Chapter 10:

Prisoners

The Fight for Humanity


The white and clay facades of ancient stone buildings had various carvings upon them. At each street corner, there were stores, cafes, and more, bustling with activity. Kids, adults, friends, lovers, everyone out and about seemed happy. Some people were out on a stroll, enjoying the day before them. The Underworld was like an endless chasm, with open spaces stretching far and wide, connected by a system of tunnels.

We were led down the city streets, shackled together by chains around our ankles. We were prisoners of the Underworld, and they still insisted on touring us around the place as though we wanted to be here.

“Well that about covers it.” Orion, serving as our retainer and tour guide, stopped at the front steps of the prison. He took us around the entire city, known as the 35th district. It was a strange coincidence that the Dwellers also divided their territory into districts. Unlike the Cube, however, the Underworld had much more space. The existence of a 35th district implied there were at least 34 others. If each district was the size of this one, the Dwellers covered a massive amount of land. It was no surprise they had it better down here, since they left the rest of humanity to die on the surface.

All six of us, the surviving members of Squad Delta, were now prisoners of the Underworld. Myself, Amber, Garnet, Diamond, Malachite, and Crystal survived. Everyone else was dead. Soon enough we would join them. I’m sure that’s what the Dwellers wanted.

“Tomorrow, all six of you will be assigned your own retainers,” Orion continued. “Including yours truly. I’m not sure which one of you I’ll be assigned to, but I’m sure we’ll get along smoothly.”

Malachite clenched his fist. He was first in our line, closest to Orion, but just out of arm's reach. He wouldn’t be able to punch Orion even if he wanted to.

“You’re acting real smug,” Malachite scoffed. “Once we free ourselves just know we’ll be getting our revenge.”

Orion chuckled. “That’s a lot of talk for someone in shackles. Behave yourselves, tomorrow is an important day.”

“Important how?” Amber, quizzical as always.

“Tomorrow you’ll go through rounds of questioning and examinations with your retainer. We will use those results to determine where you can best serve the Underworld. Our hope is to eventually integrate you into society.” Orion paused for a moment. “Wait, I forget if I’m supposed to say that part.”

Retainer? What’s a retainer? And integrate us into society? Was this some kind of sick joke? How, or why, would we ever integrate into what the Dwellers want to call society? Society is in the Cube. Humanity is in the Cube. This, down here, could not be called living. It was hell on Earth, befitting of the Underworld moniker.

“Understood.” Garnet was professional, as always. I guess it came with the territory of being a squad leader, even when dealing with the enemy. “We will be ready for whatever may come tomorrow.”

“You can’t be serious, Garnet!”

“Can it, Ray.” He snapped back quickly. “Remember, we’re prisoners here, even if they speak to us politely. Don’t cause trouble.”

“Yes sir,” I replied through my teeth. Garnet was right, even if I didn’t want him to be. We were at their mercy. The fact that we were still alive was a small miracle in and of itself.


The next morning, I was led into the interrogation room alongside the other remaining members of Squad Delta. We were lined up against the back wall, furthest from the door. Orion, who retrieved us in the morning, already announced he would be one of our retainers. That left five more for us to meet. I hoped for anyone but Orion. His smug air of superiority already had me on my last nerve.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” Orion said. “I will bring in the other retainers.”

Orion backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. The remnants of Squad Delta were all that remained in the room.

“So Garnet, what’s the plan?” Malachite asked. The Dwellers were keeping all six of us in different wings of the prison, to prevent us from collaborating in the night. If we could not discuss an escape plan, it would make execution nearly impossible. The Dwellers were smart, and that made me even angrier. Taking them all down would be no walk in the metaphorical park.

“There is no plan.” Diamond was not the one addressed, but she answered.

“No plan? What are you talking about?”

She continued to look forward towards the door. “Think for a second, Malachite. We have no leverage here. Say we manage to escape now, what do we do then? Do we even know where the exit is? Even if we find the exit, do we know where our hazard suits are, if they haven’t been destroyed yet?”

Diamond brought up fair points. She was knowledgeable, as always. Our thinking was too shortsighted. I wanted to escape as badly as anyone, and get my revenge against the Dwellers, but we had no course of action.

Malachite looked down to the floor. He was defeated by Diamond’s logic.

“That doesn’t mean we’re giving up.” It was Garnet’s turn to speak up. “While we are here, we will play the part they want us to play. But take note, make observations of your surroundings. Any pieces of information we can gather during our time down here will prove vital not only for our escape, but for our return to the Cube as well. I’ll find a way for all of us to meet in the future, so we can discuss our plans. But for now, we behave and do what we can to not be killed.”

“Understood!” Amber was the first to respond to Garnet’s orders, enthusiastic as ever. Even being a prisoner couldn’t keep her spirits down. She had enough energy for the entire squad.

The door swung back open and Orion re-entered the room. “Hello again, Surface Walkers. Allow me to introduce you to your retainers.” Orion gestured towards the door, as if he were showing some big reveal. One by one, Dwellers entered the interrogation room.

