by J. Thorn
“Weapons?” asked Jonah.
“Yes, like the ones you see my guards carrying but much more sophisticated. Weapons that do not need a man or a woman to use them. If your people wander into places they should be avoiding, then I cannot guarantee their safety. In fact, most times I can guarantee their deaths. I must make it clear that the underground places in this city are off—limits.”
“Understood. I will make sure my people know to avoid these places.”
“Of course,” continued Katrina. “Also, you are welcome to occupy any of the buildings in the city, but we would prefer that you keep your distance from the base.”
“We can do that.”
“Excellent.” Katrina clasped her hands together and those holding weapons now casually swung them onto their backs. “Then we have no other demands. We have food inside if you wish to refresh yourself. I thought I could briefly show you inside the base. We can’t extend that courtesy to all of your people, but I think I should allow the leader to know a little bit more about us if we are to be neighbors. Come.”
Katrina turned and started to walk back through the doors of the building.
An older man that had been standing by Katrina’s side stepped forward.
“I’m Abernathy,” he said, and extended his hand for Jonah to shake.
It was a strange type of greeting, but Jonah remembered Seren’s explanation of it and he took the man’s hand and shook it briefly.
“I'm in charge of surveillance on the base.” He walked beside Jonah as they headed into the building.
“Surveillance?” asked Jonah.
“The cameras. The boxes on the walls that watch over the city. I’ll explain more later, but for now, I’m sure that Seren would like to accompany us. We wouldn’t want you to feel trapped or uncomfortable here.”
Chapter 13
The cobwebs hung in long, silky strands connected to the ceiling in the darkness above. Someone had left footprints in the dust, but even those had been partially buried over time, and Gideon guessed it had probably been years since anyone had been in here. When Jin and Romey had asked him to go exploring the new place, he hadn’t been all that interested. The last exploration involved a fight with a wildcat that could have ended badly. For everyone.
“Where do you think it goes?”
Gideon wasn’t sure. He looked at Romey, but the boy didn’t have an answer for Jin either.
Being at least a few years older, Romey had become the de facto leader of Gideon’s little crew although Jin claimed he was just as old. Neither of the boys had been original Elks, and so there was no way to confirm rank in their little hierarchy.
Romey wore cloaks that appeared to be at least two sizes too big and he kept his hair long but unbound, preferring to let the dark locks fall about his face. At almost six feet and a hundred pounds, the flapping wings of a gull would knock him over.
As for Jin, he preferred to keep his jet—black hair closely cropped. The boy’s narrow eyes and dark skin hinted at Asian ancestry. At least that’s what the boy told Gideon despite the fact that neither of them understood what it meant. Just another antiquated term passed down through the generations and with only a touch of significance left. Jin wasn’t as tall as Romey but taller than Gideon, and he had a curious streak in him that often led the boys into places they shouldn’t be. Like this corridor.
“It’s boarded up.” Gideon blew a web off the hunk of wood that had been nailed across the door. “I’m sure it’s there because they don’t want people going inside.”
“Fuck that.” Romey’s profanity came so frequently that Gideon barely noticed it anymore. “I want to see what’s in there.”
Gideon used the edge of a knife and wedged it between the wood and the door. With a simple flick of his wrist, the remains of some ancient tree popped off and into his hands. The others came with the same, minimal effort. If only everything in this world had been so easy.
He stepped back and looked at the door, the knob rusted and covered with a fine, brown dust. There had been a slide bolt on it at one time, but the hardware had been knocked off on one side, hence the boards.
“Then go,” Gideon said, his palm up and his hand out to invite Romey to enter first.
“I will, you little bitch.”
Jin giggled as Romey turned the knob and pulled the door open. The air carried a hint of rose, not exactly what Gideon expected.
He pushed past Romey and stood in a large room filled with warriors. Gideon reached for his sword, and he swallowed hard. But after several seconds, he realized that the men had not moved.
“Who are they?”
Gideon looked back over his shoulder at Jin and smiled. “I think you mean what are they.”
Romey brushed past Gideon and snickered. “Your eyes adjust yet?”
Gideon’s had which is why he lowered his weapon. Dozens of figures stood in the room in various poses and varying states of dress. Some of them were headless while others appeared naked, all human forms made out of flesh—colored plastic.
The boys walked around and between them, examining the clothes hanging off these inanimate beings.
“What could these possibly be for?”
“Fucking.”
Jin laughed at Romey while Gideon’s eyes went down to the figure before him. He saw nothing but a smooth, plastic crotch which meant Romey’s salacious theory wouldn’t be proven true.
“Look at all of these.”
Jin had walked over to a large chest where heaps of clothes spilled from the top. But these didn’t appear to be ordinary clothes or armor. Gideon saw hats, scarves, and other things that would be an adornment for a ceremony, but not something any warrior would wear.
