8 The Mine

Chapter 8: The Mine

"And then I take a hold of his hair and slammed my knee into his nose. Let me tell you I've never seen so much blood."

Amanda thought she was going to be sick. She didn't know why her fellow passengers were so casually admitting to assault in front of several witnesses. Nobody else seemed to think it out of the ordinary though, least of all Bee, who at the moment was attentively listening to her coworker's story. Amanda wished the pod had a window; the small hovercraft was packed with Copper rats and the 2hr trip to the mines was starting to become an eternity. 

Bee laughed in her seat beside Amanda's "Great story, Brent, I'll never see asparagus the same way again. Oh, hey I still have to introduce you guys to my roommate/our new recruit. Everyone, May I present to you, Mandy!" Bee exclaimed, gesturing theatrically towards Amanda.

"It's Amanda," Said Amanda.

"And Mandy, this is Brent, Callum, Andrea, Tony, Mud, and Lauren" said Bee. 

Amanda scanned over each of her newest acquaintances. She was not impressed. Fortunately enough, the next moment the pod's red light flashed on, signaling that they were about to land. 

Amanda braced herself, this hunk of metal didn't have any seat belts. She waited for the ship to go still. After a few minutes, the ship's engine stopped and the sliding doors to the pod opened. 

"Alright rats, time to get digging." commanded their supervisor. He ushered Amanda and the rest of the group out of the vehicle and onto the landing pad. they were lined up and given their duties for the day. The supervisor read through a list on his tablet.

"Alvarez, Peterson, Rogers, filling. Kline, Rush, and Carani, you're on explosives. Stevenson and Olson, you're on loading. Now, Stevenson, this is Your partner's first day, so I want you to show her how to do the job.

"Yes sir," Said Mud. 

"Guess I'm partnered with dirt boy," thought Amanda

They all headed to the mouth of the mine. Amanda realized this was her first time walking outside of the dome, breathing the air outside the dome. It wasn't as bad as she had imagined. Sure, the place wasn't as green and lush as the botanical garden in Highland Park, but it wasn't a total wasteland either. Some grass covered the ground here and there, and she even saw a few trees. Maybe in another fifty years or so people would start living outside the dome again, voluntarily that is.

The group reached the entrance. Amanda thought it looked like the mouth of a huge fish that was ready to swallow them all whole. She reached for the necklace hanging from her neck and rubbed the sapphire stone between her fingers.

"It's just for a few months" She thought. "After I save up enough for a pod ride to the New York dome, I'll be out of here, and I'll never have to work in a place like this again."

Her thoughts filled her with renewed determination, and she marched into the mine ready for whatever came next.

Waiting for them inside the cave was an old trolley. The Supervisor ushered the group on board, then took his place at the front to operate the machine. Amanda took a seat next to Bee. The old tram's wheels squeaked as the vehicle began its descent into the depths of the cave. 

"How far down does this thing go?" she asked.

"Only 1000 feet, but the tunnel itself is about a mile long. We'll be there in just a few minutes." Bee assured her.

Amanda tried to remain calm. She tried not to imagine the tons of rock above them crashing down.

"So, what does "loading" mean. What will I be doing?" 

"Oh, that just means loading the rocks into trucks. It's hard work, but it's the safest job in the mine." Bee answered. "You know, you should be glad you got paired with Mud, he's real fun to work with."

Amanda didn't much like the Idea of working with anyone here, but she would just have to deal with it.

"Only a little while, It's only for a little while," she told herself repeatedly in her head. 

After a few minutes, they reached the bottom and hopped off the trolley. The tunnel had widened into a large cavern with other holes branching off of it. Walking out From one of the tunnels, were a group of men carrying lazer drills. The man at the front of the group had some sort of remote in his hand. The man pressed a button on the device, and immediately there was a booming noise coming from inside the tunnel the men had exited. three members of Amanda's group broke off towards the loading area, while Bee and the two men she had been assigned with left to join the other explosive workers. Amanda hoped that neither she nor Bee would be put on blasting duty very often. As she was watching Bee go she felt a slap on her back.

"Well rookie, looks like you're going to be stuck with me today," said Mud with a yellow-toothed smile. "Don't worry, I'm a seasoned mining veteran; Just watch what I do and you'll be an expert in no time." 

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll learn plenty from a person who can't even remember to brush his teeth." Amanda thought.

Mud led Amanda into the tunnel that had just been blasted. At the end was a pile of rock 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Mud started picking up large pieces and lifting them into the truck. 

"You can handle the smaller bits" he said "Just pick up that shovel and start scooping them in." 

Amanda sighed, this was going to be a long day.