Grandfather by Anthony Wade Page B

shoulders.
“I just want to see for myself and find out on my own. Nobody but
Belladonna seems to understand that.”
    “I understand,” Marley
said.
    I wasn’t sure if she
actually did or if she was just saying that to make me feel better.
Either way, we didn’t say much more during the next few
minutes.
    It was pretty obvious that
there was nothing but tunnels ahead. I knew people didn’t sleep
this deep inside. There was absolutely nothing but darkness, except
for the little bit of light coming from Marley’s
flashlight.
    “So where are you taking
me?” I asked, a little bit worried.
    “The coolest place ever,”
she answered, excitedly. “I actually don’t think we’re supposed to
be there, but I don’t really care.”
    Whoa. I definitely didn’t
get the vibe that Marley was a rule breaker. “What happens if we
get caught?” I remembered what Belladonna had told her. If there
was one thing I didn’t want to do, it was to mess things up with
Belladonna. She was the only person I actually liked.
    Marley laughed. “They
won’t do anything unless we do something really bad. Like leave
this place for a few hours.”
    “Oh,” I said. I assumed
Marley knew best since she had been there longer than
me.
    “We’re almost there,” she
said. “Come on,” she stopped in front of an old door. “The good
thing is that nobody ever comes this deep inside because there’s
nothing here for them.
    “So nobody knows about
this place you’re taking me?”
    “Nope,” Marley said. “I
don’t think so. Only me and Ashton.”
    I still hadn’t seen who
this Ashton kid was. I didn’t even see him during lunch or dinner.
What was he like?
    “You’ll meet him
tomorrow,” Marley said, as if reading my mind.
    I hate when people do
that.
    “ He went with Dr. Mac to
get some more medicine. About once a month, Dr. Mac meets some
friend of his outside the wall. Ashton likes to go. ” Marley opened
the door, which caused a loud screeching noise to echo throughout
the entire hall.
    I glanced around,
wondering if anybody would be able to hear it. She didn’t seem
worried. “Come on,” she said, shining the flashlight inside. I
followed her.
    Once inside, Marley shined
the flashlight all around, allowing me to get a look at the entire
place. It wasn’t a large room at all . . . probably half the size
of my room. Mold grew on the walls, which couldn’t be safe. The air
had a musky smell, which wasn’t pleasant. Was this the big
surprise? Wow, this girl had been stuck underground for way too
long.
    That’s when I noticed a
ladder in one corner leading straight up to the ceiling.
    Great. I was already tired
of ladders.
    Marley walked to it. I
took a closer look at the ceiling where the ladder ended. I saw a
small crack forming a square. I knew at once that it had to be
another trap door. Maybe the room wasn’t the finale.
    “ You hold this,” Marley
said, handing me the flashlight. “I’ll go up first to open the door
since I’ve been here before.”
    I stood still, shining the
flashlight at the door. Marley climbed the ladder slowly. She
reached the top, and with one hand, she pushed the trap door open.
Sunlight burst through the hole, lighting up the entire
room.
    I turned away to keep my
eyes from burning too badly. Once they adjusted, I turned around
and looked up, seeing blue skies. Sunlight. I turned the flashlight
off as Marley crawled out of the room.
    “Hurry up,” She said.
“You’re going to love this.”
    Was it safe? Marley had
been up there before, so I trusted her, which was weird since I
didn’t know her that well. I put the flashlight in my pocket and
slowly climbed the ladder. It may have taken me longer to get to
the top than Marley, but I eventually made it. I pulled myself out
of the ground to find myself at the edge of a small grass area
surrounded by trees. It was like a perfect circle.
    “You’ve never really seen
the city, right?” Marley asked. She stood at the edge of