and bar code but it meant nothing to him. He started to turn away when Rora gasped behind him.

  “What?” He demanded.

  “Those are Collective markings.” She hissed.

  “You can read that?” He asked, surprised.

  “Um, yes.” She admitted. “It says it was made in a factory located in Portland, Oregon and shipped here.”


  “Interesting…” Derek murmured.

  It was interesting in two ways. One, the Collective was providing the chemicals to make the drugs to the Order. They were not known allies so the connection was surprising. Two, Rora had again demonstrated an unusual talent; this time she had shown the ability to read a bar code. There was more to her than met the eye; and more than just the increased brain activity. But Rule # 6 told him to mind his own business so he would until she felt comfortable enough to share.

  “Help me.” He instructed her as he grabbed a barrel.

  Together they tipped the barrel over and spilled the chemicals onto the floor of the warehouse. He gestured at another cluster and they spilled the contents of multiple barrels onto the floor. Using the matches and a cigarette, Derek created a makeshift fuse. It would ignite the spilled chemicals, which would spread to the other barrels and blow up the entire warehouse. He planned to go to the other two warehouses and do the same so he made sure the cigarette had some time to burn down before it ignited the matches.

  With this warehouse sabotaged, Derek led Rora to the second one. They still hadn’t seen anyone in the yard so they moved swiftly to the second warehouse. Finding the same situation they repeated their actions from the first warehouse and moved on to the third one. That one was practically empty. In the middle under some lights was what looked like a makeshift movie studio. Cameras and lights surrounded a large mattress and a thick steel chair bolted to the floor. It had heavy leather straps on it designed to securely hold a prisoner. A steel table contained a few knives and other implements of torture. Hastily cleaned up blood had left stains on the floor around the chair.

  Rora shivered as she processed what the warehouse was used for. Who knew what horrible things had been done here. Her disgust for the Order ratcheted up a notch and she gagged slightly. Derek put a firm hand on her shoulder and turned her away from the scene.

  “How can people hate someone so much that they do terrible things to them?” She asked in a small voice.

  “There is no justifying racism and hatred, Rora.” He answered, shaking his head. “Some people just need something or someone to hate to make them feel better. That’s the beautiful thing about a bullet, it is the ultimate equalizer. Rule #17, bullets don’t discriminate.”

  “We should stop them.” She insisted.

  “We don’t have time to deal with this. We need to get out of here. Get on the first patrol boat, I’m going to sabotage the others and then join you.”

  She nodded silently and quickly left the warehouse. Derek spared the room another glance and shook his head. Eighty years after the Nazis had performed their vile acts in Europe and nothing had really changed. The Aftermath had brought out the worst in people, but this was beyond the need to survive. These guys got off on inflicting pain and suffering. At least destroying their warehouses and the chemicals would strike a heavy blow against the Order. For now, it was all he could do.

  Derek disabled the other patrol boats as Rora got on the first one. He opened up the housings on the outboards and cut all the distributor leads on the engine inside. Then he hustled over to the remaining patrol boat and slipped on board as a technical rolled into the yard. He and Rora hid on the boat as laughing soldiers spilled out of the vehicle. They dragged two people out of the back of the SUV. He felt Rora’s fingers dig into his arm as they realized both were handcuffed and both were black.

  It was a male and female, probably a couple based on their body language. Both had been beaten and were bloody. Their hands were handcuffed behind their backs and they were obviously dazed from the beating. The man looked to be in his late thirties with a shaved head and a slim but muscular physique. The woman was younger. Tall and slender, she would have been beautiful if not for the bruises on her face. The man tried to interpose himself between her and one of the soldiers as they moved to grab her. The soldiers laughed and knocked him to the ground and then kicked him a few times. Both were then dragged into the third warehouse.

  “We have to help them!” Rora whispered frantically. “We can’t let those monsters hurt them.”

  Derek knew what would happen to the pair inside the warehouse. After the Order thugs were done, he assumed they would kill the couple. He wanted to help them, but he didn’t want to risk getting caught. The fuses were slowly burning down and would probably ignite in a few minutes, that didn’t leave much time if he did want to help.

  “We can’t Rora. I want to save them but we cannot jeopardize our mission.” He explained.

  “We have to do something!” She insisted, literally stamping her foot. “I’ll do it without you if I have to.”

