Wasteland Rules: Kill or Be Killed (The World After Book 1) (7 page)

  Rora asked him what was going on. He calmly
explained the situation to her. “They are clearing out the yard so they can all
come after us without interference. If we run for the pickup they will have us
in a crossfire, and we would have to ram the gate to get out. It looks pretty
sturdy plus they probably have a guy in the tower with a hunting rifle. They
are going to keep us trapped in here until they work up the nerve to attack.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “We are going to load up on supplies and then
fight our way out. Stay away from the windows.” Derek told her grimly as he
pushed several shelving units across the back door to block it.

  Her only response was a quiet, “Oh.”

  Derek went behind the counter and started taking
anything valuable and small enough to carry. He found a small rucksack and
tossed it to Rora. “This is yours now; fill it with canned goods and water. I
prefer peaches.”

  She only hesitated slightly before she went to
work grabbing cans and bottles. Derek grabbed some spark plugs, a couple of
containers of motor oil, and a few tools; as well as a few other parts which he
stuffed into his backpack. He rifled through the register and found $92 in New
Republic dollars plus a couple of gold coins. He pocketed all of it. It wasn’t
stealing if no one was there to claim it. He would consider it his reward for
ridding the station of raiders. He also took a few minutes to carve the
tattooed skin off the raiders foreheads.

  “What are you doing?” he heard Rora ask in
disgust.

  “These are worth money for bounties from the
Regulators.” He replied matter of factly.

  She grimaced and turned away but held her tongue.

  The entire time he kept one eye on the yard
outside. When he saw movement along the edges he ordered Rora behind the
counter with him. With a roar of gunfire the raiders opened fire on the store.
The bullet proof glass in the front window starred and cracked, then finally
collapsed in a shower of glass under the hail of bullets. Cans and bottles
exploded as bullets tore through the store. The register exploded as it was hit
by multiple shots. Derek and Rora were safe behind the counter; it had been
reinforced with steel plates to protect the storekeeper in case of a shoot-out.
The sound of the impacts on the steel plates was deafening. Then silence. Derek
and Rora looked up at the mirror over the counter that was miraculously
untouched and looked out into the yard.

  As they watched a raider made a mad dash to the
pickup truck and jumped into the bed. Derek fired a couple of shots at him as
he climbed through the missing rear window and into the cab. One grazed the
raider, but he ducked down below the dash. He started the truck and backed away
from the storefront driving wildly. The raider crashed it backwards against the
wall and jumped out. He ran and hid behind a beat up SUV. As he ran he shot out
the tires on his side of the pickup.

  “Why did they do that?” Rora asked.

  “To remove any possibility of us escaping.”

  “What are they waiting for?”

  “Probably reinforcements. They couldn’t know for
sure which station we would go to so I bet they took multiple stations. By now
they have radioed for the others to join them. We probably have a couple of
hours before they get here. At which point we will be dead.”

June 10, 2029

Texas Express Oil Station Near Greensburg, KS

  Derek and Rora were trapped in the store. There
were at least eight more raiders out there, at least one of whom was in the
tower overlooking the yard. He could see five raiders spread around the yard
crouched behind several vehicles and one more hiding behind a stack of metal
barrels. The back was certainly covered by at least one raider plus maybe the
burner and exiting that way wouldn’t provide any better of an escape route.
They would still have to cross the yard and open the gate. The tower would be
locked down so he couldn’t climb up there and kill the raiders in it. They
needed a distraction.

  He scanned the inside of the store looking for
anything he could use to create a distraction. Derek’s eyes lit up when he
spotted the switch for the gas pumps. Oh, how he loved to blow things up! Even
as a child he had a love of fire, always getting in trouble for playing with
matches. Boy Scouts had only honed that desire into a skill. Burning things and
blowing things up had translated well into Special Forces and black ops. He was
known for having a knack with explosives. Many times he had been criticized for
unnecessary collateral damage on missions because he had blown up enemy
vehicles or buildings nearby the target.

