The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(122)

Dr. Curran lunged toward the door, but Evins turned his weapon toward her.

“We’re waiting for Solomon!”

“You won’t shoot me,” Dr. Curran said, raising her chin and taking a step forward.

“Yes, yes, I will,” Evins promised, and aimed at her shin. “I’ll put a bullet in your leg.”

That stopped Dr. Curran. She literally growled at the man, raising her fists in frustration. “You idiot man!”

Nerves frayed, his stomach in knots, Torran listened the cries of the Scrags and the bark of weaponry. Frustrated at being trapped, he paced back and forth, staring at the open doorway.

A shadow fell across the threshold and Dr. Curran recoiled. Evins swung about and almost fired he was so jittery. Solomon was faster. She batted the weapon out of her face, closed the door, and activated the locks.

“We’ve been infiltrated. Yates and the drones are on it. We saw at least one person among the Scrags.” Solomon surged toward Dr. Curran and grabbed her by the throat with one hand. “There was a soldier, firing at us, among the Scrags! What did you do?”

Dr. Curran looked positively reptilian as she smiled. Torran wouldn’t have been surprised if a forked tongue had slithered out from between her lips.

“It’s Lindsey, isn’t it?” Torran called out to the scientist. “You saved her, didn’t you?”

Dr. Curran didn’t look his way, but she didn’t deny it.

“You gave her the virus!” Solomon shouted in a rage. “You betrayed us!” Solomon dropped her hand to her waist, jerked out a dagger, and before Dr. Curran could dodge away, slashed the scientist’s throat.



*



Outside the doorway, Scrags danced under the hail of gunfire, their bodies shredded. Blood and guts poured out onto the floor. Yates and the aerial drones continued to pulverize every Scrag crawling under the barricade. In a very short time, the gap would be clogged with bodies, making it harder for the undead to enter the hallway. That’s when Lindsey knew Yates would come for her, and Lindsey was unarmed.

Lindsey pressed her back to the wall just inside the door and activated her wristlet. When Teeny responded to her hail, relief washed over her. The drone had managed to reach the outside of the lab only to find it closed. It wouldn’t be able to fight Yates and the other drones by itself either. Biting her bottom lip, Lindsey sorted through all the ideas flooding her mind and finally decided on an option. After transmitting directions to Teeny, she started to shove the furniture room together. When it looked like sufficient cover, she checked outside the door. There were pauses in the deafening salvo as Yates and the drones reloaded, but now the barricade of bodies was holding back the onslaught of the undead, for the time being.

Ducking into cover, Lindsey waited for Yates.

Short bursts of gunfire continued, but Lindsey also heard approaching footsteps. The cries of the Scrags were muffled by the combination of the blast door and pile of corpses blocking their way. Daring to peek, Lindsey saw the aerial drones fly to the jammed blast door, aiming their weapons down to kill any Scrag pushing through the tangle of dead bodies.

A second later, Yates slipped into the darkened room.

“Rooney,” Yates breathed. “I saw your weapon outside. Oops. Did you drop something?”

Lindsey remained silent.

“Rooney...answer me, Rooney. I saw your face. I know it’s you.”

Staying very still, Lindsey pressed her lips together.

“I guess Curran betrayed us. I’ll enjoy killing her once her purpose is done. Once I’m like you.”

Yates fired a single shot into the furniture, making Lindsey jump.

“So, Rooney, did you come to save Dr. Curran, or your boyfriend lab rat? It’s really a shame he changed into an Anomaly. I think he would have eventually come around to our way of thinking.”

This time, Lindsey drove her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from responding. Torran had to be alive.

Yates pulled the trigger again. The burst again made Lindsey start.

“I need you to come out so I can figure out this Inferi Boon thing. How much damage will I be able to take before dying? And will I actually die? Will I come back if I take a shot to the head? I really want to know. For future reference, you see.”

Yates kicked over the furniture. When she realized Lindsey wasn’t behind it, she swung her weapon about as she searched the dark for her prey.

“Why are you hiding, Rooney?”

“You know, Yates, being Inferi Boon is a lot of fun. You can walk among the Scrags and not worry one little bit about them trying to take a chunk out of you. But they’re not what you really need to worry about.”

“Oh? What do I need to worry about? I’m not the one who’s unarmed.

“You should be worried about the fact I was waiting for the drones to finish downloading my program.”

Lindsey saw Yates freeze in place.

“Fire,” Lindsey ordered.

The drones clustered in the doorway obeyed.

From Lindsey’s hiding place in the sanitation station, she watched Yates’s body dance in the bombardment, then fall to the ground.

“Mother, she’s dead,” Teeny announced, sounding a little proud.

Pushing the agape door to the sanitation station all the way open, Lindsey stepped into the room and claimed Yates weapon. “Teeny, instruct half the drones to secure the command station. Leave the other half protecting the barricade. You’re coming with me.”