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

by J. G. Martin

  Derek realized the Father the Pope was referencing was not god, but Doors. Somehow the Collective was controlling this madman and the voices he was hearing were the Collective’s. The man could see him so he wasn’t connected to the LINC. They were controlling him in some other way. He needed to get closer so the device would block the signal.

  “I am not a Demon! I am a messenger from God. That’s why he hasn’t struck me down.” Derek yelled to the Pope. “You are listening to false voices sent by the Devil to trick you!”

  That froze the Pope for a moment and everyone turned to look at him for his reaction, even the guards. Derek took that opportunity to move closer to the foot of the dais. The guards snapped back around and raised their assault rifles. The crowd pulled back a little in fear.

  “That cannot be true Demon; I already have a messenger from God. He sent an angel to guide me on this crusade.” The Pope cried out. “He told me you are planning to take the sky chariot into the heavens and pierce the heart of God. I have called this holy crusade to stop you!”

  As he spoke a figure moved out from behind the throne. It radiated golden light as the sun struck its armor. The followers gasped and fell to their knees blinded by the radiance. The Humek that had been chasing them for days stood there in all his glory. He had a big smirk on his face as he addressed the crowd.

  “True believers! Do not be swayed by the false words of this betrayer.” He called out. “We must cast out this demon and destroy the heretics he leads. We cannot let them strike at the Father.”

  The crowd roared in agreement and began to surge forward. The Pope smiled with glee in anticipation of the spectacle of Derek and Rora being torn limb from limb. The guards, Derek assumed them to be Templars, leaned forward as well. He had to do something before it got out of control.

  “WAIT!” He thundered, causing the followers to flinch. “May god strike me down if I am lying! I am the true messenger! He is the false one!”

  Derek moved forward and pointed at the Humek. He hoped he was close enough for the signal to be blocked. When nothing happened, the crowd shrank back afraid to anger god by attacking them. The Pope grew very confused and looked at the Humek for guidance. The Humek merely glared at Derek with raw hatred.

  Derek seized the opportunity. “We should prove which one of us is the true messenger!”

  “How do we do that?” The Pope asked, curious.

  “Like they did in ancient times.” Derek told him. “A trial by combat. The winner surely has God’s favor and is his true messenger.”

  The Pope clapped his hands together. “Yes! That is an excellent idea. You will fight each other and God will reveal to us the chosen one by making him the winner!” He cried.

  “Are you serious?” Rora whispered to him. “You cannot possibly beat a Humek in hand to hand combat no matter how enhanced you are.”

  “It’s our only option.” He replied grimly. “Be ready to run if it looks like I am losing.”

  The Humek merely smiled predatorily and began to walk deliberately down the steps of the dais. Halfway down he launched himself into the air and came crashing down a few feet from Derek. The impact shook the ground and Derek involuntarily stepped back. The crowd reacted by moving back quickly to create a large space for them to fight in. Their excitement was palpable and Derek felt a little ripple of fear run through him, but he buried it and drew his weapons. Rora shrank back into the crowd and tried to make herself inconspicuous.

  The cyborg assumed a combat stance, and short two foot long double-edged blades shot out of his gauntlets over top of his fists. Derek readied the machete in his right hand and his combat knife in his left. He assumed a combat stance as well and began to circle the armored Humek, searching for a weakness. The golden armor covered every inch of the cyborg’s body and Derek doubted he could penetrate it with his blades. The only unprotected target was the thing’s head and face.

  The cyborg smile cruelly and advanced slowly. “Time for payback Derek.” It snarled.

  Chapter 27

  June 22, 2029

  Outside NASA Complex at Cape Canaveral, FL

  That caught Derek off guard and he almost missed the first attack. The cyborg lunged forward with the blade on his right arm and stabbed at Derek’s face. It was all Derek could do just to avoid the strike and dodge backwards. The cyborg followed with a spinning backhand with the other blade. It came so fast that again all Derek could do was dodge. He circled away from the spinning blades and moved around the impromptu arena.

