Zipped

8: The Accident

Thomas

None of us could really believe it. Were we really that close to getting out of here? Could we truly leave, or was this woman pulling our leg?

“Is it really that simple?” Neil asked the woman, being the one to check her words.

“Yes, of course.” Ms. Ellison was confident with her answer, but we weren’t so sure about it.

“If this is the truth,” Shailene began, but was cut off by Ms. Ellison.

“Which it is,” she chided.

“Okay, well, if it is the truth, why didn’t you tell us about this earlier? This could have been great information for all of us. Why did you keep it a secret from us all?”

“Because, there are some people down here who are happy being here. This is all they’ve ever known, like you and your siblings. But, there are other people who are happier down here than they could ever be up there.” She seemed to be looking pointedly at Ethan. I knew that the two of them were familiar with each other, but this was something I was curious about. Did he want to be down here, instead of up there? If so, why?

I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it, since he was sitting there a bit uncomfortably. So, I chose not to ask him. Maybe I would be able to discuss it with him later. So, I turned back to the woman who was informing us of our escape route. I got back to listening, since this was so important for all of us to know.

She began to inform us of the way we’d be able to leave. It was surprisingly detailed.

I still was a bit suspicious of the fact that she hadn’t told any of this to anyone before now. Was she really to be trusted? It doesn’t make sense. She probably would want to leave just as much as any of us. So, why would she keep this a secret from everyone else?

She finally finished the description and gave all of us a smile. For some reason, it seemed kind of fake to me. But, I had to keep my suspicions to myself for now. If she was telling the truth, she might not give us any information if I accuse her or anything.

“Thank you so much,” Molly said politely and sweetly, standing up. “We’ll find supplies to go try this. This is going to be great when we get out.”

“I’m glad I could help out,” Ms. Ellison replied. “Now go, so we can all get back to the surface,” she added.

We all did as she said and got up to leave the room. “Thanks again,” I said, trying to be polite. Then, we all left her room and walked down the hall.

“I can’t believe it. We’ll be able to see the surface,” Shailene said excitedly. She had never seen it, so the fact that we could see it again was probably very exciting to her.

Neil nodded. “It sure will be amazing,” he said softly. We continued walking down the hall together. “So, let’s go find some shovels and stuff, and then we can get out of this place.”