Awakening 3

After destroying Noderick's military base, Jake and the others returned to Colorado in a stolen truck, where tensions were rising with every passing moment as NOD soldiers began appearing in the area.

"What happened to you?" John asked, stepping out to meet them.

"We have a problem, we've met Noderick," Lara replied.

"That's impossible

." "As impossible as us being here," Logan said angrily. "Look at it, John, do you think we've got our lives together? It's only a matter of time before they come for us." "

I've had enough of your arrogance, Logan, if it weren't for me, you'd all end up slaves

." "I can't listen to this anymore," he said, pulling his weapon from the truck. "Do you think you're our leader? This isn't an army, no one will follow your orders.

" "Where are you going?" "

I'm leaving, I'm not sitting around waiting for Noderick to catch us all."

Logan walked to the gate, left his things, and went into his quarters, where he picked up his backpack and returned to the others.

"Angie, are you coming with me?" he asked the girls

. "She's staying here," John replied. "If you want to risk it, do it yourself.

" "You're doing it again, John. Don't decide for someone else, the risk is the same whether we're here or in the wilderness

." "Angela, don't act thoughtlessly, you can count on our help here

." "Sorry, John, but Logan is right, so stop acting like you're responsible for all of us."

The two set off west, leaving Colorado behind. After a few days, they reached Broken Hills, where Kevin was waiting for them.

"Are you ready?" he asked

. "What kind of question is that, I'm always ready. It would be best if we left immediately, the farm isn't that far away.

" "What farm?" Angela was surprised. "

You'll see, we have to contact a certain man."

Meanwhile, in Colorado, Jake, unable to stand inaction, went to John, who seemed increasingly nervous.

"What's going on with you, John?

" "There's something I haven't told you. The shelter I woke up in was near the old silos," he said, looking at him from across the table

. "You mean the silos with the warheads?

" "Yes, I'm afraid Noderick knows where my capsule was. He might try to use the warheads to get rid of us.

" "Do you think he'll be that desperate? From what I understand, he wants to catch us, not kill us.

" "In any case, we can't risk the warheads falling into his hands."

Jake left John's house and, together with Lara, Cleo, and Rick, headed towards the shelter John had indicated. The journey was uneventful, but Jake couldn't shake the feeling they were constantly being watched.

When they reached the mountain, it turned out the shelter had recently been ransacked.

"That's strange," Lara said. "I remember John saying the shelter was active.

" "That's not what worries me," Jake said, sensing trouble. "This isn't a standard shelter. The bulkhead and entrance are similar, but it's just camouflage. Let's hurry before Noderick gets here with his men.

" "What do we do?" Rick asked

. "We'll split up and search the shelter. I'll go to the main computer and try to find the exact location of the silos."

As everyone moved deeper into the bunker, Cleo took the elevator down to the second level to check the living quarters, but instead discovered a laboratory that took up almost the entire level. As she walked deeper into the hall, she noticed a computer in the center, turned on. When she approached it, the monitor showed open files describing the cryogenesis project, but before she could read them, she was knocked unconscious.

Jake reached the third level, where he found the main computer, whose software was erasing all data.

"What's going on here?" he asked, surprised, trying to interrupt the process

. "What did you say?" Lara asked

. "You were supposed to check the first level

." "There's nothing there but destroyed equipment

." "Someone tried to destroy this place, look at the computer, the data erasure started three hours ago, we're too late.

" "Jake, they might still be here.

" "We better find Cleo and Rick."

They both ran into the elevator and headed for the second level, but when the doors opened, an explosion occurred, destroying most of the hall. A moment later, they found themselves on the first level. Lara sat down in the chair next to the computer.

"We failed them," she said after a moment of silence

. "Don't say that, we couldn't have known what would happen here." But I'm starting to doubt John would have woken up here.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this place, it might have been meant to be a shelter, but construction only stopped at the first level. The rest were done by someone else, perhaps by Noderick's men.

" Jake, what if John is working with him?

"Then he'll pay for Cleo and Rick's deaths. Come on, let's go back to Colorado, John has a lot to explain. "

When they reached the exit, they both stood in amazement.

"Not so fast, Jake, we're not finished here yet.

" "You?" Jake asked, surprised, reaching for his gun.

Meanwhile, Logan, Kevin, and Angela had reached Michael's farm, who had been waiting for them for several days.

"I expected you earlier," he said in a firm tone.

