“Come along! No dawdling,” Opal scolds.
“We’d better go.” June looks over her shoulder at Opal, worry creating a pleat between her brows.
We hurry to our group. Several other people move around us, but they do not amble at the same leisurely pace as the ones we saw on our way to President Sullivan’s castle. They move swiftly, their gazes never wavering from the space immediately in front of them. I can’t explain why, but something about them, something in the way their lackluster eyes stare hollowly, is haunting. I watch a few as they pass. Dressed in the same jumpsuits we wear, they don’t even glance our way. It’s as if we’re invisible.
June and I exchange a fleeting look. Will, Oliver, Riley, Tom and Sarah look amongst themselves as well. They seem as perplexed as we are by the dramatic shift in appearance of both the city and the people inhabiting it. When Opal stops in front of a long, flat structure and unlocks the door, their heads swivel, their features marked by confusion.
Once the door is opened, we’re forced to walk in single file inside, down a hallway so tight my elbows brush the walls on either side if I place my hands on my hips. The air is stale, and growing sparser by the moment; for me, at least.
“Okay, here are your rooms.” Opal’s words are clipped as she halts abruptly, pointing to four separate doors. “You three will be in here.” She points to Will, Riley and Oliver then to a door. “You two can go here.” She gestures to Sarah and Tom then nods toward another. To Sully she says, “You and your big friend will bunk here.” She tosses her thumb at a door behind her. “And you.” She frowns and looks at me with disdain. “And you.” She looks to June. “Will be in here. These are your cards.” She hands us all flat, rectangular pieces of plastic, withholding only one. “You put them in here.” She inserts the one she holds into a metal slot. “And the door opens. Don’t lose it. You won’t be issued another.” With a stern look, she hands me the card she’s been holding. “Dinner is in a half-hour. Good luck and good evening,” she says shortly before turning on her heels and disappearing down the hall.
“She’s sweet, isn’t she?” Sully looks after Opal’s disappearing form. “I really think she likes us, especially you, Avery.” He lifts both eyebrows mischievously.
“Yeah, she likes me all right, about as much as I like wading through a hip-deep patch of poison ivy.” I roll my eyes and shake my head.
Sully laughs. “Better get inside. There are eyes everywhere.” He shoves his card into the metal slit. The handle moves under his grip and the door opens. “Come on, Jericho.” He waves his friend inside, but lingers in the doorway. “I’ll see you guys at dinner.”
“I need to lie down.” Tom touches his bandaged hand to his forehead. His olive complexion is unusually pale.
Taking the plastic card and placing it in the niche, Sarah opens the door to their room and she and her brother enter. “See you guys soon.” Her eyes linger on Will and the corners of her mouth curve prettily. He smiles back at her and nods.
“I’m tired,” Riley announces then yawns.
“Okay then, let’s get you inside, into your new home.” Will tries to sound enthusiastic, but I hear the edge of unhappiness in his tone. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what it looks like in there.” He nods toward the door then holds his card in front of him. “Who wants to do the honors?”
Riley’s hand snaps in the air first. “Me! I do!” she says excitedly.
He hands her the piece of plastic and she shoves it into the slot. She twists the doorknob and pushes the door. She rushes in followed by Oliver. “Will, you have to see this! There are three beds!” Riley calls out from inside, the excitement in her tone is obvious.
“Guess I better get in there.” Will looks at me strangely, as if there’s something he wants to say.
“See you later,” I say and am vaguely aware of Sully watching our awkward interaction.
“Later,” Will says and disappears inside.
Stalling, I do not move to open my door. Instead, I hang back with one arm draped around June’s shoulder. I’m almost afraid to look inside. I doubt I’ll be as enthused as Riley. I twist to face Sully. “Dinner’s in a half-hour, right?”
“That’s what your pal, Opal, said.” Sully chuckles and a dazzling smile lights his entire face.
“She’s a piece of work, isn’t she?”
“She’s a piece of something, that’s for sure.”
