“Excuse me, sir,” a voice called out as two forms materialized out of the darkness. The facemasks of their helmets were an unyielding black. Most likely they were set to night vision or infrared vision. “Do you live in this area?”

“Yes, I do.” He swept his wristlet over the identification unit one of the SWD officers was holding.

“Have you seen any unusual activity around the subway station today?” one of them asked.

“I was at work,” Dwayne answered.

He was clad in civilian clothing and all the SWD security had checked was his address. SWD and Constabulary didn’t always see eye to eye, so Dwayne shifted his weight, trying to look like a regular civilian. Maria joked that he always looked like he was at attention. “What’s going on?”

“Just a minor problem with a criminal element,” was the answer.

Behind him, Dwayne heard the whine of the gates set into the corner buildings being activated. On the far end of the block those gates were closing too. “This is looking a little serious.”

“Just a report of a suspicious person hanging out around the subway exit. I’ll escort you to your apartment building,” the one doing all the talking said as he took hold of Dwayne’s arm.

Relaxing his shoulders, Dwayne allowed himself to be herded toward his apartment building. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he could see several SWD units sweeping around the buildings. Another group was checking the locks on the subway station’s doors. Glancing up, he saw a woman staring down at him from behind a curtain as he was ushered to the retracted staircase of his apartment building. Dwayne swiped his wristlet over the sensor set into the wall and the staircase lowered.

“Stay off the street until further notice. This matter will be taken care of shortly,” the SWD officer said.

Dwayne studied the dark visor covering the man’s face, wondering if that was fear he heard in his voice. “I will. Thank you.”

Minutes later, tucked into his apartment, he set a small camera in the window over his kitchen counter to record the activity below. It was old and didn’t always get the clearest of images, but whatever it managed to capture he would send to Lindsey. His wristlet buzzed as a timer went off. It was time to call Maria. Hopefully, she would actually be able to answer tonight.

What remained of his earlier moonshine buzz was turning into a headache and he sat heavily at his small kitchen table. He quickly accessed the secret program and waited impatiently for Maria to answer. He hated when he wasn’t able to contact her, but she had explained about the blackouts and the wristlet alarm. Supposedly she now had full control over the alarm in her wristlet, but they both knew the SWD could turn it—and her—off at will.

It took nearly a full minute for her to answer. It was an immense relief to see her face.

“Hey babe,” he said, trying to keep the concern out of his voice.

“Dwayne,” she breathed, relief filling her voice. “I miss you. I was afraid I’d miss your call again.”

“They’re keeping you busy, huh?”

“Extremely, but it’s all good now that we’re actually in training.” She grinned in such a way he knew she was sincere.

“You look good,” he said, and meant it. Her cloudy eyes bothered him, but her smile was genuine and gave life to her gray-tinged features.

“We’re going in earlier than anticipated. I just got back from a briefing. Omondi and I are meeting in a few minutes to go over our plan one last time. This is such a huge relief. I’m so tired of training. I’m ready to be out there.”

“That’s my girl,” Dwayne said, smiling at her affectionately. He had struggled with the idea of telling her about the death the SWD was covering up, but seeing her calm demeanor he knew it would be the wrong thing to do. Maria believed what she was doing was right. Until he was certain about what was really going on, he wasn’t going to unnecessarily burden her. “Why did they move up the time frame?”

“I don’t know. They just called us in fifteen minutes ago and told us to get ready. We haven’t even notified the squad yet.” Maria laughed with delight. “They’re going to be thrilled.”

Dwayne noticed that a strand of hair had worked its way loose from her bun. His fingers twitched at the thought of pushing it back behind her ear and kissing her. His whole body ached for her. “I can see you’re thrilled.”

“I am. You can’t imagine.” Her expression was rapturous.

“You be careful out there.”

“I’m going to kick some Scrag ass!” A slight frown flitted across her expression. “Dammit. I gotta go. Omondi is pinging me.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow night. Love you.”

“I love you, too.” Maria blew him a kiss and was gone.

Rubbing his eyes, Dwayne tried not to think of his lover out among the Inferi Scourge. He knew she was immune, but it was difficult for his mind to accept it. He couldn’t wait until this was all over.

Checking the scene out in the street below, Dwayne could barely detect the black-garbed SWD forces slipping through the night. They were definitely looking for someone or something. Maybe it was wrong for his mind to link the SWD security down below with the early deployment of the Inferi Boon Special Ops, but he had to wonder.

* * *

The room was filled with excitement as the squad gathered around the table where a holographic image of the valley hovered in full detail. There were no people in the room other than the Inferi Boon. The upper echelon had finally released their shackles on Omondi to take over full command. From this point on, he was calling the shots.

Most of the squad had been settled into their rooms watching vids or reading. A few had been in the rec room playing games. Jameson had managed to push his way through the cram of bodies to be at Maria’s side. He kept grinning at her, excited.

“We’re going to bust those fuckers up!” Jose Gutierrez, an SWD officer, declared from nearby.

“You know it!” Cruz high-fived him, quite a sight with her short stature and his height.

The high energy in the room was tangible. After two weeks of training and adjusting to their transformed bodies, the soldiers were desperate for some action. Everyone who enlisted always hoped to one day kill the Scourge, but they were part of a small force that was actually going to do it.

“Enough carousing, you bastards,” Omondi growled, his voice laced with affection and his own vivacity. “Pay attention and listen up.”

The din quieted as all eyes were drawn to the image before them.

Mary took a breath and started. “Every campaign against the Scrags failed because we have never had the resources required to eliminate them in such large numbers. When humanity arrived in the valley it was with what little we could salvage from a dying world. Food, medicine, farming and mining equipment and tech consumed a substantial amount of space in the storage facilities. Even before the great exodus here, humanity was dangerously low on ammunition and fuel. Our fathers and mothers salvaged what they could. Ironically, their faith in the gate and the valley was so strong, they didn’t even believe they would need to stockpile weaponry.”

“Stupid politicians,” McKinney groused.

Chief Defender Omondi studied the faces of his people. “Now, we’re nearly out of fuel and ammunition. This campaign will not fail because it is not dependent on resources, but on us. The Inferi Boon.”

Maria nodded her head, continuing. “Fire-bombing is out of the question because of the mines. If we end up with a coal seam fire, we’ve just fucked our only chance at surviving in this valley. We will be burning the bodies of the Scrags, but there is no danger because we are above ground. We’ve been allotted enough fuel for our flame throwers to do controlled burns of the corpses. We’ve also been given fuel for the personnel carrier, but we estimate we have enough to last us the duration of our mission as long as we don’t joyride all over the place.”

“How many attempts have there been to eliminate the Scrags?” Denman asked.

Omondi looked very grim. “Too many to count. The position of the gate has always worked against the tiltrotors. They can’t get close enough to set down without being swarmed. The one attempt to use some of the salvaged missiles that were stored in the city resulted in a dangerous cave-in of the subway tunnel near the hydroelectric station. We had a major breach in the subway system before it could be contained,” Omondi answered. “That area is still considered the city’s most vulnerable access point even though we did manage to seal the primary tunnel. There is a secondary one that did not retain damage. Luckily.”

“Our primary objective is to close the damn gate. As long as it is open, the Scrags will keep coming. We still have large pockets arriving every few months. What draws them here, we don’t know. They enter the valley and join the hordes already here.” Maria slightly shrugged. “We just need to eliminate their only way into the valley. Then kill the ones trapped inside.”

“The situation is as follows: the Scrags are up against the walls in every direction for nearly half a mile. They’re an impenetrable wall of dead, stinking flesh.”