Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, and suicidal ideation.

The caves that Jeb creates and that the human community lives in represent survival and resistance to the alien invasion. To keep a community alive in the harsh Southwestern environment takes ingenuity, grit, and collaboration. Jeb has rigged mirrors to encourage plants to grow, and the springs that run beneath the ground allow the community to have water. However, they do not have enough to remain self-sufficient, so Jared and others go on raids to bring back food and other supplies to the community. These activities are dangerous because they risk drawing attention to the human survivors. Life in the caves thus illustrates the lengths the humans are willing to go to in order to survive, developing the theme of The Meaning of Survival.

The dark and largely wild conditions of the caves also stand in stark contrast with the bright, orderly aboveground world of the souls. In part, this illustrates the vastly differing experiences of the surviving humans and the implanted souls, but it has additional symbolic resonance: The caves’ darkness mirrors the community’s misunderstandings about Wanderer and souls in general.