“Inferi Anomaly?” Dr. Curran arched an eyebrow.

“It’s what I’ve been calling the two Scrags that attacked us. Both appeared to be trying to bite and devour flesh. And they both spoke. They’re not like the other Scrags. I’m fairly sure the second one was actively hunting us.” Maria quickly detailed both attacks in her own words. Denman slipped out of his chair and stood on the other side of her console, out of sight of Dr. Curran, listening intently.

“You’re certain they spoke? Both of them?” Dr. Curran was scribbling notes on her pad.

“We reported this previously,” Maria said, exasperated.

“I remember that Mr. Petersen told you that you were imagining things, but I didn’t…” Dr. Curran’s voice faded away as she quickly wrote, her stylus flashing in the lamplight in her office. “And Jameson is the only one that has been suffering the reported symptoms, correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct. None of the rest of the Boon on my squad is suffering hunger pains or has scans similar to the ones that Medical Specialist Denman took of Jameson.” Maria watched the blond woman rapidly writing and dared to look toward Denman. He pointed to his eyes and then to Maria.

“What is going on with Jameson, Dr. Curran?” Maria asked.

Dr. Curran returned her gaze to her vid screen and regarded Maria thoughtfully. “A mutation of the ISPV.”

“And this wasn’t expected, I take it?”

“No, it was not,” Dr. Curran admitted. “The Inferi Anomalies and Jameson have hunger and limited language skills in common. Is there anything else you noted?”

Hesitating for a moment, Maria ignored Denman as he mimed at her. “Jameson appeared more…human than the Anomalies. Alive. He was weeping and his face was flushed.”

“An astute observation.” Dr. Curran sighed and made more notes.

Maria had the strong desire to reach through the transmission and rip the pad out of her hands.

“And no one else is experiencing any changes at all?”

Denman continued to point at his eyes.

“I dream now.”

Dr. Curran set the pad down and gaped at her. “What?”

“I dream during torpor.” Maria stared at the woman steadily. “What’s happening to us?”

“I…don’t know,” Dr. Curran said, confusion filling her eyes.

“Jameson didn’t go back into torpor after his eating frenzy. We left him alone for hours. His wristlet alarm was disabled. I did it personally. But he never slipped into the blackout. I want to know why.”

“Is anyone else experiencing this?”

“No. At least not yet.”

“Have you said anything to Chief Defender Omondi?”

“No, I have not.”

“Don’t. I want you to report only to me in regards to any changes your squad is experiencing physiologically.” Dr. Curran’s voice was clipped and fierce.

“He is my commanding officer, Doctor.”

The doctor slammed her hand down on her desk. “Vanguard Martinez, do you really believe that if I trusted Chief Defender Omondi I would be talking to you? He’s the puppet of Mr. Petersen and the Black Ops of the SWD. Even though I was appointed by the President of The Bastion to supervise this mission, vital information has been withheld from me at every turn. I am trying to help you and your squad survive out there. Mr. Petersen is more interested in covering up the SWD’s mistakes.”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you really believe this is the first time we tried this? Do you?” Dr. Curran shook her head in disbelief. “There are four failed missions that haunt the SWD past. This is the closest we’ve come to success. All other missions failed.”

It all began to click in Maria’s mind. “The Anomalies are the soldiers from the failed missions.”

“Yes, they are. And they’ve been trying to get back into the city for years. The modified virus they were given mutated. They began to crave…flesh. Human flesh. The SWD cut them off and left them to rot outside the city. But they didn’t die. And like Jameson, they never went into torpor. Your squad is the SWD’s first success with a modified ISPV. You’re my success. It wasn’t until I inherited the project that the SWD had any success in modifying the virus sufficiently to create you and your squad.”

“Omondi is tracking down the Anomalies, isn’t he?”

Dr. Curran nodded briskly. “The Anomalies, as you call them, have been located around the hydroelectric station for years. The service tunnels and subways have long been sealed off, but they have concentrated their efforts to getting into the city in that area.”

“And they succeeded,” Maria whispered. She thought of her father dying under the city as he fought the Inferi Scourge that had mysteriously invaded the sewers.

“A few times.” Dr. Curran drew in a deep breath and exhaled, obviously trying to calm herself. “Listen to me, Maria. I’m trying to help you. I want you to succeed in your mission. You’ll send daily reports to me that will have thorough scans of every squad member. You will send the information via this encrypted channel. Record the data I am sending you now. It’s a back door into our system.”

“If we’re becoming Anomalies, you can stop it, can’t you?” Maria asked in a rough voice. Her brain was buzzing with all the information she was processing.

“I believe I can help you as long as you send the data.”

“Jameson is still alive, isn’t he?” Maria asked abruptly.

Dr. Curran’s eyes narrowed slightly, then she gave Maria a curt nod. “Of course.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because you have no choice and you know it.”

Maria let out on explosive breath. “Very well.”

“Keep this between us. There is more at risk here than just your career, you know.”

“I understand.”

Dr. Curran folded her hands together and leaned toward the vid screen. “I am trying to help you. Whether you believe that or not, it’s the truth. Now, keep me informed of any changes in any of your squad members.”

“Very well.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

The screen flashed then her image was gone.

Maria raised her eyes to meet Denman’s intense stare.

“Holy Christ,” Denman finally said.

“Fuck them all,” Maria grunted.

“Why didn’t they tell us about the Anomalies?” Denman exclaimed.

“Because they fear we’ll end up just like them,” Maria snapped. “Isn’t that obvious? That’s probably the reason they have accelerated our schedule. They want us to finish before we become Anomalies!”

“Shit!”

“Wait!” Maria frowned. “Ryan died in the final push. He couldn’t have been in a mission.”

“When the Anomalies bit him, they transferred the modified virus to him.”

“Which made him one of them.”

Denman’s eyes widened slowly. “Oh, fuck. That means if the Anomalies bit the soldiers who fell in the last big push against the Scrags…”

“Then there are a lot more of them than the SWD realizes.”

Chapter 26

Sometimes the truth brought no comfort. Dwayne stared out the window of his office at The Bastion and wondered if the future was as bleak as it appeared. The plans for the evacuation to Section A were finalized and preparation was underway. Each of the Constabulary mini-stations scattered across the city were fully stocked with electro-shock rifles, riot gear, and tear gas. Patrols had been steadily, but discreetly increased. Even the notices that would be sent to the select few chosen to survive in the dying city were prepared for delivery at a moment’s notice. His thoughts lingered on his children for a second before focusing on the great wall in the distance.

Somewhere beyond that wall was the only woman he had truly ever loved, and he was powerless to help her.

Maria’s news about the previous attempts at creating Boon soldiers had been disconcerting enough without the additional information about the Inferi Anomalies. He could tell by her expression she had been keeping more from him. Something about the tilt of her head and the way her eyes shifted when he asked her how she was doing had revealed more than she intended.

Something was horribly wrong.

His chest ached with the thought of her far beyond the wall and untouchable. The longing he felt for her was so intense it hurt.

Maybe this was what the commandant had wanted him to uncover. The truth about the Inferi Boon and their mission. She had hinted none too subtly that there was a good probability that the mission could fail and that the Section A fallback plan would be implemented. Perhaps she knew about the failed missions and suspected that this one would also fail. Maria was concerned with the acceleration of the plans to clear the valley. He had not told her about the food shortage or Section A.

With a sigh, he realized they were both starting to keep secrets from each other.

It was plausible that the hastening of the mission was due to the food shortage and the anticipation of implementing the Section A fallback plan. But in light of the new information about the Anomalies, Dwayne feared it was because the SWD believed that the Boon would devolve into Anomalies as well.