Instinct had once made them fear Mother Earth and her power to both destroy and revive with a single languid swipe of her hand. Beautiful devastation, a supernova of archaic chaos. Then, humanity evolved and evolved and evolved until they invented the concept of war and the rivers of cash that flowed through their fingers at any off-handed mention of slaughter. Stained with the blood of every life it took. The greed cut through their numbers like a plague, the endless wars taking billions.

Countries grew desperate to survive. Anxious and fearful in ways that were dangerous. Any second, someone could get antsy enough to just hit that red button, and everything would be over.

Everything would be over…that was why no one had fired up to that point. Why they never would.

As time passed—the eyes of men forever looking to the sky for the fading tails of long-ranged weapons—the great Mother boiled with a rage completely forgotten beneath her skin. An ancient power that would remind them exactly why their instinct told them to run in the first place.

The tsunamis came first but hadn’t been as lethal as they would have been before humanity cut their own species in half. No longer were there thriving coastal cities like in the days of old, no. Along the sea were only sparsely populated fishing towns. The body count for the multitude of nearly three thousand foot waves was low. Well…comparably, that is.

Still, they were only the first half of the final blow to the dwindling species. Because then came the fire and ash. Volcanoes spat their magma like blood from rabid, frothed mouths. Streams poured over her surface, incinerated cities like they were nothing more than paper. Screams for help rang on for months as the Earth continued to split open and bleed her dangerous blood. Buried, smoothed over like plaster. A permanent grave meant to never be reopened again.

After the Mother’s revenge was spent, she grew dormant once more. Folding into herself, sealing the few gorges that still wept lava and fumes. She retreated from the ashen skies and the plummeting temperatures that followed her sweltering rage.

Heat sank to the icy fangs of what crawled through the now-gaping skeleton of civilization. Only a couple hundred million left after everything. Even those numbers were taking a rapid plunge from the snowfall that layered several hundred feet of white fluff over this newer, grey-blue planet. 

The few surviving people realized there was no more life to be had upon Earth’s once-vibrant crust. There was no salvation there, no hand of mercy extending its aid. So, instead, they clawed their way deep into the Earth. Spent multiple generations just trying to repopulate. When they did, so had the trials.

They sent people to the surface every decade or so, looking for the sun that no one alive had ever seen. The objective—return to Earth’s surface and start anew. Few made it back alive, and only a handful of those ones didn’t get sick from the ashy radiation before dying in a sea of crimson. But then, by some miracle, humans found their way back to the surface.

Well, it’s more like they elected a group of delinquents to push through the ashy snow of the surface without any intentions of letting them back in. Cruel for so many reasons but backed by the public for others. 

They take up too much space.

They’re poor; they leech off of us.

They breathe our finite stores of oxygen, eat our scarce food.

They take and don’t give.

They’re dangerous.

They’re dangerous.

They’re dangerous, so they were thrown out to the cold. And there, they miraculously survived for two generations while the underground cities thrived, untethered by their damning touch. Turned out, there hadn’t ever been a need to send anyone outside in the first place. They were perfectly fine without breaching Mother’s skin; instead, they excavated further toward her quiet core. New innovations provided everything that could have kept those up top below without fear of running out. Oxygen, food, clean water. Even housing had grown to a degree that so much space was vacant, nothing but ghosts of past tenants passing through empty windows.

It was a whole new utopia.

That’s what they say, anyway. The adults. Teachers, doctors, that fat guy across the uppermost cavern that grew bioluminescent flowers. They all swore that this was humanity’s new golden age. That this was where they took another step towards their oh-so-great purpose. 

But no, no. That was a mythos not yet turned into reality, and most of them, most of those who still lingered near the top, understood that. Because here, just beneath the surface where all the old structural supports had been changed for the newer, shinier materials of the inner caverns...this was were poverty ran rampant once more. Where bile and grime and corpses could be found in abundance, seeping out of every alleyway and throwing their putrid scent into the air like an abhorrent cousin of a cool spring breeze.

“Jason!”

He looked up to see the Medina twins staring down at him from the top of the staircase. Huey was right behind them, his stature towering over them even though he was Jason’s age and four inches shorter than Jason’s already kinda short five-foot-eight height.

