Sunset opened her eyes. A new day, another day of awkward contemplation. She still didn't understand these people. They had seemed so aggressive, that night, and yet were so civilised in their own camp.
That night…
She had been pulled from the battle, almost as soon as it started. Mercy had done his best to save her, but he was being shot at, and so was lying on the floor. Sunset didn't blame him for not helping her. She would have done the same, less, she knew that much.
At least he hadn't shot at her. At least he hadn't killed her.
She dropped her eyes.
Dignity…
Veracity was sporadically shooting into the bushes, where the raiders had emerged from. Sunset had already been pulled, before any shots had even been fired. They were dragging her towards the bushes, screaming in her ear for her to shut up, or else they would cut her throat. She had shut up.
Nobody came to her aid. Raiders had been shooting from the bushes into the camp, stopped anyone from running towards her, Mercy and Veracity scared to shoot, for fear of hitting her as she was used as a shield. The rest of the battle was lost on Sunset as she had been hit in the face with the butt of a rifle, and her consciousness had slipped away.
The bruise on her face brought her back to reality. She gingerly touched it. They had applied some type of lotion. They had called it 'Liquid K'.
They…
She still couldn't bring herself to relate them as humans. Of course, they had explained everything to her, and she had tried to understand. But it all seemed so surreal, so fantastical. They had explained the concept to her. The word 'Laboratory' still seemed alien to her, and she disliked even thinking about what the word meant. Yet they had seen so sincere, so fanatical in their belief in what they were doing, that it was correct and true.
At first, she had been repulsed by the idea, but the more she discussed it with them, the more it made sense. The wasteland needed a saviour.
Someone with the blood of the ancients…
With the knowledge of ages, experience beyond that which mankind had ever known. However, why did it need to him? Why had he become so tainted? Why was it all so complicated. In the stories that she had been told by her father as a child, when they had tended to the Brahmin, there were always good guys and bad guys. But everything was so much more complex, weaved, tangled. Was he good was he bad? Should he be killed? Should he be worshipped?
John…
They had a name for him. "Son of Man." But it all seemed so convoluted. Even within the 'Reaver' tribe, as they called themselves, they couldn't come to a consensus. There was a faction that wanted him dead. There was a faction that said they should hand him over to the 'Librarians', of course, she didn't have a clue who they were. A faction wanted to teach him, to arm him, to use him like some type of weapon against the Knights. A faction wanted to give him to the 'Great Reaver'.
Great Reaver…
She had not been able to meet him. He was an aloof God, it seemed. Like the Moon above, that aided her night travelling. Only the most revered of the tribe got to actually meet with him. Or her. Or it. But they always came back more knowledgeable. He resided in the 'Laboratory', and Sunset didn't want to go anywhere near it.
Nathan made his way over to her. His broad shoulders covered by the silk shirt, barely containing the power underneath. O to get her hands underneath that…
She pushed the thoughts away.
"Yes?"
"Our scouts have spotted a party approaching. We think it is a remnant of the village where we enlightened you from."
They had explained why they had kidnapped her, the thought still sickened her, but at least she understood.
"So they have come to take me home?"
"You know we cannot allow that Sunset. We have discussed this"
"So what are you going to do?"
"We will kill them, they are not worthy. So hath spake the Great Reaver."
Sunset sighed, so much death.
"What do you want from me?"
"We will need to take you down to the Laboratory."
Sunset was apprehensive, but she knew that if she resisted, they would just knock her unconscious again. Some of the other captives that had been taken from the village began to huddle around her. They were all women, all young
So young…
They followed her down towards the Laboratory. All hesitant, none of them wanting to go down there. If the rumours were true, the village was coming to save them. And yet they were running away from then. It made no sense to them.
It made no sense to Sunset…
They walked through the cover on the floor, which sloped down into the ground. The door could be closed horizontally, and then covered with sand, so it looked indistinguishable from the rest of the floor. The raiders would never find it, even if any of them survived. She had a spark of hope that perhaps John was with them, and thus the Reavers would spare the group, if they handed him over. But she knew it was folly. There had been a great anguish the night before, a battle had been fought. It was said that John was not amongst the survivors.
The tunnel yawned wide, and the group made their way down. Strip lighting began when the tunnel levelled out, about 2 metres below ground. There were signs, symbols, on the wall. Sunset didn't recognise any of them, but she was sure they were pre-apocalyptic signs. Signs from the ancients. That meant that the Reavers hadn't built any of this, they had only found it. If only they hadn't, it would have saved so much life…
"I will stay with you. To keep you safe."
"Thank you Nathan."
They entered a room, with a number of beds, a small eating area, and a gaping hole in the wall, a place that spat food at them every now and again. She didn't know how it worked, she doubted even if the Reavers knew, but that didn't stop them consuming the food, and worshipping the facility. Somewhere in here, amongst the dank corridors, polluted atmosphere, monsters… was the Great Reaver. There was a place where some of the more exotic weapons were kept. There was a facility that made dirty water more drinkable. A full sutra of other wonders.
A place where John had…
She placed that particular knowledge at the back of her mind. Sunset tried to get everybody settled, but some of the women were still crying. There had been no men, she knew that much, obviously they were too much hassle, even when they did know why they had been taken. The women though, they came round to the idea much more easily. Though it was still a difficult experience for them all to go through, and most couldn't get through it without shedding more than a few tears.
She eventually got them to sit down, and passed around some of the food that was vomited from the wall.
Sunset though that she could begin to hear the small barks and impacts of gunfire, though she was quite far underground, so she couldn't be sure if she was simply imagining them. A loud thunk shuddered into the ground, and the room shook slightly. She hadn't imagined anything.
As the fighting continued, Sunset clung closer to the women, as they all sat and quivered in one corner of the room. The lights intermittently went on and off, and every time the room went dark, someone shrieked. When it first started, Sunset empathised with it, but after the twelfth time, even she thought that it was getting annoying. It didn't help anybody. Somebody eventually hissed for whomever it was to shut up, and they quickly assented.
The fighting seemed to be getting closer. Nearer the facility, the Reavers would use stronger and more exotic weapons. The technology was unlike anything that she had ever seen before. And yet the battle still seemed to be going in the tribals favour, and she couldn't understand why. However, her fear overcame her curiosity, and Sunset continued to quiver in near-silence.
As the minutes dragged on, and the firefight above her became more and more intense, Sunset clung to her compatriots with more and more ferocity. It seem to come to a great crescendo above her, round after round impacting against the door of the compound, against the ground, against the trees, and against human flesh.
Then the firing stopped, and Sunset waited in trepidation…
