by Coralee June
Huxley grabbed my hand, and I looked down at it in shock. “Keep close,” he whispered. “Cy will kill me if I let anything happen to you.”
“It’s okay to admit you want to take care of me,” I replied slowly in a low whisper just as Tallis knocked on the door. Huxley tensed and gripped my hand tighter.
An older man wearing a bronze ear tag opened the door and bowed respectfully to Tallis. He had salt and pepper hair, a young smile, and bright grey eyes.
“Welcome. I’m Claude, the Walker of this home. Master Lux has been expecting you.” He smiled and extended his arm, welcoming us inside.
I followed through the threshold as we were guided towards the sitting room. The room was completely covered in tones of navy and baby blue with gold accents. Plush couches and mahogany furniture filled the room.
I excused myself to freshen up in the bathroom, then traveled back towards the sitting room and found everyone casually lounging. Claude was resting on a chaise lounge with his feet propped up on the coffee table.
“Lux thinks more with his dick than with his brain,” the man said with a chuckle. He wiped tears of laughter from his cheeks while Tallis poured him a small glass of amber liquid. “I’ve been smuggling goods and Walkers through this house for years while he’s off gallivanting around the Empire!” he roared in a proud tone before shifting his eyes to me. “Oh, right dearie, I do most sincerely apologize for my language.” He whipped out a handkerchief and dabbed his sweaty forehead. He wore a dark suit but his shirt was wrinkled and unbuttoned, as if he only partially cared about his station here.
“I’m not bothered by it, I live with this lot,” I said while throwing a thumb in Huxley’s direction, which made him scowl.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Huxley asked while crossing his arms over his chest.
“How’d you become a smuggler for Scavengers?” I asked, ignoring Huxley and taking a seat on the chase lounge next to Mia. She was also enjoying a tall glass of something that was clear and smelled like rubbing alcohol. She rested her head on my shoulder in contentment. Her eyes were hooded, and I wanted to chastise her for drinking before our mission but decided against it. Mia seemed to be the type to do whatever she wanted, and I didn’t want to anger her or become a victim of her knife throwing skills.
Huxley paced the room while occasionally stretching his muscles and peering anxiously out the windows. Jacob stuffed his face with what appeared to be cookies, while Kemper and Maverick argued about something on their Tablets.
“I’ve been a Procured Walker my entire life. I was born into it. In fact, my Holder is actually my half-brother,” Claude said with a knowing smile. The implications of his statement made me gape at him. His Senior Master was his father.
“My mother caught our father’s eye, but she was just a Walker. When I was born, she was banished to the Walker Zones in Galla, but I was allowed to stay—as a procured Walker, of course. I was the bastard son of a Congressional seat holder, so the most I could hope for was a life of servitude in exchange for the vaccine.”
My heart sank, and I applied his life to mine and what could have happened if Josiah and I had explored a relationship together. Claude was proof that Walkers and the Elite didn’t mix—there were too many variables. Too many casualties.
“When my Master died, Lux stopped pretending he cared about the family legacy and started traveling to all the Providences with lenient gambling and prostitution rules. I was bored in this big old house and decided to make friends with a few people that could let me live out my rebellious tendencies.”
Claude gave me a grin before downing his drink. “You’ll want to wait until after dark before traveling again. I’ve cloaked your Transport’s airwave signature, but I think you’ll find less resistance at night; besides, you look like you could use some rest and a nice hot cup of tea, Mistress.” The term made me flinch. I was no Mistress.
“Please call me Ash, Claude,” I said politely. “And we can’t stay here all day. Every second that passes something could be happening to Cyler and Patrick. We need to leave within the hour,” I said while standing, to further my point. Mia slumped over on the couch and stretched out her legs comfortably.
“Love, Claude is right. It’ll be easier to sneak out of here at night, and we’ll be in Galla by tomorrow afternoon,” Kemper said hesitantly while looking around the room for support. Jacob got up and grabbed my elbow.
“Ash,” Jacob began. “Cyler and Patrick are going to be okay. We’ll be useless if we’re stopped traveling out of the city. Plus, we still need to refuel.”
