Freed

by Holly Hook

  “Hello?” I ask.

  My voice echoes back at me. From which cave opening are the footfalls coming from? Crazy hope rises inside of me. “Talia? Is that you?”

  There's no answer.

  “Talia?” I ask. She has to be down here somewhere. Maybe this is someone the Dwellers brought down or someone who managed to escape and stay alive down here.

  “We're not Flamestone Society,” Weslie calls. “We're working against them. You can come out.”

  “Shhh,” Antoine tells her. “What if they're Society?”

  “The Society doesn't come down here. Ever,” Weslie says.

  “Not since their earliest days,” I add, remembering Garrett's story of the first miners that came through the gateways by mistake. “They send us. They get to sit up near the surface and collect their treasure where it's safe from giant worms and Megapedes.” I can't help but wonder where Garrett is. He must still be underground somewhere. Or maybe he had his Dwellers cart him to a gateway and he's back on Earth. But he knows I might still be alive. He knows what I plan on doing. He knows Antoine is a risk to the Society and that we came to free him. I have a feeling I might see him again. He might not be back on Earth after all.

  We wait. And wait. Weslie's got her gun raised. I wonder if she's scaring whoever's out there in the dark.

  “I don't think they're going to answer,” Shawn says. “We should move. We don't know if they're friendly or not.”

  “I can't tell where they are,” Weslie says. “We could really use Jaden right now.”

  “I wish,” I say.

  “Jaden?” Shawn asks as we start walking again. “That's the traitor guy, right? Sorry. You told me a lot really fast back in the tunnel.”

  I tell him about Jaden again. A hint of jealousy comes over his features when I tell him about my teaching him to read and write, but it goes away as soon as I remind him that he sold out Wompitt to the Dwellers. Well, Antoine.

  “Maybe I'm glad he's not here after all,” Weslie says. We're all walking fast again, trying to leave the mystery footsteps behind us. She faces Antoine. “Because the two of you would kill each other.”

  “More like, I'd kill him,” Antoine says. He calls Jaden some names which he's earned.

  “I hope we don't run into him now,” I say. “Though we could use his eyes. He's...different now.” I go on the explain the tattoos I've seen so far. The flame and the green spiral. I wonder if there are others. I almost want to stay in this world to see what secrets it holds. Almost.

  “Is that a roaring sound?” Weslie asks.

  I listen. There's an intense sound of roaring ahead. Next to us, the water flows faster.

  “Crap,” Travis says. He breaks into a jog. “This could be really, really bad.”

  We follow. The noise grows and at last, a huge cloud of moving vapor appears in front of us. A rainbow shimmers in the light of Travis's lantern as he stops before the spray. The roar's deafening. It's like inhaling a rainstorm. A blue glow appears above us as the ceiling makes a sharp rise.

  It's a waterfall.

  And it's plummeting down a giant chasm towards us.

  The hole above is lit by so many blue, glowing mushrooms from top to bottom that I can't help but squint at first and let my eyes adjust. They're everywhere above us, hugging the walls and feeding off the moisture. The water reflects blue. It's what a river of electricity might look like.

  It's beautiful.

  Until I remember that the start of the waterfall—and the river that's leading here—is thousands of feet above us. I can't even tell where the waterfall begins, it's so high.

  “Well,” Shawn says, backing away. “That idea's out, man.”

  Chapter Six

  Disgraced

  I try not to let the panic take hold of me, but I can't help it.

  We're not getting out this way after all. We have to go back. Following the river this way is out. This waterfall must be just as deep as the elevator shaft Weslie and I traveled down. There's no climbing out of this. Even rock climbers with the best gear might not make it.

  “Now what?” Weslie asks. She's breathing fast again. “We have no choice but to go farther into this cave. Do you think rivers come out of caves on both ends?”

  “It might,” Antoine says. “Don't underground rivers eventually come up to the surface on the other side, too? This river has got to come out on the other side somewhere, or the whole cave down here would have flooded by now. We'd be drowning if it doesn't come out somewhere.”

  “Good point,” I say. I have to hold onto those words to keep my sanity. The thought of staying down here for the rest of my life is terrifying. This is how Jaden felt when Garrett told him of his fate. He will never see the sun again.

  “We can't just stand here if we're going to make it out,” Antoine says. “We should backtrack. We know where the trail is that goes back up to the mine, at least. There's plenty of water. We can keep the workers alive long enough to dig a tunnel back to the other part of the mine if we have to. Though I'm not sure how much good that would do us.”

  “Not much,” I tell him. How many hours have passed? Many. Baxter won't wait too much longer. He might as well leave now. Even if he gets brave, he has no way down to us. None, unless he knows the underground and a way around. Not unless he can form some partnership with the Dwellers and manage the feat. I have no idea what's going to happen.

  We turn. I take one more glance at the beautiful, record-breaking waterfall that just stole my hope away, and follow the others.

  It's quiet on the way back. I listen for the footsteps to return, but they don't. Whoever was watching us seems to be gone. Hiding. Maybe it was a Flamestone Society member after all. Talia would have answered us. She would have shouted at us. There's no way she'd go over to their side and act as their spy.