Before he could say anything, Romey skipped by wearing a hat with a ring of plastic flowers wrapped around it. “Heya.”
Gideon smiled, and Jin knocked it off Romey’s head.
“You’re the last Elk I’d want to see prancing around in that.”
Romey curtsied to Jin, mocking him without words.
Gideon walked around the perimeter of the room, picking up some items while examining others. Of course, these artifacts had to have been from the old world, but nothing like this had ever survived so long in the settlements they’d scavenged. It had probably been several generations since any of the Elk could even identify these garments, let alone wear them.
“Maybe they use these for plays or ceremonies?”
“Ah, Gid. Who cares? Let me see you in this dress.”
Jin nudged Gideon who waved at Romey. “We came in through a boarded entrance, but these people come in here on a regular basis. You can tell.”
“He’s right,” said Jin. “Which means we’re probably somewhere we’re not supposed to be.”
“We need to get back anyway.”
Jin turned to follow Gideon when Romey spoke up, the hat still sitting on his head with a tilt.
“Wait. Check this out.”
Gideon stepped around Romey and stopped. Another door, this one unlocked and beckoning to the boys.
Chapter 14
Elizabeth, Katrina thought. “Eliz.”
It couldn't be serendipity. The details they had heard from Jonah and from Seren were too stark to be coincidental. Though it made it all no less unexpected.
She looked around the council chamber at the empty seats. They would be here soon, the others. Again. Some had to travel quite a distance underground, and to be meeting this many times in such a short period was very unusual.
Three times now, in as many months, if you included the discussion about the girl, Seren. The meeting about the intruders had been unavoidable. They had to be dealt with. Now this question of something from the past. Even though Jonah's people had arrived, and that probably should have been something for them to discuss, but it was not the major concern now. They had planned for that eventuality, for the arrival of people in large numbers to the city over the years. It was, after all, part of why the base even
existed.
The rebirth and regeneration had to happen somewhere.
Some would argue that was their sole existence, and the entire purpose. Katrina herself would argue that they had more than just that purpose, but right now the question was about the dwellers from below.
These creatures, if Jonah and his people were to be believed, their origins and the description was not what she really had expected, but it still rang an alarm bell even after all these years.
The first to arrive at the council room was the oldest member, and the one who had travelled the furthest, all the way from the other end of the bunker system, some ten miles away. Thankfully, he wouldn't have had to walk. Even though the transit system had failed in many areas, it still worked along the main line. The man nodded as he entered the room but said nothing. He had long, gray hair that was somewhat unkempt, and a scraggly beard that matched. Even at his venerable age, Reid always seemed to have an air of youthfulness that was unusual.
The others started filtering in. Coxley, from logistics, medical chief Holden, Supply chief Saxby, and others, until finally, later than the rest of them by at least fifteen minutes, Abernathy strolled in and casually took his place at the table. He smiled, and Katrina nodded in reply. The least distance to travel and yet the old boy still managed to be later than everybody else.
“One of the reasons for this meeting is our newest arrivals. As you are all aware, Jonah and the tribes have arrived and occupied much of the southern side of the city. They have promised not to spread too far west, toward us, but I'm sure over time they will head into the eastern and northern parts, and therefore the older sections of the city. I hope no one objects to my allowing their entry, after all, we did discuss such a thing many, many times. I did not intend to tread on anybody's feet when I made the decision. It was a rather hurried consideration because of the seriousness of the tribe’s situation.
“But that is not what this is about. Jonah’s people are, as we have discovered, being pursued and needed the protection and refuge the city can provide and so we allowed them to enter.
“Their pursuers are a concern. I'm not talking about those that come from the north. They are, as far as we know, just another group of surviving people, or at least the descendants of such. I’m talking about the ones that dwell underground, and have followed the tribes from the east, specifically from somewhere the tribes call Eliz, which is in the Virginia Beach area.
“These are not like most of the clans. They have lived underground and have become somewhat of a myth. They are known as the Valk, to the clans.”
She glanced around, noting the expressions on the faces of the other members of the council. Some looked puzzled, others — such as her head of security — looked alarmed.
Reid, the Librarian, smiled and nodded. Katrina hoped that after their discussion a few days before, that he had been able to uncover some information. He did have access to much of the old—world history and knowledge that would not have been publicly available.
“I have my suspicions, as some of you may, at the mention of that name, and if I can be as bold as to say — Project Valkyrie comes to mind. Now, I expect most of you probably believed the project was a long—dead venture that failed, but please let me enlighten you with what little knowledge I have, and maybe Reid can assist me.
“Project Valkyrie was mentioned to me many years ago, when I was in training, yes, when I was very young and when you were all likely in training too. I'm sure some of you remember not only that the project was considered to be failed, but it was also originally set up across many of the states in the old world. There was a base built far underground that would be part source of supplies and equipment, and part manpower for when it was time to take back the surface.
