Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,235

embarrassed at how pleased I looked. I rolled my eyes. When I first met Jules, I thought she was so naive. She might be younger than me, but now I felt inexperienced compared to her.

“Absolutely not,” Huxley murmured under his breath. I knew he would be an obstacle, but he didn’t have a choice. I’d do this with or without him.

“Rumor has it that you killed Lackley when the lights went dark. It’s how Tallis has been recruiting people. Everyone wants to help the "Queen of the Walkers." She threw up finger quotations to stress her point. "Forget the woman actually doing all the hard work here,” she scoffed.

My mouth dropped open in shock. They thought I killed Lackley? They were calling me Queen of the Walkers? I was no queen. I was a coward.

“Don’t look at me that way, little Walker. I don’t like it any more than you do, but don’t go playing the victim now. Accept it. Hell, embrace it. It's going to save them.”

Patrick stood and ran his hands through his hair, looking around at the elders while taking in a deep breath, “So, what about us? What can we do?”

“You can help the Resistance in however they deem fit,” she replied with a smirk.

“I don’t like this,” Kemper grumbled. Beside me, Huxley was sitting tall, his back straight and stiff.

“The database,” Kemper finally said. He had his hand on his chin and was deep in thought. “She can’t get past the database. They’ll scan her on arrival and know who she is right off the bat." Kemper sat up and snapped his fingers. "And what about her scar? Won’t Cavil and his men think it's strange that she's had her fetter removed? And what if Cavil recognizes her, or what if, as a Companion, she’s selected to do...well...what Companions do? Too many variables. I vote no.”

Jules seemed unfazed by Kemper's line of reasoning. However, Aarav seemed interested in her response. “I agree. There seems to be a lot of vulnerabilities in this plan. We cannot provide our support unless we know it has a high likelihood of succeeding,” Aarav said.

“We have a hacker that will alter the database. He’s already working on it as we speak. We have dummy fetters that don’t electrocute but trick the guards. I’m handy with makeup, and her hair is already turning white. And she won’t be claimed by one of Cavil’s men because they’ll all be dead before it even gets to that point,” Jules assured him. Aarav stroked his chin, eyeing Jules with respect.

“So then what?” I asked. “Cavil still has guards eager to do his bidding. The problem isn’t just the men in power. There’s an entire way of thinking we have to go to war against,” I argued.

I stood and began pacing around the fire until I was standing in front of Jules. “I’ll help. But we need to have long-term solutions. We need to ensure that the next Cavil or Lackley doesn’t rise to power. We have to shut down the infrastructure.” A droplet of sweat rolled down my cheek from the heat of the fire.

“The night Cavil dies, we plan to start massive riots in the Zone," Jules replied. "The hope is Maverick will escape and figure out this cure once and for all. Then we'll get people in power that actually have good intentions for the empire. But there is a long road ahead of us before then. Right now, the priority is bringing down Cavil and his army.”

It was a plan. One without a high likelihood of succeeding. So much seemed stacked against us, but I clung to the hope that we could actually leave this all behind and end up in a better world for ourselves.

“So what about me? What about Payne? Surely you aren’t considering bringing us along?” Linda said, clutching her pearl necklace and looking around the campfire at us. I had almost forgotten that she was here. It was unlike her to be so quiet and amenable.

I looked to Aarav, praying he’d let them stay if we agreed to leave. Behind him, the elders began frantically whispering to one another. It was no secret that Mistress Stonewell hadn’t made many friends here.

“You may stay until after Cavil has been unseated. We will allow it,” Aarav said with a definitive nod, ignoring the groans of the elders. I heard someone whisper "damn" but bit back my laugh. “We will listen for updates. Should you succeed in killing Cavil, I