Forsaken World | Book 6 | Redemption

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “He’s starting to sink, but I think he might make it a few more days,” Lilly admitted. The soldier looked like a marshmallow, he was so swollen with fluid. The fact he had lasted this long did give Lilly some hope the ideas she’d gotten from Johnathan’s notes might actually work. She was certain the soldier wouldn’t be so bad if he hadn’t been nearly dead when she’d started. The longest anyone had heard of someone lasting after being bit was nearly three days, and the soldier had lasted that long already. “Next time, there are other things I want to try,” Lilly finally said, taking Lance’s hand in hers to hold it.

  “Were either of you going to tell us about the helicopter you shot down this morning?” Jennifer asked.

  “Why?” Ian asked. “We told you we were sending out two big gun bots for that. It’s not our fault they drive so damn slow.”

  About to reply, Jennifer just let it go. The thunder bots and gun bots had to be ‘driven’ remotely to the area Lance and Ian had wanted them. So they’d set up a station in the barn to remote drive the bots and to do this, they’d had a hover drone over them to relay the signal until the bots had reached the spots they were supposed to set up in. The thunder bots had to get there fast so they couldn’t even tow the gun bots and that had been the way Lance and Ian had designed the gun bots to move, by being towed. The only reason they'd wanted the gun bots to move independently now was so they could just move it around an area without having to go out and tow it.

  At top speed, a smoking three miles an hour, it was very boring to remote drive a gun bot. The thunder bots, with their tracks and high ground clearance, could go over nearly anything, but the gun bots had to be driven carefully through the forest. One had even gotten stuck, but Lance and Ian had used the other two to push it out. What had really irked the boys was when the big gun bots were en route, stinkers had tried to attack them.

  And because the bots weren’t active when in motion, the turrets had to be sighted manually. As far as Jennifer knew, no stinkers were actually killed or shot in the head on the bots’ journey. The boys, Denny, or one of the ones at the research area who was piloting the bots, had just sent off a few rounds to blow the stinkers apart. It had taken forty hours to pilot the three bots for the thirty-two miles through the woods to Buckhorn. Many were already expecting the boys to make changes on future gun bots.

  Not wanting to, Jennifer turned to look at the Angel Bot. Only a fool wasn’t terrified of the flying gun bot, and they had gotten rid of the three ‘fools’. Unlike anything else the boys had built, Angel Bot was built first and foremost to kill humans. After putting Angel through its first trial, the boys had found out it wasn’t stable enough to take single shots and strike head-sized targets at distance, so Angel always fired a burst. One thing everyone did love, Angel had the same tracking system the gun bot did, but Angel couldn’t fire autonomously. It could fly in a programed pattern and find targets, but a human had to give permission.

  Lilly was one of the few who knew, in time, Angel Bot would be given autonomy because she had asked Lance, but Lilly wasn’t going to tell anyone. She would let them find out on their own, including Jennifer. The only reason it wasn’t yet was because Angel only carried twenty thousand bearings for ammo. That may sound like a lot when Angel could blow apart stinkers, but anything connected to the head that continued to move, Angel kept shooting at it. Then the twenty thousand projectiles started going fast. On the last trial, Angel had averaged two hundred ball bearings to kill one stinker. But on one test, Angel had used over a thousand to take out a stinker.

  The first burst had blown the stinker in half, but then the torso had started crawling. Angel had sent another burst and hit the chest area and still, the stinker could move. After two more bursts, the stinker still had the left arm and managed to flop about.

  Needless to say, the boys hadn’t taken that well and when Angel was finally finished with the stinker, there was only a wet hole in the ground. Now on humans there wasn’t any doubt, Angel would just bring down steel rain. That was until the human turned to become a stinker and then started moving again.

  Next to Angel were three more frames and like all things the boys did, these were upgraded. The next generation would have eight engines to help stabilize the platform more and they were redesigning the centrifugal gun they were putting on Angel. The spinning blade inside the disk generated a bit of torque, so Ian had designed a counter rotating blade that would be outside the disk to help stabilize Angel and improve the accuracy.

  “Angel is turned off,” Ian laughed at Jennifer, who was just gawking at it.

