Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,356

story once things had settled.

“I’m sure you’re feeling a lot of things, Payne. And if you want to talk about it, we’re all here for you. We’re your family now, and I promise you aren’t alone. You’ll never be alone,” I said in a steel voice as he wrapped his arms back around me and held me close. After a few more moments, he guided me over to the table where he was playing cards with Patrick and then sat in my lap while playing. It felt so good to see him giggling with my friend, and for the first time in ages, I felt at home. I’d come full circle.

I shoveled more food into my mouth while laughing at Jacob’s mindspeak commentary regarding my moans. We would really need to get his mindspeak filter adapted since Payne was going to be a permanent fixture in our lives. I hadn’t precisely asked my men if they were okay with adopting the boy, but watching us all interact like a family was making my heart swell. It just felt right. Some things were predestined and some things you couldn’t ignore. Payne was family.

“So how quickly can we get this to the masses?” Kemper asked. He’d been working on mechanical design for mass producing the cure. It would take a few days to get it built and running, but pretty soon, we’d have enough medicine for everyone.

“I figure if we get out a signal telling everyone to go to Galla for the cure, they will come in waves,” Cyler said.

I chewed on the end of my fork while contemplating it. “What if we included the instructions and gene sequence for the cure in the signal? Some people can’t walk here in less than seven days. Most places have clinics of their own and could start manufacturing the cure there. And I like the idea of setting a precedence that the cure is for all. No more class systems.”

Cyler beamed at me, and I found myself nearly laughing at the idea of me talking about eradicating the class system while eating dinner Jacob made at Stonewell Manor. We were all sitting around the table as Payne shoveled mouthfuls of potatoes into his mouth.

“Excellent idea, Babe,” Cyler said with a grin.

“And we need to send volunteer scouts out to the deadlands,” I added. People with the cure. Most of them don’t have tablets or reception. We want to get the word and resources out,” I added.

Kemper grinned while flipping to the next page and making a checklist of items. “Anything else, Ash?” he asked. It felt so good to feel a part of their group. They were proficient leaders, and I was now a part of that.

“Can we also say that there will be a meeting at the end of two months to discuss government? All leaders or people interested in rebuilding the empire are invited to attend,” I said. This was a slightly trickier aspect of rebuilding things.

Cyler turned to the others while gauging their reaction. “Do you think we should try to have a summit? Start nominations for leadership and go from there?”

“We’re going to have to rebuild. And we’ll need some guidance. I think it’ll be a good idea, but we should make it for three months. Just to make sure everyone has enough time to recover and get the word out there. It’ll also give us time to get some voting systems in place. We want this to be a democracy, right? No more elitist birthrights or vaccine-related segregation,” Kemper said while writing down more items on his list.

“Okay. Let's do it,” Cyler said before reaching across the table to grab my hand. He squeezed it, and I looked around at my men, feeling a thankfulness seep into my bones. This was it. We’d finally done it. We’d survived.

“Anything else?” Maverick asked while playing with the food on his plate.

Patrick stood up and placed his hands over Payne’s ears. “Well, I for one am exhausted and would love to rest. With Ash. But not really rest. I know the concept of taking turns is a bit juvenile, but I’d say it’s my turn with our fiance, wouldn't you say?” He blushed while giving me a sheepish grin.

I blanched. “Fiance, huh?” I asked while standing to put my hands on my hips. “Last I checked, none of you have asked me to get married.”

“We haven’t? I could have sworn one of us took care of that,” Kemper replied with a chuckle.

“Somewhere