Under Ground

by Alice Rachel

  “Yeah, I saw him in passing. But there was nothing he could do for me. He has to protect his cover. He’s one of the few people we have inside the police force, and we need him.”

  “I think they’ll be looking for a leak from within though. I hope they don’t figure it out.”

  “We’ll have to move fast. Time is running out.”

  “What did they do to you, Chi?” I ask though the answer is obvious.

  “Well, you know, they beat me up and all that.” He smiles, but he doesn’t add any details and I don’t push the subject. I can tell just by looking at him that whatever happened at the station was not good.

  “I kept my mouth shut though. They don’t know squat. I think they were going to torture me, but then I passed out. After that, I woke up to your face. I thought I was dreaming.” He grins at me.

  Then he closes his eyes and inhales deeply. I didn't notice it before, but in this moment when he's finally able to relax, the strain on his face and the dark rings under his eyes are clearer. Chi is exhausted. I doubt he got to sleep much, if at all, while he was in custody. Slowly, his chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm; he’s fallen asleep. Though I wish I could change out of my clothes, I don’t want to wake him up. I don’t move.

  I just lie there, contemplating him. His mouth is open and his head has rolled to the side. I press my ear to his chest and listen to his heartbeat. The sound of it calms me down. Chi's safety rids my heart of the weight that had been compressing it since he was gone. I'm duped into believing things might be fine after all—a trick my mind is playing on me to help relieve stress. I pass into oblivion, my head against Chi, comfortable and secure, with my arms around him and his around me.

  Chapter 30

  Loud, frantic knocks wake me from my slumber. Someone is pounding on our front door. I open my eyes and my head starts hurting.

  “Are you guys awake?" I recognize Taylor's voice. He's shouting from the hall outside our apartment. "Open up, it’s important!"

  He knocks harder, loud enough for me to hear him from our bedroom. I should go open the door before he breaks it down. I stand up and eye Chi. He’s still sleeping despite this racket. His body must be needing the rest. I rush to the front door and open it as quickly as I can. Taylor is standing there, glowering at me. Something’s wrong, truly wrong.

  Without any greetings, Taylor dashes through the apartment. I run after him. What's going on? When Taylor enters the bedroom and sees that Chi is still sleeping, he heads to the bed and shakes him, hard.

  “Chi, we need to talk. It’s urgent. Shit happened last night.”

  I want to push Taylor away, but Chi is already opening his eyes. He yawns and stretches his arms. His body reminds him that he was badly beaten up just the day before, and he winces while shaking his head to push the remnants of his dreams away. He sits up, his eyes on Taylor, assessing him.

  "How are you feeling today?" Taylor asks Chi.

  "Like I was run over by a road roller, but I'll live. My headache's gone."

  “Probably the only good news of the day. We've got a load of shit going on and none of it's good," Taylor says. "They found out about your escape, and they’ve already linked it to Bryan.”

  “Crap!” Chi sits up, the news waking him up for good.

  “We need to make plans and act quickly. I don’t think you can fight just yet, and a bunch of the others still need to train, but we have to launch the attack soon. I don’t think Bryan will talk, but I don’t know how much he can take before he opens up either. We have no other choice but to stay here. I’ll have Chase gather everyone who’s coming to the camp. They can’t stay home anymore; it’s too risky. We can’t afford to lose anyone else. We’re hidden well enough that we should be fine for now. We’re going to practice in the fitness center upstairs. Thia’s coming, she needs training.”

  He turns to me and gives me a look. He's studying me. I can’t quite read his expression, but I don't like it. What he says next hits me like a hurricane. The whole world starts spinning around me, a tornado destroying everything in its way. “They found out about your mother.”

  “What do you mean?” Fear wraps itself around my heart and squeezes it hard.

