The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel (3 page)

“About that date
…
” Ryan said, grinning despite the fear in his eyes.

Maria slid around him into a
better position and aimed at a
Scourge
trying to scale the fallen edge of the wall. “You
’
re supposed to give me a reason to live, dumb ass,” she groused.

Another soldier landed in the mud beside her and helped her obliterate the
Scourge
trying to scramble through another widening tear in the wall.

“This was a stupid plan!” she shouted.

“It seemed like a good one when we planned it,” the soldier answered.

It took her a full second to realize it was Chief Defender Dwayne Reichardt.

“Sorry, sir,” she said quickly.

He shook his head, still firing. “Let
’
s just live through this!”

The
Scourge
pushed
further into the perimeter. Maria knew now it was
only
a matter of minutes before they were all dead. She tried not to hear the screams of the soldiers
overcome by the
Inferi Scourge
. The
Scourge
tore at them, ripping at their body armor, trying to reach flesh so they could bite and infect. One soldier was pulled free of a group of
Scourge
, his armor still intact as his comrades gunned down the creatures that had attacked him.

Vanguard Stillson lobbed a grenade at a catwalk
’
s treads and the explosion toppled it over onto the
Inferi Scourge
.

They were losing ground swiftly and chaos ruled. No one was listening to orders barked over the feed anymore, but
were
just trying to survive. The perimeter wall attached to the city wall still stood intact with the catwalks still secured to it. Many soldiers clambered onto it, trying to escape the ground. Maria, Ryan, Lindsey and the Chief Defender started to fall back, providing cover to those trying to reach higher ground.

Rappelling ropes
started
to fall from the high wall
. F
rantic soldiers
gripped the lines and
climbed upward
, their muddy boots
slipping against the steel surface
.

Maria tripped, falling on her ass, and the Chief Defender hauled her up
swiftly
. The
Scourge
were everywhere now, smashing through the clusters of soldiers
, howling
. Maria fired point blank into the face of one as it charged her. The Chief Defender knocked another one back with the butt of his rifle. Together they charged through the mud toward the city wall.

Ryan and Lindsey were just ahead of them
and
nearing the remaining catwalk
s
when Maria saw a flash of light
. A
massive force slam
med
into her and sen
t
her sprawling through the air. Blackness surged up to claim her
,
and she fought not to drown in it. Pulling herself onto her elbows, her body felt numb and her helmet was gone. Beside her, the Chief Defender struggl
ed
to get up. His armor was punctured with shrapnel and blood poured through the tears.

Lifting her weapon, Maria aimed toward the crea
tures trying to climb over the corpses of
Scourge
and soldiers the grenade blast had killed. Pulling the trigger, she felt the rifle pulsing as it hurtled bullets into the bodies of the rampaging dead.

“Tiltrotor!” Ryan
’
s voice screamed near her.

She kept firing, but flicked her gaze to one side to see Ryan carrying a badly
-
wounded Lindsey over one
broad
shoulder. The chu
rning
wind pulled her gaze up to the aircraft slowly descending over the fray. Beside her, the Chief Defender fell over onto his side, unable to get up. Maria grabbed his arm and shifted her body under it. Rising to her
knees
, she pulled him upright. He screamed. Together, they managed to get to their feet as Maria fired at the
Scourge
drawing closer.

Vanguard Stillson
’
s huge body moved through the crowd of
Inferi Scourge
like a rampaging elephant, tossing them left and right, shooting a few as he went. His helmet was gone and his armor was smoldering. Maria could see the shrapnel from the grenade had sliced away parts of his face. Yet Stillson kept fighting. The
Scourge
were so intent on him, Ryan and the others were able to skirt past the mob and head toward the aircraft.

Casting one last look
at Stillson, Maria gasped as a
Scourge
grabbed the man
’
s thick neck and bit into his cheek, infecting him. Usually the
Scourge
abandoned a victim successfully infected with the
v
irus and moved on to another, but this
one
kept tearing at Stillson, chewing and appearing to devour his flesh.

Reichardt
stumbled, forcing Maria
’
s attention away from Stillson
’
s demise. Pulling her superior up to his feet again, she continued to fire at any
Scourge
rushing them
. Around her
,
other soldiers continued to fall, fighting the undead to their last breath.