  The cyborg smiled and almost casually stalked him. There was a hint of madness in the Humek’s eyes that Derek found interesting. These things were supposed to have left the weaknesses of the flesh behind, including emotions. Yet this one seemed genuinely angry with him, and it was more than just frustration at being thwarted. This felt personal, yet he couldn’t remember ever having encountered the man before. He had certainly never been involved with a Humek before so it must have been prior to this thing’s conversion.

  “Do I know you?” He ventured as they circled.

  That triggered a major response. The Humek got even angrier and if he could have killed with his eyes, Derek would have been a smoking pile of ash. The cyborg’s movement got a little wilder and more uncontrolled. Maybe this was a weak point Derek could exploit. He tried again as he circled away fending off the cyborg’s repeated strikes.

  “I would think I would have remembered meeting a freak like you.” Derek taunted.

  “I’m going to dice you into pieces, you coward.” The Humek screamed, spittle literally spraying from his mouth. “You left me to die, so you could live. I have waited so long for payback and now it is time.”

  That gave Derek pause. This was personal, very personal. He tried to think of someone he had betrayed and left to die, but no one came to mind. Who was this guy?

  “I really should thank you, you know.” The cyborg continued as Derek frantically parried his strikes. “He made me the First because you left me. Without your betrayal I would never have recognized my true potential.”

  “What betrayal?” Derek asked confused. “I never left anybody to die.”

  “You cannot even admit your treachery, even at the verge of death.” The Humek snarled. “Do you have any idea what the Chinese did to me, Major?”

  “Max?” Derek gasped in disbelief as he recognized the man. “But you died on that mountain.”

  The Humek lunged forward with both blades. Derek barely managed to block the strikes. The cyborg pushed forward until their faces were inches apart over their crossed blades. Hatred raged in his eyes and spittle dripped down from his mouth giving him the appearance of a rabid dog.

  “It’s Maximillian now. You left me there to die so you could escape.” He spit at Derek. “They tortured me for six months before they gave me back. I was completely broken until Father gave me a new life.”

  “I was in a coma; they told me no one else survived.” Derek tried to explain.

  The mission had been simple. They were sent to infiltrate a secret Chinese research base that the spooks believed the crop virus had escaped from. Their main objective was to get proof that was the case to provide to the U.N. The secondary objective had been to obtain samples so the U.S. could synthesize a cure. Intelligence believed it was a golden opportunity to regain U.S. supremacy. If the virus wiped out everyone else’s crops but the U.S. and Canada, then they could have had a boom economy selling food to the rest of the world.

  But the mission had been compromised from the beginning. An entire division of the elite Red Guard had been waiting to ambush them as they approached the remote base. Miraculously, they had managed to fight their way free; but they had lost almost half the platoon. They had escaped to the extraction point, but Chinese air patrols prevented the helicopters from coming to pick them up. The Chinese had surrounded them on the mountaintop and sent numerous sorties up at them.

  The Chinese troops had avoided using artillery or air strikes and it becam
e obvious they wanted some of the American special operators alive. Derek and his men had used every trick they knew and every weapon at their disposal to hold off the Chinese. The survivors had held off the repeated assaults, resorting to using captured weapons when they ran out of ammo for theirs. Out of food and water and all wounded in some way, they had still managed to hold out for four days.

  Finally the Chinese commander had grown frustrated and ordered an airstrike. The resulting blasts had killed everyone under Derek’s command. He had been survived by some miracle, but had been barely alive. The two countries had nearly gone to war over the incident. Ultimately, cooler heads had prevailed and his comatose body had been traded back as part of a larger deal involving the U.S. ceasing involvement in Asia.

  The mission had been completely removed from any records and Derek had been forbidden to talk about under the threat of death. They had sent him to a secret hospital in Oklahoma to recover. That’s where he had been when the Collapse had begun. He had been told that everyone else died, but not all the remains had been recoverable. And that he should just let it go. But he had been unable to; so many men under his command had died on that mission. Some close friends.

