The Beneath

by S. C. Ransom

  I sat down on the column and swung my legs over the edge, trying to appear nonchalant. The whispering increased but the roaring in my ears started to ease. I really wanted to put my head between my knees, but that was out of the question. I glanced over at Will and saw him copy my lead. Even from a distance I could see that he looked pale and was shaking.

  The group of men talking to the Farmer turned away, several of them nodding at each other then glancing up at me as they went back to their places in the crowd.

  Whatever the Farmer had decided about my future I was about to find out.

  I have to be strong. The Farmer is about to announce his decision and if I am to have any influence, I have to speak out. The thought of interrupting him is terrifying, almost more terrifying than what is bound to come, but if Lily can do it, then so can I. I must stay calm and remember what she has taught me about everyone being equal.

  The Farmer stood motionless, his hands spread wide towards the crowd, and I could almost feel their reverence. I gripped the stone edge tightly, trying hard to appear calm, but I was scared stiff. I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to get my breathing under control, desperate not to miss something vital.

  “People of the Community,” the Farmer started. “This has been an extraordinary gathering and I know that emotions are running high. There are three people on trial. The charges are clear, the punishment less so. A petition has been made to keep this female from Above and use her to breed from. I have spoken with the Elders and made my decision. But first we must have the vote.”

  There was a murmur around the chamber before everyone fell silent again, watching the Farmer.

  “Please stand if you believe the prisoners to be guilty of the charges.”

  A sea of people got to their feet.

  “Be seated. And those who say not guilty?”

  Not one person stood up.

  “Dane, please rise.”

  Heads turned to look at Dane, and for the first time I saw him look nervous, flexing his fingers as he stood up before wiping his hands down his trousers.

  “You asked to stand for this woman accused of violating our home. Do you confirm this request?”

  “Yes, Farmer. Yes, I do.”

  “In that case I grant your request, with certain conditions. The woman will be Assigned to be your Breeder. You will take full responsibility for her security in the cells. There is to be no contact between her and the people – none whatsoever. If she fails to produce a healthy child in the first year, she will be re-Assigned to Feeder.”

  I couldn’t believe it. I felt breathless, my heart racing as I thought of the implications. This couldn’t be happening. Maybe it was part of another one of Dane’s plans. There had to be some way of making it stop.

  The Farmer was still speaking. “As for the other prisoners, the punishment is much clearer. You are a trespasser,” he said, pointing at Will before turning his stare to Aria. “And you, you have flouted some of our most sacred rules. You are well aware of the consequences. The Crop will enjoy your nourishment before I send them Above. You are both re-Assigned to Feeders. Take them away.”

  There was a low murmuring from the crowd, rhythmic and chilling.

  “Feeders, Feeders, Feeders, Feeders…”

  Will leapt up to stand on his column as people started to reach up for his legs. I could see him shaking his head and trying to back away. But there was nowhere to go.

  “As a member of the Community I have the right to speak.”

  Aria’s voice cut across the mantra, and the chanting faltered. The Farmer turned towards her looking slightly surprised.

  “Lily and Will are not about to let an army of people down from Above. No one knows that they are here and so it’s not time to release the Crop.” I saw her take a deep breath. “And while I’m here, I’d like to tell you all the truth. Having seen Above, the Crop would never be able to take over the city. London is huge, with more people than we can begin to count, none of whom have done us any harm at all. It will not work!”

  I glanced over at the Farmer, and could see his colour rising. Some of the men near him looked very nervous, glancing between him and Aria. She was getting more confident as she talked, her voice getting stronger and clearer.

  “People of the Community, please listen to me. He is wrong, so wrong. The Crop cannot do what he says, but the people up there can help us. They have medicines that can make you well when you are sick, and can help you to live to be a hundred!”

  The crowd, which had been transfixed, suddenly laughed. The Farmer spoke up in the brief pause.

