The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (8 page)

“There’s no way they can track it back to us, Commandant Pierce. I made sure of it. I even routed it through the SWD system.” Lindsey was particularly proud of that part of her plan.

“At some point fingers will be pointed.”

Lindsey leaned her elbow against the armrest of her chair and stared at the commandant. “Who’s taking the fall?”

“I don’t like doing this, Vanguard Rooney.”

“Who?”

Commandant Pierce sighed. “Castellan Reichardt is missing from the city.”

“Oh, fuck me,” Lindsey muttered.

“We both know he’s not coming back. President Cabot is already demanding a full accounting and demanding to speak to the castellan, since it’s his job to protect the city. Once it’s discovered that Dwayne is not inside the wall, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll investigate him. And they’ll uncover his affair with Maria.”

“And it will look like he created the worm out of spite.”

“He was a part of all of this. When I shift the blame onto him, I won’t be lying.”

“But you’re saving your ass!” Lindsey flinched. “Sorry, sir.”

Commandant Pierce’s eyes blazed with anger, but her voice was calm when she answered. “I saved all our asses. In the end, I have to protect not only my own ass, but yours, Vaja’s, Petra, and every other person in this command center. And beyond that, the city.”

Lindsey didn’t dare say anything. She had to remember that even though circumstances had made her and the commandant allies, in the end, Pierce was her commanding officer.

With an exhalation, the other woman slumped in her chair. “The city will survive because of us, the SWD be damned.”

“There are good people in the SWD,” Lindsey said, thinking of Torran. “The man we rescued is one.”

“MacDonald started off as one of us, but yes, I’m sure there are good people in the SWD. Just separating them from the traitors will be difficult.”

“What will happen?” Lindsey asked.

“Trials. Most likely by tribunal. And if they’re found guilty, they’ll end up serving their lives in a small cell tucked into the wall.” Commandant Pierce shook her head. “We’re all that’s left of humanity and yet there are people who will fight to have power over the masses no matter how small those masses might be. We serve the people, Vanguard.” Pierce pointed at the screens. “We serve the people out there. If we ever forget that, we’re doomed.”

“Will they see the castellan as a hero?” She wanted people to see Dwayne for what he was: a noble, good, decent man who sacrificed so much for not only the woman he loved, but The Bastion.

“I hope so,” Commandant Pierce answered.

Lindsey believed her.

“Now, go home. Rest. I’ll need you back on duty in ten hours. We have a lot of work ahead of us and I’ll need you in the mix. Also, I sent this to President Cabot’s secretary today.” Commandant Pierce tapped the pad at her side, then handed it to Lindsey.

Lindsey stared at the screen in surprise. “I don’t understand. I thought they couldn’t fix my leg because of resources.”

“President Cabot wanted there to be wounded veterans of the final push as a symbol of the Constabulary’s effort to protect the people of The Bastion. He ordered that any soldiers that had visible disabling injuries be denied medtech assistance.”

Anger, raw and fierce, flamed inside Lindsey and clawed up her throat. She had to swallow hard to keep from swearing aloud.

“You were propaganda,” Commandant Pierce said, lowering her eyes. It was clear that this order was not one she’d agreed with.

Unable to speak, Lindsey stared at the request for her leg to be repaired.

“President Cabot will do this for me. He now owes me,” Commandant Pierce said confidently.

“Why waste that leverage on me?”

“It’s not a waste when I need you ready to assist me in saving this city.”

Lindsey smiled just a tad and tucked a loose strand of hair behind one ear. “I do appreciate this, sir. Immensely.”

“Well, you’ve proven that even with your injury you’re a brave and capable soldier. Master Seeker MacDonald would vouch for that, I’m sure.”

“Is he going to be all right?”

Commandant Pierce gave Lindsey a questioning look.

“His whole squad was wiped out by Curran’s Anomalies. It wasn’t his fault. Those things were... clever.”

“There will be an investigation and the review board will make a decision.”

“Which review board? SWD? Or Constabulary?”

“There will probably be an independent board assigned by President Cabot in the interim. There will be a lot internal reviews and reordering of the duties of both the SWD and Constabulary.”

Lindsey sighed. “It was awful seeing those soldiers transformed like that.”

“The question is: did you get all of them? Another reason I need you up to full strength. The Constabulary will have to be a part of making sure each and every Scrag is destroyed. We can’t risk an outbreak again.”

The thought of a new plague was enough to send a shiver through Lindsey.

“Now, go home, Vanguard. I’ll see you later.”

Lindsey stood, picked up her cane, and reluctantly departed.

* * *

The streets were still packed with people. Whereas earlier, when word of the final clearing of the valley had sent the citizens into the streets to celebrate, news of the attempted coup had people clustered around portable vid screens while discussing the latest development.

