A word before the story continues:
You can find the previous chapter behind these blue words.
Chapter Two
The tunnel stretched into the distance, dark and narrow, the cold stone walls pressing in on either side of them. The dim light of Sammy’s lantern flickered, casting eerie shadows that danced across the rough stone as they walked further from the city — further from the safety Lily was so used to.
It was exciting and terrifying all at once.
The surface was said to be uninhabitable. Lifeless. The remains of their ancestors a graveyard of twisted metal and cement strewn across the earth. Some said that giant creatures roamed the remains, hunting for the human flesh that had gone untasted for so long. Others said that nature had reclaimed the world and all was shrouded in vibrant foliage and flowers.
If they continued on this path, she would soon see for herself.
Lily moistened her lips, her heart pounding as she peered over her shoulder. It was clear. No guardsmen were following them. Sammy hummed a tavern-song to himself as he casually swung the lantern back and forth, clearly not feeling as anxious as she was.
If they got caught… well, they probably wouldn’t be sent to the old jails, but their actions certainly wouldn’t go unpunished either. Her parents would be particularly horrified — she’d likely be chained to the kitchen forevermore.
The air grew cooler the higher they climbed. The steady vibration of the city’s ventilation systems faded into the background, replaced by an unsettling silence.
“How much further, do you think?” Lily asked, wincing as her voice echoed off the walls.
Sammy, a few paces ahead, turned to face her. “Getting cold feet, are we?” he asked, walking backwards for a few steps before jumping back around.
“No,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “Just wondering when we’ll actually reach the surface. You said we’d be gone an hour.”
“Okay. Maybe two hours.” He waved a hand through the air and she knew he was rolling his eyes. “Patience. You’ll know it when we get there.”
That wasn’t exactly reassuring but Lily followed onwards, her curiosity outweighing the creeping sense of unease and doubt that danced through her mind.
They walked in silence for a while longer, the tunnel sloping upward beneath their feet. The walls began to show signs of wear, cracks spider-webbed across the stone as though they had been decaying for centuries. Finally, the tunnel opened up into a wider chamber and Sammy raised the lantern, allowing the light to flicker across a set of massive iron doors.
“Here we are,” Sammy said, his voice low with awe. “Are you ready?”
Lily stared at the doors, her heart racing faster than ever. This was it. Beyond these doors lay the surface — the world she had dreamed about for as long as she could remember. Her stomach churned as the fear of being caught swept over her once more, but she forced it away.
“Yes,” she croaked in a whisper, then cleared her throat. “Yes,” she repeated, clearly this time.
Sammy motioned for her to help him and together they pushed against the great doors. They swung open with ease, as though they had been opened many times already throughout the ages. Lily’s pulse quickened. Of course the doors had been opened many times before… by the expedition teams the Curator sent through. The thought brought a thrilling rush through her veins. Here she stood, upon the precipice of something more — something only the people of the expeditions bore witness to.
“After you,” Sammy murmured, his voice quieter than normal, as though he, too, finally realised the magnitude of what they were doing.
“A-are you sure no one will notice that we’re gone?” Lily asked, peering back down the tunnel once more, praying that no guardsman had been sneaking up behind them this entire time, ready to clasp them in chains and haul them before the Curator’s glare.
Sammy’s only answer was to nudge her forward.
Resigned to the temptation of fate, Lily took a deep breath and stepped through the threshold. She had passed the point of no return.
A vast, crumbling staircase rose up before them, leading upward into a blinding light. Lily blinked and shielded her eyes. It was almost too bright after the dim, controlled glow of the underground city. Her legs shook, but the adrenaline rushing through her veins pushed her forward just as effectively as though ten Sammys were at her back. The stone steps were uneven, worn down by time, and she had to be careful not to slip or trip as they climbed. The light grew impossibly brighter with every step and she fumbled against the side of the stairs, trying to maintain her balance whilst blinded by the great white glare.
After several long minutes, the pain in her eyes dissipated and her surroundings became clear. The world came into focus, and she froze, her breath catching in her throat.
None of the stories she had heard, none of the books she had read, could have prepared her for this moment.
The sky stretched above them, vast and endless, painted in hues of pink and orange and blue as the sun rose over the horizon. Tall, twisted trees reached up toward the sky, their branches gnarled like ancient skeletons. The ruins of the old buildings crumbled around them, overgrown with thick, green vines that snakes up their broken walls. Birds — real, living birds! — flitted through the air, their delicate birdsong welcoming the sun and echoing across the world.
Lily clutched at Sammy’s arm, trying to steady herself. She had never seen so much space, had never thought so much space was possible. It was everywhere. The underground city with its tunnels and cramped streets suddenly felt so small, so suffocating in comparison. Up here, the world was vast, wild, and free.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered, her voice barely audible beneath the weight of her wonder.
She glanced up at Sammy. Bathed in the glow of natural light, he drank in the scenery slow and deliberately, all jokes and flights of fancy gone.
