The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (23 page)

“They’re awake,” Lindsey said, her voice catching in her throat.

The doors keeping out the Scrags shuddered under the intensity of their attack. Every muscle in her body tightened in anticipation of battle as she directed Evins toward the quaking doors. Yates started up her loader, but didn’t retract the arms yet. Checking on the progress across the room, Lindsey witnessed Carter scooting the large container into place as Ramirez slowly edged the loader away, while keeping the arms in place against the doors. Though the two people had never practiced such a maneuver, they were doing a great job with the very difficult dance.

Meanwhile, the Sci-Techs clustered in the center of the room away from the potential hot spots. They weren’t soldiers, and though they’d been taught to fire their weapons, it was best to keep them from the potential fray. The curtain over the doorway began to flutter wildly as the transports and tiltrotor descended. The roar of the aircraft landing blocked out nearly all other sound. When the curtain was abruptly torn from its fastenings and snapped away by the wind, Lindsey saw the underside of one of the transports come into view.

“I need those doors blocked now!” the chief defender ordered.

Ramirez retracted the arms on her loader as Carter finished setting the large storage container in place. The doors continued to quake, but did not give way to the attack on the other side.

Torran whipped around and gave Lindsey the all-clear signal.

Turning her gaze to Evins and Yates, Lindsey’s breath caught in her throat. The hinges on the left door were popping out of the wall under the ferocious assault of the Scrags.

Outside, the transport set down. Carter and Ramirez were already extracting food units while other soldiers kept watch over the shuddering doors. Dr. Curran and the Sci-Techs rushed outside to the waiting tiltrotor, their jobs completed.

“They’re getting through,” Yates exclaimed. “The door is coming off the wall!”

“Abandon the loader,” the chief defender ordered. “We’ll make do with what we have.”

“I suggest we put the container Evins is carting against the loader,” Lindsey said, her voice a bit breathless.

Yates jumped off the loader and dragged her weapon upward just as the door on the left side popped its top hinge entirely. Only the bottom hinge was still holding onto the wall and the top of the door slanted outward. The desperate clawing hands of the Scrags shoved through the opening.

The first freight pallet arrived inside the storage room, driven by one of the crew members of the transport. Each food unit was to be placed on the pallet and then moved into the cargo transport.

“Evins, drop the container where you are and start loading now!” the chief defender ordered. “Rooney, take care of that doorway. MacDonald, get those pallets loaded!”

Signaling her group, Lindsey ran toward the doorway. Hobbes and Franklin fell into step behind her along with a few others. Yates stood at the ready, feet planted apart, her weapon aiming at the slowly expanding gap at the top of the door. In a perfectly choreographed ballet, the other loaders rushed to pack the freight pallet.

The door bent under the assault of the Inferi Scourge. Lindsey knew that the bottom hinge would give away at any moment. How many Scrags had been in the hallway?

“Pallet is ready,” Torran said briskly.

The information on her helmet updated as the pallet retracted onto the loading platform and another took its place. Twelve food units down. Forty to go. They didn’t have enough time to retrieve all of them.

“I’m moving the arm,” Lindsey said before she realized she had formulated a plan. “Cover me!”

Running to the loader, Lindsey ignored the buckling doorway. In another few seconds the Scrags would be able to scramble over the top of the toppling door. Jumping into the seat of the loader, Lindsey scanned the controls. They were basic, but the arms were a little more complicated than she anticipated. Starting up the loader, she seized the arm adjusters. The clawed ends of the arms were pressed to the middle section of the doors, allowing the upper half to bend outward. Lindsey hesitated, realizing that if she miscalculated, the Scrags would topple the doors and she’d be caught in their onrush into the storage area.

“What are you doing?” Torran demanded over a secure channel only to her.

“Something incredibly stupid,” she answered.

Maintaining pressure on the door, she slowly slid the giant claw upward. The top of the door slanted even further outward, the metal groaning. A Scrag appeared, clawing his way through the opening. Lindsey caught sight of his screaming mouth and murky eyes as he dragged himself part of the way through the doorway. A second later, one of her people shot him through the head and his body slumped.

“Got him,” Franklin said.

Lindsey continued to glide the end of the loader arm up the door at an agonizingly slow pace. She didn’t want to put too much force into the arm and have it shove the door into the hallway. The body of the Scrag vanished, but two more replaced him. They Scrags were crawling over each other in an attempt to get out of the hallway and into the room where the living were located. Franklin’s sure shots took out one, but the other managed to topple over the edge and onto the loader.

