Chapter 4: A Forgotten Land
"About the Facility...", saith the chief. "It's more tragic than everything in this world combined... so maybe I'll... we'll tell you sometime. Because I can't bring this up now. Never the less, I think the thing that we've already told will give you an idea of what is going on."
"Why not tell me now? There is something more to this 'facility' that doesn't only concern me, am I right?", Trevor said.
"I've already told you this is not the right time... at least not yet. You'll know soon enough.", he answered back. "Let's call it a day for now. Trevor, you'll be helping with me for the day since you are the only one that I can depend on right now."
"What do you mean?",
"Well, Near and I have somewhere to go to gather some resources and to deliver something.", Emily answered.
"Wait? You're leaving, why not take me too?"
"It's dangerous, besides you still have so much to know about this world that the chief will tell you, and also the doctor wants to ask you some things.",
"What things? You're giving me blank papers here.", Trevor said.
"It's almost noon, we need to go now and return before the sunsets.", Emily said. "Let's go now,". She rushed outside and gets in the truck. Then just like that, they both left the village.
"Where are they exactly going?", Trevor asked the chief.
"Sending signals.", the chief answers.
"Signals? What signal and where?",
The Chief remained silent as he takes out a cigar to put in his mouth and lit it up. "Let's have a little walk around the place as we talk about that so that you'll also know how things work in this world."
They both walked outside then the elder also went his way back to his house. As they were walking, Trevor felt a rumble underground. But the rumble doesn't even bother anyone other than his and that made him asked again. "What's going on? How come you're not alarmed about that shake?" He asked as he walks faster to catch up to him.
"We all just got used to these things. Explosion everywhere, shaking underground. Since we don't have the power to do anything against it there is nothing we can do. I think you already know where I'm headed.", He said as he looks to Trevor's eyes. "Is it about the signal?".
"As you already know the world is completely split into two worlds and law is a long lost word. So everyone can do as they please, but not everyone is the demon as they can possibly be. There are still those who are even if they are under one of the two powers, they still have control over themselves. There are still logical in some way and there's quite a number of groups the ones that we know. But only two of them we actually have contact; a group of bikers called 'Ataraharlika', and a group where Emily and Near are headed, 'Oath of The Ruins'.".
They both reach the place where they were headed... to the storage area. They entered and the chief picked up a hoe, a long rope, and a pickaxe. "Here kid." He threw the hoe to Trevor.
"What am I supposed to do with this?", Trevor asked.
"Man's business.",
"So we're farming?",
"Yes, you've got any problem with that?",
"It's not like that. It's just my first time actually doing farm stuff.", he answered.
"Well sucks to be you. If you can't farm then you'll be as good as dead right now.", he said with menacing eyes looking at Trevor.
Trevor became anxious about his safety again for a bit and gripped the hoe tightly. "Follow me now, and let's do some work.", the chief said. Trevor followed him still unsettled to what the chief has said, keeping his distance a bit further from the chief as he follows. But then they suddenly stopped. "Were here.", the chief said.
"Here?", Trevor said nervously. "But this is the main road. Don't tell me...", suddenly the chief smashed crushed the solid concrete with his pickaxe that made the ground shake. The chief lifted up the cracked part of the concrete and a shallow ground showed up. "What's happening?"
"Look down.", Trevor approaches and took a peek from a different spot, opposite to the chief.
"What's inside that thing?", he asked.
"Fertilized soil.",
"Why is it so deep down? Wait don't tell me that the causes of those shakes in the village are because of this hollow cave underground.",
"In some way yes, but not exactly. Let's go in, shall we.",
"So... are we going to take the soil out?"
"No, we'll be working inside this thing.",
"You're going to turn this cave into a farm?", he asked in confusion.
"Yes. I'll talk about it more once we are inside and started the preparations."
They threw the hoe and pickaxe inside the hole and tied the rope on a pole near it, then they went back to the storage area and took some torches, buckets, and another pickaxe. But as they return back to the hole they made. Trevor saw something came out of the cave and ran behind the pole, he ran to it but when he looks behind the pole there's nothing there. "Was it just my imagination?", he thinks to himself.
"You okay kid?", the chief asked Trevor.
"I think I saw something that came out of that hole."
"What are you talking about?",
"Nevermind..."
They went inside the hole. They were sliding for about 2 minutes down the rope showing how deep and huge that cave really is. They lit up their torches and place it on the walls, but since the cave is so big they are not able to lit up everything.
As they were starting to do some work, Trevor asks Jacob on how will he exactly be able to turn that cave into a farm.
"The hole that we made will be the light source for this place. By making the sunlight reflect using mirrors. Also, we will be adding more light in here so that even at night everything will not freeze to death. And since rainy days happen only 3 months per year. This place will get plenty of water for plants to grow.
Now stop talking and start working."
"This ground is hard, how is this a fertilized soil?", Trevor complained.
"You know if in your time the world is already hard to live, that's a thousandfold in this era. So stop complaining.",
Trevor swung the pickaxe with all his might and slammed it to the ground when he hit something that made a loud noise. Since the place is so caved in and nowhere for the sound to go. It amplified inside the cave and made the ground above them crumble making other debris fall from the ceiling.