“Huey says you’re the reason we’re always late!” Jaime shouted.

“I did n—”

“He did, too!” Mikaela squeaked over Huey’s indignant words, readily joining her brother in throwing the elder sibling under the bus.

Jason blinked languidly up at the trio and let out a huffing sigh. “I’m coming, I’m coming. Just…catching my breath.”

Huey’s eyes narrowed, and he quickly skipped down the steps to stand beside his brother. Adopted brother. “You take your meds this morning, Jacie?”

“Course I did,” Jason hissed, that despicable nickname scratching at him in all the wrong ways. “Just, sometimes it gets bad. I don’t know why; it just does.”

The twins have joined the duo on the lower steps. Mikaela looked like she was about to cry, and Jamie trembled with adrenaline. An exaggerated sigh escaped Jason’s tightened lips.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, guys,” he grumbled, standing up straighter. “I’m fine.”

Six eyes full of skepticism watched him unconvinced. He ignored them, continuing up the ornately carved staircase. In no way did Jason want to tell them what was actually going on. How he accepted a dare to impress the prettiest girl in his class. An absurd dare that bordered psychotic.

Quetalina was her name. Locks of ebony, skin a dark, smooth mocha. She stood a little taller than most other girls, her height even against Jason’s. But Jason didn’t have a big enough ego to desire a woman to stand over, so that was just fine. What he did have, however, was an intense infatuation with Quetalina’s amber eyes. Resilient fire against the dark of her full cheeks, sheltered by thick, curled lashes of obsidian.

The only question left was whether his gamble would pay off. Going above ground was strictly prohibited to anyone under twenty-five, but Julio had an in with his brother. Consistently rambled about how they go outside all the time, told stories whenever adults weren’t around to throw their asses in jail. But Jason thought that’s all they were. Stories. Flat, simple, devoid of any sustenance, stories. Something Jason had zero qualms about calling out.

So, now, Julio wanted to prove himself. Along with this suicidal endeavor, he’s dragged Jason down with him.

“Come on, Dopter,” he’d urged yesterday, knowing the stupid slum nickname got under Jason’s skin. “Let’s make sure you have a story to tell your little crush about at school tomorrow.”

Jason still couldn’t decide if it was the fact that Julio knew about his crush on Quetalina or the stupid teasing that made him angry enough to accept. Something that he very much regretted this morning. It was too late to back out now. His course was set, and he’d need to put distance between him and his family to make it on time.

“Woah, woah, Jason!” Huey called out, frantic. “Don’t go ahead of-damn it, Jamie, get you’re sister!”

“Run Jacie, run!” Mikaela giggled as she bolted from her brother’s grasping hands.

Jason smiled, quickly saluting the little girl before continuing his ascent. Out of everyone in their adopted family, Mikaela was by far the most chaotic child in the bunch.

As soon as he reached the landing pad at the top of the stairs, Jason took a sharp left, away from the Ornament that hung bright in the foyer of their cavern city. He ventured further into the darkness, taking the correct turns to take him to the back of his school. Took him forever, but the green lichen of his school field finally appeared at the end of a tubular corridor.

“Well, well, well, I’m surprised you showed up,” Julio said with a manic grin. “Really didn’t think you had it in you.”

Around Julio were a couple of his friends and Quetalina. Behind Jason, Talia, and Victor are drawing closer.

“Stupid idea,” Victor hissed.

“Come on, Jace. Don’t do this just to prove a point; it’ll get you killed,” Talia added, her voice desperate, dark gray eyes pleading.

Jason’s friends hadn’t shaken his resolve yesterday. He didn’t know why they thought it’d be different today.

“You guys don’t believe in me.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Victor voiced resolutely. “Be I do believe in the storms of glass and the gangs and even just the cold that are going to kill you after one night.”

“I have my card on me.”

“That doesn’t always work, Jason!” Talia whisper-shouted. “Especially recently. They’ve been cracking down on people returning from the outer crust and you know that!”

Jason did. It’s what made this all the more nerve-wracking. But he shook himself off and pushed away from his friends.