  Not wanting to even think about Angel Bot anymore, Jennifer nodded her head at the track with the four-inch gun barrel. “Have you two named it yet?” she asked.

  “No,” Ian sighed because without a name, the bot just didn’t seem real.

  “How about Tiger Bot?” Jennifer suggested, and Ian gave her a weird look. “Tiger tanks in World War Two just freaked everyone out and we don’t like real tigers,” Jennifer grinned, “mean pussy.”

  “I like it,” Ian chuckled.

  “What are we going to do about the helicopters that got away?” Lilly asked.

  “We know where they are and can take care of them when we want,” Lance smirked.

  Lilly glanced around, making sure none were close. “Trent and Linda aren’t reporting anymore, so you can’t feed false information and learn anything from their meetings. Can we just get rid of them now?” she whispered. Only the four had known Trent and Linda were spies, and Lilly thought they should’ve at least told Jarvis because Trent and Linda always seemed to be around him.

  “They cut ties with the Trading Post,” Ian chuckled softly, causing Lilly and Jennifer to look at him. “Trent snuck out last night to deliver the message at the drop house. He wrote it was their last contact and when they could, he and Linda were running.”

  “Let’s kill them now,” Jennifer offered. Jennifer and Lilly had come to find out, even before Bravo had been started, the boys had set up cameras to catch spies. From inside the perimeter, it was impossible for someone to get a spy in any of the groups but Bravo, and the boys had planned on it. Everything Trent and Linda had sent, the boys had a copy of. The times one of the two would actually meet someone from the Trading Post in the drop house, it’d been recorded. Trent and Linda lived in the same apartment and every square inch was monitored.

  “They aren’t a risk and besides, we can get more information out of them before they die,” Lance countered.

  Neither Jennifer nor Lilly liked the boys risking so much. Trent and Linda were smarter than they let on. The phones everyone carried, Linda had tried to hack hers and figure out the code to disarm the bots but had soon found out the phone would tattle on her if she continued. One of the coolest things the boys had ever done was sending a listening device back to the Trading Post after hiding it in a thumb drive. The battery had died in a few days, but they’d gotten some good conversations in Victor’s office.

  “What do you want us to start on next?” Lilly asked, and just dropped Trent and Linda. The boys thought the risk was worth it and they hadn’t been wrong so far.

  Knowing just how much Jennifer didn’t like them, “How about you two start wiring up the next Angels?” Ian suggested, and Jennifer shivered.

  “Asshole,” Jennifer mumbled, but still stood on her tip-toes to give Ian a kiss.

  Chapter Twenty

  East of Buckhorn Camp

  Sitting in the back of his buggy track, Lance stared at the six monitors they had put in to run the battle. It had been a week since Dino had been shot and it was time. The trip had taken longer than he’d expected, but hadn’t put them behind schedule. The buggy tracks could’ve made the trip in an hour, but they’d had to lead a line of bots; six thunder bots, six gun bots, Dragon, Tiger and of course, Phoenix.

  The camp was just on the other side of the lake, which only looked like a large river. They had set up on the east side on a peak where they could
see the entire camp. After studying the maps, Lance knew if the group hadn’t leveled the area, there would’ve been many more safe zones that they couldn’t have fired into. But since the group had cleared and leveled the area, the bots could target anything in ninety percent of the camp.

  With the help of drones, they had gotten very good photos and measurements so the model the Ladybugs had made was very accurate. But it was the computer model that Lance had built which really gave them the edge in the battle to come.

  Because of past deeds, Lance knew once the action started anything could happen, so he was nervous. In truth, he and Ian hadn’t wanted anyone to come along for this battle, but the entire group had gone ballistic. The only ones who’d stayed at the cabin were Chris, Tyler, Holly, Dawn, Lori, and the Ladybugs because they were still taking care of Dino. It had surprised Lance that Allie and Carrie never begged to come, but he could tell they’d wanted to.

  Eight had come from each group inside the perimeter, but only Jarvis was with them from Bravo. The GTs, Geek Squad, Beard Clan, and Bear Trap now all had two tracked buggies, so they’d all wanted to participate in the attack. It was Sandy and Mary who’d told the boys that they needed to let the others come, if for nothing else than to allow them to prove they were willing to fight.