  Max Soriano had been a sergeant newly under his command. The Chinese Mission had been their first mission together. He had been one of the final survivors on that mountaintop, but he should have been killed by the airstrike. If what he was saying was true, he had survived and been captured by the Chinese. At some point he had been traded back, but no one had told Derek. And then Doors had apparently made him the first Humek. Who knew what they had told him about Derek and the mission. No wonder he was angry.

  “I heard about your rebirth, about how you were now a superman and the poster boy for the U.S.T.G.” Max screamed at him. “That should have been mine, but you stole it from me! They thought they were making me a freak, but father showed me the light and I was reborn. Better than before, better than you!”

  “If I had known you were alive, I would have made them come get you.” Derek insisted. “They told me everyone died. I didn’t even know they had altered me. I’ve thought about those days on the mountaintop ever since.”

  The cyborg shoved Derek back with a mighty thrust. Even with his enhanced strength he was sent flying. He rolled backwards and came to his feet in one smooth move. Max moved blindingly fast towards him slashing wildly with both blades. Derek spun to the side and narrowly avoided being sliced.

  “Liar!” Max screamed. “You tried to take what was mine, but now I’m going to take your life in payment.”

  The cyborg pursued Derek as he spun away and dodged all around the circle of followers. Several didn’t move fast enough and were cut themselves by the whirling blades. Max was like a dervish as he sliced, slashed, and stabbed with both blades. Derek could do nothing other than parry and evade; the cyborg’s offense too intense to counter. Even with his enhanced stamina Derek was starting to tire and he knew it was only a matter of time before the furious Humek cut him.

  “Wait a minute!” He exclaimed. “How are you even seeing me? I should be invisible to you.”

  “What’s the matter Derek; you’re precious device failing you?” Max asked nastily. “It was a neat trick, but I figured out a way to outsmart the device.”

  “How could you possibly have done that?” Derek panted as he continued to circle away.

  “I disconnected from the LINC.” Max informed him. “It hurts to be disconnected from Father and it is so quiet, but now I can see you with my own eyes.”

  He pressed forward and sent Derek stumbling to the ground. Derek didn’t roll to his feet this time and lost his combat knife. The cyborg approached triumphantly, an unnatural smile on his face. He poised to strike a defenseless Derek, and that’s when Derek pulled the oldest trick in the book. He flung the handful of sandy soil he had grabbed when he faked the stumble, at the cyborg’s eyes.

  Blinded, the cyborg swung around wildly. An unfortunate follower was disemboweled by the blind strikes and crumpled to the ground. Wails of terror began from crowd as the out of control cyborg killed more of them. They panicked and the makeshift ring devolved into a mob scene with people running everywhere. Blind, unable to hear over the crowd, and now disoriented by the mass of moving people; without his sensors to guide him Max was easy prey for Derek as he slipped behind him.

  “Not so powerful without your all seeing sensors are you?” Derek whispered in his ear as he slit Max’s throat with the machete.

  The Humek’s body slumped to the ground, his throat spurting blood and fluid. Despite all the mechanical additions, he was still human at the core. Derek felt some guilt about killing Max. Had he known any of his men were still in China, he would have moved heaven and earth to get to them. It saddened him to think that because he was tortured by the Chinese and abandoned by his comrades, Max had chosen this path. Still, he had made his choices; and you have to live with the consequences of your choices.

  The crowd fell silent as Derek stood triumphant over the fallen cyborg and cut off its head. They parted as he made his way to the dais. Even the guards stepped aside under his angry stare. The Pope looked as though he may have wet himself in terror as Derek approached, and the smell confirmed it. Derek dropped the severed head in the Pope’s lap. The man flailed about as he tried not to touch the bloody stump. He looked up at Derek in befuddlement and terror.

  “Please forgive me!” He wailed. “You are the true messenger. Tell me what to do.”

