The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(87)

“Hungry!”

“We’re going to get you help.” Denman tucked away his med-pad and calmly joined Maria across the room. A slight jerk of his head directed her outside.

Stepping out into the cool night air, Maria felt relieved to be away from the sobbing man. Jameson was an idiot at times, but no one deserved to be in such agony. She couldn’t imagine why the torpor hadn’t come.

“I need to send this information to the SWD immediately. Omondi is in torpor. You’re going to have to do it directly,” Denman said in an urgent tone.

“What’s going on?”

“His…vitals are wrong.”

“Vitals?”

“He has a pulse, Vanguard Martinez. A faint pulse, but it’s there. You saw him weeping. We can’t produce tears. He can. Honestly, right now he’s half alive and half dead. Some of his biological systems are working again, while others are not. I think the best way I could describe what he is experiencing is…he is in death throes.”

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” Maria gawked at Denman in disbelief. “How can this be?”

“I don’t know! It’s not like the Inferi Anomaly scans I took. This is different.” Tugging his med-pad out, he tapped a few commands into it then handed it to Maria. “On the left side are our readings. On the right, Jameson. In the middle, the Anomalies.”

It didn’t take a medical degree to see the vast differences. “What could have caused this?”

“I don’t know. As far as I know none of the other Boon are suffering any of these symptoms. We have to get this information to Dr. Curran. I don’t think Jameson will re-enter torpor. We leave him here and he’s going to starve to death.”

With a sigh, Maria nodded her head. Uplinking the med-pad to her wristlet, she made the call to the SWD.

Within the hour a med-pod was lowered from a tiltrotor. Maria and Denman had already removed Jameson from the house. He lay on the ground whimpering and trembling. They had to move fast before the Inferi Scourge were completely drawn out of their torpor. They were two miles away, but they could move fast when hunting.

Maria pulled open the med-pod as Denman lifted the restrained man in his arms. Jameson howled, but didn’t struggle. Together, they pushed him inside and worked to secure the harnesses around his quivering limbs.

“Special Constable Jameson, you’re going to be okay, do you hear me?” Denman shouted at the man over the roar of the tiltrotor hovering overhead.

Jameson gave a slight nod as he stared at them with wide eyes.

Maria wondered if Denman’s words were the truth, but she reached in and gave Jameson’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You performed admirably. Good job, soldier.” The fact that he was no longer trying to bite them gave her hope that he would be okay.

Stepping back, she watched Denman press a med-tag to the young man’s sweaty flesh just above his collar and activate it. The medics onboard would be able to monitor Jameson remotely until he was back in the city. Sealing the med-pod, Denman backed away.

“He’s secure,” Maria said into her wristlet.

“Aye, sir,” the pilot’s voice answered.

The med-pod lifted off the ground and slid upward until it disappeared into the underbelly of the tiltrotor. The craft swung around in a wide arc and headed back to the city. As the roar of its rotor’s faded away, Maria could hear the howls of the Scourge.

“They’re coming,” Denman said in a weary voice.

“Time to wake the others,” Maria said.

Together, they sprinted to the carrier.





Chapter 25


The carrier careened into the Scourge stampeding toward it just as the sun broke over the horizon. The razor-sharp plow sliced through the bodies like a heated knife through butter. Special Constable Jes Cormier expertly swung the vehicle around, making another pass through the rabid creatures.

Jostled about by the sharp turn, Maria glanced up briefly to view the carnage through the splattered windshield before returning her gaze to her screens. “Maintain your heading until you’re clear of the crowd, then take another pass.”

Behind her she could hear the excited whoops and chatter of her squad. Maria had awakened the soldiers and quickly outlined their plan of action. She was done fighting the Scourge by hand. With so much of the valley cleared in their area, she was ready to use the carrier as a weapon.

“Brace yourselves!” Cormier called out just before the carrier slashed through the Scourge mass.

Scans of the valley revealed how much they had cleared in the last few months. The main clusters were around the city walls and near the hydroelectric facilities. That there were vast areas of open space was breathtaking to behold.

The carrier cleared the raging Scourge herd and swung around for another pass.

“You almost have this herd wiped out,” Maria said to Cormier.

“I like this way of dealing with them much more,” Cormier answered as the carrier accelerated forward.

Grinning, Maria answered, “So do I.”

The carrier left a large swath of blood, gore and body parts in its wake.



* * *



The bonfire burned brilliantly against the backdrop of the blue mountains rising above the valley. They had utilized the carrier’s plow to build an enormous bonfire. The Scourge bodies smoldered and the stench of their cooking flesh made Maria’s eyes water.