Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

dragged him into the Humvee. He must have
passed out on the ride, because when he woke up they were at the C.C.A. base
camp they had started their little adventure from.
       “Welcome back.” Rora said with a smile.
      “Thanks.” Derek grumbled and looked around.
       They were in a small tent and he was lying on a
canvas cot with Rora sitting next to him. Two IVs were hooked up to him and he
assumed it was glucose and blood plasma; he was probably quite low on both.
Micah was hovering in the background with a concerned look on his face. The
partisan leader didn’t know about Derek’s healing factor and Derek had
sacrificed himself so they could escape. He probably felt he owed Derek.
       “Micah, take a seat and relax. I’m going to be
fine.” Derek informed him.
       “But you got shot seven times and blown up…” Micah
said incredulously.
       “I heal quickly. It’s okay. See” Derek said and
gestured towards his wounds
       “That’s incredible.” Micah whispered as he examined
Derek’s already healing wounds.
       “Enough show and tell.” Rora interrupted
impatiently. “Let’s get out of here.”
       “What’s the hurry?” Derek asked, confused by her
sudden attitude. “We don’t have anywhere we need to be. The ARK wasn’t there,
it’s over.”
       “Not exactly.” Rora replied mysteriously. “We need
to go, now!”
       Derek shrugged and swung out of the cot. “I need
something to eat first. I’m starving.”
       Her attitude was perplexing, but she probably
didn’t want to say anything in front of Micah. He had been through the fire
with them, literally, but that wasn’t enough to build trust. Rule #24, don’t
share anything you don’t need to. So he would give her the benefit of the doubt
and wait until they were alone to ask for more details.
       Once he was up they went to the tent that housed
the quartermaster and scrounged some MREs. They weren’t much in the taste
department, but in the World After they were practically gourmet. More importantly,
they were chock full of carbs and calories which were what Derek desperately
needed to refuel. After chowing down with gusto on three of them, he was ready.
       “What?” He asked the two of them when he noticed
them staring. “I said I was hungry.”
       “Nothing.” Rora said innocently and turned away to
hide a smile.
       Micah couldn’t help himself. “Is that normal for
you?” He asked incredulously.
       Derek laughed. “Only when I get shot and burned.”
He said flippantly. “So like every other day.”
       The partisan leader chuckled grimly as he tried to
decide how serious Derek was. Derek left that to the man’s imagination and
headed for the chopper that had brought them there. He needed to replace his gear
and they had left a pile of weapons and gear on that chopper.
       “Wait.” Rora called to him. “You need to get your
gear.”
       “That’s what I’m doing. I need to replace all the
stuff I lost in the chopper crash.” Derek replied sadly.
       “They found your stuff in the field.” Rora told him
happily. “It’s in the commander’s tent. He wanted to talk to you before we
left.”
       “Sweet!” Derek said with genuine excitement. That
gear had history and those weapons each had a story. He had been disappointed
when he thought they were lost, and he was thrilled to get them back.
       Rora led the way to the commander’s tent and went
inside. Derek followed and Micah did as well after a slight hesitation. The
commanding officer was a colonel in the new C.C.A. Military Intelligence
division. He was young for his rank, and that meant he was either well
connected or very capable. The C.C.A. tried to avoid politics and generally
focus on merit, but there were still big money Patricians who had influence.
        The colonel was dressed in combat fatigues and had
a pistol strapped to his hip. An M4 carbine rested on the table in front of him
along