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

by J. G. Martin

  “Don’t shoot.” The man said. “It’s been so long since I’ve had visitors. Is the war over?”

  Derek looked the man over. He was dressed in a filthy lab coat that had once been white. His gray hair was very long and straggly, reaching almost to his waist. A long filthy beard was held together by a rubber band and drooped almost to the mains chest. He looked old, maybe seventy years or more, and had a pair of thick glasses on his nose. Another pair sat on top of his head, perhaps forgotten there. The man had piercing blue eyes, but they had a hint of madness in them.

  “What war?” Derek asked him.

  “World War 3, isn’t that why they sealed the building?” The man inquired.

  “Wait, I know you.” Rora said suddenly, looking closely at the man. “You’re Dr. Strahn aren’t you?”

  “So you’ve heard of me?” The man said and preened.

  “You used to work with my father, Dr. Carter, years ago.” She replied.

  “I did. I did. How is he?” Dr. Strahn asked.

  “He was killed by slavers…” Rora said sadly.

  “Slavers…” Dr. Strahn said in a confused voice.

  “This guy is Collective?” Derek interrupted tensely.

  “He was, but it sounds like he has been down here since the Aftermath started.” Rora responded.

  “What is the Aftermath?” Dr. Strahn asked plaintively.

  “Do you know what year it is?” She asked the doctor nicely.

  “What year?” He said in a confused voice. “What year?”

  “This guy’s brain is fried.” Derek stated bluntly. “He has been down here way too long. The smell alone would melt your brain.”

  Rora gave an involuntary laugh before replying. “Maybe he knows where the storage rooms are?”

  “Storage rooms?” Dr. Strahn said suddenly. “Nothing is stored here, it’s a research facility.”

  “What do you mean?” Derek said with an edge to his voice as he grabbed the doctor by the collar.

  The doctor waved a hand around as he flailed in Derek’s grasp. “Everything here is labs like this one.”

  “Where would you put a shuttle part if it came here by accident?” Derek said with menace and squeezed tighter.

  “Nowhere.” The doctor wailed. “Nothing comes in here by accident. Everything is strictly controlled for security and sterility purposes.”

  “Derek, you’re hurting him. Let him go.” Rora implored.

  “He has to know where the command module is; we need to make him tell us.” Derek snapped.

  “He obviously doesn’t know. I’m guessing he hasn’t left this room for fifteen years.” Rora said calmly.

  “Fifteen years?” The doctor said in confusion as Derek released him. “I’ve been down here fifteen years. Why didn’t anyone come get me?”

  “They’re all dead.” Rora told him carefully. “The city was struck by multiple nuclear warheads. Didn’t you notice everyone was gone?”

  “I’m not allowed to leave the room.” Dr. Strahn stated robotically. “We are under an Omega level lockdown. You do not leave your room for any reason. You wait for security to come get you.”

  “What about the guard dogs we encountered? Are they part of an Omega level lockdown?” Derek asked him.

  “Dogs? You mean my K-10 project?” The doctor asked. “What are they doing running loose?”

  “Your project?” Rora asked, appalled. “You created those monsters?”

  “Monsters? No, the K-10s are the next level in guard dogs, silent killing machines capable of easily taking down a man. They are an advancement of the species.” Dr. Strahn said paternally.

  “Are you also responsible for that armored gorilla thing that I killed?” Derek questioned angrily.

  “GROD! You killed Grod?” The doctor screamed, his voice going up several octaves.

  He suddenly lunged at Derek and tried to strangle him, but the armor prevented him from having any effect. Derek just looked down into the crazy eyes of the doctor and shook his head. This guy was totally useless; he had lost his mind after being alone here for fifteen years. He must have released the creatures at some point and then continued to feed them. Derek looked around the room for anything that could help them. Pushing the doctor aside, he began searching the lab for anything useful.

  “See if you can get anything out of him.” He instructed Rora as he searched.

