Keagan led the way up the ladder, towards the hatch and the concrete bunker. Eone was close behind.

‘What’s Befour’s story?’ asked Keagan, as they climbed. ‘Why is he so angry?’

Eone let out a long sigh. ‘61-B-4. He was fifteen when he came to the Dumping Ground. When he was ten, his hair started to fall out. He doesn’t know why … it just did. The Perfect who noticed it before anyone else helped him hide it. She collected his fallen hair, as well as stray strands from other clones … from their beds, showers, wherever. She was a cleaner, so it was not too difficult. She used the collected hair to make a wig for him. But one day, he fell over and his wig slipped and others saw. His friend helped him escape. Took him to a disposal chute.’

‘And she stayed up there?’ asked Keagan.

‘No,’ said Eone. ‘She came to the Dumping Ground too. She wasn’t perfect either. She had a breathing problem that she had hidden for years. But down here the air was different and it was harder for her to breathe. Until one day, she stopped.’

‘Oh.’ Keagan didn’t know what else to say. This whole world seemed so unfair.

They continued in silence.

As they approached the top of the ladder, Keagan gasped. There was a gaping hole smashed through the concrete where the hatch had been. They slowed down, approaching with care. How had Befour done this? Surely the mech-suits weren’t that strong? As he reached the hole, Keagan heard what he thought was a soft growling sound. Cautiously, he climbed up through the floor … and stopped halfway, eyes agog. He ducked back down and whispered to Eone, ‘You’re not going to believe this. We’ve got another one.’

Before Eone could respond, Keagan put a finger to his lips and continued up.

Climbing into the bunker, they stared at the bald young man in his mech-suit, slumped against the wall beside the twisted hatch, still attached to a lump of concrete ripped from the floor. He was snoring loudly.

Eone took the coil of rope from her belt and tiptoed up to the sleeping man. She slipped the end of the rope through the circular handle of the hatch; then ever so gently through the spaces between the mechanics of the man’s suit – first on one arm, then the next. She tied the ends of the rope into a loose knot and motioned for Keagan to take one end. She mimed pulling on the rope, then mouthed a countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

‘NOW!’

Keagan and Eone yanked on the ends of the rope with all their might. The knot tightened, pulling the rope taught. The man woke with a start as his arms were yanked towards the hatch, slamming up against it.

‘Hey! What’s going on?’ he yelled, trying to release himself. Seeing Eone and Keagan he doubled his effort. ‘I’m here to stop ya!’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Eone. ‘You’ve been caught sleeping on the job.’

‘What? No!’ he protested as he continued to struggle with the rope. ‘I ain’t sleeping. Just resting the eyes.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ said Keagan. ‘Whatever.’

‘Befour will be so proud of you when we tell him,’ said Eone.

‘No! You can’t,’ begged the young man. ‘He’s already mad at me for not going up.’

Eone crouched down. ‘And why is that?’

‘Couldn’t go up the shaft,’ said the man, averting his eyes. ‘Handholds are small and … and I ain’t good with heights. Barely made it up the ladder to this place.’

Eone and Keagan glanced at each other and then burst into laughter.

‘So he left you behind,’ said Keagan.

‘To guard the way up,’ insisted the man. ‘Important job.’

‘And you’ve done it so well,’ teased Eone.

The man grunted and struggled against the rope.

‘How did you smash through the concrete floor?’ asked Keagan.

‘Befour did that?’

‘How?’ Eone demanded.

The man sneered. ‘You’ll find out soon enough.’

Keagan walked to the elevator shaft, stood beside the central pole and faced up into the darkness. He was no longer laughing. It was a long way up and there was no platform to transport them.

Keagan had never had a problem with heights. But then, he’d never had to climb up a huge elevator shaft before. He could feel a nervous sweat forming on his brow.

‘Look at these.’ Eone put a hand up to one wall. There were handholds carved into the concrete, like rungs of a ladder.

‘Maybe when this place was built, they needed a way to climb up in case the elevator didn’t work,’ said Keagan. He examined the walls more closely. ‘Check this out.’

There were gouges in the concrete, as if something very powerful had scratched into the hard surface. ‘These weren’t here before,’ he said nervously.

‘Doesn’t change anything,’ said Eone.

Keagan sighed. ‘So I guess we go up?’

‘It’s a long climb,’ said Eone. ‘Want me to go first?’

Keagan shook his head and gripped the first handhold. He put a foot up and started climbing, all the while hoping that the elevator didn’t come down while they were in the shaft.

It was a long climb. Part way, Keagan almost lost his grip when a deep thrumming noise sounded through the shaft. He looked up with dread, half expecting to see the platform speeding towards them. But it wasn’t. And the noise stopped.

Keagan took a deep breath and a moment to compose himself, then let the air out slowly before continuing.

A few minutes later the noise started again. Keagan checked the platform once more. Nothing.

‘It must be the sound of other machinery,’ he called down to Eone in a shaky voice.

‘Uh-huh.’ Her response echoed up.

Keagan hoped there wasn’t much further to go. All of his joints ached from the strain, and his muscles felt a bit jelly-like.

When they reached the bottom of the platform, he saw a jagged hole smashed into the plastic.

This is it, thought Keagan. I just need to get up through here, and then no more climbing.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds and took another long, deep breath, concentrating on the fast beating of his heart. Then, opening his eyes, he reached up through the hole, hooking his elbow onto the floor of the elevator car.

Almost there.

As he hauled himself up, one of the sharp bits of plastic scrapped across his side, tearing his shirt and scratching his skin.

He yelped and pulled away, causing his feet to slip.

And he found himself dangling by one arm, over a very long drop. Too scared to scream, Keagan stared down into the darkness, wondering if this was how his life would end.