Below The Earth by Lucas Pederson

Author:Lucas Pederson [Pederson, Lucas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2018-11-26T22:00:00+00:00

9

We trudged through what might as well have been a rainforest. Although, it wasn’t all tropical. I spotted more than a few very large oak trees. Granted, their leaves were 10 times bigger than what you’d see on the surface, but…yeah, they were oak trees.

Before, I never knew green was a smell. But in that place…that’s all I could smell. Flora and fauna and grass and just…green. It was so strong to almost be noxious.

And through it all, Hannah hurried a good 50 feet ahead.

“Incoming private communication,” a monotone voice said.

“I just chatted with Max,” Megan said. “But I want to see what you think. Do we take her out, or try to talk to her? Pat my shoulder to take her out, shake your head to talk to her.”

“Private communication has been deactivated.”

I shook my head and glanced to the right. Megan gave me a nod.

Well, okay then. Apparently, they were making decisions through me? It felt weird, but maybe a good thing? I didn’t know, nor did I dwell on it for long. What mattered was catching up to Hannah and talking to her. I needed to get her to calm down and just…talk.

So, I sped ahead of the other two, quickly closing the distance between Hannah and me. No more than three feet away, she spun. Her mech-clad hands wrapped around my throat. I didn’t feel anything, but that did little to quell the terror scuttling through me like tiny spiders.

Through the speakers, I listened to Hannah’s ragged breathing.

Then she let go, turned, and continued on her way.

I stood there a moment, not really sure what to do. But I did. I knew…

I closed the short distance, but before I got close, I said, “Thank you, Hannah.”

She didn’t stop, but I noticed her pace slowed a bit.

I quickly thought up something else to say. “You risked your life, but that’s all done now. You’re a hero, but if we work together, we’ll make it out of here.”

As before, only silence greeted me. But I took the slowing of her pace to a casual walk to mean something. At least I hoped so. She could shoot me with a laser blast at any time. Not sure if it’d kill me, but it’d definitely make things horrible.

I carefully walked beside her, nearly matching her stride as birds sang in the tall trees above. We did that for a while. Only sounds were of breathing. Either hers, or Megan’s, or Max’s, or my own… I couldn’t tell.

Then, finally… “We’re all gonna die here.”

I glanced at Hannah. “Not if we find another tunnel out. You said—”

“I lied. We’re stuck in here and there’s no way out.”

I hoped that was just the crazy talking.

“No,” I said. “There has to be another way out of here.”

“If there is,” she said, “we’ll die before we find it. Can’t you see? How have they lived so long? It’s because this place is huge. For all we know, it spreads below the earth across the world. A flat Earth, I guess you’d call it.

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