Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,338

fucking hurts,” Cyler grit out. I immediately went to his non-injured arm and helped steady him, his large frame nearly knocking me to the ground when he went limp. This was so bad. We were still far from Galla, and there was no way we’d get there in time, not to mention that without the safety of the transport, we’d be exposed to Walkers and resistance groups.

Kemper immediately pulled me away with a gentle tug and took my spot to help hold Cyler up. “Do you know how to get to Galla from here?” Jacob’s mindspeak asked Kemper.

“Yes. Walk east,” Kemper replied with a grunt. We’d all have to take turns supporting Cyler as we traveled to Galla.

“Make a circle around Cyler and Ash,” Huxley instructed while pulling Heat from his waist. My men created a wall of muscle around us.

And we walked.

Chapter Fifteen

Every step hurt. My head was pounding as the sun beat down on my back. Although it was cooler from the change in seasons, it was still unbearable, and my skin started to burn. My salty sweat traveled down my cheek and landed on my lip. I kept sticking out my tongue to taste it as it was the only relief my dry throat could have.

“Fuck!” Cyler groaned while bumping into me once again. He had been swaying the last hour, barely keeping steady.

“Huxley,” I called out, concern lacing my words like poison. Cyler wasn’t going to make it much longer. We’d been walking for hours, way more than the three we originally thought it would take us to get to Galla. “Cyler needs someone to help prop him up, I’m not strong enough,” I said through gritted teeth while wrapping my arm around Cy’s waist. The guys were so focused on keeping their eyes out for looters and infected Walkers that they’d almost missed how miserable Cyler was. Despite my best efforts, his knees hit the dirt with a smack, causing the rest of the guys to jump into action.

Maverick propped Cyler up on his right side, and Patrick joined him on the left. Both of them carried Cyler, who was grunting while keeping his arm close to his chest, crying out when Patrick bumped into it.

“Shit, sorry man,” Patrick apologized. “Let’s sit down for a minute.”

“We don’t have time,” Maverick said while continuing to hoist Cyler up into a standing position. This was a shit storm. Oh fuck, we wouldn’t get him to a healing pod in time—that is if we had a healing pod to use.

Although we crashed in the expansive, sandy desert, we were now in the bordering woods surrounding Galla. We were close, I think. We’d found the train tracks leading to the city and were following it east. The sun was beginning to set, and I knew that once it was dark, we’d have a less likely chance of keeping Cyler alive through the night.

I looked at my strong man, biting my lip hard to stop the tears from falling. His shirt was soaked with blood, and I couldn’t breathe. It was like a weight was on my chest. “What’s that noise?” Jacob’s mindspeak said while turning to look off to the left. I followed his gaze and peered at the dimmed sky. The trees in the distance were shifting, but it was hard to hear anything over Cyler’s cries and moans of pain.

“Shhh,” Huxley said while standing to join Jacob in the clearing. They both stood at attention with their fists clenched. They watched the distance with trained eyes. Something felt off; there was a stiffness in the air that had every hair on my neck standing on edge. And then, chaos erupted.

Something slammed into my back, knocking me to the ground. My tongue was coated with dirt as I felt teeth on my neck and heard a snarl in my ear. The smell of death filled my nose as I cried out, shifting my body to get out from underneath whatever was on top of me. I gripped the blades of grass and yanked my body forward as frantic yells and wheezing filled the air. Soon, the dense mass of weight was pulled from my body. And I stood up, orienting myself while placing my fists at my face.

The scene before me was chaos. Cyler was on the ground, passed out and bleeding in the grass. Maverick was fighting an infected Walker. Huxley had Heat out, the weapon stolen from Lenny’s man. Kemper had managed to fix it before