The place with the horrible waste closet—yes, I remembered. I nodded.
“Well, the metal gate on the other end blocks off the stairs. Those lead Topside.”
“You think we can get it open.”
“If not, the Burrowers might know a way out. They have all kinds of subtunnels.”
I nodded. “We also need to warn them about trading with the enclave, assuming Twist told me the truth. We owe them that much.”
“Agreed.”
I fell in behind him. Fade set a bruising pace; I knew what he wanted—out of these tunnels. He could’ve left at anytime, but maybe he didn’t want to go alone. I could understand that.
With each stride, I left the known world behind.
two
topside
She managed to open it, and to her great joy found herself in the other place, not on the top of the wall, however, but in the garden she had longed to enter.
—George MacDonald, The Day Boy and the Night Girl
Unknown
The platform looked the same—with one notable exception. There were no Freak bodies, not even bones, just the smear of blood where they’d been dragged off. Ears sharp, we took a break for food and water, and then Fade strode over to the metal gate.
It had a lock on it, but the gate itself was old and rusted. He kicked it repeatedly until it finally bent and gave enough for us to slip through the gap between the gate and the wall. The fit required us to turn sideways and it scraped a little, but we made it.
Then we stood on the other side. Steps led upward with a metal divider separating the two sides. Fade led the way, and we climbed toward the surface. It took far less time than I expected. If everyone in the enclave knew just how close we were, figuratively speaking, people would’ve suffered some sleepless nights.
The air felt different, the higher we went. It moved against my skin, carrying new scents. But the stairs ended in a mound of rocks. The wind could slip through, not people. We stood there for a moment, stymied in our attempt to escape before we ran into the first hunting party.
“It will have to be the Burrowers,” I said.
“If not, I think the steps near where you found the relics go all the way up.”
That was halfway to Nassau. With the scant provisions Twist had supplied, it would be a terrible run. The closer we came to the dead settlement, the greater the risk we’d run afoul of the Freaks too. But there was nothing else for it. I retraced my steps with Fade on my heels and we scraped back past the metal gate.
“You know the way from here?” I asked.
“It’s not that far.”
Relatively speaking. We ran at a strong clip for several hours. Noises echoed in distant tunnels, but we didn’t see any Freaks. Our patrols had done a good job of clearing the area in the past days.
When we came to the split where I’d lost Fade, I started counting, and the correct number of steps brought me to where I thought we’d found the Burrowers. I ran my fingers over the stones until I found the loose ones. I pushed one until it plunked out. A pair of huge eyes stared out at me.
“Deuce.” I recognized Jengu’s voice at once.
He made a wide-enough space for us to slip through. As we continued down the narrow shaft toward the wider common area, I heard him rebuilding quickly; they gave the Freaks no sign of their presence. This couldn’t be the only entrance or exit, just the only one we knew about. The other Burrowers stared at Fade and me, but they didn’t speak. None of them looked wounded, and a weight lifted.
“Doan spect to see ya so soon,” he said with a friendly smile.
“Did you have any problems with the first trading party?” Fade asked.
Jengu grinned. “Not once we make clear we don’t open up til dem give us fish, and maybe Eaters find dem before den.”
Relief sparkled through me. In its own way, cleverness counted as strength. The Burrowers could trade with the enclave on equal terms. “How much did they take?”
The Burrower shrugged. “Lots. We doan need it. Can’t eat it.”
That was more or less what I thought. Fade was smiling. “We wanted to warn you not to trust them completely, but it looks like you were one step ahead.”
“Doan trust nobody completely,” Jengu said, philosophical. “But fish is fish.”
I declined an offer of a steaming cup of something. It smelled none too good. I’d rather eat the last of my dried meat and drink the tepid water Twist had given me. But right now, I had business to discuss.
“We need to leave the underground,” I said.
Jengu tilted his head, wearing an expression I interpreted as concern.
I went on, “We’re not asking you to reveal any of your hidden tunnels. But if you could point the way out, we’d appreciate it.”
The Burrower considered. “I can. But dem”—he jerked his head toward the other Burrowers—“gonna wan know how you paying.”
I hadn’t factored that. “What do you want?”
“What you got?” he countered.
With a shrug, I dumped the contents of my bag onto the floor. We were close enough to the torches that he could see everything I owned. The few baubles I’d held on to over the years caught the light and sparkled. Jengu bent down, entranced with a small blue object that shimmered. I showed him how to open it. Inside, it had a tiny mirror. Unlike most it wasn’t broken or anything. The item carried a nice scent too. I had no idea what it might’ve been used for, but I liked to open it up and look at my eyes. It was the one thing my dam had passed along to me, a family treasure. I’d had it for as long as I could remember.
His hand curled around it in a possessive gesture. “Dis. I show ya for dis.”