  There wasn’t much of use in the lab, but Derek did grab a few odds and ends he thought might be useful. He shuffled through the notes, but most of it was gibberish. He pocketed a few pages that might be of interest to the Society and kept digging around. After examining the entire lab and the attached bathroom, he was convinced there was nothing of value or interest here. It was a total dead end.

  “Anything?” he asked Rora as he rejoined her and the doctor.

  “Nothing.” She replied dejectedly. “He seems to be telling the truth. The building locked down and he stayed in here and kept working. He seems to know that everyone else is gone, but is afraid to go confirm it. He did confirm that he let the dogs and the gorilla out when he ran out of food for them.”

  “So what have they been eating?” Derek asked.

  “I’m assuming they ate the corpses of the other researchers. There must have been other people in here with him at some point.” Rora replied.

  “What did he eat?” Derek wondered.

  “You don’t want to know.” Rora told him with a grossed out look on her face.

  “Any idea where the module actually is?” He asked her.

  “The only place it could be is at the research center at Langley Air Force Base where it was supposed to be.” Rora said.

  “So why send us on a wild goose chase?” Derek asked, shaking his head in confusion.

  “A wild goose chase!” The doctor suddenly cackled and rushed off into the lab.

  “I don’t know.” Rora replied, equally stumped. “But let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”

  “Agreed. We need to head back, rendezvous with the chopper, and regroup.” Derek said, nodding his head.

  “What about Doctor Crazy there?” Rora asked gesturing into the lab.

  “Leave him.” Derek said coldly. “We don’t have room on the LTATV.”

  Rora nodded and followed him out of the lab. She directed them back towards the elevator. It was quick going since they weren’t looking for anything. He saw no signs of the dogs, but the two dead bodies were missing and there were bloody drag marks. They must be off eating the carcasses. They were about the round the last corner before the airlock when he heard a slight whooshing noise. He stopped dead and put out an arm to stop Rora.

  When she looked at him to ask why he put a finger to his facemask to indicate silence. Listening carefully he could hear the ever so slight sound of boots scuffing on the concrete. Someone else was in the facility and it sounded like they had come in from the outside. He dared a quick glance around the corner and his fears were realized. There were men in black BDUs, black body armor, and black ski masks swarming out of the airlock, at least a dozen of them. They were heavily armed with M4 carbines with underslung M203 grenade launchers.

  Their positioning and movement indicated they were professionals and likely special operators. There were no insignia or marking of any kind that would let him know who they were, but he had to assume they were hostile. Pulling back around the corner he waved for Rora to move quickly back the way they came. They had to get to a more defensible position. There were too many gunmen in too small a space to mount a real defense.

  “Black ops guys are coming out of the elevator.” He whispered as they moved.

  “Who are they?” Rora hissed back.

  “No idea, but I assume they are not friendly.” Derek told her. “This is looking more like a trap than a wild goose chase.”

  “What do we do?” She asked quietly.

  “We need to find a hallway where they can only come at us from one direction. Any thou
ghts?” He replied calmly.

  She nodded and told him she had just the place. They moved quickly through the hallways, taking advantage of the fact that Rora had memorized the layout. They reached a junction where a small hallway led off to the right of the main corridor and ended in a doorway. The main corridor continued on for a short distance and ended in thick double doors. Derek led Rora into the side corridor and started rifling through his gear.

  “What now? Aren’t we trapped?” She asked worriedly.

  “I have a plan.” Derek assured her. “I will create a distraction and then ambush them.”

  “There isn’t a gas tank you can blow up down here and I’m not taking off my top. What’s your distraction?” She said sarcastically.

  He held up two spray cans he had taken from the lab and shook them slowly with a big grin on his face. “I took these from the lab. They ought to create quite a stir.” He said gleefully.

  “What the heck are those?” She asked, curious.

  “The doc’s notes said they were a pheromone spray to mark targets for the dogs. They go crazy and attack anything with the pheromones on them.”

