“Body duty.”

Pablo groaned. He’d give anything to repeat yesterday over this mess.

Lynn grunted as they hefted another gory corpse from the ground. “Right eye gouged out. Knife?”

This gruesome chore consumed two hours of their day so far. They got so bored they invented a morbid game out of it. She’d guessed the cause of death. He’d let her know if she was off the mark or spot on. Voice strained from carrying the heavy motherfucker, he squeezed, “Nope.”

They passed Six in the hallway as she scrubbed brain matter from a wall. “You two still at it?”

Lynn called out, “I’m getting better!”

Pablo let out a thick chuckle under the effort.

“Okay…” She peered at him some more.

He threw her a bone, “Check his upper abdomen.”

Those beautiful brown eyes of her scanned him from the chest down. They honed in on the blood stain forming on the sheet. “What’s wrong with his ribs?”

“She ripped them open and, from what I gathered, stabbed him in the eye with one of them.”

“Hell yea!” She grunted a bit as they swung the corpse into the mass grave with the rest. “For Teeth, asshole.”

Pablo focused on the bunching of her biceps and the firm squeeze of her back muscles rather than glancing into the crowded pit. He was definitely more committed to keeping people alive rather than having a hand in their deaths. This was war, and casualties happened on both sides. But he wanted so much for this to end soon, and for him and Lynn to survive it.

“Are you okay?”

He closed his eyes to the sound of her voice. Soaking her in never got old, and he planned on repeating yesterday real soon. “Everything will be fine.”

Sagan and Tameka lugged a body each in their arms. The Progeny became so much stronger after their return from Enki. He smiled at the girls. A bridge between their worlds, humanity needed them. Along with surviving this apocalypse, he dreamt of the day Earth gained nacre technology for healing.

“You taking a break?” Sagan patted him on the back and almost knocked him into the hole.

Steadied by three women, Pablo laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. They joined him. Amongst the dead, it wasn’t necessarily a joyous occasion. But it was necessary.

Tameka wiped tears from her eyes and sighed, “I needed that.”

Sagan nodded over to Tumu and Pehton as they entered the base. “Hey, guys. I’ll be right back. I need to catch them real quick.”

“See ya,” Pablo called as she ran off.

Lynn and Tameka shared a glance and simultaneously guessed, “Party.”

“What?”

Lynn explained, “She’ll ask for a party.”

“We need to unwind.” Tameka rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s been too much lately. Even though we lost a soldier, taking back this base is something worth celebrating.”

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By the door, Sagan waved Tameka over. “You guys okay clearing out the basement? It’s the last of it.”

Lynn smiled. “We got it.” She pointed a deft finger at the redhead. “I want your sweet potato mash, though.”

The Progeny grinned as she ran off. “You got it!”

Pablo planted a hand on Lynn’s back and rubbed the tense muscles there. “C’mon. Let’s get this over with.”

They entered the base, and Lynn approached Bones, mop in hand. That conversation would suck.

Pablo left her to it and stopped at the infirmary door. He smiled at John sitting in the corner and glanced over to Cypher laid out on the gurney. Both hooked up to a banana bag and a packet of type O-negative. Both suffered contusions and needed some minor stitching. Cypher fell unconscious with a concussion and required steady monitoring until he woke up. “Hey, how’s he doing?”

“Still nothing. Thanks for the juice box, Doc.” He toasted him with the good ol’ apple.

“Clean-up’s almost done. I’ll check again after.”

“Later, man.”

Lynn joined him on the walk back to the basement. Concerned about her frown, he asked, “How’d that go?”

“About as well as you can imagine.”

He gave her a once over. Blood smeared them from head to toe. “You know what I love about the Iona bases?”

She tilted her head back and groaned while stretching her arms behind her. “The huge showers? The extra rooms for privacy? The—”

“Soundproofing.” He smirked.

Lynn’s giggle ended on a purr. “Amen.”

The basement bore signs of Ambush and Pride team’s capture. A conveniently placed drain should take care of most of it when they finished with the bodies. Pablo and Lynn took their places at one end of a heavy corpse. As he scanned it, his frown deepened.

“So, what have we got? I can’t find a wound. Blunt trauma? Or…” She peered a little closer. “Weird.”

“What do you see?”

“His lips are blue, and there’s blood on his mouth, but—”

“No obvious wound. It’s not meant to be obvious. Look…” He straightened the guy’s armor and exposed a hole about one centimeter in diameter.

“Does that go straight through his lung?”

Pablo looked over the man’s mouth. “He drowned in his own blood and died from hemorrhagic shock.” He rolled the body over. “There’s no exit wound. But the trajectory meant the projectile went through his lung and hit his spine. So he didn’t scream. He could have lived up to thirty minutes in agony with no way to stop it.”

Lynn scanned the bodies in the room. “Rayne did this?” She spoke in a hushed voice as if she worried the woman in question might overhear. They both knew damned well Rayne and Kyle stayed at the cabin to discuss weapon designs with Smith and Colton over the comms. But what if she could hear this far now?

Pablo swallowed. “John said it was within a second or two of entering the room. She went from Sarah Connor to the Terminator.”

“Why are these bodies so clean?”

Pablo’s brows came down hard. Clean? “I’m sorry?”

“The ones in the common areas and halls were a big gorefest. Why are these so”—she waved her hands to summon the right word—“neat?”

“You’re right. And I don’t have an answer. These three died the slowest.”

“Good thing, too.”

“But they were the cleanest.” He made to lift the body.

She clenched her jaw, concern on her face. “We could just ask her. We don’t need to talk about her like she’s not our friend anymore.”

They carried him up the stairs and into the cleaner space. “You’re right. She’s not a villain we need to analyze.” He smiled at her. “We can ask her sometime if we’re curious.”

“Hey, guys!” Sagan and Tameka approached the basement. The blond beamed at them. “Festivities are scheduled for tomorrow. We’ll get the last two. When you’re done with him, go wash up for dinner.”

The Progeny females shared a knowing glance before Tameka added with a grin, “You can even use the officers’ showers for some privacy.”

Pablo blushed for only a second before tugging on his end. “Woman, what are you waiting for?!”

Lynn threw her head back and laughed. They rushed out the door. Before they threw the fallen guard into the heap, she cried out, “Wait!”

Confused, Pablo frowned as she reached into the man’s pocket. She dropped his feet awkwardly and opened it. Terror filled her eyes, and her hands trembled. “Look at this…”

He dropped the guy completely and rushed over. As he stared at the blueprints, Pablo trembled.

“Tantamount.”

“Where?” Tumu’s deep voice startled them from behind.

Lynn swallowed and passed him the blueprint. “The caldera. A little under an hour’s drive from here.”

The Tritan glanced over the document, then searched their faces. No doubt filled with terror. His non-lips made a thin line. “We have time. Don’t mention it to them until after the celebration.” He patted them both on the shoulder. “We’ll plan our next move after the fun.”

Pablo met Tumu’s voids, but couldn’t control the tremor in his voice as he asked, “What will we do?”

Lynn’s voice cracked, “Yea, this is so much bigger—”

Someone called out Rayne’s name. A group gathered around her with Kyle following close behind. Tumu stared hard at the General before looking back at the mass grave. He sounded sad as he promised, “Don’t worry. She’ll finish it.”