“Keep moving, Chief Defender,” she urged him. “I don
’
t want to die today.”

“Neither do I, and my name is Dwayne,” he said crisply, his voice filled with pain and determination.

“I
’
m Maria.”

“Nice to meet you, Maria. Now, let
’
s not die,” Dwayne said

“Is that
an order?” Maria kicked over a
Scourge
and shot it in the face.

“Without a doubt,” Dwayne answered with a grin.

Ryan led the way through the grim terrain, firing at the
Scourge
charging from every direction. Lindsey
hung
lifelessly over his shoulder. Maria shot anything that moved toward them that was not uniformed. Dwayne managed to draw his sidearm to
help fight
.

Another aircraft zoomed low nearby, its engines sputtering as its fuel ran dry. Maria watched as the pilots hurled themselves out of the hatch just before the aircraft hit the ground and slid through a mass of
Scourge
, crushing them
beneath it
.

The remaining tiltrotor was already packed with soldiers, but the crew kept hauling more up into the interior. The pilots of the other tiltrotor managed to reach it and clamber on board just as Ryan reached the tiltrotor and tossed Lindsey inside. Maria saw her friend
’
s eyes flicker open for just a moment to gaze at Ryan.

“Ryan!” Lindsey cried out weakly.

“Get out of here, Linds,” he answered, then Ryan grabbed the Chief Defender and pushed him into the arms of another soldier.

“There
’
s no more room
!
” Maria exclaimed.

People were piled on top of each other nearly to the roof and she felt panic fill her.

Ryan grabbed her rifle harness on her vest and wrapped it around the handhold outside the hatch a few times before clamping the end to her armor.
The tiltrotor began to rise.

“Get ready to fly, Maria,” he said with a grin and kissed her
passionately
.

A mob of
Scourge
was almost upon the
tiltrotor.

They were torn apart as the tiltrotor ascended.

“Ryan
!
” Maria gasped, reaching for him as the tiltrotor lifted her away.

“I
’
ll catch the next airlift
!
” he
shouted
, firing at the
Scourge
leaping for the tiltrotor.

Just before the airship managed to gain more altitude and swing away, Maria saw Ryan look up at her, wink, then disappear under the onslaught of the
Inferi Scourge
.

Dangling from her harness, Maria stared at the decimated remains of the perimeter wall. An arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her dangling body closer to the doorway.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the devastated expressions of the other soldiers.

The blue eyes of the Chief Defender met her gaze steadily. It was his arm wrapped around her waist
,
holding her.

Lindsey, weak and wounded,
lay
on top of some other soldiers. Her friend
’
s eyes were full of unshed tears and Maria
stretched out
her hand to her
.
Lindsey clasped her hand, closed her eyes, and sobbed.

“We failed,” Maria finally said.

“Never give up hope,” Dwayne answered
above the roar of the wind.

The tiltrotor
’
s engines began to sputter as it flew over the enormous wall surrounding
The Bastion
.

Chapter 1

One Year Later

The fan sputtered, then died as the rolling blackout hit her section of the city. With a groan, Maria peeled the covers from her damp body and sat at the edge of the bed. Her silky black hair fell over one shoulder, covering her bare breast. The heat was already rising in her small flat. The metal walls and high windows made the narrow room claustrophobic and, once the power cut out, stifling.

“Another glorious day in hell,” Dwayne muttered beside her. He peered at her from under the arm thrown over his face to shield his blue eyes from the sunlight beginning to pour through the window above the rumpled bed.

Maria yawned. “You mean a glorious day in the last great bastion of humanity?”

“That speech last night really did suck,” Dwayne decided, laughing.

“Our fearless leader is full of shit.” Maria stood up, stretching ou
t her lean, muscular body. “President Cabot isn
’
t the best liar. That whole line about
‘
our time of crisis being at an end
’
was ridiculous.”

She sensed Dwayne making a grab for her ass and easily stepped out of reach. He groaned with frustration, then dragged his body out of bed. Scars crisscrossed his muscled arms and chest, a terrible reminder of the day he had almost died while fighting the
Inferi Scourge
. She had her own scars, her
darker
skin rising into hard keloids. They were fading slowly, but would never completely leave her.