  “How are you planning on spraying the gunmen? I don’t think they are going to let you walk right up to them.” Rora pressed.

  Derek didn’t answer. Instead he pulled out some electrical tape he had pocketed and grabbed a flash bang grenade of his harness. He swiftly taped the spray cans to the grenade, creating a makeshift explosive dispersal system. He could see Rora smile through her faceplate and she gave him a thumbs up. Now they just had to wait for the gunmen to show up.

  They didn’t wait long. The gunmen must have had some way of tracking Derek and Rora because they were only a minute or so behind. They approached carefully and maintained cover, making sure they had the pair trapped. They made no attempt to communicate, convincing Derek that they were indeed hostile. The pair of grenades that came bouncing towards them made the final argument.

  Derek pushed Rora behind him and turned away from the blasts. The suits absorbed the concussive blast and stopped all of the shrapnel. Swinging back around quickly, Derek hurled the makeshift pheromone dispersal device up the hallway into the attackers midst. They ducked back into side corridors but were still caught in the blast. An almost imperceptible mist clouded the area and covered most of the hostile gunmen.

  Derek pulled back around the corner and waited. Every few seconds he would fire a burst from his carbine around the corner to keep the attackers back. When the screams and wild gunfire started a few minutes later, he knew it was time. He advanced around the corner, gun firing, with Rora right behind him. The carnage they saw was unbelievable. Rora gasped but stayed with him.

  Without the armored protection the suits had provided Rora and Derek, the gunmen were at the mercy of the attack dogs. The dogs were tearing into the black clad gunmen. They were helpless to stop the savage attacks of the steel fanged canines. Derek and Rora emptied their clips as they walked slowly forward and reloaded. They resumed firing and gunned down the remainder of the preoccupied gunmen. The sound of the empty shell casings striking the ground echoed through the hallways. It was almost a mercy as the pair ended the gunmen’s suffering.

  The dogs bared their steel fangs and looked like they might attack Derek and Rora, but a few bursts scattered them. They fled dragging a few bodies with them. It was all over in a matter of minutes. There were no survivors. Derek and Rora reloaded again and he signaled to wait. He waited for a few minutes to see if any more hostiles would emerge but nothing happened.

  Relaxing slightly he went to examine the remains. Pulling of the mask of the closest gunmen Derek was truly startled. The man had no face! Oh, he had skin where a face would be; but he also had a mouth with no teeth, eyes with no color, a hole where the nose should be, and no ears. There was no hair or any identifying features whatsoever. A blank slate if you will. It was creepy to look at. Derek pulled the masks off the other heads and discovered the same thing.

  He stripped the bodies and examined them closely. Rora watched in horrified fascination as he searched them. There was nothing at all on the bodies except for a small black mole they all had on the back of their neck, so small it was almost imperceptible. They had no scars or tattoos or birthmarks. Even their fingerprints didn’t seem to exist. They had no identification or anything that would indicate who they worked for. Their gear had no tags or markings, even the headsets they wore didn’t have a manufacturer mark. These guys were virtually untraceable.

  Then Derek noticed that the body he was examining was very warm to the touch and getting warmer. He jumped back as the body got too hot to touch and watched in amazement as it melted into a puddle of goo. The other bodies melted at almost the same time, leaving almost no trace of the gunmen. They really didn’t want any evidence left. He picked up one of the M4s with the grenade launcher the gunmen were carrying and two bandoliers of 40mm grenades. Extra firepower was always good. He grabbed a few clips for good measure. Rule #18, you can never have enough ammo.

  “Who were these guys?” Rora asked in a baffled tone.

  “I have an idea, but I thought it was just an Agency myth. I will have to check with the Voice when we can, to confirm.” Derek replied slowly after considering the possibilities. “What is most interesting is that they don’t have any protective gear. They weren’t expecting to go back. Someone sent them in on a suicide mission to kill us.”

  “Do you think the Collective or U.S.T.G. want us dead that badly?” Rora asked with concern.