With a shriek, the Scrag launched itself at Lindsey. She brought her arm up in front of her face, just before he slammed into her. Through the visor of her hood, the dead eyes of the man were wide and glazed as he bit down on her forearm. Realizing he was not rending flesh and infecting her, he shook his head violently. The pressure from the bite elicited a cry of pain from Lindsey, but she didn’t dare let go of the control for the loader arm.

Checking her suit stats, she was relieved to see the armor was holding up against the attack, but for how much longer? She was aware of Torran shouting orders, but she directed her gaze past the Scrag at the screen on the loader. She had a job to do.

It was Hobbes that grabbed the Scrag off her and wrenched him onto the ground. With a furious grunt, Hobbes kicked the creature in the head, then shot it point blank.

Still in pain, Lindsey gripped the controls with both hands and nudged the arm up as more Scrags poured over the top. Though Lindsey was terrified, she had to trust her squad to protect her as she finished her task. One bounced off her and hit the ground. It scrambled to its feet and whirled toward her. A second later, it was dead on the ground from a bullet. Gunshots resounded in the room.

Lindsey grinned fiendishly when the metal door straightened under the press of the loader arm and caught one Scrag as it tried to come over the top. Pressing higher with the arm, inch by inch, the buckled door flattened. With a sickening crunch and meaty ripping noise, the Scrag was severed in half. The torso flopped onto the loader, then slid to the ground in a wet, bloody heap.

Hobbes shot it in the head.

Locking the loader arms in place, Lindsey slid out of the vehicle and avoided the blood and guts pooling on the ground. To her shock, she realized more Scrags had come over the top than she’d realized. Her forearm throbbed with pain. A second later, there was pressure against her thigh as the suit injected her with a painkiller. It took only a brief moment for it to take effect, and she was grateful.

A second pallet exited the storage area and a surge of relief flooded Lindsey. One transport was full. Now to finish loading the second. Harsh air currents swirled into the building as the transport lifted off. There was a moment of brevity as everyone cheered, but one hard look from the chief defender had them scrambling to finish the work.

Lindsey stabilized her breathing and redirected her focus to the feed. The aerial drones were still monitoring the perimeter and it was looking grim not only in the rear where they expected a breach, but along the walls and fence lines. Listening to the incoming reports, it was quite clear that they were virtually out of time.

“We have to go now,” the chief defender said. “Commence egress.”

Watching the feed of the wall on the north side of the complex crumble, Lindsey’s heart stuttered in fear. The pallet from the second transport was almost loaded, but they would have to leave without several of the viable food containers.

Carter rushed to put his final container on the loader.

The aerial drones documented the Scrags racing through the wall breach and along the sides of the complex. There were other fences blocking their way, but when Lindsey saw the first one go down in a matter of seconds it became clear that the mission was over.

Torran and Lindsey overlapped each other as they barked out orders, hustling the squad toward the exit. It was clear the soldiers didn’t want to leave so much food behind. The freight pallet driver withdrew from the area before Carter could get this container onto it.

“Carter, we’re done! Go!” Lindsey motioned for him to follow. “Franklin, cover us. We got Scrags on their way.”

“The south fence is down,” Scoggins said tersely.

“Cover us,” Chief Defender Solomon directed. “We need to get the last pallet on board.”

Aerial drones spun through the air, recording the Scrags sprint toward the back of the complex. A rapid calculation in Lindsey’s head revealed that they only had two minutes before the area was overrun. She rushed to the doorway of the facility and nearly froze. A wave of Scrags was speeding from the downed fence line in the rear. The loud clatter of the tiltrotor firing at the horde fought with the whine of the pallet being hoisted into the belly of the big gray transport. The tiltrotor was hovering two feet above the ground covering the squad and the other aircraft.

Sprinting under the wings of the cargo transport, the squad rushed for the tiltrotor. The sound of the approaching Scrags pieced even through the roar of the engines.

“Pallet is loaded! Transport lifting off,” Torran exclaimed.

The tiltrotor was eighteen meters away, holding position as the transport ascended. The horde of Scrags was approaching fast, but still weren’t in firing distance. Several aerial drones flew past Lindsey and her feed updated to reveal the Scrags rounding the building’s corner and running at full speed after the squad. There were so many undead the shock of the sight stole her breath for a second. Another drone, circling overhead, revealed a terrifying sight. Scrags were rushing toward the tiltrotor and the squad from every direction.