  Lance was certain he would’ve had to drug his mom to get her to stay at the cabin so he’d never even hinted for her to stay behind.

  Ian was also in the back of his track that was set up just like Lance’s. The bots would be turned on, but they wanted to be able to monitor and shift them if the need arose. On one screen was an image of the camp from a hover drone six thousand feet up. There were other drones in case something went wrong with that one because they would need it to relay signals to the Welcome thunder bots that they had started moving into position to the south of the camp.

  Picking up a pair of heads-up display glasses, Lance put them on to give him yet another screen to monitor. His glasses monitored Tiger Bot. Ian had another pair that linked him to Dragon. These were the most dangerous, not only to those in the camp, but to the group. Both had the potential to malfunction and cause the group damage, but they were also really needed.

  On the screen, Lance was staring at the reasons why Dragon and Tiger were needed; the armor inside the camp. They had tested Dragon and there was no doubt it could kill the Abrams below but to do that, it had to work. Just in case Dragon didn’t, Heath and Dwain had Javelin missiles, but Lance and Ian had already decided, if Dragon malfunctioned, they were pulling back. They wanted no part of a slugging match with an M1 Abrams and half a dozen Bradleys.

  Ian and Lance knew for a fact the big gun bots could take out a Stryker because they’d tested it. Pulling one out in a field that they’d gotten from the convoy, everyone had watched as a big gun bot destroyed it in seconds. Because Heath had thought a regular gun bot could knockout a Stryker, Lance and Ian had tested that too. It had taken nearly a thousand bearings, but the gun bot got through the armor on a Stryker and took it out.

  The six Bradleys had reactive armor which blew outward, stopping an incoming projectile from punching through. This had given the boys a bit of worry, but nothing like the Trophy system on the tank, two of the Bradleys, and three of the Strykers. Trophy was an anti-missile system that shot explosives out, taking down incoming rounds or rockets. Ian and Lance knew how the system worked and were fairly certain it wouldn’t stop Tiger, and more certain it couldn’t stop Dragon. The RAIL gun fired so fast at hypersonic speeds, they couldn’t see the round getting hit. One thing they had taken comfort in, Trophy had a limited number of shots and they had more projectiles. But since they couldn’t test against a Trophy system, they weren’t positive. The Trophy system was the reason Lance and Ian had decided if Dragon malfunctioned, they were just pulling out.

  Lance and Ian had set up a small station for Denny in one of the Bear Trap tracked buggies, but they had only put in three monitors. They didn’t want Denny to get overloaded with information.

  “You there, brah?” Lance heard Ian’s voice in his headphones.

  “I’m here. You got eyes on that tank?” Lance asked.

  “Dude, I had that bitch locked-in the second we pulled up here,” Ian laughed. “I just called to let you know, Denny has the two Welcome thunder bots set up with the two big gun bots they picked up.”

  That’s what Denny had to do on the drive here, move the two thunder bots over to the big gun bots and give the big gun bots a tow up to the hilltop to the south. On the way there, Lance had flipped one of his screens over to watch and had to give Denny some credit. Stinkers were really thick on the west side of the lake, but Denny had stayed on ridges when he could, avoiding most of the stinkers that’d gotten close. Those stinkers he couldn’t avoid and got in the way, Denny had just run over their asses.

  “I still say we need to make a few thunder bots that have one-inch centrifugal guns,” Lance said. To him, the thunder bots looked like a smaller tank and were cool, but the barrel that stuck out of the turret just seemed puny to him when compared to the body.

  “Brah, we have enough shit to do,” Ian reminded him, and Lance had to agree. Thunder bots took more effort, time, and material to make than the gun bots. That’s why they had more gun bots. With the production area coming online piece by piece, Lance wanted to average three gun bots, one thunder bot, and two battle bots a week. He and Ian were certain they could put out that many gun bots, but the battle bots took nearly as much effort to make as a thunder bot.

