Beneath

by Roland Smith

  “So everything May and the others said about the Pod is wrong.”

  “Not everything.” She looked at me for a moment. “I haven’t even asked if you want to do this with me.”

  “Find Coop? That’s why I came down here.”

  “I know, but you probably didn’t expect all this.”

  “When you have a brother like Coop, you learn to expect the unexpected.”

  She waved the flashlight around. “I meant this,” she said.

  The beam barely penetrated the blackness.

  “I’m not afraid of the dark.”

  “That’s not what I mean. How’d you do on the way down here?”

  “I was blindfolded.”

  Kate stared at me.

  “I had a little problem when I squeezed through the entrance. After that I was okay.”

  “Before you decide to come with me, let me tell you what you’re in for. Pretty soon the dogs are going to show up here. Big dogs. Vicious dogs …”

  “Killer dogs?”

  “Not quite, but close enough. If they get you cornered and you try to run away, they’ll draw blood. We call them Seekers. They don’t get out much, which makes them all the more aggressive when they do get out. They get so excited during the chase they’re hard to control.”

  “Who do they chase?”

  “People who leave the Deep.”

  “You can’t leave?”

  “Not permanently, not alone, and not without Lod’s permission. You can only leave if you have official Deep business beneath or on top. To make sure people return to the Deep we are always accompanied by a Shadow. Deep security people. They are there to protect the Pod and to keep an eye on them. If someone gets away, the Shadow is in as much trouble as the person who got away from them. But no one has ever gotten away.”

  “Never?”

  An odd look crossed her face.

  “No,” she said. “And very few people have tried.”

  “What happens when they get caught?”

  “I’ll tell you later. Right now you have to decide whether you’re going with me. By now Lod has discovered that I’m gone. He’s coming with the Seekers and the Shadows. When they get here they are going to give the Community a rude awakening. They will question and intimidate them. Hopefully the Seekers will pick up my scent on Bouncer, assume that I’m headed to the top, and follow.” She pointed the flashlight to a ledge of concrete about four feet above our heads. “There is enough space for us to hide up there, but it will be a tight fit.”

  Tight.

  “It will probably take them fifteen minutes to search the Community and figure out I’m not here. When they continue to the top we’ll drop down and backtrack along their route for a while, then we’ll take a detour. This is where you might have a problem.”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “A claustrophobic problem. The route we’re taking is going to be hard for you. Maybe impossible. I’m smaller than you and it’s hard for me. Lod and the Shadows could never squeeze through there.”

  Squeeze.

  My chest tightened.

  “Why can’t we just go down the way they come up?”

  “Time. The detour will save us hours.”

  “Hours? How long does it usually take to get to the Deep?”

  “From here, if you hurry and know the way, twelve hours minimum. It will take Lod and the Shadows a couple of hours to reach the top and find Bouncer. Fourteen hours to get back to the Deep. Using the detour will give us a ten-hour lead, and we’ll need every minute of it to get to the Deep, free Coop, and head back up a different route. Coop is too big to fit through the detour.”

  That didn’t sound good. Coop isn’t that much bigger than I am. Or at least he wasn’t when he left.

  “Why don’t we just go to the detour right now and start down?”

  “Because I have to know how many Seekers and Shadows Lod has with him so I know how many he’s left behind. If I know how many he has with him, and who they are, I’ll know where Lod will station the others and how many are back at the compound. To get to the top we’ll have to get around them.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Because I’m one of them. I’m a Shadow.”

  I pulled her up to the ledge after me.

  She was right.

  It was tight.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing.

  Keep the panic down.

  When I opened my eyes it was as dark as if they were closed.

  Kate whispered.

  “Coop told me that the only person who would help was a man named Taps, but when I got here I overheard one of them say that Taps had left for the holidays and wouldn’t be back until after New Year’s. If Coop is still alive, it will take at least two of us to get him out. There’s another person who might help us, but he’s old, and a little unreliable.”

  “What do you mea —”

  “Shh … they’re coming. Not another word until I say you can speak. And don’t cough or sneeze.”

  A dog barked.

  Then another.

  They sounded far off, but within seconds they were there.

  Panting. Sniffing. Pawing.

  Lights dancing in the dark.

  Heavy footsteps.

  Out of breath.

  Shouts.

  Pounding.

  Kate peering over the edge. Counting?

  I hit Record.

  “Open the door …”

  “Settle down, Lod. We thought you might be coming.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Gone.

  “There’s no need for rough stuff.”

  “Get that dog away from me …”

  “I will decide what’s needed and what isn’t needed. We’ll do whatever we want whenever we want. We have an agreement. A treaty. You violated the terms.”

  “We didn’t violate any terms. It’s not like we invited her here. She showed up on our doorstep on her own.”

  “Search the place. Get everybody out here.”

  “She’s not in there, Lod.”

