The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2)

The Last Mission of the Living

A Futuristic Zombie Novel

(The Last Bastion Series, Book 2)

Rhiannon Frater

The Last Mission of the Living

A Futuristic Zombie Novel

(The Last Bastion Series, Book 2)

By Rhiannon Frater

Kindle Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Rhiannon Frater

All Rights Reserved.

Edited by Erin Hayes

Copyedited by Kody Boye

Cover artwork by Claudia McKinney

Interior Formatting by Kody Boye

Cover Typography by Corey Hollins

http://rhiannonfrater.com/

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronically, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the proper written permission of both the copyright owner except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events and situation are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead or undead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

For the fans of The Last Bastion of the Living

Dedicated with much affection and gratitude to my husband for encouraging me to be open to another novel set in The Bastion

Special thanks to Tim Kirk, who helped create the Constabulary and the Science Warfare Division. You’ll always be my hero!

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Part 1

The End of the Battle

Chapter 1

“Lindsey, I’ve reached the subway door,” Castellan Dwayne Reichardt’s voice said.

Specials Sergeant Lindsey Rooney cast a wary look over her shoulder at the arguing officials at the far end of the Constabulary Command Center. The gleaming black and stainless steel austerity of the room was offset by the diffused glow of the vid screens and workstations. Fingers flowing over her console, she replied in a tone that she prayed didn’t sound too edgy, “Deactivating the locks now.”

Hopefully, if Dwayne detected her nervousness, he’d believe it was associated with his mission. Vanguard Maria Martinez was hiding in the valley that surrounded The Bastion, the last human city on the planet, awaiting rescue along with one of her squad members. Lindsey and Dwayne both had a vested interest in her retrieval. The vanguard was Lindsey’s best friend and the woman Dwayne loved.

As the tiltrotors destroyed the last remaining throngs of the undead, a secret battle was taking place in the upper echelons of the government and military for control of the city. Two of the major players in that fight were in a heated argument on the other side of the room.

Commandant Adeleke Pierce stood with her arms folded across her chest, facing Dr. Beverly Curran of the Science Warfare Division. As the officer in charge of the Constabulary, everything happening within and outside The Bastion was of greatest concern to the formidable commandant. Pierce was imposing with her tall, slim build and strong-featured face, but she was also beautiful, with ebony skin and dark eyes. Her black hair was twisted into many braids, then coiled into a tight bun on top of her head, giving her a sterner appearance.

The scientist Commandant Pierce was facing was just as intimidating. Dr. Curran’s expression was completely devoid of emotion, and with her blond hair skimmed back from her face, she resembled a statue. Lindsey wished she could hear what they were saying, but she had to concentrate on making sure Dwayne was safe.

Lindsey focused on the vid screens in front of her. She’d hacked into the city security systems to open the blast doors in one of the old subway stations so that Dwayne could enter the valley and find the two surviving soldiers. What she was doing could be considered treason, yet, to save her best friend, it was worth the risk.

After fussing with the tendrils of blond hair threatening to fall into her eyes, Lindsey flipped her long braid over one shoulder. There were much more important things to concentrate on other than her hair unfurling from her military hairdo and being an annoyance while she was trying to perform her duties.

Humanity was on the verge of victory over the Inferi Scourge. For nearly half a century, the undead throngs had kept the survivors of the apocalypse trapped within the high walls of The Bastion. The millions of Inferi Scourge that had once resided in the valley were now reduced to radically low numbers, the end result of the secret mission in which Maria had been involved. Tiltrotors from the city now filled the night sky, obliterating the remains of the living dead. Terrifyingly, the men and women in the aircraft were also seeking to destroy her best friend.

It was very difficult for Lindsey to process what had happened. Maria had volunteered for a top-secret mission nearly a half year before. The objective was to seal the massive gate that was the only entrance to the valley where The Bastion was located and eradicate the Inferi Scourge. It wasn’t until after Maria had vanished into the depths of the Science Warfare Division Facility that Lindsey had uncovered that Dr. Curran, an SWD scientist, had altered the virus that made the Inferi Scourge and infected Maria. The mutated virus had made Maria an Inferi Boon, a thinking undead creature able to walk among the Inferi Scourge and kill them without fear or danger.