“Oh! Right-oh you are, Master Jacob, is it Jacob? Yes—well, I’ll take your transport to the refueling station a few miles away and bring it back,” Claude said with a wide smile. I noticed that food was stuck in the prominent gap in his teeth. Claude stood up and wobbled a bit, probably from the alcohol, and I was thankful that he needn’t operate the Transport since it simply drove itself.
Tallis noticed Claude’s inability to walk a straight line and offered to go with him. After a few stumbles they both left the Manor.
“So, what now?” I asked while plopping back down on the chair. Mia’s mouth was open, her soft snores filled the room.
“Now, we rest,” Jacob replied with a yawn. He slumped down the side of the wall and jetted his muscular legs in front of him. Soon, he, too, was asleep. At first, I thought it was because he cradled me for the entirety of the trip here, but I noticed that the others were drooping with drowsiness.
“Are you all okay?” I asked while watching Maverick’s head bob in his chair. “Hello?” I asked.
Before anyone could answer, the front door opened with a jolt, startling me. I stood to address whatever was attacking us, but just as I started to make out the tall frame of an armored man, I was shot with a piercing needle in my right leg. While I looked down at the tube-shaped object attached to a needle, static heat moved up and down my leg in frantic intensity. The corners of my vision turned white before I was immediately knocked out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A bright light pierced my closed lids and made my headache throb with intensity. I tried to crawl to the surface of my consciousness, but each time I almost woke up, something dragged me back down the rabbit hole of my sluggish and exhausted mind.
“Ash, you’ve got to wake up,” a voice pleaded. The tone was familiar but echoed throughout my mind in a dizzying manner that made me nauseous and confused.
“Please, Ash. Please. Wake up!” The voice shouted with an intensifying anger that shook me. Pain radiated throughout my leg, and I felt ice cold fingers on my stiff neck.
A hot slap from an open-palm gave me the last bit of energy I needed to pull myself out of the nothingness. My cheek stung with the impact, and a disconnected cry rung out from my cracked lips.
“Ash, we’ve got to go,” the voice said. I opened my eyes and my blurred vision revealed Josiah’s hazy outline. “Ash, if we don’t leave now you’ll be stuck here,” he pleaded while rubbing my cheek where he slapped me awake.
“Stop touching her,” someone groaned beside me, and I turned to see Patrick struggling against clear chains that kept him firmly bolted against a thick metal wall.
“I have to get her out of here, Lackley will be back any second,” Josiah said while punching a code into a lock and releasing the cuffs from my raw and bloody wrists.
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Patrick groaned while kicking Huxley next to him, trying to wake him up. Patrick had a black eye and his shirt was bloodied.
“Jo, what’s going on?” I asked. My voice sounded foreign in my ears. It felt like sandpaper was rubbing against my vocal chords. Instead of answering me, he jolted from his spot and walked over to the door. After peering outside, he walked back over to me.
“Look, I can’t help all of you but I can get her out of here. You have to trust me. We don’t have time,” he urged. His hair was sticking straight up, as if he spent the last twenty
for hours yanking it from his skull.
“Why the fuck should we trust you?” Patrick sneered. He kicked Huxley harder, and Hux groaned. My still blurred vision saw that Hux was even more hurt than Patrick.
“Because I would do anything to keep her alive,” Josiah cried out while grabbing my arm and yanking me towards the door.
I struggled against him, still feeling confused and disoriented from the drugs circulating my system.
“Just stop struggling, Ash, I’m trying to save you!” Josiah yelled.
“Well isn’t this just peculiar,” a calm yet snide voice said while the main door slid opened. Emperor Lackley walked in with a sinister grin. He appraised the situation, and Josiah sighed in defeat.
“Josiah, my boy, I wasn’t expecting to see you in our guests’ quarters,” Emperor Lackley said while rolling up the sleeves to his crisp white dress shirt. Josiah released his hold on my arm and slipped into a cool facade of indifference.
