15 Years Later: Wasteland by Nick S. Thomas Read Free Book Online

to the vehicle cautiously. The doors had long gone, replaced with tubular steel permanently fixed in place. He reached over and very gently eased the weapon up and out of the brackets it was suspended in. It was caked in dust and looked like it hadn't moved in years. A bandolier of stripper clips hung from one of the hooks. He threw that over his body and carried on. He didn't even bother to check if the rifle was useable. He couldn't risk firing a shot. He'd never make it out of there alive if he did, so he slung it over his back. As he was leaving, he noticed a hunting knife suspended in a leather sheath tied with zip ties below the steering column.
    He drew out his multi-tool and quietly cut it free, checked the blade, and slipped the sheath onto his belt. He went onwards. With every step he took, he expected the alarm to be raised. Up ahead was a large wall, the outside of which he remembered seeing when he first woke. This was it. He was almost there, but it stood more than twenty feet high and had been made from high quality construction materials, as if done by the previous inhabitants. He couldn't believe Jay and his band of lunatics could have been capable of such. The wrecks of old cars lay propped up against the barriers for extra strength.
    Two large gates lay at the end of the road ahead. They were the full height of the walls and locked and sealed by massive locks and additional buttresses. He studied every inch of it, looking for a way out. As his gaze reached the very top, he noticed a glimmer of light and focused his eyes. A glint of moonlight bounced off a tin mug held by a man on top of the wall. Zed jumped into the cover of the nearest buildings and held his breath so that he could hear every sound ahead. He hadn't been noticed, and that was confirmed as he carefully peered around the corner to see the man take a sip from his mug.
    It was a small tower that rose up just above the gateway and off to one side. A heavy machine gun was fitted forwards looking out into the distance. He wondered if it even had ammunition, or was its presence a deterrent enough? He didn't want to find out. He didn't want to go up there at all, but he knew he had to. Their viewpoint allowed them to see for at least a hundred yards even in the dark. A small stairway led up to the tower.
    Zed quietly wound his way around the last few structures and climbed a metal stairway onto the walls. He looked out and found it was just as he had hoped for. The freedom he had prayed for. Back to the wall, there was no other sign of Jay's people, other than the one man in the tower. He drew his knife and crept forward, always keeping a watchful eye on the man.
    The sentry appeared to be completely oblivious to everything. He simply looked out into the distance with a vague expression on his face as he sipped from his mug. Zed calmed his breathing as he drew nearer and clenched the knife tightly. He reached the base of the stairs to the tower. There were only ten steps up to the eight-foot square position. He crept up the steps. Half way up he finally had a full view into the tower and discovered a second man sitting asleep against the inner wall.
    Shit!
    He kept going. He had no choice. He had almost made it when the sentry knocked back the last of his drink and turned around, stopping dead as he spotted Zed. He froze for a moment as if it was the last thing in the world he expected to see. Zed did not hesitate. He launched the knife at the man. It pierced his coat and embedded in his heart. He dashed up the last few steps and caught the body to slow his descent, but it wasn't enough. The head of the dying man touched the sleeping one, and he began to stir.
    Zed leapt into his lap and held his hand over the man's mouth as he tried to shout, and that muted him down to a vague mumbling that didn't carry. He began to struggle, but Zed smashed his knee into the man's sternum twice to subdue him. He fought back, swinging two heavy blows into Zed's