First to enter was a teenage girl, certainly younger than anyone in our group. She shared the same fair skin and dark black hair as every other Dweller. She was tall, fit, and slender, with long hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes had a coldness to them, as though she felt nothing.

Next entered a young man of average height with a muscular build. If I had to guess, he was a couple years older than me and Amber. His hair was unkempt and covering the entirety of his right eye.

Third was another woman, this one older. Perhaps around Diamond’s age. She was not as tall as the first girl to enter, but her gait had an air of maturity, as did her demeanor. Her hair was medium length with bangs parted to the side. Even though each Dweller had the same complexion and hair color, at least they had distinguishing features.

An older man entered fourth. He was by far the oldest of the group, definitely in his 30s. He had a war torn, seasoned face. That likely came with the territory of fighting against humanity for so many years. He entered with a lot less spunk in his step than his younger counterparts.

Four Dwellers had now entered the room. In addition to Orion, that made five in total. There was one Dweller left. My eyes widened and my stomach dropped.

Dawn.


The six Dwellers lined up on the opposite side of the room, led by Orion.

“Now, allow us all to introduce ourselves,” he said. “Once we’ve done introductions, we will pair up and go from there. You already know me, so I’ll abstain.”

Orion stepped back into the line. The teenage girl next to him stepped forward.

“I’m Ariel, 16 years old, a student in the 35th district training to be a full time retainer.” Short and curt. She stepped back into line.

The well built young man stepped forward next. “Apollo, 19 years old. Part time retainer, part time soldier.” Was he one of the soldiers that ambushed us on the surface? How many soldiers did the Underworld have?

“Hello everyone, I’m Esther. A real lady never tells her age.” Orion shot her a dirty look. “Okay, fine,” she sighed reluctantly. “I’m 22 years old and a full time retainer.”

The older man presented himself. “My name is Leo.” His voice was calm, almost defeatist, as though he was resigned to this fate. “I’m 35 years old and work full time now as a retainer. I hope things go smoothly between us.” Something about this man struck me differently, but I couldn’t place it. Perhaps it was the jarring nature of seeing a 35 year old doing the same job as a bunch of teenagers and young adults. Of course, I had no room to talk. The Cube sent us to work as soon as we turned 18 and graduated, and training began well before then.

Dawn was up next. I already knew all I needed to know about that brat from when I interrogated her. “I’m Dawn, 16 years old. I’m a classmate of Ariel and also training to be a full time retainer.”

“Alright then, thank you everyone for the wonderful introductions.” I couldn’t tell if Orion was mockingly sarcastic, or genuinely enjoyed his job this much. Either way, it got on my nerves. “Now, for assignments.”

Ariel walked across the room and the others followed. Ariel stopped in front of Amber. Orion met with Garnet, Esther with Diamond, Apollo with Crystal, and Leo with Malachite. That meant only one thing.

“Are you kidding me.”

I looked Dawn straight in the eyes. Being this up close and personal made my blood boil. I wanted nothing more than to grab her by the neck and throw her to the ground, but I couldn’t, for the sake of our survival.

“Are you sure you can handle this assignment, Dawn?” Apollo asked her. His voice was clear and cunning, befitting his muscular frame.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Listen, pal.” Apollo pressed his finger into the center of my chest. “I know ya kidnapped Dawn and gave her a rough time, so I don’t like ya. Act out of line and I’ll make ya pay.”

Get your dirty hand off me you Dweller. That’s what I wanted to say, but again, I couldn’t. I needed to think about the bigger picture.


Clang. Clang. Clang. The obnoxious sound of metal clattering the bars of my cell stirred me from my slumber.

“Knock it off.”

I rolled over, my eyes still closed. I hadn’t been here long, but after yesterday, there was only one person who would be this annoying this early. Dawn.

“Get up,” Dawn said. Her voice made it clear she wasn’t going to put up with any nonsense from me. It was the same, serious demeanor she carried in our past confrontations. “We have a full day ahead of us. I won’t ask you again.”

Dawn guided me into the city. My movement was severely limited by the shackles around my ankles. She walked at a brisk pace, making it hard for me to keep up.

“Could you maybe slow down?” I said, putting a concentrated effort towards not falling over myself.

“Shut up.”

The nerve of this Dweller.

We arrived at a cafe on the corner of an intersection. “Wait over there.” Dawn pointed to an isolated area behind the building, largely out of public view.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, now move.”

I took a deep breath. Remember, we had to play the part. If I cause trouble now, I could put our escape in jeopardy.

I sat behind the building. Out of sight, out of mind. After a few minutes, Dawn came around back to retrieve me. She had some sort of beverage in one hand and a small bag in the other.

“We really had to stop so you could get a drink?” She was wasting my time with these pointless errands.

“Shut up. I didn’t ask for your commentary.” She took a pastry out of the bag and tossed it to me. “Here. You need to eat too.”

That was far more hospitality than I expected. She pulled out another identical pastry and started eating it herself. I followed suit.

“Alright.” Dawn started walking again. “Follow me. We have somewhere to be. Your first test is about to begin.”


