Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) (23 page)

   “What do you think?” She asked Derek.

   “I’m thinking that all the passengers are solders.” Derek
replied quietly. “This is going to get ugly fast.”

   “That’s what I’m thinking too.” Rora agreed. “What’s your
plan?”

   “I’m going to enter the cabins in the second car through
the window.” Derek said as he handed her the M-14. “You stay here and cover me.
As soon as the soldiers reveal themselves and start moving towards the other
car, you open fire with the M-14 and then switch to the MP-5. I’ll make my way
back to you once I have what we need.”

   “Wait. How are we getting off the train?”

   “We cross a river not that far up ahead, we should be
able to jump off there.” Derek explained as he began to move.

   He was gone before Rora could disagree. Shaking her head,
she settled in with the M-14. She killed time by switching her aim from
passenger to passenger. Derek quickly scampered across the cars until he was on
top of the passenger car with the cabins that theoretically housed their prey.
She watched with concern as he hung off the side of the car and moved from
window to window, checking to see who was inside. Finally seeming satisfied, he
kicked off and then crashed in through one of the windows.

September 8, 2029

Cargo Train East of Des Moines, Iowa

   The window shattered as Derek’s booted feet slammed
through it. He dropped into the room next to the very surprised hacker. The man
quickly regained his composure and nodded as Derek sat down beside him. The
hacker was cuffed and shackled and the shackles were attached to a steel ring
newly installed in the floor.

   “I’d get up, but…” The hacker greeted Derek as he raised
his cuffed hands.

   “I’ll make this quick.” Derek told him. “I know this is a
trap, but I need what you have.”

   “You must want it very badly, if you stuck your head into
a trap for it.” The man pointed out.

   “Rora assures me that it is world changing.” Derek
replied.

   “It is.” The man agreed, not bothering to insult Derek by
pretending he didn’t know who Rora was. “But I’m not sure the world is ready
for it.”

   “So you know what it is?”

   “I do. Do you really know what it is you are seeking?”
The man asked with a slight tone to his voice.

   “What do you mean?” Derek asked, slightly puzzled.

   “You know what Rora told you the ARK was, but how do you
know what its true purpose is?” The man asked mysteriously.

   Before Derek could answer that question, the door opened
and the female soldier who had stalked him from the shadows in the barn burst
through. She came through the door already attacking with the combat knives she
held, one in each hand. Derek fell back before the slashing onslaught of the
flashing blades. The woman was wearing only BDU pants, boots and a standard
issue tank top. She had eschewed the Red Beret armor to give her more mobility
and flexibility.

   She smiled as she came closer and closer, her blades
weaving a complex patter in front of her. Derek couldn’t use his machete in
such close quarters and reaching for his shotgun or pistol would give her an
opening and he might accidentally hit the hacker. So he was going to be forced
to defend himself with only his hands. She continued to approach and he gave
ground until he was backed up against the exterior wall of the train. Her smile
got even bigger as she knew she had him trapped.

   Desperate Derek tore down one of the curtains hanging by
the open window. He tried to tangle one of her knives as she slashed in. But
the blades merely sliced through the cloth and scored his arms. Blood began to
drip down as she lunged in again, striking like a snake. Again he deflected the
blades but paid the price. He realized she was trying to weaken him before
going for the killing blow. Instead of waiting for the next attack Derek
suddenly lunged forward.

   She slashed at him frantically as he collided with her,
but did little damage. He head butted her as they tumbled to the ground,
smashing her nose and sending blood spraying. To her credit she rolled with the
attack and flipped him over her backwards with her feet. He flew out into the hallway
and crashed into the wall on the opposite side. He scrambled to his feet and
barely got back into the cabin before the hallway filled with lead. The Red
Beret Derek recognized as their driver fired his carbine on full auto as Derek
charged back into the cabin.

   Despite her blood and broken nose, the knife wielding
soldier was still eager to fight. She spit blood to the side and rushed at him,
blades stabbing. Derek needed to end the fight quickly so he did something
desperate. He twisted to one side, catching the blade in her left hand in his
right side and then wrapping that arm up with his own. She stabbed the other
blade at his throat and he blocked it with his left hand. The blade penetrated
his palm and drove towards his throat but stopped when the guard struck his
hand.

   She stared at him in shock as he wrenched the blade away from
by yanking his hand to the side. He then rotated to his right and used his hold
on her left arm to throw her across the cabin. She flew sideways and bounced
off the seats opposite the hacker. Derek followed her as she rolled to her
feet. A powerful thrust kick caught her on the jaw and sent her crashing
unconscious into the wall.

