Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4) by J.G. Martin Page B

once
controlled what looked like a sizeable intersection had long rotted away. Interstate
10 loomed in the background. The main stretch looked like the only part of town
to survive the ravages of the Collapse and the Aftermath. Dilapidated store
fronts with empty windows stretched all along both sides of the street. There
were a few signs of habitation here. Some of the storefronts had been boarded
up and hand painted signs advertised liquor and water. The largest was a three
story building that looked like it had been a hotel. And one had a small sign
out front with a silver five pointed star painted on it.
       The convoy rolled to a slow stop in front of that
building. It looked like an old store front that had been fortified. Unlike the
other buildings it had concrete road barriers placed in front of it and the windows
had been covered with sheet metal rather than plywood. Small firing slits were
cut in the metal over the windows and in the steel door in the entrance. Barbed
wire rimmed the rooftop.
       “The Town Marshall’s office.” The lieutenant
explained. “He’s a retired Ranger who moved out here to get away from
civilization. If anyone can tell us what is going on around here it’s him.”
       “You sure he’s in there?” Derek asked skeptically.
“Wouldn’t you think he would come out when he saw a convoy of Rangers?”
       “He’s probably just napping.” Lieutenant Daniels
said dismissively. “Nothing much goes on around here. The only thing he deals
with are the drunks at the saloon.”
       “Be careful.” Derek warned. “Rule #12, the safest
looking place is always a trap.”
       The lieutenant snorted flippantly and shook his
head as he exited the SUV. He knocked on the door and then pushed it open. He
took a quick look inside and then grinned back at Derek. Obviously he hadn’t
seen any trap or threat inside.
       “Gordon, you old dog! Wake up!” The lieutenant
hollered as he went inside.
       Anything else he might have said was swallowed up
by the explosion that ripped through the building and blew his body back out
into the street. The lieutenant tumbled limply a few times and lay there
smoking. Cries of anger and dismay echoed throughout their SUV and over the
radio. The other Rangers moved to exit the vehicles, but Derek stopped them.
       “Stay in the vehicles!” He ordered. “There might be
snipers or other explosives!”
       Amazingly they obeyed him. The tone of command he
had developed when leading troops caused them to instinctively obey him. Derek
knew they didn’t technically report to him, but he was the most experienced
person in the group and he was best suited to get them out of this.
       “We need to get out of this town; it’s a trap for
sure.” He commanded.
       “Major, there is movement in the southern part of
town.” The Voice suddenly interrupted. “Looks like six, seven, no; nine pickup
technicals heading your way. Seven have machines guns swivel mounted on the
roll bar but two of them have some sort of launcher system mounted on them. All
of them are full of armed men.”
       “Why didn’t you spot them earlier?” Derek asked in
frustration.
       “They were concealed inside an old trucking depot.”
The Voice explained. “Without infrared it would have been impossible to see
them. They must have been there for a while or I would have spotted them on
satellite.”
       “So this is a well-planned trap…” Derek said with a
grimace.
       “What do we do sir?” The Ranger driving their SUV
asked.
       Derek risked opening the door to take a look
around. No one shot him, so that was a good sign. He noticed that rubble had
been piled to block any alleys between the buildings, but the main street
seemed clear. Then he noticed the patches of road that seemed newer than the
others. They were too uniform to be repairs and they were on either end of the
street. IEDs or mines had been planted to block their exit. The only