The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (9 page)

“Yeah, they fixed it last week,” Lindsey answered, grinning. Rose B always wore her emotions on her sleeve, and Lindsey found it to be endearing. One always knew where they stood with her. The older woman’s genuine delight was infectious.

“I’m so glad they finally did right by you! I always told Rose—”

“All the damn time,” her wife grunted.

“—that you’re a hero! You should get the best medical care in the city. It’s only fair.”

“Well, thank you. It’s very, very nice to finally be able to move around without pain.”

“I can only imagine.” Rose B clapped her hands together happily. “I’m so happy for you.”

“It’s very appreciated.”

“So what do you have for us today, Lindsey?”

“Uniforms. Just the regular. It’s my day off, so I’ll try to come back and get them this evening if that is fine.”

Rose B gave her wife a wide smile. “Oh, that’s perfectly okay, isn’t it Rose? We don’t have a lot of work today.”

Rose G scowled. “Well, we never turn down a customer... even if they demand a rush job.”

“Don’t mind, Rose. She’s just grumpy.” Rose took the bag from Lindsey and rushed it over to the big stainless steel pot where they washed the clothing.

“Well, I’m grumpy because of the news. We should all be grumpy. We lost Maria because of those assholes.” Rose G attacked a stubborn wrinkle with the heavy iron. Lindsey wasn’t sure if the woman was scowling about ‘the assholes’ or the crease.

“I miss Maria,” Rose B whimpered. “She was always so nice to us. Did you know she gave us all her remaining provisions when she left? We were so worried when Dwayne dropped the box off. I knew it was bad. I told Rose. Didn’t I, Rose?”

“No,
I
told
you
something was wrong. I felt it in my gut.” Rose G continued to fight the crinkle in the shirt she was ironing.

Rose B sighed sadly. “You must miss her so much, too, Lindsey.”

Tears flooded her eyes and Lindsey nodded.

“She died bravely.” Rose hugged Lindsey tenderly.

Lindsey accepted the embrace, then withdrew from the older woman’s grip while struggling not to cry. It was difficult being so close to Maria’s old flat and not being able to drop in for a chat.

“Rose, she shouldn’t have died at all! There was a cure for her and the other Inferi Boon!’ Rose G set her iron aside and rubbed her fingers. “Those fuckers killed them.”

“That’s why Dwayne did what he did.” Rose B sighed. “He loved her so much. We’d see him sneaking in and out of her apartment all the time. It was obviously not just a hook up. The look in his eyes...” Rose B smiled lovingly at her own wife. “We could see it, couldn’t we?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Rose G carefully hung the shirt on a hanger and placed it on a nearby rack.

“I like to think of them together in heaven.”

“You think Dwayne is dead?” Lindsey was curious what regular people like The Roses thought about the whole situation. There was a lot of speculation on the news about the castellan’s whereabouts. Some suspected he was in hiding in the city.

“Oh, yes. He wouldn’t have gone on without her. I know exactly how he must have felt. If something happened to my Rose...” Rose B turned a loving gaze toward Rose G. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Rose G’s usually grumpy expression melted just a bit and she actually smiled. “I feel the same way.”

“I’m going to see Maria’s mother today.” Lindsey leaned her shoulder against the doorframe to the flat. The air was stuffy and pungent with the smell of the cleaning solution. “I was asked to deliver her medals to her mother since she refuses to come to get them.”

“Is that why she wasn’t at the big ceremony?” Rose B asked, biting her bottom lip.

“Maria’s mother declined the invitation and forbade anyone else in the family from attending. Commandant Pierce asked me to deliver them, since I was Maria’s friend. She’d offered to take them herself, but Lourdes Martinez cut the call.” Lindsey sighed sadly. “I can’t blame her mother for being angry.”

“Even though what the SWD did was wrong, she should at least take Maria’s medals. She was so sweet and brave. I miss her.” Rose B sniffled and wiped her eyes on her apron.

“She was the best. In every way,” Lindsey agreed.

