Whisper Gatherers (7 page)

“What? Have you taken us to the Wilderness? Or even, the Beyondness?”

“The Beyondness is too far away, fool,” Lilith said.

“We are not at liberty to divulge such info.”

“Nay more talk. Move,” Dreng said and we walked into the small corridor.
 

As we entered, the place was lit up by a series of tiny lights above our heads. Both S.A.N.T.S. extinguished their torches and placed them into their backpouches. It was unlike the other corridor in every way. The walls were smooth and painted white. The ceiling was high and not at all rough. Air circulated around it as if we were in Centralplaza itself. It was a cooling breeze and if I too had my eyes covered, I would have believed myself in a well-ventilated building rather than an underground cavern. Dreng waved to me. I went to him. He put Elijah’s hand in mine. “I must lock the outer door. You are in charge of this male and that fem, Adara,” he said, walked back to the hole we came in, pressed something above the entrance and it sealed shut.

“What is happening?”

“Nowt Elijah, keep walking.”

He did. Soon we caught up with Orva and Lilith. They were standing before a wooden door at the far end of the passage. She waited for Dreng then spoke, “You may remove your blindfolds.” They did and blinked a few times. “That is where you will be residing. It is a large room with many comforts. Adara is in charge. She will have access to a comdevice.”

“I will?”

“Yes,” she said and took one from her sleeve pouch. “Only use it when absolutely necessary. We have no info on who may be able to access its frequency. It is a last resort only.”

“I understand. Ta.”

Orva went to the door and pulled it open. A bright light came on and I thought for a sec that I was back in Cityplace. Before us was a large room set out exactly like the living area at home. We went in and I was relieved to observe that there were four sleeping areas. The only difference was that instead of a foodprep room, there was another wooden door. Dreng stood by it. “This is where we will leave and enter. It will be locked at all times. Only Orva and myself have the means to open it.”

I looked at the Praisebees. They had a blank expression as if what was occurring where a dream. “Where are we to cook and eat?”

“No cooking I fear Adara. There is foodstuff enough in that box on the shelf by the sofa. Inside are water, soylygrub, Sterichoc…”

“Sterichoc! Mine, all of it,” I said and dove into the contents of said box. I was somewhat dismayed that there was only one bar, but did not hesitate to eat it right then and there. I wiped my mouth. “Sorry, but I have not tasted this sweety stuff in many moons.”

Orva grinned. “The provisions were meant to be replenished, but with all of the hoo-ha, there was no one spare to attend to this necessity. You will have to share what there is until we can bring more. This may not be as quickly as you would wish, so please be cautious in your portions.”

I felt a pang of guilt, then caught sight of a small sachet of Yellowsweet and held it out to Elijah and Lilith. “Sorry for the fastly consumption of our only choc. Here, you can have the vanilla curd.”

Lilith smiled and took the sachet from me. She opened it, squeezed some into her mouth then handed it to Elijah. He greedily drank it dry and sighed. “We have not fed for a sunup or two.”

This I well believed, for in the brightness of the room I clearly saw their sunken eyes, hollow cheeks and thinner than thin arms. Some, however, had eaten of fleshly bits, as I observed in the auditorium before. These two? Nah, far too narrow of wrist to be Carnies.

“We must leave. We will return as soon as. Hopefully, with good news. Until then, be calm,” Orva said. She and Dreng went to the doorway. They nodded to us, pushed the door open then stepped through.

“Dae not despair,” Dreng said and pulled the door shut behind him.

Chapter Eight
 

Not All The Comforts Of Home

Lilith flopped onto the comfycouch. As her head fell back, she closed her eyes and let out a low groan. Elijah sank onto the matching cream coloured recliner, and placed his hands on the arms of the chair. I remained standing not knowing exactly what to say.

A few secs elapsed with us all in the same position, before I spoke, “So, I suppose we should choose a slumberroom each. What with all the excitement and the like, I need to cleanse. But then, I will have to dress in what I am now wearing, which may well be infused with my perspiration. I could rinse said garment, but then would need to hide my almost nakedness until it dried. That I could do in the privacy of my chamber, so, all in all, that is what I propose to do.” My inane babblings fell upon ears that were not attuned to my voice. I stared at their bland faces expressing nowt but fatigue, Elijah gave out a loud yawn.

