by Lisa Jade
Delight dances in his eyes.
“Lots of ridiculous stuff happens. I’ve had vague dreams and flashes of weird things – things I couldn’t possibly have seen before. Thing I don’t even know the names of. Who knows, if your story’s true, it could all make sense.”
“You remember things?”
“Not exactly. Little flashes here and there. Images, faces. The memories don’t link up to anything, but I must know them from somewhere. If you’re right, I could be remembering my own family.”
The thought fills me with joy and horror. Returning Kane to his family would have been wonderful. I’d have loved to know who he used to be, to watch as he steps right back into his old life like I did with mine.
But then I remember where we are, and my heart sinks. We’ll never get to Thorne. I’ll never see my family again, and he’ll never even know his. There’s no point thinking about how great it would be, since it’s never going to happen.
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t keep hold of that transmitter,” I mutter, “we could have scanned you, then called for help. I don’t know if they’d be able to do much, but…”
“You mean they’d come to save you?”
“If I called for help, yeah.”
“It’s been longer than they thought, though. If they could rescue you, don’t you think they’d have done it by now?”
“Maybe. It’s easier said than done. If I were on the surface, they could help. Hell, if I were up there, I could escape on my own. Find my way back. I could even take you and Sara with me if we were out there. Scan you back in the Atrium. But we’re all stuck.”
“Have you considered breaking out of the mines?”
“I thought about it. But it’s not going to happen. The gates are too heavy to move and they’re guarded at all hours. Not to mention it’d be impossible to get to the entrance when we’re working so many miles down.”
I huff, misery settling in me – but to my surprise, Kane’s smiling again.
“What?” I bark, “what’s so funny?”
“Not funny, exactly. Just… I’ve got an idea.”
That night, Kane slips in with the rest of our group on the way back. The Guards either don’t notice or don’t care that he’s in the wrong group; it’s just that disorganised. Unlike the farms, workers aren’t even separated by gender. On the surface that would be cause for alarm. The Guards would snarl at every lingering glance. But here? Nobody even looks up from the ground.
Even in the relative quiet of the bed-filled room, few people talk. They’re more hushed than they’ve been the last few nights. Before, there were at least a few muttered conversations. Nervous whispers in the night. Now? Nothing.
“Everyone’s exhausted,” Sara tells me, perhaps predicting my next question, “they’re upping the demand lately. Apparently there’s some kind of event going on in Thorne, so they need optimal power. More coal.”
Something squirms in my stomach. I’m willing to bet that this ‘event’ is the Cull. The extra power’s probably for airing videos across the city. Showing people what happens when they dare to question, dare to speak up.
I just hope that Jay and the others can escape for another year.
Kane’s expression shifts.
“Are you worried about them?”
For the first time in a while, I look at him. I mean, really look at him. Kane’s no longer the lanky brat I met in the field, the one who struggled with swinging an axe for longer than an hour or so. The boy – the man – in front of me is solidly built, with scars forming a macabre patchwork on his face and arms. There are deep creases under his eyes, making him look much older than he actually is. That infuriating naiveté in his eyes has all but vanished.
Suddenly, I feel frightened for him.
“I hadn’t seen you in the light.”
He rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, I know. I’m told by the Guards that I look like some kind of fucked up zombie. Thanks for the reminder.”
“That’s not it,” I say softly, “you just look… really grown up.”
His immediate reaction is to laugh – but then he sees that I’m serious and shakes his head in dismay.
“You’re nuts, did you know that?”
“What? It’s true. You don’t look like a kid anymore.”
“That’s what this place does to you, though I guess you already knew that.”
I respond with a chuckle, then bite back on it.
“Actually, no. When I was down here last, it wasn’t this bad.”
He raises one eyebrow – or at least, what remains of an eyebrow.
“You volunteered last time, right? Maybe you just didn’t realise how bad it was.”
“No, really. It was back breaking work, sure, but it wasn’t like this. Nobody was shoved down tunnels too small to walk through. Nobody starved. Nobody got their skin burnt off, either. It’s a hundred times worse than I remember.”
I glance around the room, at the tired, grey faces and limp forms.
“The last time I was here, there was some kind of life to the place. I remember wondering why everyone was so strange. They all acted like there was some big secret – creeping around, whispering. I’d thought they were going mad. But there’s none of that now.”
Sara sits back against me, her tiny weight pressing against my shoulder.
“Yeah, that would have been before the riot.”
“The what?”
“Nobody’s born a Mine worker, you know,” she mutters, “we’re all down here because we’ve committed transgressions against the Guard. Some of us have blown things up. Others have dared to not work as fast as they’re told. There’s a lot of anger bubbling just under the surface.”
I look back at the pale faces that surround me, doubt building.
“There’s no anger here.”
“Exactly – not anymore, anyway. See, about two years ago everyone worked together. Tried to bust out. Of course it didn’t work. They chained everyone up, and anyone who talked back or even mentioned the attempt had their memories blanked completely. They turned into the zombies you see around you now. Slowly, everyone forgot. Now there’s nothing. People just accept that they’re stuck here.”
