A ceiling lamp swung back and forth, blinding for an instant before passing by to shine its light in a shadowed corner.  It returned, and passed again to cast its light on the opposite wall.

The sound of metal scraping across metal seemed to synchronize with the light, loud then low only to become loud once more.

Together they caused a hypnotic rhythm.

Akiva wasn't sure how long she watched the light and listened to the scraping sound, but it took her some time to recover her wit.  With that came realization.  She was laying down on a hard surface.  She was cold.  She was naked.  She smelled earth, and a sharp tinge of iron.  Akiva attempted to sit up and found she was restrained.  Her wrist, her head, her feet, all securely fastened.  Pain lanced through the back of her head, and nausea muddled her already jumbled thoughts.

"Don't you puke, girl.  Ish and I just cleaned you up."  The woman's voice was unfamiliar, her accent held the twang of the southern waste.

"Where am I?"

"Oh, where are my manners?  This is The House of Saxon, and I am Sarai named after my mother and her mother before her."

"How did I get here?"

"Oh, Ish must have hit you too hard... that boy gets carried away sometimes."

"S... someone hit me?"

"Yeah, girl, and pretty hard from the sound of it."

"Whe-"

"It couldn't be helped.  Ish found you all late and the grabbers were out in force.  You probably woke em up, we don't usually get more than a handful in a given night."

The scraping noise stopped and Sarai stepped into view.  She was a large woman with oily gray hair and a large growth above her left eye.  Her lips were thin, her skin sallow.  She wore a filthy shirt and an apron covered in dubious stains.  In her right hand was a file, the other a rusty butcher knife.

"Your fiery-headed friend gave my boy a black eye before his brother, Zack, could get her under control."  The woman laughed and ran her blade across the file.  "The little one went down easy enough."

Akiva saw small glimpses of a dark tunnel, a man removing his goggles and smiling.  He said he was so glad to see them.  He said they hadn't had guest for dinner in weeks.

"Who are you people?  Why are you doing this?"

"My husband, Sebastian, was a Red Rocks seed boy.  My ma stole 'em for me as a parting gift before she kicked me out of the homestead.  Me and Sebastian found this old facility and set up shop."  Sarai returned to the shadows, sharpening her tool.  "He died a few years back of the purple pus, but he left me my three boys: Ish, Zack, and Sebby.  We and their wives live here comfortably.  We feed off the land and the razor horns, and anything else that wanders our way."

A door opened out of view, and someone entered the room.  He was large and breathed heavily.  Akiva could smell his rotten breath from across the room.  She tried to crane her neck to get a better glimpse of the room, but the restraints held fast.

"Ma, Tick says that red reaver piece of meat broke my nose!"

Akiva listened to the whistles of his nostril and had to agree with Tick.

"If your wife says it's broken, then it's broken."

"Damnit!  I hate reavers."

"Ish, do these women look like reavers to you?"

"They're dressed like reavers..."

"With armpads?"

"Maybe they stole em."

"Sometimes I fear you boys got your father's brains.  You can't steal an armpad without it blowing up in your face.  Be useful and wash this one's head."

Ish grunted as he moved past.  He came back carrying a bucket.  He took hold of Akiva's head.  Panic surged through her veins as his fingers plays across the bristly top of her head.  Gone was her cloud of thick curls.  These people had cut her hair.  She looked up into his face, a younger and harder version of his mother's.  One eye was swollen shut, and his nose curved at an unnatural angle.  He flashed her a brown toothed grin and dumped a small bucket of cold water on her face.

Akiva gasped and sputtered as he leisurely ran his hands over her freshly shaven scalp.  He rubbed those hands up and down her face, massaging her cheeks and squeezing her nose.   Ish ran his fingers over her lips and eyelids.

"These ladies are from Phalanx, despite their clothes and tattoos."

"Ma, I never tasted Phalanx flesh before!"

"There's a first time for everything, my dear boy."

The two laughed and Akiva's heart sank.  The light flickered.  Sarai wheeled over a cart full of sharp metal tools.  She smiled as she ran her hand down Akiva's side.  She pinched the girl's hips.