“It has been many days and nights since I slept. Daniel kept us awake chanting and praying so that we would be ready for the assault on Cityplace.”

Lilith snapped her eyes open. She raised her head and said, “Elijah, sshh, say nothing more. He is confused through lack of sleep for sure. Of course, we only heard about the ghostie thing but yesterday, so could not have been preparing prior to that.”

I folded my arms and gave them an all-knowing stare. Elijah stood, too quickly as it turned out, for he lost his balance and fell to his knees. He made a high-pitched wheezing noise then put his head in his hands and blubbed loudly. Lilith sighed. “He is weak. Daniel knew that. That is why he decided to choose him as a group leader. To give him authority in the hope it would toughen him up so that this kind of display would not occur.” She shook her head, crossed her legs and gave out another sigh of contempt.

“Tell me more of this planned incursion.”

“There is no more to be said.”

I knelt next to Elijah and put my hand on his shaking shoulder. He lifted his tear-streaked face, gulped a few times then ceased to blub. I dug into my pants pocket and handed him a Wipeclean. He dabbed it around his face for a bit before offering the soiled cloth back.
 

“Erm, no ta, just fling into the wastebin in the…” I glanced at the space where such a device would have been, but saw nowt but white wall. “Keep it in your mitts until I locate a place for disposing of all things impure.” I stood and searched the room, but found no holes to rid ourselves of any muck we might gather during our stay. Flummoxed, I went into the slumberrooms . I almost cried out. They were just that. Rooms fit only for sleep. Each space contained a bed, small table and chair. Nowt else. No steamshower much to my great vexation. I began to panic somewhat and went into the tiny box-like hallway that separated all the rooms.

To my greater than great relief, I found a door that led to a place to poop. It had a sink too. I turned on the taps to make sure water was forthcoming. It did, but was not hot. A dispenser with antiviral goo stood on top of the poobowl. Eagerly I covered my hands and arms with the stuff and washed them clean. I would have ablushed more of my bod, except there was no dryingsheet, so I wiped my damp flesh upon my tunic before returning to the others.

Elijah had recovered. He sat next to Lilith, who held his hand in hers. She was saying something in a whisper. He nodded his head a few times. She stopped abrupt-like when she saw me enter, and let go. “Goodly news and bad,” I said then perched my bot on the edge of the glass-topped short legged table. “No shower, but thank all and sundry, there is a wastebowl and sink with some sanitising gel.” Lilith let her mouth rise up a bit at each corner.

Elijah stood. “I must go to that place at once. I have a feeling of knots and scurrying insects inside my innards.I need most urgently to rid my system of them.”

“It is behind a door in the hallway opposite the one we came in. If you make too much of a pong, I have a scent spray.” I pulled an atomiser from my other pant pocket. He took it from me and went swiftly to the talked about place. When he was quite gone, I turned my attentions to Lilith.

“Do not attempt to deceive me. Elijah has dropped you and yours in it and no mistake. What occurred today was not a spur of the moment thing.”

“I have no idea.”

“Let rip with the info or…”

“Or what?”

“I will not give you any grub.”

“That is no concern to me. I have fasted for longer than this.”

“Fine, then I will deny Elijah also.”

“He will not protest either. We are used to suffering for our religion.”

“Which is all but banned in Cityplace.”

“Which is why we must resort to underhand means to survive.”

I had no argument at that moment, for truth be told, I did not have a clue why their religion should be denied. Granted Daniel seemed somewhat extreme, but from what I learned from schooling and vidinfo, they seemed goodly, kind folk that merely wished to live a life similar to that of their prophet. Elijah entered looking pale. He held out my scentspray. I took it from his shaking hand. Swallowing hard, he sat next to Lilith.
 

“There is water in the grub box, I will get some for you,” I said and did just that. He snatched the bottle from my hand and drank in long gulps. “Erm, you might want to slow down a tad, if you are dehydrated, small sips would be advisable.”

I had no sooner said those words when Elijah went a shade of green I had not seen before, and barfed most forcefully onto the whitewashed stone floor. I was grateful that he missed splattering me with his yellow bile, and quickly took several Cleanwipes from my pocket. With one hand pinching my nose, I wiped up the offending spew, raced into the pooplace, threw it down the bowl, and flushed it away. I gagged several times before washing my hands.
 

