Free Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) by J.G. Martin Page A

swam before his eyes as
he struggled to focus. Then, like a lightning bolt clarity struck him and he
remembered being tased. Derek instinctually moved to defend himself and grabbed
the person in front of him. His fist froze inches from Rora’s face as he
realized it was her.
       “Whoa!” She hissed at him.
       “Sorry, it was instinctual.” He whispered back. “Where
are we?”
       “We are in the Department of Homeland Security’s secret
base under Stone Mountain.” Rora informed him quickly as she worked on
releasing his leg restraints.
       “The mountain with the carving in the park in Georgia?”
       “That’s the one.” She replied as she glanced at her watch.
       “How did you get free?”
       She laughed. “They only took you; I’m here to get you
out.”
       Derek took a minute to process that before replying. “How
did you find me and how did you get here?”
       “We don’t have time for the whole story, our diversion
should be starting…right about…now.” She warned him.
       There was the sound of a small explosion and sirens began
to blare and red lights began to flash. Derek took a minute to look around the
small room he had been imprisoned in. The room had flat white walls with no
windows and only one door. The door was solid steel, painted the same flat
white, and did not have a window either. Video cameras were mounted inside
protective bubbles on the ceiling in each corner of the room. The only
furniture was the chair in which Derek had been restrained.
       As he climbed out of the chair he saw a medical
monitoring system and an IV set up with an automatic drip. Rora stood beside it
dressed in a lab coat disabling the machine. Derek stumbled slightly as he got
out of the chair; the drugs they must have using to keep him sedated were still
affecting him. He shook his head to try to clear it.
       “Give it a minute.” Rora told him. “Your system should
metabolize the drugs pretty quickly.”
       “How long have I been here?”
       “Three months…”She said as she poked her head out into
the hallway and looked around.
       “Wow. What happened while I was out?”
       “Later. We have to go now!” She ordered and slipped out
of the room.
       Derek followed right behind her. He realized he was
wearing a hospital gown and no shoes as soon as they exited. The cold draft he
felt only served to help wake him up. The cold painted concrete floor of the
hallway was especially bracing. He noticed Rora was wearing scrubs under the
lab coat and looked like the stereotypical scientist. A badge hung from her
coat pocket.
       “Hey. What about clothes for me?” He asked looking around.
       “I think you look great in that gown.” She joked. “If I
had known you were so worried about your clothes I would have brought a Born to
Fight t-shirt for you.”
       He laughed. “How about just some pants and boots?”
       “Take out the next guy we see and take his clothes.” She
suggested.
       “Sounds like a plan.” Derek said with a smile.
       Seconds later two gunmen rushed out of another room. They
looked startled to find a man in a hospital gown in the hallway and he could
see their eyes widen as they realized who it was. Surprisingly they didn’t try
to shoot him and instead tried to smash the butt of their rifle stock into his
face. Derek sidestepped the first man, grabbed his M4 carbine and smashed it
back into the gunman’s face. The man released the gun and collapsed backwards.
       The other man changed his mind on shooting and turned
towards Derek, raising the carbine as he turned. A vicious kick to the head
from Rora dropped him to the ground. Seizing the fallen man’s gun Rora fired a
burst into each man’s head, killing them instantly. Derek turned to her in
surprise.
       “What did you do that for?” He asked in confusion.
       “Rule #3.”
       “I’m not sure they are enemies.” Derek insisted. “They
didn’t