  “They said on TV that your mother helped you run away and that she’s tied to Chi's escape. They know she helped you, so now she’s an accomplice to the Underground. It’s all over the news. They’re using her as an example, a scapegoat, to call for witnesses. Anyone who sees you is to call the authorities. Anyone who’s helping you will be apprehended. I don’t know where they took her, but she’s under arrest.”

  I feel faint. The room is still spinning. Chi takes my hand, but I hardly register his touch.

  “The officers are probably going to interrogate your mom for a while. Then they may take her to the camps. If we’re lucky, it’ll be the same camp Chi’s parents are in.”

  This feels like a kitchen knife stabbing my heart. My mother locked in a camp. I feel numb. I freeze, stunned into silence.

  Taylor grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “Hey, wake up. I know it’s tough, okay, but stay with us. Your mother needs you, and you can’t help her if you’re useless.”

  I do want to help my mother. I try to surface, but I’m in shock. “It’s all my fault!”

  Chi pulls me to him and holds my head against his chest. He presses his lips against my ear. “She made the choice to help you. It was her decision, Thia. She didn’t have to, but she did. She knew it was dangerous, but she was willing to take that risk. You can’t let guilt take over and destroy you. You need to be strong so we can find her and save her.” He pulls me back and looks me deep in the eyes. “Thia, do you understand me? Your mother needs you to be strong. You are useless to her if you give up.”

  I know he’s right. I nod, but the guilt inside me won't let go.

  “How did the authorities find out?” I ask, but before Taylor answers, the truth hits me. There is no doubt as to what happened. Someone exposed my mother, and I know exactly who could have done such a despicable thing. I speak the name at the same time Taylor does, “William!”

  “But how?” I ask.

  “I don’t know how he found out, but the news said he was the one who let them know about your escape and your mother’s participation in it. They’re rewarding him too, treating him like a freaking hero. They're using him as an example of what to do if anyone spots us.”

  Anger rushes inside me. It’s fast, strong, and intense. It replaces the guilt, crushing it to pieces in its iron fist. The rage that had been rampant, locked inside me for so long, is waiting for an outlet. My mind gives up on me as if I’m going crazy for good. I can’t control the wrath building up anymore. Deep hatred consumes my heart. It fuels my energy all the while clouding my judgment.

  I push Chi away and lose all control. I scream and let all the rage loose. I want to hurt someone or break something. I need to, or I’ll lose my grip and insanity will win. I grab different objects, different things—anything, really—and throw them across the room. I fall to my knees and let the anger out as a panic attack seizes my core. I scream and scream until my voice gets raw and my body shakes and I can't breathe and I'm hyperventilating. I'm losing my mind.

  Chi takes a hesitant step toward me and then he stops. He doesn’t approach me any further. I'm glad. I want to hurt someone badly, and I don’t want it to be him. Hot tears of fury pour down my face, accompanied by more wails of rage. Chi takes another step and crouches down by my side. A hiss of pain passes his lips as he bends his knees, and I look at him. He strokes my hair away from my face.

  Then he takes me in his arms and scoops me up while wincing deeply from his own physical pain. I wrap my arms around his neck, trying my best not to fight him back, and he carries me to the bed. He sits on the edge and holds me against him while rocking me.

  "Shhh, you need to breathe, Thia. Please, breathe for me." His sweet words soothe my wrath as he runs his fingers though my hair. "Breathe like this."

/>   I follow the rhythm of his chest rising and falling in deep inhales and exhales. I calm down slowly, but my body won't stop shaking. Chi kisses my cheek, my temple, my eyelids, comforting me the best way he knows how. I’m shocked at my own behavior and so ashamed. But Taylor and Chi are looking at me without judgment; they're just concerned for my well-being. I feel slightly better, but the anger is still there. It’s giving me focus; it’s giving me a sense of purpose.

  “I want to find my mother,” I say, “and when she’s finally safe, I will find William and make him pay.”