When I returned to the communal room, Elijah was lying flat on the cosycouch, his head resting on Lilith’s thighs. She stroked his matted brown hair. I swear I saw a look of utmost tenderness in her eyes. She lifted her head when I entered and said, “He needs food and rest. If you will give him some nourishment then I will give you info in return.”

Nodding, I searched the box for something comforting and found a sachet of self-heating lentil soup. I took a cling-wrapped bowl and spoon from a shelf above the recliner, opened the wrapper and handed the dish to Lilith. I shook the bag for a few secs until the blue indicator tab turned red, then pulled it open and poured it into the bowl.

“Thanks, Adara. May the Lord shine upon your soul.” She nudged Elijah and with my helping hands, he sat upright. Lilith gently spooned the liquid into his mouth. I warned her of the dangers of feeding him too much all in one go.

“Perhaps you could finish the meal. We cannot let food go to waste.” Lilith smiled and ate the rest.

Elijah gained colour to his cheeks and slowly stood. He stretched and yawned. I noticed that his face had lost its look of desperate. Underneath the muck and stubble, I fancied he might be somewhat fetching in appearance. I think I must have gawped too long for he furrowed his brow. I quickly turned away. Lilith licked the bowl and spoon dry then patted her newly rounded tum. I was amazed at how such a small portion of food could have such a dramatic effect, but then they were all but starved and any titbit would be of value.

“Thanks and more for the food Adara. Would I be able to use a room to rest in?”

“There are four all of the same design, pick any you wish. Oh, I have to ask Elijah, you will not try to escape will you?”

“How?”

“Well, you could attempt to break down the doors and flee that way.”

Both Lilith and Elijah let forth a mighty guffaw. He rolled up the sleeves of his tunic and laid bare his scrawny arms. “I believe I would not be able to break a twig with these muscle-lacking arms let alone a large wooden door.”

“Point taken. Go sleep. Do you wish to retire also Lilith?”

“Soon. I must first honour the promise I made earlier. Sleep well in peace Elijah.”

“I will. Despite this prison and not knowing what is to become of us, I am all weary. Praisebee Cheseus.”

“Praisebee his name.”

They looked to me. I stammered, “Erm yep, Praisebee the Cheesus.” Elijah nodded to us both and left.

“I am loathed to give over the info you require. It goes against all that I believe and have vowed to do, but I must keep my word.”

“That you must, but I feel a-grieved at being the cause of your conflict.”

Lilith placed the empty bowl upon the table and put her elbows on her knees. She cupped her face in her hands. “Our order have been travelling for many years. There is unrest amongst us. Our faith is wavering. Daniel saw this and decided we needed to find a place to settle. But who would let us in?”

“No one I fear, your kind are not well regarded as far I can tell.”

“Just so. There was a time just after the Great Famine when disease brought about the near end of all hominids and animals, that Cityplace was built. A fortress to protect what remained of folk and keep out any lingering threat of pestilence.”

“Yep, all this I know, get to the point.”

“So be it. When this great metropolis was constructed, our kind outnumbered all else in settling here. Then greed ensued and those that did not abide by strict hygiene laws and the philosophy of the OneGreatProvider that stated: ‘Keep behind the fence. Stay within reach. Wash. Stay clean. Procreate. Survive,’ were cast out.”

“Nah, your story of history events are clouded by anger. We are taught in class that you Praisebees got all greedy and demanded the best of everything. That you wanted the rest to subscribe to your faith and do the bidding of the god the other folk deemed long dead, having abandoned his flock.”

Lilith’s face darkened. Her eyes seemed to glow with what can only be described as hate. “I will not argue semantics with a kiddle from a place that excludes those who need aid for fear of contamination. You may live in sterile bliss, but know nowt of the world that surrounds you. Little wonder you succumbed to the Agro sweetener and turned your backs and minds to their rising power. Just so long as you all had food.”

I wanted to reply to her harsh words, but to be truthful, some of them pierced through my lack of giving a huff about anything other than my own problems. It was true when Cityplace was founded, or so we are told, that some did rebel and leave, such as the Woodsfolk tribe, but the Praisebees have always been the baddies, after the Carnies and Agros of course. My noggin was all jumbled. I wanted the convo to end. “You talk of long past times, the now is what we must concern ourselves about.”