Down and Out: A Young Adult Dystopian Adventure (The Undercity Series Book 1) (22 page)

“You're gonna fall in if you bend over anymore,” Caden said as they came up beside her.  She smiled at her long-time friend who came from the same dark place in Undercity she grew up in.  Unlike Caden, who, despite her hunched shoulders, was tall and never kept on any weight. Her friend was solid in build like she hoarded muscles in case of a shortage.  Short and stalky described her best, but she had an engaging smile when coaxed out of her.  Other differences went deeper than physical. Both had weaknesses, which left them scrambling to survive. Cate trusted no one or anything enough to be comfortable in a community.  Fierce in her independence, she stayed in the darker part of the mall with the other hiders, so finding her out in the center of everything surprised Caden.

She nudged Cate on the leg.  “Here, let me help.  My long arms gotta be useful sometimes.”

The other girl screwed up her face in a frown, but sat up, shaking her dripping arm.  Her hair covered half her face and hid her empty eye socket from sight.

“Fine. Get the marble in that corner.”  She gestured to a large blue stone under the surface. 

“That piece of glass, what do you want that for?” Jolon asked in his usual forthright manner.

Cate glared at him with her one grey-blue eye.  “That's none of your business.”

Jolon shrugged as though he didn't care.  “Wonderful to see moving hasn't changed everything,” he grumbled as he glared back.  “Meet you at the kitchens, Caden.”  He shuffled off in his plodding way.

“You could get along with him,” Caden suggested as she knelt over the fountain and reached for the stone.

“You get along with him.  I think he's a blob,” her friend retorted as she waited, her teeth working over her bottom lip.  She picked up a teacup filled with candle wax resting on the edge of the fountain and stared at the tiny flame flickered in the center.

“Pretty.  Where’d you find that?” Caden asked, nodding toward the candle.

Cate ran a finger around the rim.  “Made it.  Found a bunch of broken candles and some cups.  Thought they’d work well together, so I melted the wax, and there you go.”

Caden grinned.  “Clever.”

“Beats stumbling in the dark,” she said with a shrug and a small smile.

“Yeah, don’t miss that,” Caden said, remembering the times when they huddled together in the dirt and darkness, making cutting remarks about everything around them.  Every morning they would wake up to gnawing hunger and shivering cold. The rest of the time they scrounged for scraps and hid in the shadows to avoid unwanted attention.

When Caden’s adoptive parents took her in, they offered to help Cate too, but she didn’t trust anyone.  Even though the years proved their hearts and actions true, it was as if Cate thought happiness was impossible for her.  She visited Caden, but avoided the rest of the family. 

Caden captured the glass ball in her fingers, her right hand joints complaining against the cold.  “Here you are,” she said with a smile, and held the little orb up.  “Nice.”

Cate took the stone and clutched it in close as though she thought someone would snag the treasure from her.  “Yeah, found it in a shop.  Thought the size was about right...” she stopped, clamping her lips shut and avoiding Caden's gaze.

“Good scrounge,” Caden said, knowing better than to press.  As she got up and put a hand through her hair.  “Well, I gotta go, but we could get together later?” She tried not to make her words sound like a plea, but she missed her friend like she would miss half of herself.

The other girl made a derisive gesture as she got up.  “I'm sure you'll have other things to do.”

Caden caught her arm.  “I won't.  And if I do, you can join me.”

“What, and obey?” she mocked with a hollow laugh.  “Sure, I can mince along like you.”

The words took her off guard.  She released her hold and Cate hurried away.  Her friend disappeared into the shadows of the undeveloped part of the mall.  A heavy sigh escaped from Caden’s lips as she rose and straightened her stiff back.  Confused, she pushed all thoughts of Cate aside before shuffling toward the kitchen. Instinctively, she hunched and cast her eyes downward upon entering the table room, her usual stance when confronted by a room full of people.  The space was huge with only a few survivors around, but they still scared her.  Teddy sat at a table with several girls and guys around their age.  Since the move, her brother had become popular.  Many painted him and Pa as heroes, which irked like a pinprick in the side.  Somehow tower residents forgot her part as though she wasn't present when they discovered a way to paradise.

