Weapon selection was fairly standard for the team. The miniature flamethrowers we use are, for all intents and purposes, a necessity for driving back particularly infested hallways. Besides those, every man was equipped with their standard sidearm as well as a carbine rifle. I’ve never said that rifles aren’t effective against the Creep, just that they’re not very effective if things get so bad that you’ve got the infestation growing rapidly.
At any rate, once we were all equipped, we settled in. The only time in our lives when we’re allowed to stay in the luxurious apartments of Floor 1 is the day before we leave for the Scavenging. Funny part about that has always been how little we’re actually allowed to see of Floor 1. A lot of Security is always around to escort us to our apartment, and whenever we have business with the council, they lead us straight there. Still, I’ve caught sight of those swimming pools they have. If I told people about that sort of thing, they’d have a freak-out. There’d also be a lot of people going to Reinforcement, so I keep my mouth shut. All of us do. Obedience to Authority is the only way to provide for the Tower’s Security.
Anyway, the night goes as usual. We sit around, discuss our prospects and how this mission’s going to go down. The Creep’s been unusually peaceful lately, so we don’t anticipate any trouble. Still, you can never let down your guard once you get below Level 21. My guys are pros, though. Nobody’s taking this lightly.
The next day we set out by early morning. Again, this is my favorite part of the entire experience. Per usual we walk north along the hallways, then double back around through southern corridors. And as usual, there’s just a huge turnout. I get a kick when I see those posters they hold up. This year they’ve come up with some new ones. They’re pretty amazing, too. They’ve got a picture of me on the front with the words “Vicious Vick” along the bottom.
Hah. Yeah, there are more than a few perks to being a Scavenger.
About the only concern I have with marching every hallway is the fact that it’s so drawn out. The first day of the Scavenging is basically a marching show through those halls so other people can see us. I mean, of course, we don’t do it after Floor 11, but marching around seven floors on this parade wipes out nearly the entire morning. We don’t usually get to the Floor 12 checkpoint until the early afternoon, and then, before we can even think about proceeding, we’ve got to make sure with Security that we’re all who we say we are.
Again, for the record, why? It’s a complete waste of time. But Tower Authority wants it, so of course, we do it. Authority knows why it does what it does, and our job isn’t to question. Our job is to follow our instructions. Still, by the time we’re actually proceeding on from Floor 12, it’s well into the afternoon. Then, of course, we can’t actually just go straight down into the Creep. There’s always the checkups we have to do.
Floor 12’s where you start to first see the signs of it, the small growths on parts of the wall or along the floorboards. It’s Floors 15 and 16 where things get disgusting. The stuff looks like it’s taking over the walls. I wonder why we just don’t take a flamethrower to it down there, but no, I’m not stupid. I know using it at these levels would just instigate an incident like we had last year, when we provoked the Creep into raging up the stairwell. Anyway, we document the growth level as usual. Of course, our presence serves double duty. On the one hand, we get to see what the Creep is looking like on the lower floors, but we also get to chat with the locals. That’s a lot more important than younger Scavengers realize. They think it’s a waste of time, but in reality it’s an important part about being a member of our order.
An important part that Commander Abbott doesn’t care about, but again, that’s off the record.
Being a Scavenger is about more than just finding new materials for the Tower to use. It’s also about being an inspiration to people that sometimes find their lives hopeless. Yes, I understand that everyone above Floor 11’s relatively okay, but you can’t afford to lose the support of the people on the lower levels. Lose them, and you lose the people that work as parts of Cleanup, Maintenance, Service, and all sorts of other things. These people only get to head up to the upper levels when they’re working, but, you know, sometimes it’s just getting out of the Creep that helps you preserve your sanity.
Especially since, by Floor 16, you start to see them—the Demons. Don’t get me wrong, the fear and paranoia you start to feel on the lower levels can be a mind-killer. Still, you can adjust to it. You start finding ways to compensate. Still, there’s no compensating for the shadows you start to see. On Floor 12 they start appearing, but they look like tricks of your environment, as if the lights in the hallway are flickering in places. It can catch you off guard, but it’s nothing you can’t deal with.
By Floor 16, though, those same shadows are taking shape. Not quite human, but… something. I’m not sure whether it’s worse when they disappear or when they stay put. There are times you could swear you’re looking at a shadow person down the hall, and the person just stares back at you. It’s really unsettling the first time you hit the lower levels. At least most of the time you catch these shadow people in the corner of your eye, so it’s not so bad.
On the record, I find it worse when they just stand there. Not all my men agree, but for me there’s nothing worse than seeing a shadowy figure just looking at you.
Then they move. They walk toward you. If you don’t stand your ground, get control of your mind, well, I’ve seen men lose it. Worse, I’ve had to put down men that panicked and started firing blindly into the air. Firing off your rifle like that can get the entire team killed. As much as I hate to say it, it’s better to just take out one panicked man than put the entire group at risk.
We do as much training with new Scavengers as possible to prevent this, of course. We’ll take them into the lower levels without weapons and teach them how to maintain discipline, control their breath, and lower their pulse. There are a lot of things you can do to help keep yourself cool. Because of all that training, most of the time we’re able to calm a panicking man down.
If he starts pulling that trigger, though… well, you only have one option.
At any rate, that’s why we document those hallways. Not every single one of them, of course. That would simply take too much time. But we do patrol enough area that we get to talk to the local people, hear their concerns, and give them some promise that we’ll be heading down below to find stuff that they can count on to arrive in their food boxes. You know and they know it won’t be much, but it’s the promise of something coming, the promise of something to look forward to, that makes them happy.
You would be surprised how powerful hope is on the human mind.
Commander Vick’s Report Number Two
The funniest part about passing through Floor 16 is definitely the story. Creepy Sally. I know the administrators on Floor 1 don’t particularly care about the legends down here, but the story of Creepy Sally is told throughout the rest of the Tower. It’s powerful, and it makes kids think twice before touching the Creep.
I’ve been scavenging for six years now, and I’ve never seen her. I’m not saying she doesn’t exist. I’m just saying that I, personally, have never laid an eye on her.