Under the Surface

The Moles

My name is Finn Portman, and I'm a Mole.
No, not the small brown mammals that you occasionally see down here in the Tunnels, but something different.
Moles are the bottom of society, quite literally.

About 40 years ago, the economy crashed and we witnessed another Great Depression. With so many people unemployed and the rising population out of control, the government had the brilliant idea of underground cities to temporarily give people shelter from the cold months. Well after the economy eventually bounced back, a lot of us poor and broke families were forgotten down here with no chance of escaping. It's been this way for nearly 30 years, and the government continues to act like we don't exist, along with its citizens who live on the Surface.

So that's why I'm starting this journal. I'm going to write down every last detail of my escape from this hell hole, even if it kills me. We may be Moles, but it's the Surface who's blind.

Before I start to write down my journey, I have to give you some sense of setting.

The Moles live about 200 feet underground. Temperatures can reach up to 100 degrees at some points, making a lot of the elderly vulnerable.

Night and Day are one in the same. Most of us who live down here have never even seen a sky, or even heard of one. They teach us about it in schools, but it's just one of those things you can never make yourself believe in.

Our underground city consist of 3 main sections, each connected by a Tunnel. Tunnels are what Surfacers may call "highways." The biggest of these sections is Pruitt. It's named after the President that put us down here. The other 2 smaller sections are Alpha and Omega.

My family and I live in the Omega section, the furthest from Pruitt. Even though all Moles are poor, that doesn't stop the existence of a social caste in our society. The Omega section citizens are regarded as the lowest of the low, with Alpha being second class and Pruitt being the upper class. Pruitt's usually have easier access to food, water, and clothing, and almost always finish their schooling. The people of the Alpha and Omega sections despise them, and they despise us.

Now I know what you may be thinking. Why don't we just dig our way to the Surface? When the economy bounced back on the Surface, someone or something caused the elevators to collapse, trapping nearly 200,000 people down here. As ordinary citizens, there was nothing we could do. And attempting to dig holes in the ceiling results in a penalty by death in our makeshift democracy down here. We died by the hundreds in the first few months, reducing our population to only 100,000 now.

There have been tales of people throughout Mole history who have tried to escape. Some believe that the government kills any mole that appears on the Surface, discouraging any attempts we make to escape.

It's an underground concentration camp.

But this time will be different, I'm going to reach the Surface and make the citizens of Earth aware of my existence. If only I could make it out of Omega...