The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(105)

“I can see my readout,” Maria retorted.

The gunfire from above was steady and purposeful.

“Let them do their job, you do yours,” Maria added, firing again. “McKinney, report in.”

“Got rushed! Have some wounded. Cormier...I think they took her...Got two above me still firing. We’re moving down.”

“Cormier, report,” Maria said. “Cormier.”

There was no answer.

“Fuck,” Cruz whispered.

Studying her schematic, Maria knew they were trapped. They couldn’t move in any direction without being gunned down. The flashes in the darkness from the corridor were blinding as a fresh barrage of pipes, nails, and other sharp metal scraps were fired at high velocity at them. The metal objects sang against the generator as they impacted.

“We’re almost to the bottom,” McKinney’s voice said.

“Hold your position,” Maria said.

There was a lull in the attack from the Anomalies.

“Castellan, I need an analysis fast. How much time do we have between their barrages?” Maria asked. Her eyes flicked to Dwayne’s image. She could see others gathered around him. At her request there was a flurry of movement. The feed was starting to cut out and soon she knew she would lose communication as she zeroed in on the Chief Defender’s location.

“Twenty seconds,” Dwayne’s voice answered.

An explosion of sound and a hail of metal fragments exploded against the generator.

“They have to reload whatever they’re firing,” Maria said softly to her people. “The second the lull hits, rush them. It’s our only chance.”

“Understood,” was the answer from McKinney.

“Watch who you’re firing at. We’re coming in from the dead-end on the right. Move when I say.”

She waited through two more lulls and attacks before uttering the words she dreaded.

“Go!”

Skidding around the generator, she charged forward. The shapes of her squad rushing in from the staircase were a blur in her periphery. Mikado and Cruz were just ahead of her. McKinney leaped over a barricade, firing as he landed amidst the Anomalies on the other side. Maria and Denman hit another barricade, toppling the stacked machinery over on top of the howling creatures on the other side. Gunfire and the strange staccato sound of the Anomaly weapons filled the corridor. Darting around a barrier, Maria fired into the face of an Anomaly. Mikado was just ahead of her, heading toward the huge weapon the Anomalies had been firing at them. A counter sprung up on her visor screen, warning her that the weapon was nearly reloaded.

“Mikado!” she shouted, falling back behind one of the barricades, taking cover.

The barrage erupted again. Cruz and Mikado screamed at the same time.

Mikado’s armor reported his death, his status flashing red on her screen.

“Denman,” Maria gasped.

She could see him analyzing all the data pouring onto his med-screen in his helmet. He shook his head.

“Eviscerated,” Denman said.

Cruz continued to scream, her gun firing. Maria had no idea where the soldier was located, but the squad was now up against the first set of barricades. She had caught a glimpse of the massive gun and the Anomalies clustered behind it before she’d been forced to seek cover.

The flying pieces of metal skidded across the concrete floors and punctured the walls and ceiling. Then the gun fell silent.

This time the Anomalies were waiting for the Boon. Their projectile weapons fired as the squad rushed them. Maria barely caught a glimpse of Mikado’s torn body before she was in the thick of things. She felt a hard punch to her chest, but her armor resisted. The pipe projectile clattered to the floor, but her body hurt like hell. She fired at the Anomalies trying to cut her off as McKinney tossed one over his shoulder, heading for the gun. The countdown on her helmet was moving swiftly to zero and she could see the ghostly form of the gunner feverishly reloading.

“McKinney, toss me!” Cruz shouted. She lay on the floor, wounded, clutching her weapon to her chest.

Maria barely had time to register what the two soldiers were doing before an Anomaly attacked her. It was a woman, her murky eyes terrifying in the night vision blues. The female Anomaly tried to fire her weapon directly at Maria’s helmeted head, but Maria knocked it aside and sent a blast of bullets through her enemy’s torso. The woman staggered a few feet, drawing a razor sharp piece of metal from a sheath. Maria fired into the Anomaly’s face just as the countdown hit zero.

Dropping to the floor, Maria saw McKinney hook his hands under Cruz’s armpits, hoist her off the floor and hurl her small body over the massive gun. Cruz fired as she fell, targeting for the gunner. Her aim went wild, but Cruz fell into him, sending both sprawling.

The squad scrambled forward as the Anomalies set upon Cruz. Their grunts and cries and Cruz’s screams mingled with the blasts from her weapon. McKinney shoved the massive barrage gun over onto its side and scrambled over it toward the Anomalies attacking Cruz.

“Watch your fire!” Maria’s voice rang out as she followed in McKinney’s wake.

The Anomalies were trying to stab through Cruz’s armor and shatter her helmet, their metal weapons glinting in the flash of gunfire. Mayhem descended in the narrow space. It was difficult to even get close with Cruz’s weapon discharging.