    He threw the switch sending gas to the pumps.
Then he crawled to the window and started shooting at the pumps with one of the
9mm pistols. He received a lot of return fire, all of which whistled over his head
continuing to shred the inside of the store. Once that stopped he peeked over
the window sill. He was relieved to see that gas was starting to leak out of
the pumps. Derek heard yells from the raiders as they realized what was going
on. He lit his last road flare and hurled it out at the pumps. Rule #9 coming
in handy yet again.

  The yells turned to frantic screaming as the gas
around the pump caught fire. A raider actually made an attempt to run to the
pumps with a fire extinguisher, but Derek cut him down with two shots. As the
flames really got going, he rolled over to the doorway and prepared himself. He
stood up with his back to the door and reloaded the pistol in hand and then
pulled the second one from his belt. With a gun in each hand he made ready to
rush the yard.

  “What are you doing?” Rora asked in a very anxious
voice.

  Derek smiled, “Getting us a ride out of here.” He
replied flippantly.

  The gas pumps blew with a loud bang, shaking the
building and knocking parts and any surviving goods from the shelves. He waited
a few seconds knowing more was to come. And he was not disappointed when the
tank itself blew. The explosion was spectacular. A fireball shot up a couple of
hundred feet in the air. The concussion from the blast knocked out all the
remaining windows on the store and sent debris raining in all directions. The
ground shook and dust and parts of the ceiling fell inside the store.

  As Derek rushed out the door guns blazing he could
see that the explosion had scattered the barrels the one raider had been using
for cover and flipped over a beat up car and truck. The raiders in the yard
were stunned, most still on the ground. The black oily smoke rising from the
wreckage of the pumps would provide cover from the tower. His first few shots
killed two of them as they struggled to get to their feet. He ran towards the
only vehicle remaining upright, the SUV he had seen earlier. That raider
stumbled out from behind it and Derek put two in his face.

  Derek reached the SUV just as both guns clacked
empty. He pulled the cut down shotgun from his back and took cover. Over the
crackle of flames he could hear the raiders calling to each other. The blast
had partially deafened them so they were yelling extra loud to be heard. They
were circling the truck, trying to convince themselves that Derek was just one
man so they should have no problem killing him. Already unnerved by his
apparent slaughter of the men in the store and the explosion, his mad dash from
the store was further eroding their courage.

  He pinpointed their locations from their yells,
popped up and blasted two of the raiders with the shotgun. They went down a
bloody mess. That left one man frozen midway across the yard, his machine
pistol held in front of him. A quick glance around revealed all his comrades
dead and his courage fled him. He turned and ran. Derek coolly shot him in the
back sending the raider flying. Scum deserved no mercy.

  He hopped into the SUV, which was mostly
undamaged. There was still some smoldering debris on the hood. It was filthy
inside and out and smelled awful, dirty clothes and other refuse littered the
inside. All the windows were gone and the front window had a mesh screen over
it. A large steel brush guard had been welded onto the front. It was obviously
a raider vehicle. Derek turned the screwdriver that acted as the key and was
happy when the engine roared to life. The tank was full; they must have filled
up as soon as they took the station. He threw it into gear and raced towards
the front of the store. A couple of bullets ricocheted off the roof as the
sniper in the tower fired on the movement, but nothing pierced the inside.
Derek was almost to the store when two men ran around from the back. One was a
raider, but the other was a burner dressed in green leathers like the ones from
the Night Children lair.

  Their eyes went wide when they saw the oncoming
truck and they fired a few rounds. Derek ducked down and ran them over without
a second thought. The SUV jumping as it crushed their screaming bodies
underneath it. That should be all the raiders except the one in the tower.
Derek swerved to a stop in front of the store. The store provided cover from
the sniper. He jumped out and ran inside. He grabbed his backpack and Rora and
dragged her to the truck.

