The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (37 page)

“What the fuck is going on?” Evins shouted.

A second later, Torran heard the shrieks of the Scrags.

“We have a breach,” Solomon said over Evin’s wristlet, her voice small and tinny. “I’m heading to the lab. Wait for me, Evins!”

“I need to lock the door!” Evins protested.

“Wait!” Solomon ordered, sounding much louder over the wristlet speaker. And maybe a lot more desperate.

Torran pressed his hands against the glass while straining to see into the corridor past the open doorway. How had the Scrags infiltrated the upper floor? Was someone else sabotaging the plans of the Gaia Cult, or was it something much more fantastic?

“Close the door,” Dr. Curran shouted at Evins.

“I have to wait for Solomon,” he snapped.

“Close it or we’ll die! The Scrags are inside!”

Dr. Curran lunged toward the door, but Evins turned his weapon toward her.

“We’re waiting for Solomon!”

“You won’t shoot me,” Dr. Curran said, raising her chin and taking a step forward.

“Yes, yes, I will,” Evins promised, and aimed at her shin. “I’ll put a bullet in your leg.”

That stopped Dr. Curran. She literally growled at the man, raising her fists in frustration. “You idiot man!”

Nerves frayed, his stomach in knots, Torran listened the cries of the Scrags and the bark of weaponry. Frustrated at being trapped, he paced back and forth, staring at the open doorway.

A shadow fell across the threshold and Dr. Curran recoiled. Evins swung about and almost fired he was so jittery. Solomon was faster. She batted the weapon out of her face, closed the door, and activated the locks.

“We’ve been infiltrated. Yates and the drones are on it. We saw at least one person among the Scrags.” Solomon surged toward Dr. Curran and grabbed her by the throat with one hand. “There was a soldier, firing at us, among the Scrags! What did you do?”

Dr. Curran looked positively reptilian as she smiled. Torran wouldn’t have been surprised if a forked tongue had slithered out from between her lips.

“It’s Lindsey, isn’t it?” Torran called out to the scientist. “You saved her, didn’t you?”

Dr. Curran didn’t look his way, but she didn’t deny it.

“You gave her the virus!” Solomon shouted in a rage. “You betrayed us!” Solomon dropped her hand to her waist, jerked out a dagger, and before Dr. Curran could dodge away, slashed the scientist’s throat.

* * *

Outside the doorway, Scrags danced under the hail of gunfire, their bodies shredded. Blood and guts poured out onto the floor. Yates and the aerial drones continued to pulverize every Scrag crawling under the barricade. In a very short time, the gap would be clogged with bodies, making it harder for the undead to enter the hallway. That’s when Lindsey knew Yates would come for her, and Lindsey was unarmed.

Lindsey pressed her back to the wall just inside the door and activated her wristlet. When Teeny responded to her hail, relief washed over her. The drone had managed to reach the outside of the lab only to find it closed. It wouldn’t be able to fight Yates and the other drones by itself either. Biting her bottom lip, Lindsey sorted through all the ideas flooding her mind and finally decided on an option. After transmitting directions to Teeny, she started to shove the furniture room together. When it looked like sufficient cover, she checked outside the door. There were pauses in the deafening salvo as Yates and the drones reloaded, but now the barricade of bodies was holding back the onslaught of the undead, for the time being.

Ducking into cover, Lindsey waited for Yates.

Short bursts of gunfire continued, but Lindsey also heard approaching footsteps. The cries of the Scrags were muffled by the combination of the blast door and pile of corpses blocking their way. Daring to peek, Lindsey saw the aerial drones fly to the jammed blast door, aiming their weapons down to kill any Scrag pushing through the tangle of dead bodies.

A second later, Yates slipped into the darkened room.

“Rooney,” Yates breathed. “I saw your weapon outside. Oops. Did you drop something?”

Lindsey remained silent.

“Rooney...answer me, Rooney. I saw your face. I know it’s you.”

Staying very still, Lindsey pressed her lips together.

“I guess Curran betrayed us. I’ll enjoy killing her once her purpose is done. Once I’m like you.”

Yates fired a single shot into the furniture, making Lindsey jump.

