Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) (16 page)

   “And our escape?” Rora asked anxiously.

   “The destruction of the tower should provide enough of a
distraction for you to rappel back down the mountainside.” Bill replied.

   “If we do this, you give us him?” Derek asked gesturing
at the prisoner.

   “You don’t need to blow it up!” The man suddenly
interrupted. “Take me up with you and I can reprogram the tower to disable the
drones.”

   “Be quiet!” One of the guards snapped and kicked the man to
his knees.

   “Is that possible?” Derek asked out loud.

   Everyone assumed he was talking to her, but Rora knew he
was asking the Voice. She waited and didn’t say anything. Derek gave a quick
nod of his head and she was pretty sure she knew what the Voice had said. But
Dr. Baikul responded before Rora could.

   “Not a chance.” She snapped. “You stay here with us. Who
knows what kind of damage you could do out there. Make sure he is secure so we
can send him with our friends here when they get back.”

   “You blow up the tower.” Bill insisted to Derek. “Without
the tower they should go back to being disorganized and we can pick them off
one by one.”

   “How do we get to the tower?” Rora inquired.

   “Nate here will guide you to Table Rock and lead your ascent.”
Bill told her, waving to a young man who materialized from the shadows.

   He was short and slender, which made the huge rifle slung
over his back seem even larger. He was young also; Rora placed his age around
sixteen.  The kid wore clothes of varying shades of brown and dark gray.
Shredded rags were sewn on various places to his clothes and he wore a face
mask that covered everything but his eyes, which were a piercing blue. He moved
silently and didn’t make a sound, even when called forth.

   The kid moved over to stand next to the man in the blue
parka, whom they know knew as Bill. Derek was impressed. Even though the kid
was young, he moved with incredible grace and skill. His outfit was designed to
make him blend in in the bleak urban and suburban environment around Boise; the
rags sewn to his clothes breaking up his outline and making him harder to spot.
His weapon was a surprise; the Barrett Light Fifty was a huge rifle especially
for someone who stood around five foot eight inches tall. But the fifty caliber
round the gun fired had a lot of stopping power.

   The kid might be young, but people grew up fast in the
World After. If he was as capable as he looked, the kid was probably very
dangerous. And if he knew how to use the gun, he would be a good asset. Derek
could already see the kid was a killer by the look in his eyes.

   “What about the charges?” Derek asked.

   Bill waved to another man who brought over a gray
backpack that he handed to the leader. “Here you go. Four shaped charges made with
C-4 and remote detonators. One on each leg of the tower should bring it down.
Really two would do the trick, but why take chances?”

   Derek took the backpack and examined the contents before
nodding. “Okay, this should take care of it. Let’s go get this done.”

September 7, 2029

Downtown Boise, Idaho

   The city was completely still and quiet when they finally
came aboveground. Bill had led Rora, Derek, and Nate through a winding series
of steam tunnels and basements. It looked like the militia had dug tunnels
between buildings and used existing tunnels and sewers to create a warren under
the city. Chokepoints guarded by militiamen and women occurred every four
hundred feet or so. Bill skillfully led them past booby traps and dead falls
that would slow or kill any Collective invaders. Rora also noticed multiple
exits that looked like they were concealed on the other side. The militia had
turned this portion of the city into a meat grinder designed to delay and
destroy the Collective while they waited for a miracle.

   She noticed that all the defenders looked exhausted and
hungry, but they all still had a look of determined defiance in their eyes.
They were not going to give up the city without a fight. Hope was the strongest
of human motivations and the Boise Free State militia looked like they still
had plenty left. Many of them gave the two fingered victory sign as Rora and
Derek passed by. They knew what was at stake and they believed that Derek and
Rora could save them. After all, hadn’t they slain the dragon Doors in his own
lair?

   It was a new feeling for her, to be considered someone’s
savior. She would have to get used to it, if she was to succeed in her father’s
plan. The ARK was the best hope for all of humanity to return the world to the
way it once was. Although based on what she had read and the depths to which
humanity had sunk, Rora wasn’t sure it should be returned to the way it was.
Maybe people deserved what they had gotten?

   She shook that off as they emerged into the darkness of
pre-dawn; she needed to focus on the task at hand. The small group exited
through one of the concealed entrances. Rora watched in fascination as it
closed behind them and disappeared. The exit now looked like just another pile
of rubble in a city strewn with rubble. They stood in the shell of what had
once been a public library. Moldering remnants of books lay piled amongst the
shattered remains of the shelving. The front entrance, which had once been
glass, sat wide open allowing the cold wind to gust in.

   A light snow was falling outside and some was drifting in
through holes in the roof. Clouds obscured the moon and there were no lights on
in the city. The darkness was almost oppressive and Rora could barely see the
others. There were no sounds and nothing moved, even the animals seemed to have
abandoned the besieged city. Bill waved them in close to give them final
instructions.

