A long wooden hallway stretched ahead of Naomi, flanked by doors similar to the one she had just exited. Each one led to a room identical to hers; some had people resting, others were empty because the inhabitants were either on a mission or simply busy with something in the Cove. And of course, there were those that were empty because their occupants never returned.
She walked down the creaky corridor. The wood was very old, and the places where it had been patched with new planks were noticeable. The walls were close together, and like her room, they too were peeling. Neon lights illuminated the space, casting a sinister glow on the hallway with their dim light.
Naomi walked briskly, occasionally hearing voices coming from behind the doors, but they were impossible to make out, as the wood muffled them. Further ahead, a yellowish light poured out from the opening of one of the rooms.
Naomi approached until she was finally at the entrance of the room, Jonas' room. There was a small single bed against the wall, a dresser beside it with clothes shoved into the drawers, and unlike her room, this one had a desk with Jonas sitting behind it.
The Corva knocked on the door with her knuckles, drawing the other's attention. Jonas looked up from the papers in front of him, seeing her for the first time and giving her a tired smile.
"I apologize for not coming sooner, sir," Naomi said at the same time.
With a stretch of his back, the leader of the Ravens heard several cracks that relieved the weariness from his face.
"No problem! Susan said it wasn't as easy as I thought. Is Gabriel alright"?
Naomi briefly studied him— a man in his forties with several white streaks in his hair and a lean build. She answered at last:
"You know him, it's not the first time he's been beaten, and honestly, I doubt it will be the last".
Jonas leaned back in his chair, resting his arms at his sides. He seemed lost in a memory for a brief moment and then said with a smirk:
" Do you remember the time he got beaten on his patrol and broke both his arms?"
"How could I forget, sir? He was a troublemaker for everyone for three months."
"And that you went to where he was beaten to have a "little chat" with the attackers"? Seeing Naomi's ears turn red, he continued: "You didn't need to break all their bones. The treatment center kept bothering me for over three months"!
Before Naomi could apologize, he laughed nostalgically about simpler times. The woman noticed several piles of paper organized across the small room where her leader worked and immediately understood what he meant: in calmer times, violence and hatred grew at an alarming speed.
"Things aren't calm anymore, huh"? she said, pointing with her head toward the papers.
Jonas stopped laughing and stared at the young woman with eyes full of genuine concern.
"Exactly, the tension between us and the Grave only increases, and to make things worse, crime has gotten much worse. If it continues like this, we could end up like the Ancients, killing each other in some war".
Naomi knew well about the Grave. It was like a "sub-city" within the Coves, and each of the forty-eight had its own. After the Third War of the Ancients, the remaining radiation caused mutations in people, and because of the disgust, prejudice, and fear, these people were separated from those who remained unaffected.
"But what would you like me to do"? Jonas asked suddenly, pulling her out of her brief daydream.
"I came to give a report on the previous events, sir". And she did.
Several minutes passed while Naomi spoke about what she had seen and gone through. Jonas just listened without interrupting her, only agreeing from time to time.
"That's all, sir", Naomi said, finishing her report.
" A bear... It's been a while since I heard about them. And women and children...
"Sir, what do you think they were doing with these people"?
"Tell me".
" I believe they were headed for some illegal brothel, but that doesn't explain the animal".
The chair of the leader of the Ravens creaked as he settled into it reluctantly.
"Maybe they were all put together in an arena to witness the barbarity".
— But " Naomi said "that would be evil".
"As I said before, we're living in times of hatred".
A sound of footsteps against the wood from the corridor caught Naomi's attention, and she turned immediately. She saw Otto, a new Crow, rushing toward her with a piece of paper in hand.
Otto was a new member of the organization, still doing his patrols as was customary for newcomers. When he saw his colleague, he smiled cheerfully.
"I didn't see you arrive!" said the young man as he crossed the corridor.
"It was early in the morning; you must have been on patrol or sleeping. Where's Wesley?" Wesley was Otto's partner.
" Patrol". He finally reached the door. "Sir, important message from the Nest".
The tension that had briefly disappeared with the arrival of the third person returned almost immediately. Jonas spoke:
"Naomi, I need to ask for your permission to handle this".
"Of course, sir" she replied as she allowed Otto to enter the room and closed the door behind him.
Once again, she was alone in the corridor. She shook the bad thoughts from her mind and headed toward the stairs that led to the hall. Unlike what she had just walked on, with old, creaky wooden boards, this one was new. The staircase had been built by Will and was regularly maintained. Naomi descended the spiral stairs until she reached the end, in the hall. It was a large room with dark marble floors, full of scratches from many years of use, with five round tables spread out, each surrounded by ten chairs, some occupied by Crows resting or chatting.
A large wooden door, over two meters tall, led to the street. On the opposite side of the stairs was the kitchen, where Vicente, the cook, worked. Facing the entrance or exit door, there were two more doors: one led to the training yard, which was nothing more than an old garden surrounded by walls over three meters high so that no one from the outside could see in, filled with weight training equipment and training fields. The other door led to a room where Will and Susan worked.
The Nest was the Crow's base in the Pits, an old house from the time of the Ancients. Naomi quickly crossed the distance to the kitchen, poking her head through the window, seeing Vicente adjust a large sack beside a pot as large as it. The Crow cook was short and chubby.
"Good morning!"
Vicente jumped in surprise, cursing, then laughed a contagious laugh at the young woman.
"Good morning, Naomi, it's been a while, huh? Mission, right?"
"That's right, has lunch started yet?"
