Blood of Immortality by Andrew Guardamano

Author:Andrew Guardamano [Guardamano, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781477228067
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 2012-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Harvest

The walk through the seemingly infinite corridors of water-carved rock was something that Hunter was almost certain would trigger his claustrophobia. He was pleasantly surprised however to find that he didn’t feel any of his usual agitation. He credited it to his new and improved visual acuity, for he now had voluntary control of his eyes and his iris no longer dilated and constricted by reflex alone.

It was a skill that took some time adjusting to, for the concept of light and shadow no longer mattered to him. His vision was all relative now. In his head, only the ideas of darker and lighter existed. Absolute darkness was now an experience he had to try to be able to recall.

The corridor sloped further as they walked down a wide spiralling path curving to the left, and after about three turns they arrived at a set of large industrial elevators with an open glass front which dropped them another six stories underground.

After the elevators came to a full stop they stepped into a monstrous cavern hollowed all the way to the surface. Hunter assumed they were directly underneath the tree, for in the center of the cavern was the largest and most complex root system he had ever seen.

The dome-shaped ceiling was dominated by a towering mass of thick roots that extended all the way to the cave floor, forming a solidified matrix of wood that extended to the edge of the walls. Covering them in staggering numbers were coconut-sized red spheres which pulsated gently. They reminded Riley of engorged eyeballs, for their exterior was not waxy nor dry but rather fleshy and lined with a mucous-like fluid.

Hunter’s eyes travelled around the chamber, absorbing the magnitude of the number of pods around them. There must have been hundreds of thousands of them, maybe even millions—he wasn’t sure.

Three conveyor belts were assembled at the ground level feeding several large trolleys waiting to be transported. Hunter watched with great fascination as workers at the top plucked the pods and threw them down at catchers waiting at the bottom. They worked incredibly fast—aided by their perpetual lack of exhaustion, sending pods raining down.

They’re bound to miss some, Riley thought. But he was wrong. The catchers’ lightning fast reflexes prevented any of the pods from ever reaching the ground—it was clear to Hunter, this was a mastered art.

“This is just… too cool…” said Riley, his parted lips rounding in amazement.

“So this is what they look like fresh?” asked Hunter, picking up a particularly fat one from the conveyor.

“You called them fancy popcorn bags, remember?” grinned Riley.

“So you’re done your P.M.S.?” whispered Hunter. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing, dude,” said Riley. “Just let it go.”

Hunter shook his head and looked at the blood-filled fruit. The pod was like a thick rubber balloon stretched to its limit by the red lukewarm fluid inside. Its surface felt like thin skin, slightly translucent and veiny, unlike the waxy complexion of an everyday peach or melon. The pod’s top portion, where the stem would have been, had been heat-sutured like a belly button.

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