“Hey,” Teddy called as he sauntered over.  Several of those vying for his attention rolled their eyes at her, but he showed no interest in them.  He changed a little in the last couple of months.  His clothes were tidy and his smile ever ready, but he still had circles under his eyes from late nights with books and writing.  His chestnut hair still hung in a mess.  However, he appeared older now, taller and more square, his khaki tinted face more angular. 

“Hey, yourself,” she answered back with a grimace and a nod to the crowd behind them.  “Your fandom is growing.”

“My what?” He glanced behind him.  “Oh, ahh, they're searching for something to do.  It's funny, before we kept busy surviving and now pickings are so easy everyone seems lost.”  He nodded toward her, his hands stuffed in his pocket and shoulders slouched.

She never realized he and Jolon had the same habit before.  Which one picked the quirk up from the other, she couldn't guess.

“You going to visit Ma?” he continued as he fell in step with her. 

“Yep.  She probably has some weird new recipe for me to try out.”

They left via a swinging door and went along a walkway with a cement floor and dirty walls.  Tables and carts lined one side, narrowing the aisle.  The path turned left at the end and opened to a noisy kitchen of shouting cooks and their drudges.  Pots and pans banged and swung about while knives flicked over root vegetables. Overhead, lights flickered from power fluctuations.  Mrs. Fish waved at them from her station by the stove, and they nodded at a few more people while making their way to the back room where their mother worked. 

“Close the door,” Ma ordered as they came in.  She sat at a desk covered in papers and books; her wild pale hair tied in a neat bun and her boney face, flushed.  Her narrow fingers flipped through pages as though she searched for the answers to life's problems.

“What to do, what to do,” she muttered.  She slammed shut the book in her hands and shook her head at them.  “I am amazed at the variety of food people made in the past, so many meals.  Stretches the imagination to think of them. Pasta, stews, salad, the variety of ingredients alone is staggering.”  A smile spread over her face.  She was lord of her domain, creating meals out of whatever she could cook. 

“Something interesting for supper tonight, Ma?” her brother asked. 

“Doubtful,” she said with a sigh.  “But it'll still be good.”  She reclined in her chair and put her feet up on her desk, stretching her arms behind her.  The folds of her long skirt fell back and revealed her knee-length, black socks and worn runners.  “Tired,” she yawned.  “Need to start a cooking rotation, train some of the others to take over.  Then I could take one of those long soaks I keep hearing about without anyone running in on me 'cause the soup's burning.”

“Isn’t Nuna helping?” Teddy asked.

Ma shrugged at the mention of the original inhabitant of the towers.  “The sudden influx of all these people has overwhelmed her somewhat.  She doesn’t come around too often.  Nuna informed me in our last conversation that it was the Peterson family,” she waved a hand at all of them, “who wanted to help everyone, so it was the Peterson family who could sort out all the details. Not so nice, I know, but I think she’ll come around once everything settles.  She had been alone for quite a long time.”

Caden played with a little statue of a duck on her mother's desk.  “Deb said you wanted me for something.”

“Yes, Henri is watching the tunnel, and he must be hungry by now.  You and your brothers bring him that box of food.”  She gestured to a cardboard box by the door. 

“The load's not so big, Ma, I don't think this task will take three of us,” Caden objected, sensing an ulterior motive. 

Their brute brought her flowers every day when they lived in the warehouse.  When they moved, he started bringing her everything he thought she might want from different stores.  At first, his attention annoyed and frightened her. No one had ever been sweet on her before, and she doubted anyone ever would again.  Then she found it wonderful for the same reasons.  Now, she was miffed and tired because he did nothing else.  He didn't like to talk much, or read, or even hold hands.  He gave her things and mooned over her from afar.  So she avoided him even though her mother thought they made a wonderful match and liked to promote the idea whenever possible.

Her mother wagged a digit her way and held out a list.  “Go with your brothers and gather these ingredients.  They're mostly spices and dried teas.  Your pa said to check a couple of the stores listed.” 

Teddy took the list from her.  “Sure, Ma.  Will do.”

Caden remained silent, but her mother narrowed her gaze and gave her a slight nod and a grin.  Caden got the message.  Sighing, she left with Teddy who took the crate on his way out.  Jolon was leaning against one counter, munching on slices of raw potato.

