Wasteland Road Knights Trilogy

by Andrew Dobell

  Nyx noticed two people on lookout right away, but she couldn’t see anyone else, making the camp look decidedly empty.

  “It’s quiet,” Nyx said. She turned and looked at Diesel, who was beside her, still bound and now also gagged to keep him from calling out. They’d left Sable back in Cryptus’ truck. She wasn’t being anywhere near as cooperative as Diesel and was more of a liability.

  “Are you going to be quiet if I take that gag off?” Nyx asked him.

  Diesel nodded.

  Nyx eyed him for a few more moments before she reached out and pulled off the gag. “The slightest loud noise and you’re dead, got it?”

  Diesel nodded again.

  “Good enough,” Nyx muttered. “Alright, where are the people?”

  “They’re down there. They’ll be in the main building. They stay in there most of the time and rely on the lookouts to warn them of anything.”

  “Numbers?”

  “Bishop will have a gang of fifteen, maybe twenty men in there. They’re confident, but they’re well trained and deadly.”

  Nyx nodded and turned to look at Nero. “What do you think?”

  “It won’t be easy,” Nero commented. “Somehow, we need to get in there and get Bishop out before they know we’re here or notice he’s gone.”

  “I’ll go. I could sneak in there. Some of that fence is just chicken wire,” Nyx said, looking down at the fortified truck stop. She scanned the rocky slope below and figured she could get down there relatively unseen. She’d just need to sneak inside, find the man, get him alone, and drag him out.

  “If you’re caught, though… If you’re seen, there’s no backup,” Nero warned her.

  “I’ll go with her,” Kat suggested.

  “That’s very brave of you Kat, but are you sure? I think I should go down there.”

  “No offence, babe, but you’re loud and noisy,” Nyx cut in. “Kat and I would be much quieter.”

  “Hmm, I’m not sure,” Nero answered her, sounding a little nervous about it all. He backed away from the ledge and moved back towards the car. Nyx followed with Kat and Diesel nearby.

  Nero stopped near the vehicles

  “I just don’t like it. If you two are seen down there, I can’t help you out;, I can’t back you up. It’s too far away,” he explained.

  “But you know Kat and I are the best choice for this mission,” Nyx replied.

  “I know,” Nero answered her.

  “But, friend Nero, you can help. Runt finished now, look,” Runt said, approaching from the monster truck, carrying the long gun that he had been working on. Approaching Nero, Runt held the gun out reverentially, as if handing a precious gift to a king. Nero looked at the weapon approvingly. Nyx smiled to herself. She didn’t know much about guns, but this one, even though it was clearly pulled together from scrap, looked good.

  “Runt finish it at last camp and try shooting it. Work’s well, Runt is pleased.”

  Nyx frowned. “I didn’t hear any gunshots last night,” she said.

  Runt smiled and pointed to the end of the gun. “Runt make noise suppressor,” he answered with a grin.

  “This is impressive workmanship, Runt,” Nero said, looking the gun over and nodding to himself. Runt looked embarrassed.

  “Runt glad you like it, friend Nero,” he said.

  Nyx watched Nero shoulder the gun and look down the sights, which included a telescopic sight attached to the top. “How accurate is it?” Nyx asked.

  “Runt test it last night, I think it very accurate now.”

  “I’d like to test it, but I’m guessing the guards down there might hear it?”

  Runt looked in the direction of the camp and then back at the gun. “It risk, yes. Runt does not think friend Nero should shoot gun up here. Friend Nero must trust Runt. Runt make good gun. Accurate gun. Shoots well.”

  Nero nodded as he looked the rifle over once more, and then turned to Runt. “Alright, Runt, I trust you,” he said.

  Nyx smiled. “Excellent. So, are we on?” Nyx asked, feeling pleased that Nero seemed a little happier about the situation.

  “Let’s do it,” Nero answered her.