  “Get in! We have to go!” He yelled at her.

  She scrambled in and they took off for the gate.
The smoke had almost covered the yard, making it impossible for the sniper to
get a clear view of them. Derek heard the sounds of gunshots but nothing struck
the truck. He screeched to a halt at the gate and hopped out. The gate was
locked but he used the shotgun to shoot off the lock. He slid the gate open and
then looked for the box with his weapons in it. He grabbed his gear, tossed it
into the back seat, and jumped back in. While he was doing this, several rounds
hit the SUV, prompting a squeal from Rora.

  Derek hopped back in, took a second to make sure
she was ok, and then they sped off. As they drove off, he could see the yard
filled with bodies and the burning wreck of the pumps. He wondered what it
would cost Texas Republic to rebuild or if they even would. He also wondered
what had happened to the original workers and guards and why they had allowed
the raiders in.

June 10, 2029

Texas Express Oil Station Near Greensburg, KS

  Maximillian examined the wreckage of the Texas
Republic express station. The fire at the pumps had burned itself out, leaving
a pile of scorched slag and a surrounding burn mark on the ground. The store
was shot to hell; bullet holes in every wall, glass and debris all over the
floor, and water and motor oil splattered everywhere. The bodies of the dead
raiders had been dragged into a pile by their fellows who had arrived too late
to help them. The sole survivor had been the sniper in the tower. Fifteen armed
men ambushing an unarmed man, and the unarmed man not only survived he
slaughtered them. He needed to stop working with scum; they had an alarming
failure rate. As much as he wanted to kill the surviving raiders for their
failure, Maximillian still needed them. He would need men, and deniability for
any attacks inside or near New Republic territory.

  He was still plagued by the question of who this
hero was. Even if the raiders were incompetent scum, they had outnumbered him
fifteen to one and been armed against an unarmed man. Maximillian examined the
bodies and saw some had been killed by a knife or knives and that the ones who
had been shot had been shot no more than twice. Remarkable accuracy for a mere
human. He entered the store and was elated to see that there did indeed appear
to be a security system. In the back he found a secured computer that had
survived the battle. Plugging in with the U.S.B 5 jack in his arm he was able
to access the security footage. Finally the identity of this “hero” would be
revealed.

  He was so surprised he actually uttered the name
out loud, “Derek Storm!”

  Storm was supposed to be dead, executed by the U.S.T.G..
But there he was, slicing up three men in a matter of seconds. This explained a
lot. Storm was a legend in the Special Forces community and Maximillian had
first-hand experience of the man’s killer instincts. He also personally knew
about Storm’s “rebirth” after the failed op in China. Anger and jealousy warred
within him and he struggled to maintain control of his emotions, emotions he
had thought long dead.

  This made the mission personal for Maximillian and
another emotion long suppressed surfaced, pleasure. He would take great
pleasure in stopping Storm and getting some payback. It would also require
better resources than the raider scum outside. Being able to dispose of them
now would just be a bonus. While he was in the computer, Maximillian altered
the footage to only show Storm killing the “storekeeper” and looting the store.
That ought to slow him down by putting the Regulators on his trail.

  He exited the building and marked the location of
every raider. At his mental command the drones pulled out their energy weapons
and started picking off the raiders one by one. He joined them in the massacre.
The raiders were caught off guard and were no match for the pinpoint accuracy
of Maximillian and his drones. In a few minutes they were all dead. He
commanded the drones to remove the bodies and raider vehicles and burn them. No
evidence of the raider attack could remain.

  He then accessed the satellite footage of the
express station and found Storm’s vehicle leaving. If the U.S.T.G. had faked
his death, then Storm was probably working for them. If he had the device he
would have already called for an extraction. So he must be taking the girl to
get the device. A new strategy was needed here. Maximillian would wait until
Storm retrieved the device and then take it from him. He tasked two more
satellites to follow Storm. There could be no possibility of him getting away.