“Did we just meet? I don’t care about the Ban. And a thank you would be nice.”
Joe looks around and raises his arms, waiting for an elaboration.
“I’m here to bust you out,” she continues.
“How are you planning to do that? Is that how you always get out of here?”
“I always do my time. But it’s a lot different on the outside so I’m sure we can come up with something.” Lauren looks around on the ground.
A small layer of dust coats the stone floor. Looking at it closer, Joe notices that the floor of the Ban is a lot like the floor above the Mines. It’s less clean and fairly ground up. Stone pieces of various sizes and shapes are strewn all over. It’s as if when the shutdown happened, workers came in and started tearing up everything.
Lauren spots a good sized stone and picks it up. “I bet this will work.”
“What are you gonna do with that?” Joe asks, afraid of the answer.
“I’m gonna break the lock. Stand back.”
“No. That will make too much noise. I don’t want the Guard coming back.”
Lauren lowers the stone. “Well, Joe, you know, I’m not seeing a lot of options, here. We got small stone’s, medium stones and big stones.” She raises the stone again.
“Wait. It’s too dark in here. What’s the lock look like?”
Lauren sets the stone back on the ground and takes a closer look at the lock. “That’s weird…”
What?”
“I never noticed this before but there’s no key hole on the door.” Lauren walks to a few of the other cells. “There’s no key hole on any of them.”
“What is there?”
“It’s just a flat black panel. Like one solid piece…How do they open these?” Lauren asks, mainly to herself.
Joe paces around in what little space he has. “What happens if you touch it?”
“What, just touch it?” She asks as if the answer could really be that simple.
“Just put your hand on it. Try it.”
Lauren looks at him as though he’s gone crazy. But at this point, what could it hurt? She places the flat of her palm on the black surface of the panel. A light starts to blink in one corner of the panel, flickering on and off a few times before the surface goes black again. “What was that?”
“What happened? “Joe asks.
“There was a light on the door.”
Joe laughs. “Lauren, I think I can open it. When I was in the room above us, I touched this black wall and I saw myself. I guess when I was little, someone put these machines—Nano machines—in me. I can open doors that other people can’t.”
“Are you sure you don’t have the Sick?” Lauren asks.
Joe shakes his head and reaches through the slit in the door. His arm is just barely small enough to fit but he shoves it through, scraping himself pretty good. He feels around for the flat surface Lauren tested.
“There,” She tells him.
Joe leaves his hand on the surface. “What’s it doing?”
“Nothing. It’s just black—wait. There’s a small white light. It’s blinking.”
The two of them wait for a moment.
“Now it’s steady green.”
Joe pushes on the door, opening it effortlessly. He smiles at the new discovery.
Lauren steps back and begins silently plotting how this can be used to their advantage. “I don’t know how, yet. But I know we can use this.”
Joe pulls his arm out of the door slit. “We will. Let’s get the others and get out of here.”
“Everyone’s getting ready for lights out, so we should be able to hide you in the crowd,” Lauren figures. The two of them walk slowly up the stairs.
“Let us out, too,” a voice calls from behind them.
“Wait.” Joe turns back to the other cells. In one of them, a teenage girl sits against the wall. “We’re leaving the mines. Will you come with us?”
The girl nods her head. Joe places his hand on the lock and the blinking white light flickers on and off until it is a steady green. He pulls the door open and the girl walks out.
“You’ve been to the Surface?” she asks Joe.
“Not yet. But we’re all gonna go together. You used to work in the carts, right?” Joe asks her. Most of the kids keep to their own labor halls. And since the Eatery is supposed to be a place of silence, many of the kids don’t know anyone outside of their hall. Just nameless faces that pass by in the Junction.
“I’m Katya,” she tells him. “Frederick is in that cell. I think we’re the only ones.”
“I’ll get him. Wait on the stairs with Lauren.” Joe walks to the cell holding Frederick. “Hi Frederick. I’m Joe. We’re going up the Ladder.”
Frederick shakes his head.
