Inside the city, between two wide avenues, each with more than fifteen lanes, there was a kind of plaza.
Half the size of one avenue, it seemed to stretch alongside them in both directions for their entire length, though this was hard to confirm, as a building had collapsed onto one side, completely blocking it.
In this area between the avenues, where the earth was exposed, various plants grew alongside a few small trees, while some vines, sprouting from these spaces, climbed over benches and statues, covering them almost entirely. In the few spots where they were visible, it was clear how worn they were by time and the elements.
Above it all, one could see a few bridges built in the past for pedestrians to avoid interrupting the flow of cars, though only a handful remained standing, with most having succumbed to time.
At the edges of this plaza, there were several bus stops, some with the rusted, time-worn carcasses of buses still parked, yet still recognizable.
It wasn't just there; the avenues were filled with abandoned car carcasses of all types and sizes.
Some, of cheaper, more compact designs, had suffered the most from time, becoming almost unrecognizable, but others, with a rugged, boxy appearance and more than four axles, were remarkably well-preserved.
Near that place, close to buildings lining the avenues, Sete and Leon observed it.
"Brother, are we meeting Isis here?"
"No, it's nearby. There's a passage in the space between the avenues, and that's where we'll meet them."
Pointing over there, he indicated a structure that was the entrance to a subway line.
"Will our sister be there? But this isn't where we came from…"
"Yes, she will be. Though it's not where we came from, it's the closest to where we were."
That passage was the nearest to the plains, but they hadn't used it to get there because they had to take a detour to pass through another place first, though they already planned to use this one to return.
His sister, like him, knew the locations of hundreds of passages, as they had been taught their positions by Father to move through the city safely.
I wonder if she still remembers this one…
Though it had been shown to her, like so many others, that part of the city wasn't one she usually frequented, so much so that Isis had never been to the lake until today.
Leon, realizing they'd be standing still, hidden among the buildings for a while longer, asked impatiently.
"Why are we taking so long? Don't we have to get in there soon?"
"We can't just go in like that, so carelessly, especially in a passage located in such an open area."
Even though those tunnels and passages were, to those unfamiliar with them, vast labyrinths, some were almost straight lines with few branches, sometimes leading directly home.
That's why caution was necessary; one never knew when they were being watched.
In this case, passages in such open areas were especially dangerous, but fortunately, besides being few in number, they were rarely used. Because of this, it wasn't surprising that Leon asked that question, as he had never used one like it before.
"We have to be careful when entering passages like this."
"But do we have time for that?"
The sun was about to set, and Sete knew it.
Though he himself found it odd to take such precautions, since he had never seen other people in the city, he remained cautious, as Father had taught him.
Even if I want to be careful… I don't have much time for this…
The walk to get there had been long, enough to bring them close to sunset.
"Let's go."
Standing up, they began to approach the plaza.
Using the car carcasses as cover, some wrapped in plants, they moved quickly.
Reaching the subway entrance, Sete began searching for something around it, catching his brother's attention.
"Isn't the passage the subway entrance?"
"No."
Circling the staircase, which was blocked by various debris, from concrete blocks to car carcasses, he found a metal hatch.
Crouching down, Sete began to move it slowly until he finally revealed a tunnel.
Leon, stepping beside him, peered into the depths of that hole.
"Is it safe?"
Looking into the darkness, Sete paused for a moment.
"Let's check."
Grabbing his backpack, Sete opened it and rummaged until he pulled out a small, greenish-colored stick.
"What's that?"
Seeing the item, Leon looked at it with curiosity.
"It's a safety tool used before entering a passage to check if there's anything inside."
"But why are you using it here? I don't remember using one in the other passages we've been through."
"It's usually used to confirm if there's something in passages with signs of animals, like claw marks, droppings, or fur near the entrance, but I like to use it in old passages."
He hadn't seen any such signs, but he wanted to maintain the habit of checking passages that hadn't been used in a long time.
After twisting it, he quickly tossed it inside.
"When it starts glowing, it'll emit a smell that attracts beasts and animals, so it's important to throw it where you want as fast as possible after twisting it, so you don't draw whatever's nearby to yourself."
As soon as it hit the ground, it began to emit a faint green glow.
Noticing this, Sete started counting.
After some time, realizing it was safe, he leaned his face toward the entrance.
"Isis!"
Though he shouted, he kept his voice controlled, so the sound wouldn't carry outside.
"…"
"It looks like our sister hasn't arrived yet. What do we do?"
With a complicated expression, he took a moment to respond.
I suspected as much…
If she were inside, as soon as the hatch was moved and the place lit up, they would have appeared below.
"…Nothing. They must have gone back through the passage we used before. Let's go in. You can go down first."
