Rat Attack (The Old Store: Lost Tales 3)

By Peter Salisbury

The Old Store: A flu-like plague has ravaged the human population, leaving a few individuals to survive any way they can. Resources are scarce and it is a struggle to survive in a hostile and decaying environment. Some individuals band together to form gangs, like Rat's bunch of lawless opportunists. Others seek to protect what remains of their families and try to avoid trouble.

Lost Tales 3: Rat Attack, plus bonus story 'Ambush'.

Gang leader Rat roars across a destroyed landscape, leading his gang of motorbike marauders armed with a newly found cache of automatic weapons. Rat is bent on taking over as the biggest wheel in the next place they hit town. Lost Tales Volume 3 contains the sequel stories of Rat and his outfit as he leaves behind the city with the Old Store and aims ever upwards.

'Ambush': Jed, Nina and Brian set out on a mission of mercy to save an injured boy, but shots are fired and danger lurks in every shadow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter Salisbury
• Release date: Dec 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301218813

Peter Salisbury

I am a life-long fan of science fiction, and so when I had an idea for my first story, I wasn't surprised that it was in that genre. The first book took me ten years to complete, but I've got a little quicker since. I am pleased to say that I now have over thirty books published in my name. What next? So far I haven't run short of ideas for new stories, so there are several projects in various stages of completion, and I hope to be publishing the next story before too long, so please subscribe to my alerts. My profile picture is a portrait of the author as a young man, painted by my daughter Charlotte Salisbury who has also contributed to several of my book covers. Professional background In the 1970s I studied Chemistry at university and then spent over thirty years in classrooms across England teaching almost anything but Chemistry, including Photography, Communications Skills, General Science, Computing, and Information and Communications Technology. In the 1990s I spent ten years writing abstracts of chemical patents. This was a most exacting process but very rewarding to be reading about the very latest inventions in the field, and the abstracts were distributed world-wide to research scientists by subscription. Articles of mine have been published in magazines and I have written assignments used for assessing Communications Skills for a major international Examination Board. After retiring early this century I began writing in earnest.

Book preview

Rat Attack

(The Old Store: Lost Tales 3)

Copyright December 2012 Peter Salisbury

Smashwords Edition 2012 December 5

No part of this may be copied, reproduced or transmitted by any means whether printed or electronic without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Please respect the hard work of the author and ensure your purchase is for your sole use.

This is entirely a work of fiction and therefore any resemblance to any actual person or place is entirely coincidental.

Rat roars across a destroyed landscape, leading his motorbike gang of marauders armed with a newly found cache of automatic weapons. Rat is bent on taking over as the biggest wheel in the next place they hit town. Lost Tales Volume 3 contains the sequel stories of Rat and his outfit as he leaves behind the city with the Old Store and aims ever upwards. Also included: bonus story 'Ambush'.

Ambush: Jed, Nina and Brian set out on a mission of mercy to save an injured boy, but shots are fired and danger lurks in every shadow.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Rat Heads Out

Chapter 2: Ghost Town

Chapter 3: Rat Puts His Foot In It

Chapter 4: Rat Goes On A Recce

Chapter 5: Start Small And Move On Up

Chapter 6: The Hypermarket Gang

Chapter 7: A Surprise Visit

Chapter 8: More bikes

Chapter 9: City At Night

Chapter 10: Ape-Hanger Handlebars

Chapter 11: The Rail Station Gang

Chapter 12: In A Stew

Chapter 13: Parley

Chapter 14: Settling In

Chapter 15: Waste Of A Shell

Chapter 16: Plan Of A Rat

Chapter 17: Rat Attack

Chapter 18: Afterwards

Chapter 19: On Track

Bonus Story: Ambush

More by Peter Salisbury

Chapter 1: Rat Heads Out

'Jus' look at all these automatics and ammo,' Snark said pointing at a stack of two dozen munitions crates. 'Why don' we go lookin' fer the folks who gave us this stuff?'

Rat narrowed his eyes. 'And then?' He chambered a round in his new automatic rifle and fired a test shot into the air.

Snark flinched but he didn't move away. 'I was thinkin' we'd go shoot 'em up an' take whatever else they got.'

'Snark, you actually think they're sitting around waiting for us to knock 'em over and take their stuff?' Rat didn't like challenges to his authority and his lieutenant was taking the sort of chances that would get him killed one day. He fired off another shot.

Snark shuffled around a bit. 'Maybe not. But now we got all this…'

'No-one would be stupid enough to just give away everything they've got.' Rat stepped under the cupola which was at the centre of the camp he had taken from Snake. He put down his gun, leaned back against the wall of the fire pit and folded his arms.

'You don't reckon it's a bluff?' Snark said.

Rat picked up his gun again and pulled the clip. After inspecting the contents for a moment, he said, 'More likely they got heavier grade stuff than this they're keepin' back to make sure we clear out of here.' He replaced the clip and pointed across the city to where the orbital joined the southbound freeway.

'But what if it ain't a bluff?' Snark said.

'Guns ain't bluff, they're for real.'

Snark patted the handgun in his waistband and bared his teeth. 'They sure got a certain substance to 'em.'

'Bluff or not, one thing for sure is the folks that left 'em got a plan. While I don't know what that is, I ain't stayin' to find out.' Rat spat on the floor. He hated to admit it but he'd been outsmarted by the folks with the guns more than once. 'We're done here.'

'If you say so, boss.'

Rat looked around his semi-circle of men. They had recovered the cache of weapons and ammo left behind a truck on the orbital road. Wary of an ambush, they had blown up the truck but kept the guns and ammo, taking it by a variety of routes back to Snake's old hideout. Rat had made one of Snake's men drive a new truck loaded with the weapons. Rat himself had shadowed the vehicle at a safe distance, until they got back to the camp without any sign of trouble.

