The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel (46 page)

Omondi
snagged her arm as he
barreled
past her, dragging her behind him.
Hurtling her through the window, he followed. They both crawled into cover.

“
I
’
m activating my feed and reporting in,
”
Omondi
said, his eyes fastened to her face.
She could see the disbelief in his expression. He could now see what her dead father had witnessed.
Maria
was no longer a dead thing. She was alive.

Sliding onto her knees, she caught an
Aberration
in her crosshairs and fired.

Chapter 32

When the doors to the command center opened and Mr. Petersen entered
,
followed by the president and his council, Dwayne knew that what was about to happen
wouldn
’
t
be to his liking.
Commandant Pierce stepped into the room
after
the primary entourage and sought out his gaze immediately. Dwayne rose to attention.

“
Castellan
Reichardt
, you and your people are dismissed,
”
President Cabot said.
His demeanor and voice were devoid of his earlier briskness.
If anything, he sounded slightly afraid.

“
Mr. President,
”
Dwayne started, but saw the commandant shaking her head.
Instead of voicing his protest, Dwayne saluted and slipped past the gloating Mr. Petersen. Lindsey and the other soldiers of the Constabulary slid to their feet and followed him.

“
Dr. Curran, thank you for your dedication to this mission, but
w
e
’
re
no longer in need of your services,
”
the president said as he turned to face the
beleaguered
scientist
.

“
I am still collecting data from the field,
”
Dr. Curran started to protest.

Mr. Petersen gently took her by the arm and escorted her across the command center.
She walked with him, confused and alarmed.
“
You
’
ve done a splendid job, Beverly, but your services are no longer needed in this matter.
”

More SWD personnel filed into the room, pressing past the exiting Constabulary people.
Dwayne was nearly to the doorway when
Admiral Kirkpatrick
stepped
through
.
Wearing his white uniform, many medals, and silvery hair and beard with pride, the
leader of
the SWD gave him a bright, triumphant smile.
The man was legendary at seventy-five years of age.
He had won battles against the
Inferi Scourge
before the final fall of humanity. He alone retained his rank from the armies before
The Bastion
Constabulary was created. Rarely seen in public since he had assumed command of the SWD, he was a mysterious figure that drew much speculation from the media.
He only appeared at the most prestigious events.
Dwayne was startled when the
a
dmiral gripped his hand, shook it, smiled, then walked on.
A bit dazed, Dwayne stared after him in surprise.
With Mr. Petersen at the forefront of the
Inferi Boon
project, he had speculated that perhaps the admiral was ill.
This appeared not to be the case.

Commandant Pierce motioned for Dwayne to hurry and he crossed through the
threshold
into the corridor.
The C
onstabulary soldiers stood waiting along with
Caitlyn
.
Dr. Curran was virtually shoved into the hallway by Mr. Petersen.

“
Your contributions to our impending victory are appreciated.
I shall make a notation of each and every one of your excellent execution of your duties.
”
Mr. Petersen smiled one last time and the door shut.

Dwayne gaze flicked upwards to watch the panel above the door.
It turned red. They were locked out.

“
What are we going to do?
”
Lindsey asked.

Commandant Pierce lifted her finger to her lips, then gestured for them to follow her.
Dr. Curran stared at the locked door in confusion and Dwayne
lightly touched her shoulder
.

“
Why don
’
t you come with us?
”

Dr. Curran nod
ded and fell into step
with him
.

Caitlyn
was leaning against the wall giving h
er father
her
notorious
dagger eyes.
She shoved off
with one elbow and strode along
side him
.

“
Don
’
t you have work to do?
”

“
I
’
ve been dismissed for the day,
”
Caitlyn
answered.
“
I think I
’
ll tag along with my dear
old
dad, if you don
’
t mind.
”

Dwayne slightly smiled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“
Your dear
old
dad is glad you
’
re coming along.
”

“
Not when you hear what I have to say,
”
Caitlyn
warned him.

Sighing, Dwayne suspected he was going to get an earful about Maria.
Fear and desperation tore at him as he thought of Maria facing down the creatures he had briefly glimpsed on the monitors.
He had faith in her abilities and those of the other soldiers, but he worried about Maria
’
s safety.

The sooner they were back at the Constabulary, the quicker they could find out what exactly was going on.

* * *

The Aberration fell to its knees, blood exploding out of its torn throat. Maria
’
s next shot sheared off its head.

There w
ere
at least fifty yards between the attacking Aberrations and remaining Anomalies and the building. And they were advancing quickly.

Maria ejected the cartridge from her gun and reached for another one. She was shocked to find only one left.
“
I
’
m running low on ammo,
”
she called out.

“
We all are,
”
Denman grunted, firing at her side.

