The Beneath

by S. C. Ransom

  “Quick,” called Will. “Pass Foggy to me.”

  “Are you mad? He’s far too heavy – I’ll drop him!”

  He hesitated for a moment, frowning.

  “OK, you get down there and I’ll let him down to you.”

  Will scrambled off the ladder and grabbed hold of Foggy and the stick while I reached round to find the stone steps. Although Will was shining his torch in my general direction I was very glad that I couldn’t see the drop. The stone was warm and slippery, and as I tried to hold it I could feel my hands start to slide. The musty-smelling air coming from the depths of the shaft swirled around me, and for a second I had a vision of letting go and tumbling head first into the blackness.

  “Don’t think about it,” I told myself. “Just hold on…”

  I looked over at Will, who was holding on to Foggy’s lead tightly.

  “No rush here, Lily,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “You take your time.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  I took a deep breath and forced myself down the steps on to the ledge at the bottom. It was wider than I thought, running towards to the back of the lift shaft, where I could just see the door. I put my torch on the floor so that I could see without having to hold it.

  “Here, take Foggy,” Will urged, a hint of panic in his voice.

  He was leaning over, the dog in his arms. Standing underneath I could just get my fingertips to him, but Will was going to have to drop him. Foggy didn’t like it at all and started to wriggle and whimper.

  “Foggy!” shouted Will.

  He let go and Foggy dropped into my arms. My knees nearly buckled, but I held on the thrashing mass of fur and claws for long enough to lower him on to the ledge, holding tightly to his makeshift lead.

  As soon as he was safely down I looked back up at Will. He was no longer looking down at me, but over his shoulder, his torch beam swinging wildly.

  “Don’t look, Will, just jump!”

  I grabbed the dog and backed carefully up the ledge towards the door so that there was room for Will to land.

  “Jump! Come on!”

  The old, rotting smell of the Crop was almost overwhelming.

  “What the hell are these things? Get back!”

  I heard a scuffling noise and he jumped. Foggy leapt towards him, blocking most of the light from the torch. Will thumped down next to me and swore loudly. As I hauled Foggy back I could see Will hadn’t jumped far enough and was teetering on the edge of the drop. I lunged forward, grabbing his hand and wrenching him towards me. We fell backwards, a jumble of arms, legs and dog, then he leapt up.

  “Quick, Lily, we’ve got to get out of here!”

  He threw open the door and the three of us tumbled through, slamming it shut behind us.

  The sudden silence was disconcerting. The old metal door was really solid, studded with rivets, and nothing like the flimsy chain-link one that led upwards. I sank to the floor in relief, and Will sat down beside me, leaning back against the rough stone wall. Foggy was bouncing around with the excitement of it all, leaping between us and trying to lick our faces. I felt as if my heart was about to burst through my chest, and tried to breathe steadily to calm it down.

  “Whatever that is, they don’t want it coming down here,” said Will, examining the door with his torch before turning the beam on to his own feet. “I must have caught my ankle on something. It really hurts.”

  He leaned forward and pulled up the leg of his jeans.

  “You’re bleeding,” I said. “Let me see properly.”

  I put my torch on the floor so that I could use both my hands and see what I was doing. On his ankle was a deep scratch, and as I tried to look at it he winced and flinched away.

  “It looks really painful. How on earth did you do that?”

  “When I was jumping I felt it catch on something. I didn’t stop to see what it was.”

  “I don’t know what I have to put on it,” I said, patting my pockets. “Ah no, hang on, I’ve got a tissue.”

  I pulled the slightly fluffy tissue from my back pocket and folded it open before pressing it on the scratch.

  “There,” I said, leaning back. “You should be able to pull your sock up over that to keep it in place.”

  “Thanks,” he said, smiling. “All better now.”

  “Don’t be so sarcastic,” I said, laughing in relief and playfully thumping him on the arm.

  We sat in silence for a moment, catching our breath.

  “What are they?” I asked. “Did you actually get to see one of them?”

  He shook his head.

  “No, nothing, but they were very close as I jumped down. I thought I was done for, but Foggy must have scared them off.”

  I glanced around.

  “Where’s the stick?” I asked.

  “Ah, sorry. It’s still up there. I think I threw it at one of them.”

  We were now completely defenceless with only Foggy to help us. Would he be enough? I pulled the dog closer to me and he gave a little woof in response.

  “How on earth did you spot this door?” I asked.

  “To be honest, I was panicking,” Will said. “With the Crop getting closer I knew we had to escape, and the lift shaft was the only guaranteed way down. I looked over the edge to see if maybe there was a ladder down the shaft when I saw the ledge and the door. I had to check it wasn’t locked, so I jumped over. It practically blew open with the rush of air from down there.”

  “I felt the air,” I said in a small voice. “I thought you’d fallen … or jumped.”

  “Don’t be daft! You’re not that scary.”

  He nudged me hard with his elbow as he laughed.

  “Ha ha.” I was still too traumatised to be able to laugh about it. “I just can’t believe how close that was. I mean, if you hadn’t found the way out we’d be dead by now.”

