The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(30)

“Yeah, but still... I hated reentering the subway system without you coming with us.”

“You had your orders. Besides, it would have been tough to explain why you were there, right? I didn’t want to discuss it on here,” Torran said, tapping his wristlet, “but you knew about the Inferi Boon before the worm transmitted. That’s why you were there. You were going to destroy Denman’s body because he was Inferi Boon.”

Lindsey sighed. “The Constabulary discovered the truth, but was unable to save the Inferi Boon. I was dispatched to destroy Denman’s body for exactly the reason you guessed. We didn’t want SWD getting samples of the virus.”

“Because it had mutated?”

“Something like that.”

“It’s so f*cked,” Torran shook his head. “I look at that list of names and I know how easily it would’ve been for mine to be on it.”

“If they had asked you to volunteer, you would have done it just like the rest of us.”

“Well, it sounded good, didn’t it? Immunity to the virus, ability to kill the f*ckin’ Scrags with impunity, and first dibs at a nice chunk of land and a house?” Torran exhaled. “Hell, who wouldn’t have taken that?”

“My best friend, Maria, took it.”

“The vanguard?” Torran hadn’t even thought about Lindsey having close ties to any Inferi Boon, which meant they had even more in common than he’d realized.

“Yeah. She wanted a new life for herself and Dwayne.”

“The castellan and the vanguard. Their love story is kinda epic, isn’t it?”

“Or scandalous. It depends on which news feed or commentator you’re reading or listening to.”

Torran had managed to catch bits of the newscast once he’d been ‘absolved of any misdeeds,’ as the official document had stated. The whereabouts of the former castellan and his ladylove was a huge mystery. Many believed he’d killed his beloved, buried her, then returned to the city and was now in hiding. Others believed he’d killed Maria, buried her, then killed himself and his body would be found eventually. There was also speculation that Dwayne had allowed himself to be infected and that eventually the cleanup squads would find both of them as Scrags and be forced to kill them. There were the dreamers that hoped that if they were Scrags, they’d be captured and Dr. Curran’s cure would still somehow work.

“What do you think happened to them, Rooney?”

Pursing her lips slightly, Lindsey shrugged. “I don’t know. I know he loved her. Desperately. She never told me about their affair, but I know she must have loved him, too. I saw them talking on the vids during one part of the mission and you could...” She trailed off, averting her eyes.

“See it.” Torran gently guided Lindsey around a snarl of people gathered around a downed bicyclist. A few were bending over to help the girl up while others tried to reattach the wheel to the frame.

“Yeah. So in my head they have a happy ending. Somehow.” Lindsey laughed lightly. “I suppose that sounds foolish considering all of this.” She glanced significantly over the rail at the churning brown water rushing through the reservoir below. It was runoff from a massive thunderstorm the night before and on its way to being recycled.

“In a year, it will all be different, you know. People will be living outside the city. There will be farms. Ranches. Fresh food. Running trains.” Torran grinned at the thought. “A whole new world to experience.”

Lindsey tilted her head to gaze up at him. “Yet, we’ll still be in the valley.”

“Well, it’s a small world.” Torran wasn’t sure if it was the gray weather or the long weeks of constant questions, but he felt very restless. It was a good day for a very long walk with a new friend. “So, Vanguard Rooney, what’s your pleasure today?”

“A long walk, a visit with Maria’s mother, maybe a stop at a pub at some point, and apparently, company and conversation. And you can call me Lindsey.”

“And you can call me Torran.”

“I like MacDonald better,” Lindsey said with complete seriousness.

“Really?”

Laughing, she poked his side. “It’ll be hard adjusting to calling you by your first name. You’re MacDonald in my head. And on my wristlet.” She swiped her screen and pulled up her contacts menu. “See.”

“Well, you could type in Torran. It’s very simple you just...” He took her arm in hand and started typing on her wristlet screen. When he finished changing his name, he put a mark next to it so his messages would get top priority.

“You’re rather bold, don’t you think?” Lindsey stared up at him through her thick, dark lashes with amusement.

“We’re going to be the best of friends. You saved my life. I saved yours.” Torran winked at her.

“I am glad you’re okay. I’m also relieved they were wise enough to comprehend that it wasn’t your fault.” Her face sobered. “You couldn’t have known how the mission would turn out. You didn’t have all the facts.”

The heavy weight of guilt wasn’t about to diminish any time soon. Just the mere memory of Goodwin eating Jonas after she shot him in the head was enough to make him want to retch. Torran embraced the pain instead, hoping it would make him wiser and more cautious should he ever face such horrors again.