Something squirms in my stomach. How did I ever consider breaking out of here, when the focussed force of hundreds of Mine workers couldn’t manage it?
“That explains it,” I say glumly, “it’s just like the leaders and the inner city Guard. They try to scare people out of talking back. When people are afraid, they become that much easier to control.”
“They’re clever,” Sara agrees, “that’s why there are so few of us still willing to fight back. And even then, we have to be sneaky. There’s no standing up to the Guards now. At least, not directly.”
Suddenly, I become aware of someone watching me. Kane rests his chin on his hands, watching with a strange combination of awe and confusion.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“No reason,” he says, though the light dancing in his eyes suggests otherwise. I choose not to push the subject, instead fixing him in my gaze.
“So, you followed us in here for a reason, right? What’s this brilliant idea of yours?”
As I speak, I try to inject a little of that hardness I used to use with him – the firmness that made him listen to me, even if it was only for a little while. It feels weird, though, and I quickly realise that the last time I used this tone, I was defending what the leaders had done.
Kane’s leaning over the edge of the bunk now, trawling his fingertip through the dirt as though it were a pen on paper. It takes a moment for me to realise he’s drawing a map.
“The tunnels, right?”
“Yeah. Obviously this is just the lower levels, there are more on top. Real world’s 3D, you know?”
“I knew that,” I insist, ignoring the flush in my cheeks, “why do you need a map?”
He points towards the centre with a smirk.
“Here’s wher
e we are right now. Over here is where I was working earlier and here… I think this is where you said you were allocated?”
Sara grunts her assent and he nods.
“Good. Think we can get over here?”
He moves his hand, pointing to an area somewhere close to where I was thrown in.
“Yeah,” I say, “I know how to get there, I think. We can probably find a way through these smaller tunnels, right?”
“That’s the plan. Half of it, anyway. The other half is… well, it’s Sara.”
Sara puffs out her cheeks.
“Somehow, I knew that would be part of it. What do you need?”
“Explosives. As much as you can get your hands on. I can get hold of everything else we’ll need.”
“Pfft. Easy.”
Kane chuckles, and I choose not to ask how he knew she could get explosives. I suppose it’s inkeeping with everything she’s told me, though it’s unlikely they’d just leave stacks of the stuff lying around. Still, she seems confident enough. I’m not about to question her.
“I don’t understand,” I mutter, “why would we need to blow something up? Is it some kind of distraction?”
“Nope.”
“Then what?”
He leans in, but not before checking there’s nobody listening in. He has nothing to worry about; everyone’s dozing in their bunks, or trying to force chunks of bread down their throats. It’s not that they’re being polite. Nobody cares what we’re talking about.
Still, I scoot forward and listen eagerly as he explains.
“Noah, you know that I came down here out of choice. The day I punched Wirrow, it was with the aim of getting thrown down here.”
“I’d figured as much, but…”
“You didn’t know why, right? I get it. I probably should have explained. I have a couple of buddies down here. One night, they had to come to the surface and I ran into them. They told me all about the history of the Mines, and that attempt from a few years back.”
I stare. I hadn’t known he was so social.
“I was sorry to hear about what had happened,” he continues, “but I was excited that there were others who didn’t want to be here. We got talking and eventually, they told me about the backup plan.”
Sara gasps.
“I had no idea there was a backup plan!”
“Well, there is. The Miners were working together on a new access tunnel – right here, on the map. Since the mines are built under a risen piece of land, the idea was they could dig right out of the side of the hill. Outer edge of the Mill, no fence to jump. Easy.”
But his face falls, and there’s a hint of frustration in his eyes as he pushes on.
“They were only a couple of months away from breaking out. But things took a turn in the summer, and the Guards beat everyone down again. Nobody wanted to risk it anymore.”
“You came down here to break out?”
The realisation almost hurts. The day he’d pleaded with me to join him, he was trying to help me. He’d figured the Mines were his best chance to get away, and for some reason he’d trusted me enough to want to save me, too. Even though he knew I’d be resistant.
If I’d helped him that day, we’d be out by now. We wouldn’t have reached Thorne and we certainly wouldn’t have ever learned the truth – but we’d be free. And Kane wouldn’t have that snarling voice or horrific scar.
The guilt swirls in me. Kane doesn’t react, but it seems he’s trying hard to keep his expression neutral. Perhaps he can see the agony in my eyes.
“That was the plan,” he mutters, “but it was too hard to do alone, and frankly I was too angry. I don’t even know what I’d have done if I got out.”
That doesn’t do much to relieve me of my guilt.
“It won’t work anyway, right?” I say, “if they were months away, we won’t be able to dig that. Maybe eventually, but not before the Cull.”
Sara guffaws, then slaps me on the shoulder.
“Come on Noah, I thought you were smart. What do you think the explosives are for?”
“You can’t be serious! A detonation that big will summon every Guard in the place! We won’t be able to get away.”
“There’s not much we can do about that, is there? We’ll just have to run and hope for the best. You know where we’re goin’, right? Show us the way.”
She winks.
“Team effort, right?”
