Chapter Nine
"Will the others believe it?" Darko asked, bright eyes filling with hope and concern.
Lucia sat back, flicking off the flashlight and setting it back down onto the shelf, shrugging as she did so.
"Jackson will, he's seen it as well, but the others may take some convincing." She admitted, leaning back and starring at the ceiling in a tired and relieved sort of way.
Darko seemed satisfied with that answer, so he leaned back also, reaching for another peach, bringing it to his mouth and then pausing. "So, may I ask you a question now?" He spoke, eyes filled with curiosity and wariness.
Lucia nodded, looking back down to meet his eyes.
"What happened back there?" He questioned and she knew what he was referring to immediately.
Lucia just sighed, bringing her knees up and hugging them to her chest. "That's a story for a different time, Darko. You can ask anything, but that." She responded.
He thought about that for a moment, chewing as he nodded and Lucia was glad that he seemed to understand not to push the subject any further.
"Okay, so how did this place form?" He asked instead, looking around at his surroundings and seeming to study the walls and formation of the room.
"Kevin and Tom were the founders. They both had escaped from the invaders and put their minds together. This actually used to be an old mine, nothing dangerous, of course." She quickly threw in. "Apparently this place was actually supposed to be a mine, but they had findings about fifty miles away from here and abandoned this place before they could even really start. So, Tom and Kevin begun to dig this place out more, securing it and gathering supplies slowly, but steadily. And, they found more people." Lucia could see he was about to ask another question, so she quickly answered the obvious one he was about to ask. "Jackson and I sort of found this place together. Well, more so they found us. We had been traveling and on the run for weeks, and we set up ten about thirty feet from the entrance and woke up to be surrounded by people with weapons." She smirked at the memory.
"How does this place w-" He tried to begin, but Lucia shook her head.
"My turn, remember?" She reminded him with ease and an easy smile. He gestured for her to go on.
"What was it like with that thing in your head?" Lucia decided to ask, beyond curious about the parasites.
Darko thought about this for a few moments, and she didn't miss the slight wince in his expression. "It was...odd. It was like being in a coma. I was completely able to think full thoughts, but I couldn't move my body or use it in any way, save the few moments where the thing's guard was down and I could occasionally twitch a finger or control facial movements. I just remember screaming and screaming, trying to be heard. I think it drove the poor thing insane, they knew what they were doing was wrong and I was just a constant reminder." He summed up, frowning the whole time and looking downward.
Lucia nodded at that, considering how awful that must have been. She couldn't even begin to imagine what that would have been like, it would have drove her to complete insanity.
"Anyways," Darko spoke, shaking his head as if getting rid of the bad memories. "How does this place work exactly? Like, how does everything run?"
She smiled at that question, enjoying the easiness of the answer. "Well, each of us are divided into rooms, some have singles, but most are doubles. We each have our own jobs to ensure our survival. Clyde, Jackson, and I are the hunters, we're the ones who are always gathering food. Maggie and Daniel are in the kitchen, which is underground and was designed by Tom, so that we could use fire without suffocating down here from the smoke. Tom and Kevin are constantly fixing things and organizing raids from a place about fifteen miles away. Jasey is sort of a floater, she helps in the kitchen, goes hunting, basically she just does a lot of things. And, then we have about twenty others who have other jobs, such as laundry, cleaning, medical, ect. Basically, we all help and put in effort." Lucia finally finished, letting her knees down and letting her legs sprawl out, her feet almost reaching the wall opposite of her, the one Darko was leaning against.
Darko seemed to take all of this in, eyes showing he was deep in thought. "It's sort of genius." Lucia nodded at that with agreement.
"I was wondering," Lucia began, eyes fleeting down to Darko's neck for just a moment. "Where did you get those?" And he seemed to immediately know what she was talking about because one of his hands flew up, rubbing his neck.
"That's-" He started, looking up with sad eyes, "That's a story for a different time."
Lucia respectfully nodded, knowing very well not to push subjects when someone looks that sad and uncomfortable about it.
Just then, a loud knock sounded on the door, altering both from their comfortable positions.
Lucia looked around the corner of the shelf to see Tom poking his head in and making eye contact with her, "Meeting in the commons in ten minutes, hope you have some solid evidence Luc." And she could tell the old man meant it, she knew he wanted Darko to survive and be able to take shelter with them. Tom was just like that, a kind-hearted old man.
She nodded at him, "We'll be there, Jackson and I will bring him." And with one last look of acknowledgment, he shut the door.
"So, will this be where the decision will be made?" Darko asked, hands gripping his worn jeans tightly.
Lucia met his gaze evenly, "Yes, whenever something huge is being debated, it's always brought up to debate in front of everyone. Thankfully, only the leaders of the areas count for opinions."
Darko cocked his head in a confused way at that and Lucia started to explain better. "We have a head on the counsel. For instance, Tom and Kevin are the ultimate decision makers, then we have Maggie from the kitchen, Korey from farming, and me from hunting."
