'The Meadows' was mostly semi-subterranean, as if built into a valley of two mountains, with a huge tree centered in the middle, touching the roofs of the partially roofless, valley-like cavern — With tents and wooden, cone-like shelters surrounding a big, log and stone, two-story built into the tree at the center of the village. The house was probably the biggest structure in this place, aside from the tree, who's vines and branches snaked their ways over the entire village, like a roofing spiderweb.
To the north, there was a sort of toolshed, Stryker told Austin they called the 'Crate,' while to the south, to the furthest south of the village, there was a wooded grey area Stryker called the 'Greylands.' To the east, resided two log and stone, one-story constructs, with steam coming from the chimneys – The 'Showers' – while to the west was a wooden building — a farm Stryker called the 'Barns'; it had fenced in goats, sheeps, cows, chickens and pigs. Austin even spotted one of those pole guns used for instantly killing an animal.
But that wasn't what was so awe-incredible.
No, what was so awe-incredible was that, in all four directions rose walls taller than the tree at the center of the village, at least 75 feet high on each side. And, in the middle of all four walls, were gigantic, heavily thick vault doors that were half the height of the walls themselves.
"Those would be the Gates, I guess you could say," Stryker said, answering Austin's unsaid question. "They are our way in and out of the Labyrinth — Coincidentally, they are also our only line of defense against the Annihilators… and other monsters that dwell within the Labyrinth."
"Annihilators?" Austin asked, wondering why the word sent a shiver down his spine. "What are they?"
There were many boys and girls wandering the village, most were adolescents, but there were some that were around the pre-teen age, with the youngest of them being around 9 or 10 years old by the looks of it. There were a few older teenagers, but Austin saw no adults, which served to confuse Austin even more. A bunch of kids with no adults were just the roots of disaster…
"Annihilators — they are nightly creatures that roam the Labyrinth, feasting on human flesh," Stryker was explaining, grasping Austin's attention once more. "They're the main reason why this place," he gestured to all around him. "is the only safe place for us, away from the beasts and monsters that roam the Labyrinth. The Gates close every night, so we are protected here, as long as we're inside these walls when they close."
To the west, before reaching the western gate, a little to the right, there was a fenced garden big enough to feed a hundred people, attended to by more adolescents, no adults in sight. These people Stryker called them 'Gatherers'. The ones attending the Barnes, he called 'Herderers." — They were all either teenagers or pre-teens, no adults.
"If you're wondering why there aren't any adults, join the club," Stryker said, reading Austin's mind. "We haven't found any since we found this place. The oldest of us are 17 to 18, but no one over the age of 19 years old. None of us have any real memory of our lives before this place. We're all the same here."