  “Take your people and go back to New Rome.” Derek thundered. “Never come here again.”

  The Pope simply nodded, at a loss for words. He watched silently as Derek turned and walked away with Rora at his side. Derek couldn’t hear exactly what was said, but the followers suddenly jumped into motion and they began disassembling the dais and packing everything into trucks that Derek hadn’t noticed before. By the time he was almost out of sight, they had packed up and left.

  “I understand killing him, Rule #3 and all, but why cut his head off?” Rora asked, genuinely curious.

  “I wanted to make sure he was dead this time.” Derek answered coldly.

  Chapter 28

  June 22, 2029

  Inside the NASA Complex Cape Canaveral, FL

  The transporter entered the NASA complex and headed towards the launch pad. Derek and Rora were surprised to see what appeared to be everyone lined up along the route. The people were clapping and cheering as the shuttle passed by. The techs and the soldiers started waving and smiling as if they were the conquering heroes returning. Derek thought it odd and Rora had a funny smile on her face as if she thought it was ridiculous too.

  They finally pulled to a stop next to the crawler that would actually take the shuttle onto the launch pad. Augie and Dr. Banek were there to greet them along with a small army of techs. Soldiers stood watch nearby, but kept their distance from the main group. Dr. Banek had a huge smile on his face, but the general looked upset and had a deep frown.

  “Welcome back!” Dr. Banek greeted them excitedly. “You did it! I cannot believe it, but you got the shuttle back here in one piece!”

  “Yeah, but you lost two MRAPs and most of my men.” Augie grumbled. “People seem to die around you Storm…”

  “Don’t forget how many vehicles get destroyed.” Rora chimed in.

  Derek shot her a look and she laughed. The general was right though. Despite the fact that life was short in the wastelands of the World After, it seemed shorter for those around Derek. It was one of the reasons he didn’t have a lot of friends or allies. It was the main reason he had become a hermit and lived in the abandoned camp out West. But he had been unable to avoid his calling, and he was needed. There were many people that he had helped or saved along the way, and they were what helped him carry on.

  “I did what I had to do to get the job done.” He said grimly. “The Collective AND the U.S.T.G. are actively working against us and using alot of resources to do so. They want this device an
d they seem very determined to get it.”

  “That is true.” Augie conceded. “I am surprised at how far they have been willing to go.”

  “They wouldn’t have been successful if we didn’t have a traitor telling them where we would be.” Derek pointed out.

  The general bristled at the accusation and replied. “It’s not any of my people. They are totally loyal.”

  “Well someone told them. And it wasn’t me or Rora. That leaves your people.” Derek snapped.

  “Gentlemen. No need to fight.” Dr. Banek said soothingly and stepped between them. “We need to focus on the mission at hand. The techs will prepare the shuttle for launch while you go through a crash course in being an astronaut. Time is of the essence. We launch in three days.”

  Derek and Augie nodded in agreement and briefly shook hands before they went their separate ways. Rora and Derek were guided to the training facility by one of the soldiers. Apparently there would be no break since it was critical to get all of the training they possibly could before launch. The training facility was a low single story building that appeared to have been constructed post Collapse. It was solid concrete and had no ornamentation or architectural features. It was purely utilitarian and non-descript.

  The inside was another story. Once they passed through security and the ubiquitous airlock door, they could see the advanced nature of the building. High tech equipment filled the inside of the cavernous building. A deep swimming pool took up one corner and a large simulator took up another. Medical equipment filled at least a third of the building and was separated into rooms by high cube walls and curtains. A rubber coated track circled the entire outside edge of the facility.

  Techs in lab coats swarmed all around and several other people in blue jumpsuits worked on various machines. Derek assumed the people in blue to be the shuttle crew. He and Rora were led to separate medical rooms and ordered to strip. He asked the tech why since they got a workup when they entered the complex, but was told these were different tests. He heard Rora arguing with the tech in the next room, but eventually she agreed to comply; so he did too.