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

by J. G. Martin

  He looked around trying to see what had caused the disturbance when he realized that all the guards were pointing their submachine guns as him. The other people in line behind him had fled out the door to the outside. The guards were screaming at him to get on the floor and Derek complied. Unarmed and severely outgunned he wasn’t going to fight. It must be a mistake; he wasn’t wanted for anything he knew of. All he had to do was wait for Tex to come find him and explain the situation and they would set him free. Although, given the store owner’s comment earlier; there might be more going on here than a simple mistake.

  The Regulators swarmed over him, quickly and expertly securing his hands and feet with prison shackles. They dragged him up to a standing position and hauled him through the double doors. He was whisked off to what appeared to be a processing area. Any attempts to ask what was going on were met with a swift blow to the kidney and sharp warning to keep quiet. His gear was taken and catalogued. He had pictures taken and blood drawn by a very unsympathetic looking tech. Then he was stripped down and re dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and prison slippers. The entire time the guards kept their weapons trained on him and he remained shackled except when he dressed. Even then it was only one hand or foot at a time that was unshackled.

  After they processed him he was led down a bare concrete corridor down a ramp that led down into a basement level below the building. They passed through a set of steel doors controlled by more armed guards behind armor glass in a side room. A blue line and a red line were painted on middle of the floor leading through the checkpoint. The blue line had started at processing, but the red line had begun at another set of steel doors along the way. A faint whiff of diesel fuel had indicated that might be the entrance to the garage.

  The two lines split when the corridor they were in had dead ended into another corridor. Red went left and blue went right. The guard leading him had consulted a tablet pc and then proceeded left. The guards holding him had hesitated and the one on the right spoke up.

  “Hey, shouldn’t we be going to holding?”

  “Computer says we take him down to lockup. I know it’s not normal but that’s the instructions on his file. He already has a cell assigned.”

  The man on his left grunted in surprise, but started moving to the left. “If that’s what it says, that’s what we do. I’m not getting in trouble with the LT for ignoring orders.”

  The Regulator on the right agreed. “You got that right. Let’s lock him up and then we can check on the file. Who cares where we put scum like this anyway?”

  Derek started to ask what was in the file but received another swift blow to the kidney. He groaned in pain but since he couldn’t do anything about it, he didn’t resist. Plenty of time for payback once he was out. Plus, they were just doing their jobs. He couldn’t hold it against them for following orders.

  He was dragged down a short hallway to another checkpoint. They were again buzzed through after the lead guard held the tablet up against some kind of reader next to the door. This led to a small chamber with another set of steel doors in front of them and armor glass partitions on either side of them. Armed guards watched them carefully from inside the rooms on either side. The first set of doors closed behind them with a loud clang and the doors in front opened.

  The doors opened onto a large open space. When they moved past the doors Derek could see they were on the top level of a three level facility. Cells lined the walls on the three sides opposite them. The side he was on had armor glass partitions for the guards to monitor the prisoners. Narrow metal grate catwalks circled each floor. At the bottom was the common area which was filled with steel picnic style tables bolted to the floor.

  The only way down to the lower levels proved to be an open platform elevator operated remotely. The three guards led him onto the platform which was the only thing along the wall on the side they had entered from. He looked around as it descended to the bottom floor. As they went down he could see that the level of prisoner increased as they went down. Inmates at the top looked smaller and cleaner and were probably thieves or con men. The lowest level looked to house the hardest of the inmates. He could see raiders, bikers, and other scum looking out of their cells. Almost every cell was filled with inmates. They all were at their doors yelling at the guards and him. Obviously they didn’t get much entertainment.

  Again the guards holding him questioned his destination, but were silenced by the same reply that it was what his file indicated. They arrived at an empty cell and the door swung open remotely. He was pushed inside and told to turn around. He stuck his hand and feet through slots in the door and was unshackled. The three Regulators left as quickly as they could, to get back to the safety of the secure areas.

  Derek looked around the cell. It was very Spartan. A steel bunk with a flimsy mattress was bolted to the wall. A steel toilet and small wash basin made up the rest of the furniture. The walls appeared to be reinforced concrete painted a flat off-white. A fluorescent light in recessed fixture provided the only light in the cell. He lay down on the bunk and decided to get some sleep. It wasn’t often you could rest in the wasteland and be completely secure.

  He was awaked by the sound of cell doors opening. When he looked up he could see his door had swung open. Shouts of excitement started to echo in form the courtyard outside. As the commotion increased in volume, Derek decided he should take a look. Since his door was open maybe they were supposed to exit their cells, but he hadn’t heard any command to do so.

  He looked out into a scene of pure chaos. The inmates on his floor were all out of their cells. Most were running around screaming. A few were fighting, and some were standing in small groups looking up at the guard stations. Inside the stations the guards were obviously upset and moving around excitedly. One was making gestures for the prisoners to get back into their cells. The inmates on the upper levels had moved to the railings of the catwalk to watch the chaos below.