  He didn’t answer, furiously thinking over the timeline and logistics of taking two more people. It would be very tight and would create the problem of having to watch over two more people. He was torn. He wanted to help but it significantly increased the risks of getting caught, and he didn’t want to replace them in the warehouse.

  “There isn’t a rule against it, is there?” Rora demanded.

  “Not exactly…” He hedged.

  “Then you have no reason not to do it.” She said with finality and exited the boat.

  Despite his better judgment he followed her. They crept to the door of the warehouse and slipped inside. The five Black jackets were so focused on their impending entertainment that they didn’t notice the door open and close. All five were in varying states of undress surrounding the helpless couple. The man had been strapped to the chair and the woman had been thrown on the mattress. Two of the soldiers were in the process of removing her clothes. Derek turned to Rora to whisper instructions, but before he could speak she screamed in anger and charged the soldiers.

  He cursed to himself and chased after her. She had the combat knife in her hand and a look of complete fury on her face. The surprised soldiers turned towards the source of the interruption. The first one barely had time to react before Rora tackled him and stabbed him repeatedly. Blood sprayed as she continued to stab him even after he was dead. The other four soldiers recovered quickly and reached for weapons.

  Derek killed two with his knife before they could draw their pistols. He slashed one’s throat and threw his knife at the other. It buried hilt deep into the Black Jacket’s throat and he collapsed silently. The remaining men were on the mattress and had removed their pants and their weapons. The woman took advantage of their distraction to kick one in the face, stunning him and knocking him back. Derek tackled the other as he lunged for his pistol. Scrambling to a mounted position on the stunned soldier he smashed elbows to the man’s face. He kept it up until the man went limp.

  Derek jumped to his feet and surveyed the situation. Rora was sitting atop the body of the man she had slaughtered quietly crying. There was a story there but they didn’t have time to explore that. The black couple was looking at him with hope in their eyes. And the remaining soldier was rolling around on the floor groaning and clutching his bloody nose. Derek went over and slit his throat without any hesitation. He ignored the horrified looks of the couple as he freed them.

  They rushed into each other’s arms and hugged fiercely. Derek left them alone as he helped Rora to her feet. She looked at him with teary eyes and he gave her a quick hug to comfort her. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

  “Let it go. He deserved to die for what he has done.” He quietly told her.

  She nodded slowly and looked past him at the couple. The two had finished hugging and were looking at Rora and Derek for direction. Derek waved for them to follow and headed for the door. They didn’t have any time to waste so he exited without looking around first and headed for the marina. The others followed, but pulled up short when he suddenly stopped.

  Two guards were examining the damage to the patrol boats and both spotted them when they exited the warehouse. They dove for cover behind one of the boats and opened fire on the group. Derek and Rora returned fire, but their escape route was now cut
off. There was only one other way out.

  “Get in the truck!” He screamed at Rora and the couple.

  Sirens began to blare as they piled into the vehicle. The gunfire had alerted the Black Jackets that something was wrong. Bullets bounced off the armor of the technical as they sped away. As they drove past the office buildings Derek could see men spilling out. They were mostly half-dressed but they were all armed. Fortunately the assault rifles and pistols couldn’t penetrate the truck’s armor. Derek floored the accelerator and raced towards the gate. The guards at the gate fired on them with little effect as the technical smashed through the gate and out onto the city streets.

  As they passed through the gate, the sky lit up behind them. They all looked back to see two giant fireballs climbing hundreds of feet into the sky. The burning chemicals in the two other warehouses blew the buildings apart and sent debris thousands of feet from the complex. Rora whooped in excitement as they watched the burning buildings shrink in the rear view. Derek laughed. He loved blowing stuff up. The couple looked at them like they were crazy. And maybe they were.

  Chapter 15

  June 19, 2029

  Baton Rouge, LA

  Derek broke the awkward silence. “So how did you get captured? What were you doing in Order territory?” He asked.

  “We were trying to get to Texas to join family there. We had a boat but it broke down near New Orleans and we had to put ashore. Some rednecks in airboats grabbed us and traded us to those thugs.” The man explained.

  “Thank you so much for rescuing us.” The woman gushed gratefully.

  “Our pleasure.” Rora assured her and gave her a small hug.

  “We can’t take you to Texas but you can have our boat when we are done with it.” Derek offered.

  “Where is your boat?”

  “Nearby, but we need it to go back to Florida. Or we can drop you off along the way?”