Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,299

pale skin and slumped shoulders. He was right, though. Every town we’d come to was nothing but infected Walkers. Sometimes we had to just stay in the transport to avoid coming into contact with any of them. The disease was spreading faster than ever before, now that the cure was obsolete.

I looked behind me just in time to see Maverick emerge from what was left of the clinic. His hands were full of various first-aid kits, but even from here, I could tell that none of it was of use. "They cleared most of it out," he said with a frown before setting it down on the ground at his feet. His red hair was knotted and full of soot, but his brown eyes still flickered with hope despite the burden on his shoulders. I observed the black circles under his eyes; calculating how much longer he could go before needing to rest.

"Well, let's go check out old Dormas." My eyes fluttered to Cyler's for a moment, remembering that old motorcycle ride we once took. That moment in the treehouse seemed so far away now. I missed the simplicity of it. It was a place where Cyler was strong, and the only thing between us was worry that we couldn't make the group relationship work.

"Always wanted to take you back to that treehouse, Babe," Cyler said with a smile. He was trying to lighten the mood, and I appreciated him for it.

"Maybe this time we’ll actually make good use of it," I boldly replied, not even surprised at how much I had changed over these last few months. I’d come to appreciate that every moment was precious. You never knew when it could be your last, so I made sure to take each little bit from my men that I could.

Shuddering, Jules shook her head before grabbing Tallis’ hand. "Gross. Can you at least pretend to have a sense of tact?" she asked while wrinkling her nose. Tallis, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered. He’d grown more stoic over the last few weeks, allowing Jules to take the lead. But he winked at me then, in that quiet, playful way I’d come to expect. I winked back. It was the little moments of normalcy that made all of this bearable.

Patrick started coming up the drive, destruction covering the road on both sides of him as he carried various items in his arms. He had gone down to the train station, checking to see if he could salvage anything, and it looked like he did. I stared at his towering figure, appreciating the way his clothes clung to his frame. Huxley jogged up to meet him and took a few of the supplies from his arms. Despite the sadness and the sense of loss we all felt, my twins looked ready to take on the world, Huxley with his fierce expression, and Patrick with his optimistic outlook on life. Together they could probably rule the empire if they wanted to.

"You okay?" Huxley asked in a gruff voice before stopping in front of me. I looked at what he was holding: a few canned goods and a hammer. Nothing we could really use but still something of worth.

"I know I didn't live here for long, but I’m still sad. I can't imagine how you feel." I rubbed my arm while looking around once more. Patrick set down some of his supplies next to me, then placed his hand at my chin, gently lifting my face up to meet his gaze.

"This could be a good thing," Patrick, ever the optimist, said. “We could build a giant mansion now. I’m thinking a huge kitchen so you could make cake all day.” At his words, my stomach grumbled. I’d been trying to ignore the hunger pains. The scarcity of food and other supplies made them heavily rationed so we had to be careful with how much we ate. He gave me a stern but playful look that told me he heard that then set the supplies in his arms on the ground before digging in the pocket of his cargo pants. He produced a handful of nuts and berries left over from our lunch earlier. I had seen him save them and now understood he was setting them aside for me.

“Eat,” he ordered while handing them out to me. I grabbed the handful and kissed his cheek in thanks.

Jacob walked towards us then looked at the ground where Patrick had discarded his stuff. The