  The hatred and need for revenge are devouring me, and I let them. I know those feelings are blurring my judgment, but I don’t care. I don’t want to see straight. I don’t want to think about the reasons behind William’s actions or even try to forgive him. I want him to suffer. I feel sick to my stomach and rush to the bathroom. I vomit in the toilet and my anger dissipates a little. I rinse my mouth and walk back to the bedroom.

  Taylor tilts his head toward me. “Are you better now?”

  “Yes. Yes, I am.” I clench my fists. My jaw tightens. William will pay for this.

  “Okay then, let’s go. We need to talk and plan. Then we have to practice. Chi, you can just watch and give guidance during the training sessions. You can already fire a gun anyway.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Chi sends me a worried glance and pulls me to his side.

  We make our way out and head to the apartment we first came through yesterday. Everyone is waiting for us. They all stare at me the moment we walk in. Taylor has already told them about my mother. I know they heard my crazy reaction to the news, but I don’t care what they think.

  “Chase, James, Akio, I need you to go ahead and contact the others," Taylor says.

  The three men nod and leave. The rest of us have breakfast together. Jenna was right; the dining room in this condo is gorgeous, with bay windows overlooking the river. We still need to wait for the other Underground members to arrive. It will take a few hours for Chase and the others to find a secure land phone and call everyone. Despite the grief filling my heart, I welcome the meal. Joviality fills the room despite the dire circumstances.

  Kayla comes to sit by my side. She squeezes my hand. "We will find her and get her out, Thia."

  "William is going to regret this," I reply through gritted teeth. Chi casts me a look while Kayla pats my hand.

  A few hours later, some people finally show up, little by little, brought here by James through a different route than the one we took, to avoid raising suspicion. I recognize some of them from before, when I met them at Taylor's house. Not all of the Underground is coming though—only those who will go to Camp 19. The other members need to stay put and go to work as usual. Their infiltration is too important to risk and compromise.

  Some of the rebels who just arrived have trained for years, practicing combat and doing sports to remain fit. I'm not ready for what’s coming. My joining the group might be a liability to them, but I’m not going to let anyone rescue my mother without my help. Taylor knows that, and I didn’t even have to explain why.

  Even though this apartment is huge by New York City standards, it’s completely crowded now. When everyone is here—eighty of us total—Taylor asks us to follow him up to a higher floor. We exit the condo, walk down the hall in line, and take the emergency staircase to climb five flights of stairs until Taylor finds the door he’s been looking for. Jenna has replaced the batteries in the emergency exit lights; we don’t need our flashlights to see our way through. Taylor opens the door and strides through a long corridor before letting himself into what used to be the fitness center. We follow him inside. The walls are covered with targets. There's a large table on one side, covered with guns, bullets, and silencers.

  Taylor goes to stand in front of it. He raises a hand and whistles to catch our attention.

  “Hey guys, thanks for coming today. This is it. The moment we’ve all been waiting for is almost upon us. A lot of you have been training for years for this, and I believe you’re ready. Some of you have joined us more recently." He shoots me a quick glance as he says it. "You’re the ones who will need to practice today. I've already assigned specific partners to teach you. I have a lot of tasks for all the others too. I don't want eighty people in this room while there's shooting going on."

  Everyone nods at once, and Taylor continues, "We have very little time, so I’m going to be honest; you’re not going to master all the skills. But you need to know the minimum so you can defend yourselves in the camp. By the time we go, I want you to be able to shoot straight and at the right people. If I feel like you’re not ready or serious enough about holding a weapon in your hands, you’ll have to remain behind. There’s always lots of things to do, even if you don’t join in combat.”

  Akio raises his hand.

  “Yes, Akio?”

  “Will we be enough people? For the attack, I mean. How many prisoners are we supposed to rescue?”

  “Well, remember that Liam has already freed a few prisoners. But he can’t keep on doing that forever. And there are too many camps and not enough of us. As you know, those camps are all over New York State. There's just no way we can get to all of them. We don't even know all the locations. We'll free one specific camp, the one located closest to us: Camp 19. There'll be sixty of us going. The rest will stay behind to prepare for our return.

