The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(125)

At last Lindsey returned, and her faithful aerial drone followed in her wake, carrying Torran’s stealth suit, helmet, weapon and pack. Lindsey’s suit gleamed in the light, and he realized she’d made sure to scrub it down before returning to his side to avoid infecting him.

“Is it clear?” Dr. Curran’s throat was nearly completely healed.

“We killed all the ones on the floor, shut the blast door, and did a second sweep. They’re all dead.”

“And Solomon’s people?” Torran asked, glancing at the bodies hidden under a cover in the corner of the lab.

“Dead.”

“Good,” Dr. Curran said.

Rising to his feet, Torran watched as Lindsey tugged open the door to the containment chamber and handed him the accoutrements of the life he was ready to abandon for her. He reluctantly took the items and started to suit up inside the chamber. While he strapped on his armor, Lindsey transferred items from her pack to his.

“This is all the evidence I compiled, along with some suggestions for further investigation. I also transferred over all the logs from the squads’ armor, aerial drones, and Solomon’s wristlet.”

“So you just weren’t killing Scrags for the last few hours,” Torran observed.

“No, I wasn’t.” Lindsey raised her eyes to gaze at him, and he knew it was petty that he was glad she was suffering as much as he was in the face of their separation.

Torran finished suiting up and dangled the helmet from his fingers. “We could just transmit the information. Get close enough to send it to them.”

“No.” Dr. Curran said sharply. “You need to go back and convince them. Leave no doubt in their minds.”

“And we need to be dead. They can’t know that we’re infected with the same virus as Maria,” Lindsey added. “If we were to send a message, then disappear abruptly, it would be too coincidental. It would cause suspicion and they’d search for us.”

“They’d suspect we took the virus ourselves and ran away.” Dr. Curran adamantly wagged her head. “We need you to be the sole survivor.”

Torran winced at the words, and Lindsey rested her gloved hand against his cheek.

“Torran, you need to make sure they believe you. That they will start an investigation.”

“Commandant Pierce will listen,” Torran replied.

“But she’s not the only one that needs to believe,” Lindsey said, and he knew she was right.

Kissing the palm of her hand, he wished he could feel flesh and not the glove. “I know.” Dragging her into his arms, he rested his head against her helmet. She clung to him in silence and he knew she was crying. At last he pulled away and pressed his hand to her faceplate. She blew a kiss and smiled through her tears.

“Walk me out?” he asked, though he knew already she would.

“Absolutely. I always like our walks. Except the ones where we’re being held hostage.”

Torran donned his helmet, grabbed his pack and its valuable cargo, and attached his weapon to his armor. As she escorted him to the tiltrotor parked on the pad on the roof, he was stunned to see the many Scrag bodies lying about. He hadn’t imagined so many had infiltrated the upper floor and saw the wisdom of her securing him in the containment chamber. Walls and doors were completely demolished under the onslaught of the dead. How easily a horde in The Bastion would destroy the flimsy homes of the citizens. That truth didn’t alleviate his dismay at being parted from Lindsey, yet it fortified his determination to fulfill his new mission.

Once they arrived on the roof, Torran gazed up through the gentle snowfall at a sky so black and full of stars, it took his breath away. Clouds sailed over the dark expanse and occasionally obscured the half-smile of the moon. Looking over at Lindsey, he saw she was staring upward, too.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s different out here,” she admitted. “No city lights to muck it up.”

“They used to call this the city of love. It was famous for lights and some massive metal sculpture that was blown up by terrorists long, long ago.”

“That’s a bit lovely and sad at the same time,” Lindsey decided, frowning. “But I guess the whole world is that way.”

“You’ll experience the world alone,” he lamented. “Well, I guess not exactly alone. You’ll be with her.”

“No.” Lindsey shook her head. “Not with her. I’ll find her a nice lab somewhere, reprogram a few drones, and leave her to her work on an inoculation against the Scrags. I can’t stand the sight of her.”

“So you’ll be alone.” Torran didn’t like the thought of that. “Or will you look for Dwayne and Maria?”

“No,” Lindsey said. “Let them find their own way. I’m going home.”

“And where’s that?”

With a very wide smile, Lindsey answered, “Where you’ll be.”

The heaviness crushing his heart alleviated in that moment, and raising his eyes to the heavens, said, “Then I’m ready to go.”





EPILOGUE


Six Months Later—



Through the cottage window, Lindsey gazed toward the greenhouse where Teeny was enthusiastically tending the plants. The little drone was much better at the task than she was and she enjoyed watching it zip around inside the glass structure.