“To the mall, mates,” he said with a potato salute.

“To the mall,” Teddy agreed with a jaunty grin.

Caden tried to match their relaxed camaraderie, but found her wary nature blocking her way. A hollow ache, worse than hunger, sat in her stomach.  Yes, life was better now, but she longed for more. 

Teddy put the food on a small cart and pulled it behind him as they left.  “Let's go the back way through the halls and out into the lobby.”

Jolon chuckled.  “Tired of your fans?”

“He's afraid they'll follow us in a parade with banners and such,” Caden added, winking at Jolon.

“Funny, so funny,” Teddy retorted.  “It's faster; that's all.”

They both nodded in false agreement, grinning at him.  He ignored them and kept going.  Their cart rattled across the grey and blue tiles as they went.  They passed the central desk and climbed the steps leading to Henri.  People milled about, sifting through the ransacked shops.

“There's not too much left that's useful on this level,” Teddy told them as they went by store after store.  Soon, the place emptied until they were among the few people left.

A person or two made their home in some of the stalls, draping the entrances and windows with strips of cloth and blankets.  The dull glow of meagre flickering lights lit their way.  Most of the lights no longer worked, and those that did were lengths apart.

It took a while to get back to the area where they first discovered their new home.  When they arrived, they found Henri pouring over a book.  He looked up as they approached, his massive posture embarrassed as he tucked the book behind his back.

“Oh, uh, hi,” he muttered with an odd wave.  The move did not change him at all.  He was still lumpy muscular with thin brown hair and a hopeful grin on his ash face.  He didn't stink so much though.

“Hey,” she responded with a shy nod. The expectation of a romantic relationship was irritating.  Why couldn't they be friends?

Jolon sat on a bin next to him.  “You taken up reading?” He grunted as Teddy ran the cart into him.  “Hey, careful.”

“He's trying to tell you it's supposed to be a secret,” Caden whispered to Jolon and shook her head.  “Why hide it, Henri?”

He twitched a bashful shrug.  “Dunno.”

The brute took on such an uncomfortable expression she let the matter go.  “Well, we've brought you some food.  Ma sent enough for a dozen people, so this should last you for a few hours.  How long are you posted here?”

He shrugged again and took the box.  “'Till night.”  A stiff grin spread across his face.  “Thanks.”

This time, she shrugged.  “Gotta feed ya.  Who would protect us otherwise?”

Henri chuckled and took something from behind his back.  “For you.”

Caden took the shiny black kitty figurine and tried to smile back. “Thanks.”

Teddy leaned against one of the cement boulders blocking the access to their new home. “Any action?”

“Nope,” Henri answered as he sunk his teeth into a potatocake.

“Doubt there would be.” Jolon stuffed a cushion under his backside.  “Even if they managed to cross the bridge, it would be a miracle if they found this place after we hid the entrance so well.”

“Do you honestly think any of them would bother?” she asked.

“Bother what?” Teddy asked.

She found a plastic crate to sit on and rested her legs.  The walk caused the ache to come back, so she rubbed her calves.  “Bother trying to get to us.  I mean, what's the point?  Now, there are less of them to provide for, but they still have enough Underlings to dig for them.  Why bother seeking what is gone?”

“I figure they think we're all dead,” Jolon added.

Teddy frowned.  “Georges doesn't think so.  She figures they believe we found something better than what they possess, and they want it.  She says they probably met with each other and talked themselves into a frenzy of selfishness and revenge, so we should keep a vigilant eye on everywhere.”

Georges, Caden sniffed at the mention of the strange Upperlord with the cynical intelligence and apathetic demeanour. 

“They removed her title.”

Caden arched an eyebrow at Teddy.  “Why?  What does a title matter here?”

Her brother shrugged.  “Dorkas threw a fit and got everyone riled up.”

“He's good at that.”

“Yeah, well, he convinced the other elders that as long as Georges held a title she would always be above everyone; therefore, everyone else would always defer to her.”

She laughed at this.  “Yes, because that's what Dorkas wants. While Georges holds such a distinction, Dorkas can't.”

“That's ridiculous, true, but ridiculous.” Jolon brushed dirt from his trousers, his expression one of bored annoyance.