The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel (42 page)

The gunfire from above was steady and purposeful.

“
Let them do their job, you do yours,
”
Maria added, firing again.
“
McKinney, report in.
”

“
Got rushed! Have some wounded. Cormier...I think they took her...Got two above me still firing. We
’
re moving down.
”

“
Cormier, report,
”
Maria said.
“
Cormier.
”

There was no answer.

“
Fuck,
”
Cruz whispered.

Studying her schematic, Maria knew they were trapped. They couldn
’
t move in any direction without being gunned down.
The flashes in the darkness from the corridor were blinding as a fresh barrage of pipe
s
, nails, and other sharp metal scraps were fired at high velocity at them. The metal objects sang against the generator as they impacted.

“
We
’
re almost to the bottom,
”
McKinney
’
s voice said.

“
Hold your position,
”
Maria said.

There was a lull in the attack from the
Anomalies
.

“
Castellan,
I need an analysis fast. How much time do we have between their barrages?
”
Maria asked.
Her eyes flicked to Dwayne
’
s image. She could see others gathered around him.
At her request there was a flurry of mo
ve
ment.
The feed was starting to cut out and soon she knew she would lose communication as she zeroed in on the Chief Defender
’
s location.

“
Twenty seconds,
”
Dwayne
’
s voice answered.

An explosion of sound and a hail of metal fragments exploded against the generator.

“
They have to reload whatever they
’
re firing,
”
Maria said softly to her people.
“
The second the lull hits, rush them. It
’
s our only chance.
”

“
Understood,
”
was the answer from McKinney.

“
Watch who you
’
re firing at. We
’
re coming in from the
dead-end
on the right. Move when I say.
”

She waited through two more lulls and attacks before
uttering
the words she dreaded.

“
Go!
”

Skidding around the generator, she charged forward.
The shapes of her squad rushing in from the staircase were a
blur
in her periphery.
Mikado and Cruz were just ahead of her.
McKinney leaped over a barricade, firing as he landed
amidst
the
Anomalies
on the other side.
Maria and Denman hit another barricade, toppling the
stacked
machinery
over on top of the howling creatures on the other side.
Gunfire and the
strange
staccato
sound of the Anomaly weapons filled the corridor. Darting around a barrier, Maria fired into the face of an Anomaly. Mikado was just ahead of her, heading toward the huge weapon the
Anomalies
had been firing at them.
A
counter sprung up on her visor screen, warning her that the weapon was nearly reloaded.

“
Mikado!
”
she shouted, falling back behind one of the barricades, taking cover.

The barrage erupted again.
Cruz and Mikado screamed at the same time
.

Mi
kado
’
s armor reported his death, his status flashing red on her screen
.

“
Denman,
”
Maria gasped.

She could see him analyzing all the data pouring onto his med-screen in his helmet.
He shook his head.

“
Eviscerated,
”
Denman said.

Cruz continued to scream, her gun firing. Maria had no idea where the soldier was located, but the squad was now up against the first
set of
barricades.
She had caught a glimpse of the massive gun and the
Anomalies
clustered behind it before she
’
d
been forced to seek cover.

The flying pieces of metal skidded across the concrete floors and punctured the walls and
ceiling
.
Then the gun fell silent.

This time the
Anomalies
were waiting for the
Boon
. Their
projectile
weapons fired as the squad rushed them. Maria barely caught a glimpse of Mikado
’
s torn body before she
was
in the thick of things.
She felt a hard punch to her chest, but her armor resisted. The pipe
projectile
clattered to the floor, but her body hurt like hell.
She fired at the
Anomalies
trying to cut her off as McKinney tossed one over his shoulder, heading for the gun.
The countdown on her helmet was moving swiftly to zero and she could see the ghostly form of the gunner feverishly reloading.

“
McKinney, toss me!
”
Cruz shouted. She lay on the floor, wounded, clutching her weapon to her chest.

Maria barely had time to register what the two soldiers were doing before an
Anomaly
attacked her. It was a woman, her murky eyes terrifying in the
night vision
blues.
The female Anomaly tried to fire her weapon directly at Maria
’
s helmeted head, but Maria knocked it aside and sent a blast of bullets through her enemy
’
s torso. The woman
staggered a few feet
, drawing a razor sharp piece of metal from a sheath.
Maria fired into the Anomaly
’
s face just as the countdown hit
zero.