  “I don’t think so.” Derek told her. “The U.S.T.G. hasn’t been shy about sending uniformed troops and the Collective has used locals. I’m afraid this is someone new.”

  “Just what we need, more people trying to kill us.” Rora said sardonically.

  Derek laughed. “Come on; let’s get the heck out of here. We don’t have much time to make the airport in time for our pickup.”

  Rora agreed and they headed back to the elevator. They made it there uneventfully, but Derek was still cautious. The attackers had been wearing headsets so they may have been communicating with someone else. There may still be more of the gunmen up top. He burst out of the elevator, gun ready, but found no one there. They advanced cautiously to the hole and found it empty as well. Multiple ropes hung down into the basement where the gunmen had entered.

  Derek listened carefully but heard no movement. Exiting the hole would be the perfect time for an ambush, but they couldn’t stay in the hole so he had no choice except to climb up and check it out. He flew up the rope and rolled out of the hole. No bullets greeted his exit so he took a quick look around. The area was clear of any active gunmen, but there were piles of goo and clothing near the wreckage of their LTATV. He assumed it was gunmen that had been wounded by the booby trap and left to die by their comrades. Shaking his head, Derek returned to the hole and pulled Rora up.

  She groaned when she saw the LTATV. “Great. You lost another one, Derek.” She said with a sigh. “How are we going to get back?”

  “The gunmen got here somehow.” He replied calmly. “We just need to find their ride and take it.”

  A few minutes of searching the area revealed two non-descript older model Chevy Suburban SUVs painted a faded black. The SUV was armored and had heavy bulletproof glass. On the inside was a minigun that popped up through a hatch in the roof. Like the gunmen and their gear, the vehicles had no markings and any serial numbers had been removed. They were completely clean inside and it looked like the GPS devices and car black boxes had been removed. Again, everything was completely untraceable.

  These guys had obviously not expected Derek and Rora to survive their assault, they hadn’t posted guards on the vehicles and they had left the keys. They had seemed very professional coming out of the elevator, but their behavior overall was very amateurish. He had no idea who they were and that should have bothered him. But he shook his head and got in the SUV, there were almost too many people after him to keep track of it an
ymore.

  “Get in.” He called to Rora. “We don’t have much time until the pickup.”

  She jumped in and they raced off towards the airport. They hadn’t gone far when he noticed two more Suburbans fall in behind them. Derek swore and ordered Rora to take the wheel. They carefully switched places while only slowing slightly. He climbed into the back and examined the mini-gun. It was cleverly designed to pop up from concealment on a hinged rig and the shells fell through a grate in the floor. The only problem was that it could only be fired in a forward arc.

  The heavy rattle of rounds bouncing off the back of their ride, let Derek knew their pursuers had caught up to them. The armored body of the SUV would probably protect them, but the bulletproof glass was another story. If enough rounds hit it, the glass would crack and then shatter. That probably wouldn’t take too long with the amount of firepower the mini-guns possessed.

  He couldn’t figure out where these guys kept coming from. It was like every gunman, thug, mercenary, soldier, and psychotic cyborg in the wasteland was chasing them. There seemed to be no end to number of people trying to kill them and take the device. How many more would he have to kill to complete the mission? Well, at least he was having fun.

  He popped up through the hatch and looked back. The two SUVs chasing them were still a good distance back, but they had begun firing as soon as they were in range. Both of them had men in black manning their mini-guns and firing wildly. More gunmen hung out of the windows waiting to get closer before opening fire. Derek popped a grenade into the carbine’s underslung launcher and took careful aim at the lead pursuer.

  Rora swerved just as he fired and the shot sailed wide, blasting a pile of rubble. Derek risked a quick glance forward and realized they were coming through an area full of debris and rubble. Rora hadn’t slowed down and she was weaving through or over the obstacles at full speed. Their SUV started bouncing and swinging about crazily. It was going to be tough to take a clean shot at the gunmen behind them.