  “I’m sure they’re not that dangerous, not really. I mean, they can’t possibly have that many, whatever they are. And how would they breed them to live in the dark?”

  I could tell that he was trying to make me feel better about the whole thing.

  “Maybe,” I said, not believing a word of it. “But neither of us is going to risk going back out there in a hurry, are we?”

  That thought hung between us for a few moments as we caught our breath, and neither of us mentioned the problem that we were going to face going home.

  We started down the corridor, which turned sharply to the right and led to a very narrow spiral staircase. This one was a much tighter spiral than the one above the Crop level, and walking down it I very quickly felt light-headed and dizzy. At one point I had to stop Will and Foggy and sit for a moment with my head in my hands, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Will looked equally grateful for the pause, but clearly hadn’t been going to ask, and Foggy seemed blissfully unaffected. All too soon we were on our way again.

  After what seemed like an age Foggy started to strain at the lead.

  “I can smell something,” I whispered, putting my hand out in the dark to stop Will.

  I expected to tap his arm, but I realised too late that it was his waist. Snatching my hand back, I was pleased that he couldn’t see the colour of my cheeks.

  As we stood in the dark on the stairs we became aware of other noises – clattering and the murmur of voices. It all sounded spookily familiar.

  “It’s the canteen!” I whispered to Will. “It sounds just like the one at school. That’s what we can smell.”

  “I guess it makes sense to have the lift with the supplies going somewhere close to where they eat.”

  “If it’s just the canteen, maybe there’s not too much security,” I suggested.

  “They seem quite keen on security, if you think about it.” He sounded doubtful.

  “I know, but perhaps they don’t think that anyone will make it past the Crop. Maybe, anyway,” I finished lamely. My heart was sinking fast as I faced the enormity of what we were trying to do. We wer
e about to launch ourselves into the middle of a hostile community, with no idea of where we were going or what sort of technology they had, armed only with couple of rubber-handled torches and a hairy dog.

  “Will…” I started, but he spoke at the same time.

  “Well, at least we are at the bottom now. That’s one step closer to Aria.”

  He sounded remarkably cheerful.

  “Right, yes,” I blustered quickly before he could realise I was getting cold feet. “I guess we need a plan. How are we actually going to find her?”

  We listened to the noises of the people below us. There seemed to be quite a crowd.

  “If we just march in there we’ll have no chance,” said Will. “Perhaps we can find a back route, or maybe we could mingle with them inconspicuously – what do you think?”

  “It’s a tiny community – they’ll spot strangers in an instant,” I snapped. “Sorry,” I added quickly. “It’s just … I’m just getting really worried about how we’re going to do this.”

  “I know, and we have to find her soon, or…”

  The two of us stood silently for a moment on the stairs, listening to Foggy pulling at his lead to get to the food. I was just about to suggest that we see if we could bribe someone to take us to Aria when Will breathed in sharply.

  “Yes! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”

  “What? What have you come up with?”

  “Foggy!”

  At his name the dog jumped back up the steps to stand next to his master.

  “How can he help?”

  “He can sniff her out!”

  “You’re kidding me,” I said, remembering all the times I’d seen Foggy searching for lost balls. “He can never find anything.”

  “He’s not good at finding toys, that’s true, but he’s not bad at people. At home we hide and get him to find us. He really enjoys it.”

  He paused for a second and I could almost sense him thinking through his plan.

  “Do you have anything of Aria’s with you?” he asked.

  “No, not with me, but she borrowed this hoodie from me yesterday. She wore it for most of the day – would that do?”

  “Well, it’s worth a go, don’t you think?”

  As I peeled off the hoodie I braced myself against the cold, but it was warmer than I expected. I just wished that the T-shirt I was wearing wasn’t quite so tight. I handed the top over to Will and he scrunched it up before pressing it to the dog’s nose.

  “Here, Foggy, smell this. Find her!”

  There was a moment’s confusion as Foggy tried to leap up and lick me, but Will pulled him back down again and gave him another sniff of the top.

  “No, Foggy, the other one. Find her!”

  There was no way that the dog could possibly understand what he was saying, but he hesitated for a moment before making off down the stairs, dragging Will behind him.

  “We still have to keep out of sight,” I reminded him as with each turn the dark of the stairs gave way to a stronger light.

  But the two of them were on a mission and had raced ahead. As I turned the last corner I saw them both silhouetted in a small stone archway, and then they were gone.

  I peered cautiously out of the archway and into the narrow corridor beyond. It was made of stone, rubbed smooth with years of wear. A wire was tacked along the centre of the rounded ceiling connecting a string of light bulbs that were giving off a gentle glow.

  The corridor was completely empty except for Will, who was being dragged along by Foggy. If anyone were to come out of any of the many other archways I could see we would be spotted in an instant. It was also eerily silent – the canteen noises we had heard earlier had stopped. All I could hear were Will and Foggy’s footsteps.

  “Will!” I hissed. “You can’t just go marching off! You need to be able to hide.” I glanced into a room that we were passing. “This is empty; get in here for a moment.”