   After disabling her, Derek rolled to the side to see the
other soldier entering the cabin. Derek yanked the knife out of his hand and
hurled it at the entering soldier. The blade sank home in the man’s unprotected
neck and he collapsed to the floor, grasping at the knife in his throat. He
pulled the knife in his side out and dropped it. Still in battle mode, Derek
snapped the neck of the unconscious soldier. When he moved over to the chained
hacker, and was surprised to see that man staring at him in horror.

   “What?” He snapped in confusion.

   “She was already out of the fight.” The man said in
disgust. “You didn’t need to kill her.”

   “Rule #3, never leave an enemy at your back.” Derek
informed him coldly. “Now, do you want to get out of here or what?”

   “That depends.” The hacker replied slyly.

   “On what?” Derek growled as he pulled the other knife out
of his side.

   “On what’s in it for me?” The man responded with a smile.

   “How about I don’t kill you right now and search your
body for whatever you took?” Derek snarled at him.

   “Temper, temper, Major.” The man said mockingly. “What I have
is more than just physical. You need me alive.”

   “If you don’t want to come with me, I can leave you here
for the Red Berets. I’m sure you will really enjoy the enhanced interrogation
at the hands of the GIA.” Derek pointed out.

   The man pouted. “Very well, I will come with you. I was
just hoping you would be more inviting about it.”

   Derek shook his head in frustration. This man might very
well be insane. The Red Berets were only seconds from storming in here and
possibly just killing both of them. At the very least he would be horribly
tortured if Derek didn’t rescue him. And he seemed more worried about feeling
wanted.

   “Lean back and hold your hands to the side.” Derek
ordered as he drew his shotgun.

   The chains and the ring could withstand a shotgun blast,
but the floor around the ring wouldn’t. A quick blast with both barrels and the
floor splintered enough for Derek to yank the ring free. Rora would have to
pick the lock to set him free. The hacker stood up and moved for the door, but Derek
grabbed him and propelled him towards the window. The man hesitated.

   “I can’t climb out there with these on.”  He stated
petulantly.

   “I’ll climb up and then haul you out.” Derek told him.

   “Not to worry.” The man said and stepped free of the chains
as they dropped to the floor.

   “Why didn’t you do that before?” Derek asked in annoyed
amazement.

   “I was waiting for you.” The man replied matter of factly,
and climbed out the window.

   Derek gave a small roar of annoyance and followed him
out. When he got up top he could hear and see Rora firing into the rear
passenger car. She had already emptied the M-14 and was keeping a steady stream
of fire into the car with the MP-5. He knew she didn’t have much ammo left, so
he needed to hurry. He gestured towards her and the hacker took off running. He
easily maintained his balance as he sprinted down the car and leaped across the
gap between cars. Derek followed a short distance behind.

   He landed on the rear passenger car and moved to join
Rora on the cargo car, but a gloved hand grabbed his ankle and tripped him up.
Derek scrambled to his feet and turned around just in time to see a helmeted
Red Beret climb up the ladder onto the roof. He was carrying one of the new
assault weapons, but Derek could see this soldier was wearing an enhanced suit like
the one the last man he had fought in the village had been wearing. Derek had
killed that man in Omaha, so he knew it wasn’t the same man. Derek didn’t even
bother drawing a weapon; he just surged forward to attack as the man was
getting his footing.

   They collided with a crash as Derek hit him full force
and they flew across the gap and landed on the roof of the car Derek had just
left. The impact jarred the soldier’s rifle loose and it fell down and was
crushed by the heavy wheels of the train. They struggled for a minute and Derek
tried to keep the armored man pinned down, but he head butted Derek with his
helmet and managed to free his hand. He punched Derek repeatedly in the face,
the augmented blows stunning Derek and causing him to pull back. The soldier
then pulled his feet back and mule kicked.

   Derek flew back across the gap and onto the roof of the
last passenger car. As he flew through the air he could see the hacker had
reached the Rora and they were both watching the fight. He debated just rushing
to them, but he didn’t want to turn his back on his opponent. The man was
already coming at him, by the time he got to his feet. The armor would not only
protect the soldier from Derek’s strikes, but it would damage his hands or
elbows if he struck the man. So he was reduced to launching kicks at the
oncoming Red Beret as the man attacked, trying to keep him at bay. But he was
running out of roof.

