The Last Bastion of the Living (The Last Bastion #1)(90)

“And no one else is experiencing any changes at all?”

Denman continued to point at his eyes.

“I dream now.”

Dr. Curran set the pad down and gaped at her. “What?”

“I dream during torpor.” Maria stared at the woman steadily. “What’s happening to us?”

“I…don’t know,” Dr. Curran said, confusion filling her eyes.

“Jameson didn’t go back into torpor after his eating frenzy. We left him alone for hours. His wristlet alarm was disabled. I did it personally. But he never slipped into the blackout. I want to know why.”

“Is anyone else experiencing this?”

“No. At least not yet.”

“Have you said anything to Chief Defender Omondi?”

“No, I have not.”

“Don’t. I want you to report only to me in regards to any changes your squad is experiencing physiologically.” Dr. Curran’s voice was clipped and fierce.

“He is my commanding officer, Doctor.”

The doctor slammed her hand down on her desk. “Vanguard Martinez, do you really believe that if I trusted Chief Defender Omondi I would be talking to you? He’s the puppet of Mr. Petersen and the Black Ops of the SWD. Even though I was appointed by the President of The Bastion to supervise this mission, vital information has been withheld from me at every turn. I am trying to help you and your squad survive out there. Mr. Petersen is more interested in covering up the SWD’s mistakes.”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you really believe this is the first time we tried this? Do you?” Dr. Curran shook her head in disbelief. “There are four failed missions that haunt the SWD past. This is the closest we’ve come to success. All other missions failed.”

It all began to click in Maria’s mind. “The Anomalies are the soldiers from the failed missions.”

“Yes, they are. And they’ve been trying to get back into the city for years. The modified virus they were given mutated. They began to crave…flesh. Human flesh. The SWD cut them off and left them to rot outside the city. But they didn’t die. And like Jameson, they never went into torpor. Your squad is the SWD’s first success with a modified ISPV. You’re my success. It wasn’t until I inherited the project that the SWD had any success in modifying the virus sufficiently to create you and your squad.”

“Omondi is tracking down the Anomalies, isn’t he?”

Dr. Curran nodded briskly. “The Anomalies, as you call them, have been located around the hydroelectric station for years. The service tunnels and subways have long been sealed off, but they have concentrated their efforts to getting into the city in that area.”

“And they succeeded,” Maria whispered. She thought of her father dying under the city as he fought the Inferi Scourge that had mysteriously invaded the sewers.

“A few times.” Dr. Curran drew in a deep breath and exhaled, obviously trying to calm herself. “Listen to me, Maria. I’m trying to help you. I want you to succeed in your mission. You’ll send daily reports to me that will have thorough scans of every squad member. You will send the information via this encrypted channel. Record the data I am sending you now. It’s a back door into our system.”

“If we’re becoming Anomalies, you can stop it, can’t you?” Maria asked in a rough voice. Her brain was buzzing with all the information she was processing.

“I believe I can help you as long as you send the data.”

“Jameson is still alive, isn’t he?” Maria asked abruptly.

Dr. Curran’s eyes narrowed slightly, then she gave Maria a curt nod. “Of course.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because you have no choice and you know it.”

Maria let out on explosive breath. “Very well.”

“Keep this between us. There is more at risk here than just your career, you know.”

“I understand.”

Dr. Curran folded her hands together and leaned toward the vid screen. “I am trying to help you. Whether you believe that or not, it’s the truth. Now, keep me informed of any changes in any of your squad members.”

“Very well.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

The screen flashed then her image was gone.

Maria raised her eyes to meet Denman’s intense stare.

“Holy Christ,” Denman finally said.

“Fuck them all,” Maria grunted.

“Why didn’t they tell us about the Anomalies?” Denman exclaimed.

“Because they fear we’ll end up just like them,” Maria snapped. “Isn’t that obvious? That’s probably the reason they have accelerated our schedule. They want us to finish before we become Anomalies!”

“Shit!”

“Wait!” Maria frowned. “Ryan died in the final push. He couldn’t have been in a mission.”

“When the Anomalies bit him, they transferred the modified virus to him.”

“Which made him one of them.”

Denman’s eyes widened slowly. “Oh, f*ck. That means if the Anomalies bit the soldiers who fell in the last big push against the Scrags…”

“Then there are a lot more of them than the SWD realizes.”