"Were you expecting us? How could you have known?" Logan asked

. "This is all more complicated than you think.

" "What do you mean ?

" "You don't know the whole truth, Kevin. I couldn't tell you, even after what we've been through together.

" "What are you talking about?

" "When John came to my farm five years ago, he was running from Noderick's men. Together we managed to eliminate them, and that's when he told me that there was a tactical nuclear warhead in the bunker where he woke up. We decided we needed to hide it before he went any further, so we went there and brought it back here. Then John went on his way to find the others.

"Do you have a warhead on the farm?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Yes, unfortunately, things have become dangerous, and I need to get rid of it

." "How did you know we'd show up here?"

"John and I assembled a radio transmitter from things we found in his bunker." Using satellites orbiting in space, you can sometimes pick up a signal from another relay; one is in Colorado, owned by John.

"Why didn't he ever tell us about it?"

"He didn't want anyone to know the truth; he had to remain silent for the safety of the others. Two days ago, he made contact and told me about recent events. Right now, your friends are in one of Noderick's bunkers; his spy led them straight into a trap.

" "How do you know all this?"

"It's irrelevant now; we have to act before it's too late

." "Kevin, go with Angela to help Jake and the others. We'll get the warhead somewhere Noderick can't get it."

Soon, Logan and Michael were left alone on the farm and began preparing the bomb for transport.

"How do you plan to get it out of here?" Logan asked

. "You don't know much about my farm." Michael smiled, approaching one of the buildings, inside which was a slightly dilapidated Hammer

. "Where did you get it?"

"Noderick has a ton of equipment in his main bunker." This is what John and I got when his men attacked us

. "Let's hurry, maybe we'll still be able to catch up with Kevin and Angela.

" "I'm not going with you. The fewer people who know where the warhead is, the better for all of us, besides, I expect some uninvited guests

." "Well, thanks for the help, I hope we'll meet again

." "If you fail, none of us may ever see each other again, go ahead, we don't have much time.

" Logan got into the car and drove into the wilderness. Michael leaned against the fence and watched him for a moment.

"Good luck... you'll need it," he said, heading towards the house.

The situation in the bunker Kevin and Angela were heading to was becoming increasingly tense. Rick held a gun to Cleo's head and waited for Noderick to appear.

"How could you, Rick?" Jake said. "You're one of us

." "Stop living in illusions, Jake, I've been working for Noderick from the very beginning.

" "Exactly," he confirmed, entering the room, "I can't understand why you're so hostile towards me.

" "Can't you understand?" Jake said angrily. "Look around, see what fate you've prepared for us.

" "Well, it happened, but now it's too late to change anything, so why don't we start working together for the good of all of us

." "If I were you, I wouldn't count on any of us for help.

" "Bleane, take them to the bunker, we're going to the farm. It's high time to talk Michael out of acting against us.

" While Noderick's soldiers set off for the main bunker, he, Bleane, and Rick headed for Michael's farm. After a few hours of traveling, an unexpected encounter occurred. Bleane spotted Kevin and Angela on the horizon and, together with Rick, set a trap for them. When they reached the rocks, they were surrounded and captured.

"An unexpected encounter, remember me?" Noderick said, turning to Angela.

"How could I forget the man who ruined my life

?" "I don't know you," he stated, looking at Kevin.

"It's Stavros, he's not from the project," Rick explained

. "Really? So why are you so involved in our little war?

" "I have my reasons ." "

Something like that," he said, annoyed, knocking him to the ground with a punch. "We're taking them with us, so they can see their ultimate demise with their own eyes."

Continuing toward Michael's farm, Bleane suddenly noticed a car parked in front of them. Since he was far ahead of the others, he decided to wait for them.

"Why did you stop?" Noderick asked, surprised.

"Look over there, Hammer

." "So what?"

"Where do you think the hammer came from in the middle of nowhere? Besides, I think it's ours.

" "That's impossible

." "Remember the missing squad? They had a car with them.

" "You think it's a trap?

" "That's obvious.

" "As is your naivety," Logan said, standing on a rock two meters above them.

"I could have guessed," Bleane replied resignedly.

"But you didn't, let them go and stand in the open. "

The soldiers freed Kevin and Angela and then slowly moved a few meters away where there were no rocks.

"You don't think you'll make it, do you? Your only hope lies with me.

" "You're wrong, I took the warhead away, you have no ace left."