  "The other Underground leaders are working on hitting some camps closer to where they live; around the same time we'll do it here. For our own security, I can't tell you which camps they're targeting. We are hoping that when the civilians learn about those camps, the news will shock them enough that they'll react."

  He stops and looks us all in the eyes, sweeping the room briefly. “Two things might happen. One: The civilians might not care; they might just fall back asleep the way they’ve always done. That's the worst case scenario. Two: Our attack could lead to chaos. There could be another civil war, this one confined to New York State. The poor are already restless. All they need is an excuse to riot again. The camp we're targeting shelters over two thousand inmates. We're hoping to save as many of them as we possibly can.

  “As you know, the camps are owned by corporations. Camp 19 is one of the camps owned by Agric Inc. The camp is divided into different agricultural zones: sowing and harvesting, animal farming and apiculture, packaging the goods, and loading the trucks. We'll divide into groups and go to the different areas of the camp.”

  “Why did you say 'as many people as we can?' What about the rest?” Akio asks. “Isn’t the goal to save everyone?”

  “The goal is to save as many people as we can, yes! But it's already clear we cannot save everyone, and we'll probably compromise the mission if we try. Our goal is to shake up the authorities, wake up the civilians, and rally as many people to our side as possible. The citizens need to see our system for what it is and help us stop all this crazy shit once and for all. Any more questions?”

  No one replies.

  "Okay then, let's assign your teaching partn—"

  "I want Chase!" exclaims a young woman with short chestnut hair.

  Seventy-nine pairs of eyes turn to her, and her cheeks flush with embarrassment. A small engaging smile rises on one side of Chase's mouth. He winks at her, and her blush spreads all over her face as she returns his playful grin with a tiny shy smile of her own. Taylor rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

  "I am so sorry, Courtney," he says, sarcastically and slightly annoyed, "but our dear Chase here is going to teach Thia. You already know how to shoot, and I have another task for you."

  The young woman's face falls into a pout as her hopes deflate, and Taylor narrows his eyes at Chase. Chase shrugs innocently and Taylor just goes on as if nothing has happened. He assigns each person a teaching partner or two. By the time he's done, there are about fifteen of us grouped together for practice. He tells all the others to follow Kayla out the door and wait for her instructions.

  I am to t
rain with Chase and Chi. When the others are gone, Chase picks up a small gun and a silencer. Then he stands in front of the target, legs apart, with both hands on his weapon.

  “Observe closely," he starts, pinning his electric blue eyes on me. "See how I'm using both hands to hold the gun. It’s steadier this way and safer, especially when you have no experience. Place it in front of you and keep your eye on the sight, like this.”

  Chase does exactly that and shoots. The bullet makes it straight through the middle of the target. He puts the safety on and holds the weapon out to me. He shows me how to take the protection off and then put it back on.

  “Make sure your safety is always on except in time of action. These weapons are dangerous, and you don’t want to shoot yourself or an ally by mistake. Make sure you know when it’s on and when it’s off. Having the safety on in action could cost you your life.”

  I nod and practice taking the safety on and off. When I understand how the gun works, I point the barrel at the target and hold myself the same way Chase did. I shoot. The bullet completely misses its goal and lodges itself in the wall. Chi approaches me from behind and helps me position myself better. His chest is to my back and his hands are tight around my lower arms, guiding me.

  “Look through the sight and focus. Also, take into consideration the shock that will push your hands backward.”

  I try and fail again. The weapon in my hands feels foreign and deadly. I don't feel in control of it. The training goes on for over an hour, at which point I’m finally scoring though I'm not even close to hitting the bull's-eye yet.

  Taylor tells us to stop; it’s time for a break. We have thirty minutes for a snack. After that, we need to get back here and resume practice. Because we're dealing with guns, Taylor is adamant about our being on time. Anyone who’s late won’t get to come in and won’t go to Camp 19.