Wasteland Road Knights Trilogy Read online

  Seeing the movement from the corner of his eye, Nero looked up and saw the raider smile at him. He was clearly hoping that he would let him go, but Nero hadn’t decided on this yet and had half a mind to kill him and stop him from hooking up with another raiding party and causing more trouble later.

  Suddenly, there was more movement behind the raider, and several figures either ran or staggered around the back of the cars that had been filled with the loot the raiders had stolen.

  Dressed in rags, their bodies were half rotted away, with bones and ribs showing through dark, ragged wounds. Some of them looked more skeleton than man as they moved with surprising speed towards the raider and Nero.

  ‘Shit,’ Nero exclaimed. ‘Zombies!’

  Chapter 2

  Nero

  Nero’s reaction was based more on instinct than anything else as he grabbed his shotgun from its holder on his back and pointed it towards the hoard of undead and the raider.

  ‘What? No, no, no, I did as you asked, I’ve…’ the raider stammered, before suddenly hearing the moans and guttural, wet sounding hisses that came from the back of the zombie’s throats.

  He turned and yelped in a very un-masculine manner before turning and running. Nero didn’t wait, he couldn’t, these undead were not the shambling slow moving kind from the days of classic cinema. They didn’t really sprint, either, but they could lope and run along at quite a clip.

  BOOM.

  Nero’s shotgun spat fire and shrapnel at the nearest walking corpse. The buckshot spread as it flew through the air, catching three or four of the corpses and clipping the raider in the shoulder.

  He spun like a child's top with another high-pitched yell and landed awkwardly on the floor.

  Nero paid him no mind, and racked the forestock on his gun, aimed, and fired again. Two more undead were thrown back to land unmoving on the ground with holes in their heads.

  Nero judged their distance and the speed they were running towards him and figured he could get two more shots off before he’d need to switch to a melee weapon and finish the last few off in hand to hand combat.

  Undead like these and irradiated mutants were not uncommon in the wasteland. They were everywhere, wandering around in packs or hordes, looking for living flesh to eat. Nero had killed countless numbers of these things in his time, and they were usually just an annoyance to him, provided he wasn’t caught unawares by a large group of them.

  Alone, they weren’t much threat, really, but in numbers, they could be more than a little dangerous.

  Nero’s shot gun barked twice more, sending several more of these undead monstrosities back to the hell they came from before he holstered his shotgun again and whipped out his dagger. He’d thinned out the crowd of them, and there were just three more heading for him now, with only one of them being at all close.

  ‘Hey, you, a little help here?’ the raider called out to him.

  Nero ignored the call for help and focused on the corpse that was bearing down on him. The quickest way to kill them was to damage their brain. Deliver a trauma massive enough, and they would just cease to be anymore, dropping limp and falling to the ground. It could be strange, though. He’d seen more than a few of these undead with half their heads missing or already with huge brain damage. Some of them were little better than skeletons with no real brain left to speak of, and yet, if you smashed their skulls in, they died, too.

  People brighter and more learned than he had suggested that it was some kind of animating force or deamonic spirit that had possessed them and probably inhabited their heads, and if you damaged them in some way, they lost control of the body. Nero didn’t know and didn’t care, really, he just didn’t want to be eaten by one of them.

  The closest one took the last few steps towards him with renewed energy as it hissed at Nero, but with his dagger ready, Nero lunged and slammed his blade into the side of the zombie’s head. It paused for a moment and then dropped to the ground.

  Nero looked up, the remaining two stragglers were still coming, but they were slow moving and were a good way beyond the raider who was still prone on the ground and holding his bleeding arm.

  ‘Aaagh, come on, man, I did as you wanted. Help me out here?’ the raider said.

  Nero looked back at his car that was still idling, it’s engine ticking over in the dust. The girl was leaning out the window, her eyes wide with fear, watching events play out and silently pleading with Nero to get in the car and drive off with her.