Now, according to Dr. Curran, the modified virus was returning Maria to life and possibly making her immortal. This information was unknown to the top officials in the SWD. They had ordered the eradication of the Inferi Boon after the mission was a success. Only Maria and one other squad member were alive and on the run. If the SWD found out about the virus restoring life and possibly granting eternal life, Maria would be in even more danger. Lindsey didn’t want to see her best friend vanish into the secret laboratories of the SWD.

Dwayne was violating the security protocols with the knowledge of the commandant of the Constabulary to retrieve Maria and bring her back to headquarters. Lindsey hoped they could keep Maria safe from the SWD, but wasn’t certain if it was possible. The SWD’s grab for power had effectively destabilized the government and robbed the Constabulary of a lot of its power.

The security camera feed revealed the doors creeping open and Dwayne slipping outside. He was a dark, sleek shape in the black armor he’d somehow acquired from the Science Warfare Division. Lindsey suspected Dwayne’s assistant, Petra, had secured it for him. There was little love lost between the military officers of the Constabulary and the scientists and security officers of the SWD, but Petra appeared to have some contacts within the SWD.

The tall, almost too-thin woman sat beside Lindsey at a workstation, monitoring transmissions on the battlefield while also typing away on a secured pad. The tension in Petra’s jaw and shoulders revealed her anger at Dwayne for leaving without telling her. Lindsey wasn’t too sure why Petra was so upset. Dwayne would be returning with Maria shortly. Of course, it was highly irregular for the castellan, one of the highest-ranking officers of the Constabulary and the person charged with the city’s security, to be out on the field. It was even more irregular for him to be alone on a mission.

The feed from the cameras was on a loop to The Bastion City Control Center, but Lindsey watched the live footage nervously. It was in night vision, since all the lights were off in the tunnel system below the city to conserve energy.

Beside Lindsey, Petra scowled, then tapped her headset to kill the sound. “They’re dispatching a squad near the station Dwayne is exiting,” Petra said in a low voice.

“How close?” Lindsey asked, alarmed.

“Within a kilometer. It’s the mining facility.”

Lindsey pulled up a schematic of the valley resources and several maps. Layering them swiftly on her vid screens, her pulse accelerated. The armor Dwayne was wearing would keep him invisible to the scanners. “They’ll have to be right on top of him for visual detection, so he should be fine. The castellan will know to take cover if the tiltrotors get too close.”

Petra’s thin lips set into a fine line, then she shook her head. “I hate him being out there. He should have taken someone else with him.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“Of course! And...” Petra waved her long, gaunt hand irritably. “He wouldn’t listen. Which makes me very nervous.”

“Well, he is a commanding officer.”

“Yes, but he
always
listens to my advice. I think something more is going on.” Petra gave the two arguing women on the far side of the room a wary look.

A beep indicated a message coming in from the castellan. Lindsey switched over to his comm feed.

“Lindsey, open the door to the subway.”

Struggling to decide if she should tell him about the SWD squad being deployed near him or not, Lindsey obeyed but didn’t say anything.

Petra leaned toward her, observing Lindsey’s fingers moving over the panels on the workstation. “Is he coming back in?”

Lindsey shrugged, uncertain.

The vid screens revealed the opening subway doors in an eerie inverted image. A man’s form stepped through the opening, then abruptly slumped.

Lindsey and Petra exchanged frightened looks.

Another figure pushed the body into the tunnel just before the doors shut again.

“Lindsey,” came the castellan’s voice.

Lindsey was both relieved and unnerved. “Yes?”

“Denman was an Anomaly. Dr. Curran must tell Commandant Pierce what she told me about the virus she gave everyone, but Maria. His body
must
be destroyed immediately.”

