Down and Out: A Young Adult Dystopian Adventure (The Undercity Series Book 1) (10 page)

“Why are you people even bothering?” Dorkas asked as he came up behind them. 

While Teddy and his father were covered in muck and sweat, the Undercity creeper was suspiciously clean despite carrying a shovel. 

“Didn’t know you were here helping, Dorkas,” Pa said in a tolerant tone. “Good.  The more hands the better.”

“Stow the sarcasm, Peterson, I...”

“Look,” Pa said, cutting the creeper off with a wave of his hand. He pointed his handlight through the web of rubble.  “There, I think there’s movement.”

Teddy turned his own light to where his father was pointing, squinting to find whatever Pa had seen.  Far ahead in the dark, something moved.

“I think it’s an arm,” he said and crept closer to get a better look.

“Careful,” Pa said as he moved a busted pipe aside. “This whole section could go at any moment.”

“You people are cracked if you are going to go out there,” Dorkas said, backing away.

“Scared, Dorkas?” Pa asked over his shoulder as he slipped under a beam.  “Don’t worry; you don’t have to come.”

“Scared? No,” the creeper said with a scoffing laugh.  “But I ain’t foolish enough to risk the ground crumbling under me for a shadow.”

“It’s not a shadow, listen,” Teddy said as he caught the faint call of a voice.

They held still, waiting in the silence for confirmation of help. A low groan and murmur echoed off the stone and cinderblocks, drifting toward them in a barely audible, but definitely living whisper.

“Yep, that’s someone,” Pa said and began to move rubble aside in a hurry. “Come on, Dorkas, give a hand.”

The creeper hesitated, glaring at everyone and everything. Finally, he wiped his nose on the back of his arm and took hold of the wooden beam Pa was trying to shift. 

“This ain’t gonna move much,” Dorkas grunted as they strained against the weight. 

Teddy climbed in beside his father and helped as best as he could, but the three of them were barely able to shift the beam more than a foot.

Huffing, Teddy stepped back and put his hands to his knees as they took a moment to rest. Somewhere beyond their barrier more rubble shifted. 

“This is too dangerous,” Dorkas said, backing away.  “I ain’t risking my life for any Underling.”

“You’re an Underling, Dorkas,” Pa said, trying to find a way through. “Just like everyone else down here.”

“I think I can get through, Pa. I’m smaller than you,” Teddy said as he peered through the maze of beams and pipes. 

His father took a step back, his hands on his hips and sweat trickling down the side of his face.  “I don’t know, Ted.  This area could go at any moment.”

“Which means there’s no time to waste,” Teddy said and began to climb through the mess.

“Be careful,” his father said, holding his lantern high to light the way. 

Teddy twisted and wriggled his way around broken vents, dangling wires, and splintered lumber.  Dust hampered his breathing while bits of cement and other pieces of debris cut into his hands and knees.  The stifling heat sent droplets of perspiration down his forehead and into his eyes. He strained his ears for any sounds of life.

“Anything?  Teddy?” his father called. “Ted, answer me, please.”

“Yeah,” Teddy said and coughed.  “Yeah,” he said louder. “I think there’s room further ahead, but I need more light.”

“Coming.”

“No, Pa, wait,” Teddy said, but was too late as he heard his father working his way toward him. 

Unable to think of a way to stop his father, Teddy kept moving forward.  His shoulders and back ached from twisting around all the obstacles hampering his way.  At the moment when he thought he couldn’t get any farther, he pushed aside a slab of wallboard and crawled out into an open area. 

He shook dirt and dust from his hair and sat in the low light for a moment to catch his breath. 

“You all right?” Pa asked as he appeared with two handlights in one hand.  His face was filthy with sweat and filth.  He crawled in beside Teddy, his chest heaving from laboured breathing.

“Yeah,” Teddy said and wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve. He took one of the lights from his father. “That was a tight squeeze. I’m surprised you were able to get through.”

His father chuckled and rubbed his shoulder.  “Wasn’t easy.  I’m not as limber as I used to be. What was that?”

They both fell silent and turned as they heard a scratching sound not far from where they sat.  Teddy swept his light over the area. A small shape huddled by a broken piece of furniture about twenty feet from them. 

