Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3)

by J. G. Martin

  “Fine. What did your boss take then?” Jonas said angrily through clenched teeth.

  “I don’t know.” Derek insisted.

  “I’ll just shoot you then and track her down.” Jonas informed him coldly. “No one will question me killing you during this riot. And no one will get out of Vegas once I lock it down. I will find your boss and get the information from her any way I have to.”

  “Good luck with that.” Derek said as he looked over Jonas’ shoulder.

  The man looked back despite himself. His face changed from anger to dismay as a horde of rioters swept over him. Derek turned and fled, he didn’t want to be caught up to. He glanced back to see the security head go down under a flailing mass of arms and legs. Derek shook his head. He felt bad for the guy; he had seemed like a decent man. But they had their own mission to worry about. Joining Rora on the opposite sidewalk, he asked for an update.

  “We got what we need. I can explain more once we get to the chopper.” She told him.

  “We need to hurry. Once Jonas gets out from those people he is going to lock down the airport.” Derek said hurriedly.

  “Not to worry, we’ve taken care of that.” Rora said with a smirk.

  “Then let’s go!”

  Chapter 19

  September 5, 2029

  Las Vegas Strip, Nevada

  As they ran towards the Visitor Center, Rora could see Strip Security rushing towards the Maximus. It was rather amazing how quickly the situation had gotten out of control. But she assumed it was because despite the glitzy exterior of Vegas it still contained all manner of human suffering. The casino owners and their VIPs might live in luxury, but everyone else struggled just to survive and was kept down by the elites. Given a chance to get a little payback they were jumping on it with both feet.

  Exiting the Strip was far easier than getting in. It may have been because a lot of security was engaged in putting down the riot, but hardly anyone gave them a glance as they left. She figured it was also because they assumed that you were leaving because you were out of money; and if you were out of money than Vegas had no interest in you.

  They made it all the way to the chopper before anyone even seemed to notice them. An airport worker gave them a friendly wave as they boarded. Rora noticed more activity on the tarmac this time, it seemed like a lot of VIPs were getting ready to leave. Workers and personal security swarmed around a number of small jets fueling them and preparing for a quick takeoff. Apparently they were finding the riots a little too threatening for their comfort.

  “What did you do?” Derek asked. “It’s like we don’t exist. I would have thought security of some kind would have stopped us.”

  “The hacker isn’t the only one who can erase their steps.” Rora said with a grin. “The Voice erased us from the casino’s system and prevented any communications about us from going out. So Strip Security has no idea they want us. They’ll eventually figure it out, but we will long gone by then.”

  “Nice! Did you get what we need?” Derek asked as the chopper took off.

  “We did. He was really good and erased all records, video, and audio of himself; but we managed to figure out where he went.” Rora told him.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Rora suggested we look for ‘blank’ spots in the video which would suggest someone had removed data.” The Voice interjected. “Using that we were able to see where he had been. We couldn’t see what he did, but we know he got on a small plane and took off.”

  “Excellent. But how do we know where it went?” Derek asked.

  “I still have access to CIA satellites.” The Voice explained. “I was able to track it to a small airport outside Boise, Idaho. It is still there, so it is likely your target is still there as well.”

  “Alright, let’s go to Boise then.” Derek agreed.

  “I already told the pilot.” Rora informed them.

  “Great. What do you think he wants in Boise?” Derek wondered. “That’s an awfully risky place to go right now, and so out of the way.”

  “What’s so risky about Boise?” Rora asked as they flew away from Vegas.

  “Boise was one of the few cities in the Midwest to survive the Collapse and the Aftermath intact. For a few years they had it pretty good. They had decent food supplies and a clean water source from the mountains. The temperatures dropped significantly, but the people were used to cold winters so they adjusted. They still lost two thirds of their population, primarily the old and sick.” Derek explained. “They were too far away for the U.S.T.G. to assert power over them, and not important enough to attack. So compared to the rest of North America, they were doing well. But, the Collective began expanding eastward and Boise became a prime target for them. For the last four years Boise has held out against a Collective siege. They are stubborn people and refuse to give up, but the Collective will eventually overwhelm them.”

  “If the Collective was able to wipe out a large U.S.T.G. force with tanks and planes, why haven’t they been able to capture Boise?” Rora asked.

  “That is a good question. They must have wanted it intact for some reason, or they weren’t able to commit enough troops to take it. I’m not sure. We should ask when we get there. If they have some secret weapon to fight the Collective, it would be in all our benefits to get it.” Derek replied thoughtfully.

  “Aren’t the Collective no longer a threat since we took out Doors?” Rora inquired.

  “Nature abhors a vacuum. I’m sure someone else stepped in to take control.” Derek answered.

  “It would appear you are correct Major.” The Voice added. “All reports indicate the Collective is still fully functioning and still besieging Boise. I am getting shortwave radio broadcasts from there that indicate they are losing and desperately seeking help.”

  “Then we better get there quick and take care of business before they get overrun.” Derek stated emphatically.