“Frederick, come on. Do you want to live here forever? We’re going to the Surface,” Katya tries to convince him from where she stands on the stairs.
“We’ll get the Sick or worse.” Frederick’s voice is filled with fear.
“There’s Remedy above us. I’ve seen it. I brought some down. It’s safe. Come on.” Joe places his hand on the lock until the green light lets him open the door.
“How did you do…?” Frederick is at loss for words that anyone other than the Guard or the Boss could open the cell doors.
“Just trust me,” Joe says.
Frederick slowly walks out of the cell. He and Joe join Lauren and Katya. Lauren signals for them to be quiet as she leads them up the stairs.
“You guys make sure the Guard or the Boss doesn’t see Joe,” Lauren instructs as they leave the dark of the Ban.
At the top of the stairs, Lauren signals for them to wait. She watches the Guard, trying to determine if he is able see them or not. The Junction has fewer people in it than usual but there are still several kids passing through. They should be able to blend in with them so that it’s difficult to tell one apart from the others. Fortunately, the entrance to the Ban is not far from the tunnel to the Bunks.
“The three of us will stand in front of Joe. Keep your heads down so it’s not easy to tell who you are,” Lauren instructs Katya and Frederick. “I think we’re far enough away but I don’t want to take that chance.”
“Get Marvin as soon as you get in the tunnel,” Joe tells Lauren.
The four for them walk out of the tunnel with their heads down. A large group of kids make their way from the Gear Hall to the Bunks. It’s easy enough for the four of them to merge in with them and hide amid the crowd.
“Katya? You’re out of the Ban, already?” A teenage boy recognizes her almost immediately.
She hits him in the stomach, doubling him over then grabs him and props him up. “Yes, and I’d like to keep it that way. So mouth, shut.”
Lauren looks back at Joe. “Oh she is definitely coming with us.”
Joe smiles at the remark. The entire mass of kids file into the tunnel to the Bunks. Once inside they branch off to whichever row their bunk is on.
Lauren runs straight for Marvin’s bunk. The young boy is just starting to lay down when Lauren appears on the ladder next to his cut-out. “Hey, Marvin. No sleep. We gotta go.”
“Where?” Marvin asks.
“Up the Ladder. Come on. Joe is gonna be there,” she adds, knowing Marvin’s affinity for Joe.
“Joe came back?” Marvin’s smile beams.
Lauren steps down the ladder while Marvin rolls over to swing his legs out to the closest rung. He climbs down. Lauren keeps her hands raised to catch him if he falls. Once down, he takes her hand and they make their way to Joe’s bunk.
Joe stands on a bunk ladder while some kids stand in the row and others hang their heads out of their bunks, listening. “We can get out of here. We just go up the Ladder and we can be done with the dirt, the mud, the carts. Done with the Mines. Has anyone ever told us why we’re even here?”
Some of the kids begin to murmur in agreement at Joe’s logic.
“I saw a man wearing clothes I’ve
never seen before. He’s on the Surface. But why do we have to be down here?” Joe asks the Bunk Hall this question without really expecting an answer. It’s more for the others to ask the same question of themselves. “There is a room with robots and Remedy and…and a couch. I’ve never felt anything like it. And it’s just above us. All we have to do is climb the Ladder.”
“What about the Sick?” asks a voice from the crowd.
“What about the Ban?” asks another.
“There is Remedy above us. And if we leave here, we never have to go to the Ban again,” Joe answers.
“Come on guys,” Lauren says. “Do any of you really want to stay here for the rest of your lives?”
The crowd goes silent.
“Can any of you name one person who has left here?” She continues speaking to a still silent crowd. In all the years that they’ve been in the Mines, no stories have ever been told or heard of anyone who has left. Some days one of the kids is working. The next day that kid is gone and another sleeps in their bunk. No one knows what happens to those who are gone.
“This is our chance to leave. To really escape the Mines. To live—” Joe is interrupted by the parting crowd and the voice of Mason.
“Live? With a few Mud Slingers?” Mason laughs.