   The soldier saw that he had the advantage and pressed the
attack. Derek was forced on the defensive blocking the incoming punches and
kicks. The man attacked violently and wildly as if he was crazed. Normal blows
were enhanced by the suit and Derek was started to feel the effects. He was
still weak from all the bleeding he had done in Omaha. Even the blows he was
blocking were starting to hurt.  Then a punch slipped through and stunned him.
He stumbled and nearly fell off the car’s roof.

   When he dropped down, Rora took advantage of the opening
to fire a burst into the soldier. The rounds merely knocked him back, the armor
absorbing or deflecting all the incoming bullets. But it was enough for Derek
to regain his footing and resume the fight. He needed to change tactics, there
was no way he could hurt the man inside the suit with any weapons he had or
with his feet or fists; and he couldn’t keep blocking the incoming strikes.

  So instead of blocking the next attack, Derek absorbed the
blow and moved to grapple with the man. They struggled atop the roof of the
moving train; frozen in position, as neither could gain an advantage despite
all their straining. Derek could hear servos in the suit whining as they tried
to provide more power. The man head butted him again and Derek saw stars. The
Red Beret pulled his head back for another strike, but Derek managed to rip the
helmet free first.

   Now he could see it was the captain of the Red Berets
with whom he struggled. The man’s bruised face was twisted into an ugly grimace
and he glared at Derek with burning hatred. Drool actually escaped the corner
of the man’s mouth and he muttered unintelligible gibberish as they struggled.
They wrestled for another few minutes with neither of them gaining an
advantage. The captain tried to knee him in the groin, but Derek managed to
turn the blow.

   Then he felt the train begin to slow. It was only a
matter of time before more soldiers joined the captain and they were forced to
surrender. Derek made a desperate move and stopped pushing on the captain.
Instead he threw his weight backwards and sideway and dragged him off the roof.
Rora screamed as the toppled off the moving train. As they fell Derek rotated
his body so he was on top when they crashed to the ground. They landed hard,
but the Red Beret leader absorbed most of the impact.

   Derek was thrown free from the force of the landing, but
managed to quickly regain his feet. He staggered towards the stopping train.
The Red Beret didn’t move, but Derek was pretty sure he wasn’t dead. There
wasn’t time to finish him off though. Once the train stopped the troops in the
cargo cars would come swarming out and everything would be lost. He blocked out
the pain and began running back towards the cargo cars.

   As he approached he drew his pistol, it wasn’t much but
it would have to do. When the train stopped moving, the doors on the cargo cars
began to slide open. The second door didn’t open because he had jammed the
mechanism but the other two slid open and ramps fell out. He watched barely
contained glee as the grenade he had rigged swung into the car, the pin was
pulled out and the live grenade disappeared into the car. Five seconds later it
exploded and some of the blast blew out the open door. Secondary explosions
followed, killing everyone inside for sure.

   He heard screaming coming from the blasted car as he
raced up the ramp of the nearest cargo car. He burst inside firing as he went.
Inside were three Fast Attack Vehicles and their crews. The FAV was essentially
a heavily armed dune buggy with minimal armor. They mounted a .50 caliber M2
machine gun on the rear roll bar manned by a standing crewman strapped in a
harness. An M-249 SAW was also mounted on the each side of the frame at the
front and fireable by the driver and passenger respectively.

   The FAV had been retired by the U.S. military prior to
the Collapse, but had been brought back into service by the U.S.T.G. With vast
areas of wasteland to patrol, its speed and maneuverability were valuable
again. Not to mention the fact that it was easy to manufacture. It also
required less training to operate than an armored vehicle and could fit on a
transport helicopter. Or you could squeeze three into a cargo train car.

   The crew members were caught completely off guard by
Derek’s bold assault and they frantically scrambled for their personal weapons.
They had not been expecting an attack and had been busy freeing their vehicles
to join the pursuit they had expected to be occurring. Instead they were
helpless as Derek mercilessly gunned all nine of them down. He emptied the
entire clip of his Glock into them and then reloaded before he finished off a
couple of wounded soldiers.

   He jumped into the center FAV, which was so thoughtfully
unlocked by the crew. With a smile he started the engine and stomped on the
accelerator. The dune buggy literally flew out of the car and landed with a
crash on the hard packed ground. It bounced wildly and he gave a yell of
excitement as it regained traction and he slid it around towards the train. He
could see Rora and the hacker getting down from the still smoking cargo car. He
raced towards them and then slammed on the brakes, skidding to a halt right in
front of them.