When We Shed Civilization

Chapter 38

They stood at the wall of a vast tunnel. To the left and right, it lost itself in darkness. Before them, a regular row of earthen mounds extended along its center, each one of them about the size of a bed and carrying fist-sized fungi, some of them pale-brown and others white. Trodden pathways ran along both sides of the mounds.

"To the right," Eliah said, pointing his stick down the tunnel.

Beth was still boiling with anger and tired of obeying orders. "Is this your food before you sanctify it?" She gestured at the mushrooms.

The sarcasm left a strange taste on her tongue, but a sense of satisfaction, too.

They didn't answer.

"Where are we going?" The irritation coursing through her veins had made Beth's nausea retreat.

"Out," Rebecca said.

Out? She didn't believe them. They were about to kill her and to feed her to their mushrooms. Or worse, they'd eat her directly.

"Give me a moment." Feigning weakness, she leaned against the wall. Rebecca was half a head taller than Beth but skinny as a blade of grass. And old Eliah looked as powerful as a small kid.

She took a deep breath. Then she turned, pushed Rebecca out of the way, and lunged herself at the old man.

Eliah moved out of Beth's way. Propelled by her own momentum, she stumbled as he swung his stick to block her leg.

She crashed to the ground.

Angry, she rose, ready to attack, but a not so gentle tap of Eliah's stick on her chest stopped her. She tried to grab his weapon, but he pulled it away.

"You're an aggressive one," he said and used the stick once more to support his weight. He wasn't even breathing hard while Beth hurt even worse than when she had woken up some minutes ago.

"An aggressive one?" Beth had had enough of these savages. "Do not mistake a will to survive and a feeling of resentment for aggression, old man." She crossed her arms, a pain in her side reminding her of how she had collided with Whitesnake's handlebar. "Aggression is the urge to lash out for naught, and that is not my motive. All I want is to live and to find my way back to civilization."

"A will to survive and a feeling of resentment?" He shook his head. "These two make bad traveling companions. If you want to survive in this world, you need to keep your mind calm and your eyes open and let them see the things for what they are. Resentment will turn you blind." He waved his lantern down the tunnel. "Calm down. You may or may not survive in this world, but it won't be us who will end you. Unless... you attack us again. Resentfully."

A small smile played on his lips as he stood back against the door they had come through to let her pass the trail between the tunnel's wall and the mushrooms.

Rebecca stood on the other side of the mounds, watching the scene with a frown.

Not sure if she should trust a man so much quicker and stronger than he looked, Beth passed the two of them quickly. As she continued along the pathway, both of them followed her.

"So, you're from the gated city in the hills and want to return there," Eliah said.

Beth almost froze in surprise at his knowledge but forced herself to continue along the mounds.

Remembering how the Baseballers and the Bikers had reacted, she decided for a lie. "What makes you think so? I am from a hamlet up north."

"The way you talk," he said, "and the disdain you hold. I never had any dealings with Gaters, but my parents told me about them. They look down on the gangs. They laugh at the Baseballers, at the Bikers, and at us."