As Austin took that in, his gaze shifted to above them, where he noticed that the roofing of this place was only partially blocked by stone and thick-like vines stemming from the tree, but, other than that, it was pretty open air, with a decent view of the Sun. It was kind of beautiful — in a way; the Sun shone at an angle that told Austin it was around noon, or early evening.
"You, and you sister… Reya said something about being the leader of this place, right," Austin gestured around them, as they walked, where the village of around 70 kids and teens were busy doing jobs and tasks to keep this place running. "But there's like 70 people here, and this place is huge, and some of these people are a little older than you; it's gotta be hard, leading, huh?"
Austin wasn't lying; the place was the size of a football stadium, he'd compare if he knew about it.
"It can be," Stryker admitted, as they walked. "Sometimes I worry about my own mental health. Sometimes this place is… it's overwhelming. I have a lot on my plate, I won't lie. One could collapse under the weight. I do what I can, and I guess, when you've been trapped here for as long as I have, forced to lead other kids who are also on the edge, between fear and panic, as we search for ways out of this cursed, giant Labyrinth, you can't help but go a little insane."
"Wait…Labyrinth?" Austin stopped walking, finally digesting his words.
"Yes, Newbie, Labyrinth, as in a giant maze," Stryker stated. "I sent four of my people, including my sister, Reya, and the leader of the Scouters, Aaron, to find you, when we received a letter that appeared overnight, stating a new cell had been opened, with instructions on how to get there. Luckily, we didn't run into any Savagers or Annihilators, and the three Bane Brothers sent out were the three that ambushed you in your cell — which you survived, by the way. Impressive."
'The fuck,' Austin found himself thinking before he asked "What the hell are Annihilators exactly? And what is this shit about Savagers? What the hell are they? And why the hell was I attacked by those three siblings yesterday?"
"Look, Austin, your questions may be a bit challenging to answer, especially the first one, as not many live an encounter with the Annihilators," Stryker tried. "I'll answer to the best of my ability. Savagers are basically cannibals that the Bane Brothers control. They're basically zombies with base level brainpower and hulking forms that roam the Labyrinth, attacking anyone that's unlucky to come across them. That's after attacking you to death. That's why we call them Savagers."
As Austin took a moment to take this in, he began breathing heavily. That was a lot to take in. seeing Austin stop to catch his breath, Stryker continued speaking.
"The siblings that attacked you yesterday were a group of relatives that reign over the Savagers," he said. "They aren't cannibals per sei, but that doesn't stop them from killing and robbing anyone they see. But don't worry, as long as you're here, they can't reach you. No one can climb the Gates nor scale the walls. You're safe here."
"And the Annihilators?" Austin asked. "What's their deal?"
"They're monsters that traverse the Labyrinth," Stryker repeated. "I can't tell you more than that, because not much is known about them. Not many has lived tp tell about them, after an encounter with them. The only people I know who has are the Scouters, but even amongst them, the numbers that have is less than 3. But we know they exist; they are out there, roaming the corridors of this giant maze."
"Can these Annihilators breach the walls?" Austin found himself asking. "Are you sure we're really safe here? Why are we even here?"
"Naw, they can't…Or, at least, they haven't. Even if they could, they're nocturnal, only active at night, so the Gates keep them out — They protect us," Stryker answered, his gaze far off, as if lost in thought. "Whoever put us here — the people we call the 'Watchers' — didn't put us here to protect us. I don't know what they put us here for, but I can surely say it isn't to protect us. No one here believes that, least of all, me. If so, why put us in a giant maze full of monsters and dangers at every turn? The horrors some of us have seen are… unspeakable.
"The Walls are too high to climb and the Gates are too thick to burst through. But why? Why surround us with so many monsters and dangers and have us risk running into each other everyday? These questions I've been asking myself since I first found this place after waking up and leaving my cell."
"You found this place?"
"I did," he answered. "About a year and a half ago."
Austin noticed how Stryker's tone shifted. It was barely noticeable, but Austin, being the ever perceptive, caught it. He realized why surprisingly quickly; he was talking from his own personal experiences and feelings. The crack in his voice, the pang of grief and sadness —they stood out to Austin and he realized something.
'Sometimes, I worry about my own mental health,' he had said, Austin remembered. 'I do what I can, and I guess, when you've been trapped here for as long as I have, forced to lead other kids who are also on the edge, between fear and panic, as we search for ways out of this cursed, giant Labyrinth, you can't help but go a little insane.'
From the sound of that alone, Austin could pretty much guess what kind of leader Stryker was — one who put others' needs before his own. Who is cursed with a purpose he can't refuse. A troubled leader with a heavy responsibility.