Down and Out: A Young Adult Dystopian Adventure (The Undercity Series Book 1)

by Kris Moger

He woke to the sound of raucous laughter. The bed was so comfortable and did not move, lean, or make him hold on in his sleep for fear of ending up on the floor. He wanted to stay.

  Someone laughed again, and the noise grated against his ears, intruding on his dreams.

  “Not so loud, Georges. You’ll wake the boy.”

  It was Nuna and Georges. Georges? He was still dreaming.

  “Sorry,” she said in something more like a grating cry than a whisper. “You are the most interesting person I have had the pleasure of being with in quite, quite some time.”

  “And you are the most despairing creature I have yet to discover, but I can’t say I don’t enjoy your company.” She barked out her amusement and Nuna shushed her again.

  “We’re to monitor the boy, not wake him,” she scolded. “Now, eat your food and be quiet.”

  The thought of food sent his stomach into cramps and loud protests of emptiness. He opened his eyes to slits of sunlight filtering through a window to his right. Heavy blankets of red and blue covered him, and the room lacked the usual stink of decay and mould. Georges sat at a table eating something, which smelled so good he salivated.

  “Oh, dear, we woke you,” Nuna declared, noticing him. “I am so sorry, my boy, but, you must be hungry. Here, sit up and munch this.”

  She sat by him with a full plate in her hand. He wiggled into a better position, which would allow him to eat and breathe with as much comfort as his stiff body would give him.

  “Tender?” she said, handing over the food. Her golden dog put a paw on his bed, but she shooed him away.

  He stared at his meal. “This isn’t dog, is it?” he asked, lifting up a slice. His mouth watered, fearful of what she might offer him. Toro looked at him with sad brown eyes, and his stomach went queasy.

  Georges roared and slapped the table.

  “Quiet, you,” she ordered. “You tell his father he is awake. Go on, leave with your barking laugh and your terrible manners.”

  “Your wishes, I obey,” she told her with grandeur and left with a portion of meat to chew.

  Nuna rose from the bed and went to the window, pulling the curtains aside. Sunlight filtered and hurt his eyes.

  “Is that safe?” he asked, holding a hand over his face.

  She chuckled and ran a hand down Toro’s neck. “As safe as the food, boy, which is raccoon not dog, cat, or even rat. It is only sunshine. The room is sealed. They all are. The only air that comes in or out is the stuff filtered through this massive mechanical device, which grinds and whirs, and my wife tinkered with until we could breathe. She was a genius.”

  “You must miss her. She sounds like a wonderful person.”

  A soft smile touched her lips. “She was, and I loved her, but she was too absorbed in what she was creating and got careless.”

  “That’s how she died? Tinkering with her machines?”

  Her face lost its tenderness. “Yes, I guess. She was always trying to revamp our resources regardless of how often I told her things were fine the way they were. Luxuries were her way of making things up to me because we only had the two of us. I would get lonely, and she wanted to distract me. I told her it was a brush with melancholy, but she always wanted to give me more.” She drew her sweater closer around her and stared out the window. “You’re not eating.”

  “Oh, uhh,” he stopped staring and examined his food. Raccoon seemed good, but he wasn’t sure. He plucked a piece and sniffed, not bad.

  “Oh, child, eat,” she ordered with a roll of her eyes. “Raccoon is good. They’re vicious when cornered, but resourceful survivors. Not too many of them come around. Now, try the bread too. I mix in strawberries and other goodies I coaxed to grow here. Broccoli works well. You use the plant when it sprouts. I had some barley growing for a while, but the stuff wouldn’t go to seed, so that was as far as things got.”

  While she went on about her gardening, Teddy nibbled on the raccoon. The moment the slice touched his tongue his taste buds came alive as though they had never indulged in food before.

  “Oh, this is good,” he said, mouth full with juices and succulent meat. He took a bite of the bread and took pleasure in the sweet burst of flavour.

  “Don’t let Ma hear you say that,” Jolon warned as he came in the room and plopped on the bed, snagging a tidbit of raccoon. Nuna smiled at them both and took her tray, leaving them alone. “So, you gonna live?”