  Nero looked back at the raider. ‘Shit,’ he said and moved towards him. He couldn’t just leave him here to die and be eaten by these things.

  He stepped up to him and pulled his shotgun, pointing it at the man's head.

  ‘Try anything… got it?’ he said, racking the forestock as he spoke.

  The raider nodded with a gulp.

  Nero hesitated for just a moment, but let go of the forestock and offered his left hand to the raider, who took it and pulled himself to his feet with Nero’s help.

  ‘Thanks, man, I knew you were good people. I knew I could count on you,’ he said when a deep guttural roar that was way too close for comfort echoed through the valley. ‘What the…’ the raider said, and looked behind him.

  Nero looked, too. He knew that roar, he knew what it meant, and it was nothing good. At first, he saw nothing, and then, something huge lumbered into view beyond the vehicles from between a couple of outcroppings of rocks.

  ‘Ah crap,’ the raider muttered, as the thing turned and spotted them. The thing roared its defiance at the heavens and suddenly started to run towards them, moving much quicker than the zombie’s had.

  ‘Time to go,’ Nero grunted as he hefted the raider and continued on towards the car. He moved as quickly as the raider would allow him to, but it was obvious that he simply wasn’t going to reach the vehicle in time… Maybe… He wasn’t going to give up yet, though. He might make it.

  The crunch of the things feet behind him forced Nero to look once again, and he was glad he did as it was right on them and much easier to see now.

  The daemon was getting on for being close to twice Nero’s height, had a grey ashen skin and a crest of spikes that went from its forehead, down its back all the way to its tail. Otherwise, it was humanoid in shape, with its upright stance, two legs, two arms with a head on top. The biggest difference was that its arms were a lot longer, allowing it to run on all fours.

  It was right on them, though, so Nero just let go of the raider and ducked out of the things way.

  The daemon sailed past him while the raider screamed once more.

  Looking up, Nero saw the beast holding the raider in its oversized hand before slamming him into the floor with another roar. The raider stopped screaming, but the girl in the car yelped in disgust and fear.

  The thing looked up and fixed its eyes with their yellow irises on the girl in the car. The girl started to sound even more panicked as the thing took a step towards her.

  Nero stood up. ‘Hey!’ he shouted, and the beast turned to look at him. ‘Come here,’ Nero yelled and took a step forwards.

  The daemon turned to face Nero with its body before lowering its head and baring its teeth in a deep guttural growl.

  ‘That’s right, focus on me,’ Nero said. The thing was still a good ten meters away, so Nero took a step forwards, holding his shotgun down, but ready. ‘Come on, come on, go for me,’ Nero muttered to himself.

  Zombies were a threat, true, but they weren’t on the same level as the daemons. They’d appeared during the Cataclysm, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, all around the world. Things from another dimension, these creatures could be violent and beast-like, like this one, or cunning and intelligent, and arguably even more dangerous.

  No one was really sure just what they were, but each was unique, and they went by many names: daemons, demons, djinn, abbyssals, devils, aliens, titans, vampires, the list was endless. But a few things seemed common to all of them, and one of those was how tough
they were.

  Nero took a sudden step forward and shouted an unintelligible yell at it, trying to get the thing to leap at him in anger, and it worked better than he had expected as the beast suddenly sprang forward.

  Nero dodged right, his instincts saving his life as the daemon missed him by inches. As it flew by, he tracked it with his gun and squeezed the trigger, aiming for its centre of mass to be sure he got a good shot in.

  BOOM!

  The beast stumbled and fell, rolling over as it landed in the dirt before coming up to its feet again and staring at Nero with pure hatred in its eyes.

  Nero was standing up again as well and right next to his car now as he watched the wound on the side of the beast stitch itself back together.

  Within seconds, the wound would be gone, as if it hadn’t been shot at all. Nero stepped up to the car door, still watching the daemon as it panted, stalking forward as the wound healed. Drool oozed from its maw, dripping to the dusty floor below.

  ‘What are you standing there for? Get in! It’s gonna come get us, come on,’ the girl hissed at him from inside the car.

