by Kevin George
“Be careful the way you speak to me,” Liv said.
“We aren’t your loyal subjects,” the Tunneler said, earning nods from those around him. “We don’t take threats lightly, and we don’t take orders from city dwellers, no matter how long you’ve lived among us.”
Liv and the large man glared at each other. The growing crowd waited with bated breath to see who would blink first. Finally, it was the Tunneler that turned away and stared at Irving.
“If anyone should be leading us, it’s you,” the Tunneler told Irving. “You sacrificed years of your life for us.”
Irving shook his head. “Now isn’t the time for this discussion. I’ve known Liv a short amount of time, and she’s always shown a desire to help as many people as possible. If we want to keep surviving, we need to appreciate that Liv has gotten us this far.”
“Not everyone has gotten this far,” the Tunneler muttered.
But the growing discontent among the crowd seemed to ease with Irving’s words. Liv took the opportunity to address everyone and apologize for losses they suffered during the escape. Someone else in the crowd pointed out that they could’ve left The Fourth’s blast door closed and made their way into the tunnels sooner.
“That’s what my former husband would’ve done He would’ve prioritized lives based on where people were from. But we’re no longer Tunnelers or citizens of Below; we’re all just people trying to survive. I’d hoped to save more people, especially innocents that had nothing to do with King Edmond,” she said.
“You expect us to believe you intended to save everyone and not just your son?” someone else asked. “The fact that you tapped into camera feeds near The Fourth and saw Prince Oliver wasn’t the only reason you accessed the Main Tunnel?”
Liv’s eyes flitted back to her son. Before she had a chance to answer, a light—but noticeable—shaking reached their section of tunnel, bringing an abrupt halt to all infighting. The crowd began to disperse without a real decision being made for where they should go. When Liv stepped in the middle of the group, everyone quieted and listened. She called out orders for where to put displaced passengers from damaged or destroyed vehicles, including those from the truck in which Olly had ridden.
“It still drives,” Olly told his mother.
Liv shook her head. “Maybe for now, and maybe down here,” she said. “But that truck won’t survive the elements Above.”
Irving and a few other Tunnelers—including the large man just arguing with Liv—began shepherding passengers into intact trucks. Not a single person complained about the tight squeeze in some vehicles.
“Once we reach the surface, are we going back to search for survivors?” Oliver asked his mother. Liv stopped directing the survivors, some of whom overheard Olly’s question and responded with hisses. The stern look of concentration on Liv’s face melted away. Her resulting frown was all the answer Olly needed. “Like you said, there were plenty of innocent citizens that weren’t from One. Even most people from One weren’t evil; they were just forced to follow the king’s orders.”
“Face it, kid, they’re all dead,” said a Tunneler on her way to one of the trucks.
Oliver stepped closer to his mother and lowered his voice so only she could hear. “It couldn’t hurt to go back and look once we’re Above.”
“But the risk. . .” his mother began.
“I risked myself to go back and help a truck full of strangers I’d never met,” Olly said.
She forced a smile, though the corners of her eyes creased. “I’m very proud of you for that. But you don’t know what it’s like Above, and you don’t know how your father made the surface inaccessible for everyone in the City Below. I can’t risk the lives of my people based on the unlikely chance others somehow made it Above. For all we know, the surface might not be stable.” The ground began to shake harder. The distant echo of cracking rushed down the tunnel. “It’s still not stable down here and we’ve already traveled miles.”
Olly looked back and found the tunnel still shrouded in blackness. Without the urgency of lava in sight, he remained in place and shook his head.
“Where do you plan on leading us?”
Liv looked toward the vehicles, where the final displaced survivors were nearly finished boarding. When she turned back to her son and placed a hand on his shoulder, Olly did not recoil.
“I can’t explain how relieved I am that you showed up near The Fourth at the right time, or how you’ve made it this far,” she said. “We’re not out of danger yet, and we put everyone at risk the longer we stand and talk. I’ve waited so long to see you and the thought of something bad happening. . .”—she barely choked out the last words and swallowed hard before continuing—“. . . which is why I want you up front with me. . . where it’s safest. When I heard you jumped out to save that girl. . . and then to save the others. . .”
Olly stared into his mother’s eyes and did not doubt she meant every word. The tension in his shoulders began to melt, but that didn’t last long. He stepped back until her fingers fell away from him.
“Now you know what I went through for so many years thinking you were dead,” he said icily.
He spotted Paige with Mia and the baby approaching one of the final trucks. He stomped toward them without giving his mother another glance, hoping to get the final word in their discussion. This time, she hurried beside him, refusing to let him go again.
“I understand you’re angry with me for disappearing, but you don’t understand what it was like dealing with your father,” she said, anger beginning to creep into her voice.
Olly opened his mouth and nearly mentioned how he did know, how he’d witnessed what his father did to other women. Similar to what I did to Emma, he thought with crushing guilt, a feeling he tried to push away, but one that ultimately led to anger.
“You left me to deal with him on my own,” he snapped.
Liv rushed around him and stopped, forcing him to look at her.
