Plutonian

Chapter 1

The lone tunnel we pass through is deadly quiet at this time of day. All I hear is the soft squealing of the wagon's tires as we travel down the meandering path that leads to the North City.

My body is hunched over in exhaustion and I'm curled up in a ball with my arms tucked firmly around my legs to protect myself from the blistering cold.

As we turn, our wagon swerves over a small rocky bump and its metal wall slams into my back, sending  shockwaves of pain down my spine.

I squeeze my eyes shut but it still feels like the crack of a whip against my skin. The darkness behind my eyelids do nothing to drown out the affliction.

I've always hated working in the south. We travel through dark endless tunnels that grow colder and colder as we near the mines but the raw materials they use to build their infrastructure are found in abundance there and it's our job to dig them out.

My hands are numb from the blistering cold but we have been given no form of protection. If we freeze to death, they will leave us behind. There is no room for the weak on this planet especially when it comes to us.

My eyes traverse along the dark grey walls we pass, trying to find something, anything that might distract me from the tumultuous journey I must endure for the next few hours.

Nothing stands out from the dull grey stone that sinks in unevenly and occasionally juts out in a cluster of menacing spikes. I've seen them a hundred times before and the thought of seeing them a hundred times again causes me to shiver in fear.

I automatically look at Mira, who glows under the faint blue light like an apparition. She is older to me by a few years and was made to work overtime as well. She chose to remain a slave when she turned eighteen and I wonder if she is contemplating her decision at this very moment. Her eyes are closed and her thin lips are trembling but she somehow looks calm, as if our tiresome journey and back breaking overtime shift hasn't affected her in the least.

The young boy with us however is a whole other story. I don't understand why they made him work the extra shift. His face has gone blue from the cold and he looks like he is about to pass out. I pray for him to survive and then realize there is no point.

I curl my hands and tangle them in my tattered sleeves and then squeeze them between my legs. My feet are covered in worn out shoes and I am thankful that I don't have to worry about them as well.

The three of us sway back and forth in our rocking wagon and I glance ahead into the darkness trying to gauge how far we've travelled. This ride would go on for hours but I am praying that we reach the city in the north soon.

Faint blue lamps that line the walls light up as we pass and then shut off once they are shortly out of range. Because of this I can only see darkness in the distance ahead. I grit my teeth in annoyance, trust the Plutonians to provide the bare minimum when it comes to us.

In front of our box like wagon, sits two of them in a much more comfortable looking two-seater. Unlike us, they lounge in a heated sealed chamber that glides along the tracks dragging us with it.

I can only see the silver hair on their heads and when one of them turns around I quickly look away. To stare at a Plutonian is strictly forbidden. They may look like us and talk like us but we are beneath them. They have ingrained that thought into our heads ever since I was brought here.

My hands shake and I squeeze them tightly together. It might just be my imagination but it is beginning to feel warmer. I am exhausted and my eyes threaten to close but I pinch myself hard to keep awake. I have a fear of sleeping off here on the tracks and never waking up.