  “Mmmm. Yes,” he answered, swallowing. “My ribs are sore, but my lungs don’t hurt anymore.”

  “Pa told me you went through some kinda septic drainage system and almost got eaten by a steam generator, whatever that is. Did it have teeth?”

  Teddy laughed. “It’s a machine—makes power. Isn’t this place amazing? I thought the mall was mind-blowing, but this... this is incredible.”

  His brother put his hands behind his head. “Yeah, if you like comfy beds, large rooms, and real running water, but the place lacks stenchy air and filth piles to crawl over.”

  “And seeping walls...”

  “Yeah, that too. Oh, how are we ever going to call this home?” He leaned back on an extra pillow and put his hands behind his head, a self-satisfied expression. “Did you know I got a warm bath today? I guess the lady’s wife had built a way to heat the water, and Pa expanded on her idea to include more rooms. Some kinda vast tank warmed by fire. It was so odd to not save the water for someone else. You gotta try a soak. Now he’s working to increase the steamy thing, so we get more power.”

  “How long was I out?” he asked, wondering what he missed.

  “Ehh, the night and half the morning. Pa went and got us right after he had tucked you in all sweet and cozy. Georges and I were trying to find a way to make ourselves something more than a cookie sandwich when he dragged us to paradise. Gotta admit, I’m enjoying this.”

  Shoving back his blankets, Teddy winced his side aching. He sat up and tugged on his pants. “Where is everyone?”

  Jolon yawned and gave a half-shrug. “At the tables, I think.”

  “Tables?” he asked as he got to his feet. His abdominal muscles twitched, and he grimaced.

  “It’s the room with all the tables. You didn’t see that, did you?”

  He searched around the room for his shirt and found it shoved under a chair. “Nope, I didn’t see much.”

  “Yeah, those are quite the bruises you got. Uh, I don’t think you are allowed to get up.”

  Teddy drew his top over his abs, hiding the black and blue pattern splattered across his skin. He didn’t remember what he hit, but he was surprised he didn’t get more of them considering the convoluted torture he went through. “You might try to keep me here, but that would entail putting in some effort.” He thwacked his brother’s leg. “Come on, lazy, let’s check on what’s up.”

  With a reluctant sigh, Jolon rolled off the bed and staggered behind Teddy. “You have no concept of how hard I worked while you were busy sleeping.”

  His brother led him down a stretch of hall with a yucky ornate carpet of red and green. “Where are we going?” he asked, wondering why anyone would choose such horrible colour for anything.

  “We gotta go down a floor and through the centre court to this kitchen area. It leads to this room called a restaurant where people ate in groups... together... on purpose... seems odd.” He waved back toward the room. “Um, you didn’t happen to look out the window, did you?”

  “No, Jol, I’m not going back to the room.”

  “When I got up this morning, I stared outside for almost... well, a long time. Made me want to step out and fly or something.”

  He increased his speed. “Yeah, I gazed out windows before. All you get is a pile of dirt and stone. The light’s amazing, but that’s about it.”

  “Uh, Teddy, you ought to check out the view.”

  “Later, I want to know what’s going on. Now, where’s the stairs?” Jiggling handles, he checked door after door.

  “End of the hall,” Jolon said, a resign
ed note in his voice. “I tell yah, you’re missing something. Come on, they’re down a level and a few steps more. You make sure Pa understands I tried.”

  “Fine,” Teddy said and followed his brother. When they arrived at the courtyard, he stopped and stared. Lights sparkled everywhere like dancing angels. The sound of the water played on his ears, gurgling and singing with bliss.

  “Heaven on a platter, yeah, yeah, la-di-da. Come on, Ted. Close your mouth and stop staring. You can be a fine interpretation of a stone fish later.”

  “This is amazing, right?”

  “Uh-huh. Didn’t you want to see Pa?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, let’s go.”

  He left the plaza behind and continued with his brother down a small hall with weird fake plants and pictures of trees and puppies.