Julio eyed him up and down. “Okay, okay. Maybe I misjudged you, my guy.”

Jason frowned. “We doing this or what?”

Julio whistled. “Ho boy, you are ready, aren’t you?”

“Guys, maybe we shouldn’t.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the honeyed voice that spoke. Quetalina had moved ever closer to the loud conversation. Even she seemed hard-set against this whole idea.

Jason only felt a well of courage trickle through every nerve ending in his body at her concerned interference. He returned to the task at hand, meeting Julio’s cold hazel glare.

“Come in Julio. Enough stalling.” Jason paused, just long enough for it to be dramatic. “Unless, what? You got cold feet?”

Julio shook his head and laughed. The gleam in his eyes lacked anything malicious but shone with a rather sudden admiration. “Okay, okay, cool. Let’s get going then, amigo. See what kind of story you bring back with you.”

Jason managed to return a genuine smile just as a voice called out over the field.

“Everyone, get to class! Now!” Lockhead shouted, his bushy red beard brushing against his pudgy stomach.

Immediately, the group scattered, but Julio grabbed Jason’s hand. “No, no, this way, Jacie-boy. We’re going on an adventure!”

Jason wasn’t sure if it was the thrill of adrenaline or the possibility that his psyche had just broken, but either way, he threw everything he had into running with Julio and away from school. Their principal ran after them briefly before giving up and yelling into his radio. It was comical and terrifying all at the same time, and Jason found he loved it. He loved the thrill, loved the warmth of Julio’s hand against his. He loved how easy it was to hear each breath and every laugh. He loved the closeness, and—wait, when did he start thinking this way about Julio?

The thought crushed him and set him free all in one single stroke. Everything fell into perfect harmony, and it felt so right. He’d heard that it was looked down on, so he tried to turn it off, but he just couldn’t, and now he most certainly didn’t want to.

“Right!” Julio shouted over the machinery moving in the belly of the engine rooms.

Jason tore right, following Julio’s steps with swift precision.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Julio huffed as he pulled Jason to a stop and untangled their joined fingers. 

Jason was surprisingly upset at the loss of Julio’s touch. The guy was a typical asshole around the school, but he had a soft side to him, too. Moments of gentle caring when he intervened for the greater good, gave food to kids who couldn’t afford it. Julio was probably one of the best examples of morally gray. Not good, but definitely not entirely immoral, either.

“My brother’s gonna be here soon. He’ll get us some suits, and we can tag along with him.”

For some reason, the idea that Julio was following through with this plan from delirium surprised Jason. It meant that, maybe, every story this guy had told throughout their teenage lives had at least a modicum of truth to it. It meant he wasn’t a total liar.

“Holy shit, that’s so cool!” Jason couldn’t help but exclaim. It earned him a baffled look from Julio, who was bent over himself, gasping for breath.

“Man, I thought you were full of shit! Like, this whole time, but fuck…it’s really real!”

Julio’s eyebrows pinched, and he let out a confused laugh. “Not sure what that means, but I’ll just give you the benefit of the doubt and say thank you for the compliment.”

Jason smiled, this new joy seeping out of every gleefully broken seam. “So, how much of the stories are true? Is there really no embellishment?”

Julio laughs, straightening up. He stands about a head above Jason, something the latter finds endearing instead of belittling. “Every story is embellished at one point or another; we can’t help it. As a species, we are driven to make ourselves or our situations more brilliant than we actually are. Aside from that, though,” he continued with a wink, “most of it is true.”

“Almost none of it is true.” Helix, Julio’s older brother.

And all of a sudden, Jason’s happiness was gone. He recognized this face, even if he’d forgotten the name.

“H-Hey, Julio? I-I don’t think—”

“Oh, come on, Jacie dear,” Julio whispered, a shadow of malicious intent crawling over his eyes. “Just relax. We brought you all the way out here for a very important reason. Wouldn’t wanna miss our chance like we did last time.”

No, no, no, no, no, no! Not again!

Jason bolted for the way they’d come, only for Helix to tackle him to the ground and pin Jason’s hands behind his back. And then Julio was in front of him with some wet towel pressed beneath his nose.