   “Nate will lead you from here. He knows the city better
than anyone. Do exactly as he says until you get onto the summit. We will start
the assault at dawn. I know the Humeks can see in the dark, but the drones have
the same physical limitations as you or I.” Bill whispered. “One thing though.
They will keep fighting until their body gives out. Aim for the kill shot from
the beginning. Head or heart. Most of them wear body armor so you should
probably aim for the head. Are you ready?”

   Rora doubted that the drones were anything like her or
Derek, but she kept that to herself and nodded along with the Derek and Nate.
She hadn’t had any experience with the drones other than the brief encounter at
the solar facility. They were rumored to be the perfect soldiers. The chip
suppressed any pain or fear, allowing them to fight even if they were missing a
limb. They would literally fight until their heart stopped beating or their
brain quit sending messages to the body. They also had no remorse or guilt and
followed directions to the letter without hesitation. She wasn’t sure mindless
killers made the best soldiers, but they were effective.

   Her father hadn’t said much about the creation of the
drone technology by Dr. Reinhardt, but he had been against it. Her father had
very much believed in free will and the right of man to determine his own
destiny. He had been an idealist and that had enabled the Collective to take
advantage of him. Unlike Dr. Reinhardt who had been a fanatical follower of
Doors from the beginning, her father had never been a convert. He had always
tried to do the right thing.

   She had thought that deleting Doors would end the threat
from the Collective, but obviously someone else had taken control. It wouldn’t
surprise her if it was Reinhardt. From what Rora had overheard, he was a
megalomaniac who wanted to control what everyone did and thought. He believed
he and the Collective knew what was best for everyone else and that people
couldn’t be trusted to run their own lives. It was imperative they find a way
to end the threat of from the Collective. No one would truly be free until they
were gone.

   “Good luck.” Bill whispered as Nate led them off into the
darkness.

   Derek and Rora followed close behind. The city was in
complete ruins and there were no road signs or landmarks that could be used to
navigate. If they lost him, they would be on their own in a hostile city full
of Collective troops who would love to get revenge on them. Fortunately he
moved slowly enough that Rora could keep up. Derek was trained in black ops and
was naturally stealthy for someone of his size, so he had no trouble keeping to
the shadows and moving silently. She just tried to imitate what both of them
were doing.

   Nate led them on a winding path that seemed to double
back at several points. A few times he paused and indicated they hide. There
were plenty of hiding places amongst the scorched ruins. Rora hid and held her
breath as Collective patrols moved by. They were always four drones led by a
Humek. All five wore dark gray BDUs with body armor over top and they carried
the oddly shaped pulse rifles unique to the Collective. She wondered why none
of the militia had any. Surely they had captured some at one point or another?

   The drones marched in perfect lockstep with their Humek
commander as they passed by. Their faces were blank and expressionless and they
moved like automatons.  They all looked very similar, which meant they were
likely clones. The Collective had slowly weeded out the lesser body types for
their purposes and basically only had seven or eight basic models that they
just continually cloned.

   The patrols swept by, not looking left or right, secure
in the knowledge that their sensors would detect any infiltrators. Nate
obviously had great experience avoiding the patrols since he knew just where
and when to hide when they approached. He was like a ghost among the ruins,
undetectable to the Collective forces. He skillfully led them to the base of
the mountain without any incidents.

   Rora was somewhat exhausted by the over three mile hike
just to get to the base of the mountain. Carrying the additional weight of
their climbing gear, ropes, and explosives had proved challenging. And they
still had the climb to come. She was in much better shape than she had been four
months ago, but she still wasn’t in peak shape yet. Derek of course, hadn’t
even broken a sweat. Nate also seemed very fresh, even though he was carrying
that enormous rifle on his back. He led them around the base to the point where
they would begin their ascent. They dropped down into cover and waited for the
assault to begin.

   The assault began at the crack of dawn with the rumble of
artillery fire. The artillery shells struck the opposite side of the mountain
where the road up was located, and where the Collective had the majority of
their defenses. Rora could feel the explosions from the incoming fire as the
ground shook with each successive blast. As the first shells struck, Nate rose
from cover and gestured for them to follow. He scrambled up through the scrub
at the base of Table Rock and began ascending the shallow cliff at the base.

   “Where are the ropes?” Rora whispered to Derek.

   “There aren’t any, we are free climbing.” He replied
calmly. “It would take too long to rig ropes.”

   “Uh, I’m not sure I can do this.” She informed him
cautiously.

   “Unless you want to stay here you have to.” He countered.
“Just stay by me and do what I do; it’s not that high or steep of an ascent.
You’ll be fine.”

   Nate overheard them and made an angry series of gestures.
Derek grunted and moved to whisper directly in Rora’s ear. “He says be quiet
and start climbing.”

   “You understood that?” She asked quietly.