"Phalanx feeds you well.  Where's your meat, girl?"

"Don't do this, please."

Akiva thought of Maira and Foxy.  She didn't know what happened to them, whether they were alive or dead.  She was suddenly back in that dark tunnel.  There'd been a second man who joined the first, smaller but clearly related.  Something in that man's eyes had set off alarms in her mind.  Akiva'd signaled to May, but it was too late.  The smaller man grabbed Foxy, and something hit Akiva in the back of head.  Akiva suddenly knew who these people were.  The southern waste was home to a number of families known for cannibalism.  Mother Bavda called them The Chews.

Adrenaline flooded her system and Akiva railed against the straps holding her down.  She pulled, twisted, tossed, but only managed to tire herself out.  Ish and his mother watched in amusement.

"Settle down or we'll drown ya first... I like the added flavor your fear gives the meat, but I ain't in the mood to be wrestling."

The light flickered and went out.
"Ish!  This is why you and your brothers have to keep the day panels clean!  Go get Sebby!"

"But, Ma i-"

"Go get your brother!"

Ish fumbled his way out of the dark room.  Sarai cursed her dimwitted husband and her simple children.  Akiva could feel the woman hovering over her, smell her perspiration, her breath.  The woman played with the lamp but the power was still out.  Akiva closed her eyes and began the Song of Thanks and Praise to The Great Mother to calm her frazzled nerves... and to mask the sound of her working her wrist against the straps.  The song filled the darkness and her heart.

"What's this now, girl?"

Akiva stopped, tenseing in fear of the knife.

"No, keep going.  It's pretty."

Akiva resumed her song with renewed vigor, and continued to work her wrist free.  Her skin scraped raw, she kept her voice level through the pain.

The lights came back on a second before the door to the room banged open.

"Sebby, what the heck is going on?  I told you boys to clean those panels!"

"The panels were cleaned this morning, Ma," said a new voice.  His was deeper than Ish's.

"I tried to tell you, Ma."

"Shut your trap, Ish."  Her voice was harsh and as sharp as her knives.  "If the panels are clean then what's the problem?"

"It's the battery."  Sebby stepped into the light.  He was more handsome than his brother with intelligent eyes, and a droop to his lip.  "I keep telling you it needs to be replaced.  It's coughing and wheezing like Pa on his final days.  I gave it a reboot to see if it'd quiet down."

"And?"

"And it worked, for now.  If you ladies don't get out there and trade us a new one soon, ours is gonna make such a racket that every grabber from here to the twister belt will hear it and come grabbin'"

"We don't have much to trade, boy.  You know that."

"Well we need to do something.  I don't know how well the insulation will keep the battery room quiet, but it won't be for long.  The grabbers can feel vibration."

"I don't know nothing about that.  I just know your father and I kept this place grabber free for twenty years.  If that moron could keep it going, then you have no excuse."

"Ma, wear and tear doesn't work like that."

"Go on, git.  Have Zack and Tick help you move the red-head into the battery room.  That way if she wakes up the grabbers won't hear her screamin'.  If you have to, slit her throat, but make sure you don't let the blood go to waste this time."

"Yes, Ma."

"Sometimes I forget you're supposed to be the smart one."  Sarai glared at Ish for a long moment.  "I'm sure the panels are still filthy and your brother is just covering for ya."

"Ma, I tol-"

"Shut your trap!  Bring me my knives so we can get started."  Sarai looked down at Akiva, shook her head and whistled.  "Damn shame.  You sure have a beautiful voice."

Akiva continued to sing, transitioning from Thanks and Praise to Strength and Wisdom.  She sang the words, putting her soul behind every note.  It was her hour of need and she needed The Great Mother to heed her call.

"Barely enough meat on your bones to feed the lot of us... seems almost a waste to gut ya."

Ish fumbled in the darkness, making a ruckus as stuff clattered to the floor.  Sarai swore and covered her eyes.

"Hurry up over there."

"Ma, I don't feel too good."  The last word dragged out and ended with a sort of croak.