“I see someone,” he said and crept forward.  The floor beneath him began to creak and groan the further along he moved.  He slid down onto his stomach, spreading out his weight.  Another foot further, the ground dropped away and a wide, black hole divided him and the figure on the other side.

“Teddy, get back,” his father said.  “It’s too unstable.”

“It’s a child, Pa,” he replied as he pointed his beam on the person across the way.

The little Underling had to be no more than five or six, and was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth.  Long strands of tangled, dirty hair covered the child’s face.

“Hey,” Teddy called in a gentle voice.  “I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?”

The child didn’t respond.

“You have to let me know if you’re okay.  Are you hurt? Can you move?”

Still, the child just rocked and whimpered.

“Pa, we need something to lay across the hole, so I can crawl over,” Teddy said, glancing back toward his father.

After a moment’s searching, Pa scrounged up three boards, each about twelve feet long and four inches wide, and pushed them, one by one, over to Teddy. 

“I’m not so certain this is a good idea, Ted.  Maybe I should do this.  Anything happens to you and your mother will never forgive me.”

As Teddy slid each board across the opening, the edge of the floor crumbled a little more. “You’re too heavy.  I’ll be all right.  Got something to tie these together with?  I don’t want to have them spread apart right in the middle of crossing.”

Pa yanked down a long dangling piece of wire coated in white plastic from the ceiling and tossed it over to him.  Teddy looped it around the boards and twisted the ends around each other until the cable held the wood tight together. The makeshift crossing did not appear stable at all, but there was no other way across.

“Okay, I’m going over,” Teddy said and took a deep breath. He placed his handlight on the ground so that the beam illuminated the makeshift bridge and the other side of the room. 

“Wait a moment, Teddy,” his father said and passed him another long piece of wire. “Tie this around your waist. I have enough here for you to get across. That way if you go down, I have some way of getting you back.”

“Right. Good idea.” Teddy threaded the wire through the loops of his pants and knotted the cable tight. 

As his father fed him the wire, Teddy crawled across the boards.  His makeshift bridge bowed slightly in the middle from his weight, making him freeze for a moment, as he feared the whole thing would collapse.  Without anything to secure the ends to the floor, the planks wobbled and shook.  He kept his breath long and slow, concentrating on reaching the other side.  By the time he touched the other side, his whole body vibrated with tension. 

“Made it,” he said and lay down by the hole to recover. 

“Good job,” Pa said from the other side, his face ghostly in the dim light. “How’s the child?”

Teddy sat up and crawled over to the little Underling, who refused to unwind from the foetal position.

“Hey,” Teddy said, keeping his voice low. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

The Underling jerked and whimpered louder as Teddy touched the kid’s shoulder.

Bits of plaster and wallboard crumbled down around them.  Teddy ducked his head, sheltering the child with his body. 

“Come on.  You don’t want to stay here, do you?” he asked, and the kid sniffed. “Come on.  You can do this. Let’s go.”

After a slight hesitation, the child lifted its head and stared at him with giant blue eyes through whirling strands of hair.  Between the tattered clothes and all the dirt, there was no way to tell if the little Underling was a boy or a girl.

“Hey, hi,” Teddy said, brushing hair out of the child’s face.  “Don’t worry.”  He took off his long-sleeved shirt. “Climb on my back, and we’ll get out of here. You want to get out of here, yes?”

The kid nodded, sniffed, and crawled over to him.  As the Underling wrapped thin arms around Teddy’s neck, he draped the shirt around both of them and tied the sleeves across his chest.  With the child secured, he crept back to the bridge.

“Coming back,” he yelled to his father.  “Hold on tight,” he said to the child, whose grip tightened. 

With his heart pounding, Teddy began to cross the boards.  The hole in the floor continued down and down, a black pit leading to an unseen bottom. Pushing back his fears, he inched forward, eyes trained on the next move.  The wood bowed more this time, due to the extra weight of the child. 

“Oh, boy,” Teddy muttered under his breath.  The grip of the Underling made it difficult for him to breath, let alone swallow. 

Beneath him, the makeshift bridge wobbled as the floor behind him began to break away.  First one board slipped out from under his hand and fell away, dangling by the wire tethering it to the other planks.  He tried to keep going, but another panel let loose next, and he froze, precariously clinging to the final slat before it too gave way. 

The child screeched in his ear as they swung down into the pit.  They jerked to a stop as the wire went taut. Above them, Pa yelled and groaned as he hauled on the thin cable keeping them from plunging to their deaths. 