“For that I’ll never expect you to forgive me; I’ll never forgive myself,” she said. “I wanted to bring you with me when I left, truly I did, but your father made certain you were always so well-guarded, and it was hard enough to—”
Olly shook his head and stepped around her. “I’m not interested,” he said, refusing to let her know all the questions he had about her escape from the palace and One.
His body ached as he sprinted the last few feet to the nearest truck, reaching Paige just as she started to help Mia and the baby into the back. Angry faces peered out at him, but several passengers hurried to help the little girl and her brother into the truck. Mia remained on the edge while Paige climbed up.
“Please, join me in the lead vehicle so we can talk,” Liv told her son. “All I want is a chance to explain how I ended up leaving One.”
“Sorry,” Olly said, stepping up into the back of the truck. “All I wanted is a chance to look for survivors from the city.”
“Fine, you can have it,” Liv blurted. “Once we reach Above, I’ll send a few vehicles back in the direction of the City Below, but only if you ride up front with me.”
Olly felt the eyes of passengers aimed at him, but he only cared about the two pairs standing directly in front of him. Paige refused eye contact—or didn’t realize Olly was trying—but it was Mia’s reaction that most affected him. Olly tried to ignore her enthusiastic nodding.
“Not sure I want to leave these three again,” he told his mother.
“Please, you have to,” Mia told him. “Go with her so the vehicles can go back in case my momma or daddy are still alive and need rescuing.”
Olly forced a smile, hoping Mia wouldn’t see the sadness in his eyes. If he admitted aloud that he thought everyone in One was dead, he’d be forced to admit that the same could be said for everyone else in the City Below, a probability he didn’t want to concede. Paige finally turned and placed an arm around Mia, nodding her permission for him to leave.
“I want to protect
you the way you always protected me,” he whispered to Paige. “It can’t be a coincidence that we ended up together so many times. I almost lost you twice today, and I don’t want to—”
“I’m not yours to lose,” she said coolly. “I don’t know what you’ve convinced yourself about us, but I’m a married woman. And my husband. . .”—her lips pursed into a frown and she shook her head, swallowing hard—“. . . just go.”
Olly tried to tell himself she was still in a state of shock—that she didn’t mean what she’d said—but he couldn’t ignore the glare in her eyes. He saw her in a different light. When he looked down at Mia, he saw the daughter of the guard that had incited a war and wanted him dead; when he looked at the baby, he saw the child of the queen that wanted him dead. He suddenly shivered at the thought of risking his life so many times for them.
“Stay safe,” he told them.
Paige nodded, leading the two kids toward the back. Olly leapt off the truck without another glance at them. Walking beside his mother, he passed vehicle after vehicle, none free from damage. Olly fought the urge to scan the ceiling for falling debris, but he walked tall and proud like his mother, not showing the slightest hint of concern to the countless faces looking out at them. The vehicles seemed to grow smaller as they neared the front, sleeker and faster. The one at the head had no passenger or cargo section, only a single bench seat that held enough room for its driver, Irving and Liv. Olly wasn’t sure there’d be enough room until Liv climbed in and edged the other two men over.
Olly wanted to climb in, but skepticism itched at the back of his mind. “When will the others be informed of our search for survivors?”
“Our vehicle has room for nobody else,” his mother said. “It would be pointless for us to accompany the search.” Before Olly could argue, Liv grabbed a handset connected to a radio system inside the vehicle. “Zwier and Andreano, once we reach the surface, you’re to turn your vehicles around and drive as close to the Dome as safely possible. Complete a sweep of the surrounding area for survivors before rendezvousing with us at The Mountain.”
“Copy that,” a voice answered.
“You expect us to risk the lives of our own people for city folk?” another said.
Liv’s jaw clenched. Before she had a chance to press the transmit button, Irving reached over and took her hand, slowly shaking his head. The first voice responded before Liv could.
“Ain’t that many of us left,” the voice said. “And maybe there ain’t any of us left out there. I don’t think we’re in position to be ignoring survivors.”
Several seconds passed. Olly stared at the radio the same way his mother and Irving did.
“Copy that,” the other voice finally said.
Liv returned the handset to the radio before sliding over in her seat, looking from Olly to the empty spot. He climbed in without speaking and his mother said a single word to the driver. “Go.”
Olly no sooner closed the door than the vehicle surged forward, taking the path leading to the left. Olly wanted to ask how they knew which way to go, but if dealing with Irving in the past had taught him one thing, it was not to underestimate what the Tunnelers knew about the maze of passages. Olly remained silent. More and more questions built in his mind, but he didn’t want his mother to know how curious he was. Besides, he wanted to let the driver concentrate as the shaking intensified.
Irving looked behind them, but Olly saw that the old man’s eyes were aimed up at the ceiling rather than at the vehicles. Olly refused to ask what the Tunneler saw, but Irving sensed his curiosity.
“The tunnels aren’t going to last much longer,” he said to no one in particular.
“How do you know that?” Olly finally asked.
“I haven’t known much about this life, but I know these tunnels,” he said.
Olly frowned but only for a moment. “Like the way you collapsed that section of tunnel on me when you first led us Above?”
Irving snorted, shaking his head as he watched the surrounding walls. “I don’t have magical powers to bring down walls. It was other Tunnelers, and it happened before I knew your mother.”
