Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,341

could save…

Maverick.

I turned to look back at him, noticing how his steps were staggered. I couldn’t tell if he was weak from the sprinting we just did for the last hour to get here or if he was feeling the beginning stages of X. “I’ll only be a minute,” Jacob assured me before slipping inside the dark building. Kemper quickly followed after him.

It took all of ten minutes for them to inspect the hospital, but the entire time, it felt like I was holding my breath. Now that Maverick had been exposed to X, I worried that the rest of my men would succumb to the same fate. Cyler groaned, and I turned around to stare at him. His shirt was completely soaked with blood, as were the rest of my men. Pulling Huxley’s shirt down so that it covered more of my ass, I walked closer to him and inspected the bleeding wound. If there weren’t a functioning healing pod here, he would undoubtedly die.

Kemper poked his head out of the door and whistled at us. Looking side to side, he then motioned us in. I helped Huxley guide a feverish Cyler to the door while Patrick ignited a lighter to illuminate the space inside. Inside, Kemper was working with the power box, likely trying to find a generator while Maverick made quick work of searching for the healing pod. Luckily, healing pods were large and weighed too much to be stolen, so it was still plugged in over in the corner.

It looked like a giant tube, and Mav raised the lid before gasping. After setting Cyler on the floor, Huxley and I ran over to him to see what had caused that reaction.

There, in the healing pod, was a skeleton of decay. Maggots were eating at the poor person’s skin, and you could even see the victim’s broken leg that he was trying to heal. I gagged, bile rising up my throat as I tried to back away. The stench filled the room almost immediately, like the healing pod had covered up the smell, but now that it was released, we all were suffering.

Kemper managed to flip a switch, turning on the generators and illuminating the room with fluorescent light. We all used whatever we could to cover our noses and mouths while taking in the place. The shelves were mostly empty, and the equipment on the tables was covered with dust, but for the most part, everything was still here.

“I’ll move the body,” Maverick said with a frown. It was so decomposed that he had to take bits and pieces of its limbs, placing it in a nearby box before pushing it out of the building. Kemper sprayed the healing pod down with disinfectant he found under the sink before wiping it down. Once it was clean, Huxley and Patrick picked up Cyler and placed him in the pod, lowering the lid with finality before switching it on.

Healing pods were meant for broken bones and easy fixes. It could cure cancer, but couldn’t cure Influenza X. And now that I knew that X was a fabrication of Lackley, I figured that it was intentional. Why create a disease meant to wipe out the world's population if it could be easily cured?

“It’ll take about an hour for his arm to heal.” Maverick’s voice seemed far away, and I spun around to see where he was. He was inching towards a glass room.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he placed his hand on a door, opened it, and closed himself in. The others seemed to know what he was doing and slumped in defeat. “What’s happening?” I could hear my voice growing shriller.

Maverick started working on the desk and pressed a button, activating an intercom in the center. “It’s a quarantine room. Used for people infected with X.” He then moved towards me as I pounded on the glass, unwilling to accept what I knew was necessary. He held up his palm, and I gasped at the blister forming there. It was a dark purple color, already swelling with what I knew would be a bursting, feverish sore.

“But I’m immune!” I screamed at him. He didn’t have to go through this alone. No one should ever have to do this alone. I didn’t know how much time I had, and I didn’t want to waste a second away from him.

“You know where the safe is. You know what to do. Find Payne and bring him here. I’m going