The Collapse Trilogy (Book 1): Free Fire Zone

by Rod Carstens

  Rule looked at Tanner and Cat. The others had obviously heard all of this before.

  “Our economy began to go through a dramatic change. Whole industries disappeared as climate and population dislocation hit home. You add to this the decreasing amount of oil available from the Middle East. The long-predicted decline in oil production is a whole different discussion, but it too added to the disruptions. You end up with a perfect storm of the changing of fundamental resources supporting our civilization leading to chaos.”

  Rule paused, as if remembering what had happened was difficult.

  “I ran a worst-case scenario for the government, and the predictions were dire. I tried several different models and feedback thinking. But the population dynamics always overcame the models. Unemployment could go as high as fifty percent with a permanent rate of twenty percent. The jobs people held would simply cease to exist because of the climate pressures, lack of oil, and the population migrations. Add to this shortages of water and food and you had a formula for social unrest not seen in modern times. This large number of unemployed, disenfranchised people would foment social unrest which would lead to the violent overthrow of the government in ten years. Beyond ten years things became muddled. We had no good data for that kind of projection. We could not predict the future that far out in the midst of such unrest.”

  “Okay, but what does all of this have to do with…” Tanner said.

  Rule held up his hand. “Bear with me. I was made part of a task force of high-ranking government officials and corporate leaders who tried to determine what could be done to prevent this disaster. There was only one factor they would not let me change.”

  Rule took a deep breath, as if he had to physically prepare himself to say what came next.

  “The one factor they wouldn’t change was their standard of living. That had to come off the top of the resources before we determined what was left to divide up between everyone else.”

  “You mean…” Tanner said, unable to complete the sentence.

  “Yes. They came first and there would no sacrifices for them. Any sacrifices had to come at the expense of everyone else. Their reasoning? If you didn’t have enough money it was your own fault. Everybody had their chance. So I had to use a subset of numbers for the rest of the population. Any way you cut it, the rest of the country was going to suffer shortages that would eventually begin to cull out the weakest. Then even the strongest would have a problem surviving. Their slice of the pie got larger and larger and what was left for the rest got smaller and smaller as the pie itself shrunk.”

  Tanner couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was shaking as he realized what Rule was going to say.

  “It didn’t take long for the trend to cross the line and the population began to decrease. When I pointed this out to the government and corporations, they asked me to run the program out. It showed that they could continue their standard of living almost indefinitely with remaining resources, but it would be devastating to the rest of the population. The decision was made: all calculations were to be made with the one percent coming first and the rest of the population next. Of course this led to widespread rioting and disorder.”

  “The Bad Times,” Tanner said quietly.

  “Yes, yes,” Rule said as if giving a lecture. “The people…I began to call them The Group. The ones who made the decisions saw this as a way to control the situation. Push the situation in a direction that assured The Group’s continued comfortable existence while preventing the rest of the population from rebelling against the government and corporations.”

  “So the Wild Zone and Free Fire Zone designations are made by the program to keep everybody scrambling just to stay alive,” Tanner said quietly.

  “Yes, of course. Teams like yours gather the statistics so its a simple matter to run them through the program. Any area that shows any danger of becoming too well organized could be targeted. It would then be seeded with additional gangs or whatever we thought was necessary.”

  “The gangs work for you!” Tanner snapped.

  “No, no, my dear fellow. They are much too unpredictable, but they are very easily manipulated by our Special Action Teams.” He paused. “I imagine that is where the one chasing us came from.”

  “You mean—” Tanner’s voice was shaking as he spoke, “—that all of this… the killing, the hunger and freezing winters, is so a bunch of rich fucks can stay fat, warm, and cozy?”

  “I’m afraid it’s that simple,” Rule said. “It has any number of precedents in the history of ancient civilizations. I read a book many years ago. It was about the collapse of societies. It was always the same. The last to starve to death were always those in charge; they viewed their survival as vital to the survival of their civilization. The Vikings in Greenland or the ruling caste on Easter Island are a couple of examples. It’s always the same, even in today’s advanced society.”

  “Why are they after you now?” Cat asked.

  “I don’t know, unless some of the constants have changed and the formula needs to be altered.”

  “There’s no one else who could do that?”

  “No, it was my formula and understanding. A number of my staff understood parts of it, but no one understood my model the way I did and do. My guess would be that some basic factor has dramatically changed, and they either don’t believe what the model is telling them or they can’t figure out how to include it in the model,” Rule said.

  “Why did you leave? I saw you and how you lived. What was so bad that you gave that up?” Cat said.

  “There was no specific event or incident. It was a slow accumulation of things. I was deciding people’s fates. Millions of people. It wasn’t right, and I didn’t want to be a part of it any longer.”

