Austin's heart went out to Stryker as well as all the people in this place. While Austin only had memories of the last 3 months in isolation, these people have been here for a whole year and a half. Sure, just those three months had Austin wondering if he was losing his mind, but to be in this hellhole for all that time and more? That couldn't have been easy.
Suddenly, Austin's situation didn't seem so heavy, and he'd grown a new respect for the guy. 'It could've been worse,' he found himself thinking.
"At the edges of the Greylands, —the outer edges, right before you reach the most southern wall and gate," Stryker said, gesturing to the south, where the thick forested woods, tall grasses of grey and dull wild plants — all grey and dry with dead trees and such were. "There's a clearing, where a fire broke out once, killing a handful of Meadowers along most of the area's trees — We use that area as our graveyard, now, where we bury our dead.
"The fire was started out panic and fear. I'm telling you this because, well, you need to know that, before we came up with The Taboo Tablet, we were a mess. We lost so many of our own to panic, to fear, to irrationality. Those were some bloody days, Austin."
"The Taboo Tablet? 'We'?" Austin questioned.
"Our rules around this place," answered Stryker with a wave of his hand. "We, as in the few of us that were the first ones to find this place."
When they reached the area, Austin felt like he was walking in a cemetery; the place felt dead, to be frank. The ash-colored dirt and dead trees and plant life did nothing to ease the feeling away. The stone pamphlets with names and dates on them were everywhere. One of these stones said "Matt, age: 11, a friend" while some were unmarked. It really was a graveyard.
"Why are you showing me this?!" Austin found himself fighting the tears from overtaking his eyes. "What is this?"
"To show why the Taboo Tablet must be followed," Stryker answered. "We made the Taboo Tablet to make sure something like this won't happen again. Why we follow the Taboo Tablet.
"Our five rules are put here to keep us from succumbing to fear. Our first rule is: To work hard. Do your assignment. No one likes a freeloader.
"Rule two is: respect one another. Don't harm one another. This place can only stay safe if we aren't at each others' throats. It won't work - it won't function otherwise. Remember that.
"Rule three is an important one. Subservience and obedience go hand-in-hand here. Listen to your higher-ups. Know your leaders, and obey their orders. I wouldn't have chosen them if I didn't know that they weren't good at leading.
"Our fourth rule is just as important as the last one. Communication is key. If you have a dispute, or if you see something, say something. No problem can be solved if we don't acknowledge it."
Austin nodded he was following. "And the fifth rule? What's that?"
"Rule number five is the most important rule of the Taboo," Stryker said, suddenly sounding even more serious somehow, his gaze capturing Austin's, who's gaze had drifted towards the wall before. "Never, under any circumstances, go beyond those vault gates. Always remember, never go beyond those Gates. Its for yours and everybody's safety."
As Austin's gaze drifted back to the four Gates, he couldn't help but be surprised to spot Reya and two others walking their way, flanking her.
The first was a girl, maybe 17 years old, with dark hair, dark eyes, pale asian skin, and navy blue pants and a plain purple blouse, black rubber boots and a leather, black jacket, with a raven sigil, similar to Reya and Stryker. She looked to be 17 years old.
The second person was a boy, around 16 years old, with dark brown eyes, milk coffee brown skin, with brown hair that was held together in a ponytail, with a strain reaching over to his forehead. He radiated confidence, more like overconfident, as Austin would soon recognize. He wore green cargo pants, a vanilla tee and an army jacket with the sleeves seemingly ripped off. The emblem on his back was neither a raven nor an owl, but a yellow orange for a crest, which was a first for Austin's eyes. Austin was nor sure where the urge chase from, but the need to keep this guy's gaze suddenly hit him, as if to prove he didn't intimidate Austin, despite the fact that this guy was jacked.
When the guy noticed, he laughed cheekily, causing Austin to look away, embarrassed. His gaze caught Reya's and he, for some reason, couldn't help but think to himself, "She's beautiful," before catching himself staring, and, again, averting his gaze.
"Reya? Aaron? Alyssa? What's going on?" Stryker asked the three, before introducing everyone. "These are three of the four people we sent to find you. They are also 3 of my selected leaders directed under me here in the Meadows. There are two other people, but one's a healer; she's always busy. The other guy is positioned at the northern Gate for today — He's kinda alotta work, but he, too, is good people. They're my Overseers; they help me keep this place running.
"Alyssa is incharge of the Prepers and Wippers – they are the people who attend the kitchens and clean this place."
The girl hesitantly waved at Austin.
"The boy is Aaroon," Stryker introduced the guy. "He's in charge of the Scouters — The ones we send in the Labyrinth everyday to find a way out of this place. His name is Austin."
Aaroon looked at Austin, before chuckling and grabbing Austin by the shoulder and began laughing. "You look like an Austin." Austin didn't understand, but he smiled anxiously. "I can tell, we're gonna be bestfriends. I'll show you the ropes n' everythin', Newbie." Austin wasn't sure what to do with that.
"And you already met Reya," Stryker said, gesturing to his sister, who fixed Austin with a shivering, calculative stare, "She oversees the Overseers for me, and is incharge when you can't find me."
"Nice to meet you guys…erm…again?" Austin found himself outstretching his hand, to which Alyssa attempted to shake but Aaroon, loud and boisterous, playfully[read: painfully] punched Austin in the gut, heavy handedly, as he said "That's right! Again! Hahaha. He's so funny!"
Austin, who found this guy's nature amusing, couldn't help but laugh with him. Even Reya gave a slight smile before fixing her face back to stone cold and calculative.
"Sister, why have you come here? What's going on?" Stryker asked Reya.
"Stryker, we have a problem," she walked past Austin to gher brother. "Aaroon has just came back from his scouting in the Labyrinth. He said he saw something."