  Nyx nodded, pulled off her coat, and threw it into the front passenger seat of the car before she checked over her sword. Happy with her weapon, she moved to the back of the car and opened up one of the containers and rummaged around inside until she found what she was looking for: a pair of sturdy looking wire cutters and some rag to use as a gag. Kat walked up to her.

  “Have you done anything like this before?” she asked.

  “For years, when I was living at the Watchtower, I would sneak around that complex, keeping out of sight whenever I wanted to do anything that I knew Rex wouldn’t approve of. Since then, since Nero saved me, we’ve been in a few situations that required us to move around unseen.”

  Kat nodded. “So, what you’re saying is…”

  “What I’m saying is, I’m confident we can do this. Especially with you by my side and Nero keeping overwatch with that long gun. Why? Are you nervous?”

  “A little, but I’ll be alright.”

  “Nerves are good, they keep you alert. So, come on, let’s do this,” Nyx answered, urging Kat on.

  She could understand that Kat was a little unsure about this mission. Sneaking into a fortified outpost filled with people who, if they found you, would kill you if you were lucky, was not something to walk blindly into. This was going to be dangerous, there was no doubt about that, but Nyx was both confident that she could pull it off, and also very keen to push forward on her mission to find the Whisperer and her mother.

  It wasn’t the only thing that mattered to her, but it was now perhaps her primary goal in life. She really, really wanted to liberate her mother from the clutches of this Night Lord.

  Nyx led Kat over to Nero, who was standing a distance away from the ledge, the long gun’s butt rested on his hip. Little needed to be said, they knew what they were getting themselves into, so, Nyx just walked up to her lover and kissed him. Kat didn’t approach him and just smiled nervously, only for Nero to walk over and hug her.

  “See you when you get back,” Nero said to them both. “I’ll be watching.”

  “You’d better be,” Nyx replied with a smile before she turned and made her way right, towards a cutting in the rock that served as a path down towards the camp that would keep them covered.

  Nyx moved slow, keeping a close eye on what she could see of the camp, and thus, what the lookouts might see as well. They had a reasonable distance to travel, and there were more than a few places where the cover was basically non-existent, meaning they would need to watch the guards and try to traverse them when they were not looking.

  The early part of the trek was the roughest, but afforded them the most cover, with little valleys that allowed them to pretty much walk unimpeded towards the camp. But as they progressed, the amount of cover reduced, and Nyx found herself having to stop and peer around the rocks at the lookouts. Sometimes, there was enough cover for her to crouch or crawl forward to the next available cover, and other times, they had to be patient and wait for the lookout to turn away from them and look in the other direction.

  Some of those waits seemed to drag on for what felt like ages, but eventually, they were just a short distance from the wall, with only a last, totally open and exposed area to cross.

  So far, all their runs had been short, and apart from a couple of near misses, they had made them with a good margin of error. Nyx was less confident about this last, much wider section, but there was nothing for it, and she had to rely on Nero to take the lookout out, should things not work out.

  “Alright, last run,” Nyx whispered to Kat. “When I go, you follow, and be quick about it, alright?”

  Kat nodded in understanding.

  Satisfied, Nyx edged forward and looked around the rock. The lookout was standing on his raised platform high above the walls, looking out at the landscape surrounding the compound. He
wasn’t looking right at them, but if they broke cover, he would most likely spot them out the corner of his eye.

  Nyx kept still, silent, and just watched, her eyes locked on the lookout. As she waited, the guard turned away a few times, but he never settled looking in that other direction and kept on turning back their way. Nyx could see the other lookout on the other side of the camp, but only just. She’d only need to take a few quick steps towards the wall, and they would be out of sight of the second lookout. So, she didn’t worry too much about him.

  The minutes ticked by, and Nyx was just starting to get frustrated when the lookout turned and faced away, but this time, he seemed to settle there.

  Nyx waited for a second or so, just to be sure, and she was quickly convinced that he’d settled. His weight seemed steady, and he had his back to them.

