The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(93)

“I might become visible for a few seconds,” Franklin protested.

“You’re going to anyway when he touches you, and then we’ll have to take defensive actions,” Torran snapped. “Do it.”

“I can’t push him that far!”

“Do it!” Torran ordered.

“Obey him, Franklin!” Lindsey rose to her feet and took aim. “I have you covered.”

With a cry of fear and frustration, Franklin lunged forward and hit the Scrag with her weapon. The suit shimmered at the impact as the Scrag stumbled back. It stopped a few feet from the edge of the water and screeched. Torran was instantly on his feet and ran at the creature. Lindsey could see his suit rippling as it attempted to adjust to his surroundings. Torran leaped upward, lashed out at the Scrag with one leg, struck the creature in the chest, and knocked him back the last few feet into the water.

“Now run!” Torran urged.

Most of the Scrags appeared to be drawn, yet disoriented by the events on the shore, but a few started to claw at the stone bank to pull themselves up. Lindsey darted around the bottom of the stairwell and hurried up the steps. On her screen, she saw Franklin and Torran rushing after her. The stairwell was L-shaped, and she hit the first landing and looked back. Scrags were crawling onto the shore. With the stealth suits flickering, the three soldiers were in dire danger. Whipping about, she swiftly ascended the final flight to the street level.

The road was filled with the debris of buildings and vehicles. A few Scrags were darting about in confusion, unsure of where to go as the howls of their comrades ricocheted off the structures around them. The tube to the upper city was a block away. The entrance was shut, which was a relief, but also an obstacle. They’d have to force the doors open before the stealth function in their suits had to reboot.

“Rooney, status,” Torran said.

“I got a dozen Scrags scattered over the street. Entrance is shut.”

“We’ve got some Scrags on the shore looking for us but not pursuing,” Torran informed her.

“That entrance is going to be a bugger opening.” Lindsey raised her weapon as she scooted past a decaying pod car and aimed at the Scrag still strapped inside.

“I have a remote generator in my bag,” Franklin announced. “I grabbed it on my way out of the crash.”

“Excellent work, Franklin,” Torran said.

Lindsey glanced toward Franklin and Torran as they reached the street. She could barely make out their forms, which was a good thing. The suits were rapidly adjusting to their new environment, but they were still in terrible danger out in the open.

Fury washed over Lindsey once again. Franklin was the reason so many were dead at the bottom of the infested river, and why Lindsey and Torran were trapped in the Scrag-ridden city.

An undead child stumbled around the remains of an aircraft. It was a little girl around three years old. The bite on its forearm sent a shiver through Lindsey as she recalled the attack at the Beta City Depot. The child was naked and her chubby arms and legs were covered in what appeared to be dried blood. The impulse to protect and comfort filled Lindsey, yet she knew this dirty cherubic creature with masses of dark hair and gray-tinged skin was death incarnate. The tiny lips parted and the horrific Scrag screech emanated from the girl’s throat. It was a questioning sound. It was a noise she’d heard before. It was as if the Scrags called out to each other.

Moving very slowly, Lindsey attempted to give the child wide berth. Downed limbs of the horse-chestnut trees littered the cracked and buckled sidewalk, making it difficult to maneuver without a sound. Torran and Franklin caught up to Lindsey’s position, and their dots on her helmet slowed to a stop.

“She’ll call the others,” Lindsey said in warning. “So we need to be careful.”

The little girl Scrag crawled over a gnarled branch and gave out another questioning screech.

Further down the road, from where the three soldiers had come from, came the answering shrieks from the Scrags on the bank and river.

A lump formed in her throat as Lindsey watched the long dead child toddle past her. The ugly wound on her plump arm told the terrible story of her demise. Who had bitten her? A parent? Sibling? Stranger? The small fat feet were chaffed and bloody from walking over sharp pebbles and shards of glass. A part of Lindsey wanted to shoot the child and put her out of her eternal misery, yet she also wished she could pick up the little girl and somehow save her.

Franklin moved so fast, Lindsey didn’t realize what she was doing until the little girl was on the ground and Franklin was jerking her dagger out of her skull. Breathing heavily, Franklin said, “It’s not right to let her live like that.”

“You took an unnecessary risk,” Torran snapped. “She was almost past us.”

“She would have called the others,” Franklin retorted, but it was clear that hadn’t been her motive.

Had the little girl reminded Franklin of a sibling? Cousin? Maybe herself? Lindsey had to wonder.

Raising her gaze from the dead child, Lindsey saw Scrags stepping off the stairwell onto the sidewalk behind them. Uncertain, the creatures called out, then waited for the child Scrag to answer.

“Keep moving,” she directed, then turned toward the entrance.

It was nerve-wracking moving so slowly through the shattered remains of another era. A few times, they had to venture close to the undead pinned beneath collapsed buildings or still trapped in vehicles. A few of the Inferi Scourge that had been wandering about in the street were drawn to the throng still clustered at the top of the stairs to the riverbank. From their hesitant, questioning noises, it was clear the Scrags were uncertain where to go. It was terrifying to realize that they actually hunted for victims. No wonder humanity had been doomed.