  ‘When I get in, it’s going to chase us. I want to be ready,’ he said as he reached down and opened the door without looking. At least the car was still running. All he had to do was to drop it into gear and go. He felt confident that he could do it, but he was kind of hoping that the creature would look away, giving him a second or so head start, which might be the difference between getting out of here or not.

  The beast took a half step towards him.

  Shit, Nero thought, this might not work, he thought, when a sudden shifting of gravel to his right made the creature look back that way, away from Nero and over to where the beast had body slammed the raider.

  Nero didn’t look to see what had made the noise, he just thanked his lucky stars and dropped into the car the moment the beast looked away. He stamped on the clutch, shoved the gear stick into position, and mashed the accelerator pedal while letting the clutch go. The engine roared as the wheels spun and then caught. They were off and were immediately bouncing over the rough terrain towards the worn roadway nearby. He didn’t want to look, he didn’t want to know how close he’d come to death today, but he couldn’t help it. His eyes just automatically flicked up to look into the rearview mirror at the daemon that was sprinting behind them. For a few seconds, it was gaining on them, but as the charger picked up speed, the beast fell back.

  If he’d been two seconds slower, it would have had them, but as Nero drifted the car sideways onto the hard packed earth of the track, he knew the threat had passed, for now. The beast eventually reached he roadway itself, but that’s where it skidded to a stop and just watched them drive off.

  ‘Is it gone?’ the girl asked a short way along the track.

  Nero checked his mirror once more, seeing no sign of the daemon and only the empty road through the desert that had once been the seabed.

  ‘Gone,’ Nero answered her.

  The girl relaxed into her seat, half facing him. ‘Thank you, I… I don’t know what to say. That raider, he was going to kill me…’

  Nero turned and looked at her. She seemed lost in thought and was looking out the windscreen. The sheet he’d given her had fallen open at the front and he could see the swell of her breast and nipple in the shadows. He couldn’t help but look at it and admire it for a second, feeling the stirrings of arousal within himself.

  He looked up, noticing that she was looking at him and knew he’d been looking at her.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said, feeling the flush of embarrassment wash over him as he returned his attention to the road ahead.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘They’re only tits. I’m sure you’ve seen some before.’

  Nero grunted. Of course he had. Food and supplies weren’t the only things he needed from the camps he helped. While he shunned long-term company, preferring to roam the wastes alone, there was only so much time he could go before he needed some company for a day or so. People had little to trade with these days, while the harsh environment and the survival of the fittest attitude that many lived by meant that you used whatever you had to get by. For some women and men, that was their bodies. Slavery had made a big comeback as well, with those who had come to a degree of power taking on slaves as a status symbol. There were brothels around as well, serving the wanderers of the wastes, whatever your taste may be.

  Life was harsh out here, and you did what you needed to do to survive.

  But to Nero, and, he guessed, there were probably others out there with a similar view, justice, right and wrong, and just basic human decency was not something you just threw away. It’s why he hated raiders and others who only took without giving back.

  If he weren’t an honourable man, he could pull this car over right now and almost certainly have his way with this girl, and what could she do about it? There were no more police these days, no more international justice systems, no more human rights lawyers. He’d probably get away with it even if he did take her back to her camp afterwards. Those with fewer morals than that might even then kill her and claim the raiders had done it.

  But that wasn’t Nero, and never would be. He’d been taught better than that by parents who were long gone now. Life was precious, especially now when everything, including the environment, was trying to kill off humanity once and for all. We needed to stick together, to help each other if we were to survive, and part of that was respecting others.

  The young woman was attractive and naked and sat in his car, but he’d never take advantage of that, or even initiate an advance. She’d been kidnapped and held captive by raiders who could have done all sorts to her. She needed to be back at her camp with her friends or family.

  ‘How long is the trip back to the camp?’ the girl asked.

  ‘A few hours,’ he said. It would depend on if they had an uneventful trip. He’d prefer not to run across any more raiders or zombies or worse, but they had a fair way to go yet.