“Yes, well, I just assumed that the Walker was useless for what you had planned. I decided that since she was originally my property, I would just bring her back to the Stonewell Manor,” Josiah explained politely. I wavered where I stood and almost fell. Emperor Lackley surprisingly grabbed my arm to steady me.
“Poor little Walker, you should have a seat,” he said while guiding me to a metal chair on the opposite side of the room. Once I was sitting, he pulled a vial of antibiotic serum from his pants pocket and cleansed his hands. As if touching me was dangerous. Disgusting. Once he walked away, a guard that I didn’t previously notice chained my ankles and hands to bolts on the floor.
“Josiah, I recognize that you’re probably just confused. The stress of this entire ordeal has made you forget,” Emperor Lackley said in a singsong voice while walking around the room. “I’d like to cordially remind you that you don’t own anything. I own everything, and I simply let the people of this world use what I allow them to,” Lackley said with a bright grin as he smoothed a gray stray hair. His proper demeanor contradicted his vicious intentions.
“I find this Walker to be somewhat useful for my purposes. She’s marginally important to them, therefore, for the time being, she’s important to me,” Lackley added while patting his frail chest.
I looked around the room and saw that Kemper was now awake and struggling against his restraints. Huxley sat silently, his eyes scanned the scene, taking in every variable.
Jacob and Cyler were still asleep, and Maverick was nowhere to be found.
Emperor Lackley answered his Tablet, and I noticed that whatever was said on the other line made his easygoing smile turn hard.
“Well then, I guess we need to provide him with the proper incentive,” Lackley said before tossing his Tablet to the guard.
“Unchain her, please,” Lackley ordered while picking his nails. “It would seem that I’ve already found an opportunity for you to fulfill your usefulness,” Lackley said to me as his gruff guard pulled me forward. “Come with us, Josiah, I’ve got a job for you, too.”
“Don’t do anything reckless,” Huxley said in an even tone as I was escorted out.
I felt hopeless and unsure of the situation while the guard guided me down a long, brightly-lit hallway. Stark white tile surrounded me, giving off a clinical feel. Josiah followed us in silence, and every time I tripped from my still sluggish movements, the guard would haul me back up, causing Josiah to let out a slight hiss.
Lackley chatted idly. “It’s a beautiful day outside, Ashleigh. The sunshine feels magnificent,” he said while kissing the tips of his fingers. I wondered why Lackley had a sudden interest in me, a Walker. “You know, when I told Josiah to bring you to the Capital, I really wanted to see just how important you were to Cyler. I was very pleased to find that you also captured Maverick’s heart. It was a bit of a test, you see.” My heart sank, and my shakiness no longer came from the drowsiness left behind by the drugs. It was pure terror that coursed through me now.
“Ash, I love gold. Probably more than I love my wife and three sons. But do you know what I love more than anything?” Lackley asked and looked at me pointedly, but I remained quiet. “You should speak when spoken to, Walker,” he growled out when I didn’t respond.
“Wh-what do you love more?” I stuttered.
“I love having power over someone,” Emperor Lackley said in a bright and cheery tone, as if the content of his words weren’t menacing.
Finally, after about five minutes of clumsy walking, I was guided into what looked like a lab. Computers and tables full of equipment filled every spare space. I peered around, wondering what I was doing here, when Maverick’s slumped form filled my line of site.
“Oh, Mav!” I exclaimed while pulling against the guard so that I could go to him. At the sound of my voice, Maverick perked up and his brown eyes met mine.
“Bringing her here isn’t going to make me work faster,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. Maverick flexed his arms, and I noticed electric metal cuffs around both his wrists. They were meant to shock its wearers into submission. Some families used them on their procured Walkers to discipline them.
“I think this little Walker is very motivating,” Emperor Lackley said. “Have you made any progress on the serum?”
“No. It’s way too complex. It has sequences I’ve never heard of, and the protein particles keep mutating. I don’t know what you want from me.” Maverick’s voice sounded hopeless, and I yearned to go to him.
