The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(60)

“What do you mean?” Maria attached the bag of bolts to the bottom of her backpack, snapping the clasps together.

“I thought it would be...different.” Jameson shrugged slightly. “I thought they wouldn’t look so...”

“Human,” Cormier offered. “They look human under all the dirt and blood.”

“That’s why they fooled people in the beginning,” Cruz reminded them. “They looked wounded and scared, not...what they are.”

Scrunching up his face, Jameson shrugged his shoulders. “Up close it’s just different.”

“I can kill them,” Holm said from nearby. “I don’t care what they look like.”

Jameson bristled. “I just meant it’s not like in the vids, sir. It’s different. They’re different. I thought it would be more...”

“Fun,” Denman finished. “You thought it would be like the action vids.”

Holm chuckled, hoisting an extra gun over one broad shoulder. “At least they aren’t howling for our flesh. I like them docile. It makes them easier to kill.”

“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” Jameson grunted.

“We have the upper hand. They always used to have it before, but now the rules have changed.” Maria secured the lockers and motioned the rest of the soldiers out.

“I like these new rules,” Mikado said, leaping from the carrier.

“So do I.” Cruz followed.

Maria, too, felt uneasy with their circumstances, but they had to make the best of it. There were many unknown variables and no matter how meticulous they had been in their plans, something could always go awry. Coleman’s death had certainly brought that reality home to all of them.

Once everyone had exited the vehicle, Cormier activated the defense system as she disembarked. It would sporadically unleash a high-voltage pulse that would fry any Scourge touching it. The driver sighed, heaved her pack onto her back, and sauntered after Maria.

“We need to hurry before that big group heading our way arrives. It’ll be hell pushing through them,” Maria called out as she joined the squad gathered around Omondi.

“How does it look?” Omondi asked.

Maria pulled out her pad and handed it over to her commanding officer. As he studied it, she swept her gaze over the Scourge encircling the squad. The howls of the approaching horde roused them from their torpor state. Their eyes were darting around, seeking out human prey.

“We need to move. They’re getting stirred up,” Maria said.

With a grim nod of his head, Omondi started off, gesturing for the squad to follow. Falling in behind him, Maria matched his stride. The Chief Defender deftly wove his way through the swaying forms. It was disconcerting how the Scourge’s cloudy eyes shifted to watch him pass. Somewhere in the reanimated brains of the Scourge he registered as one of their own. Instead of attacking, they swayed and moaned.

Behind her Maria could hear the others shoving the Scourge out of their way. Agitated laughter and low conversation mingled with the growing howl of the approaching mob. The dead forest of flesh around her was constantly shifting, growing increasingly animated as the howling coaxed them out of their malaise.

A few bolt weapons sounded. Maria looked back to see a couple of the soldiers dispatching the undead. She understood their anger and the unease, but they needed to keep focused on their mission.

“Keep moving. We need to make it to the gate,” she said in a firm voice.

A few of their faces registered annoyance, but the squad obeyed, trudging along behind her.

The steady stomping of feet over the well-worn terrain became a rhythm to her ears. There were small patches of grass and bushes along the path, but most of the valley had been worn away by the Scourge trampling across the ground.

Maria stepped over broken fences, barbed wire tangled around the rotting wood. The cattle and other farm animals had died of starvation after the gate had failed. The Scourge had no interest in animals, but there had been no way to rescue them. Their bones stuck out of the ground, the only markers of their passing. Maria was careful to step around the protruding ribs of one creature. It felt odd traveling across the remains of what had once been a prosperous cattle ranch. A human skull imbedded in the earth stared at them as they passed by a rusted vehicle. It was all a grim reminder of all that had gone so wrong with New Eden.

The howls of the Inferi Scourge rose steadily behind the squad. Maria cast worried looks at the carrier as it disappeared slowly from view, blocked by the growing crush of the Scourge. They were swarming the carrier.

The brisk pace picked up even more as the mass descended on their location. Maria kept an eye on her pad, calling out changes in their course as they marched. The Scourge heading toward the carrier were a wall of bodies moving rapidly toward the squad.

“Shit, look at them,” McKinney muttered.

Maria paused in her steps to watch the horde sweep past their location. The sight of all the bodies pressed together in one big wave of death and destruction was almost too much to comprehend. The wails were so loud that Maria could barely hear the comments being made around her.

“Keep moving!” Omondi shouted over the din. “Keep moving!”

The Inferi Scourge were already riled up and the sound of a human voice caused a ripple of excitement to flow through the crowd. Torn, rabid faces turned in the direction of the soldiers and a large group of the Scourge switched course to pursue.