“The others never forgot Irving, even though he was held in One for many years,” Liv explained. “They wanted him back at all costs; there’d even been talk of a rescue operation into the City Below.”
“I’m glad that wasn’t attempted,” Irving said. “It would’ve been against our code, and Edmond never would’ve allowed that to go unpunished.”
“I never thought your father would allow you into the tunnels,” Liv told Oliver. “When Irving was rescued and brought back to us—when he told me what happened to you in the collapse—we rushed to the tunnel near the chasm and tried to dig you up. I was so relieved you’d been dug out already. I tried to find you, but you and your friends were already gone.”
Olly tried not to think about that trip, but his hand instinctively went to the scars of his burns. His eyes turned to the lava flowing through the tubes attached to the vehicle. Though the small cab of the vehicle was stifling, Olly still felt a chill at being so close to lava. He’d had to spend a lifetime surrounded by liquid fire, but the idea of traveling Above and living in a new world left him feeling desperate to never see lava again.
“You didn’t see me because I was forced to rush home after almost being buried alive and then almost being burned alive,” he snapped. “Apparently, Father cared about my well-being as much as you did.”
Liv reached for her son’s face, her eyes welling. “If only I’d known. . .”
Olly shook his head and turned away, closing his eyes. The vehicle continued to shake, and the first pieces of debris began to fall in this section of tunnel. Olly sensed tension from the other three but felt none of it himself. He was alone, truly alone, the way he’d felt for years, regardless of who was around him. He’d only felt like he’d belonged in one place, which he would never see again. A part of him wished he could return to The Fifth, whether it survived the volcano eruption or not. . .
“You told the others to rendezvous at The Mountain,” he told his mother through clenched teeth. “What is that?”
He expected his question to be pushed aside but instead heard an explanation about One Corp., the City Below, The Mountain, a place called ISU-Ville, and the historical importance of the Jonas family before humans had been forced to relocate underground. Olly snorted at the mention of the Jonas family, especially as he recalled the Sky Person taking Emma and insisting that she was the real Jonas. His mother’s eyes narrowed, sensing that Olly was hiding something. When she asked him what it was, he shrugged.
“We all have our own secrets,” he said, uncertain if he felt better or worse about not being a true Jonas. Not that any of that matters anymore. . .
“I hope we come to a time when there are no secrets between us,” she said. “I never wanted what happened to either of us. I can’t tell you how many times I returned to the grates in One, returned to the grates in the Main Tunnel, praying I might see you wander past so I could bring you here with me. But your father ensured they were heavily guarded at all times, and more than once I had weapons hurled in my direction. I knew Edmond was looking for me. I couldn’t risk his guards spotting me and invading the tunnel. . . putting the others at risk. I couldn’t risk being captured and brought back to your father so he could finish the job he started on me.”
A shadow descended over Liv’s face. Her brow furrowed. Olly couldn’t ignore the pain in her eyes. He didn’t want to feel sympathy for her, but he couldn’t help thinking of how he’d seen his father treat other women. If he’d done the same to Liv, Olly couldn’t totally blame her for having to escape. . .
“He’s dead now,” Oliver said.
Liv’s eyes widened. “You don’t. . . you don’t know that. . . for certain,” she said. It was the first time Olly had heard her sound hesitant. “Maybe he survived. If anyone could’ve made it Above—”
Olly shook his head. “He was killed bef
ore the eruption. The queen did it. . . the new queen.”
Liv nodded slowly and looked away. “I should’ve done it,” she said quietly. “The new queen was a better woman than I.”
Olly touched the side of his face. Raefaline had tried to have him killed on several occasions, but that part of his life was in the past. Still, he couldn’t ignore everything from the past that his mother had spoken about.
“All of that stuff about One Corp. and The Mountain. I never heard any of it before,” he said. “Did my father know?”
Liv snorted. “Who knows? He was so convinced he was the Lord and Jonas that he would’ve denied the past even if he’d known,” she said. “But the truth lived on in The Fourth long after they closed themselves off from the rest of the city. Their numbers dwindled over the years, sure, but many of their people survived and so did the truth about history. That’s why that became the only section where Tunnelers still visited.”
Olly leaned forward, looking past his mother at the old Tunneler sitting beside her. “You never told us any of that.”
Irving shrugged. “Your mother said some Tunnelers ended up there, not me.”
“In their final years as part of the City Below, The Fourth learned to become self-sufficient,” Liv explained. “They learned to grow their own food, to tap into alternate sources of power set up by One Corp. and the original founders of the city, sources King Edmond and One knew nothing about. Life may not have been great in The Fourth, but its people were free. They could come and go within the tunnels, travel to the surface if they pleased. They weren’t forced to worship a false Lord. . . the false Lord of Cameras.”
“You know about. . .” Olly began, though he stopped himself. He no longer cared about his father, or One, or the family name that was once the center of his existence. The king had hidden so much from him, but he pushed away curiosity itching at the back of his mind. There was only one question from the past to which he truly wanted an answer. “How did you disappear from the king? He always assumed you walked into the lava pool.”