Since the trains weren’t running, Lindsey had to walk home. Usually Vaja gave her a ride on the back of his precious bike, but he was nowhere to be seen when she left the Constabulary headquarters. She had waited for a bit in the spot where he usually picked her up, but after he didn’t show up, she started the trek home.

No one seemed to notice her for a few long blocks, then a young woman with a bright green kerchief wrapped around her head spotted her.

“Hey, you!” the woman said, hurrying to Lindsey’s side. “You need a ride?”

Lindsey tilted her head and stared curiously at the stranger. “I would love one, but I don’t see how—”

“Wait right here!”

The redhead vanished, then returned a minute later with a tall, bald man with large shoulders and enormous arms. The woman now carried colorful oversized pillows that had been patched numerous times. “Boris will take you home, officer.”

“How?” Lindsey asked, eyes widening. “He’s not going to carry me?”

“No, no,” the man guffawed. Popping open a storage unit tucked into the side of a building, he pulled out a wheelbarrow.

The redhead set the pillows in the bottom and Boris motioned for Lindsey to get in.

Not sure if she should feel awkward or relieved, Lindsey just giggled.

“Let me take you back to your home. You’ve done so much for us,” Boris pleaded. “Tina agrees. Tight, Tina?”

The redhead named Tina nodded. “Please?”

“Okay! Why not?” Lindsey awkwardly settled onto the pillows and grimaced as her leg protested. With some discomfort, she managed to get situated in a position that didn’t cause her a lot of pain.

Boris lifted the handles and easily rolled her down the street with Tina rushing along at his side.

“Now, where do you live?” Boris asked.

Lindsey told him, grateful at the kindness. It wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel, but it would have been very difficult for her to make it home alone. Several drones rolled past, flashing vids of the epic battle for the valley while also broadcasting a short, looped speech from President Cabot. Lindsey felt the eyes of many people on her as Boris wheeled her up and down the narrow, congested streets. Many reached out to pat her and a few shouted words of thanks.

“See! You’re a hero!” Boris said with a giant grin on his face.

“I’m just doing my job.”

“We’re going to have a farm,” Tina said to Lindsey excitedly. “We already applied this morning as soon as they put the applications on the net.”

“No more road repair for me,” Boris said happily. “I’m going to grow wheat so I can have good bread again. The kind my mother used to make.”

“Everything is different now. Can’t you feel it?” Tina grinned, the flush of her cheeks blending into her many freckles.

Lindsey tilted her head to watch a tiltrotor fly overhead. “Yeah,” she said. “I feel it.”

When they arrived at her flat, Vaja didn’t meet her at the door. There wasn’t a sign that he’d been home yet. Tina and Boris only left after making sure she was safely inside.

Exhausted, Lindsey took a hot shower before climbing up the stairs to her bed tucked onto the platform over her computers and desk. Her flat was very small and it was stuffy. She turned on a fan and checked the time. There would be at least three hours of circulated air before the rolling blackouts hit her area of the city. Adjusting the pillow under her head, she wondered where Vaja had gone. It felt strange to be alone in her small space after so much had happened. Tina and Boris were right. The world had changed, but she had no one to share the experience with.

Her wristlet chimed and she instantly swiped the screen.

It wasn’t Vaja.

It was a message from Torran.

It said one word:
Thanks.

Part 2

COLD WARS AND ALLIANCES

Chapter 8

Lindsey stared at her leg for a long moment, then slowly extended it, pointing her toes. She’d painted her nails bright blue and they were a definite contrast to the gray concrete floor of her flat. Flexing her ankle, she was amazed by the lack of pain. Bending her knee, she did a few sharp kicks. Everything worked perfectly. After almost two years of being disabled, it was wonderful to actually be able to move without the endless gnawing pain. She’d been unconscious for nearly twenty-four hours while they had replaced nearly every part of her leg and stitched her back together. She had only experienced dreams toward the end of her sedation. In those dreams, she’d been running away from Scrags on legs that actually worked properly. It had been a relief to awaken in the safety of the Med Center, free of pain and without a Scrag in sight.

A week of rehabilitation was all it took to get her back in fighting form. The cocktail of drugs they’d pumped into her system had definitely accelerated the healing. The first time she’d run on the treadmill, she had started to cry tears of joy. Now, staring at her leg, she felt tears again.

The door chimed.

With a frown, she scrambled off her bed and walked over to the door. A quick glance at the screen next to the door showed Vaja on the doorstep. She palmed the primary lock and unlocked all the extra locks she’d installed to allow the door to slide open.

“You’ve got five minutes,” she said gruffly, turned on her heel, and strode to her computers. She plopped onto the old chair and turned on the newsfeed. The media was camped outside of the SWD main building, still waiting for Admiral Kirkpatrick to surrender himself to the authorities.