  ‘That’s okay,’ she said. Nero turned to look at her. She’d brought her knees up to her chin and was sitting sideways with her feet up on the seat and the sheet wrapped around her. She was watching him, her head resting on the petrified leather that had seen better days.

  ‘Rest,’ he said. ‘Back soon.’

  ‘You don’t say much, do you?’ the girl said.

  Nero shrugged.

  ‘Thought as much. What is there to say, huh? The world is shit. It’s dying, or maybe it’s already dead? Monsters and the walking-dead stalk the deserts, and if you’re lucky, you’ll die a quick death. So, why talk? It’s enough just to survive. Is that it?’ she asked.

  Nero shrugged again. She was right, he didn’t talk much. There wasn’t much to talk about, really. Not anymore. She was kind of right. Surviving was a full-time job, and it was enough for him to try and keep himself alive, let alone anyone else. He preferred to worry about himself and that’s it. Why complicate things? He didn’t want anyone getting too close to him, preferring his own company.

  ‘Don’t worry, I don’t want to stay with you, I just want to get back to camp, but we all need someone sometimes, you know? Don’t you need anyone?’

  ‘Why the questions?’ he asked her, wondering what her motivations were. Why was she asking him these things?

  ‘You seem… lonely. I don’t mean to pry, I’m just talking,’ she said.

  ‘Happy alone,’ Nero answered her. He’d always been laconic, even as a kid. If he didn’t need to say anything, then he didn’t. Why try and fill the void with pointless conversation? Just get on with life.

  ‘Are you sure?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘What if I… Do this?’ she said, and placed her hand on his leg, her fingers on his inner thigh.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘How about if I do this?’ she asked again, moving her hand up his leg and over his crotch.

  Nero grabbed her wrist and lifte
d her hand up. He didn’t hurt her, but he was firm. ‘You don’t need to do that,’ he said. He meant it, too. She was nice, pretty, too, sure, but she’d been through a hell of an ordeal, and he wondered if she were thinking straight.

  ‘But I want to,’ she said. Nero turned and looked at her. She stared him right in the eyes, her face resolute. ‘I mean, if you don’t want me to, that’s fine, but I want to. Do you want me to?’

  Nero checked the landscape out front again before looking back at the girl.

  ‘Name?’

  ‘I’m Rose, nice to meet you. And you are?’

  ‘Nero,’ he answered.

  ‘Nice to meet you. Now, are you going to let me have my hand back?’

  Nero looked at her. He couldn’t deny it. Her touch felt good, really good. How long had it been since he’d been with a woman? He wasn’t sure, a few weeks at least. He looked into her deep brown eyes again, and then at her hand, before letting go of it and returning his attention to the track ahead.

  A few seconds later he felt her hand touching him again. This time he didn’t snatch it away, this time he let her do it, and it really did feel good.

  *

  Nero rolled his car forward, through the gate that had been opened to him and moved the charger inside the walls of Camp Red Sands. It had only been a few days, but he could already see they were shoring up their defences and strengthening them further. The raid had clearly scared them.

  The camp wasn’t big, maybe a little over ten people. It was centred on an old rusted fishing trawler that had come to rest on this rocky outcrop. They’d built shelters and things around it, made it livable, but their defences at the time had not been enough to keep the raiders out, and the damage they had done had been costly for the camp. Several of their water condensers had been destroyed, which in turn had led to part of their irrigated land drying up, killing a few crops that had been planted there. They had killed the camps goat as well, just for good measure, no doubt. Worse still, they had stolen or attempted to destroy the camps stores of supplies, meaning they’d likely have to trade with other local encampments to get them restocked. Basically, the group would be dealing with this for the next few years as they attempted to get things back to where they were before. If that was even possible. Raids like this could destroy camps, even with a small amount of damage. Once they were taken beyond a certain point, they might never recover again, not least because the damage weakened them and made them a target for further raids.