  “Look, I know you’re worried about getting caught,” he said as he followed me into the gloomy, cave-like space, which was little more than an alcove in the corridor, “but honestly, we don’t have a lot of choice, do we?”

  I was about to object when he put his hand on my shoulder.

  “I’ll keep you as safe as I can, Lily, I promise you, but if we want to save Aria we have to get on with it.”

  Swallowing hard I looked up and wished for a second that we were somewhere – anywhere – else. And then I heard a distant bell. It sounded like an old-style handbell, and it was being rung really slowly as if by someone who was really bored by the task. Will leapt towards Foggy, clamping his jaws together and cutting off the bark that was about to erupt from him.

  “Shhh, Foggy. Here, have a biscuit.”

  The dog instantly changed from an animal that was alert and ready to fight to one begging enthusiastically. Will whipped out the little pouch in his pocket and dug around inside it. He produced a tiny ball of dried food.

  “Is that really going to do it?” I whispered, still listening to the bell, which was definitely getting louder.

  “Every time. He’s easily pleased, aren’t you, boy?”

  Foggy sat there, tongue lolling, as Will patted his head. I held my breath, waiting to be discovered, straining for any change in the noise.

  After a few long minutes I heard Will exhale noisily. “I think the bell is getting further away now,” he said. “I wonder what all that was about?”

  As he spoke the lights in the corridor silently blinked out, leaving us in total darkness.

  I come round as the nap bell rings and the room is suddenly plunged into darkness. I will have an hour’s peace before he starts on me again. So many questions! I keep telling him it was all a mistake, but I can tell he thinks that I’m lying, and I know that his patience is wearing thin.

  What would the Farmer say if he actually knew about our plan? Would he be surprised that some of us had had the courage to try and mount our own revolution to depose him? Some of the Elders must know that the Farmer’s ideas are madness, that there is no way he can attack. Some of them may even think like us, but I’ll never know. Right now I’m safer saying nothing. I know that he wants to send me to the Crop – that was clear as soon as he started to question me, but he is desperate to find out how I got past it and up Above.

  I would really like to see Carita again before … I can’t even think the words. I wish I’d gone to see her before I went Above and started this mess. Maybe she would have talked me out of it. Maybe I’d have accepted my Assignment and would now be snoozing gently in my bed instead of lying on this cold floor, waiting.

  An image of Dane flashes through my mind and I feel a stab of real pain in my chest. I know that I failed in the mission, that I should never have gone beyond the tunnels – and stayed Above – that he must feel I betrayed him. If it had only been him on the street the other day and not Neville, if I hadn’t felt so bad about staying, if only he had spoken with me, maybe things would be different. And worst of all, I can’t believe that he told Lily he loved me. Not now it’s all too late.

  I saw him briefly when I was brought back down – he was part of the group of Listeners who escorted me through the Community to the cells. I tried not to look at him too much, but I was able to stand close to him as they led me through a small doorway. I didn’t dare say much, but I did mumble “I’m sorry” to him as I pretended to bump into him. He wouldn’t even glance in my direction.

  He must be terrified that I’m going to reveal his part in our plan, because that would earn him a place next to me with the Crop.

  When I think about the Crop, I find it hard to breathe and I start to shake. I curl up in a small ball and try to shut out the nightmares by telling myself one of the stories that Lily read to me, but my thoughts quickly turn to the wonders I have seen Above. I can’t – and I won’t – forget. At least I won’t die having spent my entire life below ground; I won’t die never having seen anything important or never having tasted the air. Pr
oper, fresh air. But I will still die. Nothing can change that now.

  “Maybe it was a bell for lights-out. Aria mentioned something the other day about having a nap.”

  There was a chuckle in the darkness. “Of course! They’ve all gone to bed.”

  “I didn’t realise that they all do it at once though,” I said. “This will make it much, much easier to investigate the place. They’ll all be tucked up in bed!”

  “Even if it does make finding Aria much, much harder,” agreed Will with a smile in his voice. “OK, torches at the ready.”

  We slipped back out of the door, and, keeping our torches low so that they would attract less attention, started making our way down the corridor. The yellow pools of light lit up the dusty floor, which looked like polished rock.

  “I think this must be a service tunnel,” whispered Will as we went past a series of dark openings, which seemed to be rough doorways without actual doors. “Look in there.”

  He pointed with his torch. The doorway opened on to a chamber that was packed full of crates. We couldn’t resist seeing what was in the top one.

  “Tins of corned beef,” he said, putting one back in the crate. “Yuk. All the labels are damaged, as if they’ve been under water. This one’s rusty. Even Foggy won’t eat that. It’s a wonder they’ve not all died of food poisoning.”

  “So if this is a service tunnel connecting the lift and the supplies with the canteen, there must be some sort of main street, I guess.”

  I was trying to imagine a map of the tunnels.

  “That was probably where the person with the bell was walking,” said Will. “It wasn’t too far away from here.”

  His logic seemed sensible.

  “OK, let’s keep on this one for now, if we can. I guess it will all depend on where Foggy leads us.”