Flip Surge

The walls of the earth around her felt like they were swallowing her whole. Barely a shoulder width between her and the sides of the clay walls that seemed to stretch for miles, Mia could hardly breathe as she descended further and further into the earth as quickly as her arms and legs would allow her to. The last light of daylight was barely visable through the thick thatch covering of the safe haven. Finally after reaching the bottom of the ladder she stood in the darkening corridor, still trying to catch her breath.

Had they followed her? Mia wondered. She had tried to dodge the Patrol after they spotted her nearly two hours ago during her once-again failed supply run. Mia didn't want to go to the Up Above, but she had no choice since her little sister Becky was growing weaker by the day.

Insulin was such a stupid thing, she thought. If it was so important for bodies to survive with, they should all have the ample amount they needed without need for medical intervention.

"Mia", Becky squeaked, exasperated. "Did they see you?"

Mia found her way over to her little sister and slumped down besides her on the cold damp earth.

"I don't think they followed me this time Bean but it's not for you to worry about, please get some rest," Mia said sweetly as she pushed a tuft of frizzy hair behind Becky's ear, barely visable now with the light of day mostly gone.

Bean was such a silly nickname, but it was just the one that stuck. Becky was always a thin little girl and Gramps thought she was 'thin as a beanstalk' so, "Bean" she was after that. Oh how she missed Gramps, and Ma of course, too. Mia couldn't even remember how long it had been since the last time she saw Ma. She remembered the calmness of her voice, the nurturing aura she had about her, and her stretching belly from her newest little sister growing inside. Mia reached into the pocket of her dirty, ripped up jeans and grasped the heart-shaped locket that had fallen to the ground off Ma's neck during her struggle with the Patrol-which just so happened to be the last time she saw her.

"Mia RUN!!" Ma's voiced echoed in her mind as Mia closed her eyes as tightly as she could still sitting besides Becky and stroking her frizzy blonde hair.

It wouldn't be long before she had to try again and wander to the Up Above-a place where she knew Becky would never recognize. They were almost completely out of supplies, but most importantly the store of insulin Ma had left behind for Becky was desperately low.

"I'll try again first light tomorrow", she thought to herself, and laid her head against Becky's and allowed herself to drift off and wait for the dawn to once again peek through the thick thatch covering above them.

_______________

BOOM...BOOOM. BOOM. Dust and dirt showered from above. Mia jumped straight up to her feet just knowing the Patrol had finally found the safe haven. 



"It was just another quake" Becky yawned and stretched her arms.

Mia didn't have the heart to tell her that earthquakes were a rarity where they were from and what Becky thought were "quakes" were actually the 'aftershocks' of bombs exploding and tearing through their former homeland. How much longer would the walls hold before they completely crumbled around the girls, trapping them inside? This was always something Mia worried about.

She took a sip from her canteen and reached down and pressed it to Becky's lips as well.

"Just a sip of it Bean, we can't drink it all before I can get us some more". Mia reminded and tightened the lid.

It didn't seem so long ago since the darkness had swept over them, but alas, the light of dawn was peeking through the cracks above them and it was time for Mia to embark once again.

"You stay quiet down here Bean, I'll be back soon as I can". She leaned over and kissed the top of Becky's head.

Mia walked over and picked up her backpack and reached her tired arms towards the ladder, just hoping she'd make it back safely again. Each time she went to the Up Above the risk of never seeing her sweet little sister again was even higher.

Mia turned to look one last time at Becky before starting the climb up. "Love you" the sisters parroted one by one. 



Mia climbed her way up and up to the very top of the ladder and exited the safe haven. It was really just a narrow opening into the ground that descended around 30 feet down into a thin passageway-which then led to an opening that was barely big enough for 4 people to lay down in. Someone had carved it out before the dawn of the Flip Surge and Ma just happened upon it when she nearly fell inside one day while out foraging in the woods. She never told a soul about it which meant the only people who knew were her and the girls-and of course whoever built the thing in the first place.

Mia covered the top of the opening of the safe haven with the thatch cover they had built with Ma and crunched her way through the tall dead grasses that mostly surrounded the woods-while unbeknownst to her, flattened the grasses and formed a path with each step she took. Mia normally entered the safe haven from a moss bank against the trees, but she was taking a different route this time since the last route she took got her spotted by the Patrol. She untangled the ribbon from her auburn hair, as she always did, and tied it to the trunk of a nearby tree. This would help her find her way back should she get turned around fleeing from the Patrol.

Mia quickened her pace knowing she didn't have long to make her way out of the woods and find an abandoned camp for supplies. The Patrol was always more active during the night so first light of dawn was her best chance at venturing out least noticably. She knew a little ways off in the distance there should be a familiar stream she used to refill her canteen each day. This time it was much more difficult for her to find her way around since the air was still thick with smoke from the latest bombings. Mia trekked further and further from the edge of the woods knowing she'd happen upon the stream soon.



She stopped dead in her tracks and turned side to side eventually coming full circle. Her heart began to race. The stream wasn't there. Mia was lost and had no idea where she was. She began to run at this point, desperately searching for any sight of the familiar waters edge while no longer having the cover of the woods around her.

Stopping again for just a moment to catch her breath through the smoke, Mia felt paranoid and thought she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps mirroring her movements. She took a few moments to look around, but with the cover of the smoke she saw nothing remarkable and she began again. Mia was being extra quiet and light on her feet-hyper aware of every step she took. She stopped again just to be sure and heard the faint sounds of grass crunching and finally a twig snap in the distance before silence fell upon her. She KNEW she was no longer alone and she imagined herself in the same precarious situation as a deer being hunted by a predatory animal and she began to run faster and faster not even knowing how to save herself from this situation. The sound of a man-made bird call whistled out in the distance as she ran. Was this the last sound she'd hear before being snatched up by the Patrol like she saw happen to Ma?



The bird call whistled again even louder than before and Mia turned around to see someone closing in on her. She ripped the heart-shaped locket from her pocket and clutched it tightly to her chest once more and listened to Ma's voice shriek out in her head in desperation, "MIA RUN!". Still looking back towards her pursuer she ran even harder than before. Finally putting some distance between them she felt like she may actually be able to escape. THUD. Mia crashed and slid into a pile of rubble left over from one of the bombings.



All of the promises of the stream were now far behind her, the supply trip-a total bust, but most importantly would she ever see her little sister Becky again? What would happen to her? She was all alone deep within the Earth with her insulin supply dwindling by the day. Mia heard the sound of the bird call echo out once more before drifting into silence and everything around her going black.