The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(4)

“Expanding the wall,” a voice announced over the feed.

Maria focused her attention to demolishing the Scourge below. Blood, bone and viscera poured onto the dry soil. The Scourge slipped and fell over their brethren, but kept coming.

The turret beside Maria sprang to life again, but the Scourge had advanced further than anticipated in the mission briefings. It was a matter of seconds before they hit the wall.

“Beginning wall expansion.”

“This is a bad idea,” Maria muttered, gripping the handhold next to her.

The catwalk shuddered as the military engineers activated the mobile wall units. The connected catwalks also came to life, the treads pushing forward as the wall expanded. A cluster of the machines were connected to the apex of the wall and rolled forward as the wall unfurled like a blossoming flower. Maria crouched, glancing over at Ryan. He tried to get off a few shots before giving up. It was too difficult to aim with the wall moving. The wall shuddered as it met in an unyielding mass of flesh, and Maria clutched the handhold with both hands.

“We need the Maelstrom Platforms loaded and firing!” Chief Defender Reichardt’s voice commanded.

The overwhelming wave of the Inferi Scourge pressed against the perimeter and the engines whined furiously as they tried to gain traction on the slippery ground. A few tiltrotors roared overhead as the flight crews strafed the crowd, but most of the air support had already retreated to the safety of the city. The fuel reserves were too low to keep the tiltrotor fleet up in the air for extended periods of time.

Commands barked over the feed as the tiltrotors firing at the Scourge were ordered back to the city. The mobile wall trembled again as it continued to unfurl. The treads of the units rolled over the sodden ground, struggling over the pockmarked terrain. The turrets continued to fire bursts as the soldiers feverishly reloaded them.

The massive Maelstrom Platforms finally opened fire, pulverizing the Scourge a hundred yards from the expanding perimeter.

“The simulation wasn’t this bad!” Ryan shouted, trying to fire over the edge again.

The muddy, bloody, sloshing ground was gumming up the treads. Maria could feel their catwalk shuddering as it struggled through the muck. Scanning the staging area set up behind the mobile wall, Maria saw panic beginning to spread as some of the mobile units strained to move forward. The units were synchronized to move out in formation, but a few were already lagging behind. Some of the depressions that had been carved out of the ground by the Maelstrom Platforms were deep and several of the machines whined as the viscid mud clogged the treads.

Maria gripped the handhold and managed to get to her knees. Firing at the Scourge, she fought the fear threatening to engulf her. The display in her helmet was filled with a flow of information that was scrolling too quickly to even read. Another burst from the Maelstrom Platform sent clouds of blood into the air, the wind sweeping the bloody mist over the fighting soldiers.

“Fuck me!” Lindsey shouted, trying to clean off her helmet visor.

“Keep firing!” Vanguard Stillson shouted. He was moving along the inner catwalk, laboring to stay on his feet.

As Maria reloaded her weapon, Vanguard Stillson fired on the Inferi Scourge as the roar of the Maelstrom Platforms sounded. Maria felt Stillson’s hand briefly on her shoulder as she opened fire again, then he moved on.

A massive shockwave rippled through the perimeter wall, tossing soldiers off their feet and onto the catwalk, or over the wall into the Scourge horde below as one of the mobile units twisted around in one of the deeper craters and wrenched another unit completely about. The torsion between the two units sent another shudder through the perimeter wall and Maria clung to the catwalk as Ryan fell on top of her. Together, they rode the catwalk to the ground, tumbling into the mud. Maria immediately scrambled to her feet and gasped.

The steel mesh had torn free of one of the units and the Scourge were shoving their bodies through the frayed opening. The squads closest to the breach opened fire. The mesh wall shimmered as it wavered under the onslaught of the undead. The mobile units continued on their designated course to their next position, ripping another hole in the mesh wall.

“Fall back!” someone ordered as the Inferi Scourge shoved through the widening openings.

Ryan grabbed Maria’s shoulder and dragged her toward a section where the fallen catwalks formed a barrier along with some of the unpacked supply units. Lindsey scrambled to follow. The squads formed a line, shooting at the Scourge coming through the gap. For several agonizing minutes, they were successful at holding the howling creatures back.

“Tiltrotors are en route!” a voice intoned in her helmet.

Sweat poured down Maria’s face as she reloaded. Ryan lobbed several grenades toward the breach as Lindsey fired over Maria’s head.

“About that date…” Ryan said, grinning despite the fear in his eyes.

Maria slid around him into a better position and aimed at a Scourge trying to scale the fallen edge of the wall. “You’re supposed to give me a reason to live, dumb ass,” she groused.

Another soldier landed in the mud beside her and helped her obliterate the Scourge trying to scramble through another widening tear in the wall.

“This was a stupid plan!” she shouted.

“It seemed like a good one when we planned it,” the soldier answered.

It took her a full second to realize it was Chief Defender Dwayne Reichardt.