Getting his thinly veiled innuendo, June covers her mouth and giggles. Sully’s eyes flicker from her to me.
“This is all so weird. This place, the idea that dinner is at a certain time and in a certain place, guaranteed, it’s just so weird,” I say.
“I know. I agree. Having food ready and handed out is crazy compared to how we lived up there.” He points toward the ceiling.
“All my life I’ve had to hunt for what I ate. If I didn’t catch anything, I didn’t eat.” I draw my shoulders up and tilt my head to one side.
“This is a whole new world.” Sully looks around.
“Yes it is,” I comment. “And since this new world has a lot of rules, we’d better get settled in our room so that we’re not late for dinner.” June beams at me. “We don’t want Miss Cranky-Pants, Opal,” I whisper the old woman’s name conspiratorially, “to come back, do we?”
June stifles a laugh with her hand. “You mean you don’t want to see your pal again?” One side of her mouth lifts into an impish half-smile I’ve seen before. I’m tempted to tease her that she’s spent far too much time with Sully. “How’ll we know when a half-hour has passed?” June asks.
“I have no idea,” I answer honestly. “I don’t even know where dinner is. Hopefully Sully will be able to help us out.” I nod toward him.
“Always,” Sully says earnestly, and his eyes lock on mine. He holds my gaze for several moments then shifts his weight from one leg to the next. “All right, I guess I’ll head inside. See you in a little while.”
“See you soon.” I slide my card into the thin metal space just as Sully turns and goes into his room. The door handle, rigid at first, immediately loosens once the card is activated. I pull it down and push the door with my shoulder. Beyond the threshold, the room is dark. But as soon as we step inside, overhead lights sputter to life. Similar to the fixtures in Sully’s lair, the glow produced is odd and grayish. It reveals two beds I doubt are long enough for June, much less me. One is pushed against a wall while the other sits in the middle of the cramped room. On the far wall—that isn’t far away, at all—is a door. June rushes to it and opens it.
“It’s another room,” she says before she turns the knob. She yanks it, and inside is a toilet with a showerhead directly above it and a drain at the center of the floor. June steps inside. “It’s a bathroom.” Her eyes are wide. “I wonder if it works.” She reaches out her hand and touches it to the small silver lever behind the pot-like mechanism. After a quick glance over her shoulder at me, she grips the lever and drags it downward. A loud whoosh sounds, and water swirls inside, circling until it is sucked through a hole in the bottom of the toilet, out of sight. “Whoa,” June says and steps back. The chamber refills with water. “Where did the water go? Where does the new water come from?” She gapes at the toilet incredulously.
I’m impressed that the contraption works, but less so because I can touch every wall in the bathroom while standing at its center. Closing the door to use either the toilet or the shower is unimaginable. My mind reels, swimming around the notion that all people along this corridor and on this side of the city endure such close quarters. President Sullivan doesn’t. His castle sprawls, stretching in every direction. His office is bigger than the room I’m in by far. I can only imagine the size of his sleeping chamber.
The houses surrounding his castle are impressive, too. I wonder how the people on this side came to live as they do.
“Avery, are you okay?” June’s voice rips me from my brooding.
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,�
�� I say with far more zest than is necessary. This oversight isn’t lost on June.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she says, “This place is pretty small, huh?” She looks to me for approval. She wants to be happy here.
“Yes, it is, but at least there aren’t any Lurkers or Urthmen hanging around, waiting to off us.” I smile and fold my arms across my chest as I look all around the tiny space. “And look, they even have picture boxes, uh, I mean televisions.” I point to the sleek, black rectangle mounted on the wall opposite our beds.
“Oh, I’m not complaining.” She touches a hand to the center of her chest. “I love it. We’re sheltered and safe.”
“We are, sweetie. We are.” The unexpected sting of tears sears the back of my eyelids. I have wanted nothing more than for June to be sheltered and safe. “And there’ll be food for us! Can you believe it?”
June’s silvery-blue eyes sparkle as she gazes up at me. Quickly, however, the light in her eyes clouds. Her brow furrows and she bites her lower lip. Worry radiates from her.