"Well, you know" he answered while adjusting the pot on the wood stove. "They look like a bunch of hungry people, are you going to wait for the food?"
"Unfortunately, I don't think I will today. I'll take a walk and maybe eat something around."
Vicente, pulling the knife from his belt, cut the edge of the sack and looked at his colleague.
"I see. Well, at least you'll have more variety" he said, laughing.
"Yeah. I'll be going, Vicente. See you later." There was no reply, as he was already focusing again on preparing lunch.
She crossed the hall, greeting several other Crows, until she finally reached the door, which she opened without hesitation. The city was in front of her. The sun blinded her for a brief moment, but she soon regained her vision and could distinguish the houses and people. The houses were made of wood, clay, or using structures from the Ancients, patched with current products. The shapes and sizes were diverse, but what always stood out were the colors. Except for black, which was exclusive to the Crows, everything else was free, and people used and abused them. There were green, yellow, and blue houses, some with purple walls and neon pink roofs. At first, it was a strange sight, even a visual pollution, but Naomi didn't see it that way. It was more like the identity of the place, like a patchwork blanket full of colors.
Dirt roads crisscrossed the Pits in several places. They were small, meant only for people to walk on, or sometimes long enough for Caravans.
Like the houses, the inhabitants wore vibrant colors, worn-out fabrics, half-torn, faded or freshly painted.
Naomi passed by the stone crow, nearly a meter high, which stood by the door, stepping down the few steps that led to the street. She walked among the people, carefree. The conversations and lives around her were intoxicating after so much time in the jungle and running from pursuers.
She saw several children playing with pieces of wood, pretending to be weapons in epic battles, in a dead-end street. Various smells began to fill the air as she made her way to a wider street where many people passed by with bags full of goods, or planning to fill them. Shouts from vendors competing to sell could be heard.
Not far ahead of Naomi, the city market was as crowded as always. Two Crows were standing in a more hidden corner, prepared in case any trouble broke out. Food, fabric, and craft stalls crammed into a large, circular area, and even though it didn't seem like it, there was a certain order to the place, always with space to walk between them all.
People were drinking spirits or eating freshly fried food, an elderly woman was haggling furiously with a fabric vendor. Naomi walked past the stalls, tempted by a stand selling vegetable broth with rabbit, but the long line discouraged her, so she went to a fruit stall that was emptier instead.
There were somewhat shriveled apples, greenish bananas, and purple pears that caught her attention. She ended up picking an apple that she thought looked the juiciest. She paid the vendor with a coin, and when he saw her little purse full, he tried to push more products onto her. Naomi quickly distanced herself from him, saying she didn't want anything else. When the man realized he wouldn't get anything more from her, he turned his attention to another person eyeing one of his pears.
With a generous bite, Naomi chewed a sweet piece of the fruit as she continued walking through the market. She saw the elderly woman triumphing over the vendor, successfully negotiating a cheaper price for the fabric she wanted. Naomi couldn't help but hide a smile. A stall that earlier had been selling rabbits and pheasants hunted the day before was now completely empty, with a woman happily counting her newly heavier coin purse.
She walked a little further, and when she was satisfied, she stepped out of the crowd, taking a quieter side street. Unlike the Nest, which had electricity supplied by a gasoline generator from the Bunker, the rest of the Caves didn't have such luxuries. Street lamps, about a meter and a half tall, with thick candles, lined the streets every five meters. They were lit at night, giving the area a macabre feel.
After crossing several busy and quieter streets, she saw the Aldrey's bar just ahead, only a few meters away. It was a house with large open windows and a closed door. It was too early, so Naomi didn't expect it to be open. She approached, standing by the window, looking inside at the establishment she had known since her early days in the Caves.
In a small room filled with old chairs and tables, Aldrey was cleaning some glasses, almost hidden behind the counter. Naomi recognized her from afar; a tall woman with skinny arms, legs, and face, but with a slightly protruding belly.
"Hi," Naomi called out through the window.
"We're closed," Aldrey replied gruffly without taking her attention off what she was doing.
"Aldrey, it's me!"
Aldrey finally realized who it was, putting the glass down immediately.
"Naomi! You disappeared! Come in."
With quick movements, Naomi jumped into the bar and approached her friend. She leaned over the counter to look at her more closely. Aldrey had already set two glasses in front of them.
"Where have you been? No, wait, it was a mission, right?"
"Yep," Naomi replied. "The usual. But what about the Cave? What's been happening lately?"
Aldrey rummaged through the drinks, grabbed a bottle of wine, and filled their glasses. She drank hers immediately and then filled it again.
"Nothing much, to be honest. A few fights and a body found here and there. The usual, you know?"
Naomi took a small sip of the wine, feeling the liquid burn as it went down. She took another gulp. She hadn't been away for more than fifteen days, but the lack of news made her feel a bit discouraged.
"Hey!" Aldrey interrupted, filling Naomi's glass almost full. "Don't look so glum. But I've been hearing rumors about a cult lately."
"What?" Cults were dangerous in those times; after all, desperate people could be easily manipulated. "Is it dangerous?"
Aldrey pulled out one of the chairs and sat down heavily, pointing to one for Naomi, who quickly accepted the invitation. With another sip, Aldrey continued:
"I don't know much about it. It's something new. I don't even know the name, just a bit of gossip from the drunks. But what about Gabriel? Still broken as always, right?"
Naomi just laughed while pouring herself more wine and nodded in agreement. She really had known them for a long time. They continued talking about everything, and before long, several empty bottles started piling up on the counter.