  She realised she was wasting seconds watching him, and knew it was now or never. Committing to the moment, Nyx hissed at Kat as she sprung from cover.

  “Run!”

  Nyx pumped her legs, sprinting for the wall as fast as she could go, passing small rocks and bits of scrap. She glanced up once, and it looked like they might be home free. A second or two later, she glanced up again, and her heart sank as she saw the looking turn on the spot.

  The man moved quickly, lifting his gun.

  “Shit,” Nyx cursed. “Keep going,” she called back to Kat as feint crack echoed over the landscape. It wasn’t the loud bang she’d been expecting, and she clearly hadn’t been hit. There were no puffs of dust on the ground from a missed shot, either. In the last few yards, Nyx glanced up again before she lost sight of the lookout and saw the man slumped in the top of the tower.

  Nero, she thought, and then she smiled as another thought passed through her mind. Runt, you beauty.

  She heard another feint crack just as she reached the wall, but then it was silent. She looked up the slope towards where she knew Nero and the others were, but she couldn’t spot them. She knew they were up there, though, and it felt good to have that backup.

  Taking a breath to calm her nerves, she looked around and saw a patch of the wall off to her left that was nothing but simple chain-link fencing—chicken coop stuff, but thicker and more durable. She crept over towards it and carefully looked around the edge of the section of metal wall they were standing up against. She could clearly see the second watchtower now and make out the unmoving form of the lookout, who lay dead or dying up there. Shifting her weight, she looked around the compound and saw no movement, but she could now hear voices, which she felt sure were coming from one of the nearby buildings.

  “Alright, we’re clear,” she said to Kat and pulled out the wire cutters she’d stuffed in her hip bag and went to work on the fencing.

  The snap of the cutters made her cringe each time, convinced that the people in the building were able to hear her doing it. But over the next few minutes, she saw no one and managed to cut open a large section of fence. She made sure to do more than she needed, as she knew if everything went to plan, they’d be carrying a man out of here between them.

  Satisfied with her work, Nyx snuck through, followed by Kat, and they pulled the fencing back so that at first glance, it wasn’t obviously cut open.

  They’d entered the camp right next to an outbuilding that extended away on their right while vehicles stood parked to their left. She knew from seeing the camp at a distance that the main building was off to their right, beyond the outbuilding they were next to.

  “It’s this way,” she whispered to Kat, and moved down the side of the outbuilding, which was not much more than maybe five meters long. There was a door in the middle of this side of the building, and Nyx could see light from inside leaking around the edges of it as well as hear men inside, talking loudly.

  She moved past it quietly, keeping close to the wall of the building as she peered around the corner at the larger main building. It was basically a former gas station and café that had long since been converted for the use of the Whisperer’s men. The windows were boarded up on this side, but there was light coming from inside the building.

  Nyx glanced left, out into the main open area of the compound, but saw only cold, silent vehicles out there.

  Nyx heard a click and the sound of movement behind her. She grabbed Kat and pulled her around the side of the building, out into full view of the main building, but out of immediate sight of whoever was exiting this place.

  “Right, guys, let’s go and see Bishop. He’ll be wondering where we are,” said one of them.

  “Like he fuckin’ cares about us,” said another.

  “Watch yeh mouth. That kind of talk’ll get yeh killed,” answered the first.

  “He can try,” said a third with a laugh, as the voiced approached Nyx’s position.

  Nyx knew there was nothing for it. They’d be spotted the moment they turned the corner. Nyx briefly considered continuing around the building to keep out of sight, but then changed her mind. These guys were clearly not the man they were after, and there was only a few of them. If she took them out now, it would thin the opposition down if they got into a fight in the main building, and out here, she knew she had the back up of Nero and the long gun.

  She glanced back at Kat, who seemed to be backing off and had an expression on her face that asked if they should keep moving and hide.

