Beneath the Shadowlanders

Chapter Twenty-One: Orion

Despite the urgency of our discovery yesterday, mom still makes me go to school today. My back hurts from sleeping on the couch last night, and I'm stuck in the same clothes, since I can't go in my room until our guests awaken. I don't hear a thing my teachers say in a single one of my classes, I'm so preoccupied thinking about how we're going to let the world know. I barely eat at lunch, much to the chagrin of my upsettingly protective sister. When we're finally dismissed, it feels like being released from prison. I run all the way home, skipping the tram entirely. I'm too impatient to wait for it.

I arrive a few minutes before Lis, banging through the front door and dropping my pack on the couch. "Alright, who's ready to go save the world?"

Mom pokes her head out of the kitchen. "How was school?" she deadpans.

I frown at her. "You're kidding, right?"

She just shrugs and ducks back into the kitchen. I follow her in, sitting down at the kitchen table. Gabe and Gin are already there, eating what appears to be cheese sandwiches. A twinge of jealousy finds its way into my cheeks, but I push it down. We have more important things to worry about.

"So, what's the plan?" Gin asks, taking a bite of her sandwich.

I pause. "Oh. I don't know, I guess I just figured we'd storm city hall and demand to speak with the General." I blush.

"Seems like as good a plan as any to me," Gin responds. She smiles at me encouragingly. "I don't really know how else you get the government's attention."

"Are you kidding me?" Gabriel interjects. "They've had soldiers crawling all over the surface for years. They're not going to listen to a bunch of teenagers who suddenly insist that they know how to win the war." Gabriel is fuming now. If he wasn't already unhappy to be down here, he is now. Visibly so.

Lis chooses this moment to walk in the door. She stops short when she sees us all around the table, clearly in the midst of a heated discussion. She tries to sneak upstairs to her room, but I stop her.

"Don't you dare. We need you."

Begrudgingly, she turns around and sits down at the table across from me.

"I don't know what you're expecting me to do. This is your crusade." She cross her arms and pouts, still skeptical. "Besides, I have an exam to study for," she adds. Her blond curls hang loose around her face and she pushes a stray strand behind her ear, concluding this gesture with an audible harrumph.

"You're the smart one. When Abigail's not here, anyway. Come on, Lis. How do we do this?" I plead with her.

She thinks for a minute. "I don't know, Ri." She looks at Gin and Gabe for help. "I mean, it's not like you can just walk up to city hall."

"See? That's what I said!" Gabe interrupts, glaring smugly across the table.

"I don't know," Genevieve responds. "It's just crazy enough, it might get their attention."

Lis ponders this for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Actually, yeah. It just might work." I can see the gears turning in her brain and my heart leaps with anticipation.

Gabe sighs, clearly pained, before finding himself agreeing. "Fine, but we have to do this together. At least with four of us, they might be more willing to listen."

"Of course," I respond. "We couldn't do it any other way."

My mother, who has been listening the entire time, steps forward. "I don't know about this. It seems dangerous."

Each settlement in Underland has its own government. They all communicate, but there is no one great leader of the world. Most of the settlements are police states. All of them are run by military officials. It was the most logical choice, during the migration. They were already the ones in charge of everything, might as well make it official.

Because of this, what we refer to, for lack of a better word, as city hall is in fact a heavily armed military base. Marching up to the gates and demanding to see the General is basically insane. But it's also our only plan.

"We don't really have a choice, mom. We can't just keep this to ourselves. And it seems like this is the only way." I stand. "We have to do this. For dad." She looks away, and I know I've struck a nerve. I wait for her to respond, but she doesn't say anything more. "It's settled, then. Let's go."

"Right now? What about Bee?" Lis asks. "Shouldn't we bring her with?

"We don't have time," I insist, puffing my chest out like a war hero. I can practically hear a Sousa march in the background of my next statement: "Every second we waste, more and more scouts are scouring the surface, being attacked by rogue shadows. No more families should be forced to lose their brothers. Their fathers. Their husbands. Their sons. Not when we know there's a better way."

That shuts them all up.