'Up'

(Background: Most humans have been living underground for hundreds of years since nuclear Armageddon in the 21^st century, to which the details are unknown. Jacob was brought up exclusively underground in a tightly controlled society, until he gained access to a library of information via a computer he was not meant to be able to access, where he learnt about the real world; especially about the prophesized ‘surface’. The prophecy stated that people were now returning to the surface, and that all humans should follow as the radiation had largely subsided. He tried to spread the good news to others and start the exodus. However, wanting to preserve their values and traditions the leaders of the society decided the people should stay underground for their safety, so tried to have Jacob and his followers executed. As sole survivor of this attempt, Jacob escaped and began a journey ‘Up’ to try and find this mythical surface he read about. This is a short bit I wrote, but would love to expand it as my head is now full of ideas for characters etc. and would love some feedback)

Jacob carefully ascended the ladder one slime smothered rung at a time holding firm with his hands ensuring his boots were placed properly. He had not looked upwards yet wanting to keep a close eye on the rungs. These ladders had not been climbed for some time and they were covered in mildew and mould along with the bricks that surrounded him in this ceramic cylinder, which was undoubtedly built a very long ago. Still, he did not look above because of the precarious task of clinging to the slimy steel. Something stopped him in his tracks. It was a new feeling. Cold air brushed past his ear and ruffled his air slightly. It was a breeze. Jacob had never felt cold air like that. He then breathed in and noticed the air was clearer than before. It smelt of… ‘That’s strange’. The new air smelt of nothing. It was just air, and it was incomprehensibly pleasant. Looking down at the radiation monitor the levels had subsided slightly meaning he must have made good progress recently. The prophecy said radiation would dissipate as he continued ‘Up’. His realisation he must be nearer his goal made him quicken in pace with excitement placing one boot onto each rung faster than before as he now began to feel progress was being made. Onwards and upwards.

Taking another few dozen more steps upwards, his helmet suddenly clanged onto a circular metal sheet above. Jacob had no idea, but In the Old World they were known as ‘man-hole covers’. There were small rays of light coming through a tiny hole in the centre of the cover, so he decided to switch off the power torch to conserve power allowing his eyes to adapt. He was used to working in the dark and had a good sense of his small cramped surroundings now. There seemed to be another light source above. Looking down for the last time he couldn’t see the ground now as the air was full of steam and mist, making the hole below more ominous than before. There was no way of knowing how far he had climbed. It could have been hours. He pulled the crowbar from his belt and began to work on the sides attempting to lift the heavy piece of steel off with one hand, and another hand holding firm to the rung.

The slime had infiltrated most of the gaps so he had to clear out the gunk by scraping in a cylindrical motion, throwing the grime back down the tunnel. Once he’d done that Jacob tried with his outstretched hand to push the cover upwards. It didn’t budge at all. He tried again, putting all of his strength into his right arm to try and open the cover being wary of falling. No movement. Still clutching the crowbar, and after a moment to rest the muscles, he tried one last time and gathered all the strength he could pushing the cover upwards, this time with a slight groan. His left foot gave way suddenly as it slid on the slime on the rung, and with the sudden change in the centre of gravity, the right foot moved away suddenly too, and Jacob began to fall. He swung his right arm back to the ladder to stop the fall and in doing so dropped the crowbar down the hole.