  Nyx shook her head and brandished her sword. Kat looked briefly shocked, and then shrugged, and gripped her weapon.

  Before the guys had a chance to see them, Nyx darted out from cover and swung her sword at the first of them, aiming for his neck. Her strike hit true, and blood flew from the huge gash in his throat. Kat was right behind her, and lunged forward, stabbing her blade at the next nearest man. She sunk her sword into the man’s eye, easily going deep enough to impale his brain. He shuddered where he stood but made no sound.

  Nyx heard the faint crack of the long gun, and one of the three men at the back lost his brains all over the side of the building as the remaining two men, clearly terrified, staggered back away from the girls in panic. Nyx lunged and slammed the end of her blade into the mouth of the nearest of them, while a second shot from Nero ended the last of them in short order.

  Standing in the middle of the carnage, Nyx looked around her in case they’d been seen. Kat was doing the same, but the compound was eerily quiet apart from the distant voices coming from the next building over.

  Satisfied they had not been spotted, Nyx put her sword into her scabbard on her back and began pulling the bodies of the guards around into the shadow of the outbuilding and then into the shed itself, which was something of a mess inside. She had no idea what the men were doing in here and didn’t want to guess. But, for now, it made a good hiding place for these bodies.

  Nyx shut the door behind her and stepped away. Kat was close by, keeping watch.

  “Ready?” Nyx asked.

  “Always,” Kat replied.

  Nyx nodded. Quietly, with her sword ready, Nyx moved to the wall and started to make her way around the perimeter towards the main building. The noise and chatter from inside grew louder as they approached. Meanwhile, outside, the compound was quiet.

  She reached the part of the wall closest to the back of the main building, and with a scan left and right, crossed the open space over to it at a quick jog. She pressed herself up against the wall and waited. But the camp remained quiet. Satisfied, she walked up to the backdoor and checked it over for anything that might indicate a trap or alarm, but saw nothing. Slowly and quietly, Nyx took the handle in her hand and tried to open it.

  The handle’s action was smooth and silent, much to her relief, and with it all the way down, the door felt suddenly free.

  It wasn’t locked.

  Carefully, Nyx eased the door open, keeping her eye angled so she could see through the gap and scope out the area beyond quickly and without opening the door too wide.

  A corridor awaited them on the other side that led to what she guessed would be th
e main part of the building. There were doors up both sides of the corridor, and the voices of the team in here reached her loud and clear.

  Satisfied that no one would spot them right away, Nyx eased the door open a little further and slipped through, waiting for Kat to follow.

  Kat closed the door behind her as quietly as Nyx had opened it, and the pair started to make their way up the short corridor. There were boxes and crates and bags filled with all kinds of things up both sides of the hallway, but there was also enough room to move, which meant there was plentiful cover should they need any.

  The first door they reached on the right was part way open to some kind of backroom, with a table and empty chairs. Next, on the left, were two doors for bathrooms, still with their male and female logos on them, although, they had been defaced with pen marks that had faded over the years.

  The final door on the right was unmarked but stood slightly ajar, and it was clearly dark inside. There was also a couple of small boxes right outside it, suggesting it wasn’t used much.

  She was just a few meters from the end of the corridor now and could just make out some movement in the main area. She was curious about this last room, though, and gave the door a light push. It moved a few inches without resistance, revealing shelves with ancient cleaning supplies on them, and some mops and buckets.

  It was a small closet, right opposite the men’s restroom. Nyx nodded to herself, and then edged towards the end of the corridor, peering around the corner.

  Sure enough, Nyx made out perhaps twenty men, sitting around, talking. They were all well-armed and armoured, with many of them holding with their weapons or cleaning them.

  “Boys and their toys,” Nyx muttered under her breath.

  She couldn’t quite make out the whole room, though, and she guessed there might be more that she couldn’t see. But even if she could see everyone, she didn’t really like the idea of taking twenty of them on at once, even with Kat’s help.