"Boy, I've done had enough of your sh-"

Ish's armlock caught her just under the chin.  She struggled to speak but his big forearm made it impossible to open her mouth.  He leaned into the light, taking a long sniff of her hair.  His eyes were a yellow tint and tears of amber ichor oozed down his cheeks.  Akiva's eyes went wide.  Though she'd never seen the change in person, she recognized the symptoms.  Ish was infected.

Sarai threw her elbows back, hitting her son in the ribs, but the blows seemed to have no effect.  Her face was turning blue, her attacks growing more frantic.  He loosened his grip, and she took a long ragged pull of air.  He shook his head like a dog worrying a bone, easing his grip even further.  Sarai worked her way loose as Akiva wriggled her hand out of the restraint.

"Boy, what has gotten into you?  Do you he-"

Ish howled, an anguished cry that was part his voice and part something monstrous that would grow in his stomach until it's tentacles spread throughout his body and fully changed him.  He grabbed his mother and pulled her into the darkness, her angry shouts becoming terrified screams.  Akiva's body had gone cold, her limbs leaden.  However, she fought the fear and willed herself to move.  Mechanically she undid the straps across her head and waist.  She sat up and meticulously unfastened the rest of the straps, paying no attention to the horror in the corner.  Akiva jumped down from the table and ran out of the room, pausing only long enough to slam home the bolt lock on the outside of the door.

The hall was brighter than the room.  She could see where the old world architecture met the additions of Sarai and The House of Saxon.  She tuned out the screaming from the other side of the door and contemplated whether to go right or left.  Unsure she chose right.  Around the next corner, the hall darkened which suited Akiva just fine.  She clung to the shadows and held tight to the knife in her hand.  She wasn't sure where she'd gotten it, and when she thought about it she saw Sarai's pleading eyes as her son did...

A noise ahead stole her attention.  Two women walked out of an adjoining tunnel.  They were dressed in simple clothes sprinkled with dirt like Sarai, Ish, and Sebby.  Akiva crouched low and readied her weapon.  She had no intentions of being captured again.

"I'm sure Mama should be able to help."

"I just don't want all of that hair to go to waist.  It was thick and fluffy, not like my stingy mess."

"Don't fret, Mixer.  I like your hair."

"Well I don't!"

She fought back the impulse to run her hand over her shaved head.  The two continued down the hall in the direction Akiva was heading.  She slipped into their side passage and continued to move.  The tunnels were dark and quiet as Akiva prowled, ears hunting for the slightest sound.  Left, then right, then doubling back.  The complex was far larger than she expected.

She eventually reached an intersection.  She could hear muffled voices and a steady hum.  As she inched forward there was a loud crash.

"What the heck is going on over there?"  A woman shouted, her voice seemed to dwindle as it bounced off the walls.

Akiva moved back into the shadows.

"Something is wrong with Zack, Tick.  Get over here and help me!"  Sebby's voice was strained but still recognizable.

"Who you yellin' at like that?"

"Just come help me!"

A blockish woman stormed into view carrying a large wrench.  She was easily as big as Sarai though there was a spryness to her step which hinted at a surprising nimbleness.

"I'm busy, Seb."  She moved out of view, "Zack, stop!"

An all too familiar shriek rolled down the hall.  Akiva's nerves jolted and she threw herself against the tunnel wall to keep from running away.  Zack was infected, maybe Sebby too.  They must have gotten the infected's yellow goo on them when they captured her and Maira... Thoughts of May pushed some of the fear away.  Sarai had mentioned storing May in the battery room.  Akiva crept towards the intersection even as the sounds of shouting and tussling drifted back towards her.

To her immediate left was a metal door with the words Generator Battery written in faded stencils.  To her right the hall went on for some ways, the commotion was coming from an open door halfway down the tunnel.

"Help me," Sebby croaked.

"He's infected.  Don't let him touch you!"

"I'm trying."