  “How long ago did she leave?”

  “I don’t know. I was the last to go to bed and that was a couple of hours ago.”

  “Did she leave alone?”

  “Yes … well, except for her dog.”

  “Pat’s gone too.”

  “Who’s Pat?”

  “A visitor I brought down tonight. He’s the brother of one of our Community members.”

  “Which Community member?”

  “He’s not here.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “His name’s Coop.”

  “The kid you sent to the Deep.”

  “We didn’t send anyone to the Deep. We don’t even know where you’re located. He went exploring on his own, against our advice.”

  “He found us.”

  “How you deal with him is up to you. It’s none of our business.”

  “He’s one of yours. That makes it your business, and now it looks like his brother is with her.”

  “Like I said, Lod, we didn’t even know she was from the Deep. She never said a word. We thought she was a mute.”

  “She can speak all right and often does. What were you going to do with her before she slipped away?”

  “Turn her out, or take her up top and dump her.”

  “If she comes back here, I want you to hold her for me. And my dogs will know if she’s been back here or not, so don’t try to fool me. There will be repercussions.”

  “We’ll hold her.”

  “Who is she?”

  “None of your business!”

  lay next to me perfectly still as the lights, voices, and barks faded away.

  Five minutes passed.

  Ten minutes.

  Fifteen minutes.

  Kate whispered, “Lod might have left a Shadow and a Seeker behind, but I think it’s clear. I would have heard something by now if they were waiting. We’
ll have to do this all in the dark. No light until we get to the detour, where we can’t be followed. I’m going to lower myself down first. When you follow, dangle from the ledge. It will be about a three-foot drop. I’ll catch you if you fall. Sound carries for miles down here. We don’t want the Community to hear us, or Lod.”

  Kate dropped without a sound.

  I landed unevenly.

  She stopped me from reeling over backward and held me in silence for a full minute, listening, then took my hand and led me away from our hiding place.

  Not a sliver of light came from the door to the Community or anywhere else.

  Utter dark.

  Kate moved very slowly, quietly, without stumbling.

  How was she able to see?

  “How are you doing?” she whispered.

  “I’m fine,” I answered, but I wasn’t.

  The darkness was closing in on me like an avalanche of coal.

  “You’re hand is sweating,” she said.

  “I’m nervous.”

  “This is the easy part.”

  There was nothing easy about this.

  “Can you see?” I asked.

  “A little. But mostly I’m using touch and smell and air to find my way.”

  Air.

  Breathe.

  I took some deep breaths. It helped … a little.

  I was clutching her hand like a vise.

  I loosened my grip.

  “What do you mean by air?”

  “Temperature. Puffs of cool and warm air combined with smell. Don’t worry … Coop didn’t get the hang of it either, and he didn’t have claustrophobia. Your hand is drier. You’re not sweating as much.”

  She was right.

  My hand felt less clammy.

  And I was breathing easier.

  But I still couldn’t see anything except black.

  “We’re coming to some debris on the ground. You’ll have to be very careful where you step. If you twist or sprain an ankle you won’t be able to continue. Step lightly. Don’t put weight on your foot until you’re sure you’re on solid ground. I’ll slow down.”

  It was hard to believe we could move any slower without coming to a complete stop, but she managed it one slow step at a time.

  Toe touch.

  Test.

  Adjust.

  Ease the foot down.

  Over …

  again.

  “Shadows are chosen by the time they are two years old. We’re picked based on our agility and reactions in absolute darkness. I know you think we’re walking in the dark now, but there’s actually a little bit of light here. Not enough for you to see, but my eyes pick it up. This is why I wore sunglasses inside the Community’s compound. Sitting in that dim room was like sitting in a desert at high noon without a cloud in the sky with no shade. If I’d taken the glasses off, I would have been blinded … at least temporarily. From the time we can walk we’re trained in a special room with a complicated maze and obstacle course. We’re given tasks. Like finding a piece of candy or our favorite stuffed animal, and we’re not let out until we complete the task.”

  “It sounds cruel,” I said, feeling the ground for my next step.

  “It’s not as bad as you think,” Kate said. “And becoming a Shadow gives you a lot more freedom than other members of the Pod. For the most part you can come and go as you please. Part of a Shadow’s job is reconnaissance and exploration, which is how I came across Coop … starving, hopelessly lost, infected hand, over two weeks after he left the Community.”

  “Infected hand?”

  “Terribly.”

  “You took him to the Pod?” I asked.

  “No. He got caught. We got caught. Your brother didn’t listen to me.”

  either.

  We started up what felt like a mountainside of loose rubble.

  “Try not to disrupt the debris,” Kate said. “If the Shadows come by here, they’ll notice.”

  We couldn’t hold hands on the rough terrain.

  “Maybe we should use a little light,” I suggested.