  The reason they were still making them was the battle bots ripped stinkers to shreds, and that caused the lifeform to die much faster, thereby making less toxic fumes. Lance and Ian were both willing to decrease the production of the thunder bots further, just to keep making the battle bots. In all reality, the thunder bots were just gun bots with armor, but they could move much faster. The only reason they’d made the thunder bots was because assholes had shot their shit. It would take some good shooting, but the gun bots could be taken out with well-placed rounds. But any round that struck, the gun bot automatically started shooting back. That’s why Lance had never wanted to use his rifle to take a gun bot out.

  He and Ian were both of the same idea that if a gun bot malfunctioned; just let the damn thing run out of ammo.

  “Okay, let’s start the checklist,” Lance said, and he and Ian started assigning targets to all the armor.

  Outside Lilly and Jennifer were standing guard, looking through the trees at the camp below them to the west across the lake. The ridge they were on was over fourteen hundred feet and the tallest area now inside the camp wasn’t even eight hundred. Even though they could see the camp, they were looking through empty branches to do it and didn’t have a clear line of sight. But teams were moving down the western slope of the ridge they were on to fix the line of sight problem. Working in teams, they wrapped bands around trees and wired them together. Over the last three days, the entire group had learned how to make the unique charges. They didn’t need chainsaws to remove trees, they were using explosives.

  Each band had a shaped charge that would blow a section out of the trunk. After experimenting and practicing, now they could drop a tree in any direction they wanted.

  When set off, the charge was only a bit louder than a shotgun, but they were putting out over two hundred to expose the camp from the ridge and open up their field of fire. The most they had set off when practicing was thirty and it had damn sure been louder than thirty shotguns fired at the same time.

  All the gun bots had been pulled back from where they would set up, just to keep them out of the blast area. Dragon and Tiger were pulled up on the ridge, but Ian and Lance only wanted them there in case the tank or Bradleys started firing at the hilltop. Both would be pulled back before the trees were blown down.

  “I still can’t believe they didn’t argue about so many coming,” Jennifer said in a low voice.

  Grinning, “The mommas weren’t going to let them,” Lilly stat
ed, hearing the twang of a bow. She turned to see Rhonda lowering a bow behind them and pulling another arrow out. Even though they were nearly half a mile from the edge of the camp, nobody wanted to risk using a suppressed weapon. “I’m glad we have so many with us because it would’ve been just you and me keeping the boys covered when they laid out the explosives.”

  “We would’ve had to set up a day earlier,” Jennifer predicted, then turned to Lilly. “I don’t think they would’ve left Rhonda.”

  Not even thinking about it, Lilly nodded in agreement. Rhonda was about the only person the boys didn’t seem to care if she tagged along. Of course Rhonda always asked, but the only time Rhonda wasn’t near one of the boys was when they were in the research area. That was the one time Rhonda didn’t want to tag along and learn. Oh, the boys had asked her if she’d wanted to come but unless the boys told Rhonda they needed her help, Rhonda didn’t go to the research area.

  Glancing around to make sure none could hear, “Should we be jealous of Rhonda?” Jennifer whispered. “I’m not,” Jennifer added quickly, “But, some of the others in the group seem surprised we aren’t jealous.”

  “Jen,” Lilly grinned under her mask. “If you ever get jealous of Rhonda, then you should be jealous of Denny, Heath, Patrick, Seth, and Percy. You and I both know Lance and Ian view Rhonda like a guy.” From the corner of her eye, Lilly noticed Jennifer nodding. “It’s not just them, but most of the guys in the group view Rhonda that way. I think it’s because the boys do. Remember two weeks ago when we were on patrol and Rhonda eased off? Ian asked where she was going and Rhonda told him to pee, and it still shocked Ian because the ‘guys’ just turn around and whip it out.”

  Holding her masked face high, “I’m wearing my diaper,” Jennifer stated with pride.

  “So am I,” Lilly responded. “But I don’t think we ever have to worry about being jealous of Rhonda.”

  Taking a deep breath, “Lilly,” Jennifer said. “Why isn’t Ian taking the next step?” she asked. “I’ve hinted and done everything I could, short of throwing his ass down. I know he wants to, so is something wrong with me?”