Traffic [Valduggery, Skulduggery Pleasant Fanfiction]

Cleavers

It was so white it hurt Valkyrie's eyes. She squinted against the glare of the florescence and sank a little further into her seat.

They were in the biggest of the bunkers, the one at the end of the long road to get here. Skulduggery had pointed out the various trails toward the other bunkers, cut out of the very gray stone of the mountains. It was a valley, the main bunker in the lowest point. The trees had been stripped, leaving nothing but the powdery stone.

Cleavers marched up and down the cliff faces. They were like little, walking boulders.

Inside the bunker was pristine white. Two Cleavers stood at either side of the room.

"Skulduggery," Valkyrie whispered.

"You realize that everyone in the room can hear you, don't you?" he asked at a normal volume.

Valkyrie nudged Skulduggery with her elbow and pointed at the Cleaver closest to her. "He just moved."

"Fascinating."

"He fidgeted."

"Wow."

"I'm not used to them fidgeting," she muttered.

"Well, he does look young."

A door opened. Valkyrie blinked at it, feeling a strange pang of vertigo. She hadn't realized there even was a door, and yet it was open, and the shadows were doing strange things to her eyes. Skulduggery stood and she followed suit.

A man stepped out, hands behind his back. He wore the same uniform as all other Cleavers, with no helmet. His head was shaved, and Valkyrie was reminded of a clothing mannequin. He shook both their hands.

"Mr. Pleasant, Miss Cain, thank you for agreeing to investigate this incident."

"Not a problem," Skulduggery said. "It's been a couple decades since I've last visited a Cleaver training center. Valkyrie has never seen one, so this is a fun little trip for the both of us."

Valkyrie tried a smile at the man. "What should I call you?"

The man stared at her for a moment. Valkyrie was becoming uncomfortable.

"Cleavers give up their name when they start the training process," Skulduggery said when the silence stretched on too long. "Sanctuary representatives usually issue orders to our friend here, and Cleavers are trained to remain silent and never question a superior. He probably hasn't needed a name until now."

"Oh. That's sort of sad."

The man switched his gaze back to Valkyrie. "You may call me what you wish."

He turned and led them through the hallway behind the door. Valkyrie realized they must be passing doors, but the seam between the metal and the wall was nonexistent. She wondered how anyone found their way around in here. She had the irrational urge to kick the wall.

"But you must have a name," Valkyrie said.

"I do not."

"Not even a taken name?"

"I do not."

Skulduggery jumped in. "Since Cleavers were children, they've been treated as a part of one greater machine. They don't have enough self to need a taken name. In fact, most children volunteered aren't given a name to begin with, to make the transition easier."

Valkyrie frowned. "How are you guys brainwashed, anyways?"

The Cleaver leading them didn't answer, and Skulduggery seemed content with silence. They stopped at the end of the hallway, and the Cleaver reached out. A door opened back out onto the grey rock, a path that lead straight back through the valley. From this vantage point, the confusing, winding paths all branched off from the main one in simple pattern.

The Cleaver led on.

Valkyrie examined the various Cleavers they passed on the trail. They all wore the outfit, but the younger the Cleaver, the more ill-fitting and thread-bare the clothing was.

There didn't seem to be a point to most things the trainees did. They passed a group doing push-ups, stones on their backs. Valkyrie made a face when she realized the Cleavers couldn't have been more than ten. Another group was doing drills with their scythes; the same thing over and over again, in sync with the Cleaver next to them.

A strange rhythm filled the valley. Almost like marching. No one talked, but those overseeing the groups of Cleavers were quick to descend on errant trainees. Valkyrie heard the thwack of scythe blade on hands and backs.

"So, what do you guys eat?" Valkyrie asked.

The lead Cleaver glanced back. "Whatever is provided."

"Do you like what they give you? Like, in general?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, that doesn't make sense. What if they just, like, fried up a shoe? What if that's all they gave you to eat?"

Skulduggery chuckled. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are. However, our Cleaver probably doesn't have an answer. Just leave the poor man alone."

"We're here."

Skulduggery and Valkyrie sobered. A trainee laid cut in half in the middle of the path. Three Cleavers stood around him, and Valkyrie could see the anger in their stances, the way their shoulders were tensed. When it was fresh, the blood must have been the brightest thing in the whole valley. Now, it too was faded and dull.

Skulduggery walked around the body, and the Cleavers keeping watch withdrew to the side of the trail with the one who had been leading. Valkyrie grimaced.

"Thoughts?" Skulduggery asked.

"Well, it's definitely done with a Cleaver blade." Valkyrie stepped as near as she dared. "I have no idea what the motive would be."

The helmetless Cleaver stepped forward. "This particular initiate had difficulty adjusting."

"In what way?" Skulduggery asked, standing next to Valkyrie.

The helmetless Cleaver hesitated, ever so slightly. "The initiate was accepted later than usual into the program. He had trouble adjusting to some of our techniques."

Skulduggery tilted his head. "That seems like motive enough."

The Cleaver didn't react. It was like he wasn't even a human. "He was one of us. Whoever killed him may have believed he was doing so for the group's overall benefit, but that initiate must have also had trouble adjusting to our ideology."

"Wait," Valkyrie said, "you expect us to try and find the one guy who killed him? You guys literally try to erase your personalities. And you all look the same."

"I reported the death to my superiors. My superiors sent you and Mr. Pleasant."

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. "That sounded a little sassy, don't you think?"

"The truth isn't sass, Valkyrie."

"Either way, this feels a little impossible." Valkyrie leaned closer. "And between you and me," she breathed, "this place is really creepy."