Gut hurting from where the wire dug into his flesh, Teddy grabbed the cable and steadied them.  His pants pulled tight against his groin and the little Underling clung so hard to his throat, spots appeared before his eyes.

“Pa? I have nothing to grab onto,” he croaked as he worked a little space between his neck and the kid’s fingers.

“Hold on,” his father shouted, his voice strained.  “Dorkas.  Dorkas!  Gah, he left.”

As Teddy began to rise slowly, he reached overhead, trying to grab hold of the edge of the floor.  Finally, he managed to make contact with the splintering wood.  His father pulled and pulled while Teddy caught a hold of the platform with first his fingers, and then his hands.  Grunting and straining, he gradually climbed to safety. 

“It’s okay; you can let go,” he said, panting as he collapsed by his father, who sunk down beside him. 

The little Underling squealed and let go, eyes as big as Teddy’s hand. With another cry, the child bolted through the maze of wood and pipes before they could do anything about it.

“Well, at least the kid is safe,” Pa said, grasping Teddy’s shoulder.  “Come on.  Let’s get back ourselves.”

After a bout of coughing, Teddy cleared his throat and nodded.  Limbs shaking, he wormed his way back through the criss-cross path of debris.  Behind him, Pa followed with a little more difficulty and a lot more swearing. 

“You okay back there?” he asked after a rumbling bang and a loud curse.

“Yeah,” his father said with a grunt. “Damn pipe.  My foot’s caught.”

“I’ll come back and help,” Teddy said, trying to figure out how to turn around in such tight corners. 

“Teddy?  You there?” called a voice from farther in front of him. 

“Henri?  Yeah.  Hey, can you clear some of this out of the way?  Pa’s stuck,” Teddy answered as he realized his only viable path was forward.  He twisted and turned until he reached the place where their brute was pulling a large beam out of way. 

“There you are,” Henri said, his face lighting up with relief as he hauled Teddy to a standing position.

“Ah, huh,” Teddy gasped, staggering.  “Pa needs a little help though.”  He managed to wave in his father’s direction before sinking down onto a broken desk. 

Henri nodded and continued to create a larger opening until he reached Pa.  After he freed Teddy’s father’s foot, the brute carried him out of the maze despite Pa’s many protests.

“Did you see a little kid come through here?” Pa asked Henri as he mopped his forehead with his shirt.

“Uh, yep.  Tiny thing ran past.  Mrs. Peterson caught.  All good. Saw creeper too.  He duck fast like guilty rat.  Thought I’d see what up to.”

“We’re glad you did,” Teddy said as he massaged his neck.  “Could have used you earlier, but all is well.”

“Nice to know someone’s safe,” Pa said and glanced back at the maze as the floor shuddered. “Well, relatively anyway.”

Teddy clasped his father on the shoulder and grinned.  “Let’s get out of here,” he said and they staggered back toward the safer area of Undercity.

As they entered the area where the floor was more stable, a tremendous crash came from behind them along with a cloud of dust and dirt.  Teddy froze, his heart jumping to his throat.

“We won’t tell your Ma about this,” Pa said, and Teddy nodded.

“Good idea.”

A
fter Teddy located Jolon again, they worked for more hours than he could keep track of. All their neighbours pitched in moving rubble, digging people out, working on securing walls, and trying to salvage whatever they could of their Undercity crumbling around them.

“I’m tired,” Jolon babbled as he trailed behind Teddy. “Tired, hungry tired, numb tired, and tired, tired.” He sat down on a large boulder and tossed back some water from his canteen. Mud and muck streaked his face and stuck his curls upright. “I don’t think we’re going to find any more pockets.”

“Yeah,” Teddy sighed, sitting by his brother. “I’m so drained my bones resolved to quit working, and my muscles agreed.”

All around him, sweaty tattered people dug away with little air or light. “These are good people when the need is strong.”

“Uh-huh,” Jolon nodded. “And rotten when the need is ripe. Let’s take bets on which need is more common.”

“Ehh, you two are lazy,” old man Fudge shouted at them as he went by with his cart overflowing with bags of clutter to sort and clean. His three sisters ambled along behind him, dragging their bodies as though they were ancient. He thrust a shovel at the mound behind them. “Dig, dig.”