Noderick, surprised by the news of the warhead, took a few steps back.

"I underestimated you, but that's okay. You think this is the only warhead that survived the war?

" "You won't live long enough to find out," Kevin replied, taking the weapons from each of them. "What are we going to do with them?"

Rick stood next to them and looked at everyone.

"They don't know," he said to Noderick

. "What are you talking about?

" "They have no idea I'm with you. I'll take care of this in a moment."

Logan climbed down from the rock and approached. Angela picked up her equipment and slowly walked toward the car. Then Rick tripped Kevin and took the weapon from him, the sound of a gunshot reverberating through the area.

"You're lucky," Rick said, seeing the bullet hit Kevin in the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Logan asked, surprised.

"You all know what your problem is? You trust the people you meet too much, no one realizes I'm a soldier and work for Noderick." Drop your weapon or he dies.

Logan placed his pistol on the ground and took a few steps toward him. Noderick took his rifle and approached Kevin.

"Noderick, are we taking them?" Bleane asked

. "Just these two. Unfortunately, you'll have to stay here. With this wound, you won't live long anyway," he said to Kevin, turning to the others. "We're taking them to the shelter, and we'll talk about the warhead there." Bleane, go get the car

. "I'm afraid you'll have to hike." I pushed it a bit too hard and blew up the engine.

"Idiot," Bleane said, heading south.

As they left, Logan turned to Kevin for a moment.

"We still have one last hope," he said, then followed the others.

When they were far enough away, Kevin sat down on the ground and pulled his computer from under his jacket.

"What luck," he said to himself as he stood up, "a bunch of naive fools."

He headed for the car without looking back. It turned out Logan was bluffing and the hammer was fully operational. He got in and drove towards the spring he'd once shown Logan.

When he arrived, he hid the car and climbed up. As he entered a cave, he noticed a warhead lying on the ground. John followed him in with one of the project members, Paul.

"What are you doing here?

" "After you left, Michael contacted me and said Logan had the warhead.

" "How did you know he'd hide it here?

" "I wasn't sure, but I consider this place one of the safest in the wasteland. If I were to hide the warhead, I'd bring it here.

" "It's a shame you didn't think to help us sooner; the others were taken by Noderick. Rick is a traitor, he betrayed us. Now you have to tell us where his bunker is.

" "What are you planning?"

"We have an advantage they certainly won't be able to resist.

" "Great. I don't know exactly where his base is, but I know its approximate location."

The three of them set off after John. The journey took them several days, but when they arrived, they immediately knew where to look for the base entrance. On a large plain, they came across an area fenced off by a chain-link fence.

"Do you think they have a lot of people there?" Paul questioned

. "I don't think so. After all, how many could he have frozen?" Kevin replied

. "You're wrong. Noderick went into hibernation, that's true, but during his sleep, the bunker operated continuously. His soldiers aren't members of the project; they're descendants of his people from the time when the organization operated under his leadership

." "Better and better."

After a short search, they managed to find the entrance to the bunker.

"I have a bad feeling," Kevin said, looking at the hatch set in the ground. "Several vehicles exited through here, about two days ago

." "Don't whine, we're going inside."

Inside the bunker, they split up and moved through the corridors at intervals of several meters, but when they were quite deep underground, Kevin stopped and began to wonder.

"I'm not nitpicking, but where did everyone go?

" "That's strange, there should be plenty of people here," John replied.

John walked over to the security terminal and began to browse the database.

"That's impossible. The motion sensors show zero activity, someone must be here, dammit. Wait, the infrared sensors are giving a faint signal from the lowest level."

The elevator descended to the very bottom, and the doors opened, revealing the large reactor that powered the entire complex. Nearby was a room protected by a force field, where Logan and the others were. Kevin blew up the field's power supply, freeing everyone.

"What's going on here, Jake?" John asked. "Why is there no one here?"

"We don't know when Noderick was here, saying he was finally going to complete his grand plan

." "Well, that's a problem because I have a warhead and I won't hesitate to use it," Kevin said

. "What do you want to do?" John asked

. "Well, there's no point in limiting yourself. Noderick will be a bit surprised when he comes back

." Putting the plan into action, everyone made it to the first level and headed for the exit. Jake and Kevin brought the warhead down to the reactor room and set the detonation time, then set off back to the surface. Rick blocked their path, being the only one left in the base. Seeing Kevin and Jake free, he realized Noderick had made a mistake.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, seeing them getting off the elevator.

