Welfare and Warfare

Chapter 20

Day: 3186

Days Left: 2294

Lives Saved: 17

Between the outermost wall of The Warren were mainly barracks, supply huts, and defences in case anyone breached the first wall. Up high on the battlements, guards patrolled, keeping an eye on the refugees on the other side, though a few looked down and pointed at Henry and Nia to one another. A few guards as they passed congratulated them on getting the citizenship, after first saluting Kai, their superior officer, in respect and returned to their duties. They reached the next wall, smaller than the outer wall but still significantly fortified and defended by another patrol of guards. After Kai gave the order, the heavy gate was lifted, and they walked through. Henry and Nia had not seen The Warren in its full glory due to the height of the walls, with only a few buildings reaching tall enough to poke above into view on the outskirts. Even when they were looking down on the city from far away, it could not compare to seeing the impressive size and sight when walking through the streets themselves. Though Henry had been in a city or towns and villages before, he had no memories of it, so being in this lively place filled with buildings and bustling streets was strange, almost like stepping into a fairy tale. All of the buildings were made from wood harvested from the nearby forest, the bark an unnatural neon green, causing the city to be a vibrant emerald. At first, it was slightly painful to the eyes at how colourful everything was compared to the dull and bleakness of the rest of the Eternal Abyss, but Henry's eyes eventually adjusted, no longer suffering from a mild headache.

Kai started the tour, seeming to be well-rehearsed and was perhaps the usual person to give the newbies the induction. The city had multiple walls, marking each time it expanded with the older buildings in the centre and the new ones in the outer layer, just like a tree and its increasing layers. These walls, whilst still having a few guards patrolling on the battlements, were open for people to go in and out through the gates. At each gate to a new wall were numbers which Kai explained was the population of the city at the time of each expansion. When they reached the very innermost wall, the number was under fifty and had a large sign, weathered through the years. 'Welcome to The Warren' was in faded paint with a few child-like drawings surrounding it. At the bottom, it had a list of signatures, the original founders of the Warren. Henry immediately saw Corinna's name, her handwriting so neat and uniform, as well a few other names of people he had met or heard of like Kai, Lili, Calixte, Alfreda, Talon, and Betty. Nia subtly motioned to another name 'Jules', the man that had been leading the protests against Corinna. It seemed that he had been telling the truth that he had been an original founder.

Henry followed Kai's tour on the map that he had been given, all of the notable places and landmarks marked on the handwritten booklet. Kai showed them the food hall where they would get all of their meals, either eating there or getting takeout with food tokens; small pieces of carved wood that could be exchanged, more used to prevent starvation and control how much everyone was eating and not run out of food, though Kai explained that you were free to exchange them with others if you wanted, though there was no currency in the Warren; all supplies were free, but documented to ensure that no one was hoarding or monopolising certain goods. Kai guided them around the city, showing them where everything was and how it operated, giving a quick explanation as Henry was still exhausted and would need another nap before meeting Corinna later in the evening.

It was an endless bombardment of information paired with awe and amazement that such a feat could be accomplished in the Eternal Abyss; it was too much for Henry to process all at once and he was left speechless for the majority of the time so Nia asked questions for him, despite the fact that she would be leaving the Abyss tomorrow.

No, stop thinking about that.

Stop thinking about it.

There were a few bathhouses to accommodate the growing population, each one of them with communal baths and private shower rooms with hot water. There were small parks and games rooms, libraries, small sports pitches, vendors of people giving their crafts for free that they made for fun, carts of supplies being pulled by monsters from one side of the city to another. They passed someone using their tall monster form to paint the roof tiles of people's homes. Another used their monster form to heat up metal and sculpt them into tools and pieces for construction. At one of the courtyards, there was a yoga and mediation session being held, helping people ease down and relax after the blood moon. People walked on by, chatting to their friends with wooden cups of what seemed to be tea, the smell similar to an Abyss plant, perhaps using the leaves to resemble tea. Such small details and implements made this place alive, to help you forget that you were not a prisoner in a monster-infested world. Henry could see how easy it was to feel that there was nothing outside of those many walls, how distant they were from the rest of the Abyss that was suffering and struggling to survive. Because no one was struggling here, and they were not surviving but living, so peacefully and happily. And Henry got to live here at his first time of trying. He felt a pang of guilt thinking back to how many people were waiting, and how long they had been camping outside for their time to get in and yet he was chosen because he was Corinna's relative. If he wasn't, would he still have been chosen? Was it fair? Maybe he should have just asked to meet her and wait to actually live in the Warren just like everyone else.