Wasteland Rules: Kill or Be Killed (The World After Book 1) by J.G. Martin Page A

animal DNA to human. Mind Control. Dr.
Reinhardt developed the precursor to the technology used to create drones. That
was when my father turned against them and tried to leave. But I was sick and
they were the only ones with a cure. He was forced to work with them until I
was cured and we could escape. He created the device as insurance should they
ever try to come get us. I don’t know what it is, but the Collective is deathly
afraid of what it can do.”
      “How do you know this?”
       “Some of it my father told me and some of it I
remember.”
      “You were probably six years old, how do you
remember it?”
      Rora shrugged, “I just do.”
      Derek felt she was holding something back, but it
wasn’t really his business so he let it go. Rule #6 was mind your own business.
No point in borrowing other people’s trouble. If trouble was bothering someone
else it wasn’t bothering you. There were very few living heroes in the
wasteland. The last time he had intervened had almost cost him his life and it
had been the reason he stopped bounty hunting and had retreated to the summer
camp.
      They had just turned in a bounty in a small town when
a hysterical woman had approached them. She had given them a sob story about
her three starving children alone on her farm. Would they please pick up the
kids and bring them to town? Against his better judgment and in violation of
the rules he had agreed. They had gone to an abandoned farm to get them. The
“children” had turned out to be Drinkers, violent cannibalistic mutants, so
called for their propensity to drink human blood. The blood left a stain around
their lips and on their chins. They had become a huge menace after the Collapse
and subsequent attacks.
      The creatures were stronger and faster than normal
humans. They had sharp teeth and powerful bites. Their limbs were slightly
elongated and ended in razor sharp claws. They were pale skinned and hairless.
Their eyes were yellow irises with black slits for pupils. No one knew for sure
where they came from, but it was assumed they were the result of radiation and
chemical weapon mutations. They were excellent killing machines, and they were
always hungry.
      The three had turned out to be at least thirty.
The monsters had swarmed out of the basement and killed one of Derek’s partners
before they even knew what was happening. Derek and his remaining partner had
managed to drive them back and retreat upstairs. They had barricaded themselves
in a bedroom and held the creatures off until morning. He sometimes still had
nightmares about the howling noises the mutants made and the clawing sounds
they made trying to get in.
      In the morning they had jumped out the window.
Drinkers couldn’t stand the light and typically hibernated during the day so
there were no creatures to stop them. They had burned the farmhouse and all the
outbuildings down. When they had returned to town, the woman was of course
nowhere to be found. Their desire to help someone in need had cost them a
partner, a lot of ammo, and some of their sanity. Never again.

Chapter 14
     June 11, 2029
     Near the Kansas-Missouri Border on U.S.-54
      Derek saw the sign for the Freehold of Nevada,
Missouri in the morning. There was also the symbol for the Regulators on the
sign indicating a Station House. Station Houses were bases of operations for an
entire region for the Brotherhood. It had holding cells, a court room, an
armory, and a vehicle pool. He could cash in the bounties there and get some
information on the town the device was located in. Any town large enough to
have a Station House would also have food, stores, and other entertainments. He
had been out in the bush a while, some civilization might be a nice change of
pace. Plus they could trade for some ammo and other supplies.
      He had avoided Wichita even though it was still an
Independent City. It was also an open city, meaning that everyone was welcome.
That included raiders and