I glance at each of them in turn, feeling simultaneously sick and empowered.
“This is really the best plan we have?”
“Looks like it,” Kane smirks, “unless you’d rather stay here forever?”
I watch him for a moment. Even in the dim light, I can clearly see his scar. I think about the pain it must have caused him, the terror he must have felt. My fault, no matter how I dice it. I can’t let him stay here. I can’t let my family and friends slip away and become a memory, either. My fingers tighten on the edge of the bunk.
“No. Okay, you’re right. Let’s do this. Tomorrow.”
He just smiles in response.
I don’t know how she did it, but she did. As I stand waiting at the entrance to the escape tunnel, Sara jumps into sight with a load of explosives strapped to her back. There’s a surprising amount, enough to unnerve me.
“That’s going to be one hell of an explosion,” I mutter. She drops the pack into the shadows and flips back a lock of hair.
“It needs to be done. These tunnels haven’t been worked for years, so the soil’s not going to be easy to dig through. There’ll probably be a lot of rocks to blast aside, too. Have you sorted it out?”
I nod. I’ve spent the last few hours hidden away in here, carving large crevices in the walls where we can hide from the blast. It made sense; I haven’t been tagged yet, so I can sneak around much longer than the others can without being noticed. I’m plastered in muck and a little breathless from the hard work – but for once, I’m satisfied. There’s something pleasant about working hard when it’s for something you actually care about.
Sara glances up and down the tunnel; I can see the nerves building in her eyes.
“Where’s Kane? We need to get movin’!”
“Nobody’s going to notice we’re off our post,” I assure her, “and even if they do, by the time they figure out where we are, we’ll be long gone.”
She ignores me.
“He needs to hurry up.”
“Hey. What’s wrong with you?”
I try to sound nonchalant, but her attitude disturbs me. I may have only known her a few days, but it’s not like her to seem so panicked.
She bounces on her heels for a moment, shooting me awkward sideways glances.
“I’m just worried. It’s not like Kane to be late. Do you think somethin’ happened?”
I move to shake my head, but then stop. I really hope not.
“I’ll go check,” I say – but as I step into the tunnel, he’s there. Kane barrels into me, sending both of us crashing into the dirt.
“Ow! What the hell?”
He doesn’t apologise; just grabs my hand to pull me up.
“We need to move now.”
“What? Why?”
Suddenly, his face grows dark. There’s genuine fear lurking behind those youthful eyes, contorting in his features. It’s enough to make my own heart beat faster.
“On the way here, I had to cross one of the bigger caverns,” he explains, his voice hard, “they had a bunch of surface Guards down here. I don’t know why. But Wirrow was there.”
My blood runs cold, and suddenly I share the same fear as him. Neither of us want to encounter that man again – ever, if we can help it.
“Is he close?” I whisper.
“He saw me with the wires. He’s not thick; he knows I stole them. He’s coming after me.”
I open my mouth to object, to tell him he wouldn’t chase Kane for no reason, but the words die in my throat. This is the same man whose touch on my back was enough to
terrify me. The same man who chased me through the darkness for the hell of it. Would he abandon his post to pursue Kane through the tunnels on a hunch? Absolutely.
I whip around to Sara, who’s staring blankly at us.
“We need to move.”
“I’ll need a few minutes to set up the explosives…”
“No time,” Kane barks, “I can hear someone coming. Just blow the lot.”
She seems frightened at that – and I can see why. She’s never been in this situation before; so close to getting out, so close to getting captured. It’s easy to see why she’s scared. Still, to her credit, she doesn’t let it show. She throws everything into place, quickly determines the weakest part of the wall, and starts linking up wires. I don’t have a clue what she’s doing and I don’t wait around to find out; I’m too busy staring into the depths of the tunnel.
Kane’s right. Someone’s coming. And though it might just be my own fear speaking, I’m sure I recognise the weight of their footsteps, and the huffiness of their breathing.
“It’s him,” Kane breathes, and the panic sets in.
If we’re caught now, there’s no way out. Wirrow won’t rest until he’s destroyed us. We exchange nervous glances. Before, I hadn’t been afraid of the Guard at all. Wirrow had seemed like a slightly harsher-than-average enforcer – but nothing to fear. Now? Knowing how mercilessly he tortured Kane, how easily he beat me down? The last thing I want is to face him again. I’d rather have a fist fight with Maynard at this point.
I close my eyes. Think of a plan, think of a plan. Something, anything.
It’s too late. A hand reaches from the shadows and clutches at Kane, pulling him round by his shoulder. He yelps and jumps away, but Wirrow’s grip is too strong. In an instant he’s pinned him up against the wall, those beady eyes filled with malice.
“I knew you’d be up to something,” he snarls, “stealing, this time?”
There’s a frightening degree of hatred in his voice as he speaks, tightening his grip on Kane’s collar with each word. The younger man’s face turns red as the air is squeezed from him.
“Kane!”
My own voice echoes in the darkness – and as Wirrow’s head snaps toward me, I realise he hadn’t seen me until now. His face contorts with rage at the sight of my face.