"We brought you a little gift.

" "A warhead, you fools." Noderick will kill you for this.

"Unless we do it first."

Rick reached for his pistol, but Jake was faster, and a moment later the traitor collapsed to the ground. They both ran to the surface and jumped into the Hammer, Logan without hesitation heading north.

"We could have hidden it and set the timer, we would have taken them all at once," Lara said.

At that moment, an explosion shook the entire area. Logan paused for a moment and looked back.

"One zero for us," Jake said with glee.

Leaving the destroyed bunker behind, they headed north to Colorado. Heading home, they tried to figure out Noderick's next move, as he had abandoned the base with all his men for a reason. When they reached the plain where the city was located, they realized they had made the mistake of leaving it defenseless. Inside, a full-scale battle raged. Logan rode closer to the gate, and everyone headed deeper into the city, where the surviving residents were fighting back at John's house. When they managed to get close enough to effectively surprise the enemy, the ammunition cache exploded. A powerful explosion destroyed part of the wall, allowing several more soldiers to break through.

"What now?" Cleo asked

. "Go underground, get the men from John's house there, and we'll take care of the rest," Jake said, revealing a hidden entrance.

Cleo, Lara, Angela, and John descended and headed towards the besieged house. Jake ran to the car to get additional weapons.

"Do you think we'll succeed?" Kevin asked, peeking around the corner of the building

. "I don't know, stay here, I'll check if anyone's hidden in the cache by the gate. "

Logan ran, passing Jake, who was carrying the weapon.

"Where's this one going?

" "He'll be back soon, get your weapons ready."

The cache door opened. Inside, it was pitch dark. Logan took a few steps inside and ripped open the floor, revealing a hidden compartment. From inside, he pulled out the matrix he'd taken from Bleane's base. When he put it in his backpack, the door slammed shut. Bleane stood in front of them, aiming his rifle at him.

"I thought it was lost," he said, stepping closer.

"You can't get it back, I need to know its contents

." "That's impossible. You'd ruin everything, besides, there aren't many places left where it can be read, and you'll definitely not get into our bunker."

Meanwhile, the soldiers besieging John's house, seeing that their enemies had stopped resisting, rushed inside. Jake saw a flare and picked up a rocket launcher lying on the ground.

"It's time to end this," he said, firing a missile at the house, which exploded, killing the soldiers entering.

"Great shot," Kevin praised him, looking around for Logan.

Bleane approached Logan and took the matrix from him.

"There's always one problem with you guys, you don't want to share anything," Logan stated, then knocked the rifle out of his hand and struck him several times.

Bleane quickly recovered and lunged at his enemy, but the latter didn't remain passive and struck him with a beam he had pulled from the floor, revealing the hiding place.

"I won't let you ruin our plan, you'll never know the truth," he shouted, reaching for his pistol and destroying the matrix.

Logan threw himself to the ground, avoiding the bullets, grabbed the rifle Blean had dropped, and cut him down with a burst.

"It was all for nothing," he said to himself, standing over the destroyed matrix.

Outside, Kevin and Jake ran to the warehouse. Logan joined them and looked up at the sky, where the flare John had fired was still visible.

"It's over," Jake said with relief.

"Don't forget about Noderick, he's still out there somewhere."

Far to the south, on the edge of the plain, a Hammer stopped. Noderick got out and looked at the area devastated by the atomic bomb.

"All is lost," he said, turning toward the car, where several gang members were standing

. "You have a nice car," one of them said. "I hope you're not too attached to it..."

A WEEK LATER

John entered the gate and looked at the ruined city.

"All this work and all for nothing.

" "We can always start over," Jake said, looking uncertainly at the ruins of the houses

. "It's too late, I don't want to endanger people again. It's better if we just leave.

" "What about the natives?

" "They've returned to their village, Colorado is gone, it's better to accept it

." "Where are you going?"

"It's better you don't know. Everything I've experienced has shown me one thing: it's better not to know," he said, heading for the exit

. Jake left the city where the others were waiting for him in the car. After a moment's hesitation, he got in.

"Where are we going?" asked Paul, sitting behind the wheel

. "Colorado's behind us, and all I see ahead is California."

The car sped west, leaving behind the dust and ruins of a city that would never again be a pleasant memory for the project members.