The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(40)

“That scientist in there...” Maria pointed “…how is he going to handle himself?”

“Gideon’s going along to monitor the Inferi Boon soldiers. He will be trained with the rest of you. And yes, he volunteered.”

Lifting her eyebrows, Maria sat back and studied the faces of the people in the room beyond the glass. The veteran soldiers of the Constabulary wore placid expressions while the scientist and a few of the newer recruits from the SWD came across as nervous. Jameson looked ready to crawl out of his own skin and his eyes were shining with excitement.

Mr. Petersen entered the debriefing room and took his place on the podium. The vid screen behind him sprang to life, the emblem of The Bastion rotating against a blue backdrop.

“It’s good to see you again,” Mr. Petersen began, his well-manicured hands resting on the podium. Unlike other speakers, he didn’t fidget or shift his weight. He remained almost perfectly still. As always, Maria had the impression that his every word, movement, and expression was carefully calculated to elicit a desired response. “It has been a few weeks since we last spoke. I hope your time in the SWD facility has been comfortable. It’s been a bit of a vacation, hasn’t it?” A flash of his pearly white teeth and the merriment in his eyes pulled smiles onto the faces of his listeners and a few chuckles. “Alas, it’s time to go to work.” His grin broadened as the men and women before him looked visibly relieved, excited and apprehensive all at once. “But I know that each and every one of you is glad to hear that at last you will be getting down to the very dirty business of finally removing the Inferi Scourge from outside the walls.”

The volunteers cheered as the excitement in the room swelled.

“He’s good,” Maria remarked, slightly impressed “Yes.” Dr. Curran’s voice was clipped. “He is.”

“There’s no need to reiterate the enormous importance of what you have volunteered to do for humanity. It’s no secret that humankind has stood on the brink of extinction since the Inferi Scourge decimated our nations and brought us to our knees.” As Mr. Petersen spoke, behind him flashed historical vids of the glories of the old world before transitioning to uncensored coverage of the Scourge rampaging through the cities.

“I’ve never seen these before,” Maria said, unable to look away from the bloody footage of the Inferi Scourge swarming their victims. Once the hapless victim was revived as Scourge, the rabid creatures moved on.

Dr. Curran sighed slightly, glancing up at the proceedings in the other room. “The government felt it was best not to show the more disturbing vids. When the survivors were being airlifted to the city, it was determined that for their psychological wellbeing the more graphic historical vids should be removed from the public archives. This was supposed to be the new Eden. They didn’t want to remind the new Adams and Eves of the snakes outside the gate.”

The vids running behind Mr. Petersen clearly showed that The Bastion had been heavily promoted as the new Garden of Eden: a utopia in the midst of a dying world. Maria tore her gaze from the vids of the construction of The Bastion to the faces of the men and women that would soon be Inferi Boon soldiers. They were staring in rapt attention at the images being played. Maria had to admit they were inspiring. Mr. Petersen narrated as the vids revealed the extensive work that had gone into creating the new Eden. Mountain passes were destroyed so that only one gated entrance remained into the valley. Scenes of the massive airlift of prefabricated buildings into the valley were impressive, as was the footage of the construction of the city walls.

“This was our new home. Our new Eden. In fact the nickname for The Bastion in those exhilarating first days was actually New Eden. Once it was ready, human survivors from all over the globe were transported to this location from the last remaining human enclaves. I’m sure your own families tell of the harrowing escapes from nearly overrun rescue centers. My own grandfather only escaped because he managed to lash himself to the skids of the last helicopter leaving South Africa when there was no more room inside the aircraft to carry out anymore survivors.”

Mr. Petersen was not relating any new information to the people in the room, but he was making it a personal journey. Maria could see the emotion building in the eyes of the people listening to the man in the white suit. Maybe it was because she was Inferi Boon now, or maybe because she wasn’t in the room surrounded by her comrades, but she could see how expertly he was manipulating them all.

“This has to be fair,” Maria said at last to Dr. Curran. “The choice they make to either become what I am or not should be their own. They shouldn’t be manipulated into it.”

Dr. Curran angled her head toward Maria. “Is anything he is saying a lie?”

“No, but-”

“You said you wanted them to make the decision you didn’t get to make, right?”

“Yes, but-”

“We killed you and brought you back as Inferi Boon. Yet instead of harboring a grudge, you have agreed to go out there and destroy the Inferi Scourge.”

Maria nodded, already knowing what Dr. Curran was going to say.

“You’re doing it because this city is humanity’s last chance. If this city falls, humanity ceases to exist.” Dr. Curran’s gaze didn’t waver from Maria’s eyes. “Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not.”