  Derek turned to go back into his cell, but stopped when he noticed two inmates looking directly at him. They were both large men, heavily muscled, and covered in tattoos. They had their jumpsuits tied off at the waist leaving their upper bodies bare. He could tell from their tattoos they were Death Angels and their tattoos were a virtual rap sheet of all the horrible deeds they had done including raping and killing children. When they started towards him, he contemplated going back into the cell. Forcing them to come at him one at a time might give him an advantage but he would be trapped. So he walked out into the courtyard to face them.

  The one on the right, a scruffy man with long black hair a short beard yelled at him as they approached. “You killed some of our brothers. Time for payback!”

  Other inmates turned to face the new commotion. Seeing a fight about to ensue they all drew closer forming a semi-circle around the would-be combatants. Derek dropped into a combat stance and prepared to face them. He kicked off his slippers to give himself better traction. Both men stopped about ten feet short of him and the one on the left, a long bearded blond, addressed the crowd.

  “He’s a hunter. He’s probably killed some of your friends and family. The guards can’t get in here to stop us. Let’s tear him apart!”

  Derek frowned. These two obviously knew who he was and were planning to kill him. Yet he had never run across them before, so they should have had no idea who he was. This all smelled like a setup, starting with his arrest and all the way to the cell doors opening and the guards being unable to get in. Someone had gone through some trouble to get him in here where he could be isolated without weapons and killed. His frown deepened when five more inmates joined the two bikers.

  The two bikers smiled the smile of a predator that thinks it has its prey trapped and produced shivs. They and their new followers moved forward towards Derek and the other inmates started cheering. Derek smiled back, which gave the five followers pause. Instead of waiting for the attack, he rushed forward surprising them. One of the bikers tried to stab him, but he dodged
the strike and grabbed the bikers arm. Pivoting, he lifted the man’s arm over his shoulder and brought it down sharply breaking it.

  The scream of pain silenced the crowd. Derek flung the screaming biker into two of the followers knocking them back. He felt the second biker striking at him from behind. Derek swung around and the shiv just grazed his ribs as the biker went by. He quickly reversed course and swung backhand at Derek. Derek stepped in and caught the arm across his body. He slapped the shiv from the man’s hand and then struck him in the throat with a quick punch. The second biker crumpled to the ground gasping for air.

  The other five looked at each other. Derek had disposed of the two bikers pretty easily, but there were five of them. The other inmates howled wildly for Derek’s blood and revenge for their fallen comrades. All five were big tough men who had seen plenty of battles and bloodshed. They were feared enforcers in here and had the scars to prove it. Fearing the loss of their reputations more than Derek, they all rushed him at once.

  He kicked the one in front of him square in the face with a snap kick sending the man flying backwards. The thug bounced off a steel table and lay motionless. The other four knocked Derek to the ground and began viciously kicking him. The cheers from the gallery rose in volume as their champions were winning. Derek pulled his legs back towards his head and monkey flipped to his feet. This caught the inmates off guard. Once a man was down they usually kicked the crap out of him until they got bored. The fight should have been over.

  Derek reminded one of them of that mistake when he punched the inmate straight in the face. Breaking the man’s nose and sending him collapsing backwards in a spray of blood. The others reached for Derek, but he snapped a side-kick into one’s stomach sending him reeling. Derek absorbed a few blows, dodged a punch, and countered with an uppercut that dropped the man. The last inmate grabbed Derek from behind and tried to choke him. He responded with a backwards elbow to the man’s side and when the inmate loosened his grip Derek twisted free. He picked the man up and slammed him down on a tabletop. The force of the blow left a dent in the table and probably broke a few ribs.

  Derek looked around. The inmates were all staring at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws. The silence was only broken by the sound of the guards pounding on the doors trying to get in and the pitiful moaning of the seven downed enforcers. Derek had beaten down seven of their toughest and was barely scratched and not even breathing hard. They all looked at each other and back up a step when Derek moved towards them.

  “Anyone else?” He demanded confidently.

  To his surprise the inmates started chanting. It was hard to make out at first, but as it grew in volume he could make it out. It was only one word.

  “Ye-Ti! Ye-Ti!Ye-Ti!”

  The chant swelled in volume as every inmate took up the chant. Derek looked around in confusion. What the hell was yeti? That question was answered as the inmates to his right parted to reveal the open door of a cell. The light in the cell appeared to blink out as something in the doorway blocked it. A man emerged, so large he had to turn sideways AND duck his head to get out. He stood up revealing himself to be a massive human being over seven feet tall. He had a slight thickening of the midsection, but was overall in good shape.

  Derek considered the man, although man might not be accurate. The behemoth had an outthrust jaw and long arms that gave him an apelike appearance. He was covered in thick hair and had a wild unkempt beard. As the man-beast cracked his knuckles, Derek could see where he had gotten the nickname Yeti. It was amazing the number of giants Derek had to face. But, it made sense that the biggest men would have the best chance of survival and even success in world now based on physical prowess.