“From what I've gathered, it should have happened a long time before we were even born, no more than maybe fifty or a hundred years after the Great War, but that did not quite go to plan from what I remember. I wish I could remember more than that, and be able to find more details, but other than a vague memory, I’m guessing many of the unknown details and guessing will not help us. Reid would you let us know what you have discovered?”
Reid nodded and rose from his seat. “What I found falls in line with what Katrina read. Very much so. Elizabeth, now known as Eliz, was near one of the locations of what was known as Project Valkyrie, but quite how it has evolved into these Valk that Jonah and his people describe is puzzling. If, and indeed that is a big if, these Valk are the result of the project, I can only suspect that somewhere over the years, they lost organization, discipline, maybe even the knowledge of their original purpose. To have evolved from living underground into a cannibalistic warrior tribe? Seems so far—fetched. But, like yourself, I have little more information than that. The exact nature of the project eludes me.”
“Indeed,” said Katrina. “But we must presume, at least for now, that this is Project Valkyrie. And if it is, and they have finally left their subterranean dwelling and are now systematically targeting the clans for whatever purpose they have, then whatever form of the project still exists within their culture is now active and in its final stage.”
She sat down at the table, and nodded to Reid, who also took his seat.
“I do believe it may answer another question that has long puzzled us. The young ones that arrive here, having been brought forcefully, most of them bound and gagged, then taken through underground tunnels, miles and miles of them, to be left in our city. We’ve never really known why or where they come from. Yet, they’ve been turning up for years, decades even, let loose in our city by the unknown assailants that brought them. Could this also be tied in with these Valk?”
There were murmurs among the gathered council members, but none spoke up.
“Like you, I have often pondered what little we have left to instruct us on our purpose. But the fact that the young have been brought here all this time, and by people whom we’ve never managed to speak to? It can't all be coincidental. There are answers that we don’t have yet and I believe this is the first glimmer of them.”
“You think these Valk have been bringing them here?” asked Abernathy.
Katrina nodded. “It seems too much of a coincidence to not to be so. There are too many of the young ones that have arrived here and not been able to tell us much, other than their families or their clans have been wiped out, all but the young. Who would behave in such a way, consistently over hundreds of years unless there was something deeply embedded in their culture?”
“But that would have had to have come from the old times,” said Abernathy. “And why here?”
“Yes, and I don’t know why here,” said Katrina. “If these Valk have access to vast networks of tunnels, then that would explain how they were able to travel long distances to bring the young ones here without being detected. Maybe it’s just one of many dumping spots they use?”
“They would be able to use the old transits, maybe,” said Coxley. “We still don’t know the full extent of the system, after all these years. Just because our part of the transit is relatively small, who is to say what else there is? There could be other entrances in the forest that we never found. We have numerous tunnels in the system that we’ve blocked up over the centuries that have never been fully mapped. Who knows how far out they go?”
“Indeed,” said Katrina. “That leads me to something important. There is much else to discuss, but I do believe that when we all go back out to our different posts, especially those in the distant outposts, that all entrances to the underground system, even if we no longer use them, should be sealed up tight. We have yet to find out the extent of what these Valk are planning, but if their intentions are to purge all humanity, I for one will not stand by and allow that to happen here. We must be diligent and cautious. We need more information. And we need to be prepared.”
Chapter 15
He could wait. But he didn’t want to. Gaston had heard the stories coming into the camp from the blood
ied warriors, and he wondered if their brains had been fogged by the battle. He didn’t doubt the frightening appearance of the subterranean beasts. What they did and how they did it was real. But the magnitude of their invasion above ground seemed more myth than reality.
“Any word?”
The priest looked at Gaston and shook his head.
“We can’t stay here, and yet we can’t move into the wilderness with no direction.”
Gaston brushed past the priest and into the camp as shouts came from the far side of the tree line. They’d shifted tents and stationed guards to protect against an ambush, but he wasn’t leading a fierce band of Cygoa. Unfortunately, Gaston had been left with the priests and the injured from the battle on the causeway. Not exactly a war regiment he’d be comfortable taking into a fight.
The afternoon sun had slid lower in the sky, bringing with it a hint of night’s chill. Several of the priests had begun boiling wild mushrooms scavenged from the forest, and the anticipation of even that measly meal made his stomach growl. He’d stood by as flocks of geese flew over the treetops and Gaston thought of Seren. The girl and her bow would at least keep him from starving, or worse yet, eating wild mushroom soup.
“Rangers.”
The man stood before Gaston and spoke before he realized he was no longer standing alone. “Cygoa?”
“Yes, my lord. The watchers are bringing them to you now.”
Gaston shooed the man away as a contingent of Cygoa warriors approached. He could tell right away that they were Rangers, the warriors Morlan had trained to track others through the woods. Deer and human alike. Each Ranger wore a blood red scarf around his neck and a short sword on his hip. They could fight if necessary but excelled at the hunt.