"What the fuck are you doing?!", the chief shouted.
"Don't shout!", he shouted.
Then a part of the place where Trevor hit crumbles down and showed a metal tunnel that goes deeper in. It's doesn't look disturbed for a very long time since there is still electricity running through the bulbs inside it. They both went in and found something that they never expected to be inside that thing. A capsule with a girl inside it.
Trevor tried to approach the girl but Jacob stops him from doing so. "What are you doing?", he asked.
"Isn't it obvious. I'm going to take a better look at her?", he answered.
"We don't even know what's going on here and you're going to disturb something inside this place. What if that's contaminated with something.",
"Contaminated? What are you saying?",
"Kids are so naive sometimes. You know forget it... we're going outside, do our business, and return here after everything is done and finished."
"Why not now?",
"If we do that now, we will not have enough time before winter. And most of us will starve to death. Losing a day of work is not an option."
They both went back outside and made a door for the tunnel out of wood and scrap just to keep the tunnel hidden for the moment and they continued working on the farm. They cleaned the whole place up and started hoeing the ground. They were not able to finish hoeing the whole place since by estimate the cave in about 6361.75 sq. m. and at the same time, they also need to make a way for water to be evenly distributed in all corners of the cave for easy terraforming.
They went back up again just in time for the arrival of Near and Emily right before sunset. Everyone was making a commotion over something upon their arrival. The chief went and talked to them while Trevor is covering up the hole.
"What happened to you two? Why are you all covered in cuts and bruises?", the chief said to Emily.
They all sat down (Trevor, Emily, Jacob, and Near) inside the house of the chief. And she told everything that had happened.
"As we arrive at their 'domain' as they call it, two guys went upon us and searched for everything. They even throw everything that's inside the car away and took all our weapons. And then they let us in.
Inside we saw a huge community of other survivors, but everything turned upside down when a kid accidentally hit me. I don't know but the look in the kid's face is just unsettling, a face of disgust. He never cried or anything he just turned around and shouted... 'Defiled! Defiled!'. Then they started picking up stones and started throwing at us.
As hard as they can and the guard doesn't seem to give a shit about us...", she said as she quenches her fist.
"... I was also being thrown, together with her but when I'm about to draw my back up gun. She holds my arm and stops me from doing so. 'We are here to make an ally not make another enemy.', she said.", Near adds
"... They continued throwing rocks and stones at us, making us bleed like hell. But then a shout finally seizes them all. And it was their leader who is wearing a mask, Faye Reed. She took us in and cured our wounds. Then she finally asked us, "I admire your decision to not attack my people. Now tell me what is your purpose for going in my domain?"
Then I told her that we want to make an alliance, that we will give her resources and they will give us protection. But she doesn't seem quite convinced of our demands. She took quite some time to give us an answer, but later she agreed. Inconsideration, she even gave us some resources and weapons as she asks about the details about this village.
And it seems like she's eager to know more about this place that she wanted to go here herself and see everything.
So I'll say that it all paid off in some way, all the patience and blood that we shed gave us our new help in hand.", Emily explained.
"So you're telling me that she accepted the deal and are ready to respond anytime?", the chief asked
"Yes",
"That quite a relief, so when is she going to visit this place?".
"She didn't specify, she just gave us these papers and told us to give her a signal as soon as we got here but there's nothing written on it.".
"Maybe we can burn it?", Trevor suggested.
"Why?", she asked.
"If there is nothing else to solve a problem why not burning them and solve the problem for themselves. And besides, I smell sense something peculiar about those papers so why not burn it. They could be a tracking device of some sort.", Trevor said.
"What kind of suggestion is that?", Near asked. "And doesn't actually 'tracking' us help them to know where this village actually is for them to protect us?", he adds.
"Oh... Yeah... So what do we do about those papers?", Trevor asked.
"We burn them.", the chief said with a still face.
"What?!", Emily and Near exclaimed.
"First, If this will actually track you, by now they already know that this is the village since we've been talking about this for quite some time now.
Second, what if this carries a disease that we don't know and eliminate us all, because as far as I know, They have several scientists in their place that may or may not know how to massacre in a glimpse of an eye.
Third, this is the signal that they want to be burned specifically and give them the signal that they needed.", the chief explained. "But if burning this will actually activate a deadly substance hiding inside it then, we know that they just sold our trust to the demon and know that they aren't up for the agreement.", the chief added.
"So... what now?", Emily asked.
"Tomorrow, just before day break. We will burn these things but tell everyone to wear their masks, and put all food inside the vault. They can all be contaminated if we're not careful."
Trevor, Emily, and Near convinced everyone to wear a mask and go to the panic chamber underground especially the elder, women and children. The only ones that are left above are some males to help them just in case. They all wait until 4:30 in the morning while everyone else is still asleep.
Near prepared a metal drum to burn the papers and lit the drum. Every one are armed including Trevor.
"This is it, we will know if we really can trust them.", the chief said and threw the paper in the fire and a green smoke came out and after quite some time, they heard a loud trumpet and engine startups around the village.
"Looks like there will be a party going to happen.", the chief said.
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