The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel (34 page)

Jameson nodded, but seemed unable to actually answer.

“Do not try to attack me, or I will leave you here.”

“Hungry!” Jameson sobbed. “Hungry!”

“I know. Just let me do my job, okay? We
’
ll figure out what is going on.”

Jameson curled in on himself, trembling violently, his lips pressed tightly together.

Denman glanced at Maria. She gave him a swift nod. If Jameson attacked, she would move in.

Maria stood nearby watching as Denman cautiously performed a variety of tests on the sobbing young man. It was obvious that Jameson was in terrible pain. He was trembling violently and his teeth were chattering.

After twenty-five minutes, Denman finally finished his tests. “Kurt, I appreciate your cooperation. I
’
m going to transmit these results to the SWD and we
’
re going to get you help. Do you understand?”

“
H
ungry!”

“We
’
re going to get you help.” Denman tucked away his med-pad and calmly joined Maria across the room. A slight jerk of his head directed her outside.

Stepping out into the cool night air, Maria felt relieved to be away from the sobbing man. Jameson was an idiot at times, but no one deserved to be in such agony. She couldn
’
t imagine why the torpor hadn
’
t come.

“I need to send this information to the SWD immediately.
Omondi
is in torpor. You
’
re going to have to do it directly,” Denman said in an urgent tone.

“
What
’
s going on?”

“His
…
vitals are
wrong.”

“Vitals?”

“He has a pulse, Vanguard Martinez. A faint pulse, but it
’
s there. You saw him weeping. We can
’
t produce tears. He can. Honestly, right now he
’
s half alive and half dead. Some of his biological systems are working again, while others
are
not. I think the best way I could describe what he is experiencing is…he is in death throes.”

“
Are y
ou fucking kidding me?” Maria gawked at Denman in disbelief. “How can this be?”

“I don
’
t know! It
’
s not like the
Inferi Anomaly
scans I took. This is different.” Tugging his med-pad out, he tapped a few commands into it then handed it to Maria. “On the left side are our readings. On the right, Jameson. In the middle, the Anomalies.”

It didn
’
t take a medical degree to see the vast differences. “What could have caused this?”

“I don
’
t know. As far as I know none of the other
Boon
are suffering any of these symptoms. We have to get this information to Dr. Curran. I don
’
t think Jameson will re-enter
t
orpor. We leave him here and he
’
s going to starve to death.”

With a sigh, Maria nodded her head. Uplinking the med-pad to her wristlet, she made the call to the SWD.

Within the hour a med-pod was lowered from a tiltrotor. Maria and Denman had already removed Jameson from the house
. H
e lay on the ground whimpering and trembling. They had to move fast before the
Inferi Scourge
were completely drawn out of their torpor. They were two miles away, but they could move fast when hunting.

Maria pulled open the med-pod as Denman lifted the restrained man in
his arms. Jameson howled
, but
didn
’
t
struggle. Together, they pushed him inside and worked to secure the harnesses around his quivering limbs.

“Special Constable Jameson, you
’
re going to be okay, do you hear me?” Denman shouted at the man over the roar of the tiltrotor hovering overhead.

Jameson gave a slight nod as he stared at them with wide eyes.

Maria wondered
if
Denman
’
s words were the truth, but she reached in and gave Jameson
’
s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You performed admirably. Good job, soldier.”
The fact that he was no longer trying to bite them gave her hope that he would be okay.

Stepping back, she watched Denman press a med-tag to the young man
’
s sweaty flesh just above his collar and activate it. The medics onboard would be able to monitor Jameson remotely until he was back in the city. Sealing the med-pod, Denman backed away.

“He
’
s secure,” Maria said into her wristlet.

“Aye, sir,” the pilot
’
s voice answered.

The med-pod lifted off the ground and slid upward until it disappeared into the underbelly of the tiltrot
or. The craft swung around in a
wide arc and headed back to the city. As the roar of its rotor
’
s faded away, Maria could hear the howls of the
Scourge
.