A panicked
soldier
had tossed a grenade at the wrong time during the last great battle against the
Scourge
. Only their battle suits had kept Maria and Dwayne from being ripped to pieces, but some of the shrapnel had managed to pierce through the aging armor. It had been a terrifying twenty-four hours before they were cleared of the
ISPV
infection. Oddly, it was the time in the hospital that had laid the foundation for Dwayne and Maria
’
s relationship.

“Our fearless lead
er may be full of shit, but it
’
s in everyone
’
s best interest to keep the civilians calm. We don
’
t need riots in the streets again,” Dwayne said, yawning.

“
I
’
m just tired of being lied to. And to make it worse I have to defend those lies because it
’
s my duty.” Maria twisted her hair back from her face and flipped it over one shoulder. She wasn
’
t vain by nature, but her hair was the one aspect of her looks she actually cared about. It was very long, glossy black, and thick with just a slight wave to it.

“We all do what we have to,” Dwayne answered with a sigh.

She plugged the coffeemaker into her small generator to brew what little coffee remained in her precious stores. Dwayne slid his arms around her waist and pressed hard kisses against the back of her neck. She leaned into him, feeling his erection against her back, and toyed with the idea of dragging him back to bed. With a sigh, she pushed that thought away. Duty called in just two short hours.

“If you keep doing that, we
’
ll both be in trouble,” she teased, turning her head to catch a kiss.

“Tomorrow is our day,” Dwayne promised.

“I can
’
t wait,” Maria answered, then returned her attention to
rigging her ancient
coffee maker.

“I have meetings all day today. Something is up with the high command,” he said in her ear.

“I have to go stare out at a whole fuckload of
Scrags
howling at me all day,” she answered
, using the military slang for the Inferi Scourge
. “I kinda think I
’
m the lucky one.”

“You have no idea,” Dwayne muttered, then let her go. “I think I
’
d rather deal with the
Scrags
all day.” He stepped into the small shower in the corner of the room and slid the plastic door shut.

Maria winced when he yelped as the cold water hit him. They had overslept
,
and with the power down there was no way to heat the water in the reserve tank. Glancing out the narrow window over her tiny kitchen counter, she could see the long stretch of rectangular
gray
buildings reaching out toward the high steel walls that enclosed
The Bastion
.

It was an ugly, rank home. Lines of drying wash were the only bits of color in the city. On the
edge of the far west of the city
were bands of green where the fruits and vegetables were grown
along the wall
.

The Bastion
was the only world she had ever known and she hated it.

Her silky black hair fell down around her face as she fumbled with the packaging for her daily protein ration. There were only so many ways to disguise tofu. Today it had a chickenish shape. The frozen lump would be a boring dinner unless she could pick up some herbs and vegetables in the market. Rations were enough to keep someone alive, but it was the produce and herbs from private gardens maintained on rooftops and in small courtyards that added flavor and spice to meals. Breakfast was either going to be bland oatmeal mixed with protein powder or a protein bar. She frowned at either option, shuffling her meager stores around in the cabinet.

Dwayne emerged from the shower, dripping and shaking his head. “Ugh. Cold shower. Hot room.”

“These rolling blackouts are not doing anything for morale, especially mine. It
’
s freaking summer. It
’
s too hot to be without air conditioning.” She finally settled on the oatmeal and
emptied
the packet into a bowl of water.

Dwayne sighed, shoving his hand through his hair, slicking it back. The silver hair at his temples and sidebu
rns had increased recently. The silver strands
had started to appear soon after his promotion to Castellan. He was a war hero and his promotion had been a political one. As Castellan he was in charge of protecting
The Bastion
, but
Commandant Pierce of the
Constabulary
made
his job difficult. He was often kept out of the loop on some of the more urgent matters. He had a good twenty-five years on Maria, yet he was ruggedly handsome, and his smile made her knees weak.

“Yeah, well, there is a lot more going on than
they
’
re
letting us know.” He began to shrug on his dark blue uniform, looking grim. “
The Bastion
is falling apart. Everyone knows it, the government just won
’
t admit it. Well, actually, they can
’
t admit it.”

“The
Scrags
may never get into the walls and slaughter us all, but we
’
re all slowly dying in here. In the end they
will
win,” Maria decided grimly.