Lauren looks back at Joe who drops down from the bunk ladder.
“And you’re all listening to this one?” Mason points directly at Lauren. “Of course she wants to go. She’s been in the Ban more than anyone. And isn’t she the one who went up the Ladder and came back down with the Sick that almost got all of us?” His question is accusatory.
Though many of the kids did not know who the suspect was, word got around the Mines quickly. Most of them did not know who the blame fell on but they knew someone was at fault for it. The kid’s murmurs start to side with Mason’s logic.
Marvin looks up at Joe, worried. Joe looks at Lauren. They both know Mason has a large sway over the others. If they don’t get them on their side quickly, they’ll never get anyone to follow them up.
“We know what happens if we stay,” Joe claims.
“We get food, a place to sleep and security.” Mason appeals to the kids.“Are those things up there? Can you promise those things to all of us, Slinger?”
The debate is quickly getting lost. “Once we get to the surface, we can make our own decisions. Our own choices. We don’t have to live the way we’re ordered to.” It is with those words that Joe realizes his mistake. So few of them have ever tried to make their own choices. While they may be unhappy with their circumstances, the fact is the majority of these kids have only known orders and being told what to do. The idea that they could have a say or a choice has never crossed their minds.
Mason just smiles. He knows Joe just won his argument for him.
A teenage boy hops down from a higher bunk. “I’m going.” He turns to look at Mason. “I’m bored anyway. Besides, I got the Sick once already. It doesn’t bother me.” The kid joins Joe. “I’m Chris.”
Katya and Frederick walk up behind Joe and Lauren. “We got three. This is Lance, Dina and Gary.”
Being of similar age, Gary walks up to Marvin and stands next to him.
“Joe knows what to do,” Marvin tells Gary.
Mason steps slowly up to Joe. “Nine of you. You think you’re just gonna go up the Ladder, again? You think I’m gonna let you?”
“You don’t have a choice, remember?” Lauren exclaims as she rushes around up to Mason and punches him in the stomach.
Mason topples forward and Katya joins the fray, swinging her fist to uppercut Mason’s head, knocking him backwards and to the ground.
Joe laughs at the sight. “Ok, let’s go. Anyone else is welcome to follow.”
The nine of them rush to the entrance of the Bunks. More murmurs start up. Those not following are having second thoughts.
Chapter Fifteen
The sounds of mumbling and feet shuffling through the dirt are focused behind the group. The few stragglers left in the Junction walk slowly toward the Bunks. Lauren tries to convince them to follow but her words go un-heeded. After all the work days, most of them just want to lie down and sleep. Some of them don’t even notice the others that file in behind the group walking out of the Bunks.
Joe looks back. “I see we got a few more,” he says to Lauren as three more kids join them.
“We may need some of them to distract the Guard,” Lauren tells Joe.
“We can’t leave any of them. If they’re following us, they have to make it out, too.” Joe is determined.
Marvin looks up at Joe. “What about everyone in the Bunks?”
“We’ll just have to come back for them. We’ll take who we can, first.”
“Joe.” Lance moves to the front of the group. “I was talking to Katya—we have to do this fast. The Guard can’t stop us all. We just have to rush him.”
Joe looks to Lauren for another option. A less direct option.
Lauren shakes her head. “If it was just two of us, that might work. But now we’re at twelve and…” Lauren looks back. “Growing.”
“Ok. Then we’ll just go out there. But everyone stay together. Let’s decrease the chance of getting separated.”
Joe slowly walks out from the tunnel. The lights of the Junction have already dimmed for lights out but it’s still bright enough to see anything or anyone moving around. The group walks out of the tunnel and huddles together as one mass of kids.
The Guard swings his flashlight beam from the Eatery tunnel to them. He smiles upon seeing who stands at the front of the crowd. Joe and Lauren step back slightly.
“You two?” The Guard glares. “I don’t know how you got out of the Ban but I have to admit, I’m incredibly excited about it.”
“We’re going up. All of us,” Joe tells him.
