The Beneath

by S. C. Ransom

  “Uh-huh. Exactly. She always has a huge cupboard of medicines. For emergencies, she says. She buys them off the Internet.”

  “Your Nan knows too much.”

  I was thinking the same. So did that mean Dane was right after all – that I was in some way destined to be here?

  “Let’s get back up there, then ask questions, I think.”

  “Good idea.”

  He stood up and held out his hand. I took it eagerly, testing my wobbly legs as he pulled me to my feet. Once I was upright he stepped closer, folding me into his arms.

  “No more heroics, Lily. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

  He obviously saw the confusion that flashed across my face. “Sorry,” I mumbled, looking away. He reached for my chin and lifted my face up to his again, then stroked my cheek briefly.

  “When we get home can we have a normal date or something? Get a coffee or go to the cinema? Somewhere people aren’t constantly trying to kill us?”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “I … I thought you liked Aria?”

  His hands were still warm on my back and I didn’t want him to move.

  He laughed. “I do, but not like that. I like you, Lily, I have for ages. Why else do you think I came all the way down here with you?”

  I looked up into his eyes and could see that he was telling the truth. He leaned down, brushing his lips across mine before burying his face in my hair.

  “You still smell good. I don’t dare kiss you properly yet. I must smell disgusting.”

  My lips still tingled where he had touched them, and I couldn’t think of anything sensible to say. I just held him tighter, enjoying the moment.

  “Now,” he said, pulling back and giving me a smile, “do you think we could get out of here before those monsters come back for more?”

  I finally found my voice.

  “OK, good plan. Can you get the lamp?”

  We started working our way back to the lift and then around towards the stairs.

  “Do you think that he’s dead?” I asked as we searched for the right way to go. “I mean, if he is, what are the Community going to think? Who will lead them? Who will contain the Crop?”

  “Let’s get out of here first and then worry about that.”

  We were so busy talking and peering round the columns that we didn’t notice the change in atmosphere until it was too late. Violently bright lights snapped on, blinding us and stopping us in our tracks. A voice thundered around and bounced off the walls.

  “This is the police. We are armed. Put your hands in the air NOW!”

  Will carefully put the lamp down before he raised his hands. As he did, a small canister was thrown past us, and rolled into the dark, hissing.

  “How many more of you are there? Come on, out with it!” barked the voice.

  “Here? Just the two of us,” I yelled back.

  “We’re the ones you’re looking for,” called Will, ducking as another hissing canister was launched over our heads.

  I could feel my eyes begin to sting, so I shut them tightly for a moment. Not being able to see was even worse, so I opened them again, just a tiny crack.

  “Is that tear gas?” Will shouted. “Do we look like we’re about to make trouble?”

  As he spoke a figure moved forward from the light, the silhouette clear.

  “Lily, I’m Detective Inspector Harding. You talked with my colleague Constable Clark yesterday at your house. Are you OK?”

  Her voice sounded odd, but relief washed over me – we no longer had to do any of this alone.

  “Yes, we’re fine.”

  “You’re going to need these,” she said, holding something out to me.

  She moved closer towards us and I could see that she was wearing a gas mask, and in her hand were two more. The mask was muffling her voice. I put one on and it helped my eyes adjust to the brightness of the two banks of lights. Will took the other.

  “Is anything else here?” she asked, scanning around behind us.

  “No, not now. But there are rats – lots and lots of rats. Big ones. They will eat you, given half a chance.”

  I was suddenly too weary to worry about the fact that it all sounded mad.

  “So we heard. It’s one of the reasons why we brought the tear gas.”

  “And the guns,” muttered Will.

  She was wearing body armour, a helmet and a holster.

  “We’ve been very worried about both of you, Will. Your mother is frantic.”

  “She’s not here, is she?” There was panic in his voice. “Please tell me that she didn’t come down? It’s not safe!”

  The police officer put her hand on his arm.

  “We know, Will. No civilians are with us, not even your guardian,” she added, turning to me, “which really upset her.”

  “I’m not surprised,” I said, imagining the argument.

  As we were speaking, the area around us had filled up with more and more armed police in gas masks, and more of the lights on tripods had been moved further into the chamber and around towards the lift. Cables snaked across the stone floor. The clouds of gas streaming out of the canisters were quickly spreading away between the columns. In a few moments the air cleared and Detective Inspector Harding took off her gas mask. Will and I loosened ours too.

  “How did you know we were here?” I asked.

  “Mrs Wakefield told us everything you told her, and then directed us to the entrance above. She warned us about the defences too.”

  That puzzled me – I’d not told Nan anything.

  “What are you going to do now?” Will asked. “Where are those guys going?”

  “We need to control the rats. They’ve got motion and heat detectors that will find them pretty quickly.”

  “I’m not sure you have enough men,” I said dubiously, thinking back to the sea of rats that had surrounded us not long before.

  “We know what we’re doing. We have other means of dealing with the rats,” she said. “And the people. We just need to get them out.”

  “Hang on a sec, you can’t go barging in there. They won’t be happy about it.”

