Ascent: (Book 1) The Ladder (6 page)

            She looks back at the Boss, careful of her next words. His expression dares her to say what she wants.

            She moves to another course. “Because of the child who came back down, the five in my office were infected. They have since been cured, but—”

            “That’s good, right?” a teenage girl asks.

            “Yes. It is. But I can only cure five more,” the Doctor finally admits.

The Vocal Hall erupts in voices of frightened and concerned kids.

            “Doctor.” The Boss raises his voice above the cacophony. “Tell them the rest.”

            The Doctor continues. “I only have five vials of Remedy left. There is no more after that. So, you must, please, all of you. You must not climb the Ladder. Doing so puts everyone at risk.”

            “Can’t someone just bring more from the Surface?” a young girl asks.

            “It’s more complicated than that,” the Doctor responds.

            “You understand now, don’t you?” the Boss follows up. “No one is to climb that Ladder. You may have been able to get away with it before. But those days are done.”

            “Why is it even there?” a male voice asks from the crowd. It is followed by other voices wanting to know the same.

            “Shut up,” the Guard barks, immediately bringing the room to silence.

            The Boss steps up onto the stone platform. He walks directly in front of the Doctor. “I am appointing a new task. A new position. I don’t know if it is ineptitude or simply asking too much of one person.” The Boss looks at the Guard who lowers his eyes in shame. “But things cannot continue like this. I need additional guards for the Ladder. Who will volunteer?”

            Mason is the first to speak up. “I will. I’ll guard the Ladder.”

            The Boss motions for Mason to come down onto the platform.

            “Who else?” the Boss asks. “I need four more.”

            Five teenager’s, two boys and three girls step down onto the platform.

            “You will be given extra rations for your new duty.”

            “That’s not fair,” Marvin calls out, giving courage to others in the crowd to protest.

            “Quiet!” Mason yells.

            Joe swings his arm in front of Marvin as if to protect him.

            “Unless I give you a direct order, you will answer to the Guard. Understood?” the Boss tells the five new guards. When they nod their heads in acceptance, he tells the Guard, “Take them to the Ladder.”

            The five of them follow the Guard out of the Vocal Hall. Mason turns back to wink at Joe. Joe’s only response is a cold glare.

            “Now, that we all understand the gravity of things, you all need to get back to work. Double time for the interruption.” He looks at the Doctor with his last words.

            The kids file out of the Vocal Hall, many of them discussing the news of more guards but most of them more concerned about the Sick.

            “Where is Lauren, Joe?” Marvin asks.

            “She’s fine, Marvin. She’ll join us soon.”

            The Boss watches until each kid has left the hall. He turns his eyes to the Doctor but she refuses to look at him as she walks past.

            He grabs her arm. “Never pull that lever again without my consent.”

            She yanks her arm from his grip. “I will do whatever I must to protect these kids. They didn’t choose this.”

            “But you did. Never forget that,” he tells her through gritted teeth.

            She stares at him. “This is falling apart and you know it.” She storms out of the Vocal Hall leaving the Boss alone.

Chapter Nine

            There is little jovial play in the Mud Hall. Not that there is normally much to begin with. Everyone keeps their silence throughout their work. It’s much easier to work faster when no one is enjoying it. They just maintain their focus to keep up the pace the Boss ordered.

            Spray and water splashes are the only sounds heard, except in Joe’s and Marvin’s cut-out. Without Lauren to spray the walls, it’s just the two of them. Fortunately the ground is so saturated that new water is rarely ever necessary.

            Joe forces his shovel into the shallow pools and picks up chunks of mud, most of which just fall off the shovel and back into the water. He moves slowly, not thinking about his task. Marvin crouches by his bucket, not really enjoying the sifting as he usually does. Even for his age, he knows things are different. If he didn’t think they were bad before, the Doctor’s news certainly changed that.

            “Joe?” Marvin quietly says.

            “Yeah?”

            “I don’t want to be here anymore.” Marvin looks down at the ground.

            Joe drops his shovel. It splashes in the water. He walks to Marvin and crouches down in front of him. “I know. Neither do I.” He tries to console Marvin. “One day we’ll get out and then we’ll enjoy the clean air and the grass on the surface.”

            “Will Lauren come too?” Marvin asks.

            “Of course. It will be the three of us and no more digging in the dirt. No more mud slinging. And no more Sick.”

            Marvin cracks a smile.

            “You want to see the stone from yesterday?” Joe asks.

Marvin nods his head eagerly. Joe stands to get the stone out of his pocket. He opens his hand and holds it out for Marvin to take.

            “Are these on the surface?” Marvin asks.

            “I don’t know. Maybe one day, we’ll get to see.”

            Joe stands and looks at the other kids in the Mud Hall as they work diligently to get in the extra work. An air prism appears and hangs in the air before disappearing. No one really notices it. They just keep to their tasks.