“So, Rooney, did you come to save Dr. Curran, or your boyfriend lab rat? It’s really a shame he changed into an Anomaly. I think he would have eventually come around to our way of thinking.”

This time, Lindsey drove her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from responding. Torran had to be alive.

Yates pulled the trigger again. The burst again made Lindsey start.

“I need you to come out so I can figure out this Inferi Boon thing. How much damage will I be able to take before dying? And will I actually die? Will I come back if I take a shot to the head? I really want to know. For future reference, you see.”

Yates kicked over the furniture. When she realized Lindsey wasn’t behind it, she swung her weapon about as she searched the dark for her prey.

“Why are you hiding, Rooney?”

“You know, Yates, being Inferi Boon is a lot of fun. You can walk among the Scrags and not worry one little bit about them trying to take a chunk out of you. But they’re not what you really need to worry about.”

“Oh? What do I need to worry about? I’m not the one who’s unarmed.

“You should be worried about the fact I was waiting for the drones to finish downloading my program.”

Lindsey saw Yates freeze in place.

“Fire,” Lindsey ordered.

The drones clustered in the doorway obeyed.

From Lindsey’s hiding place in the sanitation station, she watched Yates’s body dance in the bombardment, then fall to the ground.

“Mother, she’s dead,” Teeny announced, sounding a little proud.

Pushing the agape door to the sanitation station all the way open, Lindsey stepped into the room and claimed Yates weapon. “Teeny, instruct half the drones to secure the command station. Leave the other half protecting the barricade. You’re coming with me.”

“Yes, Mother.”

It was time to get Torran.

CHAPTER 35

Staggering away from Solomon in shock, Dr. Curran pressed her hands to her sliced throat. Solomon stalked after her, the bloody knife clutched in one hand.

“Evins, no one comes in this room,” Solomon ordered. “Eyes on that door!”

“Yes sir!” Evins swiveled about, set his feet apart, and aimed at the door.

Dr. Curran reached her workstation and her red-stained fingers fumbled across the top as she appeared to search desperately for the vials she’d been meticulously working with all day.

“Save yourself, Beverly. Administer the virus.” Solomon slashed Curran again, this time the dagger slicing into her arm.

“Leave her be!” Torran shouted. Frustrated with his inability to help, Torran pounded on the glass with his fists.

Pointing the bloody blade at him, Solomon said, “You’re as good as dead, so I suggest you shut up unless you want to die now.”

Dr. Curran plucked a vial from the workstation and shoved it into an injector. The cut in her throat was deep, but hadn’t hit the carotid. Nonetheless, she would be dead soon from blood loss. Holding the injector in a trembling hand, she shrank away from Solomon and moved to press it to her arm.

Solomon snatched the injector out of the dying woman’s hand. With a triumphant look, the former chief defender shoved it against her own palm. “Thank you, Dr. Curran. You can die now.”

Unable to speak, Dr. Curran bestowed a hideous, bloody smile at Solomon while pointing at the used injector.

Solomon narrowed her eyes, her gaze flicking between the injector and Curran’s gloating face. Letting out a hiss of pain, Solomon doubled over. Rage flooding her features, she slashed at Dr. Curran, but the scientist shrank into the corner. Tugging another injector out of her pocket, Dr. Curran pressed it against her neck right beside the terrible, gaping wound.

“Evins, you idiot! Solomon is infected,” Torran shouted at the oblivious soldier. “Kill her!

Turning about, Evins stared at the bloody display in front of him, then noticed Solomon was in distress. “Sir?”

Solomon smashed into the counter, her body violently shaking.

Dr. Curran slid along the wall, away from the transforming woman.

With a cry of agony, Solomon started to flail about, knocking over equipment and vials. Befuddled by the events unfolding, Evins hurried over to Solomon.

“What did you do, bitch?” he shouted at Curran.

Unable to answer, Curran shrank away from the armed man.

Solomon raised her head, and snarled, “Kill her!”

Evins lifted his weapon and aimed at Dr. Curran.

Curran froze in place.

“Not her!” Torran shouted at Evins. “Don’t shoot Curran! Kill Solomon! She’s changing into a Scrag!”