  “People can’t live underground commanding packs of flesh-eating rats.”

  An edge of steel was just detectable under her friendly and comforting tone.

  “But what if they don’t want to come? They’ve been down there for generations. You have to understand that they feel let down by us, the Aboves, and they’re living their lives quite independently from us.”

  “Well, that’s not quite true, is it? They send raiding parties up every night for food, I believe.”

  “Food that’s been thrown away by the supermarkets and the fast-food shops, that’s all! The only person who was dangerous to us has gone, and is probably dead by now. The rest of them aren’t doing anyone any harm, are they?”

  Detective Inspector Harding stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head at me.

  “Lily, their leader sounds like a megalomaniac. We can’t leave them living down there. Who knows what they might do next? Now, enough arguing. We need to know how we get down to the lower levels.”

  As she spoke, a policeman appeared by her side. She stepped back as soon as she realised he was there.

  “Status report, please, DI Harding. And quickly.”

  He was obviously the one in charge.

  “These are the missing kids, sir. I was just about to get some intel from them about the set-up down here.”

  “What do we know so far?” he asked sharply.

  “This is the rat level, sir. I believe that the people are further down. They may offer us some resistance, from what these two are saying.”

  “Well, let’s execute the plan then, shall we? Get the children back up top immediately.”

  Will pulled himself up to his full height and looked the new police officer in the eye.

  “What plan? We have friends down there. Will they be safe?”

 
“I’m sure they’ll be fine if they do what they’re told, if the leader down there is sensible,” said DI Harding. “The guns will be just a precaution.”

  “Before you do anything you’ll need to deal with the rats,” said Will, pointing in the direction they had gone. “The leader of the Community may well be dead – he’s just been chased in that direction by several thousand of them.”

  He paused for a moment until the policeman looked back at him.

  “I think they might be eating him,” he added in a deadpan voice.

  There was a moment of silence. The man’s jaw dropped.

  “What? Which way?”

  “Down there.” He pointed towards the back of the cavern. “And whatever you do, don’t whistle. It’s a sign to attack.”

  He shouted the last bit at their backs as they raced into the depths, calling for the lights to be moved. In the momentary confusion Will grabbed my arm.

  “We have to go and warn them. If these guys burst in with guns it could be a bloodbath.”

  I nodded, too shocked to talk but realising instantly that he was right. Looking around we could see that we weren’t being watched, so we made a beeline for the lift shaft. There was just enough light from the trail of lamps across the cavern to see the edge. Will swung around to the ladder and jumped down without hesitation, then turned to catch me as I followed him.

  This time I didn’t stop to consider the yawning drop, stepping straight on to the ladder and then down on to the ledge. Within seconds we were through the big metal door, running down the stairs as fast as we could, racing to warn the Community that their enemies were on the way down.

  I run through the corridors of home, reaching out to touch the familiar, smooth walls as I pass, trying to memorise the stone before I leave forever. There is only one choice left to me, and I need to see Dane before I go back into the secret entrance to the Crop to escape back Above. I’m still numb at the sudden turn of events. I wonder if the Farmer had seen something familiar in Lily and realised she was a threat.

  We are being led by a madman, and the medicines were not worth the price that we paid for them. I think about Lily and Will facing the Crop, and I have to stop and steady myself, feeling the bile rising in my throat. I swallow hard. What do we do now? Can we save our Community for the future? Should we?

  Are we worse than the Aboves?

  I can’t answer all the questions that are spinning around my head. I have to speak with Dane to find out if he will come with me.

  As I turn a corner I see Dane running full pelt towards me. He barely slows down, just grabs me by the arm as he passes.

  “Quick, Aria, we don’t have much time. We have to get to the Rotunda!”

  “The Rotunda? Why?”

  I gasp as he drags me along with him, struggling to keep to my feet as we race.

  “The Farmer – Carita said she saw him running past, muttering the name. She said he looked crazy. We have to stop him.”

  “From what?” I gasp as try to keep up.

  “He didn’t come down in the lift. Maybe Lily was able to use the Affinity to beat him and escape. He’s going to be very angry.”

  “You think they’re not dead?” I finally drag him to a stop.

  Dane turns to me, his dark, brooding eyes looking more worried than I have ever seen them before.

  “Something has gone wrong for the Farmer, and we need to get to him before he does something stupid.”

  We start running again. Lily has beaten the Farmer! But why is he going to the Rotunda? It doesn’t make sense, but my heart is singing. My friends are OK! I run faster to keep up with Dane.

  He pulls me through tunnels that I’ve barely visited since I was a child learning the map. It’s an area we rarely come to now that we don’t need the space, and what they used to do here is a mystery to me.

  “It’s the only thing he can do now,”says Dane, slowing down as we get close to our destination.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ll show you.”

  As he speaks we arrive at the entrance to a thin, low tunnel. Crouching down, we creep along it until it opens out into the Rotunda – an old circular room, a couple of steps lower than the tunnel. On the far wall is what looks like an immense gate, built in two semicircular halves. I had forgotten that it is here – the whole place is some ancient relic from the Aboves. It’s something they built years ago and then abandoned. Instead of stone walls it is built in red brick, just like the ones up Above, only cleaner-looking.

