David L. Robbins - Endworld 10 - New York Run.pdf

(392 KB) Pobierz
38502046 UNPDF
Scanned by: Highroller
Proofed by: Dlanshaw of ELF
New York Run
#10 in the Endworld series
by David L Robbins
FOREWORD
It is 100 years after World War III. Give or take a year.
The good news? The planet is still here.
The bad news? The planet is still here.
The massive radiation and the staggering array of chemical-warfare
weaponry unleashed on the globe precipitated an environmental disaster
of incalculable proportions. In the U.S., much of the soil has been
contaminated beyond reclamation, principally in the vicinity of nuclear
strike zones, "hot spots." The climate has been altered; former fertile land
might be withered dust, while former dry areas might receive an
abundance of rainfall. The wildlife and human gene pool has been
drastically affected by the radiation and the chemicals. Mutations are
commonplace. Giantism increasingly frequent. The landscape is overrun
by savage creatures of every conceivable shape and size.
Civilization is on the verge of complete collapse.
Chaos rules.
Almost.
Lingering outposts of humanity are resisting the rising tide of darkness,
stubbornly clinging to the old ways or forging new paths of progressive
development.
 
In the forefront of the strengthening forces of light, at the vanguard of
the effort to reassert mankind as the dominant species on the planet, is
the Freedom Federation. Comprised of a loose confederation of disparate
groups, the Freedom Federation is valiantly striving to reestablish order in
a world gone mad. Six factions constitute the Federation:
The Civilized Zone is the official title for a section in the Midwest
embracing the former states of Kansas. Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, portions of Arizona and the northern half of
Texas. The government evacuated thousands of its citizens into this region
during the war. Denver, Colorado, spared a direct hit during the conflict,
became the new capital.
Montana has become the exclusive domain of the Flathead Indians, free
at last from the white man's yoke.
The Dakota territory is the home of superb horsemen known as the
Cavalry.
In northern Minnesota, deep underground, secure in their
subterranean city, reside the people known as the Moles.
Also in northern Minnesota, in the former town of Halma, live the
refugees from the Twin Cities called the Clan.
And finally, not far from Halma, on the outskirts of Lake Bronson State
Park, in a survivalist compound constructed by a wealthy filmmaker
named Kurt Carpenter immediately prior to the war, dwells the smallest
faction in the Freedom Federation—but the one with the most influence.
Carpenter's descendants are called the Family, and their 30-acre
compound is known as the home. Like the Spartans of antiquity, they are
renowned for two features: their wise leadership and their fearless
fighters. The 15 Family members responsible for the defense of the Home
and the preservation of the Family, collectively called the Warriors, have
established a reputation for valor in combat matched by few others.
Several of the Warriors have ventured into uncharted realms east of the
Civilized Zone. They've discovered that the city of St. Louis has become the
turf of an outlaw motorcycle gang, the Leather Knights. And they've
learned that the Russians have control of a corridor running through the
center of the eastern half of the country.
 
They've also heard about other… things.
Evil things. Menacing things. Things better left alone. Things to be
avoided at all costs.
Unless they come calling at your door…
Chapter One
The four members of Elite Squad-A7 could sense their impending
doom in the dank air.
"Readings!" Captain Edwards barked, struggling to keep his voice
under control.
The trooper with the pulse scanner strapped to his right wrist. Private
Dougherty, was gaping down the dim passage to their right.
"Scan, damnit!" Captain Edwards ordered, slapping Dougherty on the
left shoulder.
The youthful Dougherty, sweat beading his brow and coating his
crewcut brown hair under his helmet, took a deep breath and glanced
down at his scanner. "They're still after us!" he wailed. "Coming from
every direction!"
"How many?" Captain Edwards demanded.
Dougherty shook his head. "I can't tell! There's too much interference!"
"We can't stay here!" Captain Edwards declared. "We're too exposed."
Elite Squad-A7 was silhouetted in the junction of two hallways, their
shadows projected along the tiled walls by their helmet lamps.
"Stick together!" Captain Edwards commanded. "We can't afford to be
separated!"
 
Private Dougherty and the two others, Geisz and Winkel, nodded their
understanding, their helmet lamps bobbing up and down.
Captain Edwards took the passage to his left. His palms felt sweaty on
the Dakon II fragmentation rifle clutched in his hands.
"I've got a blip twenty yards behind us!" Private Dougherty yelled.
The four commandos spun, facing toward the junction they'd just
vacated.
"On me!" Captain Edwards bellowed, leveling the Dakon II, his finger
on the trigger.
Their combined lamp lights clearly illuminated the junction. A shadowy
apparition appeared for an instant, and they caught a glimpse of a tall
creature with grimy, gray flesh, gaping, reddish eyes, and a leering
mouthful of yellow teeth. The monstrosity stopped and blinked in the
bright light, starting to step backward, raising its left arm to shield its
moldy face.
"Fire!" Captain Edwards shouted.
The passageway thundered as the four members of Elite Squad-A7
opened up, their fragmentation rifles chattering in unison.
The creature in the junction was struck in the chest and head, its body
exploding in a violent spray of putrid flesh and a vile, greenish fluid. It
shrieked as it died.
"Move!" Captain Edwards instructed his squad.
Geisz and Winkel took off, Geisz taking the point, her blue eyes alertly
scanning the corridor ahead.
Private Dougherty followed them, studying the scanner.
Captain Edwards brought up the rear. "Readings!" he snapped.
"They've disappeared off the scope," Dougherty replied.
"That's impossible!" Captain Edwards responded.
 
"I'm telling you they're gone!" Private Dougherty said, disputing his
superior.
"Let me see that!" Captain Edwards said.
Private Dougherty halted and swung his right arm around. "Here! See
for yourself."
Captain Edwards leaned over the scanner, checking the grids for blips
of white light.
Nothing.
"But that's impossible," Edwards repeated.
"Don't I know it!" Dougherty agreed.
"Let's go!" Captain Edwards kept his lamplight on the hallway behind
them as he trailed Dougherty, his mind whirling. There was no way they
could just vanish like that! So where the hell had they gone? Were there
other passages or vents not marked on the blueprints the Technics
possessed? Some way they could travel beyond scanner range in the space
of a few seconds?
"Captain Edwards!" came a cry from further along the hall.
Edwards recognized the voice of Marion Geisz. "Hurry!" he prodded
Dougherty, and the two of them hastened along the corridor.
Geisz and Winkel were waiting ahead, their helmet lamps pointed
downward.
They'd found the stairwell. Again.
"It looks like there's no bottom," Geisz commented as Edwards and
Dougherty reached her side.
"It gives me the creeps!" Winkel commented, his brown eyes wide from
fright.
"Stow that crap, mister!" Captain Edwards stated. He stared down the
stairwell, noting the dusty metal rails and the cobwebs covering the walls.
"We know our objective, people! Let's get cracking! Geisz, the point!"
 

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin