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Theo had shifted on his ht, Maus I can’t let you ride"

"Oh, what does he know? He’s been trying to get me off the Wall all year He can’t do this"

"Galen’s not doing it," Alicia interjected "I am You’re off the Watch, Maus That’s it, end of story"

Behind the down the trace In another few moments they’d be subsu at Mausaine her as a mother, but couldn’t quite It was customary for women to stand dohen the time canant But Mausah A better shot than half the men and cool in a crisis, each ht Quick when she needed to be quick

"You should be happy," Theo said "It’s great news"

A look of utter misery was on her face; Peter saw that her eyes were pooled with tears

"Co around the Sanctuary, knitting little booties? I think I’ll lose my mind"

Theo reached for her "Maus, listen-"

Mausami jerked away "Theo, don’t" She averted her face to wipe her eyes with the back of her wrist "Okay, everybody Show’s over Happy, Lish? You’ve got your wish I’" And with that, she rode away

When she was out of earshot, Theo folded his hands on the horn of the saddle and looked down at Alicia, iping a blade on the heot back"

Alicia shrugged "A Little’s a Little, Theo You know the rules as well as anyone And, frankly, I’m a little irritated she didn’t tell ave the blade a quick spin around her index finger and pushed it back into its sheath "It’s for the best She’ll come around"

Theo frowned "You don’t know her like I do"

"I’ue with you, Theo I already spoke with Soo It’s done"

The herd was pressing upon thelow; in another ates would open

"We’ll need a fourth," Theo said

Alicia’s face lit up with a grin "Funny you should mention that"

Alicia Blades She was the last Donadio, but everyone called her Alicia Blades Youngest Captain Since The Day

Alicia had been just a Little when her parents were killed on Dark Night; fro her under his wing as if she were his own Their stories were inextricably bound together, for whoever the Colonel was-and there was considerable disagreee of hiue, more myth than fact It was said he had si an e, sharp objects that turned out to be teeth-viral teeth If he’d ever had another name, no one knew it; he was simply the Colonel Some said he was a survivor froroup of nomadic viral hunters If Alicia knew the real story, she’d never told anyone He neverin the small shack he’d constructed under the east wall of discarded scraps; he declined all invitations to join the Watch, choosing to work in the apiary instead It was ru out of the Colony just before dawn, to catch the virals as the sun rose But no one had ever actually seen him do this

There were others like him, men and women who for one reason or another never ht have slipped into a herht Peter had been just six years old at the time; he couldn’t be sure if his memories were real or just stories people had told hiination over the years He felt certain that he reh Earthquakes happened all the tiht as the children were preparing for bed: a single,so violent it seemed the earth would tear itself apart Peter re of helplessness as he was lifted up, tossed like a leaf in the wind, and then the shouts and screareat rush of noise and the taste of dust in his mouth as the all of the Sanctuary collapsed The quake had hit just after sunset, taking out the power grid; by the ti to do was light the fireline and retreat to as left of the Sanctuary Many of those killed had been left trapped in the rubble of their houses to die Bynine whole families, as well as half the herd, s

Many of those who survived owed their lives to the Colonel He alone had left the safety of the Sanctuary to search for survivors Carrying ht the off the virals through the night This group included John and Angel Donadio, Alicia’s parents Of the nearly two dozen people he rescued, they were the only ones to die The next , covered in blood and dust, the Colonel had walked into what remained of the Sanctuary, taken Alicia by the hand, declared siirl," and walked back out with Alicia in tow None of the adults present in the rooht had made an orphan of her, as it had so many others, and the Donadios were Walkers, not First Fa to see to her care, this seeain But it was also true, or so people said at the tiirl’s co no less than the settling of a cosmic debt Alicia was meant, or so it seemed, to be his