Maria slammed the cartridge home and aimed at another Aberration.
Stillson was as fast in his new incarnation as he had been in life.
He moved swiftly from cover to cover, darting between the stone benches and massive empty cement planters w
h
ere lush decorative foliage had once bloomed.
Maria kept trying to get a bead on him, but he seemed to know she was tracking him and kept dodging out of view.

The Anomalies called out to the Aberrations, ordering them to move in.
Maria had lost track of the Anomalies once her father had been killed. She still didn
’
t know who had fired the shot, but she suspected it was
Omondi
. As the gunfire echoed around her, she tried not to think of her father
’
s broken body on the ground.
Her squad depended on her.

“
That fucker is fast,
”
Denman grunted, trying to pin down Stillson.

Maria was about to answer when Aberrations attacked from a flanking position. They had swung around to pin the
Boon
into the building.
Maria redirected her aim, Denman following her example. They opened fire, their guns unloading their precious ammunition.

Her helmet screen was full of information.
Omondi
’
s voice echoed in her head. His orders were precise and wise.
The squad was barely keeping the Aberrations at bay.

“
The gunfire is going to draw the
Scrags
,
”
Maria said, carefully aiming at the charging Aberrations.

There were more than they had realized.
M
any
more.
She tried not to fire randomly, but to make every shot count. Yet, the Aberrations were closing in as the Anomalies continued to shout out orders.
As the Aberrations
’
weapons clicked empty, they discarded them and charged the
Boon
, wicked blades in their hands.

Several Aberrations reached a window on the far side and leaped through the ruined facade. Holm cut them down as McKinney continued to cover her.
Another breach further up the line had the
Boon
pinned down

Maria saw her ammo counter was going to reach zero soon
,
and she felt her heart accelerating.
“
Almost out
.
”

“
So am I,
”
Denman said grimly.

“
Fuck.
”
Maria fired her last shot and swung her rifle around onto her back. She was reaching for her bolt weapon when Stillson darted out from his nearby position, charging her.
He, too, was out of ammunition, and tossed his makeshift weapon as he ran. Even without the projectile weapon, he was incredibly dangerous.

“Hungry
!
” he roared.

Snagging the dagger she had tucked into her armor, she took a deep breath and leaped out of the window.
She met Stillson head on.
Ducking under his first blow, she swiped her dagger at his hamstring.
The rusted blade slipped across the hard casing of his armor.
Allowing momentum to carry her, she rolled past him, tumbling onto her hip before pushing up with her hands. He twisted around and swung his huge fist down at her helmeted head.
The power of the blow sent her reeling, falling onto her hands and knees.
Another blow to the back of the helmet jarred it loose as the feed and readouts went dead.
Maria kicked out, slammin
g her boot into his kneecap,
knocking him off balance. As he fell, she whipped the broken helmet off her head and got to her feet.

The chatter of weapons dissipated.
Now the
Boon
and
Anomalies
fought hand-to-
hand, blades flashing, bolt weapons wielded like clubs, and curses and howls filled the air.

Before Stillson could get to his feet, Maria battered his head with her helmet. Blood splattered her as she brought the helmet down
repeatedly
.
Stillson growled an ungodly noise and snagged her arm as it descended toward him
again. Yanking her off her feet, he
tossed her to the ground
.
As she tumbled, Maria lost the helmet, but managed to hold onto the dagger.
She rolled to her feet.

Flipping her braid back over her shoulder, Maria crouched on the ground.
N
ear her, Stillson
’
s dropped blade glinted in the fading sunlight.
Keeping
watch
on Stillson as he wiped the blood from his eyes and clambered to his feet, Maria reached out and snagged the blade.

“
Hungry!
”
Stillson howled
, then charged.

Heart thundering, Maria sprang into action, avoiding his desperate, angry blows. She was faster than he was and used it to her advantage.
His ruined face
bayed
in anger as he thrashed about, trying to snag her as she darted around him.
There was no way
she could cut through his armor. H
is
exposed
head was her only hope.

Another Aberration clutched
Maria
’
s
arm as she attempted to slip past Stillson to attack from behind.
Punching the female Aberration in the face,
Maria
knocked her back.
Another swift kick to the chest sent the female Aberration sprawling.
Maria barely twisted out of the way of Stillson
’
s mighty fist and fell beside the stunned Aberration. Shrugging off the bolt weapon and rifle harnesses
,
she
spun
onto her knees.
Stillson kicked her in the chest,
toppling
her
to
the ground.
He dove forward
, trying to pin her,
and she
skirted
away just before he impacted with the earth.
The
blades
still clutched in her hands, she scrambled onto Stillson.
The huge Aberration started to push upward as the female
scrabbled at Maria, trying to grip her
.