  I stumble and trip on a vein of Flamestone that's been dug out. I curse as I put my hands out to block myself from falling on my face. “Elaine!” Shawn says, helping me up.

  “Sorry,” I say, brushing myself off. “These are everywhere.” I point down to the line in the ground where there's a bit of chipped Flamestone sitting inside. It's almost like someone's been digging out this vein for some reason. Why would the Dwellers make someone come all the way out here in order to dig out Flamestone when there's plenty back at that vein over there?

  “Stop.”

  A harsh male voice calls from the darkness, one I don't recognize. It echoes and makes it impossible to tell where it's coming from.

  “Who's there?” Shawn asks. He pulls me closer to him.

  My heart races. Someone's out here after all. I can't see anything out in the darkness. There's only the water gurgling next to us, heading to some place that we don't know.

  “I said, stop. Drop your light sources.”

  Weslie raises her gun, turning in a circle. “Show yourself first.”

  There are whispers. There's more than one person here. I feel like we're surrounded by phantoms and they're ready to pounce and steal our life away.

  At last, the shadow of a man emerges and stops at the border of our light. He won't dare come closer. I can't make out his face, but he's very slender. He's wearing some ragged clothes. Very ragged clothes. They're tatters, really. His jeans hang in ribbons around his skinny legs and his bare feet are calloused and tough.

  “Who are you?” I ask. He might be like Jaden is now. Jaden couldn't stand light after he'd turned. We must have found others who took his path before he did.

  Does this man have a green Slimestone tattoo?

  I squint. He does. It's there on his forearm, a green spiral that will remind him of the Society's betrayal forever.

  “There are several dozen of us,” the man says. “Now drop your light sources. Hand us your weapons.”

  We're surrounded by people who are made of that green stuff. People who can see in the dark. People who have an advantage here.

  “Not until you tell us what you plan on doing,�
� Antoine counters. We draw together in a tight group. Pit gets in front of me and pushes me back into Shawn. He's not whimpering, though. It might be a good sign. Or not.

  “Drop them!” The skinny man's voice shakes.

  “I don't think they're armed,” I tell Shawn in a low whisper.

  There are more footsteps around us. Bare feet slap against stone. They seem to be everywhere, echoing through the huge cavern all at once. The man is right about their numbers.

  These people are all like Jaden. Only able to eat Flamestone. Unable to stand light. It explains all the gouges in this part of the cave. All of them worked for the Society once, helping them get more slaves and getting cast into the darkness in return.

  These are the broken.

  “Who are they?” a child asks.

  A child. Either these people have been down here long enough to raise families, or the Society is making children do their dirty work now.

  Either way, these people can't be friendly with the Society.

  Shawn and I glance at each other. I nod. Weslie keeps her gun raised at the man.

  “I'll tell you who we are,” I tell the ragged leader. “We came down in the mines to rescue some of our friends and find a way to stop the Flamestone Society from ever taking slaves again. We came out of the mines due to a cave in and we're looking for a way up to the surface. We didn't come here to bother you guys. We just want to find a way to get all the trapped workers out of here.”

  “Really. We didn't,” Shawn says. He looks around, trying to take inventory, but all these people stay out of the light. They can't come into our light. They're too sensitive to it. Like Jaden.

  This whole situation might be good, or it might be really bad.

  “You don't look like Flamestone Society,” the man admits. “If we thought you were, you'd be dead already. But you have supplies, and we could always use those.” He still sounds nervous.

  “Supplies?” I ask. “We need what we have to stay alive. I don't think you need our food.”

  “You have weapons,” the man says. He stays still. Weslie keeps her gun pointed at him. “Imagine living down here with nothing but rock and monsters to keep you company. They try to come after us. We need a method of protecting ourselves from them. There are children in our group. And if you shoot me, there are more who will take my place. You are very outnumbered.”

  Uh, oh.

  They're scavengers.

  Just trying to stay alive, like we are. And willing to do anything for it.

  “You have a good point,” I say. How do we talk our way out of this? I don't want to have to get violent with these people. “I know someone like you guys. His name is Jaden. He was my friend. He has a green tattoo like yours, and it changed him after the Society duped him into helping them. They betrayed him. Now he can't go up the surface in the daytime. Have you seen him?”

  “You know about their system?” the man asks. I have to keep him talking. I have to keep this group from taking our weapons. We can't be left defenseless down here. What kind of deal could we make these people?

  “Yes,” Weslie says. “Our friend got one of those green tattoos when he agreed to hand over my other friend to the Society. When his mission was done, it pumped him full of this green substance and now he can't go back to the surface. He has to stay down here forever, and now I don't know where he is.”

  “I'm sure we will eventually find him,” the man says. “Did you know that all of these caves are connected? He will make his way down here in search of food. They always do. And we will find him, provided nothing else does first.”

  I look at Shawn. His eyebrows rise and he smiles.

  All these caves are connected.

  That means that eventually, this must connect to a surface cave.

  And we can't see much in this darkness. These people can. They know how to navigate these caverns. Some of them might have been down here for years. We could use their help.

  I swallow. “Maybe we could work out some kind of deal here. You guys could show us a way out of here. We really need to get these trapped workers back up to the surface. There might be something we can do for you in return.”

