Kindled, Part V: Lev Finds the Seekers
And they do not suffer fools
Lev chewed on the spicy and sweet jerky for what seemed like ages. His mouth was full of saliva and he tried not to droll all over himself. He and Leo had left the giant room hours ago and were now walking through large, arched tunnels. They were now both wearing headlamps to avoid tripping over all the debris that littered the black shafts.
At times the tunnels would open up and include a higher level on the side, with walls that featured the remains of what must have been incredible tiled mosaics. Leo explained that those higher platforms were where people waited for the subway trains that would take them all across the city in this labyrinthine underground network. He explained that the lower level where they were currently walking was where the tracks lay even though you couldn’t see them under all the dirt and rubble.
So far they had encountered a group of raccoons who mostly avoided them, though one bold raccoon made some very frightening growls, a pack of dogs who were trying to hunt the two men and had to be killed, and a potbellied pig who wasn’t big or stupid enough to challenge them. After killing the dogs Leo took some time to skin and process two of the carcasses.
Lev had stared in horror as Leo beheaded and bled the dogs. The horror continued as Leo expertly dressed the two dogs by first dehiding them, then splitting their abdomens and removing their visceral organs. When Leo tossed the organs to the ground Lev saw how the small bits of debris clung to the sides of the wet organs. Something about that detail, the contrast of wet viscera and dry junk both sickened and fascinated him.
Then Leo finished by splitting the dogs in two and cleaning the four halves as well as he could. He took some plastic sheets out of his pack and wrapped the meat in them.
Thinking about this made the process of chewing the jerky even slower. Lev didn’t ask what meat the jerky was made of.
“So where are we going?”
“To the Seekers’ headquarters. I want to introduce you to the others before we get you suited up and ready for our trip.”
“Our trip?” Lev’s voice got a couple of octaves higher as panic crept in.
“Yes, our trip to the center of everything. You’re going to help me find the truth. I have some of it, more than the others are willing to believe. That’s what the trip is about, I need to bring back proof of my suspicions. The Seekers won’t make any moves until I can prove to them that action is necessary.” Leo looked a little peeved.
“So what you’re telling me is that you're a rebel even among rebels?”
Leo smiled sheepishly. “You can get off this train anytime, Levy.”
“Can I, though?” Lev found himself smiling and he knew Leo could hear the mirth in his voice. He realized that he might be fearful for his life but for once he was truly living — truly putting some skin in the game. This new life wasn’t one of comfort versus inconvenience, it was life and death, and Lev had the feeling that to some extent this is what living should be.
They arrived at the Seekers’ compound an hour later. There were men in front of a gated archway standing guard. They both had blasters and plasma blades on their person.
“Ho, Lion!” one of them said and then chuckled.
“Ho, Beaver!” Leo replied and the chuckling continued. Lev couldn’t find the humor in this and neither could the other guard, but they both smiled politely anyway.
“This is my ex-coworker, Lev. Lev this is Ben Weaver and Alan Jackman.”
Lev shook their hands. Ben was the one Leo had called Beaver. Lev thought that both men had good faces, faces with focused eyes and kindly expressions. He could tell that these men had both felt the sting of hardship without letting that pain turn them bitter or cruel.
“It is my pleasure to meet you,” Lev said and meant it.
Once they crossed the threshold they entered another gigantic room. It was a pre-corpus train station and in it was a village. There was a lot to see and Lev couldn’t take it all in at once. There were people making barter transactions at booths, there was a small martial arts class in session, there was a man in a makeshift garage working on a giant engine, there were children chasing each other through and around everything.
Leo led Lev over to the smokehouse. It was an open structure with a counter in front of a massive iron box with smoke pouring out of it. Leo walked over to a basket filled with big hooks and grabbed four of them. They each had a pink band painted around the top of them and each hook had a number written on the pink band.
He hooked the four dog halves and handed them to the strong-looking woman who stood behind the counter. She grabbed them with leather gloved hands, opened the door to the smoker, and hung up the meat. Then she gave Leo four small wooden tags with numbers on them. He shook his head, gave two of them back to her, and said, “For the community.” She nodded and accepted the tags with a smile. Then she finally turned to Lev, looked him up and down, and gave a mischievous smile before waving goodbye to both of them.
As they were walking away Lev said, “Doesn’t say much, huh?”
“She’s mute.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“I’m not offended and she wouldn’t be either. Her name is Lilly. She knocked her head on a rock while fighting off coyotes.” Leo said, and then after seeing Lev’s quizzical stare he added, “Coyotes are really smart dogs who hunt in packs. They’re big and vicious.
“Anyway, she hasn’t been able to talk ever since the incident, though she’s gaining words here and there slowly.”
“She’s pretty.” Lev blurted out before he could stop himself.
“So she is… This way, please.” Leo led them to a partially concealed door. He stopped in front of it. The door was black with a gold symbol on it, an eye atop a six-pointed star. Beneath the symbol was some cursive writing that Lev couldn’t understand.
“Behind that door lies the inner circle. These people are the leaders of the Seekers. These are people who have been fighting for the truth for decades. One of them is the man who killed that senior enforcer and took his plasma blade. These are serious folk who don’t suffer fools.
“You ready to meet them?”
Lev nodded. Leo opened the door.
