beating, so I take a deep breath and will my body to calm down. If I’m this frightened in the tunnels how can I possibly hope to avoid the filchers?
I have to move. I told Pace to meet me at dawn and I know it is coming. I can feel it inside me, a pulling in my body and a craving for the soft morning light. I move onward, quietly and carefully, in case someone is following me.
It’s just a rat … Why would anyone want to follow me? I convince myself that my imagination has run away and created threats that simply aren’t there as I come to the ladder that will carry me up to dome level. The struts are old and weak and I can only pray that they hold me as I climb ever upward. If I fall I would lay forever in the darkness, waiting for someone to find me.
The rats would find me …
My fears are getting the best of me. I cannot allow it. To do so will compromise me when I go above. I convince myself that my imagination is once more running away as I steadily climb. Suddenly a strut breaks beneath my foot and I dangle precariously in the air for what seems like an eternity before my foot finds the next step and I hold on for dear life, too far up to go back and too frightened to go on.
Is this worth dying over? I should be home, in our little house, in the cavern below. I should be in my bed, with the covers pulled up to my chin and a cat curled up next to me. As I press my forehead against the cool dark dirt of the access tunnel I cannot help but think of all the things I’d rather be doing.
But then what will happen? Does the prospect of getting up every evening, going to the mines, coming home and going to bed, and then repeating it again and again until I die, suffocated by the death of my lungs, give meaning to my life? After James’s accusations I am destined to be alone. I see my future stretching out ahead of me, dark and lonely. Shouldn’t there be more to life than this? Is that what drove Alex? To show Lucy that there could be more?
My life, whatever it was, is forever changed. I can never go back to that innocence, not after James’s accusations. Not after Alex’s death. I have to move upward and onward. I have to go above. It’s either that or die right here, lost and without hope.
I take a deep breath and climb. It’s a long way but finally I see the wooden hatch above me, growing closer with every step up the ladder. The latch is rusty and it takes every bit of my strength to slide it open and push the hatch upward. I climb out and lie on the smooth dirt for a moment, taking the time to catch my breath and contemplate what I am about to do.
I am in one of the access tunnels for the subterranean part of the dome. Our hatch opens into a storage area. From here I move into the channel that holds the vents and lines that bring power to the royals. Below me are the sewers. I hear the rush of water running beneath the wooden boards that creak as I crawl on all fours toward the service entrance. I listen to make sure no one is around before I cautiously emerge in a dark alley.
My original plan had been to go to my usual spot and watch to see if Pace showed up. Now, with the warrant issued for me, I decide that I should stay to the shadows, as I am certain the filchers more than likely know my usual haunts. I pull my scarf up over the lower part of my face and loosen my hair from its band so it will fall forward and around my face. For once I am happy for the unruly curliness as it will help cover me and hopefully obscure the shine of my eyes. My goggles will identify me as a shiner for certain so I stuff them into my pants pocket.
I see no one except for a lonely cat investigating an overturned can of trash as I make my way to the library. The light is already filtering in from above and I know Max and his coworkers are more than likely already above. I realize I should not risk going to the roof of the library. If I can find a safe enough place, I can wait and watch for Pace.
I am lucky as the
I have to move. I told Pace to meet me at dawn and I know it is coming. I can feel it inside me, a pulling in my body and a craving for the soft morning light. I move onward, quietly and carefully, in case someone is following me.
It’s just a rat … Why would anyone want to follow me? I convince myself that my imagination has run away and created threats that simply aren’t there as I come to the ladder that will carry me up to dome level. The struts are old and weak and I can only pray that they hold me as I climb ever upward. If I fall I would lay forever in the darkness, waiting for someone to find me.
The rats would find me …
My fears are getting the best of me. I cannot allow it. To do so will compromise me when I go above. I convince myself that my imagination is once more running away as I steadily climb. Suddenly a strut breaks beneath my foot and I dangle precariously in the air for what seems like an eternity before my foot finds the next step and I hold on for dear life, too far up to go back and too frightened to go on.
Is this worth dying over? I should be home, in our little house, in the cavern below. I should be in my bed, with the covers pulled up to my chin and a cat curled up next to me. As I press my forehead against the cool dark dirt of the access tunnel I cannot help but think of all the things I’d rather be doing.
But then what will happen? Does the prospect of getting up every evening, going to the mines, coming home and going to bed, and then repeating it again and again until I die, suffocated by the death of my lungs, give meaning to my life? After James’s accusations I am destined to be alone. I see my future stretching out ahead of me, dark and lonely. Shouldn’t there be more to life than this? Is that what drove Alex? To show Lucy that there could be more?
My life, whatever it was, is forever changed. I can never go back to that innocence, not after James’s accusations. Not after Alex’s death. I have to move upward and onward. I have to go above. It’s either that or die right here, lost and without hope.
I take a deep breath and climb. It’s a long way but finally I see the wooden hatch above me, growing closer with every step up the ladder. The latch is rusty and it takes every bit of my strength to slide it open and push the hatch upward. I climb out and lie on the smooth dirt for a moment, taking the time to catch my breath and contemplate what I am about to do.
I am in one of the access tunnels for the subterranean part of the dome. Our hatch opens into a storage area. From here I move into the channel that holds the vents and lines that bring power to the royals. Below me are the sewers. I hear the rush of water running beneath the wooden boards that creak as I crawl on all fours toward the service entrance. I listen to make sure no one is around before I cautiously emerge in a dark alley.
My original plan had been to go to my usual spot and watch to see if Pace showed up. Now, with the warrant issued for me, I decide that I should stay to the shadows, as I am certain the filchers more than likely know my usual haunts. I pull my scarf up over the lower part of my face and loosen my hair from its band so it will fall forward and around my face. For once I am happy for the unruly curliness as it will help cover me and hopefully obscure the shine of my eyes. My goggles will identify me as a shiner for certain so I stuff them into my pants pocket.
I see no one except for a lonely cat investigating an overturned can of trash as I make my way to the library. The light is already filtering in from above and I know Max and his coworkers are more than likely already above. I realize I should not risk going to the roof of the library. If I can find a safe enough place, I can wait and watch for Pace.
I am lucky as the
Similar Books