“She always paid on time,” Rose G said, turning away, and Lindsey suspected the woman was discreetly dabbing at tears, too.

“Well, I better get going. I have a long walk to the Espana Sector.” Lindsey withdrew her wallet and pulled out some credits. “I’ll pre-pay. If for whatever reason I can’t make it back tonight, just have Thad deliver, okay?” The Roses used a teenage boy for deliveries. He was at the stage where he couldn’t stop staring at a woman’s breasts. Lindsey always ducked her head downward so he was forced to meet her eyes. She slipped in enough credits to cover the delivery and still leave a little extra.

“We can do that.” Rose G answered. “Can you tell Mrs. Martinez that we send our condolences?”

“Oh, yes! Please do! We loved her daughter!” Rose B clasped her hands to her heart. “We really did.”

“I’ll let her know.” Lindsey pushed off from the doorframe and backed into the hallway. “I’ll see you later.”

As she strode back to the apartment entrance, Lindsey blinked the tears from her eyes and wiped them away with the cuff of her jacket. Even though she and Maria hadn’t seen each other as often as they’d liked, at least Lindsey knew she could always depend on her for a shoulder to cry on and a bit of advice. Without Vaja lurking in her apartment, Lindsey felt lonelier than ever.

Stepping out onto the trembling staircase, Lindsey stared at the crowded city streets and wondered how she could feel so apart from so many people.

* * *

Torran dodged about a massive cart weighed down with produce from a private garden. A screen on the side of the cart flashed prices and a few people hurried to make purchases. The vendor wasn’t quite to the big open market just ahead, but he stopped to sell some of his wares. His long dark coat fluttering around him, Torran clasped the long strap of the leather bag slung across his chest, and skipped ahead of the growing congestion. He was anxious to get past the market and onto the main road to the Espana Sector of the city.

It was a relief to finally be out of the SWD Facility. After weeks of debriefings, reports, and dealing with oversight committees, it was glorious to be out even if it was overcrowded and reeked. His long brown scarf caught the wind and he snagged the end and tucked it back into his collar. Treading along in battered boots, jeans, and a navy sweater, he felt more human than when he was in the starched perfection of his black SWD uniform. Also, regular attire allowed him to blend into his surroundings without drawing attention. Anyone in uniform was instantly surrounded by civilians wanting to discuss recent events. It made it increasingly difficult for the patrols on the street, and new rules had been instigated about approaching those clearly on duty around the various security stations.

“...these are difficult times, and though many believe they know the way to our salvation, we must come to the table and work together...” President Cabot’s voice drifted past as a drone slid by.

“Admiral Kirkpatrick is still sequestered in the SWD headquarters and is refusing to comply with the...” the newsfeed from a vid screen in a small café declared over the din.

It was impossible to escape the fallout of the revelation of the attempted coup. The Judicial Authority was deep into their investigation, but was remaining tight-lipped as the seven judges poured over the evidence against Admiral Kirkpatrick and the SWD. The president was making a great show of respecting the findings of the Judicial Authority and not interfering, but Torran was wise enough to know that what the public saw and what was really happening were most likely two different things. He heard rumors of the battle at the top levels of the government, but he was uncertain of what was truly occurring. It was easy to be skeptical of the official story when he had lied about his own experiences outside the wall.

Torran had just turned a corner and started up the long, wide road leading to the next section of the city when he spotted a familiar face. Surprised, he wove his way through the mass of people trudging along the cracked asphalt. Uncertain if he’d really seen Lindsey, he searched the crowd for blond hair. Finally, he spotted her near the beginning of the bridge that spanned the reservoir. It took only a few jogging steps to catch up with her.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said.

Looking up, Lindsey gave him a startled look, then grinned. “MacDonald!”

“Rooney!”

To his surprise, she hugged him. “Wow! So good to see you!”

Torran returned the hug, the layers of clothing between them creating a comforting shield. “Good to see you, too. Did you get my message yesterday?”