  The man dares another step closer. I can make out his eyes now. They have the greenish tint that Jaden now has in his. There are hard lines on his face. He's desperate. Tough. A lot like Ned was when I arrived in Wompitt.

  “I'm Les,” he says, unsmiling. “I've been down here for almost fifteen years now. I lead this band. We call ourselves the Disgraced. The six of you are coming with us. Then, we will work out some kind of...trade.”

  * * * * *

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Weslie asks.

  We're surrounded. Dozens of bare feet slap the floor around us, even though our captors remain in the darkness. Les leads us right into one of the Swiss cheese caves in the wall. Travis keeps the lantern high, keeping our ring of light as big as possible.

  I keep my hand linked with Shawn's. Weslie walks close to me now. The cave closes around us and black stone and red streaks grow closer. We're headed away from the river and into some isolated area. I don't like this.

  “I don't know,” I say. We have weapons, but there are more of these people than there are us. “I'm not sure what else to do.”

  We're stuck down here unless these people can give us a hand.

  And they won't do it for free.

  Pit walks beside me, rubbing against my legs to remind me that he's there. What if these people want him? He's a good warning system against monsters and they might realize that. Or what if they want something we can't deliver?

  Either way, the price will be high.

  The cave splits and Les leads us into another cavern. And another. He's leading us through a whole network of twists and turns. Curves. Caves that seem to curl in on themselves. We're going to get lost. Maybe that's what Les wants, for us to be dependent on him to get us out of here. I hear footsteps ahead of us. Footsteps behind us. These people have us surrounded and we're still trapped in our safe bubble of light, holding them back. Les keeps his back to us, which is brave considering we have a gun, an axe, and dynamite. But I don't want to hurt this man. He must hate the Society as much as we do. And these people know the way out of here, even if they can never go back to the surface. They might even know where there's another gateway to Earth.

  Another cavern. Another tunnel, curving in on the last. Are we going through the same ones over and over? There's no Flamestone here. It's all dug out, leaving grooves. These people have depleted it. My stomach starts to tie in knots. I don't remember the way back to the river. This man is leading us to wherever their territory is down here.

  “Where are we going, Les?” I ask.

  “To our meeting place. We have to have a safe place far back from the river. There's a giant worm that stalks around there sometimes. You're lucky that you didn't run into it. It's eaten five of us in the past few years, including a child who was just digging out some Flamestone.”

  My chest constricts. I can't imagine a kid facing that giant monstrosity. No adult should have to do it, either.

  “That's horrible,” Shawn says. “I'm sorry.”

  Les dares a glance back. He squints in the light. “That's how it is down here,” he says. “There's nothing but survival. That's all. All of us were like you until we met the Flamestone Society. Until we agreed to do a task or two for them. Some of us just wanted to get back home. Some of us wanted to escape slavery. Some of us were promised the freedom of our friends if we told them the locations of someone else on Earth that they could snatch.”

  “My friend was told they had his mother,” Weslie says.

  My friend. I don't miss the way she says it. Is she forgiving Jaden now?

  “Understandable,” Les says. “The Society—they're experts at lying. They rake so many of us over the coals. Some of us have been down here for decades, managing to stay alive. We Disgraced have to remain in these lower levels to stay alive. There's
not enough Flamestone to sustain all of us higher up in the ground. But we don't dare go lower than this. Those of us who have tried...haven't come back. And as you can see, we are running out of food down here. Our safe caves are running dry of Flamestone, forcing us to venture into more dangerous areas.”

  He walks past a groove in the wall and rubs his hand down it. There's only dust remaining.

  Ouch.

  I don't hate Les so far. “There's...there's caves that go down farther than this?” I ask.

  “Yes,” he says. “Some of us went down looking for more Flamestone not too long ago. They didn't come back. Did you see that huge vein right when you came out of the mine?"

  “Yes,” Antoine says. “You know where the mine entrance is? Why don't you go get some Flamestone from there? There's lots of it.”

  “Agreed,” Weslie adds. “The Dwellers don't make you sick. You could easily get in there and get some.”

  “We could have,” Les says. The footsteps get louder behind us, as if we're angering the invisible crowd. How many are really around us? “But the worm often lurks in there and after it's eaten so many of us, I can't risk sending anyone in.”

  “If you know where all these caves go, you could have gone in and helped the workers find a way out of here.” I'm starting to like him less now. “They die in there all the time. Now there's been a cave in and they have no way out. They're all going to starve to death if they can't find a way back to the surface.”

  Les turns around and faces me. He's scowling. “You know nothing about staying alive down here,” he says. “You haven't seen the worm. We have to keep ourselves alive, first and foremost.”

  “Um, we blew up the worm,” I manage.

  Les's jaw falls open. “You didn't,” he says.

  “What do you think we did with this?” Weslie pulls the dynamite out of her pack and holds up one of the sticks.

  All the footsteps stop around us. We're in the spotlight now.

  “We've seen the worm,” Travis adds. “It's brown and it takes up the whole tunnel up in the mine. And when it opens its mouth, all these tentacles come out. We've dealt with it.”