            Joe looks back down at the stone and closes his eyes. He tries to imagine the dream.
Maybe this is the only way out
. He pictures in his mind the grass and the stream. He imagines he’s barefoot and that the cold water pooled at his feet in their cut-out is actually the clear river water running over them. He watches as the trees sway in the cool breeze. In the distance, the shining city reflects light from the bright shining yellow ball in the sky. Joe tries to imagine what the warmth must feel like. A loud splashing nearby snaps him out of his imaginings.

            “You must not listen to the non-believers. You are the Dreamer.” Scraggle stands in the cut-out in a puddle of water, pointing at Joe. “If you do not lead us then we are all done for.” He reaches down and snatches the stone from Marvin. “Here. It reminds you. I’ve seen it. The shining spires in the distance. So hard to gaze upon but not so far away. I cannot lead us to them. Only you can do that. It is your destiny. It is our fate.”

            Joe snatches the stone from Scraggle and hands it back to Marvin. “You’re gonna get us in trouble.”

            Marvin moves behind Joe out of fear. It’s been a bad day for him. The first one he’s ever really had.

            “You stand here, down in the mud when you should be standing up there on the Surface. The Ladder is the way out. The prophecy—”

            “There is no prophecy, old man,” Joe blurts out, calling some attention from those near enough to hear. Joe takes a breath and calms himself down. “There’s no Dreamer. And the way out is just the way to get sick or get dead. I’m not leading anyone to either of those.”

            “Your friend believed in it,” Scraggle tries to reason.

            “Yeah, and look where that got her. A night in the Ban. With the Sick.” Joe stares, defiantly, at Scraggle.

            “You are refusing your destiny? You sacrifice all of us then? That is your answer?” Scraggle asks, is voice, somewhat, in pain.

            “What?” Joe looks at him confused. “No. I’m not saying that-“

            “You will lead us up the Ladder?” Scraggle perks up.

            “No. I’m…” Joe is, now, even more confused and irritated. “I’m saying I’m not your chosen one. I have no destiny except here in the Mines like everyone else.” Joe raises his voice again.

Marvin begins to cry. The words sting more than any night in the Ban could cause. Cold, angry and certainly fed up, they are the words of a quitter. Words of one who has given up.

            Joe leans down to try and console the young boy. “Marvin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. We’ll…We will see the surface…Someday.”

            “It must happen sooner than you think, Dreamer,” Scraggle says.

Something in his voice sounds different. Something calculating. He does not speak as one who is out of his mind.

“What does that—Ouch.” Joe grabs Scraggle’s hand and pushes him away.

            The old man holds a syringe in his hand. “Forgive me Dreamer. If you will not climb the Ladder to lead us out then certain measures must be taken.” Scraggle slowly backs away.

            “What was that?” Joe demands. He looks at his hand and sees a small blood spot on it.

            “Joe.” Marvin grabs Joe’s shirt tail.

            “Stay here, Marvin.” Joe slowly walks toward Scraggle. “What was that?”

            “An alternate path. I had no choice just as you have none. The Dreamer must fulfill the prophecy.” Scraggle explains as though his words make everything better. “You are now infected with a new strain of the Sick. One for which the Doctor has no Remedy.”

            “What?” Joe yells. He looks back at Marvin who has his hand placed over his mouth.

            “But I know where you can be healed.” Scraggle steps up onto the metal walkway. “Come, Dreamer. It is the only way.”

Chapter Ten

            Chunks of mud drop off of Joe’s mud waders. The clunky rubber pants make running very difficult but Joe makes it to the metal walkway. The harder, grated surface scrapes the built up mud off of the bottom of his boots.

            “Stay here,” Joe calls back to Marvin who nods his head in understanding.

            Joe picks up his pace down the walkway and into the Mud Hall tunnel entrance. Scraggle is nowhere to be seen but the sound of his laughter echoes through the dark. He’s got a good head start and the pants are only weighing Joe down.

            “Come, Dreamer. I have the cure,” Scraggle calls back.

             Seconds later, Joe spots him. He watches Scraggle’s arms flail in the air as he exits the tunnel and enters the light of the Junction.

            As usual, the central place of the Mines is full of kids going about their day from tunnel to tunnel, carrying their tools or pushing carts. Joe notices many of them are crowded together. Some are even lying on the ground or bumping into each other.

            Joe covers his mouth as he looks over the heads of some of the shorter kids. He spots Scraggle knocking some of them down and pushing others into Joe’s path. He tries his best to maneuver around them. A few must be leapt over. It is clear that the old man has no regrets about any of them getting hurt. Joe feels the opposite as he purposely avoids any collisions.

            Despite the mud pants being bulky and slow—or maybe Scraggle is not as fast as he seems—either way, Joe finds himself actually gaining ground with the crazy old man.

            “Hey.” Scraggle shoves Lauren. Joe runs right into her. Fortunately they manage to stay on their feet.

            “You’re out,” Joe says, surprised to see her.

            She smiles at him. “Yeah. You know. Did my time.” She says in her cocky manner. “Why is your mouth covered?”

            “I don’t have time to explain. I’ve got to—”

            “The sick! The sick is loose!” Scraggle yells.