This seemed to relax Darko a little bit more.
"Everyone's thoughts and concerns will be heard, but our decisions will be cast to a vote and that's how we make our choices." Lucia explained further and then started to dust off her pants, getting up quickly.
"We should get going, though." She advised, and Darko started to get up, looking nervous and anxious.
"Okay, let me just give you some advice." Lucia started, looking at him seriously. "Do not speak unless directly spoken to, do not look scared, or proud, both of those will turn others to hate you immediately. Just look neutral. Sit up straight and look like you are paying attention. Just, keep it in your head that you are innocent, because you are and I have proof. So, relax." She finished, and he nodded at all of that, taking in her advice and fixing his face to a perfect neutral expression.
"Perfect, now c'mon, they're waiting."
"This is dangerous."
"How could you do this?"
"He looks harmless."
"Look at his eyes! He's one of them!"
Words floated throughout the room, aggravating Lucia to no end. She stood in the front of the room on the built in riser, next to her were the other decision makers, Maggie, Kevin, Tom, Korey, Jenny, and Kaleb. Darko sat off to the sit on a chair, his eyes were completely fixed on all the decision makers, looking completely neutral like she had advised.
"Silence," Kevin screamed, and the crowd below the riser immediately grew quiet, save the occasional grumble.
"I'm sure you've all heard what has happened, but I will sum it up." Kevin then began speaking and recapping what had happened; involving how they found Darko and what decision was to be made. Lucia was pleased to hear that he was not being biased at all, though she knew he wasn't for the idea of keeping Darko there.
"So, we stand with two choices. One : Accept this boy into our ranks as a human, or two : Get him off our territory and send him on his way as a hosted parasite. The reason will begin with Maggie." And then Kevin stepped down, letting Maggie look into the crowd and speak.
Lucia listened intently and was surprised to hear that the cook didn't seem to have much of an opinion. She talked about how he wasn't a threat either way, that she had encountered the beings before and that they were peaceful, so either way, the group was not at risk.
Lucia's eyes scanned the crowd to see Jackson standing off to the side, leaning against a wall and nodding with Maggie. Lucia had told him about her findings after leaving the storage room and, although somewhat reluctant, he agreed with Lucia that it would be foolish to send Darko away.
Next, Kaleb spoke, seeming to have the exact same thoughts as Maggie. Then came Korey, who seemed ready to burst with anger.
"This boy is lying. No one can survive those things, he's a parasite and is just lying to save himself. I saw we not only get him our of here, but get rid of him for good!" There were a small amount of sounds of agreement, but mostly silence. Lucia turned back to see Darko with wide, terrified eyes and she shook her head at him, gesturing for him to not be afraid. She knew that with Tom in charge, that Darko would not die at the hands of anyone there.
Lucia was up to speak next, leaving the leaders to debate last and choose from the arguments provided from the other heads of the counsel.
She cleared her throat, and began to speak with ease. "This boy is no longer a parasite. Despite what you see, that thing no longer lives inside of him. I know this from experience, when you kill one of those things when they're inside a human, a glittering of white appears at the back of their neck." She paused, gesturing for Darko to stand up and then gestured for Jackson to flick of the lights.
The room was completely silent as Darko lowered his head, exposing the back of his neck to everyone and Lucia switched on the flashlight she had from earlier, shinning it upon his neck.
Immediately the room seemed to come alive, murmurs and voices of shock filled the air as they all saw what she had seen earlier.
Lucia turned the flashlight off and the lights came back on, Darko heading straight for the chair again.
"You see, he is not a danger to us. In fact, he could be used to our advantage. Our raids are becoming more dangerous as suspicion grows, but with him, we wouldn't even have to hide. He could be our raider, a perfect candidate." She explained and she watched as the faces in the crowd turned to considering, instead of hostile. "My argument and decision is that he should stay, as a tool and companion." Lucia knew Darko wouldn't take offense to this because they had brainstormed it together on the way to the meeting.
She stepped back, letting Tom and Kevin come forward again.
"We will need a moment alone to make a decision." And with that, the two of them disappeared behind a door that led to the kitchen.
The room broke into chatter, and Lucia met Jackson's eyes. He gave her a small smile and approving nod, and that filled her with enough hope that maybe this would actually work.
Her gaze moved back to the crowd and she saw Clyde in the front, who was sneering at her. "Such a soft heart for someone who wields a bow and arrow daily." He commented and Lucia rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore him.
She stood in silence for the remainder of the time, eyes watching a battery operated clock in the corner.
It wasn't till a full half hour had passed that Tom and Kevin stepped back into the room.
Lucia tried to read their facial expressions to get an answer, but they were both evenly blank.
The room was completely silent again, letting both the men step up and speak their decision.
"After many good arguments and a long debate, we have reached a decision." Kevin voiced, looking around the crowd.
Tom spoke next, stepping a little bit forward. "The decision made is that the boy will stay."