“They
’
re coming,” Denman said in a weary voice.

“Time to wake the others,” Maria said.

Together, they sprinted to the carrier.

Chapter 25

The carrier careened into the
Scourge
stampeding toward it just as the sun broke over the horizon. The razor
-
sharp plow sliced through the bodies like a heated knife through butter. Special Constable Jes Cormier expertly swung the vehicle around, making another pass through the rabid creatures.

Jostled about by the sharp turn, Maria glanced up briefly to view the carnage through the splattered windshield before returning her gaze to her screens. “Maintain your heading until you
’
re clear of the crowd, then take another pass.”

Behind her she could hear the excited whoops and chatter of her squad. Maria had awakened the soldiers and quickly outlined their plan of action. She was done fighting the
Scourge
by hand. With so much of the valley cleared in their area, she was ready to use the carrier as a weapon.

“Brace yourselves!” Cormier called out just before the carrier slashed through the
Scourge
mass.

Scans of the valley revealed how much they had cleared in the last few months. The main clusters were around th
e city walls and near the hydro
electric facilities. That there were vast areas of open space was breathtaking to behold.

The carrier cleared the raging
Scourge
herd and swung around for another pass.

“You almost have this herd wiped out,” Maria said to Cormier.

“I like this way of dealing with them much more,” Cormier answered as the carrier accelerated forward.

Grinning, Maria answered, “So do I.”

The carrier left a large swath of blood, gore and body parts in its wake.

*
*
*

The bonfire burned brilliantly against the backdrop of the blue
m
ountains rising above the valley. They had utilized the carrier
’
s plow
to build an
enormous bonfire. The
Scourge
bodies smoldered and the stench of their cooking flesh made Maria
’
s eyes water.

Shocked, she lifted one hand to her eyes.

“Denman,” she
gasped
.

Turning, he gazed at her curiously.
She
pointed to her eyes. Denman gaped
at the tears trailing down her cheeks.
H
e reached out and swabbed the corner of her eye
with the tip of a finger
.

Looking around at the remaining squad members, Maria saw they were unaffected by the fire. Denman rubbed the tear between his gloved fingers, then drew out his med-pad.
In silence, he scanned her as she waited impatiently.

“What
’
s happening to me?” Maria asked finally.

Denman shook his head. “I don
’
t know. I
’
m reading miniscule changes but nothing like what Jameson was going through. Should I report this?”

Maria pondered his question and
abided
her instincts. “Not yet.” They were probably a few weeks away from clearing the valley if they could maintain their pace. “Just keep me informed.”

* * *

Maria relished the feel
ing
of being at a work station doing something other than destroying the
Scourge
. Maria and the Chief Defender were plotting out the final push against the
Scourge
.

They had numbers from the SWD on how many
Scourge
the squad was clearing on a daily basis on average and how many
remained;
therefore
,
they could estimate how much longer it would take to wipe
out the rest of the
hordes
.

Omondi
’
s
image
was located in a corner of her work station screen.
“
It appears
we
’
re looking at
two
more weeks until completion of the mission.
”

“
The number change
d
slightly with Jameson out of the picture.
He was our most efficient killer.
”

“
We
’
ll make up for his absence with taking only one hour of torpor a day.
”

“
The last psych exam
Denman
gave us says we
’
re all on the verge of mental exhaustion. Can we risk pushing ourselves even harder?
”
Maria tilted her head so she could see Omondi
’
s face. It was emotionless as usual. She rarely saw the man smile.

“
SWD is adamant that we continue around the clock.
”
Omondi rubbed his chin.
“
I just don
’
t know how we can reach their projected end date otherwise.
They
’
re
unyielding that we meet that date.
”

Maria studied the various bits of information displayed
on
her screen.
“
Are they certain about the Maelstrom Platforms?
”

“
Yes, they
’
re going to destroy all the
Scrags
around the wall once we clear out everything else.
”

“
They want a big final bang, don
’
t they?
”
Maria smirked.

