The Last Bastion of the Living: A Futuristic Zombie Novel by Rhiannon Frater Read Free Book Online

place on such a dreary morning.
    a s s he was about slip through the doorway, Dwayne whispered in her ear that he loved her. She smiled at the familiar words of endearment , then joined the throng of people moving through the long glass tunnel to the main terminal. Glancing back, she saw Dwayne heading in the opposite direction.
    The main terminal was not nearly as busy as it had once been when all the trains had been running and had been open to the general public, but it was still fairly crowded. She quickly wove her way through the rush of people, avoiding the drably dressed professionals hurrying to the government facilities. Joining a group of other soldiers, she spotted a f amiliar face .
    “Another day, another credit,” Lindsey joked, falling in step beside Maria. Heavily favoring one leg, she leaned on her cane as she walked. The blond soldier had been terribly wounded in the last assault on the Scourge and now manned communications. Before the fall of humanity, her injury would have been easily repaired, but with resources low, she was disabled for life.
    “It never ends, huh?” Maria answered.
    “Nope. Day after day, same old, same old. Though, according to the president, things sound like they ’ re looking up,” Lindsey answered with a wink.
    “The biggest load of bullshit I ’ ve heard in a long time,” Maria groused.
    “I almost believed him,” Lindsey admitted, shrugging. “Then I remembered what I hear every day when I ’ m on duty and I stopped being a dumb ass.”
    “Something ’ s gotta give soon. They have to figure something out,” Maria said, her dark eyes scanning the crowd thoughtfully.
    “They ’ ve been saying that ever since the first Scrag outbreak ,” Lindsey reminded her with a shrug of her shoulders.
    “True. And the last time they got a great idea on how to push the Scrags out of the valley Ryan died.”
    Lindsey pressed her lips together, her eyes lowering. It was difficult for her to talk about Ryan. “They ’ re talking about shutting down another train. I also heard a rumor about mandatory blackouts at sunset.”
    Maria shook her head. “Then why did President Cabot make all those promises?”
    “Maybe he knows something we don ’ t?” Lindsey shrugged again. “We can hope.”
    “Hope is all we got,” Maria decided. “But I did see something weird on the train on the way here.”
    “What was that?” Lindsey asked.
    “An aircraft .”
    Lindsey ’ s eyes widened. “They were grounded.”
    “I know, but everyone on the last train saw it,” Maria answered.
    “That ’ s what I get for taking the ground tram. Damn. I would have loved to have seen it. The sky has been empty for over a year.” Lindsey lightly chewed on her bottom lip.
    “Everyone got so excited when they saw it, but I ’ m not sure how I feel,” Maria admitted.
    Lindsey leaned heavily on her cane as she slightly frowned. “Maybe it ’ s a good si gn. If they ’ re running the aircraft maybe w e ’ re close to something big.”
    They reached the end of the terminal where the transports were loading up soldiers and whisking them to their assigned duties.
    “We need to get a drink soon,” Lindsey decided, “catch up.”
    “Yeah. Definitely. Send me a message and we ’ ll hook up,” Maria answered before swinging herself up onto the transport that would carry her to the wall.
    Leaning on her cane, Lindsey gave her a small smile. “And if I find out anything on that air craft , I ’ ll let you know.”
    “Rumors are going to be flying,” Maria reminded her.
    “I have a way of finding out what isn ’ t bullshit,” Lindsey assured her, then walked on.
     
    * * *
     
    As Dwayne passed through security and into the main building that housed the leadership of The Bastion Constabulary and their staffs, he noted the absence of the usual hectic bustle. This didn ’ t bode well. The last time he had witnessed this sort of inactivity in the HQ was right before the last disastrous push