“Yes, well that simply won’t do,” Lackley replied while putting on plastic gloves and walking over to a table. “I brought you in because my advisors said that you were one of the best scientists in the entire Empire, Maverick. If anyone could fix my little problem, it’s you.”
“There wouldn’t be a problem to fix if you hadn’t created Influenza X,” Maverick growled with such intense furry that I almost didn’t realize what he said.
“Wait, you created Influenza X?” I asked in shock. The guard behind me grabbed my shoulder and pulled me tightly against his body, reigning me in. Lackley whirled around and met my terrified stare with a cold and calculating one.
“I don’t normally make it a habit to explain myself to Walkers, but I think today I can make an exception.” He popped his plastic gloves, smiling at me as he walked closer. I heard Josiah cough and was reminded that he was in the room, too.
“A few decades ago, when I was just a young but ambitious congressional seat holder, I overheard a meeting where my predecessor’s advisors said that our current population was unsustainable. Something had to happen, or we would all die,” Lackley said in a matter of fact tone while continuing to pop his gloves.
“So I came up with a solution; I hired some mediocre scientists to create a disease and its vaccine. It was fairly easy. We simply released the sickness on the Deadlands and let it work its way to the center. The elite, or those that could afford my vaccine, survived. Those that couldn’t afford it, died,” Emperor Lackley said with a shrug. He spoke in such a methodical manner about killing millions that I had to catch my breath.
“The response was phenomenal,” he continued. “Our population leveled. I let society weed out those unworthy. My small circle of colleagues praised me, and within three years I became Emperor. It’s easy to gain power when you can afford it, and even easier to keep it a secret when there aren’t many left to question you. It also helped that the man before me fell ill to Influenza X,” Lackley said with glee.
My jaw dropped, and I gaped at him. Influenza X was a manufactured illness?
“Unfortunately, I’ve recently learned that our vaccine has mutated, causing the vaccine reject phenomenon. It will keep mutating until eventually everyone that received it will endure the rejection,” Lackley sat down in a metal chair beside Maverick.
“But that’s where this ol’ boy comes in! He’s going to fix everything!” Lackley patted Maverick’s stiff shoulder with a grin. His white teeth blended into the brightness of the room.
“I
told you, I can’t—" Maverick began before Lackley slapped him across the cheek.
“Don’t tell me you can’t. You can, and you will. If the vaccine doesn’t kill her I will.”
I sucked in a breath at the severity of Emperor Lackley’s threat. I was immune, therefore, I never received the vaccine, but I was still very much in danger.
“I’m trying, but your timeline is ridiculous. There is no way I can crack this in the next month,” Maverick said while thrusting his thick hands into his hair.
“You’ll have to,” Lackley said with a smile and a shrug. “The rate of mutations is growing, as is the threat of X. People who received their vaccine ten years ago are dying,” Emperor Lackley explained. “People are beginning to question me, and the body count is getting . . . tedious.”
“How long have you known about this?” I questioned.
“Why don’t you answer that one, boy?” Lackley said while motioning towards Josiah. Josiah balled his fists and looked at me with desperate, wild, eyes.
“We’ve known for a year and a half.”
My heart thudded at this revelation.
“Josiah here has been instrumental in keeping this little mishap under wraps, haven’t you my boy?” Emperor Lackley said.
“He makes sure no one talks about my faulty vaccine, I make sure no one talks about how he killed his Father. Patricide is punishable by death in our Empire. Josiah is very motivated to do my bidding. It’s a symbiotic relationship!” Emperor Lackley clapped his hands and stood up. I flinched at the sound of it.
Lackley bounced on the balls of his feet and walked with a confident sway towards me. My heart thudded. Surely Emperor Lackley was wrong. Josiah couldn’t have killed his own Father.
“Ash, I—" Josiah began to explain himself, but Emperor Lackley cut him off.
“Yes, yes. You killed your father ‘cause I told you to, blah blah blah,” Lackley said with a wave of his hand. “But you wanted to. Didn’t you? You liked being the one that ended his miserable little life.” Lackley laughed, then turned back to Maverick.