She could
imagine
the news vids now
. T
he platform guns destroying the last of the
Scourge
gathered around the wall. Of course, there would be no vids of the long endless days they had spent destroying the
Scourge
.

“
We have our orders.
”
Omondi
studied
the numbers on his pad. She could see the weariness around his eyes.
“
We will soon be done with all of this and it will be just a nightmare to be forgotten.
”

It was the most human thing he had said in a very long time and Maria was glad to hear it. It was a strange solace that he too was affected by the endless killing.

“
How are y
ou progressing toward the hydro
electric plant?
”

“
Steadily making progress. I estimate we
’
ll make it there in the next three days. We had to clear out a massive gathering of
Scourge
near one of the old subway stations.
”

“
I just don
’
t understand why we have left the hydroelectric plant until last,
”
Maria said, tapping her finger lightly on the screen.
“
With the energy shortages I would expect
it
to be one of the first places we would clear.
”

“
We started near the gate because that was where our first objective was located,
”
Omondi answered, lifting his shoulders dismissively.

“
Any word on Jameson?
”
She had been putting off asking the question, trying to avoid any topic that might annoy her commanding officer. He was very good at avoiding giving her direct answers.

“
Psychotic break. His mind had difficulty believing he no longer had to eat. He became obsessed and...
”
Omondi mimed breaking something in half.
“
Dr. Curran will be sending Denman some guidelines to help identify any warning signs in the rest of the squad.
”

The bold-faced lie left Maria stunned, but she managed to maintain a neutral expression. The SWD was either lying to
Omondi
,
or had told him to lie
about Jameson
’
s condition
. Certainly the SWD knew that Denman and Maria were intelligent enough to discern that the readings they had taken of Jameson were not the norm.

Maria decided to push just a little and see how deep the lies were.
“
Do they have any theories as to why that one
Scrag
tried to eat Jameson?
”

It was if an invisible blast door slammed down between them. Omondi was suddenly an ebony statue staring at her in cold silence. She was very glad he was far away and only an image on her screen.

“
The
Scrags
are rabid undead monsters. We cannot assume to know everything about them considering how long we
’
ve been trapped in the city. Keep that in mind, Vanguard Martinez.
”

“
Yes, sir
,
”
Maria said softly.

Denman was watching her from his console. The rest of the squad was in torpor, but she had kept Denman awake. They had both been hoping for answers to Jameson
’
s condition.

There was terse silence for a few more minutes as
Omondi
transmitted new orders to her console and Maria reviewed them.

“
We can continue utilizing the carrier for at least a day,
”
Maria decided.
“
Once we hit this area there will be too many
Scrags
to risk it.
”

“
Agreed,
”
Omondi
answered.
“
We
’
ll speak again tomorrow night. Dismissed.
”

Th
e feed was cut off abruptly.

Maria sighed wearily.

“
Do you think he
’
s lying for them
? O
r are they lying to him?
”
Denman asked.

Shrugging, Maria settled back in her chair.
“
I
’
m not sure about any of this anymore.
”

Denman rubbed the top of his head, mussing his short brown hair.
“
We
’
re doing the right thing clearing the valley.
”

“
I agree.
”

“
But I strongly suspect the SWD didn
’
t fully understand the modified virus they gave us. We
’
re their grand experiment.
”

“
Their greatest success so far,
”
Maria said.

“
I am concerned about what happened to Jameson and
you
r tears
.
”

“
I
’
m not hungry
.
”

“
Not yet. So far all the tests have shown is that the virus is now allowing your body to produce tears and saliva. Nothing else has changed.
”

“
It
’
s nice not having a dry mouth,
”
Maria observed, smiling slightly.

“
But why this change? Why now?
”
Denman
clutched his fist, pressing it to his lips
.
“
This isn
’
t making sense.
”

“
I
’
m dreaming
.
”

“
What?
”

“
I
’
ve been dreaming for a week
.
”

He stared at her incredulously.
“
Are you sure?
”

“
Maybe.
”
She shrugged.
“
I feel
different
when I revive
. More alive.
”