  “See, tables and chairs... lots of chairs,” said Jolon as they went through a double set of potato-brown doors and into a room just as his brother described.

  It seemed incredible to him that any society would need a room full of so much furniture. His father, Georges, and Nuna were in the depths of a heated discussion at one of those tables.

  “This is impossible,” Georges was saying, banging a cup against the table. “You can’t expect to hide something like this from the rest of Uppercity.”

  “I don’t give a crap about your Upperlords,” Nuna snapped back. “You are talking about bringing, what did you say, about three or four hundred people to this town? How? How?”

  “What do you mean, how? We’ll parade them through the way we got here.”

  She began pacing, wringing a towel in her hands. “That’s not what I mean. This place may seem like paradise, but supplies are not limitless.”

  “This place must contain at least a hundred rooms... most of them usable as far as I can tell, with two large beds in most of them. Plus, we have the mall, which can be converted into an endless possibility of homes.”

  Nuna stared at him as though he had suggested she grow another arm. “Oh, of course, let’s stack people everywhere. Our resources are limitless. Oh, wait. Food, where do we find that? Hmm. Well, we’ll devour everything, and all die off later. Then again, there’s the water. Let’s use everything all up, overload the system, and drown in our own excrement.”

  “Your wife built a tremendous sewage structure...”

  “Don’t bring her into this.”

  “Nuna, calm down,” Georges said, waving at her with a white scrap of cloth. She pushed aside her plate and sat back in her chair. “These kinds of things can be sorted out. Our greatest concern is how to keep certain Upperlords turning this place into their private club.”

  “No.” She spat and crossed her arms. “No, it is not happening. You people can stay here if you want. The company would be pleasant, and I basically like you all. However, that’s it. We either seal the doors so no one else can come through with you all on this side or the other side. Doesn’t mean much to me, but if you let any more people in, this place will be lost and then what?”

  “But what about the others?”

  For a moment, he wished he had kept silent as they all turned to stare at him. His thoughts went to all the wretched Underlings suffering and dying without a chance at any kind of life. “What about Deb and Henri, Caden and Ma? What about Mrs. Fish and her trail of dependents? There are people scraping around like animals in the dirt and rubble trying to find something to keep them going for another moment, and here we have the riches to save them, and we’re supposed to pretend nothing is here? Or, better yet, let’s stay here and forget about ‘em. We’ll keep this all to ourselves and forget they exist.”

  “It’s not so simple,” Nuna said.

  “Oh, hell, who cares about what we can or cannot support? The Upperlords won’t let you keep this place to yourselves,” Georges roared, leaping to her feet.

  “And how are they going to find out?” she demanded, getting in the Upper’s personal space.

  Georges sputtered and spurted to a stop.

  “Georges, you can’t tell them,” Pa said. He got out of his chair and put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Georges, this is important. You can’t tell them.”

  She started to chuckle. “Ahh, Tru, I’d love to believe this paradise could happen. I’d love to think we could bring all the Underlings here and set up this terrific little city, which allowed people of every kind to enjoy the sunlight, the grand view through those amazing windows, real beds, and water without limit.” “The water isn’t without limits,” Nuna interjected, but she didn’t listen.

  “But, Tru, I don’t need to tell ‘em. There is no way you could evacuate Undercity without them noticing. Those people provide them with a purpose in life. They live off their suffering, and every tiny fragment of scrap underlings dig out. They thrive off their want and need. Life is more than water and food. People need direction. People need a reason to get up in the morning. If Upperlords do not possess power, they will not have a purpose.”

  “Georges, they are asinine.” Pa moved his gaze from one to the other, despair on his face. “We can work this out so every- one can thrive in comfort and protect our resources too.”

  “You’re a dreamer.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Nuna said, shaking her head.

  “How?” Teddy asked, looking into her eyes. She turned away, and he shifted to the Upperlord. “Why? Think about what you are saying. You are condemning hundreds of people to their deaths. You gotta understand.”

  “Ted, you shouldn’t be out of bed.”