  “I supposed we should.”

  Kate slipped a headlamp over her forehead and clicked it on.

  I did the same.

  “What is this?”

  We were standing on a mountain of red bricks, splintered wood, broken windows, rotting carpet, bathtubs, sinks, and several toilets.

  “It used to be an apartment building,” Kate said. “A hundred years ago.”

  The treacherous rubble pile was steeper than I thought.

  “Won’t the Seekers track us here when they find out we didn’t go outside?” I asked.

  “Is it snowing up top?” she asked.

  “It was when I came down.”

  “Good. That will confuse them. They’re going to find Bouncer sitting on the sidewalk. Did I put the sweatshirt on him to keep him warm or to throw them off my track? Did I send Bouncer up top and take a different exit myself? They’ll send the Seekers out a few blocks to see if they pick up my scent. New snow covers smells and will make that difficult. If we’re lucky, they’ll waste time checking out a couple other exits.”

  “That still doesn’t answer my question,” I said.

  “Yes,” Kate said. “Eventually they’ll track us here, but they won’t climb up the pile.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  A basenji.

  Brown and white.

  Pointed ears and snout.

  Sweet-looking.

  Silent.

  I thought I might black out.

  What had my heart pounding now was how Kate had retrieved the dog.

  When we reached the top of the pile she got onto her back, put her arms above her head, and squirmed into a black hole the size of a small television set like she was being swallowed by a snake.

  She seemed to be gone for a long time, but I’m sure it was only a few minutes.

  She squirmed back out feet first.

  Her arms still above her head.

  Her right hand holding a rope.

  On the other end of the rope was the dog.

  Kate brushed sticky grime and spiderwebs from her face and hair.

  She scratched the dog’s ears with a filthy hand.

  “We call her Enji. I used her because the breed doesn’t bark. The Seekers would have heard her when they came by here.” She gave her another scratch on the head. “And I’m rather fond of her.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Is there a problem?” Kate asked.

  The problem was that Kate had emerged from the serpent’s mouth in the same position she had entered it, which meant that it was so tight inside she wasn’t able to turn around.

  “Is that the detour?”

  “We’ll talk about that in a minute,” Kate said. “Right now I need your T-shirt if you’re wearing one.”

  I was.

  with nervous sweat.

  I was happy to strip out of it and felt sorry that Enji was going to have to wear it.

  Kate said that she would send Enji back to the Deep the long way. The Seekers and Shadows would follow her. She took the T-shirt in one hand and Enji in the other and scrambled down the rubble pile like a mountain goat.

  I guess she’d been taking it easy on me, which made me want to do better.

  I shined the light down the hole.

  I wasn’t sure I could do that at all.

  Kate climbed the pile almost as fast as she’d gone down.

  She nodded at the hole.

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I was ashamed to admit it, but that was the truth.

  I wasn’t sure I could wiggle through that hole and survive.

  “How long is it?”

  “Long. It will take us at least two hours to get through it.”

  “Does it open up farther down?”

  Kate shook her head.

  I thought I might be sick.

  “We have
three choices,” Kate said gently.

  She took my hand.

  I almost started crying.

  She could not possibly have any idea of the overwhelming suffocating dread I was experiencing.

  “We can go the long way,” Kate said. “We’ll get to the Deep hours before Lod and the Shadows return, but I’m not sure how long it will take us to get Coop out. I’d have to disable the security cameras. Then there is the problem of running into them on their way back.”

  “What’s the second choice?” I asked.

  “I can leave you here.”

  “But you said it would take two people to get Coop out.”

  “It will. I can’t get him out. All I can do is distract everyone while the second person frees him.”

  “So, the second option is out,” I said.

  “Maybe,” Kate said. “There’s someone else who might help, but he’s not in the best of shape physically, and I’m not sure he’s up to the task mentally either. His mind wanders.”

  “You mentioned him earlier. Is he a member of the Pod?”

  “No. He’s a friend of mine. The Pod doesn’t know about him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I never told them about him,” Kate answered. “There’s another problem with the second option. If you stay here, we would be forced to come back this way to pick you up.”

  “There’s another way up to the top?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know where it is.”

  “Then how do you know there’s another way up?”

  “It’s a long story. Right now we have to decide what to do.”

  “You didn’t mention the third option,” I said, looking back at the dark hole.

  “I didn’t think that was an option anymore.”

  there was only one option.

  I was going to have to get on my back, squeeze into the hole, and slither my way headfirst through spiderwebs, rat droppings, and slime.

  “I have a thought,” Kate said.

  Anything would be better than what I was thinking.

  “Do you still have your recorder?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And Coop’s recording?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And earphones?”

  Actually, my pockets were stuffed with things, including my journal, disposable cell, spare batteries, and other junk … but I saw what she was getting at. Well … I heard what she was getting at. I could barely see anything.