Wasteland Rules: Die Fighting (The World After Book 4) by J.G. Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

hostile territory and having seen the folly of nation
building in the past, the N.R.T. forced Aztlan to the negotiating table and
dictated the terms of a truce. The border roughly corresponding to the Rio
Grande was created, although the N.R.T. kept a small swath on the southern side
as a buffer zone.
       That included Juarez, which was merged into El
Paso. That had caused some rioting amongst the formerly Mexican population and
there were still a few Aztlan sympathizers living there. But the N.R.T. had
mostly solved the problem by resettling any troublemakers outside the N.R.T.
Meaning they kicked them out without anything but the clothes on their back and
threatened to kill them if they came back.
       Tucson and west was ceded to Aztlan as the
demographics made that make sense. Phoenix had already been destroyed during
the Collapse due to the weather shifts and a viral outbreak so there was no
value in claiming it. It was pretty much a dead city overrun by the shifting
sands. Scavengers still roamed the ruins as did some Raiders, but the permanent
population was almost zero.
       The area around Tucson was fairly empty, but still
had some settlements and resources. That border was ill defined by the truce
agreement and had caused ongoing conflict. About a year after the truce, Aztlan
sponsored militias had popped up in the border areas. The government denied
involvement, but it was an obvious fiction. The Reconquistadors claimed to be
patriotic groups dedicated to reclaiming lost land. They mostly operated in the
disputed territory, but they had also graduated to terrorist attacks inside the
N.R.T.
       The N.R.T. military and the Texas Rangers had shoot
on sight orders and were very aggressive in combatting them. This had nearly
led to a second border war when Texas Rangers had pursued a Reconquistador unit
into Aztlan territory near El Paso. Aztlan had obtained more modern military
equipment and the technical ability to use them in the intervening years; and
the N.R.T. didn’t want to get into a shooting war on more equal terms, so the
situation had resolved diplomatically. The fledgling country had morphed into a
booming and successful self-sustaining country. Their prosperity and success
meant that there would be much fewer volunteers and much less support for a
costly war. But it left the Texas Rangers questioning the Texas government’s
commitment to their security.
       The volatile situation made this mission into the
contested area risky and indicated how much the N.R.T. wanted the core. But they
were hedging their bets by only sending a squad of Texas Rangers instead of a
battalion of soldiers. Derek supposed they wanted to avoid provoking Aztlan too
much and a stealth mission would also attract less attention. No need for
Aztlan or anyone else to discover what they were after. Having the core would
give them a major tech advantage and it would be even more effective if no one
knew they had it.
       The N.R.T. hadn’t entered what was being called the
Second Civil War, but eventually they probably would. They couldn’t really
allow the C.C.A. to fall to the U.S.T.G. That would give the supposedly
legitimate U.S. government too much power and territory. The N.R.T. knew they
would be next and without the military strength of the C.C.A. to aid them, they
would fall as well.
       But again they were hedging their bets. If the
C.C.A. could stand on their own, there was no need to antagonize the U.S.T.G.
Everyone knew what had happened to Cincinnati and Atlanta. And there were still
nukes out there that could be used. Texas had no desire to become a glassy
wasteland. So they would wait until absolutely necessary before they
intervened.
       The impact of the plane landing jolted Derek out of
his thoughts. He looked out the window to see a small contingent of Texas
Rangers waiting to meet them. They were all dressed in their now iconic white
cowboy hats. They all wore tan dusters over tan BDUs with Modular