Looking bashful, Lindsey nodded. “Sorry I didn’t answer. I was in a bit of a drama with my boyfriend... I mean ex-boyfriend. We broke up last night. Officially. He came by and got his things this morning.”

“Ouch. Sorry to hear it,” he said. The words were slightly dishonest. He’d vividly remembered Lindsey’s eyes staring at him from behind her helmet, but he hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted to see them again until this moment.

“Well, he’s an asshole.” Lindsey shrugged. “Sometimes you just have to let the bad stuff go.”

“I hear you loud and clear on that.” Shoving his hands into his coat pockets, he looked toward the far end of the bridge. “You heading to the Espana Sector?”

“Yeah, I am. I’ve got an errand that way.”

“It’s a long walk. Mind if I tag along with you?”

“Of course not!”

With a grin, Lindsey started forward. They walked close together, heads angled so they could speak with some privacy among the throng. The stomp of footsteps and loud conversations created a buffer of white noise around them.

“MacDonald, I have to admit: I felt awful leaving you out there.”

“You saved me. I wouldn’t have made it if not for you and the others. We both know that.” Torran couldn’t help but shiver in his coat. That night lived in his nightmares. He often lay awake wondering what he could’ve done differently.

“Yeah, but still... I hated reentering the subway system without you coming with us.”

“You had your orders. Besides, it would have been tough to explain why you were there, right? I didn’t want to discuss it on here,” Torran said, tapping his wristlet, “but you knew about the Inferi Boon before the worm transmitted. That’s why you were there. You were going to destroy Denman’s body because he was Inferi Boon.”

Lindsey sighed. “The Constabulary discovered the truth, but was unable to save the Inferi Boon. I was dispatched to destroy Denman’s body for exactly the reason you guessed. We didn’t want SWD getting samples of the virus.”

“Because it had mutated?”

“Something like that.”

“It’s so fucked,” Torran shook his head. “I look at that list of names and I know how easily it would’ve been for mine to be on it.”

“If they had asked you to volunteer, you would have done it just like the rest of us.”

“Well, it sounded good, didn’t it? Immunity to the virus, ability to kill the fuckin’ Scrags with impunity, and first dibs at a nice chunk of land and a house?” Torran exhaled. “Hell, who wouldn’t have taken that?”

“My best friend, Maria, took it.”

“The vanguard?” Torran hadn’t even thought about Lindsey having close ties to any Inferi Boon, which meant they had even more in common than he’d realized.

“Yeah. She wanted a new life for herself and Dwayne.”

“The castellan and the vanguard. Their love story is kinda epic, isn’t it?”

“Or scandalous. It depends on which news feed or commentator you’re reading or listening to.”

Torran had managed to catch bits of the newscast once he’d been ‘absolved of any misdeeds,’ as the official document had stated. The whereabouts of the former castellan and his ladylove was a huge mystery. Many believed he’d killed his beloved, buried her, then returned to the city and was now in hiding. Others believed he’d killed Maria, buried her, then killed himself and his body would be found eventually. There was also speculation that Dwayne had allowed himself to be infected and that eventually the cleanup squads would find both of them as Scrags and be forced to kill them. There were the dreamers that hoped that if they were Scrags, they’d be captured and Dr. Curran’s cure would still somehow work.

“What do you think happened to them, Rooney?”

Pursing her lips slightly, Lindsey shrugged. “I don’t know. I know he loved her. Desperately. She never told me about their affair, but I know she must have loved him, too. I saw them talking on the vids during one part of the mission and you could...” She trailed off, averting her eyes.

“See it.” Torran gently guided Lindsey around a snarl of people gathered around a downed bicyclist. A few were bending over to help the girl up while others tried to reattach the wheel to the frame.

“Yeah. So in my head they have a happy ending. Somehow.” Lindsey laughed lightly. “I suppose that sounds foolish considering all of this.” She glanced significantly over the rail at the churning brown water rushing through the reservoir below. It was runoff from a massive thunderstorm the night before and on its way to being recycled.