The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(120)

Carrying the helmet over to Franklin’s armor, Teeny connected it and turned it on. “The helmet is operational.”

“Yay! Especially since you had to go all that way to retrieve it.”

“You are sarcastic, Mother.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Teeny clattered over to her side and crawled onto the chair next to her. It was the same chair Torran had sat on earlier in the week, and Lindsey fought back a fresh batch of tears. Though she could walk among the Scrags, survive death, and endure a substantial amount of damage, she still felt like the same woman she’d been before her transformation. Which meant she was worried sick about Torran, determined to save him, and anxious to destroy the Gaia Cult.

Directing its cameras toward the vid screens, Teeny hunched down. “The program is nearly finished?”

“Yeah. It’s almost ready. I still have my touch.” Switching to the camera and scanner feeds, Lindsey took a sip of her water. The scanners clearly showed human bodies moving about on the top floor of the rescue center. “The six remaining Cultists are all on the top floor. I’ve determined that four are always on shift, with two sleeping in this room here.” Lindsey pointed to the screen. “At least three are usually in the command center, and one in the lab with Dr. Curran and Torran.”

“Father is still alive,” Teeny said.

“Call him Mr. MacDonald. He’s sensitive,” Lindsey corrected.

“Yes, Mother.”

“So what we need to do is break into the building, go up the stairs, get through the security doors on the top floor, kill all the bad guys, and rescue Torran. Easy, right?”

“Actually, it sounds hard, Mother,” Teeny answered.

“Remind me to teach you to lie,” Lindsey grumbled.

“Yes, Mother.”



*



Lindsey chose the period right after sunset for her attack with hopes that darkness would disorient her enemies. The night would also provide cover for her and Teeny. She knew for certain that the Gaia Cultist did not have adequate equipment and would not be able to detect her and the aerial drone until they infiltrated the building.

An hour before the designated time, Lindsey suited up. Franklin’s armor was a bit big on her, but Lindsey had managed to adjust the straps on the arms and legs for a better fit. It was odd, wearing the dead woman’s stealth suit, but Lindsey didn’t want to risk further injury. Her wounds were fully healed and she felt fine, but she didn’t want to test the limits of her altered body.

After the fuel reviver finished its process, Lindsey re-filled Teeny. The little drone twirled around the Rescue Hub a few times, clearly relieved to be airborne again. She then made sure the drone’s guns were fully loaded before claiming a few firearms for herself from the weapons locker. The pack on her back carried ammunition, water and food, and a pad filled with information on the Gaia Cult. Another pad was tucked into one of the pouches in her armor. That one held the program she’d been working on all day.

When she finally started out toward the rescue center where the Gaia Cult was holed up, Teeny followed, clutching a remote generator. It was odd, being able to walk past Scrags without fear, but Lindsey was quickly adapting. Noting the helmet appeared to rile the creatures, she took it off and walked with it tucked under one arm.

Several blocks from the rescue center, she arrived at the edge of the massive crowd of Scrags gathered around the building. Most on the outer edges were in a stagnant state, but those closer to the building were in an uproar. The comings and goings of the tiltrotor over the last couple of days had kept those Scrags sufficiently riled.

As Teeny sailed over the Scrags, Lindsey pushed her way into the throng. The Scrags smelled incredibly awful, and she almost retched. Unwashed bodies pressed in around her from all sides. The reek of death was on their breath and their empty white eyes were chilling. Being up close to the creatures was disconcerting, but she swallowed her fear and advanced toward the building.

As she continued her passage through the horde, a Scrag screeched as she brushed past it. She immediately came to an abrupt stop and swiveled about to face it. Teeny swung back around overhead, extending the barrels of its weapons. The undead being stared Lindsey, and the soldier waited, holding her breath. Finally, the Scrag let out a querying cry, confused when it was unable to find prey.

Exhaling with relief, Lindsey resumed shoving her way through the increasingly compact crowd. In due course, she was forced to squeeze between the walking corpses. Near the front doors to the rescue center, she finally had to give up. It was impossible to pass through the crush of bodies anymore.

“Teeny, I need your help,” she called out.

Aware of the drone’s weight limitations, she handed Teeny her pack and ordered it to take it inside the building and leave it in the stairwell along with the remote generator.

For the next few minutes, she waited as the agitated dead flailed against the walls of the building and fought each other to get closer. The bottom of the building was smeared with blood and viscera from the Scrags constantly battering themselves against it.

Teeny whirred overhead and extended its long legs. Lindsey clutched the helmet to her chest as the drone lifted her off the ground and carried her over the heads of the Scrags. Warning lights popped on its underside and the drone’s tiltrotors increased speed to keep them aloft. Tucking her legs up under her bottom, Lindsey tried not to snag her armor on the Scrags just inches below. Teeny dipped to get her through the front entrance and Lindsey found herself being dragged across the heads of the Scrags. The already agitated creatures swiped at her, and she clambered over them on her hands and knees until Teeny was able to lift her again.