The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(91)

“Which is exactly what Solomon is hoping for.”

“Solomon knows what’s she’s doing. She’s clever.”

Pushing to the surface of the water beneath the bridge, Torran tried to regulate his breathing as the air filters drew fresh air. Panic filled him and made his chest tight. He was trapped not only in a city filled with the undead, but in a web of lies spun by someone he should have been able to trust. Why did Chief Defender Solomon want Maria?

Lindsey surfaced behind him, but he avoided looking directly at her. How could he? Half the squad had died to lure her into a trap. That knowledge would crush her.

Torran swam into the sunlight, glad to be away from the darkness. Another beep indicated an incoming request from Lindsey, but Torran ignored it. Half the squad had been murdered and the raw anger burning through his veins was difficult for him to contain. Yet, he would have to in order to find out exactly what was going on. He had to keep calm and draw any information he could out of Franklin.

There was a splash behind him.

The general comm connection popped to life with a burst of static.

“They’re jumping from the bridge behind us,” Franklin cried out through the link.

Torran swiveled about, lungs and arms treading water to keep afloat. Lindsey gave the crowded bridge one frightened look and paddled furiously toward Torran.

“We’re almost there,” he called out encouragingly, waving toward the stairwell. “We need to hurry.”

As Lindsey propelled toward him, more Scrags leaped into the water. Franklin took up a defensive position behind Lindsey, holding her weapon out of the water. In theory, the firearm should work, and Torran hoped it would if they needed it. Torran popped the tab holding his weapon to his chest and swung it about through the murky water. At the same time, he called Lindsey on a secure comm.

She immediately answered in a breathless voice, “I’m coming.”

While Franklin was distracted by the Scrags, Torran knew he had to let Lindsey know what was happening. There might not be another chance. “Lindsey, listen. You’re in danger. And not just from the Scrags. The tiltrotor was sabotaged. It was meant to crash.”

“What? By who?” Disbelief filled her words.

“Not sure yet, but this was all done for one purpose. To isolate you and force you to reach out to Maria.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I was told,” Torran replied, realizing he was reluctant to expose the truth about Franklin. After losing Hobbes, he knew the news would crush Lindsey. Yet he had to tell her.

“Told by who?”

Her tone was ragged and possibly accusing.

Torran was about to answer when a Scrag erupted from the water, shrieking as it lunged toward Lindsey. As the creature reached for her, Lindsey kicked out, managing to drive her boot into the Scrag’s chest. The impact drove the Scrag away as Lindsey surged backward. The waters closed over the Scrag’s head as it disappeared from view. Bubbles and foam flecked the spot where it vanished as the ripples expanded outward.

Torran switched the main comm link. “Don’t fire unless you have to!”

More Scrags were hurling into the river from the bridge. They flailed about once they hit the surface, churning up the water as they sank. A few barely stayed aloft with their wild thrashing, but didn’t appear know how to advance on the living.

Meanwhile, Lindsey swam in a wide arc toward Torran in an attempt to avoid the submerged Scrag while Franklin trailed behind her.

“Where’s the Scrag?” Lindsey gasped. “Where’d it go?”

“It sank.” At least Torran hoped it had. He couldn’t see it beneath the oily, trash covered surface.

“I think it pushed up from the bottom. The water isn’t as deep here,” Franklin observed.

Torran jerked his foot upward as something hit against it. “They’re under us!”

“Keep swimming,” Lindsey ordered.

Arms smacking hard against the water, she aimed for the bank near the base of the stairwell. The enclosed tube glinted in the fading sunlight and now that they were closer, Torran saw that the entrance was definitely secure. The transparent casing of the passageway was covered in years of dirt and grime, but appeared intact. Following behind, Torran struggled to keep his body as close to the surface now that he was aware of the creatures lurking below.

Several Scrags burst out of the water. Clawed hands reached for him and Lindsey. Torran swung the butt of his weapon into the face of one and brutally kicked at the other. He heard Lindsey struggling, but was trapped by the two he was fighting. Slamming the weapon into the heads of both of them, Torran tried to knock the undead away, but the Scrags doggedly grabbed at his arms and torso. The water kept closing over his head, but by forcefully scissoring his legs he managed to bob up to the surface again. The hands of the water-logged Scrags ripped at him, but their sodden flesh tore from the bone. Each time he struck their screeching faces, more skin and muscle tore away.

Lindsey appeared beside him. Her helmet was covered in blood, but it was on the outside and dripping into the river. Grabbing his arm, she swung her body about and planted her feet on the chests of the Scrags. With a violent shove, she broke them free of Torran. Franklin descended on the Scrags from behind and her knife flashed as she furiously stabbed the creatures through the head.

Torran was wondering where the other Scrags Lindsey had been fighting were when they seized him and Lindsey. Together, they went under into the darkness. Terror ripped at Torran, but he fought against its paralyzing power, trusting the armor would buy them a few precious minutes. Using his weapon, he shoved away the grasping hands and snarling faces that were barely illuminated by the helmet lights. Blood filled the space around him and his feet touched the bottom of the river. Driving his boots into the mud, he tried to get enough leverage to knock his assailants completely away. Hands slashed through the bloody, dirty water.