“What? What’s wrong?” I can’t help but ask.
She hesitates a moment, as if debating. “Avery, please promise me you’re not going to do anything to get us in trouble.”
A small pang of hurt pricks my chest. My sister doesn’t trust that I won’t ruin things for us. She isn’t a hundred percent wrong in her instinct to be distrustful. In truth, my outbursts, laden with scorn and disrespect, back at President Sullivan’s surprised even me. Still, I would never jeopardize her well-being to lock horns with him. I know better now. “I’m not going to. I promise.”
Her face relaxes immediately and she plops down on one of the beds. “I’ll take this one.” She pats the one closest to the wall.
I prefer that she sleep there too. When the door is opened, she won’t be visible, not immediately, at least. Strategically, it gives me time to intercept an intruder should one be so inclined to choose our door over the countless others lining the long, dark hallway.
I drop to the bed. My bottom sinks into the mattress immediately. “Wow, this thing’s comfier than it looks.”
“I know.” June flops onto her back. “It sure beats my tattered old sleep sack on the cave floor, that’s for sure.”
I’m not sure why, but her words hurt just a bit. The cave was the best I could offer. I didn’t know about the underground city, not until I met Sully. “The cave floor was better than the desert sand, though, right?” Now I’m the one seeking confirmation.
June lifts her head. “Kind of, but not much.” She looks almost apologetic.
“Ouch, don’t hold back or anything.” My demeanor is playful. I don’t want her to feel even a shred of guilt, ever.
“What? You didn’t build the cave. You kept me where it was safest, not where it was comfiest. I mean, if we’re talking about the worst place to sleep, the tree wins every time.” She reminds me of the night we fled the forest and were forced to climb a tree and hide sitting tucked within its branches.
“And with Lurkers and a monstrous bat circling, too. Don’t forget about those details.”
“How could I forget them?” She offers me a half-smirk.
Unable to resist commenting on her new favorite facial expression, I say, “That smile you just gave me looks just like Sully’s.”
She blushes and drops her gaze. Looking at me through her lashes, she says, “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, kind of,” I say matter-of-factly.
“Huh, I didn’t realize. I guess being around him so much has made some of his habits rub off on me.”
“I guess.” I’m tempted to mention her newly hatched sarcastic streak, but I don’t bother. There’s no point. She’s becoming her own person. It’s not my place to point out every nuance of her continually developing personality. Besides, I like her subtle sprinkling of sarcasm.
We continue to chat, mostly about President Sullivan and his massive castle, about the size and scale of the city, when the television on the wall lights.
“What the heck?” I spring to a sitting position, startled.
A woman’s face fills the screen. She looks like a younger version of Opal. “Inhabitants of Level One A through Level Three B are to report to the cafeteria for dinner. I repeat, Level One A through Three B report to the cafeteria at once.” The screen goes black as soon as she finishes. Only small green numbers light the lower left corner.
June and I look at each other. “I guess that’s us.” Slowly, I stand. “Ready to go and eat?”
“Absolutely, I’m starving.” June glances nervously at the bathroom. “But first I need to, uh, relieve myself.”
“Go for it.” I sweep my arm toward the tiny space.
June rushes inside and shuts the door. Within seconds, I hear the rush of water followed by giggling. “That thing is so cool!” she exclaims when she steps into our room. “I’m ready now.”
“Let’s go then.” I open the door and peek outside. A sea of white jumpsuits is funneling down the hallway. Will, Riley and Oliver are pressed against the wall, watching everyone pass. The passersby avert their eyes. Their gazes remain fixed straight ahead. Sarah opens her door and attempts to step out before promptly jumping back. Her head whips up and her eyes link with mine. She shoots me a questioning expression. I shrug and wait for the line to thin before grabbing June’s hand and dashing across to where Will, Riley and Oliver wait.
“Wow, there are so many people living here. Can you believe it?” Will’s eyes are wide.