  “See the delusion, people? Her mind has gone. Who would ever live to be a hundred?”

  The jeering started then, and Aria looked around as if unsure how she had gone from having them hang on her every word to being ridiculed. She spun round, arms out in an imploring gesture.

  “No, listen, it’s true, I tell you!” But the crowd drowned her out. Her shoulders slumped, defeated.

  The Farmer shook his head, then tented his fingers. For a long minute he said nothing, but then he turned to face me, an evil smile on his face.

  “You will be a Breeder. I was going to let Aria stay with you for a few days – an act of kindness if you will – but I see now that she is quite mad. Nevertheless, the Crop don’t need to be fed twice, so you get to decide. Aria or the boy? Which will die today?”

  My jaw dropped. Had I misunderstood? Aria and Will were looking stricken, and Will’s hand was stretched out towards me. Aria had buried her face in her hands, and I could only see her eyes over the tips of her fingers.

  “I’m sorry?” I asked, stalling for time. “I don’t understand.”

  “Are you sure you want to breed from this one? She seems a bit slow!”

  The mocking voice echoed around and was followed by a brief wave of laughter. But no one wanted to miss my decision.

  “It’s very simple. One of them has a stay of execution for a few days. Pick one.” He smiled again, enjoying the torture he was inflicting with his words.

  How do you make a choice like that? For whoever was alive there was some hope, however slight. Aria was my friend. She had tried so hard to help us escape, and had never asked us to come here in the first place. I was responsible for her being in danger. It should be Aria.

  But Will – how could I not pick Will? He was the love of my life, even though he didn’t know it. And although he’d come down here for Aria, it was because of my mistake. I’d already made him lose his dog. There was no way that Will deserved to lose his only chance at a future too.

  I looked between my two friends, people who had come to help me out when I had got them into trouble, and shook my head hopelessly.

  “Lily!” called Will.

  The crowd turned towards him. His face looked unusually pale and had a sheen of sweat.

  “Save Aria. Keep yourself safe and you may get a chance to get home one day. Please? For me? And if you do get back, tell my mum so she knows there’s no hope. And, Lily, I—”

  “Enough!” said the Farmer, raising his voice for the first time. “Another word from you and I’ll have all of you sent to the Crop now!”

  I looked at Aria, tears streaming down my face. She shook her head and pointed towards Will.

  “Take him,” she mouthed.

  I didn’t dare look at Will again. The thought of his family forever wondering what had become of him tore my heart to pieces. The thought of actually telling them that he was dead, that I hadn’t saved him, was infinitely worse.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

  “A decision, now.”

  My heart was pounding; my palms were slick with fear. But I had something that they wanted, and that gave me room to negotiate. I held his gaze.

  “If you want me to have your children,” I nearly stumbled over the unlikely words, “then both of them have to live.”

  There was a hush, and I waited with growing dread to hear what the Farmer was
going to say. In the quiet I heard a strange gargling sound. Will, still white as a sheet, was clawing at his own throat. He teetered on the edge of the column.

  “Will!” I cried, reaching out towards him.

  He looked at me briefly as he fell, crashing down on to the very edge of the platform. His head made a sickening crunch as it hit the stone, and he lay motionless.

  The silence fell like a blanket across the crowded chamber, every eye turned towards Will, every mouth hanging open.

  “Will!” I gasped again, trying in vain to reach him. “Help him, please!”

  No one responded. Aria’s strangled voice reached me from the far side of the room.

  “Did he get bitten, Lily?”

  My mind flashed back to the nightmare journey down, and Will examining his ankle where he had been scratched by something. Could he have been bitten by the Crop? I nodded slowly and Aria gasped, her hands clasped across her mouth and her eyes wide in horror. She wasn’t the only one who gasped. There was a similar noise from the crowd, and a sea of faces turned to look at me.

  “What’s the matter with him?” I asked.

  As Aria opened her mouth to speak, the voice of the Farmer boomed out.