  “Come on, boy, we’ll get you some water and a book or two. Your father’s right. You should be resting,” Nuna said, turning him around.

  He tried to turn back, but her hands were firm on his shoulder.

  “You too,” she ordered Jolon. “No one’s making any decisions at the moment, so you needn’t stress,” she added with a pointed glance backward.

  They stopped by a desk, and she took out a couple of books from a drawer, which she shoved in his hands. Just days ago, he would have been thrilled with something new to read, but right at that moment, he wanted to throw them at something.

  “I don’t want a book or anything,” he said as she guided him back to his room. “I want you to understand what is happening on the other side of this world.”

  She opened his door and ushered them in. “Now, we’ll talk later. You rest and relax.”

  “I can’t relax,” he shouted, but she closed the door and left them alone. “Thanks for the help,” he snapped, but his brother gave an indifferent shrug and lay out on the bed across from Teddy’s.

  “They’ve been going over the same argument for most of the day. I tried to get my credit’s worth in earlier, but they’re efficient at shutting down anyone who is too young to deserve an opinion. That’s about when I took to staring out windows and taking baths. At least, it felt as though I was doing something. Georges fears the Upperlords are going to hear of this place and take over. Nuna is afraid we’ll bring so many people here the resources will run out, and this place will die too, and Pa wants every one of us, Uppers and Underlings, to be happy. Don’t know how they’re gonna fix this, but I don’t want to leave.”

  He tossed the books on his bed. “What about Ma and Deb, Caden, and Henri? You wanna abandon them on the other side?”

  His brother glared at him. “No, that’s not what I meant. Don’t accuse me of being a selfish ass. It’s hard to dismiss some- thing like this once you found it and go back to that hole.” He jabbed toward the window. “Look at the view, dopy. It isn’t dirt. It’s beautiful and amazing, and you’re missing it.”

  Teddy refused. “I don’t need any more reasons to stay here.”

  “Check out this room. Isn’t the light different, softer, but more intense? This isn’t like gazing out a crack in Uppercity. This is... incredible.”

  “Incredible, right. Fine.” He leaned on the sill and took a peek out the window, and then gaped, holding his breath. He
gripped the frame tightly, his fingers turning white. Trees, majestic, tall, sweeping trees stretched out far into the distance, their luscious green leaves dancing in a breeze he longed to feel. “Oh.”

  “Uh, huh,” Jolon said behind him. “How do you leave that?”

  “I always imagined what the outside was like, but... it’s a forest.”

  “What’s a forest?”

  “That is,” Teddy replied, pointing to the vast grove of mysterious trees. “At least, that is what my books describe as a forest. I don’t know. They might be called weeds, or something else plant-like, but who cares? This is amazing. It doesn’t need a name.”

  “Haven’t seen anything moving, though. I searched for most of the morning when the sunlight invaded my sleep, and you refused to get up.”

  “What do you think you’ll find?”

  He shrugged in his usual Jolon way. “Can’t say. I guess I’m hoping there’s something out there alive so we could say—hey, we can live out here—and all this survival scrounging would mean nothing. We could all live... start over... climb a tree.” His brother sunk back down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m empty. I shouldn’t be this tired. Don’t you think we’re all a little too young, too something to be this worn?”

  Teddy sighed, soul-weary. He curled up on his bed. All he wanted to do was find a way to save their people. “Henri would defend this place.”

  “Huh?”

  “I said, Henri, he would fight for this place. So would the others. They would keep it safe. They would do anything to keep the resources from dwindling. They would because they know what life is like in the worst shit hole in existence. I mean, isn’t it hard to imagine any place being worse than Undercity?”

  “Don’t like to dwell on that, but I think you’re right. He would defend it, Henri. Not that I think he would be able to with his sad eyes, but he would try. I would try.”

  “So would I,” Teddy admitted.

  “Do you think other places like this exist?” his brother asked after a moment.

  He thought about this. “Makes sense there would be. Nuna came from somewhere, and we found this place.” “Why didn’t anyone ever find it before?” Jolon asked as he rolled over and supported himself on his elbows.