The few kids nearest Joe turn their heads to him. Those further away simply stop and look around, panic stricken.

            Lauren backs slowly away from Joe. Her hand over her mouth. “Joe?”

            “Marvin’s in the cut-out. I’ll be fine.”

            “Get to the Doctor!” Lauren yells though her fingers as Joe rushes past her to continue his pursuit after Scraggle.

            Nearing the Ladder, Scraggle looks back over his shoulder to see that Joe is still in pursuit. The moment he faces forward again, he’s forced to stop at the sight of the Guard standing in his path. His hand is raised as a signal for Scraggle to stop.

“No one goes up, old man. Not even you.”

            “Nonsense.” Scraggle grabs a shovel from the nearest passing teenager and swings it at the Guard, hitting him in the head. The clanging sound vibrates the shovel slightly.

The effect is exactly as desired. The Guard hits the ground leaving only Mason and the four other newly appointed guards. Three of them look at Scraggle, shocked that he was able to put that much force into the swing. One of the girls and Mason decide to stand their ground.

            “I want to see you do that to me, old man,” Mason says as he bows up to Scraggle.

            The girl makes a move to physically stop the old man but Scraggle pushes her aside. He’s strong enough to knock her to the ground. Mason still does not back down. He raises his fist at the oncoming Scraggle who places his hand directly on Mason’s face before he can throw a punch. The forward momentum pushes Mason back and off his feet. Scraggle doesn’t miss a step as he lunges for the Ladder and makes his way up, stopping only to turn and see Joe mere yards away.

            “Come Dreamer. Your destiny awaits.”

            Mason follows Scraggle’s gaze and sees Joe making his way to the Ladder. The bully turned guard quickly gets to his feet. Scraggle watches the scene play out at the bottom of the Ladder.

            “He has it!” Scraggle points at Joe and yells down to those nearest the Ladder. “I see it in his eyes. That one carries the Sick. Save yourselves!”

            The three new guards, shocked by Scraggle’s speed with the shovel, quickly put their hands over their mouths. The girl on the ground rolls away from Joe, bringing up her own hand for cover.

            Mason doesn’t budge. He just waits for Joe. This is just the opportunity he’s been waiting for. “I knew you’d try and climb it.”

            “You heard the old man, Mason. Get out of my way before you’re infected,” Joe reiterates to Mason.

            “It’ll be worth it. I’ll just get some Remedy. But there’s no way I’m letting you up this ladder.” Mason cracks his knuckles.

            Joe runs toward him, hoping to throw his weight into the larger teen and knock him the ground. But Mason mirrors him and, with size on his side, Joe is the one who is knocked to the ground.

            “I told you, you’re staying down here.” Mason paces back and forth, waiting for Joe to get back up and try something else. “I’m not letting anyone else past me. Especially not some loser Mud Slinger.”

            Joe slowly gets back to his feet and stares at Mason. He removes his hand from his mouth. The other guards step back further. Other kids gather around them, forming a wide circle of fight spectators.

            “Slinger…right,” Joe says quietly as he drops his hand to his side and scrapes off a chunk of mud now coated with a layer of dirt from the ground. Without looking at it, Joe throws the mud at Mason, hitting him in the face.

The new guard yells out as the mud and dirt get in his eyes and his mouth. He tries to scrape it off of himself to see but he’s not fast enough and Joe slams into him. The hit causes both of them to crash into the Ladder.

Scraggle watches as both boys bounce off of the Ladder. But it is Mason who finds himself back on the ground.

            “Very good, Dreamer. But the symptoms of the Sick will be upon you, soon,” Scraggle calls out to Joe as he climbs higher and into the vertical tunnel.

            Joe looks around at the circle of kids surrounding him.

            A few of the kids chant, “Climb. Climb. Climb.”

            A few of them yell for him to do the opposite.

            Scraggle yells from inside the tunnel, “You see? They rally to the Dreamer. Fulfill the prophecy.”

            Joe puts a foot on the first rung of the Ladder then up to the second. Mason grabs his ankle and tries to pull him back down but Joe shakes off his grip and climbs higher. He looks up into the tunnel but Scraggle can no longer be seen. At most, all Joe can see is the darkness beyond the clustered lights just inside the tunnel.

            “Destiny awaits us all.” The old man’s disembodied voice echoes out from the tunnel.

Joe stops just outside of it to look back down at the kids. Some of them are cheering, others trying to convince him to come back down.

            He spots Lauren standing outside the entrance to the Mud Hall. He watches her worried expression turn to one of encouragement as she flicks her thumb in an upward motion.                                   Movement at the bottom of the Ladder catches Joe’s eye. He watches the Guard slowly get up and turn his head upward. His expression is cold and menacing.

            Only slightly fearful of the Guard, Joe stares back down at him, defiantly. Silently, Joe dares the Guard to come after him, knowing that he won’t.

            He switches his gaze to the tunnel above and makes his way up starts. Only the bottoms of his mud waders can be seen as he climbs the Ladder.