“I hope it never comes to that
,
and if I have any say about it, it won
’
t,” Dwayne vowed.

“I sometimes I wish I could crawl inside your head and know what the world was li
ke before the
Scrags
destroyed the outside world
. What it looked like…smelled like.” She sighed, sitting at the edge of the bed. Her panties stuck to her tan skin and her hair tickled her bare breasts.

“I wish you could, too.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek, smelling of soap. “I wish I could show you the world I knew when I was a kid. But it was far from perfect. The
Scrags
were already
destroying
parts of the world when I was born.”

“But you knew a life where you didn
’
t have to live in this damn broken down city,” Maria reminded him.

Dwayne chuckled lightly, a twinge of bitterness to its tone. “Yes, but that only meant I witnessed the great fall of humanity and our exodus here. Not pleasant.”

“True,” Maria exhaled. “I hate feeling this way! But that speech last night...”

The night before, Dwayne had arrived just in time for them to curl up in her bed and watch the live broadcast. It was the anniversary of the great battle that had ended in defeat and the death of hundreds of soldiers. Maria and Dwayne had almost lost their own lives, and Maria still missed Ryan. It had been rumored that the speech would announce new victories against the
Inferi Scourge
and advancements in food production to boost morale in the city. Instead, it had been another charismatic but empty speech, full of false promises of a bright future that was not reflected in the everyday lives of the inhabitants of
The Bastion
.

“You and I know differently because we see it. But to all the people who never see what lies outside of the walls of this city, it gave them hope,” Dwayne reminded her.

“But it
’
s not real,” Maria protested.

“No, but it
’
s what they need.” Dwayne lightly touched her cheek. “You give me hope. You
’
re what I need.”

Smiling slightly, she whispered, “You
’
re my everything.”

His lips caught hers and they shared a long, lingering kiss. Despite her tough exterior and reputation as a bad ass, she felt terribly vulnerable when she was with Dwayne. He owned her heart and soul completely.

“When will you be here tonight?” she asked as he resumed dressing.

“I have to swing by the divorce lawyer later today to sign more paperwork. Barbara has made a few more demands,” he said, averting his gaze.

“She still doesn
’
t know about me, does she?”

“And she won
’
t. Not for a while. But I know all about Bob, don
’
t I?”

She knew he loved her, but the bitterness in his voice made her wince.

“Not that I care. I haven
’
t really cared for years. It
’
s more of an ego thing, I guess. While I was risking my life in an attempt to defeat the
Scrags
, she was off...” He shrugged. “I guess a teacher is a better mate than a soldier.”

“Unless you
’
re a soldier.”

Buttoning his jacket, he nodded solemnly. Catching a glimpse of her expression, he took her face between his hands. “Never doubt for a moment that I love you. I don
’
t think I ever really loved anyone before you.”

Kissing his palm, she sighed. “And I love you. I know you love me. It
’
s the heat, the smell, you and me being a secret: everything getting to me. I just want to be somewhere with you, safe, sound, away from all of this. And I know it
’
s not going to happen.”

He kissed her again. It was the sort of kiss that made her want to drag him back into bed. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispered back.

“Your brown eyes are what keeps me going each day. That look inside them when you see me makes it all bearable.”

“Don
’
t make me cry! I
’
m a hard ass!”

He laughed, straightening. “I
’
d better go.” Pulling a protein bar from his jacket, he headed toward the door. “Take care out on the wall.”

“Unless the
Scrags
learn to fly, I
’
ll be fine.”

Dwayne smiled, then was gone.

The flat seemed painfully empty and small without him. It was one long narrow room with a long counter along one wall that served as her kitchen. Simple sto
rage units were tucked under it,
full of her food stores, clothing, and her few personal effects. Her bed was tucked into the opposite corner. The small shower and toilet closet were two feet away from the end of the bed. Despite its small size, she felt very lucky to have a flat all to herself. Most enlisted single people lived in the military facilities, but because of her status as a war hero, she had been a
llowed to live on her own in one of the
residential section
s
of the city.

The vid screen on the wall over the counter next to the windows chimed twice then flicked on. It was the daily morning update that all the citizens of
The Bastion
were required to watch. Maria ignored the beautiful woman
’
s face filling the screen as she shoved the oatmeal into the small oven on the counter.