The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel (43 page)

“
McKinney, lead the way.
”

Chapter 31

“
Back off and let them do their job,
”
Dwayne uttered
.

“
She cut my feed!
”
Mr. Petersen said, his usually placid expression flushed with anger.

“
They
’
re trying to survive right now. They
’
re in the middle of a battle. They don
’
t need you interfering with what they
’
re doing,
”
Commandant Pierce added.

Dwayne stood with his feet apart, arms folded, glaring at the smaller man.
“
We lost three people in that action. We don
’
t need to lose any
more.
There are obviously more Anomalies than you projected, aren
’
t there?
”

Mr. Petersen
’
s gaze darted toward Dr. Curran. She was standing nearby clutching her pad against her chest.
It was difficult to read her expression, but Dwayne suspected she was just as surprised by the numbers of Anomalies the
Boon
were encountering.

“
What haven
’
t you told us?
”
Commandant Pierce demanded.
“
What are you keeping from us?
”

“
This was unexpected,
”
Mr. Petersen said, his usual blandness ruffled
.
“
We were not expecting this many.
We thought that maybe there were half a dozen at the most.
”

“
They
’
re not equipped to deal with the resistance
they
’
re
encountering. If you had even the slightest idea-
”

“
Commandant,
I believe they
’
re some of the soldiers from the last push.
”
Dr. Curran cleared her throat before speaking again.
“
The
Inferi Anomalies
infected them.
”

“
So how many are there?
”
Commandant Pierce
’
s dark eyes were hard as stone.

“
I don
’
t know. I couldn
’
t even begin to speculate.
”
Dr. Curran lowered her eyes, her uneasiness clear.

“
I need to speak to the president.
”
Mr. Petersen glowered at Dr. Curran
,
then spun about on his heel. He motioned to two dark garbed SWD security officers to follow and walked briskly from the command center.

“
He will not keep the Constabulary out of this!
Castellan, you
’
re in charge!
”
Commandant Pierce strode out after Mr. Petersen.

Dwayne caught Lindsey
’
s eyes for just a second, then he returned to his work station. Dr. Curran drew closer, lingering just over his right shoulder.

“
What else do you know that you
’
re not telling me?
”
Dwayne asked the scientist.

Dr. Curran remained silent for so long, he looked up at her questioningly. There was definitely an internal struggle behind the woman
’
s eyes.
“
Nothing that will affect the mission.
”

“
Are you certain? Because if
—
”

“
Yes, I
’
m certain,
”
Dr. Curran answered.

Dwayne returned his gaze to the vid screens and the many
fuzzy
images filtering in from the basement of the
hydroelectric
station. He didn
’
t trust anyone anymore but himself, Lindsey and Maria.
The
city
was increasingly a dark and dangerous place.

* * *

When the dented metal door swung open, Chief Defender
Omondi
’
s face was the first thing Maria saw as he peered out at her.

“
Vanguard,
you
’
re
a sight for sore eyes,
”
he said.
The bluish light from his helmet gave him a
spectral
appearance, but his smile was
genuine
.
Stepping into the narrow corridor, he appraised the soldiers clustered into the narrow hallway.
The remainder of his squad hovered just behind
him
, waiting.

“
We were hit pretty hard. We lost three.
”
Maria handed over the extra weapon she had been carrying for him, then some ammo.

“
There are a lot more of those bastards than we were told,
”
Omondi
agreed.

“
We killed eleven on the way down.
”
McKinney dangled the dog tags from one hand.

Omondi
took them somberly.
“
There are a lot more than that.
”

“
We know.
”
Maria sighed.
“
And we
’
re basically in the perfect place for an ambush.
”

“
They
’
ll be waiting for us upstairs.
”
Omondi
brushed past Maria, moving down the long corridor.
“I never should have obeyed the order to enter the basement.”

“Who told you to come down here?” Maria asked, anger edging her words. She followed in his wake, weapon at the ready.

“Mr. Petersen,”
Omondi
answered.

Maria didn
’
t respond. The feed to The Bastion was coming back online as they drew closer to the stairwell.