Surprised, Leon turned to his brother, scared.
"Why does it have to be me? Can't you go down first?"
"No, I have to close the passage, since the hatch is too heavy for you."
Looking at the hatch, Leon studied it.
"…"
"Don't worry, it's safe."
"But… it's dark…"
"As soon as we reach the bottom, I'll light a flashlight, so the faster we go down, the better."
Though reluctant, Leon nodded, realizing he couldn't move the hatch alone.
"Okay…"
Entering, he was followed by Sete, who began pulling the metal hatch but paused.
I hope they're safe…
If he had more time, he would have walked to the other passage to meet them, but looking at the sky, it was clear there was no way, with only a few minutes left until sunset.
Worried, Sete began to feel a slight regret for leaving them behind to chase the animal.
Leon, who had already descended quite a bit, noticing his brother's delay, called out with a trembling voice.
"Brother, why are you taking so long?!"
He's really going down as fast as he can…
"I'm coming."
Pulling the rest of the hatch, he closed the passage.
As soon as he finished, the place became almost completely dark, with only a few faint beams of light slipping through the hatch's cracks.
"Brother…"
"It's safe, Leon. As soon as we're done, I'll light the flashlight."
The descent was long, as it was at a great depth near the subway line running alongside.
While descending, Sete heard the sound of a dull thud, as Leon reached the end of the stairs.
Looks like he jumped the last few steps.
As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Sete grabbed his backpack and began searching for the flashlight, which took a while due to the darkness.
"I'm going to light it, just a moment."
Finally, after finding it, he turned it on.
"There, no more problems."
"…"
"Leon?"
Pointing the flashlight into the tunnel, he began searching for his brother.
The place, quite spacious, had rough walls with exposed bricks. The interior was occupied by some piles of rubble and metal debris organized near the walls.
But looking around, he couldn't find his brother.
For someone scared of the dark, he's playing around a lot.
"Leon, this isn't the time for this. We need to get home soon."
Even as he spoke, there was no response.
"If you keep this up, I'll leave you behind…"
"…"
Sighing, Sete gave up on finding him.
"Fine, if that's how you want it, I'm leaving."
Starting to walk, Sete entered the tunnel when something wrapped around his feet.
"Wh—"
Before he could react, he was pulled by his feet, knocked down, and dragged until he was left hanging upside down.
A trap?! Why is there one here?!
There weren't supposed to be traps inside the passages, and there was no reason to set them, since they were the only ones in the city. Father didn't use them for safety, even for hunting, knowing they couldn't keep track of where each one was, running the serious risk of accidents if they were forgotten or left armed.
But even wanting to understand why there was one there, he couldn't worry about that now.
"Leon, where are you?!"
His brother, who had gone down before him, hadn't responded for some time. He thought it was a prank at first, but finding a trap there changed things.
The one he fell into was simple, but he didn't know the nature of the one his brother might have fallen into, which could have knocked him out—or worse.
When he looked around upon arriving, he hadn't seen anything strange, nor had he found him.
"Leon, are you okay?!"
There was no response.
I have to get free!
Reaching for his belt, he searched for his knife, but it wasn't there.
Looking at the trail he left while being dragged, he saw his flashlight illuminating the knife.
"Damn…"
It wasn't just that; along the way, other things had fallen, like his bow and all the arrows he carried in his quiver.
"Leon, I don't know where you are, but I'm coming to help you!"
Trying to reach something sharp, he swung his body with the rope, but his belongings were too far away.
Unable to manage, he decided to check if there was a way to untie the rope from his feet without cutting it.
While trying to reach it with his hands, he heard a sound coming from behind him.
Turning, all he saw was his shadow cast by the flashlight on the dark corridor.
Was it a rat?
Still processing what had happened, his flashlight suddenly went out, leaving him in complete darkness.
Did its battery die? That's not possible!
Before he could understand what was happening, he began to hear heavy footsteps, which froze him in place.
They, starting from a distance, grew closer and closer.
I have nothing to defend myself with!
While still searching for a solution or something he could do to save himself, he noticed the footsteps stopped.
Did it leave?
Holding his breath, he tried to identify any sound, but the place remained silent.
Then something approached his ear from behind and, with a hoarse, distorted voice, said:
"Gotcha!"
Grabbing him, it began pulling him by his backpack.
"Damn it!"
Struggling to break free, he tried to hit it with his fists, but due to his position, he couldn't.
Then he was suddenly released.
Stopping the pendulum motion he was experiencing, with one hand on the ground, he prepared for the next attack, though he didn't know from where it would come.
Then two flashlights turned on, temporarily blinding him, accompanied by laughter.
"Hahaha."
"Haha."