“Set her down!” the chief defender ordered.

The violent downdraft from the transport’s departure nearly knocked Lindsey off her feet. Someone caught her arm and pulled her upright. It was Torran. The expression in his eyes almost took her breath away with its ferocity. In that moment, she knew he’d do anything to keep her safe.

The tiltrotor’s extended legs touched the ground. The rear guns were silent, unable to fire yet since the squad was occupying the space between the Scrags and the tiltrotor.

The screech of the Scrags intensified as the transport flew over the complex and the sound of its engines diminished. In Lindsey’s head, she counted down the meters to the tiltrotor. The reek of the Scrags made her want to gag. All around her were the undead of every race, gender and age. All were screaming, all wanted to bite, all wanted to infect, and all were drawing closer.

The squad opened fire. In a phalanx, they faced outward, still moving, shooting at the Scrags. The undead were closing the gap far too fast.

“Go! Go! Go!” the chief defender ordered just as they reached the underbelly of the tiltrotor.

The guns on the tiltrotor discharged in a thunderous roar. The higher caliber weapons reduced the edge of the Scrag horde to bits of mush. Lindsey kept shooting, her firearm jolting her wounded arm. It didn’t hurt, but her aim was off. The screeching, twisted, rabid faces of the Scrags filled her vision. Many were half-naked from years of exposure to the elements, but the virus had retained their nearly lifelike appearance. The dirty, murderous creatures had no fear and ran into the barrage of bullets fired by the tiltrotor.

The squad scrambled up the ramp into the aircraft. Lindsey was one of the last to clamber up into the tiltrotor just as it ascended. The Scrags leaped for the retracting ramp and the doors started to close. Lindsey fired at one trying to lunge for her. She saw its face disintegrate just as the doors thumped shut. Sagging against the closed exit, she watched the feed from the aerial drones as they caught up to the tiltrotor and attached to it. The Scrags filled the area, howling at the retreating aircraft. There would be no coming back to this location. It was completely overrun. The remaining food stores were a loss.

Lindsey closed her eyes and listened to her heavy breathing inside her suit.

“...returning to The Bastion. No fatalities. No infections...” the chief Defender’s voice was saying.

Swiveling about, Lindsey walked on shaking legs to her console. Torran was already at his, but his concentration was on his readouts. Collapsing into her seat, she looked down at her arm. Where the Scrag had bitten her armor were deep indentations.

Chapter 22

The hours after their arrival at The Bastion were chaotic and a bit of a blur. The squad had to go through decontamination and endure a thorough scan before being allowed out of the hanger. She was ISPV free, but bruised. Dr. Curran personally administered a few shots to speed up the healing. Though her arm was already feeling much better, her nerves were frayed. Had the Scrag been able to bite through the armor, she’d be dead.

Lindsey’s stealth suit was claimed by the SWD Sci-Techs for examination, and she was glad to be rid of it.

The debriefing was long and tiring. The chief defender, Torran, and Lindsey were immediately separated. The officers in charge of the questioning were thorough, but she disliked their tone when they discussed the food containers left behind. Throughout the process, she’d wanted to tell them to go out and get the containers themselves if they were so convinced they’d been retrievable, but she held her tongue.

Six hours after her return, she was finally given a protein bar and a bag of water and sent back to her quarters. She still hadn’t seen anyone else from the mission. It aggravated her that they’d performed a great deed for The Bastion but were made to feel almost like failures due to a truncated raid.

It was difficult to believe it was merely mid-afternoon when she trudged across the quad to her dorm room. She’d been tempted to go to Torran’s flat, but she doubted he was there. The comm on their wristlets had been switched off upon their return to prevent them from discussing the mission and contaminating their points of view. Though she could hack hers, Torran’s was still off.

When she entered her tiny dorm room, she yanked off her boots and sprawled across the bed. Shaking, Lindsey endured the aftermath of the adrenaline rush that had kept her moving throughout the day. What was worse, her mind turned out alternate outcomes to the excursion. It was almost as if she couldn’t quite accept they’d all survived. Images of Scrag faces assaulted her mind’s eye, and the sound of their screeches haunted her hearing. Her stomach was a quivering mess and tears obscured her vision. No one had died, and no one had been seriously injured, but they’d come so close to failure.

Eventually, she drifted off into a light sleep filled with nightmare creatures that truly did exist.

