Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
I key in the code, open the door, and we walk through.
It takes a second for the bustle of the city to overtake the absolute silence we just came out of, but then… there it is. While Blackberry Hill only houses two thousand people these days, it’s big enough for twenty thousand. Which, relatively speaking, makes it empty, so the city sounds have an echoing quality that makes it a different kind of loud than a city filled to capacity like Kingfisher Flats.
I reach around, prying Clover’s fingers off me, and then direct her to step out from behind my back. We’re in an alley and while there are people walking past up ahead, there’s no one in here with us. So it’s a safe place for her to take a look around and collect herself.
When I look down at her, she’s squinting, her hand partially covering her eyes like a visor. “Why is it so bright?” She looks around, then up at me. “You’re tricking me. This isn’t underground. This is outside. There’s a sun!”
“Artificial. It’s just lights, Clover. We’re definitely underground. You know this. We got in the elevator. We went down a hundred floors. And it goes much deeper than that.”
“It was a trick. I’m dreaming—”
I turn and grab her shoulders, shaking her a little. “That’s enough now. You need to be calm. When we get to our room, you can ask all the questions you want, but right now I need you to stop. OK? Here. Take my hand.” I offer it to her, fully expecting a fight. But a fight is better than panic.
She looks at it for a moment, but then puts her hand in mine and lets out a breath.
I give it a squeeze. “It’s only a five-minute walk to the room we’re gonna stay in and there’s no one in the consulate here. We haven’t kept full-time ambassadors here in Blackberry Hill for nearly a decade. It’s a big city, area wise, but not many people live here these days, so most of it is very quiet and empty. Honestly, Collin Creed is the most interesting thing to happen to Blackberry Hill in a long time. So you don’t have to talk to anyone. There’s almost no way you fuck this up. Just as long as you don’t talk, don’t gawk, and keep a hold of my hand.” I hold up our joined hands and give her a smile.
Her face is all kinds of confused, but this seems to settle her. For now. So she nods. “OK.”
“All right. Let’s go.” I lead her out of the alley and immediately, she’s gawking and gasping. I squeeze her again, but this time far less gently. “Knock it off, Clover. Ignore everything until we get back inside.”
“But it’s so big!”
“Shhh.” I tug her a little to make her keep up with the new, fast pace I’ve set, and focus on the door to the consulate just a little way down the street.
When we arrive, I key in the code, open the door, and close it behind us. The lights come on automatically, illuminating the three-story lobby. I quickly turn to Clover and shake my head, cautioning her. “Wait.” Then I point up.
Her eyes follow my pointing finger, taking in the massive wooden staircase, and she nods.
We climb the stairs all the way up to the top of the building, because I figure that since I’m the only one here, I might as well take the penthouse.
When we finally reach the top, I open the door to the apartment and wave her in. Again, the lights come on automatically. But only because the curtains are drawn across the massive bank of floor-to-ceiling windows on the far end of the main living room.
“Oh… wow.” Clover steps inside, looking around the room. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“It’s nice,” I say, closing the door behind us. “But here’s the best part.” I walk over to the windows, grab the curtains, and throw them aside. Sunlight—well, fake, of course—comes streaming into the room, giving the whole place a nice, warm glow. “The view,” I say. “I’ve always liked this view.”
Clover joins me at the window, saying nothing.
In the early days, when the underground cities were first being drilled, the men in charge tried to make them fit in with the esthetic and geography above. So Blackberry Hill has all the characteristics of Charleston circa 1956. The buildings are various shades of buff and red brick with some of the same ornamental features of their up-top counterparts. There are cars and a trolley system—all electric. Shops line the street below us. A corner store, a tailor, and a diner are visible from up here. Most of them are probably abandoned these days, but they don’t look derelict. And if you only look down and not across, you could almost believe you were up top. But there’s no endless expanse of sky that ends in a horizon down here, obviously. Just a fake sun shining through a massive hole in the rock walls.