Jacob dangled by his two legs as he listened to the clangs and crashes as the crowbar fell all the way back down the hole for what felt like aeons before echoing away into silence. He could not allow that to be him. After regaining some composure, he slowly placed his legs back onto the rungs, and after feeling a modicum of stability he held onto the ladder with all four limbs again.  His hands were in agony from holding so tightly onto the rungs supporting his bodyweight so gave each one a slight rest by clenching and releasing one hand at a time allowing blood to flow through his fingers again. Now what? It took weeks to find this access shaft upwards. He couldn’t bare going down again into the darkness to face those ‘things’ again in a likely vain attempt to find another hole like this. He had no food, no water; his batteries were low, and now no crowbar as it would probably be washed away along those foul sewage canals that lay below. This was it. It was getting out of this tunnel now going further upwards or certain death. He had been through too much, had seen so much pain and suffering. He was not going to beaten by a flimsy piece of metal from going up more. He knew salvation was upwards. The prophecy said ‘Up’ was the right direction, and that was where he was going to go. I will not go back down there. Anger begun to rise within him and with that he took a step upwards once more and launched his whole body at the cover via his neck, shoulders, and back using his legs and arms for leverage. He pushed with his entire body upwards. His muscles tensed everywhere, and pain began to radiate from the metal through his shoulders and neck which took the full force of the cover. He pushed harder, and harder, now groaning loudly, and then, slowly, but surely, the cover began to tremble, and then move, and then it lifted slightly. He then let go of the rungs and suddenly grabbed the circular cover just as his hands could fit in the gap he had created. If he missed now, he would certainly fall. It moved just enough so his hands could fit between the gap and he hauled it with all his strength away from him creating a hole. The cover was now partially off.

Directly above there appeared to be some kind of contraption of pipes and rusted metals. It may have been some ancient transport vehicle, maybe for mining, such as from the books he read about? After a moment to relax, he then used his hands to move the cover away creating room for his body to fit through. Then, he peered over the precipice and began to crawl upwards and outwards. He was directly underneath a machine of some kind. It had 4 wheels with rubber tyres, but the wheels were raised enough for him to just about crawl out onto his front onto the cold hard black concrete. Now half over, he raised his legs too and laid flat on his belly now fully free of the Earthly orifice that was the access tunnel. His back was rubbing on the underbelly of this vehicle meaning he had very little room, so crawled slowly forwards towards the edge. Forwards, and forward, inch by inch, until his body was free of the machine and he laid panting and sweating for a moment. He turned over to rest and realised he was in some kind of room. The fresh and cool air was exquisite. They must have an excellent air pump.

Looking around he realised he was in some kind of four walled ancient bricked room. There were tools and metallic objects everywhere, and some cardboard boxes containing paper books and others. This appeared to be some kind of storage space for the vehicle. He looked in the vehicle. It had glass windows and a strange wheel at the front which looked like it made up the controls. There appeared to be seats for around 6 people. Jacob looked up to what he thought was a small electronic brown coloured light. Whatever it was, some light was coming through illuminating the room slightly and which he had noticed below the cover. On one side of the room was a corrugated sheet of metal, which must have been the way out of here. Tiny rays of light poked through from beyond. Jacob figured it was some kind of room beyond with bright lights, but the manner to which the light shone through was puzzling. It was unlike any powered lights he had seen before. Approaching the doorway he checked the edges and it seemed to open from below based on the sliding mechanism, so he bent down, put his hands under the bottom of the shutters and pulled upwards fast and true. The shutters launched open with ease. Jacob was launched backwards onto the ground from the shock of what he saw beyond. He held up his hands in self-defence; his eyes dilated; he gasped with a sudden intake of air to his lungs and adrenaline suddenly surged through his body. He could feel and hear his heart beating in his ears and head.

He lay there transfixed, not breathing, and unable to move. His eyes stung as they tried to adapt to light they had never experienced before as tears were released to counter the dryness this new air caused. Whole new wavelengths bombarded his retina, and his brain tried to register all the new colours and sensations of light it had never experienced before. The entire spectrum of light was unleashed onto Jacob in one go like a tsunami of colour and brightness. The breeze hit him, and for the first time in his life air moved quickly enough to penetrate the porous clothes he wore touching his skin causing goose pimples to break out all over his body. Jacob just lay there quietly awe struck, transfixed, and mesmerised at the majesty and size of it all. He could not comprehend what he was looking at first. His eyes had never had to zoom in such a way to look at objects so far away before. His whole life they only looked no further than a few feet in either direction. Jacob could not comprehend exactly what it was he was looking at, but there above him was a glorious blue ocean of colour that extended all the way down to the ground. Mixed in were small white majestic blobs moving slowly, and to one side was a large ball of bright yellowy white fire that Jacob could not stare directly at. Jacob looked upon the blue sky for the first time in his life, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He smiled for the first time in months.