The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(85)

“We need to go,” she said finally.

“Lindsey,” he said in a voice so soft those down the hallway couldn’t have heard him.

“We’ll talk later,” she replied, and then walked swiftly after the chief defender.

Deeply bothered, Torran trailed after her, his stomach a heavy knot in his belly and his nerves buzzing with dread.





Chapter 25


The massive transports lifted off from the Notre Dame Food Depot, and the down draft buffeted Lindsey, nearly blowing her over. To keep her balance, she stood with her feet planted apart while watching the feed from the various monitoring sources. The stadium size depot had a retractable ceiling that permitted the transports to land and lift off from directly inside the main building. It made loading the freight pallets much easier and faster. The landing pad and docking area were large enough that they’d been able to fill all the transports at once. All the containers from the storage units had been viable and were now loaded on the cargo transports.

It was a huge victory.

“Time to go, people!” Lindsey shouted over the roar of the engines of the aircraft.

The squad in their sleek armor rushed past her and up the ramps into the two waiting tiltrotors. Torran stood near the one he was assigned to while also supervising the withdrawal. Though she was doggedly concentrating on her duties, she couldn’t help but steal an occasional look his way. There was so much they had to discuss, but she wondered when they’d be able to have a personal conversation. The world was ominous enough. Why did she have to lose the one thing that brought her any measure of peace?

But then again, maybe peace wasn’t a normal part of the human experience.

During the extraction, Lindsey had spotted a few signs of attempted sabotage. This time, the Gaia Cult had left its calling card with a spray painted message, but it had faded over time and was unreadable. After careful examination, she ascertained the depot security had thwarted the ecowarriors. There were some signs of a battle fought at close proximity and long-dead bodies littered one area of the vast depot. There were Scrags in the building, but their number hadn’t been sufficient to cause any great threat to the squad. The few present had been easily dispatched. Since none of the doors or walls had been breached upon their arrival, she suspected the Gaia Cult had been behind the contamination.

Overhead, the massive cargo transports roared away.

Another successful mission with no loss of life.

The aerial drones continued to circle the food depot, scanning the wall that encircled the facility. The perimeter was already being overrun in one area by a massive crush of Scrags. A horde was rushing toward the depot, but they weren’t a true threat, since they wouldn’t be able to access the interior. The squad would be long gone by the time the Scrags managed to find a way inside, though she doubted they would. The depot would have made a secure safe haven for a small group of people, since it was so well fortified. But considering the attempts of the Gaia Cult to destroy humanity, it was probably a good thing that when the city had fallen, all the survivors had been airlifted to The Bastion.

“Another breach has occurred at the south wall,” Torran’s voice said crisply.

Lindsey watched the feed and shivered. It was terrifying how unrelenting the Scrags were once they had prey in sight. The transports and tiltrotors had likely stirred up the entire undead populace of the city.

“We’re done here. Leave it to the Scrags,” the chief defender instructed.

Lindsey swore there was a smile in the commanding officer’s voice.

Following her squad into her designated tiltrotor, Lindsey glanced toward the other one. Torran was just ascending the ramp and she saw his helmet swivel toward her. After a brief wave, he disappeared inside as the tiltrotor started its ascent.

Lindsey sighed and ducked into her own tiltrotor as the ramp retracted. The squad was already in their seats, the harnesses descending to snap into place. Hastening up the aisle, she saw Franklin and Hobbes give her the thumps up. When the squad had been split between the two tiltrotors, she’d been relieved that Dr. Curran and the Sci-techs were with the chief defender. Sadly, so was Torran, and she wished he was with her instead of in the other aircraft. At least then she’d have the comfort of his presence even though things were oddly strained between them.

Throughout their mission, Torran had been a tad brusque in his interaction with her. In retrospect, she had left them in an awkward pause. She’d been flustered by how quickly he had turned off the console in the prep room. Even though she told herself she wouldn’t snoop when they returned, she knew she would. She had to know what he was hiding. The added stress of knowing she couldn’t spend time with him anymore outside of their duty only made the situation more worrisome.

“Prepare for departure,” Scoggins said through the comm.

The harness to Lindsey’s chair descended and tightened around her. Leaving her console dark, she concentrated instead on the helmet feed. The return journey to The Bastion was always uneventful, but she liked watching the images from the aerial drones and tiltrotor cameras. Most of the terrain was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful even as winter started to set in and the greenery faded beneath of cloak of white. The flight plans attempted to avoid old towns and cities, but once in a while, she’d spot the remains of the old world. Everything about the older human enclaves was so different from The Bastion. Even the city they were in now was very different from their home.