  Rule paused and shook his head. “I couldn’t do it anymore. So I arranged to disappear, and here I sit with the rest of those who don’t matter.”

  Cat had been watching Tanner closely since Rule had started to talk. Tanner placed his finger on the trigger of his rifle. He was slowly bringing it up when Cat brought her rifle around and caught him as hard as she dared on the side of the head. He dropped unconscious on the floor.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Special Action Team

  Patrol Area Bravo

  0055 hours

  Muller stared out into the darkness. Even with her night vision she had only been able to catch a fleeting glimpse as the last of her teams moved into position. She was pleased with their performance; the reinforcements had been better than the original team she had been assigned. She would have to note it in her report. From her vantage point on the third floor of an old office building, she could see the hotel across the street. The teams would soon have the area sealed off. Things were finally going according to plan.

  She stared at the old hotel. It ran the length of the block. The old glass doors were long gone, so the front was wide open just as the report had said. Anke could see far enough into the building to spot the old front desk which even through the dust and dirt she could see that it was pretty much intact. It was made of marble and marble had little use to scavengers. There was a small alley on each side of the building, and she had teams assigned to buildings overlooking the alleys. She also had a team assigned to rear of the hotel. Between them and the units with her the building was surrounded. No one was going to escape.

  When the attack began, the tiltrotors would take off and provide air cover. A simple but effective plan. They were using the old 3:00 a.m. rule and everything should go off smoothly. No bunch of settlers was good enough to stand up to this kind of attack. She glanced at the time. All of the teams should be in position now.

  “First team, report,” she said quietly into her mic.

  “First team in position,” the sergeant replied. “The sweep of the area turned up nothing. We’re clean on the east side. Area secured.”

  “Second team.”

  “We’ve spotted a small gang hideout over here. About
fifteen occupants. We have the block surrounded. How do you want us to proceed?”

  “Take them out.”

  “What will we do with the prisoners?”

  “We don’t have time for prisoners. This is a Free Fire Zone. Take them out permanently. You have enough ammunition for that and the raid, don’t you?”

  “Check.”

  “Is that all you have to report?” Muller snapped.

  “Check. As soon as we clean up the hideout, our zone will be secured.”

  “Good. This is Headhunter Six, out.”

  Muller was pleased. The hare had been secured and all her people were in position. She glanced at the time. Two more hours and everything would be over. She punched in the situation into the combat sim. It was predicting successful completion of her mission with ninety-five percent confidence. She’d have Rule and be back in time for a post-mission breakfast and a nice day’s sleep. She lit a cigarette and walked back over to the window. Tanner was the only loose end. Muller didn’t like loose ends. She would see if she could get permission to tie up that loose end after this was over.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Resource Security Force

  Team Sixteen

  Rule Settlement

  0200 hours

  Tanner slowly regained consciousness. His head throbbed and it hurt to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was Cat’s face.

  “Are you all right?” Cat said, frowning. “I didn’t mean to hit you so hard. But I had to stop you before you killed him.”

  Tanner started to say something, but before he could, she said, “Between what Rule was saying and you being on a Green Monster I didn’t know what you were going to do.”

  “It’s just, all these years, forcing people…” Tanner began.

  “Look, that’s all over now. You’ve got to worry about today, right now. I talked to them while you were out. Rule left the Megas and came down here because he couldn’t stand it any longer. He wants to change things. He wants to bring down those damn Megas around the One Percenters’ ears.”

  “He can’t be legit.”

  “I know what he left behind. I was there, remember? If you only knew what he was leaving up there, you would believe him too. He has to be sincere.”

  “I don’t know…”

  Tanner tried to clear his head and think straight. Cat knew things he could not imagine. She had spent her teenage years up there as a call girl. She should know. She was nobody’s fool. She could see through bullshit quicker than anybody Tanner knew. Cat was as cynical as they came, and if she thought Rule was telling the truth then maybe. Just maybe. He wished his head would stop throbbing. The Green Monster was still working—it did weird things to your thinking. Something was bothering him. Something in the back of his mind. He couldn’t quite grab it.

  Tanner sat up slowly and groaned in pain. He didn’t know what to think. Everything in his life had been turned upside down. All these years he had been working against the very people he’d thought he was helping. He was nothing more than a tool for the One Percenters, used to keep the poor in line by keeping them hungry and scrambling for their lives. What had all the sacrifice been for? All of the lost friends. All of those he had killed. All to keep the few safe and warm.

  He tried to stand but couldn’t. Tanner sat back down and looked at his surroundings for the first time. He and Cat were not in the main room. They were in a small, bare office. The door was closed. He could hear voices through the door.

  “What’s going on?” Tanner asked.

  “They’re talking over what they’re going to do with us.”

