Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,1

with her friends.

“We have an essential family coming to stay with us for a few days,” she said before sipping her tea.

I noticed the wide grin that encompassed her face and revealed her brightly-bleached teeth. She was excited about this visit.

“Josiah,” she continued, “is working on procuring a very lucrative, trade deal, and it is imperative that this visit goes well.”

There were fifteen different provinces within the empire, each making up the Confederation of Dasos. Each province had its laws and ways of running things, but the empire governed all trade between them. Josiah was in charge of one of the largest and most wealthy provinces in the entire realm.

The Capital was at the center, and each province surrounded it. The further away you were from the capital, the more at risk you were from attack by scavengers. It was a confusing web of alliances and trade deals.

I briefly wondered why Josiah wasn’t the one telling me this, but quickly reminded myself that it was because, ultimately, Mistress Stonewell controlled the house. She relished feeling powerful and wasn’t afraid to use her son, or late husband, as a pawn.

“Master Black and his sister are to be treated with the utmost care. I want this house to be spotless before their arrival. I also want you to prepare only the finest meals available. Spare no expense.”

I had access to the budget, as I regularly referenced it when meal planning, I wasn’t quite sure how she wanted me to spend money we simply didn’t have.

“Also, I think we should convert the basement into your permanent, living quarters. It has direct access to the kitchen, which I find to be more appropriate and convenient for your role here. Please be completely moved in by this evening—that is all.”

I had my reservations and fears regarding the basement but knew that arguing would be useless. It was hot and muggy in the summer and unbearably cold in the winter. Not to mention, the shadows that danced in the basement’s darkness haunted me in ways I couldn’t explain.

“Yes, Mistress Stonewell,” I replied with artificial respect. The damp and dismal basement was intimidating, and the thought of spending my nights in its scary embrace made me tremble. My current room was an oversized-storage closet located on the main floor, but I found it to be comfortable and warm during the winter.

I cleared their plates and stole a quick glance at Josiah, wondering what he thought of this new arrangement. Although our eyes met, a stiff smile answered me back. He apparently had no say in the whims of his mother. Honestly, he had no say in anything–not if he didn’t want to become a Walker like me.

It wasn’t always this way. The divide between Walkers and the Elite began decades ago when Influenza X came into existence. It was a deadly virus that spread like wildfire through our communities. Although a small handful of the population was naturally immune, entire cities still crumbled as it infected those within its path. The disease caused its victims to burn white-hot and collect painful blisters all over their body.

What made the virus so deadly, was that the infected were compelled to walk the streets in fevered confusion, sometimes in a rough and violent state of mind before slipping away into death. It made containing the disease near impossible because the Walkers infected everyone in their path.

A scientist created a vaccine in the Galla province, but the cure came at a steep cost, thus causing a great divide between those that could afford to live and those that could not. As a result, those that couldn’t afford the vaccine were forced to migrate into concentrated areas of sickness and poverty now known as the Walker Zones, where I was born.

Walkers have since developed drastic ways to prevent the spreading of Influenza X throughout the Walker Zones. At the first sign of infection, a Walker is killed, and their home burned down. Some mornings I could look out the kitchen window to see smoke billowing in the distance, indicating that another infected person was dead.

It was a devastating world, but I was thankful to live at Stonewall Manor. I had no freedoms, but at least I had a roof over my head.

I escaped into the kitchen after breakfast to begin my chores and menu-planning for the upcoming visit. While I washed the dishes, I heard Mistress Stonewell announce that she was leaving for her morning walk, and shortly after, I heard the