Bulletfoot One Bulletfoot™ Book 1 Marshall Rust This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both. Copyright © 2020 LMBPN Publishing Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing A Michael Anderle Production LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. LMBPN Publishing PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy Las Vegas, NV 89109 First US edition, March 2020 ebook ISBN: 978-1-64202-825-6 print ISBN: 978-1-64202-826-3 Contents The Bulletfoot One Team Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Author Note About the Author Other LMBPN Publishing Books The Bulletfoot One Team Thanks to the Beta Team: Nicole Emens, Timothy Cox, Mary Morris, Kelly O’Donnell, Rachel Beckford, John Ashmore, Larry Omans Thanks to our JIT Team: Billie Leigh Kellar Dave Hicks Deb Mader Debi Sateren Diane L. Smith Dorothy Lloyd Jackey Hankard-Brodie Jeff Eaton Jeff Goode Larry Omans Misty Roa Paul Westman Peter Manis Veronica Stephan-Miller Editor Skyhunter Editing Team Chapter One Jessica13 dreamed of adventure outside the bunker. She never knew she'd get her wish—or that it would cost her almost everything about her old life. And she never knew the danger it would bring her. She was out in the open in the mess hall, her focus on two books she had open on the metal table in front of her. People all around her talked and made considerable noise while they ate, and the room shook every once in a while. She continued to hum, however, and tapped her finger lightly on the table to the beat of the music playing in her headset. Not many people made music that was fun to hum to these days. Most of the music those around her listened to was the kind with heavy thrashing on improvised electronic instruments and screaming rather than singing. But occasionally, although not that often, someone got their hands on a ukulele or a guitar or something like that and simply strummed. They didn't even have to sing for the most part. Something with a catchy tune was all she really needed to get into a rhythm and let her mind flow while she worked out the gears on the new converters they were bringing in. She didn't know where they had found them, but she really wished they would stop selecting those that were almost exclusively broken. People didn't have fun with music anymore. In the Cities-That-Were, they said all people had done all day was listen to and make music for other people to enjoy. They got canteen credits for it and everything. What a way to make a living. Even as an orphan with no one to speak for her, she had quickly been moved out of the lower work areas and up to the higher levels in the Sanctuary thanks to her Athena genes. She now lived and worked in the lowest of the three upper security levels of the bunker. The third and highest level formed the first line of defense and was manned constantly by Guardians. "Hey, bulletfoot," someone said behind her. There were many bulletfoots seated in the mess with her so she could assume they weren't talking to her since she was on her downtime. She could have spent it in her room, which she didn't have to share with anyone and so wouldn’t be interrupted. The folks who had moved her had pulled some strings to get her a room, but it wasn't a great one. It had been a water pressure regulator closet that had been rendered redundant when they repurposed all the pipes inside. While she'd been grateful and made it her own, it was still short on space. When she was reading, it was better to come out to the mess. It was cheaper on her canteen account to leave the lights off, for one thing, and with her headset, she didn't need to worry about the noise. Which didn’t, of course, exclude possible distractions like this one. "Bulletfoot, I'm talking to you," said the voice again and a hand come down on her shoulder. It wasn't rough but it sure as hellfire was an indicator that she was the bulletfoot they wanted. Jessica13 pulled the headset away from her left ear and continued to listen to the music in the right. The man who stood behind her was tall and lean with most of his hair shaved as was the norm with the chavs who spent considerable time in their combat mechs. It meant less chance that they would have issues with hair clogging their recyclers—although, as she was well aware, it still found a way. This one, in particular, was the section's CO, who went by the name of Armstrong7. He was the man in charge of running the ops out of their level, which was mostly only bunker defense at this point. "Where'd you get the headgear?" Armstrong7 asked and tapped the headset she wore. "Oh, I was running some repairs on the Minato's gear," she explained and gave him a mostly truthful version of the events. "I’m making sure it's working before reinstalling." "Right." The man narrowed his eyes. "Make sure you don't bust the speakers in there. You break it, it's out of your