“Yeah,” he said softly, his usual tone replaced with something more serious. “It is.”
They stood there for a long moment, just taking it all in. Lily could scarcely believe it — she was actually on the surface. After all the stories, all the daydreams, it was even more incredible than she had imagined. And yet, there was something eerie about it too. The silence, the emptiness. The world had been abandoned long ago, left to decay under the watchful eye of the sun.
If Sammy hadn’t moved, Lily would’ve stood there and stared at the world forever.
“Come on,” he said, his words breaking through the silent serenity of the surface world. “Let’s see what we can find. You’re on the clock, remember?”
Lily winced, Sammy’s reminder jolting her back to reality. Their world was below. Her world was the bakery. Her parents would be preparing the kitchen for the great order of cakes the Curator had requested, and she would be back down there, in the darkness, baking those cakes within the hour. It all felt so small now. Insignificant. But, regardless of this small adventure they had embarked upon, they had to return to the underground soon. They had to be quick.
“Right,” Lily said, tearing her gaze from the endless sky above and forcing a determination to replace her wonder. “We’re looking for the find of a century, and we only have minutes to do it.”
“Right,” Sammy confirmed, heading for a cluster of half-collapsed buildings. “A find that will make you worthy of the Curator’s notice.”
“Right,” Lily giggled at the repetition, feeling more like herself as her and Sammy’s typical banter grounded her in the moment. “A find that will take me far away from dusty flour and pungent mushrooms.”
Sammy pointed at a building that looked somewhat intact, despite the overgrowth that ran up and down its walls. “Right,” he said, sending her a quick smile. “Let’s start at that one. If nothing else, it’ll be nice to put something new on the tavern’s shelves.”
Lily followed Sammy as he walked towards the buildings, her heart racing with the excitement of discovery and the thrill of disobedience. Oh, her parents would be so incensed if they knew what she was doing right now. Every step they took away from the tunnel doors and towards this collapsed civilisation was another step away from the life she had always known. Right now, she wasn’t Lily the Baker’s Daughter; she was Lily, Future Expedition Team Member.
Their boots crunched over the dry dirt, the ground beneath their feet uneven, riddled with cracks and debris. Tall grasses and wildflowers grew in thick patches, their roots entwined with the crumbling road they followed. A sweet breeze swept across her skin and ruffled through her hair, bringing with it the sweet smell of fresh air and heady greenery. She breathed deep, allowing the smells of the surface invigorate her. It was nearly intoxicating.
They wandered through the ruins. Lily’s gaze flicked from one structure to the next, a hundred questions swirling through her thoughts. What did this sign mean? Had someone lived in this building? Was this an old business, perhaps a bakery like her family’s business? How many people lived here? What had it all looked like before the great catastrophe sent everyone underground?
As they stepped through the remains of an old doorway, Sammy bent down to examine something half-buried in the dirt. He wiped away some of the grime to reveal a bright yellow figurine of some strange creature.
“This could be something,” he murmured, more to himself than to her.
“Maybe it’s a figurine of the old gods!” Lily quipped, trying to resume their banter — anything to reclaim a sense of normality amidst all this wonder.
“Maybe it’s just a kids toy,” he muttered, rubbing it against his shirt to reveal the figurine’s wide eyes and smiling face. “Still—“
Lily had stopped listening.
In the far corner of the room, buried beneath a pile of rubble, a leather strap beckoned to her. She bent down and carefully removed bits of wood, stone and glass until she could free the leather safely. At first she felt disappointed. It was a dusty old strap, another piece of the old world that had been discarded and forgotten, but as she moved another chunk of cement, she realised the strap was attached to something. It was an object, deliberate in its shape, and though it was covered in dust and grime, she could make out the faint outline of a lens on the front.
“Sammy,” she called out, her voice barely above a whisper and yet loud within the piercing silence.
He looked up from his yellow figurine, his brow furrowed.
“What is it?”
Lily carefully brushed away as much dirt as she could and revealed some buttons and a small lever on one side of the contraption. The lens on the front was intact though clouded with dust. She wiped it clean with her sleeve and the glass gleamed faintly in the sunlight.
“I think I’ve seen one of these before,” she murmured, turning the object over in her hands, careful not to drop it. It was heavier than it looked. “In the Museum. There was something similar on display, but that one was broken.”
Sammy knelt beside her, inspecting the strange device she held in her hands.
“Well, this one appears to be in one piece. Try pressing something.”
Lily hesitated, her finger hovering over one of the buttons.
“What if I break it?” She whispered. Her heart raced with curiosity and fear. “What if it… I don’t know. What if something happens?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
She stared at the device for the longest time, gathering all the willpower she could manage. The button on the top was perfectly placed for her pointer finger and it felt natural, intuitive, to hold the device in both hands with her finger above that particular button.
“Okay,” she breathed. “I can do this.”
“You’d better do it soon, we’ve got to go soon.”