   “He’s using Special Forces hand signals. You need to
learn them.” Derek hissed back. “Now be quiet and climb.”

   Rora noticed Nate giving her a dirty look. She tried to
ignore him and started climbing. As she grabbed for a handhold she realized
that she hadn’t heard the kid speak yet. She wondered if he was a mute. He
climbed like a little monkey though, and he was rapidly moving up the scree at
the base of the mountain. Derek was following him closely, but slowed to allow
her to catch up. She watched as Nate began climbing up a steeper cliff face
towards a small cave.

   Shaking her head and gritting her teeth, Rora followed
Derek onto the rock face. She stayed close and tried to imitate his technique.
There were plenty of hand and foot holds and she found it much easier than she
anticipated. The shelling had stopped as they began the climb, but she could
hear cannon, rocket, and gunfire coming from the opposite side of Table Rock.
The militia had begun their diversionary assault on the mountain’s defenses.

    They were near the top when Rora slipped. The rock she
had been gripping as she changed position broke free and she began to fall
backwards. She frantically grabbed for anything to stop her fall but only came
away with loose rock and dirt. Just before she fell completely Derek suddenly
grabbed her flailing arm with a tight grip. He smiled down at her panicked face
as she hung suspended from his hand. With a little swing he flung her up onto
the rock face and onto a small ledge.

   From there she was able to take Nate’s hand and be pulled
up onto the edge of the summit. He quickly pushed her down behind a pile of
rocks and took cover beside her. Derek soon followed and they took a minute to
catch their breath. At least Nate and Rora did. Derek just waited patiently
until they were recovered. Then he and Nate took turns peeking around their
cover to see what the situation was on the summit.

    Even from behind cover, Rora could see the massive
transmission tower rising above them. It had to be at least two hundred feet
high and was built in the classic pyramid style similar to the Washington
Monument with crisscrossing latticework. A ladder climbed up the side and ended
at the antenna array on top.  She could feel a slight hum generated by all the
power being fed to the array. They must have some sort of generator nearby.

   Nate made a series of gestures to Derek and he nodded and
made a couple back. He held a finger to his lips right as she was about to
speak. Then he made a gesture that indicated she should stay here. Both of them
drew their combat knives and crept away from their cover. Rora couldn’t help
herself and peeked around to see what they were doing. The summit was
relatively flat with a little bit of scrub and several piles of boulders, which
the two were using for cover.

   She watched as they stalked what appeared to be four
sentries patrolling the summit in groups of two. It looked like four drones
armed and equipped exactly like the other patrols. They even looked like the
other patrols, more clones. There was no sign of a Humek, which she thought was
odd. Maybe he had been drawn off by the assault. She realized that the drones
patrolled exactly the same route without any deviation. There was actually a
rut worn in the ground where they had been walking for the last couple of
months.

   Derek and Nate stealthily ambushed the rear drone of each
pair, dragging them down and slitting their throats. The other two didn’t even
notice. Then they repeated the attacks on the remaining two. When the sentries
were down they moved towards the tower and Rora joined them. They could hear
the assault below tapering off and they knew they didn’t have much time.

   Besides the tower, there was another structure on the
summit that looked like a giant cross. It didn’t seem to have any purpose and
Nate was ignoring it. So Rora ignored it as well. She had been right about the
generator. At the base of the tower was a large metal structure that housed the
power supply for the array. As they got closer, the hum intensified and it
moved from irritating to uncomfortable.

   “We have a problem.” She hissed to Derek.

   “What? More guards?” He asked in confusion.

   “No. That’s a microfusion reactor they are using to power
the array!” She whispered frantically. “If we blow the tower, that thing will
blow as well. The explosion will take off the top of this rock.”

   “What? Like the ones on the space station?” Derek replied
agitatedly.

   “Yes. We have to be off the top before blow this thing.”
She argued.

   “But we don’t want to give them any time to disarm the
charges.” Derek argued back.

   “I’ll stay and make sure they can’t disarm them.” Nate
suddenly interjected.

   Both Rora and Derek looked at him in surprise. “You can
talk?” Rora asked, startled.

  “Of course I can talk. I just don’t waste my breath
talking if I don’t need to. The Collective can pick up voices from a mile away
and send a smart missile to pick you off.” Nate informed them sharply.

   “Oh.” Was all Rora could say.

   “There’s no need to sacrifice yourself.” Derek told him.
“We can blow it remotely when we are safely down the mountain.”

   “If we blow this tower sky high, the militia should be
able to drive the Collective off. I’ve lost my entire family and all of my
friends to them and I want some payback. I’m staying to make sure they can’t
disarm the charges, we can’t take any chances.” Nate argued fervently. “There
is no more time to argue. They will be up here shortly. They know those drones
are dead and they will be sending reinforcements. Set the charges and then
rappel down.”