The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(8)

He kissed her again. It was the sort of kiss that made her want to drag him back into bed. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispered back.

“Your brown eyes are what keeps me going each day. That look inside them when you see me makes it all bearable.”

“Don’t make me cry! I’m a hard ass!”

He laughed, straightening. “I’d better go.” Pulling a protein bar from his jacket, he headed toward the door. “Take care out on the wall.”

“Unless the Scrags learn to fly, I’ll be fine.”

Dwayne smiled, then was gone.

The flat seemed painfully empty and small without him. It was one long narrow room with a long counter along one wall that served as her kitchen. Simple storage units were tucked under it, full of her food stores, clothing, and her few personal effects. Her bed was tucked into the opposite corner. The small shower and toilet closet were two feet away from the end of the bed. Despite its small size, she felt very lucky to have a flat all to herself. Most enlisted single people lived in the military facilities, but because of her status as a war hero, she had been allowed to live on her own in one of the residential sections of the city.

The vid screen on the wall over the counter next to the windows chimed twice then flicked on. It was the daily morning update that all the citizens of The Bastion were required to watch. Maria ignored the beautiful woman’s face filling the screen as she shoved the oatmeal into the small oven on the counter.

“Good morning, citizens of The Bastion. Though the Inferi Scourge continues to gather outside the walls of our fine city, the citizens of The Bastion continue to live their lives freely without threat. Several pivotal victories against the Inferi Scourge have...”

Maria turned on the shower to drown out the lies and half-truths delivered by the mouthpiece of the government she no longer trusted. The anchorwoman, Raquel, was even more popular than President Cabot and people trusted her implicitly. Maria didn’t understand the blind devotion.

Stepping into the shower, she braced herself as the freezing drops pelted her skin. The cold water washed away the last vestiges of sleep, awakening both her body and mind.

When she moved out of the shower into the muggy warmth of her flat, the fresh smell of coffee filled her nostrils. Naked, she poured the rich brew into a small cup, spooned in generous heaps of the raw sugar Dwayne had managed to procure, and gulped down the strong mixture. It was almost hot enough to burn her tongue, but the rush of caffeine and sugar really hit the spot. The vid screen had shut off after the morning dose of propaganda. Enjoying the quiet, she leaned her hip against the counter while she stared out the narrow window to the busy streets below.

Pouring herself a second cup, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of remorse as she saw children rushing through the morning crowds to school. Though she had never really thought about being a mother, the loss of her reproductive system due to her battle injuries had sealed that door forever. Dwayne had twins, a boy and a girl, about to celebrate their eighteenth birthday, and an older daughter that he had a difficult relationship with. Aware of her infertility, Dwayne was silent on the issue of them having children. She suspected he was waiting for her to bring up the subject. They could always adopt or apply to have themselves cloned, but Maria was uncertain about bringing children into this dismal world.

Of course, the government was always pushing for more children despite the shortages. The ratio between men and women continued to be worrisome. Only a third of the population of The Bastion was male. A large number of the deaths when the gate failed had been men.

Maria hated to admit it, but ever since the battle she had given up hoping for something more than her dreary life. Only Dwayne made life bearable and if not for him, she was certain she would have drowned in despair by now.

Sliding her finger over the face of her wristlet, she activated the screen. Every resident of The Bastion wore the device from birth. It expanded as the person grew, keeping a snug fit to the wrist, and couldn’t be removed. Paper-thin, two inches wide, with a silver sheen to the metal, it was not only a communication device and personal computer; it was the government’s direct link to the citizens. The life signs of every citizen were constantly monitored by the Science Warfare Division, and the instant someone died a squad was dispatched to destroy the body immediately. The ISPV was not airborne, but the government didn’t want to risk a possible mutation. The implementation of the wristlets had been controversial in the days before the Inferi Scourge had finally destroyed civilization, but now the civilians of The Bastion were comforted by its presence on their wrist. It provided a connection to relatives and friends living on the far edges of the city, as well as kept them informed of the latest updates on food distribution, weather, and government news.

Like many, Maria simply regarded it as an extension of herself.

The screen lit up and she quickly tapped in her password. Her orders for the day appeared, unchanged from the night before, but she furrowed her brow at a new message from only an hour earlier. Sliding her finger over the message, it unfurled, filling the screen. Reading it over twice, she slowly lifted an eyebrow.

It was two short sentences ordering her to report to the Section Officer’s office to meet with a representative from the Science Warfare Division after her patrol. The message was marked as top priority and top secret. Staring at the words, she couldn’t fathom why she would be summoned by the SWD. Before her release from the hospital, she had been cleared of all contamination by the ISPV.