The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(88)

Shocked, she lifted one hand to her eyes.

“Denman,” she gasped.

Turning, he gazed at her curiously. She pointed to her eyes. Denman gaped at the tears trailing down her cheeks. He reached out and swabbed the corner of her eye with the tip of a finger.

Looking around at the remaining squad members, Maria saw they were unaffected by the fire. Denman rubbed the tear between his gloved fingers, then drew out his med-pad. In silence, he scanned her as she waited impatiently.

“What’s happening to me?” Maria asked finally.

Denman shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m reading miniscule changes but nothing like what Jameson was going through. Should I report this?”

Maria pondered his question and abided her instincts. “Not yet.” They were probably a few weeks away from clearing the valley if they could maintain their pace. “Just keep me informed.”



*




Maria relished the feeling of being at a work station doing something other than destroying the Scourge. Maria and the Chief Defender were plotting out the final push against the Scourge.

They had numbers from the SWD on how many Scourge the squad was clearing on a daily basis on average and how many remained; therefore, they could estimate how much longer it would take to wipe out the rest of the hordes.

Omondi’s image was located in a corner of her work station screen. “It appears we’re looking at two more weeks until completion of the mission.”

“The number changed slightly with Jameson out of the picture. He was our most efficient killer.”

“We’ll make up for his absence with taking only one hour of torpor a day.”

“The last psych exam Denman gave us says we’re all on the verge of mental exhaustion. Can we risk pushing ourselves even harder?” Maria tilted her head so she could see Omondi’s face. It was emotionless as usual. She rarely saw the man smile.

“SWD is adamant that we continue around the clock.” Omondi rubbed his chin. “I just don’t know how we can reach their projected end date otherwise. They’re unyielding that we meet that date.”

Maria studied the various bits of information displayed on her screen. “Are they certain about the Maelstrom Platforms?”

“Yes, they’re going to destroy all the Scrags around the wall once we clear out everything else.”

“They want a big final bang, don’t they?” Maria smirked.

She could imagine the news vids now. The platform guns destroying the last of the Scourge gathered around the wall. Of course, there would be no vids of the long endless days they had spent destroying the Scourge.

“We have our orders.” Omondi studied the numbers on his pad. She could see the weariness around his eyes. “We will soon be done with all of this and it will be just a nightmare to be forgotten.”

It was the most human thing he had said in a very long time and Maria was glad to hear it. It was a strange solace that he too was affected by the endless killing.

“How are you progressing toward the hydroelectric plant?”

“Steadily making progress. I estimate we’ll make it there in the next three days. We had to clear out a massive gathering of Scourge near one of the old subway stations.”

“I just don’t understand why we have left the hydroelectric plant until last,” Maria said, tapping her finger lightly on the screen. “With the energy shortages I would expect it to be one of the first places we would clear.”

“We started near the gate because that was where our first objective was located,” Omondi answered, lifting his shoulders dismissively.

“Any word on Jameson?” She had been putting off asking the question, trying to avoid any topic that might annoy her commanding officer. He was very good at avoiding giving her direct answers.

“Psychotic break. His mind had difficulty believing he no longer had to eat. He became obsessed and...” Omondi mimed breaking something in half. “Dr. Curran will be sending Denman some guidelines to help identify any warning signs in the rest of the squad.”

The bold-faced lie left Maria stunned, but she managed to maintain a neutral expression. The SWD was either lying to Omondi, or had told him to lie about Jameson’s condition. Certainly the SWD knew that Denman and Maria were intelligent enough to discern that the readings they had taken of Jameson were not the norm.

Maria decided to push just a little and see how deep the lies were. “Do they have any theories as to why that one Scrag tried to eat Jameson?”

It was if an invisible blast door slammed down between them. Omondi was suddenly an ebony statue staring at her in cold silence. She was very glad he was far away and only an image on her screen.

“The Scrags are rabid undead monsters. We cannot assume to know everything about them considering how long we’ve been trapped in the city. Keep that in mind, Vanguard Martinez.”

“Yes, sir,” Maria said softly.

Denman was watching her from his console. The rest of the squad was in torpor, but she had kept Denman awake. They had both been hoping for answers to Jameson’s condition.

There was terse silence for a few more minutes as Omondi transmitted new orders to her console and Maria reviewed them.

“We can continue utilizing the carrier for at least a day,” Maria decided. “Once we hit this area there will be too many Scrags to risk it.”