Excerpt and Giveaway: The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion) by Rhiannon Frater

Publication Date: August 28th 2014

Description:

Humanity teeters on the brink of extinction…

Vanguard Lindsay Rooney has faced the undead hordes of Inferi Scourge and lived to tell the tale, but she has also suffered horrible losses. Like millions of other civilians, she had hoped that The Bastion would recover after a team of modified soldiers eradicated the undead hordes of Inferi Scourge that infested their valley. Yet the city still crumbles around them, along with any chance of survival.

Lindsey’s growing friendship with Torran MacDonald, an officer with the Science Warfare division, is her only solace as the decline of the city continues. When food riots fill the streets, martial law is enacted, and the upper echelons of government battle for control of the city, Lindsey is conscripted by her superiors to embark on a dangerous mission into the dead world beyond The Bastion. To add even more complications, Torran and the SWD join the squad.

Soon, Lindsey realizes that her mission is more than what it seems, and there are secrets that could both destroy The Bastion and take her life.

As long as the undead hordes of the Inferi Scourge howl outside the dying city, the last remaining humans struggle to survive inside The Bastion. Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her entire life within the towering walls. Her only refuge from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages is in the arms of Officer Dwayne Reichardt. Then Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge and reclaim the land and resources in the valley beyond the wall. If she succeeds, the city may be saved. 

But if she fails, humanity faces extinction…

EXCERPT

“Sir!” Goodwin breathed.

“I see the readout.” It was impossible to conceive that the others were gone. Opening the comm to the soldiers in the building, Torran said briskly, “Everyone report. Respond now!”

Strange guttural noises were his only answer.

Torran hit his wristlet, again switching the comm to contact Rosario’s group. “Smyth, report.”

As the other half of the squad was added to his helmet visual, he sucked in a deep breath. They were also reported as Killed In Action. Stunned, he swallowed the hard lump forming in his throat. What was going on?

“Sir?” Jonas queried his voice unsteady.

“Watch that door! Smyth, if you can hear me respond now!”

Through the static came the sound of someone choking.

The line hissed and buzzed for a long second, then a woman’s voice that was not Rosario’s said, “Don’t worry. She’ll come for you.”

A wave of horror washed over Torran and plunged him into the blackest depths of despair. They were all dead. Just like before outside the wall when the expanding perimeter fence had failed and the Inferi Scourge had swarmed the soldiers.

“Sir?”

The sound of Goodwin’s voice tugged Torran’s attention back to the present. Staring at the empty doorway shimmering in an ominous pale gray in the night vision filter, Torran gathered his thoughts, and then switched the comm again. “Base, I have lost all communication with my squad and they’re being reported as KIA. We are under attack from the abnormal Inferi Scourge. We need immediate backup to this location.”

The popping and static echoing through his helmet sent a surge of adrenaline through his system. For several seconds, he feared there wasn’t going to be a response, but then a voice said, “Master Seeker, you’re to hold position until we can send a tiltrotor with reinforcements. All units are all presently engaged.”

“We can’t hold this position,” Torran answered curtly. If the rest of the squad was dead, then he had to save Goodwin and Jonas as well as himself. He’d been a sole survivor of a squad before and the burden of that label still weighed on his soul.

“You have your orders to secure and hold that area,” came the reply.

“We’re dealing with a pocket of the Abscrags--”

“You have your--”

There were footsteps in the hallway.

“--and we are about to be overrun!”

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About the author:

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of over a dozen books, including the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor), as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog), and other horror novels. In 2014, her newest horror novel, The Mesmerized, will be released by Permuted Press. Dead Spots will be published in 2015 by Tor. She was born and raised a Texan and presently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets). She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.

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