When t
hey reached the heavily barricaded area
,
Omondi
squatted next to t
he
bodies of the
Anomalies.
He flipped on his helmet
’
s light. He pulled their eyelids back, exposing their filmy eyes.

“
These aren
’
t the ones.
”
Omondi
killed the light, stood, and peered
up
the hallway.

“
What do you mean?
”
Maria asked, dread filling her.

“
The ones with the red eyes are the truly dangerous ones. I would call the ones down here drones. They
’
re hungry bastards and fodder
for their leaders
. The ones with the red eyes are truly sentient in every way.
But I didn
’
t see too many of them. Maybe three.
”

As they continued to the stairwell,
Omondi
took control of the squad as his helmet finally picked up the feed from the command center.
Maria was surprised when
Omondi
allowed her to keep the feed active in her helmet.
She was glad he finally seemed willing to include her
again
in command decisions.

Arriving at the base of the stairs, they cautiously moved onto the steps.
Weapons pointed upward, the squad hugged the far wall as they climbed. Maria felt her pulse accelerating again, a disconcerting feeling after it being absent so long. Her breath sounded abnormally loud and labored in her ears.
She wondered if everyone else could hear it through her feed.

The squad reached the top of the stairs without incident
.
Omondi
and Maria exchanged worried looks.
The doors that opened to the stairwell were slightly ajar.
The hallway beyond it would be perfect for an ambush.
The tension between her
shoulder blades
was increasingly painful and she wished her armor wasn
’
t so old. She was used to armor that responded to physical ailments with injections of painkillers or relaxants.
Rolling her shoulders, she watched as McKinney and Holm
proceeded
ahead to open the doors.
Scrutinizing
the squad, she saw Cruz with her head tilted down, staring into the darkness below
.
It was no secret that Mikado and Cruz had been involved
. Maria felt for Cruz, b
ut there was no time to mourn right now. Denman
saw
Maria
’
s
scrutiny
and tapped Cruz
’
s shoulder,
then gestured to pay attention
. Cruz obeyed
.

Mari
a directed her gaze to beyond the doorway
.

The hall
was also empty.
Gutierrez
’
s
body was gone.

Reenacting the same procedure they had followed when entering the building, the squad crept ever
so
slowly toward the lobby at the far end.
Door by door, room by room, they advanced cautiously.
Each step was measured, each action stealthy.
No one spoke, obeying
Omondi
’
s silent hand signals.

Maria was painfully aware of her beating heart and heavy breath. She muted her feed as a precaution.
The rifle in her hand felt heavy and cumbersome.
The building was oppressive in its darkness and stillness.
The
claustrophobic
atmosphere weighed on her as they
slipped into the main entrance area
. The squad would have to curve around the lobby to reach the stairwells that led to the higher floors
. It was the only way up
since the elevators were dead.

Outside the empty windows a soft rain pattered agains
t the broken asphalt
.
She flicked her
night vision
off and the world returned to the normal hues of an overcast day.

“
Come out!
”
a
male
voice echoed through the lobby.

Omondi
signaled to stop.

A figure
shifted
into view just beyond on
e of the windows. Even though the mysterious stranger
was in
silhouette
it was clear that he was in armor and held a weapon. The squad immediately took cover. Maria slid down the wall behind an overturned table, Denman
crouching adjacent to her
.

“
We realize we were...hasty in our attack on you earlier. We
’
re not so...hungry now. We can think clearer now that we
’
ve fed.
”
The man
’
s voice was strangely familiar.
It had a rich baritone to it and the hint of an accent.

Maria felt her heart speed up.

“
Please, come out.
We
’
re
all soldiers of the Constabulary of
The Bastion
.
We
’
re
all
Boon
.
We
’
re brothers and sisters.
”
The voice was calm, collected, and sounded reasonable.

It gave Maria the shivers.

Omondi
was speaking in his helmet, but his feed was isolated from the squ
ad as he contacted the command c
enter.

“
Please, come out.
We won
’
t attack. You have far superior weapons and can easily destroy us. We
’
re in the open. Exposed.
We wish only to talk. To discuss our situation.
You may not realize it yet, but you
’
re
in
just
as
dire a situation as
we a
re
.
”