Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,116

he was drunk like this, it was best that she kept hidden.

“Our debts, Josiah! Our debts will be forgiven. Once I send this pesky message to the Emperor!” he exclaimed while using his greasy index finger to type out a message. I considered allowing him to embarrass himself with a drunk message to Lackley, but still swiped it from his clumsy fingers before he could hit send. I peered down at the tablet and saw one letter—X.

“What does Influenza X have to do with this?” I asked immediately, wishing I could snap my fingers and Father would sober up.

Father let loose a big belly laugh and his shoulders shook with the force of it.

“Everything has to do with it, Boy. Everything.”

I stood and waltzed over to him and forced myself to endure his breath and address him at eye level. “Explain.”

“I know what Lackley’s done. I know what he’s planning to do.” Father shrugged, leaning back onto my bed. I noticed that he was so drunk that his pants were soiled. I cringed. Ashleigh would have to wash my sheets tonight.

“What are you saying?” I persisted. I needed to know exactly what he knew and if he had already told anyone. My father loved to spout conspiracy theories, and his credibility had steadily declined in the previous years.

Father’s eyelids fluttered shut, and I poked him with a sturdy finger, jolting him awake. He flailed his arms and hit me. It wasn’t the worst his fists have ever done, but it would leave a bruise.

“What do you want, boy?” he sneered. Drops of saliva puffed out of his cracked lips.

“What are you planning?” I balled my hands into a fist and tried not to scream.

“Lackley is in deep shit!” Father finally got his pants unbuttoned, but he decided that pushing his pants down was too much effort, so he gave up. I was desperate to keep him awake so I could hear what he had to say, therefore I helped him shimmy his encompassing frame out of his black, soiled slacks.

“The greedy fool! We’re all ticking time bombs!” he roared while jolting up into a sitting position and pulling me close. His fist clutched my button-down shirt, and I cringed, all too familiar with his drunken force.

“The Governor’s right-hand man told me himself. We’ll all be vaccine rejects soon—that’s right! Haven’t you wondered why more and more people are rejecting the Vaccinations?” Father was whispering now. As if worried someone was listening in on our conversation. “Lackley would pay a pretty penny to keep news like this from getting out!” Father now chuckled with such malice that my eyes widened. I couldn’t let this happen. Lackley wouldn’t pay my father a dime. He’d simply kill us.

I knew this day was coming. We had been preparing for quite some time now. I was warned that Father was getting too close. He was too curious. Too greedy.

“I know Lackley’s deepest secret,” Father said with a slightly giddy yawn.

I watched him slump back onto my bed and close his eyes.

“Get some rest, Father,” I said in a calm voice.

I knew what had to be done. What should have been done years ago, when his fist first became acquainted with my flesh. When he first started noticing Ashleigh’s body. When Mother first started crying at night. My Father was a stain on society. A waste of oxygen.

Going to war with Lackley would surely result in my family’s death. In Ashleigh’s death. It’s why I made preparations long ago.

Father’s been a loose cannon for too long.

It ended now.

Within moments he was passed out and snoring quietly against the pillow. I took a moment to watch my drunken mess of a father sleep peacefully. While asleep, he wasn’t a threat. He wasn’t gambling or shoving Mother down the stairs or leering at Ashleigh. He looked almost like what a Father was supposed to be.

But I knew better.

I grabbed the pillow next to him and after a moment’s pause, placed it over his face and pressed down hard . At first he didn’t move. His deep and drunk slumber caused him to feel no pain. I don’t think he felt the fire in his lungs as they burned for air. Or the last few pounding beats of his heart, before the blood simply stopped flowing. He twitched a few times, the last bit of electricity zapping his now dead neurons as he kissed eternity and finally left us.

I enjoyed watching the last little sparks of life flee his