Rink Rash

By James "Grim" Desborough

After the a-bombs dropped at the end of WWII the world was shattered. A rock-and-roll post-apocalypse emerges from the glowing ashes and with it a new sport, a violent version of roller derby.

A post-apocalyptic short story in the style of the, rather coy, pulp 'lezploitation' magazines.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James "Grim" Desborough
• Release date: Jan 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301335473

James "Grim" Desborough

Game designer, writer, self publisher, freelancer, rakish fop, gentleman bastard, ten times more charming than that Arnold on Green Acres.

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Rink Rash Cover

Rink Rash

Written by James 'Grim' Desborough

Editing by Salome Jones

Layout by Michael Garcia a.k.a. The Crazy GM

Published by Postmortem Studios (James Desborough)

© Postmortem Studios (James Desborough) 2013

Part One – Hel's Angels

The wind gusted through the dusty settlement, whipping up sand and scattering it down the empty streets. It settled in drifts in doorways, on steps, against the orange-blossomed hulks of old, rusty cars and the worn tarmac of the old roads. It found no eyes to sting with its radioactive grit. Not even the rad-scorpions were out today. Angel's Spring was shut up, locked and closed for business. The only people anywhere in the town were the sulking and reluctant guards up on the towers, and they were wearing goggles.

The relative silence of the desert town was abruptly broken by the clarion blast of an airhorn from the old rink. In its wake came the deafening roar of an excited crowd. The cars around the rink weren't the same rusting hulks. These would run, though they didn't look the kind to run away. Rather, they looked like the sort of cars that would start a fight. Armoured and spiked, horribly be-weaponed. Fighting vehicles, the kind that could make it across the atomic wasteland safely to find this place.

A painted sign, hanging loosely over the door, rattled in the dry wind and hollered its silent proclamation to the world:

National League Roller Brawl – Semi Final – TODAY!

Inside the rink was almost pristine, though the animal skulls nailed to the walls made it look a little ‘different'. The banked walls of wood and metal were battered into a perfect circuit, a smooth oval battleground for the war to come.

The two teams were lining up for the final period, bruised and bloodied, nearly at the end of the match. Hel's Belles represented Angel's Spring, the home-town advantage. A tough bunch of women, padded and armoured, gloved and face-painted. Torn fishnets and ripped white shirts, bronze and gold pads and helmets. Five of