We arrived at the opening of a large tunnel, long enough that I could not see the light at the end. The tunnel was poorly lit. The further we ventured in, the harder it became to see. Soon enough, it was hard to see even Dawn, who was only a meter or two ahead. I had no idea where we were heading, and Dawn refused to elaborate. Wait and see, she said. The tone of her delivery did little to ease my concern.

It felt as though the walk down this dark tunnel would never end. “Do you really not have a light?” I was dumbfounded. How or why would anyone choose to walk such a long distance in a dark tunnel?

“I do, but I don’t feel like using it. Don’t have to see your face this way.”

Trying to engage in any conversation was pointless. She was a Dweller, I’m not sure why I even tried. We took the remainder of our walk in silence.


Eventually, we saw light at the end of the tunnel. When we stepped into the light, we were greeted by a vast, open space. It was a sight to behold. We found ourselves standing on a large ledge, high above the vast plane below. It was hard to believe this entire place was actually underground, beneath the Earth’s surface. If the Dwellers had the time and ability to carve out this much space, they were living the good life.

Dawn kneeled before me. I instinctively stepped back. “Uh, what the hell are you doing?”

“Trying to unlock your shackles, idiot.” She leaned in, placing a key in the lock on my shackles. After jostling with the lock for a moment, she pulled the shackles off my ankles. I once again had a full range of motion.

“And why did you take them off?” I was still a prisoner. Frankly, removing my shackles made no sense.

“It’s time for the final part of your test.”

She had my attention now. I had to sit through painful rounds of questioning, prove I could act properly in the city, run a bunch of stupid errands for her and other Dwellers, and perform worthless, menial labor. What could possibly be left?

Dawn pointed off to the right. “If you walk far enough that way, you’ll eventually see a staircase carved out of the rock. Go down the stairs.” She pointed to the vast, open plane at least 50 meters below us. “The stairs will lead you down there.”

Without acknowledging her command, I accepted her orders. This was a rare moment with my shackles off, and I intended to take advantage of it. The walk to the stairwell was a long one, around 500 meters, give or take. It spoke volumes to the size of this chasm.

I stared up at Dawn from the base of the chasm, confusion written all over my face. From so far away, there was no way she could see my expression, but she laughed as if she could.

“What exactly am I doing down here?” I called out to her.

She continued to laugh. “You’ll see in a minute!”

I continued to wait at the bottom of the chasm. There was nothing in sight. After a few minutes, a low rumbling came from the distance. I looked back at Dawn. If she had any sort of expression on her face, she was too far away for me to see it.

The rumbling grew louder and louder.

Oh man. I dove out of the way, seconds from being flattened by a stampeding mutant. The mutant careened off the chasm wall.

“Are you freaking kidding me!” I screamed at Dawn.

“You think you’re so tough? Prove it!”

I brushed the dust off my clothes and sized up the mutant. This one was clearly smaller than the one I encountered in the abandoned cube, but it was distinctly faster. How was I supposed to take this thing down with my bare hands?

“Oh yeah,” Dawn said mockingly. “I forgot to give you this.”

In the last few exciting moments Dawn found the time to approach the stairwell I used to entire the chasm. She threw a polearm straight at me from the top of the stairwell. It came tumbling to my feet.

Without hesitation I grabbed the polearm and turned to face the mutant again. The polearm was similar in look and feel to the one Dawn and the other retainers carried with them. It was clearly the weapon of choice in the Underworld.

I jumped, slid, and rolled to avoid the endless swipes and bites of the mutant. This one was small and quick. I hardly had a moment's rest before I had to evade another attack.

“You can’t just run forever!”

“Oh shut up!”

Dawn was growing on my last nerve, mocking me from the top of the stairwell. Of course, she was right. I would run out of stamina far sooner than the mutant.

I threw a few jabs with the polearm to test its build. The entire body was constructed from a sturdy metal. There was no doubt it could survive multiple physical blows. The blade was refined down to a sharp point. But would it be sharp enough to pierce the thick skin of a mutant?

The mutant lunged at me once again. I dropped to my knees to avoid the contact. As it leaped over my body, I thrusted the polearm into the stomach of the mutant. With all my force behind it, the polearm penetrated through the skin of the mutant and blood began pouring everywhere. Situated underneath the mutant, I found myself covered in blood.

I now had the upper hand in the engagement. The mutant was maimed. In this condition, it stood no chance. But mutants weren’t exactly thinkers, they only relied on instinct, an innate drive to kill. Again, the mutant charged straight for me, noticeably slower than before. I leaped into the air and thrusted the polearm directly into its skull. The mutant collapsed to the ground, now nothing more than a lifeless corpse.

I wiped a mixture of my own blood, sweat, and mutant blood off my face. Dawn made her way down the stairwell, her own polearm in hand.

“That was impressive,” she said without a single ounce of emotion in her voice. “You can definitely be a valuable asset for The Underworld.”

“What the hell is your problem!” I threw the polearm to the ground before her feet. “I could have died down here you know!”

She let out a laugh. “That’s not my problem, is it? Congratulations, you passed the last portion of your test. I’ll take you back to your cell now. But starting soon, your life will be very different around here.”