The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(120)

“No more Inferi Scourge,” the crowd was chanting.

“Dad, come see us soon, okay? We totally need to celebrate as a family,” Hunter said excitedly. “Maybe you and mom won’t even fight.”

Dwayne chuckled. “Maybe. I love you both. You know that, right?”

“We love you, Daddy!” Allison shouted as the chanting of the crowd drowned out all other sound.

“You’re beast, Dad!” Hunter yelled, then cut the feed.

“Beast?” Dwayne looked at Caitlyn curiously.

“Old slang that is making a comeback. I’m pretty sure it’s a compliment.” She hesitated. “You’re not going to tell them.”

Dwayne shook his head sorrowfully. “Can you tell them goodbye for me?”

The sheen of tears made her eyes sparkle as she nodded. “Yeah.”

Commandant Pierce was overseeing crowd control per President Cabot’s request. Constabulary patrols were in the streets trying to maintain order. The command center was once again a hub of activity. Dwayne and the others had relocated to another room off the main center. Vaja had joined Lindsey and wore a special badge on his worn and patched black sweater. Dr. Curran had finally shaken off her malaise. She was on a secure workstation diligently putting together a report that would be leaked to the media.

Petra slid in through a door, struggling to heave the heavy bags she was carrying into the room. They had SWD emblems on them. Dwayne rushed over to alleviate the burden. The heavy black bags contained everything he would need.

“You’re the best, Petra,” he said with a grin.

“I just hope you don’t get yourself killed,” she said with a sigh.

“I’ll get Maria and Denman back in here safe and sound,” Dwayne promised.

Petra stared at him for a long moment, then said, “Chances are you won’t. But if anyone can pull this off, you can.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Dwayne dragged the bags to one side of the room and opened them to examine their contents.

“Dad, I just got a call. I have to go. They expect me down at the capital.” Caitlyn drew near, running her hands over her blond hair to smooth it.

Standing, Dwayne gave his daughter a firm hug. “Take care.”

“Don’t die, Dad,” Caitlyn whispered into his shoulder.

“I won’t give your mother that satisfaction,” Dwayne said with a wink.

Caitlyn laughed. “You’re the best, Dad. I know I don’t tell you enough. But you are.”

Touched, Dwayne squeezed her shoulder. “I love you, Caitlyn. And you’ve been a pain in my ass more times than I can count, but I couldn’t be prouder of the woman you’ve become.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek then hurried out of the room.

Dwayne scanned the small room with its banks of work stations. All the vid screens save the ones Petra, Dr. Curran, and Lindsey and Vaja were working on showed the massive crowds descending on the capital. Most of the Constabulary and a big chunk of the SWD security would be occupied taking care of the crowds. He had to move fast to have any chance of saving Maria and Denman.

Rifling through the bags, he began to organize his armor, weapons, and supplies. He was busy checking the systems on the armor when Dr. Curran’s high heels appeared in his vision. Looking up, he saw her pinched face staring down at him.

“Can we speak?”

“Certainly.”

Rising, he stared at her curiously before leading her into the commandant’s ready room. Fresh coffee was bubbling in a pot and heated containers of food waited for the commandant and her staff whenever they were able to get a break. As the door shut behind them, Dwayne and Dr. Curran sat at the small conference table in one corner of the room.

“I lied to you,” Dr. Curran said in her point-blank way of speaking.

Dwayne squinted at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“In the SWD it’s very competitive among the scientists. Everyone has been trying to find a cure to the Inferi Scourge Plague. Ever since this city was created, the SWD has tried to find a way out of this horrific mess we’ve made for ourselves. My whole life I dreamed of finding that solution. I never modified the virus I told you I used. It was a small sample, lost in the massive cold storage vaults. That is the one I used on Maria Martinez. The virus administered to the other members of the squad was modified from the one used in the failed attempts.”

“What are you saying?”

“Denman can’t come back into the city. He will turn into an Anomaly. And Maria can’t return because she has immortality in her veins.” Dr. Curran sighed, rubbing her eyes. “You can’t go out there, risk your life, and bring them back. They both need to die out there. I suppose, ironically, the SWD is right.”

“If Maria is the solution to mortality, she should come back into the city!” Dwayne protested.

“Why? So another SWD scientist can figure out how she returned to life? I’ve been reviewing my data. I can fool some people with it, but it won’t take long for someone in the SWD to realize that something is amiss. And once they see Maria on the news vids, alive, what do you think will happen?” Dr. Curran stared at him pointedly.

“They’ll isolate her. Test her. Maybe if we discover a way to mass infect—”