Lindsey was roused by the door chiming about thirty minutes later. Groggy, she slid off the rumpled bed. The muscles in her back were aching, since she carried her stress along her spine. Unlocking the door, she watched it slide open through bleary eyes. Torran stood on the other side with a pensive expression on his face. She waved him in and slumped against the wall as he brushed past her.

The door slid shut, leaving them in silence. The look on Torran’s face was difficult to decipher. His jaw was clenched and his gaze was directed away from hers. What was going through his mind? Was he angry? Upset?

“That could have gone worse,” she said at last, trying to start a conversation.

Torran took her by surprise when he gripped her arms, tugged her against him, and rendered her breathless in a scorching kiss. Her lips parted beneath the hungry caress of his mouth and his tongue swiped against hers, causing her to moan with delight. Clutching his arms with her hands, she hungrily responded with equal passion. The depth of her desire for him surprised and frightened her. She’d never experienced such longing in her life. It was more than physical desire, and almost beyond description.

Shaking, Torran raised his hand to her face and broke the kiss. “I thought I might lose you when that Scrag bit you. I wanted to save you, but I couldn’t,” he muttered against her lips.

“I’m fine, Torran. I’m still here,” she managed to say, still gasping for breath.

“I can’t lose you,” Torran whispered, his brown eyes downcast. His fingers were trembling against her cheek.

“You won’t. Ever,” she promised, though she knew it was empty. Life could be so cruel.

The next kiss was sweeter, but just as intense. She laid her hands against the sides of his neck and his rapid pulse beneath her palms said so much. The terror of that awful moment still beat in his heart. Now she understood the complexity of emotions in his expression when he’d entered the dorm room. The look upon his face mirrored her emotions. The fear and stress they’d experienced on the mission had been exacerbated by their affection for each other. Now that they’d returned and were safely alone, all those jumbled feelings were pouring out of them.

When his fingers swiftly unfastened her uniform, she didn’t resist despite her mental and physical fatigue. He needed the reassurance that she was still with him, still alive, and still in his arms. Meanwhile, she wanted to feel his love, his desire for her, and his need to protect her. It wasn’t until he’d pinned her to the wall and slid his cock into her already wet core that Lindsey finally managed to escape the horrors of their mission. Pleasure filled her senses and wiped away the terrors she’d experienced. The sound of their labored breathing as Torran shoved into her and she thrust against him replaced the terrifying screeches. The fragrance of his skin replaced the reek of death. The exquisite sensation of him plunging in and out of her and his mouth consuming hers replaced the pain of the Scrag’s bite. Torran wiped away all the horrors and replaced it with him.

When he finally came inside her, Lindsey was lightheaded with bliss. Sagging in his arms, she buried her face in his neck. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

“I won’t,” he replied in a ragged voice. “We don’t report until morning,”

It wasn’t what she’d meant, but she was a little afraid of how easily the words had slipped out. It was a confession of how much she needed him and how much of her heart she’d invested in their relationship. He kissed her again, but this time the touch of his lips was gentle and sweet. They spent several more precious moments just kissing tenderly as they disengaged their bodies and slowly finished undressing.

After climbing naked into bed together, they fell asleep almost immediately. The nightmares returned, but Lindsey only had to drift close enough to wakefulness to realize Torran was at her side and be reassured by his presence. He awakened her a few times by muttering in his sleep while twitching. Holding him tight, she tried to give him comfort as he maneuvered through his own terrible dreams. They were both plagued by what they’d endured, and in some ways, that was a comfort. That understanding made their connection stronger.

It was nearly midnight when Lindsey woke up to Torran’s tender kisses on her neck. With a small moan, she tilted her head away from him so he could nibble his way along the curve of her throat.

“Done with nightmares for a bit,” he said against her skin.

“Me, too.” Tangling her fingers in his hair, she enjoyed the sensation of him kissing and licking his way down her body. “A girl could get used to this.”

“And you will,” Torran said, his Scottish brogue making him all the more sexy in the moment.

He spent a delicious amount of time adoring her hard pink nipples with his tongue. In the muted light cast be the bedside lamp, she felt no fear knowing he was near. The day and all its terrors faded away and all that existed was her small dorm room. Soon his ministrations had her arching her back while she rubbed her pussy against his thigh in desperation.

“Hurry up and do something. You’re driving me mad,” she pouted.

“Nah. I’m taking my time.”