Of course. I suffered a little pang but acknowledged the price must be paid. “Deal. Is it a long way?”
“Two sleeps.”
“Can we rest in storage again before we go?”
“Plenty room now.”
He didn’t bother guiding us. I’d counted the way before, and that was one of my chief skills, besides fighting. This time, the platform stood half empty. Hunters had taken a lot of relics for the Wordkeeper to catalog; the work would keep him busy for a long time.
If I portioned it away, one step at a time, the fear of the unknown wouldn’t overwhelm me. Maybe Fade knew how I was feeling. We went to sleep on the platform without talking about what the future held.
After we woke up, we ate the last of our food. Then Jengu came to get us. The path took us back into the common area and down another tunnel. I counted the steps, but the twists and turns soon had me lost. Even counting, I doubted I could find my way again.
These tunnels were dank and damp, and they smelled terrible. Jengu carried a small torch with him, which told me there were no Freaks in here. Dark water trickled down the center, so we stayed to the edges and tried to dodge the floating, furry corpses.
It was a miserable journey. By the end, we were reduced to eating what Jengu gave us and hoping it wouldn’t make us sick. The air tasted disgusting, so I tried to breathe through my nose. Our Burrower guide didn’t seem to mind and Fade never showed his discomfort.
At last we came to slimy wall that had metal bars fastened to it. Jengu tilted his head. “Climb up. Push. And ya out.”
“You’re not coming?”
“Dem doan need nothing from Topside now. But we go sometimes. Get things.”
They did occasional supply runs to the surface? Interesting. Maybe Fade knew what he was talking about. Maybe we could make it.
“Thanks for everything,” Fade said.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Welcome.”
The Burrower didn’t wait to see how we fared. He turned with the torch and trudged back the way we’d come. Soon the shadows devoured us and I could only see the vague Fade-shape nearby.
“I’ll go up first.”
I didn’t argue, but I didn’t let him get far ahead of me either. As soon as he started to climb, I did too. The metal was slick beneath my palms; several times I nearly lost my balance and fell. Grimly, I continued up.
“Anything?”
“Almost there.” I heard him feeling around, and then the scrape of metal on stone. He pulled himself out of what looked like a small hole. Diffuse light spilled down, a different tint than I’d ever seen. It was sweetly silver and cool, like a drink of water. With Fade’s help, I scrambled up the rest of the way and saw the world above for the first time.
It stole my breath. I spun in a slow circle, trembling at the size of it. I tilted my head back and saw overhead a vast field of black, spattered with brightness. I wanted to crouch down and cover my head. It was too much space, and horror overwhelmed me.
“Easy,” Fade said. “Look down. Trust me.”
He was right. When I looked at the ground, the terror dialed back. From that point, I didn’t look up more than I had to. Tall things surrounded us, mostly blocking my view. Shards of glass and broken stones littered the ground. The air was full of sounds I couldn’t identify, after having known only enclave noises. Wind rustled through rock, creating a mournful kind of song. Chitters and scrapes alarmed me. We weren’t alone, and I didn’t like not knowing what waited in the dark.
Down below, I always knew.
I refused to show my fear. Lock it down, Huntress.
“What are those?” I asked, pointing.
“Buildings, mostly abandoned.”
Some towered, spearing up to unimaginable heights. I couldn’t even imagine how such a thing had come to be built. Others had buckled and toppled, leaving rubble strewn all over the ground. That, I was used to.
The air didn’t burn the inside of my chest, at least, and it smelled fresher than I’d expected, based on the stories. No rot, no fetid wind like that down below. And I didn’t feel sick from standing here. I shouldn’t have been surprised that the elders had lied. Or maybe things had changed Topside since we first took shelter down below.
While I tried to get my bearings, he fitted the metal circle back in place and stomped it down. We stood in the center of an endless stretch of old rock. It didn’t look natural. Despite its age and poor condition, I thought it looked like something poured down and left to harden.
“I think you better tell me everything you know about this place,” I said shakily.
“I will,” Fade promised. “But first we should find shelter. There are no Freaks up here—at least there didn’t used to be—but from what I remember, there are other dangers.”
“There are places to hide all around us.”
He nodded. “But they’re marked. See?” As we walked, he pointed out bits of white or red paint marking the buildings. “The Topside gangs take their territory seriously. We don’t want to cross anyone.”
“What’s a gang?”
“Kind of like the enclave,” he said. “But meaner.”
“Is that why you left? To get away from the gangs?”
“Partly.”
I saw I’d get no answers while he was distracted and scanning the buildings, so I tried to help. I might not know what the symbols meant, but I could tell if they were present. We’d been walking for a while over the rough stone path—it buckled in spots as if the world had lifted up and given it a sound shake—when Fade spotted a crumbling red building that bore no marks at all.