“Lindsey,” Vaja said in a soft, desperate voice. “Please, we can make this work.”

“No we can’t, Vaja. And why do you want it to? You’ve got how many other girlfriends?”

“This is about me leaving you that morning, isn’t it? You’re not forgiving me.”

“You mean when you left me to walk home on a bad leg after I had risked my life to rescue someone and was in a shitload of pain?” Lindsey gave him a wide sarcastic smile. “Why would I possibly be mad about that?”

“Lindsey, please.”

“No, Vaja. No ‘Lindsey, please.’ You left me in more ways than one that morning. I needed you, Vaja, just not to get home, but because of what I’d been through. What the entire fuckin’ city was going through. Instead you disappeared for two fuckin’ days and then I find out you’re safe with one of your other girlfriends.”

“Okay, so maybe I should have told you about the others.” Vaja stood in the center of her small flat in his ragged, yet somehow stylish clothes with his amazingly sexy, floppy dark hair and smoldering blue eyes giving her a look that used to make her melt into his arms.

“Yeah, you think?” Lindsey shook her head and hooked one heel onto the edge of the seat of the chair. Resting her elbow on her knee, she watched the news and pointedly ignored Vaja.

“You look beautiful, Lindsey. Seeing you there with your leg looking so perfect.
You’re
so perfect.”

“I’m sure your other girlfriends are, too.” Lindsey ignored him and pondered making herself some coffee. But knowing Vaja, he’d serve himself and she wasn’t about to share her precious stores with him anymore.

“I always like it when you wear just your panties and tank top. It’s very sexy—”

“Stop!” Lindsey held out one hand in his direction, palm facing him. “No more. I’m done. You’re not staying here. You’re not sleeping in my bed, eating my food, or sharing my space anymore. And you’re certainly not fucking me again.”

Vaja exhaled with frustration. “Lindsey, how can you doubt my love?”

Exasperated, Lindsey stood up, opened up her clothes locker, jerked out his knapsack from the bottom and started throwing his clothing into it. “If you won’t pack, I will.”

“You really want this to happen?”

“Yes!”

“It’s because of that guy who sends you messages, isn’t it?”

Lindsey gave Vaja a sharp look.

His narrow handsome face was unexpectedly flushed with anger. “I saw you checking your wristlet. I know it’s a man.”

“It’s a fellow soldier who’s going through a rough time. He gives me small updates so I know he’s okay. Why am I telling you this? It’s none of your business!” Fuming, Lindsey shoved Vaja’s second pair of boots into the knapsack then tossed it at him. “Get out.”

“I need my books.”

Lindsey stalked over to a small shelf and plucked several worn journals off and handed them over. She’d been tempted to burn the things, but couldn’t bring herself to destroy Vaja’s writings. Even if she did find his poetry far too insipid now that she knew he was a lying cheater, she wasn’t that petty.

“Lindsey, I wrote many of these for you.”

“Right.”

“I did.”

“Are you sure you’re not confusing me with your
other
girlfriends?” Lindsey stormed over to the door, glad to be able to stomp on both feet. She palmed the lock and it slid open. A gush of cold air made her shiver, but she wasn’t moving until he was out of her flat and life. “Why don’t you go read it to
them
?”

“Lindsey, I have so much love to share—”

“I don’t care, Vaja!” She really didn’t. He had abandoned her when she’d needed him most. He hadn’t even gone to the Med Center when she had reconstructive surgery. Jittery over his involvement in the coup d’état revelation, he was constantly scurrying away from Constabulary and SWD security forces. If she’d known how terrified he’d be, she never would have brought him in. What was worse was that Commandant Pierce had trusted her when she’d vouched for Vaja. A part of her sometimes worried that throwing him out would make him turn on her, but he was far too terrified of the authorities to report Lindsey’s hacking. At one point, Lindsey thought she might love him, but now she wondered what she’d been thinking. Maybe her mistake had been looking for love instead of friendship. She missed Maria a whole lot more than she’d miss Vaja.

“You won’t see me again,” Vaja said, as though that mattered anymore.

“Good.” Lindsey smiled at her neighbor walking past her entrance. She waved, and the old man tried not to look at her near nudity. He failed miserably.

Vaja heaved his bag over his shoulder and glowered at her. “We could have had the greatest of loves.”

“We had fun for a while. You were reasonably good in bed. You helped me out of a tough situation. But let’s call it what it was. A relationship built on lies. I can’t love someone who lies to me. So get out.”

Hesitating in the doorway, Vaja gazed into her eyes. “I do love you.”

Lindsey stepped back and put her hand over the lock. “I
don’t
love you.”

With one last sorrowful look, Vaja trudged down the stairwell.

Lindsey shut the door and exhaled. “Asshole.”