  He instructed the pilot to make top speed to Boise and got a thumbs up in return. The three soldiers assigned as their escorts had been listening to the conversation and didn’t look happy. Derek didn’t blame them. They had thought they were on a simple milk run to check out the village, but now they were heading into a combat zone. They had already been under fire at the village by elite Special Forces. Now they might have to face the unfeeling and relentless Collective troops. The rumor that being around Derek was essentially a death sentence seemed to be true.

  The remainder of the flight was in silence. Everyone checked their weapons and gear. They didn’t know what to expect when they got to Boise, so they needed to be prepared. It took them about three hours to get within radar range of Boise. The terrain became increasingly bleak as they got closer. The temperature dropped noticeably and there were already hints of snow on the ground. The effects of the temperature shift had been more pronounced the farther north you went and Boise was no exception.

  As they approached, the radio chatter increased significantly. It seemed that a major offensive was under way by the Collective forces and that they had all but surrounded the city. The Boise Free State, as they called themselves, had been pushed back into the ruins of the city. They could see that the outskirts had been reduced to rubble by the constant fighting. No building was undamaged and nothing stood over one story.

  “We have an incoming transmission.” The pilot notified Derek.

  “Put it through.” He instructed.

  The radio crackled, and Derek could tell the signal was weak. “Unidentified aircraft, we do not have a safe place to land. You need to divert. Repeat, you need to divert.” A female voice reported.

  “We have urgent business and we need to land, it is very important.” Derek replied.

  “Identify yourself and your business.” The woman ordered.

  “Derek Storm with NASA, there is a man we need to talk to. He flew in about a week ago.”

  “You’re the guys that took out Doors?” The woman asked. “We heard about you on WAST, th
e Voice of the Wasteland.”

  “That’s right, sorry that didn’t provide any relief for you.” Derek said sympathetically.

  “It did for a couple of days and then they came back just as strong. We are on the verge of collapse here. If you come in, you will just get stuck with us.” The woman said dejectedly.

  “Maybe we can help?” Derek offered.

  “I doubt it, the man you are looking for said he could help; but it didn’t work. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “We really need to talk to him, is there anywhere we can land?” Derek requested.

  “We control the airport, barely, but it’s under siege. The majority of us are trapped on the old Boise State campus. You could probably land on the football field, but I cannot guarantee the Collective forces won’t shoot you down.” The woman told him.

  “Okay, we’re coming in. Any cover you could give us would be appreciated. Storm out.” Derek ended the transmission.

  “We’re landing at the stadium, look for a patch of blue Astroturf. We’re probably going to be under fire as we land, so go in at full speed.” Derek ordered the pilot.

  “Seriously?” The pilot asked. “Blue Astroturf?”

  “Seriously. It was a big thing back in the day.” Derek told him. “Everyone buckle in and hang tight, it’s going to be hot going in.”

  They all tightened their restraints and hung on as the chopper accelerated and dropped altitude. Various alarms went off as ground radars began to target the chopper. It began to rock side to side as the pilot took evasive maneuvers, and Derek could feel flares being launched. Then they could hear the metallic pings of bullets striking the body of the helicopter. Everyone instinctively clutched their seats tighter and hunched up. The Chinook was lightly armored, which would protect them from small arms fire, but anything heavier could come through.

  Derek was relatively calm; he had done this many times, including the chopper ride to NASA. The sounds and sensations were perfectly normal to him. But the sudden boom that shook the entire chopper wasn’t normal. He was about to ask the pilot what it was, when the helicopter suddenly dropped a hundred feet. The pilot regained control, but Derek could tell the chopper was badly damaged.

  “What was that?” Derek asked the pilot.

  “Missile! Can’t talk, hang on!” The pilot screamed back.

  The chopper began to shake wildly and began losing altitude. Smoke poured out behind them like a streamer. Every alarm was sounding before the co-pilot disabled them. The damaged chopper rocked from the repeated strikes by heavy weapons fire. A ricochet or fragment struck Rora’s arm and she screamed in pain. Derek tried to bandage it as they continued to plummet towards the ground.

  Then, as quickly as it had begun, the weapons fire ended. They were through the Collective’s defenses, but they were still going down. Derek glanced out the window panel to see the walls of the stadium passing by. The stands went by in a blur and then they hit the ground hard. The chopper bounced, rolled sideways; and then began sliding along as the chopper blades smashed into the ground and shattered one after the other. They were all thrown around violently at the impact and Derek could hear screaming.

  The helicopter rolled over completely and they were briefly suspended upside down before it came to a stop with a crash, mostly upright. Smoke filled the rear cabin and he could make out the beginning flicker of flames. They needed to get out before the thing blew.

  He immediately unbuckled and checked on Rora. She was stunned but otherwise okay. He unbuckled her and shoved her towards the door. It was stuck, but he used his superior strength to wrench it free. Fresh air poured into the smoke filled cabin and he could now see the three soldiers. They were working on freeing themselves from their harnesses.

  Rora jumped out and Derek was going to follow, but he noticed that the pilot and co-pilot hadn’t moved. He climbed back into the cabin and to the small pass through into the front cabin. The co-pilot was obviously dead. A piece of the helicopter blade had pierced his chest. The pilot hung limply, but he appeared to be breathing. Flames were burning at his feet and beginning to spread. Derek had to save the man who had managed to get them to the ground; he couldn’t let another man die because of him.

