Tunnel Rats

The year is 2131. Mankind has destroyed forests, jungles, oceans, and all type of natural habitats. All that in the name of capitalism. In a world where money talks, money walks, and money enslaves, we are primarily producing, consuming, producing, consuming… 

We have been working more and more to sustain this world economy where the demand never ceases to increase on matters that are not essential. We are working on average 48 hours a week. However, the cost of life keeps on increasing exponentially.

Humans have no consideration about our beautiful planet. Since the Industrial Revolution, our goal was to produce at an extremely high rate, with a low cost of production, for higher profits. We have stopped thinking about our consequences on the environment, the climate, the natural habitats…

The majority of companies around the word have been emitting chemical products in gas form in the air for quite some centuries. One of the major concerns nowadays, has been the depletion of the ozone layer. Humans can’t spend an extensive amount of time outside. The UV’s rays are harmful. Skin cancer has increased around the world. The destruction of the ozone has caused also a reduction in the agricultural economy. Crops and plants not surviving.

It is so dangerous outside, especially if you reside in a warmer place of the world, that the best option is to stay home and work from home. The greenhouse effect has caused the temperatures to rise and therefore, see lot of major icebergs melt at both poles of the globe.

In this age, 80% of the land has been submerged by high rising waters. Before it got worse, we started building an underground network of tunnels. A new way of life. The major problem for the human race in terms of health is lack of natural light and air.

We have formed an air system filtration to support a mass population underground. We are like rats in the subway tunnels. All jammed in.

The major method of transportation has become the subway system. We also have built tunnels, mostly, parallel to the subway tracks, for motorized vehicles, like cars. We are gradually getting accustomed to this new life style. It just feels like are stuck in our own little home, with no windows to look at the sky. World leaders keep telling that we can reverse the negative effects on our planet but it will take years…

I am living in my little condo beside the subway. Low-cost housing but I do pay the price of the noise. Real estate has soared at locations where it is quiet, peaceful.

In terms of social life, we were able to manage to built underground rinks for our NHL teams. Baseball, without natural sun light, is not the same.  We got theaters, malls, coffee shops, restaurants, and McDonald’s survived the end of days. We wonder how they are manufacturing their meat. Most of our diet has become vegetarian.

Myself, it has been today, a full 1,000 days since I have not gone up check the world. I am planning today, to go outside, above us. We have some many tunnels, that is it hard to keep an eye on everyone. Even more difficult for the police. We do not have a curfew but we can be questioned of our motives if walking in tunnels that need special government access.

I have gathered all my equipment to venture outside in this new world tonight. I think better chances of not getting caught. People will be sleeping. Once out in the open, it will be tougher to catch me in the dark. I am so curious of how on the ground above has changed. We were told that 95% of the world population is living underground. The 5% that are out there or are allowed to be outside, have special authorization from the government.

I left my condo at 2 AM with my back pack with important items like food, clothing, sunscreen, smartphone, smartwatch, and my Swiss Army knife. I walked a good five miles to reach a part of the underground city where I think there is an escape emergency. This information was given to me from the dark web source. It cost be $1000$! Also, I had to pay this in Bitcoin so he does not feel that he is trackable. I had printed out the map of our underground network provided by this anonymous informer. I push on the door that is camouflaged with the side wall of a dead-end tunnel. So far, the details provided are accurate. There is a ladder leading to the top. My informer mentions it is approximately 100 meters high. As I climb the ladder, I hear a car. After a few seconds, the sound seems moving away. Thank God. Because I am not sure what would happen if I were to get caught. 

Opening the hatch very gently, slowly and carefully. I see water starting dripping. I lift the hatch higher, more water coming down on me. An alarm is triggered. I abruptly close the lid. Start going down the ladder. After a minute, the alarm is disabled. So far, everything was good except for the water part. As I exit the dead-end, I see a shadow. A man comes out of the corner and shows me his chat transcript. The chat that I had from the dark web. 

‘’Who are you? Did I chat with you earlier this month?’’   

‘’Yes, you did. I wanted to see how far you wanted to go in this project.’’

As we keep discussing, he claims that there is a place, above us, a piece of land, where trees have grown. Forests are expanding. Oxygen renewed. Photosynthesis is reoccurring. Ozone layer back to a normal level at that part of the world. He told me though, that the place is not in North America. It is somewhere, in the Pacific, an island. There is a train, underground to us. Yes, another level. Top secret. We can catch that train and there is a direct link to that island. A four-hour travel time. He knows a group of people that have been preparing this journey. They want to see nature, the sun, feel the natural air. Why did it get better on that island or were they always safe from climate change?

“I am in. Let’s do this.’’

‘’Only thing is that you keep this a secret. So far, we are six people. We want to keep a small group. No leakage of information and we must trust each other. Where we are going also, is a place that no man from advanced civilization has gone to. It could be dangerous if the indigenous population see us. I don’t think they want to see us… the people that destroyed this planet.’’

I nod and agree to his terms. We are set to leave in ten hours. We will all go to bed for now. Get a rest. Get ready for a new adventure. Maybe learn, if we survive this journey, from the habitants of that island, how to respect Mother Earth.