Covering his face, bothered by the sudden light, it took him a moment to adjust to the brightness, and then he saw two of his siblings, Mia and Victor.
Both were laughing as they looked at him.
"What do you two think you're doing?!"
Sete was angry, very angry about all of it, but though they noticed, they didn't care and kept laughing without concern, which made him continue.
"That was irresponsible! If I had my knife or bow, I could have ended up hurting one of you!"
Right after he finished speaking, he heard another voice from behind him.
"Oh, what did you say? 'Irresponsible'?"
Isis, holding his leg, slowly turned him to face her.
Sete, with a nervous expression, paled slightly upon seeing his sister.
"Could you repeat that? I didn't hear it right."
Approaching his face, though with a smile, her expression was terrifying, to the point that Sete couldn't say anything.
"…"
"Come on, go ahead…"
She was angry, and it wasn't hard to understand why.
Realizing that it was all her doing and that, in that situation, there was only one way to resolve it best, Sete made that decision quickly.
Clasping his hands together.
"I'm sorry!"
Nervous, he had also closed his eyes, unable to see how his sister reacted, with everything falling silent for a while.
Until, breaking the silence, he heard two of his siblings.
"The big brother's a coward sometimes…"
"Yeah…"
Though he couldn't see them, he knew Mia and Victor were shaking their heads as they spoke, but he chose to ignore it.
"…Because you left me alone like that and went after the rabbit…"
"Because I knew you'd reach the passage safely, so I went after it."
"…"
Feeling safer, he separated his hands and opened his eyes, turning to his sister.
She had a calmer expression, her cheeks puffed with air, but still a bit annoyed.
"Could you let me go?"
Sete was starting to feel a bit sick from being upside down.
"…Only if you promise not to do that again."
"But—"
Though he wanted to argue and explain why he did it, the uncompromising look his sister gave him when he started speaking made him stop and realize there was no room for negotiation.
"Understood… I won't leave you like that out of nowhere again…"
With that, her expression finally softened.
Satisfied, standing up, she began to walk away from him, but Sete tried to stop her.
"Wait, could you let—"
When the rope holding him was released, making him fall awkwardly to the ground.
After getting up and starting to adjust his clothes, he suddenly stopped, looking around.
"Wait, where's Leon?"
Isis, casually, replied:
"We tied him up."
"Why?"
"Victor, you can untie him."
"Yes."
Leaving where he was, he followed the tunnel to a pile of rubble, and behind it was Leon, completely immobilized with a sack over his head.
As soon as the sack was removed, he would have screamed if he could, but he was gagged.
On his face, you could see a few tears streaming down and his eyes wet.
"We didn't have time to explain things to him, and even if we did, he might have refused to participate, so we decided to do this."
Looking at his younger brother, Sete felt sorry for him.
I'm sorry for making you go through this… I promise you the best piece of the rabbit.
Isis was angry with Sete for leaving her like that, so she did this as punishment, but Leon wasn't to blame, as it was his order.
Out of the corner of her eye, Isis watched Leon.
…
The group, having walked for quite some time underground, moved in a line.
Sete went in front, the only one with his flashlight on, followed by Mia, Victor, Leon, and, last, Isis.
The tunnel was spacious, allowing them to walk side by side comfortably, even with piles of various things near the walls, but they didn't do so.
This was because they always walked in a line for safety, with the older ones at the ends and the younger ones in the middle.
Being a service line next to the subway, from time to time, they found doors leading to the tracks, but they were completely blocked.
It's cold in here.
Being underground, Sete expected it to be colder, but it was at a point that bothered him.
The air was humid, as there were some spots on the walls that seemed wet, so it wasn't a dry cold.
Trying to gauge the temperature, he blew warm air, but no mist formed.
This clothing must be making it feel colder than it really is…
Still wearing Isis's coat, which hadn't dried yet, he felt the environment's temperature was worse than it actually was.
While thinking about this, he noticed with his flashlight that he had reached a fork in the tunnel.
Approaching, he stopped a short distance from it.
If I'm not mistaken, one leads straight home… but which one?
He couldn't quite remember which was which, as he also struggled with tunnels they hadn't used in a long time.
Both would lead to their home, but one required walking longer and passing through more forks.
I wish I had my father's memory…
His Father knew where every route led, having set up all the passages in the city, and whenever he used them, no matter how much time had passed, he chose and took the right path without ever hesitating.
Not wanting to choose the longer route, since it was night and they'd arrive even later at home, he was being careful in his decision.
"Something wrong, Sete?"
Isis, noticing the delay in moving again, turned on her flashlight at the end of the line.
"No, it's nothing."
I think it's the one on the right…
Resuming his walk, he was followed by his siblings.