Confusion dominated Evins’ face. “What the fuck is going on?”

Solomon tossed back her head and screamed.

“She’s almost turned!” Torran slapped his hands against the door. “Kill her!”

Evins shifted his gaze from Torran, to Curran, and finally back to Solomon. Hunched over the workstation, Solomon was violently shaking. Then, in a viper-fast movement, she whipped about and screeched.

Raising his weapon, Evins fired at Solomon, but struck her neck. The Scrag surged toward him, knocking his weapon out of his hands as it tried to grab him. The firearm fell to Evins’ side, dangling by the strap. Evins shouted, skidding backward as he tried to evade Solomon’s reach. The weapon caught on the rungs of the chair. Evins dragged it along with him as he yanked on the strap, trying to reclaim his weapon. Solomon was right on him, ripping at his armor with her hands, howling and snapping her teeth at his face. The chair thudded along the floor after them.

“No, no!” Torran exclaimed when he realized where Evins was headed. Not toward the door out of the room, but the containment chamber.

Evins grabbed the door lock, twisted it, and pulled it open as he tried to get inside with Torran. The chair lugging along after him banged loudly into the door, then wedged into the gap.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Evins howled.

Solomon clambered over it and launched herself at Evins.

“You idiot!” Torran lunged forward, grabbed the tab on the strap on Evins’ armor and yanked it free.

Holding Solomon at arm’s length, Evin shouted in fright as the Scrag continued to attack.

Jerking on the strap, Torran tried to get the weapon free of the chair rungs. Realizing it wasn’t going to work, he shoved the chair out of his way and stumbled out into the room. The door to the chamber hissed shut behind him just as Solomon finally sank her teeth into Evins’ face.

A second later, the door to the laboratory flew open. Lindsey rushed into the room trailed by her pet drone. In the hallway behind her was a crowd of Scrags. Kicking the door shut behind her, Lindsey took in the chaos in the room.

“Oh shit,” she muttered.

“Good to see you too,” Torran said, barely able to breathe at the sight of her. Though he had hoped she was somehow alive, the sight of her left him nearly breathless.

“What happened to Dr. Curran?” Lindsey asked, eyeing the bloodied woman.

“Solomon slit her throat,” Torran replied. “But she won’t die. She infected herself with the same virus as you.”

The sadness filling Lindsey’s eyes nearly wrenched Torran’s heart out of his chest. Unhooking the helmet from her armor, she slid it over her head. “I see...I would kiss you hello, but...”

“If you do, we can both get out of here alive with no problem,” he said, and his heart beat so hard in his chest he was convinced it would break his ribs. He was willing to do anything to be with her.

The lights in the helmet flicked on, and when he saw Lindsey’s expression, he knew immediately she would refuse him. Since he was not infected with the modified virus, he alone could return to warn The Bastion. Dismay filled him at the realization, but he refused to believe there wasn’t another way.

“You need to save the world,” she said. “But first, let’s save you.”

* * *

In the moment when Torran told her about Dr. Curran being infected, Lindsey sadly accepted that life had become a little more complicated. It took all her willpower to tug on the helmet, creating a barrier between her and Torran. She wanted nothing more than to kiss him and hold him close, but that desire had to be denied if they were to save the rest of humanity from the plans of the Gaia Cult.

“You need to save the world,” she said. “But first, let’s save you.”

“I see,” Torran said, and the hurt in his voice was profound, yet there was understanding in his gaze.

Behind her, the door to the laboratory shuddered under the assault of the Scrags. She didn’t have much time before they burst through. The makeshift lab was not a high security room. The door would be breached.

Peering into the containment chamber, Lindsey regarded the two freshly turned Scrags with disdain. “And how did they end up Scrags?”

“I fooled Solomon,” Dr. Curran rasped. Dropping her hands, she revealed an ugly slash across her neck. “She cut my throat hoping I’d try to save myself. So I pretended that a vial with ISPV was the modified virus and she fell for it.”

“And she took it to save herself.” Lindsey watched in amazement as the skin on the scientist’s neck knitted itself back together.

“Yes.”

“And then you took the real virus?”

