The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(10)

It was a bit difficult squeezing through the hole with his helmet on, but Torran didn’t dare take it off. Torran held his weapon before him with one hand while using the other to push through the narrow, ragged tunnel. Keeping an eye on his surroundings, Torran wormed his way through the opening. The windows faced a concrete pad that was cracked and sprouting weeds. The drop to the ground wasn’t too high, so when he finally pulled his torso through the glass far enough to allow gravity to take control, he fell, tucked, rolled, and shot back onto his feet.

The area appeared clear, but the sight further along the road gave him pause. Revealed through the night vision, Torran saw many bodies sprawled before the heavy doors to the mine. Toggling through his filters, he swallowed hard. The bodies were warm, which meant they were his squad and they were most likely dead. Raising his head, he saw Goodwin squeezing through the hole in the thick glass.

“Hurry,” he said, but knew he didn’t need to urge the other two soldiers.

Scanning the area, he gripped his weapon ever tighter. The comfort he sought from it didn’t manifest as he watched the corpses of his squad in the distance start to jerk and thrash about.

Goodwin crashed to the ground beside him, but rapidly recovered and stood up. Jonas started through the hole, his ragged breathing sifting through the helmet speakers. Thrusting one hand through the opening, he said, “They’re almost through! Help me!”

“Cover us,” Torran told Goodwin.

Eyes wide with fright, she briskly nodded.

Torran swung his weapon onto his back and raised his hands toward Jonas. He could barely reach the other man and his fingertips scrabbled at the hard, black armor as Torran struggled to get a good grip. Jonas managed to get his other arm through the glass, his firearm dangling from the strap attached to his uniform. Torran clutched Jonas’s hand and strove to pull the man through the opening.

The screech of the Inferi Scourge seeped through the feed.

Behind the facemask of the helmet, Jonas’ expression was one of stark fear, and Torran’s throat constricted with alarm.

“They’re in the room,” Jonas gasped.

“Goodwin!”

Promptly, she was at Torran’s side, her fingers wrapped around Jonas’s wrist. Together, they attempted to drag his long body through a ragged gap in the glass. Jonas wiggled about as he tried to find enough traction to push free. Desperation and fear clawed at Torran’s mind, but he gritted his teeth and pulled harder. He wasn’t about to lose another member of his squad. Especially not one as young and full of potential like Jonas.

“C’mon, Jonas!”

“They got me! They got me!” Jonas thrashed about.

It was difficult to see into the room due to the angle, but Torran thought he saw hands digging at Jonas’s waist, or maybe it was a trick of the light and his own nerves.

Planting one boot on the wall, Torran strained to pull Jonas free.

Footfalls against asphalt drew Goodwin away from the struggle, leaving Torran to rescue Jonas alone. She whipped her weapon about and fired, the flash from the muzzle illuminating Jonas’s terrified face. Torran saw several dark shapes hurtling toward them out of the corner of his eye. Goodwin cut them down, but more appeared out of the tangle of trees encircling the area.

“They’re pulling off my boot! They’re pulling off my boot!” Jonas screamed.

“What the f*ck?” Goodwin shouted

“To infect him,” Torran rasped. “Shit! They mean to infect him!”

“No! No! No!” Jonas screamed, the shrill sound squealing through the connection.

Looking up into Jonas’s dark eyes, Torran knew the truth instantly. Several pulses of his heart were all it took for the virus to take hold. Torran saw the life in Jonas’s eyes extinguish as he went limp. The virus was a quick killer.

With a furious, strangled cry, Torran released Jonas hands and watched his body be dragged back into the building.

“We need to go now!” Torran swung about, lifting his weapon and breaking into a run.

The area was clear for the moment, Goodwin’s marksmanship reducing the Scrags rushing them to pulp. Glancing toward the mines, Torran noted the bodies of his former squad continued to twitch as the virus took hold. In a matter of minutes, they’d be reanimated. So would Jonas.

“I don’t want to be one of them!” Goodwin rushed alongside the building, the black metal of her heavy firearm gleaming in the moonlight.

“You’re not going to be,” Torran answered, merging the comm lines so he could call base, but also keep track of Goodwin. “Base, the mining facility is under the control of the Abscrags. We need reinforcements now!”

“We are unable to comply or extract you at this time—”

“Then we’ll be dead and you’ll have more Abscrags to deal with!”

Torran pivoted about, sweeping the area with gunfire. Two Scrags tumbled to the ground. Meanwhile, dark figures skirted around the corner of the building and one of them raised their arm.

“Goodwin, take cover!” Torran ordered.

There was nowhere to go except into the woods. Torran and Goodwin crashed through the scrub brush and into the copse of fir trees. Torran frantically searched for a place to hide. A second later, a flash of light instantly rendered him blind, and his flesh crawled as a pulse of electricity swept through his armor. The speakers in his helmet squealed with a deafening noise. The display on his visor sputtered and died.