  The Farmer is hunched over some machinery by the gate, examining wheels and cogs. Dane puts his fingers to his lips and slips to the side behind a huge iron cylinder with thick pipes coming out of either end. The pipes run into a line of iron boxes. Once he is out of the Farmer’s line of sight, he waves at me to speak.

  “What are you doing?” I call.

  He whips round and sees me, his eyes glittering with anger. His clothes – usually immaculate – are ripped and bloodied. He has a cloth wrapped around his hand.

  “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t gone Above none of this would have happened. I was so close!”

  He slaps his palm on to the machinery before returning his attention to a huge, cogged metal wheel. Taller than me, it is connected to a pipe that goes into the wall.

  I can see Dane on the far side of the room.

  “Keep him talking,” he mouths at me.

  “So close to what?”

  “To paying them back! Releasing the Crop and watching the havoc it would play on their smug faces. They are so nearly ready – just one more breeding round and I would have had enough for it all!”

  “Are Lily and Will dead?” I ask, desperate to know for sure.

  “She’s a witch,” he says icily. “I should have had her killed immediately. There was no need for what they did.”

  I’ve known the Farmer for my entire life, but I’ve never seen him look so dangerous. I can’t see a hint of reason left in his eyes, and I have no idea what he might do next. I take a few steps towards him, wanting to keep his attention until Dane can get closer, but careful to stay out of reach.

  I can see the tendons on his arms, taut where he is pulling at the wheel.

  “What exactly did they do, Farmer?” I ask.

  I am trying really hard to keep my eyes fixed on him and not glance behind him towards Dane.

  “She has turned the Crop against me. There’s no protection for us now. There is only one thing left that I can do for my people. Here, pull hard on this.”

  He is trying to turn a wheel on the machinery. I must obey to keep his focus on me. I wish I could see where Dane has gone. I take a firm grip on one of the rusty handles, pulling on it with all my weight, and very slowly it starts to give.

  “Perhaps the Aboves will help us, Farmer. They all seem very reasonable to me. We can ask them.”

  “It’s too late for that,” he grunts as he continues to strain against the rusty old wheel.

  “I don’t see why. Once we’ve explained to the Aboves about our lives and they understand, then we can live a bit more openly. Above is a strange but beautiful place – I’m sure the others would like to visit.”

  I see a movement out of the corner of my eye. Dane is edging closer. I must keep the Farmer talking until Dane can do whatever he has planned.

  “You really don’t get it, do you?” the Farmer is saying. “That was our last chance. Once we’re breached, this is the only solution.”

  He gives a final heave. The wheel groans loudly and suddenly starts to inch round. There is a dull clanking noise behind me and I look round to see the huge gate in the wall moving slowly upwards.

  “What are you doing? What do you mean, it was our last chance?”

  The gate continues to move as he wrenches at the wheel again, and a tiny trickle of water appears at one side. With another wrench the gate inches up again, and the trickle turns into a torrent as a gap opens up across the wall. Water is spraying out in
a wide waterfall, splashing on to the floor close to my feet. I realise with horror what I have helped the Farmer to do.

  “No! Stop him!”

  As I shout I look over towards Dane. He is nearly in reach, but the Farmer sees my glance and turns. He grabs a long metal rod and in a single movement swings it round. It connects with Dane’s head in a sickening crunch. Dane drops to the floor where the water swirls around him. He doesn’t move.

  “No!” I scream. “You’ve killed him!”

  The torrent of water has turned into a river of evil-smelling scum, which is already lapping up towards my knees. Within seconds it will be up over the steps and down the corridor. Our world is flat, and flooding has always been one of our big fears.

  “No, you can’t do this! All your people, the women, the babies – you’re going to kill them all?”

  “It’s for the best, believe me.”

  The water reaches my thighs. It’s cold and nearly takes my breath away.

  “For whose best?” I shout over the roar of the waterfall now cascading through the opening gate. “I don’t want to be a sacrifice!”

  He catches me by the hand as I try to pass him to reach Dane.

  “We pay the price, Aria. You let the Aboves follow you in, and you must suffer the consequences. You can see that it’s the only way.”

  “You’re mad!” I scream.

  I try to shake off his hand, but his grip is too tight. He is too strong for me. The water swirls around my waist. It’s already pouring through the tiny entrance into the Community tunnels. I grab the wheel and try to wrench it closed, but he drags me away from it.

  “No, Aria, there’s no use fighting. We must be the first to pay.”

  He pulls a length of rope from round his waist and loops it over my head and shoulders.

  “Don’t struggle,” he says. “You’ll only make your death more uncomfortable.”

  He wraps the rope round my hands and ties it to the machinery next to the wheel. Struggling makes the rope tighter.

  “Please don’t do this,” I beg. “Think of Carita and Reilly, of your family. Reilly is your son – do you really want him to drown?”

  His voice is calm.

  “We can’t live up there, you know that. They fight and kill each other, abuse the women and the children, let people starve… We’re better off like this.”