Dr. Curran nodded.

“Torran, step away,” Lindsey ordered. “Teeny, cover the door in case the Scrags break through it.”

“Yes Mother.”

Opening the containment chamber, Lindsey fired two shots, killing both Scrags. Dr. Curran had the decency to help her drag the bodies out, then sanitize the chamber. The entire time, she felt Torran watching her and longed to rush into his arms. But with the Scrags pounding on the lab door and possibly about to breach it, she needed him to be safe.

“Torran, get inside,” she ordered.

“I’d really rather not,” Torran grunted, folding his arms over his chest.

“The Scrags are going to bust down that door, and if you’re not in there, you’ll end up one of them.”

“Make me one of you,” Torran replied with a stubborn set to his jaw and his eyes flashing with anger.

“You need to go back to The Bastion and let them know what Gaia Cult is planning, Torran. You need to convince them of the truth. I was hoping Dr. Curran would do it, but...”

“I understand that, Linds. But let’s find
another
way.”

“Torran, please listen to reason.” She’d known Torran would choose to be with her in the dead world, and she’d hoped to send Dr. Curran back with all the evidence she’d compiled, but that option was gone. “We can’t let anyone with the modified virus return to The Bastion. You know what would happen.”

“Fuck my life,” Torran swore fiercely.

“I’m sorry. I am,” Lindsey replied.

The wall around the doorway to the lab was starting to display stress cracks.

“I want to be with you.” Torran stalked over to her and gripped her arms tightly. Staring at her through the faceplate, his dark eyes were volatile with his unchecked passions. Anger and love poured out of his soul and filled her with remorse.

“She’s right, Torran,” Dr. Curran croaked out of her healing throat.

“You’re not a part of this!” he snapped.

“But she
is,
Torran. She’s what I am, and we can’t go back to The Bastion.” Lindsey sighed and placed her gloved hands on his waist. “Stop being a bullheaded Scot and get in the damn chamber.”

“Mother, the Scrags are about to breach our perimeter.” The drone sounded worried.

With a gentle push, Lindsey directed Torran into the chamber. He backed into it reluctantly, his hands clinging to her arms. When she tried to draw away, he bent his head to kiss the top of her facemask. His lips left a faint imprint.

“I love you,” he said.

The words filled her with both joy and sorrow. “And I love you.”

Lindsey shut the containment chamber just as the wall and doorway collapsed under the assault of the Scrags. With grim resolve, she lifted her weapon and started to kill.

* * *

Sitting in the containment chamber, Torran waited for Lindsey to return. The gunfire continued for hours as Lindsey and her swarm of drones pushed back the Scrags that had invaded the top floor. Dr. Curran packed her equipment, and when done, sat quietly in a chair, listening to the battle. They didn’t speak, which suited Torran just fine.

At last Lindsey returned, and her faithful aerial drone followed in her wake, carrying Torran’s stealth suit, helmet, weapon and pack. Lindsey’s suit gleamed in the light, and he realized she’d made sure to scrub it down before returning to his side to avoid infecting him.

“Is it clear?” Dr. Curran’s throat was nearly completely healed.

“We killed all the ones on the floor, shut the blast door, and did a second sweep. They’re all dead.”

“And Solomon’s people?” Torran asked, glancing at the bodies hidden under a cover in the corner of the lab.

“Dead.”

“Good,” Dr. Curran said.

Rising to his feet, Torran watched as Lindsey tugged open the door to the containment chamber and handed him the accoutrements of the life he was ready to abandon for her. He reluctantly took the items and started to suit up inside the chamber. While he strapped on his armor, Lindsey transferred items from her pack to his.

“This is all the evidence I compiled, along with some suggestions for further investigation. I also transferred over all the logs from the squads’ armor, aerial drones, and Solomon’s wristlet.”

“So you just weren’t killing Scrags for the last few hours,” Torran observed.

“No, I wasn’t.” Lindsey raised her eyes to gaze at him, and he knew it was petty that he was glad she was suffering as much as he was in the face of their separation.

Torran finished suiting up and dangled the helmet from his fingers. “We could just transmit the information. Get close enough to send it to them.”