Almost tripping over the cache of weapons left stacked neatly in the middle of the road was the tipping point for Rat. The city had given him more than he had ever anticipated and he was in no mind to push his luck. He'd survived by going in hard and quitting while he was ahead.

Rat's interpretation of the mysterious sign 'free gift' sprayed on the truck they'd blown up only increased his desire not to overstay his welcome. To Rat the sign might as well have said Take this and clear out before we come for you. However, he could see his men weren't catching on as fast as he was.

'Snark, are you sayin' this dump of a city has so much to offer, you can't bear to leave it?' Rat said. He lifted his arm and took in the rubbish littering the area around the once-grand cupola.

'Folks left the guns might want to donate summat else,' one of the other men said.

Another man laughed. 'Maybe they like us.'

Rat turned on him, jabbing fiercely at the air with his finger. 'These folks that gave us the stuff 'cos they like us, you know exactly where they hang out, do you?'

The guy shrugged and said, 'Naw, I guess not.'

'You want to risk losing all these guns we got for free and without having to fight to get 'em?' Rat met the eyes of each of his men in turn. 'No way, we got plenty here to make it big the next place down the road. Bound to be somewhere we can make a surprise attack.'

'That your new plan, move out?'

Rat stepped forward and shoved his nose right in Snark's face. 'You got a better one?'

Snark backed off and found himself staring at the toes of his boots.

'That's right!' Rat said, searching the eyes of his men. 'You ain't got no idea, none of you.' He jabbed his thumb at his own chest. 'There's only one of us here got the guts to do what you're suggestin' and I'm saying we'd be walkin' straight into a trap.'

The statement was met with silence and a recognition that if Rat wasn't going to take the lead on this one, no-one else was. It finally sank in that the best course of action was to do what they always did: move on.

'Now git saddled up, so we can git moving 'fore our secret benefactors change their minds.'

Around eleven a.m. Rat led his gang out of the city. He made plenty of noise about it, so that the people who'd given up at least part of their weapons stash would know his gang was on its way. Reaching out of the side of his quad, he fired a few shots into the air. Most of his gang followed suit loosing off volleys of their own.

Rat didn't give another thought to Snake's gang. He couldn't care less if Snake and his men had managed to slink away somehow. For all he knew, they were still trussed up where he'd left them beside the derelict store, half-starved or worse.

The pack of Rat's vehicles passed the Grimdales store with barely an upward glance. The Families, safe inside the walls of the old store watched intently, however, holding their breaths, until the rumble of the engines had faded to nothing.

'Dad, why are they going so slowly?' Jack said.

'They'll be making an even fifty,' Jed said.

'Why stick to fifty? There aren't any cops to catch them speeding.'

'Fifty, fifty-five is the most economical speed,' Jed said. 'Same as when we were on the road, you never know when you can fuel up again.'

'But they can go faster.'

'Yup, when they want to catch someone.'

'How fast, dad?'

'Faster than Grandpa Gunn's truck.'

'Wow!' Hugh Gunn joined in. At twelve, he was developing a real interest in engines and speed. 'So, how'd you escape?'

Jed's brow furrowed and he glanced at Sylvie. He knew his wife worried every time he went out. Generally he didn't talk about the risks they took.

'Lot of the bikes are old lash-ups, son. Kept running by folks don't know a lot about 'em,' Grandpa Gunn said. 'Snake's guys have some idea but Rat and his bunch is just a 'grab and go' kind of outfit.'

'Which is why Jed gambled on them taking the guns and running,' Sylvie said.

Jack screwed up his face for a moment. Sometimes he thought grownups' ideas were just too complicated. 'Can't they learn about fixing bikes, though?' he said. Jack regularly helped Hugh and his grandfather with the servicing.

'Probably they don't have anyone good as granddad to teach 'em,' Hugh said.

Jed chuckled in agreement. 'There's always a few bikes can catch up with us but there's one thing we've got they haven't.'

'Armour plate,' Jack said, eyes gleaming.

'Yeah, they tend to change their minds some when we take a few shots in their general direction out the rear gun ports.'

'Wow!' Hugh chipped in again. 'It's like you're invincible.'

'No-one's invincible,' Nina said sternly. 'You forget that and you won't be around much longer.'

Chapter 2: Ghost Town

Rat stopped at a completely desolate rest stop fifty kilometres south on the freeway. They broke out some of the food they'd taken from what had been Snake's camp.

'You reckon it was Snake?'

'Was Snake did what?' Rat said.

'Gave us the guns.'

'So he could have the city to himself again?'

'Yeah.'

'Nah.' Rat laughed. 'One thing is certain and that is Snake didn't give us the weapons. He'd have used 'em on us. We're darned lucky it wasn't him.'

'Yeah, but…'

'I don't care who it was,' Rat said jabbing his finger at Snark's chest. 'You do too much talkin' and not enough thinkin'.'

After another seventy kilometres Rat took an exit signposting a new town with a city beyond. His gang trailed their bikes after him.

Rat pulled up his quad outside the first building he came to, a dilapidated barn in black-stained clapboard. The rest of the gang stopped alongside him and Rat got out to take a look around. He found himself standing at the lip of a shallow basin, which the town filled from side to side. There was a pall of silence over the town, broken only by the lone squawk of a single crow which flapped up away from a tree twenty metres to the left. It glided down in a shallow arc, until it alighted on the point of the church steeple.

Snark appeared at Rat's right elbow.

'No smoke, not even a heat shimmer.'

Rat glanced at his lieutenant and back at the town in front which was slowly turning to dust as it became home to weeds, saplings and wild animals. The road ahead went straight, dipping through the valley and out the other side, vanishing at length into a thick forest several kilometres