  Tanner glanced at his watch. Zero two hundred. So much had changed in just a few hours. His whole world… Jesus, what was bothering him suddenly dawned on him.

  “Where in the fuck has my brain been?”

  “What?”

  “Help me up, hurry,” he said, staggering to his feet. Cat put an arm around his shoulders. With Cat’s support he stumbled to the door. They shoved it open. The men and women were gathered around the table, obviously in a heated debate.

  “Listen, we told you—” Peter the big-bearded man began when he saw Cat and Tanner come out of the room.

  “Shut up,” Tanner snapped. “We don’t have much time. That Spec Act Team will be here in a little over an hour.”

  “What are you talking about? I thought you said you lost them,” Peter said.

  “We did. I wasn’t thinking. What Rule said threw me. They could never have put together a Special Action Team in the short time between my protest and our extraction. That means they were already organized and ready to go. We were just thrown in as an extra assignment until they came after Rule. In my last report I gave a detailed account of this settlement and its address.”

  “So? There are lots of settlements.”

  “They’re not idiots. They know Rule wouldn’t leave the Megas to huddle in some abandoned building. He’d go where there’s some sort of organization. Somewhere he can make a start. I gave them the last part of the puzzle.”

  “Why in the next hour? Why not five minutes or five hours from now?” Peter asked.

  “Because,” the short-haired woman said, “between three and four in the morning is the best time to make a hit. We don’t have much time. We have to move.”

  Tanner looked at her. “Who are you?”

  “Nikki Johnson. Serial number 435090. Sergeant RSF.”

  “The Johnson,” Tanner said, hardly believing what she was saying.

  “Yes, the Johnson. I did walk away with my team.”

  Now Tanner had heard everything. Johnson was not only not an urban myth but she was standing in front of him. He looked more closely at her. She was Cat’s size with a muscular build and dark eyes that had seen much. How could he have missed her? He could usually tell another RSF trooper or soldier at first glance—they had “the look” as he had come to call it.

  “Then you know I’m right.”

  She nodded her head and said to the others, “They’ll be coming at three. We have got to move.”

  “But…” Peter said.

  “There are no buts. He’s right. We have got to go.”

  Rule looked around at the others and said, “I’ll give myself up. They won’t kill me. They need me.”

  “They’ll hunt us down anyway. We know too much,” Nikki said.

  “She’s right. They’ll kill you anyway,” Tanner added.

  “But I’ll convince them. I won’t help them unless they promise not to hurt you.”

  “Cat told me you wanted to get back at them and bring down those Megas. Is that true or were you bullshitting her?”

  “No, I meant it.”

  “Then the only way you’re going to do that is to run now,” Tanner said. Then he looked at Nikki. “You got a plan?”

  She scowled at him then said. “What do you think, FNG?”

  Tanner laughed for the first time on the mission. Being called a Fucking New Guy by Nikki was good. “You’d better get your ass in gear. We need to figure out how to slow them down so Rule can get away,” Tanner said. “Any volunteers?”

  Nikki just nodded. Then several others stepped forward. The boy called Johnson was one of them.

  “You her boy?” Cat said. She looked at Nikki. “This is not going to be easy. You know that.”

  Nikki nodded. “He’s ready. I’ll make sure he does what he’s told.”

  The girl Morgan whom Cat had instructed stepped forward.

  “Again, Nikki, what do you think?” Tanner said.

  “She’s Johnny’s age, even if she doesn’t look it. I’ve been training her.”

  “What about her parents?” Cat asked.

  Morgan stood taller and looked at Cat. “I don’t have any.”

  Cat looked at her for a long time before she said, “You do now. Come here. I’ll take of you.”

  The girl walked over and stood next to Cat. Tanner could only shake his head. He had no idea why Cat had done that, b
ut he knew her well enough to know she had her reasons and they were good ones.

  “Let’s get to work. There’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Nikki, do you have an escape plan?”

  Nikki smirked at him and said, “Everybody here has a Bug Out Bag packed and ready. We’ve got some vehicles packed and ready and have already scouted a way out.”

  Tanner shook his head. “I should have known. Where’s the escape route?”

  “The basement,” Nikki said.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Special Action Team

  Patrol Area Bravo

  0230 hours

  A soft tone alerted Lieutenant Muller. She switched her radio to the command frequency.

  “Headhunter Six.”

  “Headhunter Six, this is Headhunter Actual.”

  It was Steiger.

  “Go ahead, Actual.”

  “I just talked to Rand and he’s not happy with things. He does not want you to wait until three to go after the primary target. He wants it done now.”

  Anke suppressed her desire to tell Steiger and Rand to go fuck themselves and let her do her job. She knew what she was doing. When you changed the plan in midstream things never went right. Even something as small as starting just half an hour early could screw things up.