"Hey!" Vida exclaimed.
"Hey, beautiful!" Enoch hugged her.
"How have you been this week?" she inquired.
"I'm doing fine. I'm almost ready, too."
"That's great!" Vida smiled. They let go of each other. She looked down at the ground. "How is Naor?" They started walking.
Enoch sighed holding her hand, "I don't know. Sometimes he is fine, and other times I really worry about him." Enoch looked around and whispered, "I sometimes even think that he won't come with us."
"What!?" Vida mimicked his volume, "But this was and is his plan!"
"I know."
"I think that you are mistaken."
Enoch looked ahead trying to see the end of the long, dark hallway. "I hope so."
They walked for a few minutes when the familiar fanfare rang down the tunnels. A moniter on the wall buzzed.
"Attention!" A sickly voice boomed over the loudspeaker. It sounded like it came from the very walls themselves. "It is time to support our brothers and sisters who have paid their debt to our society! Everyone rise in respect to The Graduated."
Vida and Enoch sat down almost instinctively.
On the screen they watched as thirty or forty people walked out of the familiar entrance to the Catacombs (that's what the people who live in the caves call it). Enoch tried to recall the faces that he saw, but he didn't recognize any of them. Nobody ever recognized any of them, but The Bleeding didn't know any different. It gave them hope.
After all of The Ghosts walked out, Az himself stood up and shook hands with each of them. Some of The Ghosts would even give him a hug; most of them had tears in their eyes.
Enoch scoffed.
Az offered an opportunity to speak to anyone who would take it. A man, about thirty or forty, walked up to the podium. He wore a patch of The Capricorn. He had tears on his cheeks.
"My brothers and sisters," he sniffed, "I want you to know that it was a pleasure to live among you for two great years. And thank you, Mr. Lysander, for helping my family get through those troubled times." He wiped a tear from his cheek.
The crowd clapped. Az walked up to him, and they gave each other a hug.
Next a girl, about fourteen, came up to the podium. She wore a patch of The Taurus.
"When I first came to Casus, I was a bit worried that I might never make it back up here." She smiled and laughed through her tears. Everyone else did the same.
"So I want to speak to all of my brothers and sisters still down there and say that you will make it someday."
YOU ARE READING
2020
AdventureNeed some units? We're here to help! My name is Az Lysander, and I can assist you and your family through these troubled times. Through my simple PayFor system your loan will be paid off in no time! It's easy Az 1, 2, 3! Join our family. Join us i...