The bakery. The cakes for the Curator. What if pressing this button made it all go away? What if it summoned a strange creature from another realm? What if nothing happened at all?
She bit her lip and pressed the button, immediately wincing as the thing in her hands made a soft click and a whirring sound. Surprised, she almost dropped it but she managed to retain her grip, then almost dropped it again as a smooth sheet of paper slid out from the front of the machine. Lily grabbed it instinctively, her eyes wide.
“What in the world…?” she whispered, holding it up to the sunlight.
It was blank at first, just a smooth white surface — but then, slowly, an image appeared. It was faint at first, but grew clearer and sharper with each passing second.
Sammy leaned in closer, his eyes widening in disbelief.
“Is that…?”
“It’s us!” Lily exclaimed, her voice filled with awe. The image on the paper was of her, kneeling on the floor with Sammy beside her, the excitement clearly etched across her face as she stared into the lens. It was as if the machine had captured the exact moment they had been in — preserved it — like magic.
“Holy hell… that’s incredible.” Sammy reached out to touch the image, but then pulled his hand away as if it were too precious to touch. “You… you just took a picture of us.”
Lily’s mind spun circles, her heart pounding in her chest harder and faster than it ever had before. She had never seen anything like this — had never imagined anything like this! A device that could capture a moment in time and turn it into an image on paper. A picture, not drawn with a pencil but instead summoned from the insides of this machine. She had made a discovery… a real discovery! Her heart leapt into her throat as she jumped to her feet.
“Sammy! I can take pictures.”
“It’s amazing!” Sammy grinned widely and jumped to his feet, pulling a heroic pose. “Do it again. Take one of me.”
Lily, still in shock, nodded and aimed the device at Sammy. She pressed the button again, and the same soft click followed. A sheet of paper whirred out and when the image appeared it was a perfect capture of Sammy, his arms flexed forever in an image to be preserved for all time.
“This is unbelievable,” Lily whispered, staring down at the two pictures in her hands. Her discovery. It was real. This could change everything. Her heart swelled with the possibilities — she was holding a piece of magic: something that the Curator would be amazed by, something her own parents would not be able to deny, something she could showcase to the entire city! No one would even care that the two troublemakers had snuck to the surface. This machine could change so much.
“One more!” Sammy fell to the ground, spreadeagled, and stuck his tongue out like a makeshift corpse.
Lily traced the edge of the device, indulging in the feel of cool metal beneath her fingertips. Her mind was still racing with the possibilities and she couldn’t focus on Sammy’s silliness right now. If she held something as magnificent as this in her hands, what else might be hiding within the ruins, forgotten by time, just waiting for someone like her to find it? The expedition teams… she swallowed. This truly could be the answer to her dreams, but first they needed to return to the city.
Sammy’s eyes were on her, imploring her to take another picture of him, but… she couldn’t. The magic of discovery was giving way to the cold, creeping reality of where they were and what they were doing — what they were risking.
“Sammy,” she said, her voice quieter now, the awe she felt fading into urgency. “We can’t stay. If we’re gone too long—“
“Yes, yes. The bakery. The Curator. Blah, blah, blah,” Sammy said, still sprawled on the ground like a dead man. His smile faltered as Lily frowned and he hurriedly sat upright. “Okay, I’m sorry. You’re right. I know.”
Lily looked at the pictures in her hand, then back at the device. A shiver of excitement ran through her, mixing with the anxiety that was trying to make her body its home.
“This could be really huge,” she murmured.
“Yes, it could.” Sammy leapt to his feet and brushed the dirt off his his pants. “Best we get back then, before the guardsmen decide to do their rounds. Hey—“ He nudged her playfully. “—maybe you’ll get caught by Xander, dashing guardsman of the east district.”
“Shut up!” she giggled, clutching onto the device for dear life. “It’s not like that.”
“Not yet,” he winked, but then his expression grew more solemn. “Okay. Seriously. Let’s get back. You’re not the only one due for a scolding if we’re not back soon and if we want to avoid the morning patrols, well...” he left the thought dangling in the air.
Lily nodded, carefully placing the device and the pictures it had created into the satchel she carried.
Together, they trudged back to the tunnel that would take them back down into the city, away from the surface and its endless mysteries, away from that glorious sky that stretched on forever and ever. Lily took one last longing look at the infinite expanse, taking in the soft blue canvas painted with white streaks of cloud, then followed Sammy down the crumbling staircase and into the darkness below, ready but unwilling to descend back into the reality of her world. As the great iron doors closed behind them, swallowing the last glimpse of sunlight, the weight of that reality settled over her shoulders.
What lay beyond those doors was now just a memory, a fleeting taste of freedom slipping through her fingers as fate tethered her to the underground once more, but as Lily tightened her grip on the satchel, feeling the hidden camera tapping against her side, a wave of determination surged within her. This was the key to her escape, the key to a world she was not ready to let go of. And one day, she would find her way back up there and stare into that glorious sky.
She would make sure of it.