  He cut the pilot’s harness off and dragged him into the rear cabin. The three soldiers had exited; he could see two of them carrying the third that seemed to have a broken leg. The flames had spread to the doorway, but Derek shouldered the unconscious pilot and jumped through. He hit the ground hard and stumbled, but managed to regain his footing and raced away from the burning chopper. Glancing over his shoulder he could see that the chopper had crashed into the wall protecting the stands and was now fully engulfed in flames.

  He and the others were almost clear when it blew. They were knocked down and peppered with debris from the doomed chopper. Rora and the soldiers just lay there for a minute and caught their breath while Derek checked on the pilot. The man had a nasty lump on his head and his jumpsuit was singed, but otherwise he was fine. Once Rora caught her breath she fixed the bandage on her arm and went to help with the wounded soldier.

  Derek looked around. They had landed on the field and destroyed a good part of it. A scorched trail led from the middle of the field and up to the stands. A goal post had been obliterated by the crashing chopper and the burning remains of the chopper were melting the Astroturf around them. Smaller fires burned where the burning gasoline had splattered. Oily black smoke hung over the field, trapped by the sides of the stadium.

  Not that it mattered, no one had played here in a while and it would be a long time before anyone played here again. The remains of the helicopter were a burning wreck. Yet another vehicle he had destroyed. They would need to find another way home. They lost one man and two others were seriously injured. And no one was in sight to help them. Hopefully this mission started going a little better soon.

  Chapter 20

  September 6, 2029

  Boise State University, Boise, Idaho

  It wasn’t long before men in a motley assortment of camouflage and winter clothes burst out of a tunnel opposite of the crash. The men were armed with a mixed collection of assault rifles, shotguns, and hunting rifles. They surrounded the crash survivors and held them at gunpoint, but they stayed at a good distance. Derek counted twelve of them, and they were all very anxious. Fingers were on triggers and it would only take one wrong move to start a massacre. He raised his hands slowly and told the others to do the same.

  “Don’t move.” One man ordered the survivors. “We need to search you.”

  Derek held still, as did the others, while one man scanned them one at a time with a metal detector and a radio frequency detector. He wasn’t searching for weapons though; the scans were all around the head and neck area. He realized the man was scanning for drone or LINC chips. The Collective must have tried to insert people previously. After the man had scanned all of them, he gave the all clear.

  Rora noticed that the men still didn’t relax their stances. The guns were still aimed at them and their fingers were still on the trigger. They hadn’t been disarmed, but they were definitely prisoners. This could get very interesting, very fast. Only two of the soldiers were capable of fighting and they had lost their weapons when they exited the chopper. She and Derek were armed, but there were too many gunmen for them to take them without getting seriously wounded or killed. She had a hole in her arm, but it had stopped bleeding and didn’t hurt that much.

  The leader of the gunmen, notable for his dark blue parka and long beard, gestured for them to stand up. Like the other gunmen he had a scarf covering his face and no discernable rank emblems. He turned and headed back into the tunnel. The other gunmen followed herding the crash survivors along. The soldier with the broken leg was helped by the other two and Derek was carrying the unconscious pilot.

  They descended into the bowels of the stadium. Dust and cobwebs covered everything and it was obvious no one ever came here. The footprints from the gunmen
passing through to enter the stadium were the only signs of life. The group took a winding path and eventually ended up in what had been the steam tunnels under the stadium. They had to pass through three metal gates that the gunmen locked behind them with massive metal padlocks. Rora noticed several cameras and motion detectors. Even though they weren’t patrolling here they still maintained a watchful eye.

  Finally they emerged into a large open basement. The room was dimly lit and it looked like a storage area for forgotten furniture, although she did notice that all the furniture was metal or only the metal remnants. All the wood had been stripped or used for something else. A space had been cleared in the middle, and three people stood waiting for them. An older woman flanked by two armed guards stood in the center of the space.

  She was surprisingly well dressed, but bundled up for the cold in an expensive designer snow jacket and pants. Stylish snow boots and a fancy scarf completed her outfit. The two guards were similarly dressed in heavy parkas and snow gear, but Rora could see the outline of body armor below them. They carried M4 carbines with underslung grenade launchers on slings and had a military bearing about them. They were very alert and eyed Derek and Rora with barely concealed suspicion. She noticed they while their weapons were pointed away from the group, they had their fingers on the trigger.

  Derek and Rora were led in front of the woman by the man in the blue parka. He stepped to the side but stayed near them, his gun in his hand. The soldiers from their group were kept back at a distance and at gunpoint. Once they were closer, Rora could see the woman was probably in her late fifties. She had dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and her features were Eastern European. She had once been very attractive, and even now she still had great presence. The woman examined them with a critical eye for a minute and then looked over at the man in the blue parka.

  “They were clean.” He reported gruffly. “No chips or cybernetics. That doesn’t mean they aren’t some new form of infiltrator though.”