Sully bursts from his door. “Hey guys. I see you’re caught in a jam here.” He smiles broadly. “Some things never change,” he adds with a shake of his head. To Sarah, he says, “Come on out, don’t be shy.” He looks to his left and sees just a few stragglers remain.
Taking Sully’s cue, Sarah steps from her room. “That was crazy. It was like an animal stampede.”
She is right. That’s exactly what it resembled.
Jericho steps into the hallway. “Was that the dinner rush?”
“Yup, and if we want to eat, we’d better get moving,” Sully points to his right. “Come on, let’s go.”
With Sully leading the way, we follow the narrow hallway to a large, open room. Tables are set up and people are seated at them, all wearing white jumpsuits, all with brown hair, and all eerily quiet.
I slide a glance at Sully who simply shakes his head and frowns. He guides us to a station where trays are handed to us first, and then a scoop of pale mush is heaped at its center. A glass of water is offered last before we search for a table where we can all sit together. We search for several moments before one comes into view.
“This is a far cry from the food I got when they stripped and scrubbed me,” Sully huffs. “And nothing like the bread we smelled in the fancy part of the city.”
“What is this?” June crinkles her nose and leans away from the pile. “And what are those gray things inside.”
“Meat.” Sully sounds as revolted as June looks.
I poke my fork into it and move it around. A shiver of disgust passes through me.
“Oh how bad can it be?” Sarah tosses her dark hair over one shoulder. She scoops a forkful and places it in her mouth. Her pale eyes water and she squints. For a moment, I think she’ll gag. She swallows and promptly gulps her water.
“So, how was it?” Sully asks in his trademark biting style. I suppress a laugh.
“Oh my gosh, that’s horrible. I’ve eaten bugs that taste better.”
Riley and Oliver giggle.
Sarah leans across Will, her chest pressed to his arm, and tickles Riley. “Oh you think that’s funny do you?” she teases. “How about you eat a nice big bite?” She playfully grabs Riley’s fork and shoves a generous amount onto it. Will laughs too. She levels her nearly translucent green eyes at him. They glow in a color similar to his against her bronze skin, also like his. “Ah, you too!” she begins digging at his food too and tries to bring a heaping serving it to his lips. He writhes and twists, halfh
eartedly protesting. An undercurrent of conflicting emotion knots in my gut before roaring to life and choking the air from my lungs. I want to shout, to pound my fists, to run, all at the same time. Yet, seeing him enjoy her attention, a tiny part of me feels relieved. Will seems oblivious of me, seems to have forgotten the feelings he claimed to have for me when he kissed me on the camper. We’re in the underground city now. We’re safe, for the most part, and free to explore the conversation he wanted to have. But as far as I can see, he doesn’t seem interested in that in the least. In fact, he seems to have given up on it altogether. I am confused and aggravated, though why, exactly, eludes me.
I’m vaguely aware of the fact that I’m boring into them with my eyes. I know I should look away, but try as I may, I can’t seem to tear my gaze away. I close my eyes for a second and inhale the nauseating scent of the food before me, which I’m almost certain is cold by now and far less palatable. I jab my fork into it and jerk a small mound onto the tines of my utensil. I bring it to my lips and thrust it into my mouth. I do not taste its foulness. Anything offered to me at this point would taste of bitterness and ash.
Apart from being acutely aware of the weird, puzzling emotions I’m feeling while watching Will and Sarah fawn over each other, I also notice that they are the loudest two people in the entire room. Rows of brown haired people lean over their trays, heads bowed as they eat and speak softly. Sarah and Will are drawing attention to us. And attention is exactly what we don’t want, not with President Sullivan’s promise to watch us closely.
“Hey you two, cool it,” Sully urges them in a hushed tone. “We’re already on my father’s bad side. The last thing we want is to stir up trouble with the GenPop.”
“The what?” Sarah turns to him and cocks her head to one side.
“The General Population,” Sully says. “You know, the people who live on this side of town.”
The Underground City (Book 3): Planet Urth, no. 3 Page 14