Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,311

of our life. We passed out, and when we woke up, she was gone."

Jacob’s mindspeak immediately blurted out Payne’s name. Word must have gotten out that Payne was the answer to the cure and that he was staying with Aarav in the Water camp. Did that mean they had Payne already? Despair clawed at my chest when I thought of a helpless Hope and Payne being poked and prodded by Cavil’s men.

"Thurst,” I began as tears filled my eyes. “I’m so sorry about Hope. We have to get her back. Did you see Aarav?" I asked.

"I can't remember his name, but I did see someone taken into custody a few days ago while we were hunting in the woods. There were women with him, but I didn't recognize Mia in the group. It was crowded though, and we were trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, so there's a chance she was with them, too." Jules immediately stood up in action, locking her knife into the waistband of her pants before grabbing Tallis’ hand.

"Where did you see them?" Jules asked. Once again, I admired the friendship she and Mia had developed during our time here. One moment Jules was trying to ignore us, and the next she was on a mission. I also stood, wordlessly providing her solidarity as I moved beside her. Tallis simply shook his head, like he wouldn't allow himself to hope. Luckily for him, Jules had enough determination for all of us.

"It was just outside of Lythe. They’re holding all of them there."

"We were just in Lythe. Passed through it to get here. It's nothing," I replied. I felt like what little lead we were holding onto had just disappeared. Kemper was standing outside the circle, all calm serenity from our morning together had fled his rigid stance. I looked at his lean figure, watching as he worked through the problem.

"Not many people know this," Thurst began, "but Lythe has an entire underground city. You can only access it through one point, but hundreds of people have been living there for years. That's where we saw the Scavengers taken."

"Could you take us to this underground city?" The moment my question left my lips, Jules yanked Tallis into a standing position. I watched her stroke his chest before looking at Thurst.

"I could," Thurst replied before coughing, "but it would be a mission that would certainly end in death. We can’t go, Ash.”

I would've laughed, but Jules beat me to it. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're all going to die. We need to get there, we're looking for the same person Cavil's men were looking for. And if they have the Eastern scavenger leader? Then I'm willing to bet they have Mia, too. Or she's nearby. From what little I saw, that man wouldn't let her out of his sight for a moment. We need you to take us." Tallis winced at Jules’ little speech, and I felt bad that Tallis was struggling so much with his self-worth. He had this lost look in his eyes as he stared about the empty empire. A few weeks ago, I’d accidentally walked in on Jules whispering frantically to Tallis that he hadn’t failed his people. It was ruining him to know his people were gone, and I knew that this was the only way to get them back.

Bowden and Thurst exchanged uneasy glances. "I don’t feel comfortable with you going. I’ve already lost...Hope..." Bowden said as he choked on his words.

“If Hope is there, we can bring her back,” I replied. I felt it in my gut that they were there, and I wanted nothing more than to storm this so-called underground city and get my people back. The two Scavengers exchanged one more glance, unconvinced that we would be successful. Finally, it was Tallis who spoke up.

“We’re going to get our people back,” he said, an air of finality that forced all the authority he had left through us all. “That’s an order.”

Bowden and Thurst let out sighs before responding, “Yes.” Despite it all, their loyalty ran deep.

Chapter Six

Once the others got back from Dormas without the fever-reducing medicine Thurst needed, we made quick work of explaining to them what the plan was. Both Thurst and Bowden did their best to describe to us what the underground city of Lythe was like, as well as explain how the entry worked, but there were still many unknowns. The most significant complication was that their