After making some coffee and heating up some oatmeal, Lindsey returned to her computers and watched the latest updates pouring in from the news media and her other resources. She was also compiling snippets of information to send to Maria’s wristlet. Though her friend was far away, Lindsey didn’t want her to feel completely disconnected from The Bastion.

Now that Vaja was gone, she accessed the secret program buried in the wristlet’s operating system. There weren’t any new messages, but she had expected as much. The only one that was there was the one she’d received soon after Maria had disappeared. She hadn’t found it for days, too unnerved by the chaos enveloping the city to dare to open the program that might provide connection to her friend. It was a program she’d created for Dwayne to use to speak to Maria while she had been part of the Inferi Boon special ops mission.

Tapping the simple message, Lindsey read it over quickly.

Linds, I love you. Please take care of yourself and remember to look for the good things in life. Make sure The Roses have plenty of business. Tell my mother I love her and I’m sorry. When you finally live outside those damn walls, think of me. Remember me. Know I love you. Forever your friend and sister, Maria.

Blinking back tears, Lindsey closed the message, wishing there had been another, but understood that they had to be very careful. The time stamp on the message indicated it had been sent twenty-four hours after Dwayne had departed the city. Lindsey hoped that meant the couple had safety made it out of the valley. She wanted to believe they were both alive and well somewhere out there in the world.

Lindsey had the day off, so she didn’t need to check the duty roster, but went ahead and did so anyway to check on her friend’s assignments. There was a lot of activity outside of the wall now that the valley was close to being declared uncontaminated. Sometimes, she watched the footage of the massive vehicles destroying old settlements and piling the debris onto the back of trucks for recycling. The act of destruction held a certain amount of fascination for her. Hobbes, Giacomi and Franklin were all on patrol outside the wall near the old hydroelectric plant. Torran was not on the roster for the SWD. He hadn’t been since the day he’d returned from his failed mission.

It was amusing how jealous Vaja had seemed over simple messages from Torran updating her on his debriefs. Vaja had other women, but he’d been jealous of her fellow soldier. The man was ridiculous.

A quick cleanup of her dishes was followed by a shower. Lindsey tugged on some frayed blue jeans, a big brown sweater, an old pair of leather lace-up boots and a heavy black jacket. A cold front had blown in during the night, and it was rather chilly outside. Tucking her long blond hair into two messy fishtail braids that hung over her shoulders, she tugged a floppy dark green wool hat onto her head. Picking up a velvet box, which was the reason for her journey across the city, she tucked it into one of her coat pockets. It felt odd not reaching for her cane when she neared the door, but it was also a relief. A black nylon bag with half her uniforms stashed inside waited for her beside the door. Grabbing it, she let herself out of her flat and secured the locks.

The brisk air and muted sunlight gave the gray city an even more somber mood despite all the people rushing about to their various tasks. The roads tucked between the tall, narrow, nearly featureless buildings were clogged with people of all ages. The only bright spots were the makeshift gardens made out of old plastic containers hung from balcony railings and the laundry hanging on wash lines.

A drone ambled by with yet another message from President Cabot. She hadn’t heard this one yet and partially paid attention while watching two little girls in matching red coats jumping rope in an alleyway. One little girl was dark-skinned with pigtails and the other was blond with braids. For a moment, Lindsey thought of her and Maria, though they’d not known each other until they’d enlisted. The sight of the two little girls looking so happy together brought a smile to Lindsey’s face.

A few blocks down the way, she ventured up a rickety staircase to the building where Maria had once lived. All buildings had entrances on the second floor and were only accessible by retractable stairs. If there was an outbreak, the stairs were pulled up to keep the Scrags from entering. The steps wobbled under her as she ascended. Maria had often complained about them, but apparently nothing had been done to fix them yet. That was the way things worked in The Bastion. But all that was soon to change. At least she hoped so.

Entering the narrow hallways, she followed the heavy scent of chemicals until she reached an open doorway. Inside were two older women Maria had affectionately called The Roses. The married women were both named Rose. One was Rose Bergman, the other Rose Garcia. Lindsey called them Rose B and Rose G. This morning, the two women were busy ironing uniforms at mismatched iron boards. Both wore their hair long and tucked under colorful scarves. Rose B’s was pure silver, while Rose G’s curly hair was dark grey with strands of white. Maria had introduced Lindsey to the two women who did laundry in exchange for credits, food, and appliance repairs. Lindsey always tried to leave a little extra so Rose B could get her herbal remedies and medicines from the Med Center. The Roses usually tried to dissuade her from giving them too much, so she always had to figure out ways to sneak an extra credit or two into their hands.

“Oh, look! It’s Lindsey!” Rose B hurried over with excitement while her wife watched grumpily. “And you’re not limping!”