  “Take him away. I don’t want him dying in here. Your choice is made, it seems.” He looked at me briefly before standing up. The room fell instantly silent.

  “The trial is over. Bring the two girls to me.”

  This just gets worse. The Crop has been bred to be fatal to the Aboves. If Will has been bitten, he’ll surely die.

  Someone swung the ladder back into place and I carefully made my way backwards down it, trying not to stumble. My palms were still slippery so I had to hold on tightly. As I reached the bottom I felt hands trying to help me, but when I looked at people they wouldn’t hold my gaze. I couldn’t see what had happened to Will.

  “Please, my friend – can you see if he is OK?” I asked the man nearest to me, but he just turned away.

  Someone took me firmly by the arm and started to lead me through the crowd that was jostling around me. Some of the women had worked their way up from the back and were staring at me. One reached out a thin hand as if to touch me, but she fell back as the man leading me pushed her out of the way.

  As we reached the low tunnel leading out of the chamber, my guard caught up with Aria. She was also being held in the firm grip of a guard.

  “I’m so sorry…” we both started at the same time.

  I grasped her arm, pulling her close for a quick hug. She hugged me back.

  “I didn’t mean to get you into all this trouble,” I said.

  “I still can’t believe that you came to rescue me. Thank you.”

  “What have they done with Will? What’s going to happen to him? It wasn’t a huge cut…”

  “It doesn’t take much. I’m so sorry. The bite is supposed to be fatal. That’s why the Farmer thinks that he can take over. Apparently we’re immune.”

  Fatal. How was this happening? I had to do something to help him. He couldn’t die, he just couldn’t!

  Our guards pulled us apart but continued walking in line. I craned my neck to look around, but I couldn’t see Will.

  “Can you see him?” I called to Aria, who was just ahead of me.

  “They’ve taken him away,” she replied over her shoulder before stopping. “This isn’t the way back to the cells,” she said to her guard. “Where are we going?”

  “The Farmer wants to talk to you in his rooms,” he said gruffly, dragging her on. “And you don’t ask the questions.”

  My guard thrust me ahead as the tunnel narrowed. I was directly behind Aria, and it might be the only chance I had to speak with her properly.

  “We need to talk, before we get where we are going,” I whispered. “We just need a minute.”

  “OK, try to look a bit ill, and I’ll see if I can get them to let us go to the toilet. It’s just up here.”

  “I won’t have to try hard for that.” I gulped under my breath as Aria tapped her guard on the shoulder.

  “I think she’s going to be sick or something, Lance. Please – we need to go to the toilet.”

  “Don’t be stupid, girl, she’s fine,” snapped the guard.

  “Please,” I said, doubling over and groaning. “I don’t feel good. Is there a bucket or something?”

  “Look at her, she’s terrified, and so would you be in her shoes. No wonder she’s sick with fear.”

  As I listened to Aria’s words the reality of the situation settled over me like a cold, clammy blanket. My friend was dying, I was on my way to talk to a man who had just agreed to keep me as a slave, and the chances were that we were all going to be killed horribly in the very near future. The fear took hold of my stomach and I started to retch.

  “Argh, not here, not in the tunnel! You, you take her into there and sort her out. Be quick, mind; the Farmer will be waiting.”

  The guard holding my arm thrust me towards Aria and she pulled me through a doorway on the left. We went round a corner and I was suddenly aware of the sound of running water.

  We were in a long room with a big basin in the middle. A stream of water was pouring out of a spout and into the bowl, but that wasn’t the source of the noise. Along one wall was a knee-high stone bench with large holes carved into the top. The water was running beneath the bench. I had to raise my voice to be heard.

  “Is this your loo? Do you all sit together in a line?”

  Aria nodded, leading me to the basin.

  “It’s a sociable place. And the river provides everything we need – we have one stream to take away the waste, the other to drink. Here, wash your face, you look terrible. That was impressive acting – I thought you were actually going to be ill.”