  He sighed to himself. He should have kept his mouth shut, his arrogance and smart ass attitude might have done him in this time. He couldn’t get away from the man, the inmates had encircled them, and the guards wouldn’t be any help. So Derek did the only thing he could think of. He attacked. He ran towards the lumbering giant and leaped on top of a table. Keeping his forward momentum he jumped off at the big man throwing a superman punch as he arrived.

  The punch never landed as the hairy giant reached out and caught him in midair. The crowd of inmates cheered as their champion slung Derek around and sent him crashing against the wall. He landed with a sickening thud and knew he had broken a rib and maybe worse. His head throbbed from crashing into the concrete wall and he saw double when he opened his eyes. Derek struggled to his feet and circled away from the monster as he tried to clear his head.

  The massive man smiled a surprisingly intelligent smile at Derek and closed in for the kill, dropping into a grappler’s stance as he approached. That was concerning, the beast didn’t just rely on his strength and size to win, he had skills. Who gave a giant like this combat training? Derek didn’t have much time to ponder as the man shot forward trying to grab him. Derek spun away and tried to create space but the wall of inmates closed in and shoved him back.

  They played a game of cat and mouse for a while. With the larger inmate closing on the much smaller Derek, who struck quick blows and dodged away. The blows were having no effect except making the giant angry. Derek had thought maybe he could tire the big man out but he showed no signs of slowing. It was taking every ounce of speed and strength he had to avoid the behemoth. The other inmates had gotten anxious and enflamed with blood lust and were no longer content to just shove Derek back. They were punching and kicking him now as well like a prison lumberjack match.

  Derek needed to end this soon. Either one of the other inmates would stun him and leave him defenseless or the monster would grab hold of him. So he tried what he had seen in an old movie where a smaller man had managed to bring down a giant. He ducked down and slid between the behemoth’s legs as the man lunged for him. Jumping up, Derek leapt onto the massive back of the inmate. He wrapped his legs around the man-beast’s waist for leverage and locked in a rear naked choke.

  At first it went just like the movie. The giant tried to dislodge him by smashing backwards against the wall. Pain lanced through Derek from his broken rib but he responded by tightening the hold. He could see the giant’s head grow red and his breathing labored. But then the monster did something that the giant in the movie didn’t do. He suddenly bent forward at the waist and grabbed hold of Derek’s head with one hand and Derek’s foot with the other. In one fluid move he peeled Derek loose and flipped him over his head.

  Derek landed hard but rolled to his feet. He spun around quickly anticipating that the giant would be coming for him. But the monster was standing where he tossed Derek shaking his head. While he hadn’t succumbed to the choke hold it had weakened him and he was trying to shake loose the cobwebs. Derek took one last chance to end the fight and launched off the top of another table and tried to land the superman punch again. This time the giant didn’t catch him and his fist smashed into the monster’s face. Pain shot up Derek’s arm as he connected with the behemoth’s granite chin. His momentum carried him into the giant.

  The monster instinctively grabbed him but their momentum carried them over backward. The giant broke their fall crashing hard onto the floor. The whole prison actually shook at their impact on the floor. Derek grabbed the thick hair of the man-beast and slammed his head repeatedly into the floor until he stopped moving. Silence fell as Derek climbed off the unmoving body of the inmate’s fallen champion. He was there resting on his knees, too tired to fight any more inmates, as sirens sounded and armed guards rushed into the courtyard.

  Chapter 19

  June 11, 2029

  Brotherhood of Justice Station House Nevada, MO

  Derek was shackled again and dragged out of the cell area as the other inmates watched in shocked silence. Stunned by the defeat of their champion they were easily herded back into their cells by the riot gear clad guards. As he rode the elevator back up, Derek could see medical staff checking on his downed opponents. He saw them shake their head at the guards when they checked the f
allen giant. Derek must have killed him when he smashed his head into the floor. That part was kind of a blur, so he wasn’t sure how many times he had slammed the hairy giant’s head into the floor.

  The next couple of hours were a blur also as he recovered from what was probably a concussion he had received when he hit the wall. The guards had moved him to an isolation area and medics had given him some treatment. His head and ribs were bandaged and they had given him a shot for the pain. He had passed out for a while and awoken when he heard Tex outside the isolation cell arguing with someone. That argument had lasted for a while and then Derek had slipped back into unconsciousness.

  He came round to find Tex shaking him. Derek slapped Tex’s hands away and sat up suddenly. He was surprised to find his shackles had been removed and the door to the cell was open. In his hands, Tex had a large plastic bag with Derek’s clothes and gear. When he saw Derek was awake, Tex smiled.

  “C’mon old buddy. Time to go.”

  “Why in the hell did they lock me up and what was the deal with the attack in lockup?” Derek demanded still slightly confused.

  Tex chuckled nervously. “Best we don’t stick around here too long answering questions. I convinced the Captain that you were acting in self-defense when you killed the Yeti and practically crippled the others. It was harder to convince them that the video was a fake. The Captain bought my argument that you were too dangerous to keep locked up here and we didn’t have enough evidence to execute you. So he is releasing you into my custody to escort you far, far away where you cannot do any more damage.”

  “What video?” Derek asked nonplussed.