Lindsey stared at the corpse in the tunnel. The blood in her veins was thick with ice. Glancing at Petra, she saw the other woman was waiting nervously, her bony fingers clenched into a fist. “Understood.” Lindsey muted her headset. “Denman was an Anomaly. The castellan killed him.”

Petra’s eyes flared with fear. “He’s not coming back! Shit! I knew something felt wrong! He’s going to go out and deal with Maria personally and then…”

With a sinking heart, Lindsey realized Petra was right, and feared what that might mean. She reopened the comm link. “You’re not coming back, are you?”

“No, I’m not.” The castellan’s voice was firm.

Lindsey shut her eyes, her heart breaking. If Denman turned into an Anomaly, was Maria turning too? What did he mean about a different virus? “What are you going to do?”

“What I have to do.”

The feed went dead.

“Oh, shit,” Lindsey whispered. “Shit.”

“Tell him about the squad,” Petra said urgently.

“I can’t. He killed the feed.” Lindsey took off her headset.

“What are you going to do?” Petra asked, darting a worried look at Dr. Curran.

“I need to talk to Commandant Pierce.” Lindsey had no idea what she should do about Dwayne. If Maria was infected and going to turn, then it was a kindness to kill her, but she hated to think of him taking his own life out there. Yet, it was his choice. The city was teetering on the edge of chaos. Life was difficult. Maybe Dwayne didn’t want to continue without the woman he loved.

Motioning to Vaja, her tech wizard boyfriend, Lindsey grabbed her cane and slid to her feet.

Vaja hurried over in a cloud of nervous energy. Tall, slender, and sporting a head of dark mussed hair, Vaja was good-looking. It helped that he was brilliant and loved prowling around the hidden depths of The Bastion’s computer grid. He was not a soldier, but she’d asked him to assist the Constabulary fight off the SWD coup d’état.

“The worm that will deliver the information we gathered is ready to download to all the wristlets,” he said, clearly thinking she wanted an update. Tapping his own wristlet proudly, he waited for her to shower him with praise.

“I need you to help Petra monitor what’s going on. I need to take care of something,” Lindsey said.

Looking a little deflated, Vaja nodded. “Fine. But once this is done, I’m not doing any more of this.” He gave the commandant a dark look. “I refuse to be conscripted.”

“You won’t be conscripted,” Petra sniffed.

“I also don’t want to be prosecuted,” Vaja continued.

“The commandant already said you don’t have to worry about that,” Lindsey replied, though she wasn’t quite sure how the commandant planned to protect them all from the inquiries that were absolutely going to happen after the planned SWD coup was revealed.

“I better not be,” Vaja muttered, taking her chair.

Petra bestowed Vaja with an annoyed look before tapping her headset to turn it back on and returning to her task, worry nestled firmly on her brow.

Lindsey hurried over to Commandant Pierce. Dr. Curran was nowhere to be seen. The woman unsettled Lindsey and she was more than happy to avoid her.

“Sergeant,” Commandant Pierce said in her husky, silken voice as Lindsey approached. “What do you have to report?”

Leaning on her cane, Lindsey relayed what she’d witnessed on the vid screens and Dwayne’s last command. “I don’t understand what he meant about the virus that Curran gave everyone but Maria. Maria’s Inferi Boon, too.”

Commandant Pierce set her hands on her hips and stared thoughtfully toward the busily working people under her command. Commandant Pierce gestured toward a door that led to a small conference room. “Follow me.”

Once inside, the Commandant locked the door and initiated the privacy protocols. No one could hear them. Well, except for Vaja if he decided to spy.

“Dr. Curran just told me that the virus she gave Vanguard Martinez was not the same one given to the Boon,” Commandant Pierce said in a lowered voice despite the security in the room.

“What?” Lindsey gawked at the Commandant in shock. “I mean, what do you mean, sir?”

“Dr. Curran gave Martinez a different virus. That’s why she’s returning to life. Apparently, Dr. Curran asked Castellan Reichardt to kill both Martinez and Denman and return with samples.”