  “It wasn’t an act. I feel horrible.” I splashed the water on my face, hoping that it really did come from a different source to the water swirling under the toilet seats. “But I needed a minute to talk to you. I have to help Will. What can I do?”

  As I spoke there was a rustling noise on the other side of the big basin. Aria darted round. A small child had been crouched down behind it, listening to us. Aria hauled her to her feet. She looked about eight or nine and was wearing an old-fashioned pinafore dress.

  “Penelope! What are you doing hiding down there?”

  “I’m sorry, Aria, I didn’t mean to be eavesdropping. I was in here already and I just wanted to stay to see the Above for myself.” Her huge eyes were glued on me.

  “Well, here she is. Lily, this is Penelope. Now, go; leave us alone.”

  The girl pouted as she turned, her long dark plait swinging round in an arc. Then she turned back to face me, clutching her hands nervously.

  “I’m glad you’re staying. I hope you’ll be able to help us.”

  “I hope so too,” I said, not knowing how else to respond.

  “Go on now, Penelope. Off you go,” said Aria in an annoyed tone, her hands on her hips. The girl darted round me and was nearly at the entrance when Aria suddenly shot towards her.

  “Wait!” she hissed. “Come back here. I need you to do something.”

  Penelope turned and smiled up at her nervously. “All right. What can I do?”

  Aria knelt down and took her by both arms. “Can you fetch Carita for me? Stay here until after we’ve gone, then run and find her. She might know how we can save ourselves.”

  She chewed her lip, her big dark eyes darting towards me. “Will I get into trouble?”

  “No, not if you only talk to Carita. Now, hide again, and as soon as we’ve gone, run to find her.”

  “Who is Carita, and how can she help?” I whispered as Penelope hid back behind the basin.

  “My sister.”

  “Oh yes, I remember.”

  “I don’t see her much, not now she’s a Breeder. She’s just had another baby.” Aria paused for a moment. “The Farmer is the father.”

  “But he’s ancient! That’s really gross.”

 
Aria turned towards the basin and washed her face, so I barely heard her reply.

  “It’s her third child too. The others died. If many more die she’ll be re-Assigned…”

  “We’ve got to help Will and stop this.” I stood up straight and shut my eyes, pressing my fingers hard into my temples and breathing deeply. “We have to make the Farmer see sense.”

  “If there is a way to appeal to him, Carita will know.”

  “Hey, you in there. Don’t make me come in and get you!”

  The gruff voice of the guard made us both jump.

  “Coming!” called Aria. She reached for my hand. “Let’s go and see if we can save Will.”

  We walk along the tunnels towards the Farmer’s quarters. I’ve never been there, not even to see Carita. I hope that Penelope can find her in time for me to speak with her. Ahead of us Lance has Lily by the arm and I’m being led by Mason. I don’t know where Dane has gone. Maybe he is with Will.

  We reach the unfamiliar corridor, and Lance and Mason make us stop.

  “You have to wait here until he is ready for you,” says Mason in a very self-important voice. Lily is still shaking and I can see the fear in her eyes. I reach over and squeeze her hand.

  At that moment I hear someone coming along the tunnel behind us, walking so fast that they are nearly running. It is Carita, and she has baby Reilly in her arms.

  “Aria, what have you been doing? Whatever possessed you?”

  “I’m so sorry. I should have…” My voice fades. Would I have done anything different if I had spoken with her? I don’t think so.

  “The Farmer has said that we can have a few minutes together. Mason, you can come too, and wait outside – make sure she doesn’t run off.”

  I’m surprised at the command in my sister’s voice. She has obviously learned something from being the Farmer’s Breeder.

  Carita reaches for my hand, glancing briefly at Lily. She doesn’t speak with her.

  “I’ll be right back,” I say over my shoulder as my sister pulls me down the corridor and round the corner to a small side room.