Zack shrieked again, spurring Akiva into motion.  She ran to the metal door and gave its handle a tentative tug.  It swung open with ease, and with nary a sound.  The battery was a massive barrel at the center of the room, its hum rhythmic.  Maira and Foxy hung from wall hooks.  Foxy was unconscious, a bruise across her forehead.  Maira was struggling with her bonds.  Her eyes met Akiva's and for a moment there was no recognition.  Suddenly they went wide, and she spat Akiva's name into her gag.

Akiva brought her fingers to her lips.  She looked around and found a piece of piping to wedge in the doorspace.  She couldn't let the door close behind her.  She brought over a foot stool and placed it under Maira, giving her a purchase for her feet.  With Akiva's help May was able to use the new leverage to work her restraints free of the the wall hook.  Akiva undid the straps, and May fell into her arms.  Maira kissed her twice before she thought to remove the gag.

"These people are maneaters... I thought you were dead."  A fat tear made a streak down her dirty cheek.

"Don't cry, don't cry," Akiva whispered, her voice full of emotion.

"Your hair..."  May's hand tickled the bristly top of her head.

"You like it?"

"It'll grow on me, or it'll grow back."

Akiva nodded.  She pulled herself away from Maira and moved the stool over to Foxy.  Maira kissed the back of Akiva's head, then helped get the slave girl down.  Her chest rose and fell at regular intervals.  Akiva tapped the girl's cheek, and when that didn't work she gave her a shake.  The girl came awake with a start, rolling aside and defending her face.

"What did I do wrong, master.  Foxy can do better!"

May and Akiva watched her from a distance.  The girl peeked out from behind her hands.  She studied the women and slowly lowered relaxed.

"Master?  They took you.  We fight, but they beat us.  We try-"

"It doesn't matter.  We have to escape this place."

"Yes," Foxy nodded vigorously.

She moved towards the door with no regard for her restrained wrist.  Akiva grabbed her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.  Akiva cut her bonds and gestured for quiet.  She moved to the door and eased it open.  The shouts were louder, closer, and a ragged moan filled the air.  Maira took the pipe from Akiva's hands, concern on her face.  Foxy grabbed the stool.

Akiva opened the quiet door wider.  Sebby and Tick we're backing down the hall.  He was limping, she was shouting insults.  Both were covered in blood.  In front of the other door was a figure draped in shadow.  Akiva knew it to be Zack or the creature who had once been Zack.  The two would soon be blocking the way out.

Akiva motioned for the others to keep their distance.  She rushes forward, quiet as a hunting cat, and drove her knife into Tick's rear.  She dragged the blade down the woman's thigh, and tore it free.  As Tick shouted in surprise and pain Akiva spun and kicked Sebby in his balancing leg.  Both fell to the floor, and Zack surged forward drawn to the easy prey.

Maira and Foxy were already moving down the adjoining tunnel.  Akiva ran to join them, taking the lead.  At the next junction she guided them in the other wive's wake.  Driven by the need to get her people out of the cannibal warren and the fear of being trapped by newly formed infected, Akiva's pace was hurried.  They followed the tunnel to a large room which was a hub of connecting passages.  Three tables sat in the middle, crates lined the far wall.  A muzzled shotgun laid on one of the tables, a half dozen rounds spread about it.

Akiva told May and Foxy to wait then sprinted into the room.  A scream swept through the room as she grabbed the gun and the bullets.  She ran and reached her companions just as Mixer sprinted through the chamber, covered in blood, clothes torn, and screaming.  Ish shambled after her.  He was also covered in blood and wearing only his shirt.  The two ran down a side passage, and the girls moved to the crates.  Maira took the gun and loaded it as Akiva and Foxy looted.

Akiva claimed a machete, a second knife, a flare gun, and a pair of goggles for herself.  May had to remind her to find something to wear, her mind focused solely on weapons.  She climbed into a pair of overalls and boots, and secured her blades.  It was Foxy who found the canteens of water.  The three drank greedily.  Thirsty from a day of little hydration the liquid felt like a decadent indulgence.  When they had their fill the three grabbed what they could and fled.

Maira led them to the hatch, remembering the route from when they were captured.  The trio escaped into the night.  Infected before them, infected behind.