The Unusual Ones

A Chapter by kingsley

First chapter of Rebellion. We meet Burt and West as they leave the city. More to come from this chapter, just need some input.

"What if this doesn't work the way you planned?" Burt's voice was dead.

"It'll work." West continued to stare out the window.

Burt didn't know how exactly to respond. He was usually the one to lose his cool and screw up the job. West had a better reputation than that. Most people had better reputation than Burt.

"Okay, how do you know the rebels will be there? Have you ever been there yourself?"

"No, I haven't been there, but getting others to the meeting point I have done. Once you're there somebody else will take you the rest of the way. Safer doing it like that." West's gaze was fixed on the street below them. A stray leaf of paper fluttered along in the gutter, pushed by an artificial breeze. He looked up toward the sky, which was no more than a massive dome over the city. Most people didn't know, or ignored, that they lived controlled lives under a dome that mimicked what a sky should look like. If West looked hard enough, he could sometimes see the panels of sky. This time of day the panels would change to a fake night sky.

"What if Handlers stop us?" Burt was beginning to panic.

"They don't. There's absolutely no reason for them to stop an empty supplies truck going to the Pit. Especially when all the guys doing the runs are trusted by the Grand Council." West began to pull on his jacket. "Get ready. We have five minutes to get down to the street for our pick up."

"If that's true, then the guys running the trucks are in on it too, right"

"Yup. They are all sworn to secrecy. Otherwise this would all be incredibly hard to pull off." West started for the door and Burt followed.

Darkness crept up the street and nobody was in sight. West glanced at his watch just as a parade of large trucks came around the corner at the end of the street.

"Right on time." West chuckled. "Follow my lead, Burt,"

As the trucks rolled closer, Burt could see the beds were covered with a canvas canopy, like a tent. Upon approaching the place where they stood, the last truck slowed enough for West to step onto the bumper and disappear into the back. Burt quickly scrambled up behind him. Burt's eyes took a minute to adjust to the gloom in the back of the truck. West sat with his back up against the cab smoking a cigarette. Sweet, blue tobacco smoke danced around his head.

"Now what?" Burt sat down next to him.

"We wait until we enter the highway tunnel that goes to the Pit. We stop about half way there then we get out and walk the rest of the way." West blew smoke rings into the dark and laughed. "For someone who's been prepped on the dynamics of this little adventure you sure ask a lot of questions."

"Nerves, I guess." Burt laughed sheepishly. He'd never been down into the tunnel systems that connected each dome covered city. In fact, Burt had never even see the surface. Hardly anyone had due to the fact it was a toxic dead zone. That and most didn't care to acknowledge the surface.

The truck lurched along the underground highway at a steady speed. West flicked his cigarette butt to the floor, crushing it out under his boot heel. He wanted to sleep, but the truck wasn't exactly comfortable. Burt sat fidgeting and constantly looking into the darkness that chased them. He was an unusual one. West had smuggled hundreds of new recruits out of the domes from several different cities. He'd been doing it since he was sixteen and not a single one ever asked so many questions. Must just be nerves and doubt, West thought.

Roughly twenty minutes had passed when the truck began to slow, then stopped entirely. West climbed to his feet, smirking as a startled Burt jumped up next to him.

"Why are we stopped? Did the Handlers find us? Oh God, I knew this wouldn't work." Burt was near hysterics.

"Cool it, Burt. This is where we part ways with the boys." West slid out of the back of the truck, into the murky dark of the tunnel. He walked around to the driver side door with Burt close on his heels. Laying on the ground by the front tire were two backpacks. Each one contained food, water, first aid, sleeping bag and a small pillow. West pulled a headlamp from his pocket, strapped it on and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Get your bag and follow me."

"Where are we going now?" Burt hoisted his pack and followed. The trucks rumbled away. The headlamp was the only light source as they walked. The sound of West's boots on the concrete echoed off in all directions.

"Towards the surface. But we won't be making it there tonight." West stopped at what looked like a tunnel maintenance door. He rammed his shoulder into the door and watched it swing open on rusted hinges. The room inside looked like an ordinary tunnel utilities room. Panels of electrical switches and wires lined the grimy walls. Old broken, outdated light fixtures sat in the corners like skeletons. The whole scene made Burt shiver. They looked ancient, like the kinds of things people had before the Revolution. Before nuclear warfare and disease drove everybody underground.

West moved into the room and went straight to the farthest corner. Standing up against the wall was a large sheet of plywood. The space behind it was just large enough for the pair to slip behind, where they found another smaller doorway. That doorway led to a ladder that went straight up into pitch black.

"Up we go." West began to climb. Burt gripped the cold steel rungs of the ladder and followed. The light from the maintenance room below slowly disappeared. Burt lost all sense of time. He wondered if this was how all the new recruits got to the surface.

"Is this the only way to the surface or are there other ways?" Burt called up to West.

"There's about five other ways. This is the easiest because the Handlers don't monitor it as much."

West and Burt climbed another hour before they found the Hole in the Wall.