The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(98)

The Scrag lost its grip on Franklin and fell.

The broken chains of the escalator on the other side gave way completely, spilling its innards. Stairs, glass, parts of the wall, luggage, long dead corpses and Scrags poured through the widening opening, and within seconds, the entire floor gave way with a thunderous crash. Through the smoke and debris cloud, Lindsey saw that the entire section they had just traversed was gone.

At last, Torran dragged Franklin onto the landing. No one spoke as they lay in a heap at the base of the next set of escalators. Lindsey aimed her weapon up the next expanse, but Scrags did not appear. Across the now much-wider divide, the Scrag rush continued unabated. Having no understanding of death, they attempted to hurtle themselves across the gap and plunged to a final death below. The torrent of bodies continued for more time than Lindsey cared to track. It seemed endless.

“We need to keep going,” she said finally. Pushing her back against the wall, she slid upright. She was a bit wobbly from the adrenaline rush, but she found her footing and took a cautious step onto the next section.

“Thank you,” Franklin said. “I thought I was going to die.”

“We gotcha.” Torran’s comment was devoid of emotion and he brushed past Lindsey while unhooking his weapon to take point again. Was he angry at her for leaping? Angry at himself for saving Franklin? Or was he just scared?

The next few sections were absent of the discarded items they’d seen earlier. Lindsey speculated that everything had been left behind when the escaping people had barricaded the lower area. She noticed a lot more signs of a battle. Bullet holes were in the glass roof and shell casings were on the floor. Had a security team come down from the upper city to save those trapped inside the passage?

Over the arch of another escalator was a sign she was relieved to see. They’d finally reached the exit. Stepping into a room that matched the entrance on the ground, Lindsey was unnerved to observe that the doors were already open. She immediately pressed against the wall and motioned for Torran and Franklin to do so as well. Torran sidled up to her to get a view of the outside.

“There’s a low number of Scrags out there,” he said.

“Okay, now that we’re up here, we need a new destination.” Lindsey pulled out her pad and called up the grid of the city she’d downloaded before the excursion.

“Look for Rescue Hubs,” Franklin suggested.

Rescue Hubs had been controversial in the days before the fall of humanity. They were constructed by a private company and people had to pay to have access during a Scrag outbreak. Situated strategically around the cities, the Rescue Hubs were basically lifeboats. The oval-shaped pod was built around a reinforced pole. Inside were supplies, a sleeping area, and a communication console. During an outbreak, people with passes could slip inside, activate the security protocols, and the pod would slide up the pole and remain elevated above the ground and out of the reach of the Scrag hordes. There was also a topside hatch so the inhabitants could be airlifted without ever being on the ground. There’d been protests among the general populace that the Rescue Hubs should be available to all citizens.

“They could all be locked,” Torran pointed out.

“I can hack into one.” Lindsey hated to admit it was a good idea to find one, but she also recognized that they were probably playing into Franklin’s plans. Studying the maps, she sifted through all the data until she found a Rescue Hub located a few blocks away near a shopping district. A quick calculation revealed that they would just have enough time with the stealth activated to reach it as long as they didn’t run into any trouble. Though she didn’t like capitulating to Franklin, she knew they needed to find a secure place. With the snow falling and the storm building, nightfall wouldn’t be their worst enemy. They would become visible to the Scrags if they were coated with snow.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” she said, raising her head. She laid out her plan and there weren’t any protests from Torran or Franklin. She supposed they were probably just as weary as she was and ready to be somewhere safe.

Activating the stealth on her suit, Lindsey darted through the opened doorway and exited into a wide courtyard with dense trees and foliage. Silent fountains were covered in mold, and statues and ornate columns showed signs of erosion from the elements.

“All the Scrags are dormant,” Torran observed. “That’s a good sign.”

A few silent Scrags in torpor stood among the overgrown garden. Unmoving, they were waiting until prey was near. Most were women and upon further scrutiny, Lindsey ascertained they were clad in disintegrating nun habits. Glancing over the tangle of trees, she spotted the peaked roof of a cathedral made of glass and stone.

Leaving the courtyard, they stepped onto the sidewalk of a silent street. Since pod cars weren’t allowed in the upper city, there was less debris scattered about. Most of the buildings were made from lightweight materials and were designed to reflect the sky. At one point, Lindsey was certain the upper city had been quite beautiful. Now most of the glass facades were broken and the decorative vegetation was overgrown with weeds. Monorail trains were stalled on tracks, and the remains of a tiltrotor were imbedded in a concert hall. Hurrying along the streets, the three soldiers were mindful of the hushed Scrags swaying back and forth in their blacked-out state.

“We’re nearing the hub,” Lindsey said while sprinting through an abandoned outdoor cafe.