With a teasing smile, he leisurely covered her stomach and hips with little bites and kisses. Intoxicated by his touch, her nipples and clit were already painfully erect. Just one flick of his tongue against her wetness sent her spiraling into an intense orgasm.

“Okay, I really, really want to get used to this,” she panted.

“Not done with you yet.”

Grinning at his masterfulness, Torran wrapped his arms around her thighs and devoured her until she was almost screaming. Torran was just climbing back up her body with the most satisfied look on his face and a rock hard erection when their wristlets chimed. Instantly, they were both quite sober. Sitting side by side, they reviewed the incoming message.

“They can’t do this,” Lindsey said, her heart sinking.

“Yeah, they can.”

Lindsey’s brain already hurt at the thought of all they had to do to prepare for the next raid. Already, packets of information were downloading to her wristlet, along with a new schedule. “This is ridiculous!”

Torran’s scowl deepened, the lines between his brows revealing his own tension. “Two fuckin’ day’s prep for a major excursion.”

“And they’re doubling the squad.” The vein in Lindsey’s temple throbbed with stress. “Fuck me.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ll deal with this shit later,” Torran said with a nod.

“I didn’t mean literally,” Lindsey responded, but couldn’t help but give him a flirtatious smile.

“Well, if you don’t want me to cajole those sweet little noises out of ya, I’ll just—” He pretended to move to get off the bed.

Lindsey seized his arm, pulled him back toward her, and kissed Torran while straddling his body. She was so ready for him, and despite the bad news, he was still mightily aroused. His hardness slipped into her with ease. Breaking their kiss, she stared into his eyes, rotating her hips against his. “I’ll make sweet noises if you do that growly sound.”

“You’ve got a deal.”

With a smile on her lips, she kissed the man she loved with all her heart.

* * *

With a loud grunt, Torran fought his way out of a nightmare, not escaping entirely until he swung his legs off the bed and activated the small lamp next to it. Breathing heavily, his pulse pounding, Torran pressed his sweaty palms to his equally sweaty face. It took every ounce of self-control not to bolt to the door to make sure it was secure. His hands felt empty without a weapon and he clenched them into fists. The dream had been vivid, brutally so, and had shaken him to his core. Sweeping his gaze over the room, he anchored himself to reality. He wasn’t on the field of battle and was in a safe place. The dreadful images from his dream were starting to recede, but he could remember one very clearly.

It was Lindsey as a Scrag.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that she was still asleep. Her fingers were slightly twitching, but she otherwise appeared peaceful. Lindsey tended to kick off all her covers when she slept, and the vision her pale form against the dark blue sheet was comforting. Her golden hair half covered her face and he gently swept it away with one hand. The full pink lips he loved to kiss were slightly parted in her slumber, but her breathing was easy. At least she was having good dreams. She wasn’t a Scrag, but alive and well. The strength of her body was evident in her muscled limbs and taut tummy. But he also loved the femininity of the roundness of her hips and slope of her breasts tipped with pink nipples. The scars from her reconstructive surgery had nearly faded into her skin and he touched the largest on her inner thigh. She’d experienced so much pain, yet was so strong. Torran was certain she was the most wonderful woman in the world.

Yet, her beauty was marred by the thing that haunted his dreams: that horrible bruise left by the maw of the Scrag. The mark on her forearm was nearly gone. At least the designers of the suits had been clever enough to add additional protection to the sleeves. Torran knew from old reports that most Scrag bites were inflicted on hands, wrists, and forearms. The natural inclination of any human was to raise their arm in defense when a creature was lunging at them.

The image of her arm caught in the jaws of the Scrag would never leave him. It had taken all his willpower to trust Franklin and Hobbes to save her and not abandon his post to rescue her. Though he’d done the right thing, guilt still lingered. He should be the one to protect her. Lindsey had saved his life. He owed her so much. It should be his duty to make sure she was guarded against all threats.

Of course, it wasn’t just the fact she’d saved his life that elicited the need to protect her against all harm. Torran recognized he had fallen for her. It was almost painful how much he’d come to love her. Everything about her was enthralling. From her saucy humor, intelligence, kindness and strength of will, to her beautiful golden hair, sensuous lips and enticing body.

Checking his wristlet, he saw that he only had a few more hours to sleep before they’d return to duty. Though he enjoyed working with her, the reality was that Torran was tired of hiding how he felt about her. If the city wasn’t on lockdown, he’d already have taken her to meet his folks. Torran wanted a life with her. Not a shared duty. An actual life.