“No. I’m sure that’s not happening.” The Guard hits a switch on the wall. An alarm sounds throughout the Junction. “I should let you go, though. The less of you the better. But I have a job to do. And unlike the others who gave up, I intend to follow my duties.” The Guard steps toward them. “You’re my prisoners.”
The Doctor steps out of her office “What is going on?”
“It’s best if you get back inside, Doctor. I think violence might be unavoidable.” The Guard raises his hand in order to halt the Doctor from coming any closer.
“Violence? They’re children.”
“They’re dangerous criminals, ma’am,” the Guard says flatly.
“Criminals..?” The Doctor frowns. “Why would you say that?”
“I agree. It’s a harsher word than I would have chosen.” The Boss walks up beside the Guard. “I don’t know what any of you are thinking. But it stops, now. Every one of you get back to your bunks.”
The sound of the alarm ringing in the Junction sounds throughout the Mine.
It echoes loudest in the Eatery and the Bunks. Another crowd of kids stream out of the Bunk tunnel. The Guard and the Doctor both look at the Boss. There’s too many of them. The Boss looks at the Doctor and pulls out a metal rod.
The Doctor shakes her head in protest.
“Drastic measures. We tried diplomacy. It’s time they learned obedience another way.” The Boss swings the rod down and it immediately extends to a three foot stick.
A few of the kids, seeing the weapon in the Boss’ hand, decide it’s better to not try their luck and they shrink back into the tunnel.
“We just lost some,” Chris calls from the back.
“We’re not gonna get them all out,” Lauren tells Joe.
“Then we take who we can.” Joe turns to the crowd. “If you’re going, let’s go.”
Joe runs to the Ladder followed closely by Lauren who pulls Marvin along.
The Boss points his stick at Joe. “Shut that one down,” he orders the Guard.
“Please stop. Just go back to your bunks,” the Doctor pleads with the rushing crowd of kids.
They don’t listen as th
e Doctor watches in horror while the Guard pulls off one of his gloves, revealing a metallic hand. Joe slows his footing. The others pile in behind him as they look at something they’ve never seen before. All except for Joe.
“You’re the missing Warden?” he says in disbelief.
“No one is getting out of my jail ever again,” the Guard says as he aims his robotic hand toward Joe. In the palm of his hand, an opening glows a vibrant blue. Electricity crackles inside the opening and one spark sets off blue bolts of electricity that shoot toward Joe. The electrical bolt strikes him and dances around his body from head to toe, and dropping him to his knees.
“Joe!” Marvin yells as Lauren pulls him back, away from the bolts.
“Stop this!” the Doctor yells.
Chris, Katya and Lance pick up a few stones from the ground and throw them at the Guard. He turns his attention to them but they split up and rush toward the Ladder. The Boss readies himself for their attack. He raises the stick to strike the closest kid but the Doctor leaps on him from behind and jabs a needle in his neck, injecting him with Remedy.
The Boss manages to throw her off of him before he falls to the ground. “They were safer with us. I just wanted to…” he says before falling asleep.
The Guard sees the Boss on the ground. “I guess it’s time for a new Doctor.” He turns to her, causing wild bolts of electricity to crackle throughout the Junction. The Guard doesn’t care what or who they hit. The bolts strike light bulbs, burning them out and causing the Junction to go even darker.
With the Boss asleep, Chris, Katya and Lance turn to the Guard and rush at him. They throw their combined weight into him, knocking him to the ground. The electrical bolts swing upward and into the vertical tunnel, shattering some of the bulbs in the opening. Lauren helps Joe back to his feet. The bolts don’t seem to be fatal to him, just strong enough to incapacitate him and destroy small, fragile objects.
“The Boss is knocked out. We have to go. Now!” Lauren yells.
Lauren puts Joe’s arm over her shoulder and helps him move toward the Ladder. Chris, Lance and Katya try to keep the Guard down while Frederick, Dina, Gary and Marvin race to the Ladder. Frederick is the first to climb it.
Ascent: (Book 1) The Ladder Page 8