Dropping to the floor, Maria saw McKinney hook his hands under Cruz
’
s armpits, hoist her off the floor and hurl her small body over the massive gun.
Cruz fired as she fell,
targeting
for the gunner.
Her aim went wild, but Cruz
fell into him, sending both sprawling.

The squad scrambled forward as the
Anomalies
set upon Cruz. Their grunts and cries and Cruz
’
s screams mingled with the blasts from her weapon.
McKinney shoved the massive barrage gun over onto its side and scrambled over it toward the
Anomalies
attacking Cruz.

“
Watch your fire!
”
Maria
’
s voice rang out as she followed in McKinney
’
s wake.

The
Anomalies
were trying to stab through Cruz
’
s armor and shatter her helmet, their metal weapons glinting in the flash of gunfire.
Mayhem descended in the narrow space. It was difficult to even get close with Cruz
’
s weapon discharging.

“
Cruz, hold your fire!
”
Maria
’
s voice was harsh against the din.

Though there were only five
Anomalies
still on their feet, the narrow space between the barricades they had erected in the corridor gave them the advantage.
Maria stumbled as she crawled over the debris the creatures had packed into the narrow space
as cover
. Cruz
’
s cries rang in her ears.
McKinney
’
s huge form loomed ahead as he shoved the Anomalies off of Cruz and fired at them.

Maria kicked over the body of an Anomaly tucked behind some old terminals.
Its wild eyes glared as it gnashed its bloody, broken teeth.
She swore she heard it utter
“
hungry
”
just before she killed it.

The gunfire ceased at last.

The blood and
viscera
were black in the
night vision
. Her helmet was reading multiple
causalities
, but she was waiting for Denman to update the stats.
The
Boon
could take some serious wounds and remain on their feet.
Denman move
d
swiftly through the carnage, scanning the
Boon
as McKinney dragged the bodies of the Anomalies to one side, stacking them.

“
Are you getting the
dog tags
?
”
Maria asked.

“
Yes, sir,
”
McKinney answered, dangling them from one hand.

“
Holm, watch our rear,
”
Maria said.

The mute soldier nodded her head, taking up position.

Cormier
’
s stats read as KIA on her screen. Maria doubted that stat would change. There were Anomalies still in the building above, that much was certain.
Some of the KIA
’
s began to change to WIA/BR and she sighed with relief.

Cruz staggered out of the gloom to her side. The smaller soldier
’
s helmet was dented on one side and her armor had some tears.
Black blood ran down over the plates in the gray/blue murk of the
night vision
.

“
Wounded in action and battle ready, huh, Cruz?
”
Maria said, slightly smiling.

“
Those bastards suck,
”
Cruz grumbled.

“
I don
’
t remember being trained in the fine art of being pitched like a football,
”
Maria said wryly.

“
It seemed like a good idea at the time,
”
Cruz whispered, her dark eyes settling on the broken body of Mikado.
Several of the other squad members had pulled his pieces to one side.

Maria laid her hand on Cruz
’
s shoulder gently for a second, then moved forward to where McKinney stood ready to advance.

“
Straight shot to where
they
’
re
holed up,
”
McKinney said in a somber voice.

“
We go slow,
”
Maria said.
“
We need to be cautious. They
’
ve been here a lot longer than we have.
”

More of the KIA
’
s altered to WIA/BR.
Maria glanced back toward Denman as he continued his scans and sealed wounds.
Holm and several other soldiers lingered near the first barricade, watching the stairs.
Maria
didn
’
t
like being in this area.
It was a killing zone.

Her screen flashed as Denman finished his task.
Three KIA
’
s remained: Cormier, Mikado, and a big burly soldier named
Kl
osk
.
She sighed, composing herself.

“
What
’
s the delay?
”
Mr. Petersen
’
s voice said,
interrupting
her moment of silence.
His voice sounded distant, the connection wobbly and fading.

“
Securing the area before advancing,
”
Maria said briskly.

“
We need you to-
”

Maria cut off the feed.
Dwayne would have to calm down Petersen. She didn
’
t have time to deal with him.
Besides, she was about to lose all communication as they moved down the corridor.