The Underworld Plan

Chapter 3

Subways were a form of underground transport even when people lived above ground. So, when the world moved underground, subways just naturally became the main form of transportation, especially for expedition workers. It's a relatively short ride to our workplace, Expedition Hall 136, but we still have to get out of the dorm area and into the work zone, and there's a lot of time.

"Maybe I can find some bugs above ground, bring them back, and put them in your bed before you go to sleep," Jake suggests. Today, to pass the time, Jake and Dalton are discussing his revenge on Jessi, which is only funny because of her reaction.

"What? No, no way. You would end up dead and you know it. Besides, that's dangerous, and illegal, and just morally wrong," Jessi protests.

"She's right, you know. You never know how poisonous those bugs can be. And if you get caught trying to sneak Upperworld animals of any sorts into the Underworld, you'll be instantly jailed, and I don't want to have to find a new group member," I lightly reject the plan. For the most part I've stayed quiet, but that plan was a definite no-go. And besides, those bugs could easily crawl into my bed, and there's no way I'm letting that happen.

"Fine, no bugs. But I will find something, Jessi, and you better be scared," Jake threatens as we come to a halt in front of our building. Our group gets off the train and immediately had to the briefing room. We were called in late and therefore have an excuse to be late, but if we are caught dawdling, that makes the blame fall on us.

"Ah, Expedition Group 3, nice of you to join us today. Please, have a seat, and we will catch you up on what we're going to be doing today," our company president greets us.

"Why is Mr. Monroe here?" Jessi whispers to me as we sit down. I just shrug. Our president rarely comes to briefings, and if he does it usually means the expedition is either extremely dangerous, extremely difficult, or something new that the Board of Resources decided to try out.

"Now, this expedition I'm sending you on is going to be something you've never done before. Instead of making new resources or gathering new resources, we are going to send you into an old mall to try to gather some old things that would benefit the communities down here," the president wastes no time in explaining our mission. Well that explains why he's here.

"What kind of old things are we looking for?" asks the only other girl in the room, who happens to be in group 1. The call for expedition members was mainly answered by men, just because they're stronger.

"I'm glad you asked, Mary. I would like to direct your attention to my presentation, where I have gathered pictures to help guide you," he grins, gesturing to the PowerPoint presentation behind him. "You're looking for electronics, books, tools, minerals, and anything else that you think might be helpful." As the president speaks, pictures of the items appear behind him. Everything he names seems like an ancient artifact, lost in the days of living above. Laptops, dictionaries, and jewelry flash in front of me, making me want to laugh and cry at the same time. It's only been a few years since we lived up there, could people seriously have forgotten already?

"And why did we need a full team for this? I don't believe we need the extras," asks a guy from group 5. Although his tone is bitter, I can't blame him. If new expedition types go well enough, the groups involved pretty much become famous. However, the more people there are, the less famous they become.

"The Upperworld is dangerous, you of all people should know that. Although this mission doesn't seem to dangerous, I must remind you that nobody has been in this mall since The Great Move. We don't know what kind of animals have taken over, and we would rather be safe here than sorry," the director explains.

"Yeah, you can't have all of the fame to yourself. Deal with it," Jake mumbles besides me. I choke back a laugh and try to pay attention.

"Group 1, you're going to be the Eyes. Group 5, you're the Strength. And Group 3, you're the extras," the president instructs. Each expedition team is made up of two or three expedition groups. The Eyes are trained to look for and carry resources. The Strength groups are trained to fight off the wild animals and other dangers of the Upperworld. And extra groups, like mine, are equally trained in both and help out wherever needed. My group usually splits up, the boys helping with the strength while Jessi and I work with the Eyes. Many expeditions don't need an extra group, in which case, the extras scheduled that day either stay down and help out in the building or joining another group as whatever is needed. That's the perk of being trained in both jobs, we can easily do both jobs and are therefore a lot more flexible.

After making sure that everyone understands our mission, the president ushers us into the tunnels that lead to the Gateway Tubes. Gateway Tubes, which each hold a group, are our way back to the Upperworld. They shoot the platform we are standing on up until it reaches the surface of the Earth, where it drops us off and goes back under until we need to get back down.

"I'm kind of nervous," Jessi admits as we step into our tube.

"What's there to be nervous about? It's just another expedition," Dalton shrugs. Jake and I mumble agreements, although it's easy to tell that Dalton is the only one that doesn't really care.

"It's a new expedition type! If we fail, it could ruin our career," Jessi points out.

"Sure, but if it goes great, we could be famous. And you know what fame brings? More money for going on less expeditions. I'm down for that," Dalton replies. He has a point. The fame this expedition could bring would make our lives a lot easier.

"Look, we can worry all we want, that's not going to help us when we get up there. Are we doing the usual split up?" Jake gets us back on task. We quickly go through the little things we need to confirm, check and make sure we have everything, and before we know it, our platform is shooting us towards the Upperworld.

A/N: I know this was a pretty boring chapter, I'm sorry. I promise the next chapter is where the story starts to pick up and I quit setting it up so much. So, I plan on updating once a week, every Sunday night where I live. I may get a few mini-chapters (like this one) in on occasion during the week, but I won't guarantee those, just the one chapter a week. Anyways, please vote, comment, and share if you like it, and I promise, it gets better! Just bare with me :)