The Conquered

By Thomas Mc

The middle aged woman didn't notice him at first. She was enjoyingwandering through the park, taking in the beauty of the gentlyfalling snow that had covered everything in a sparkling blanket ofwhite. She had initially come up to do a little scrounging foranything that might be useful to her small community but had becomedistracted by the vista of Central Park in winter.

The people of her community could best be referred to as theforgotten people. They were the ones who had fallen through thecracks in society. Many of them were simply lost or damaged souls whohad found common comfort in each other. They had originally takenrefuge in the storm drains and steam tunnels under the city but overtime they had found a whole network of old forgotten tunnels andchambers far beneath the subways and steam tunnels. They had finallysettled in these deep chambers and they had survived. By sharingtheir sorrows and troubles with each other they had made it morebearable. For two years now, with the help of a few kind souls livingabove in the city, the fragile community had managed to endure. Gracewas one of the damaged souls who lived in the deep chambers. A kind,gentle woman in her late thirties she had endured a few too manytragedies and had retreated from the world. She had lived there sincethe groups of strangers first began to coalesce into a communityalmost three and a half years ago. The companionship of the othershad done much to help restore her spirit. She had even become highlyrespected for her kind gentle nature. Many of the newer people hadbeen found and brought to the tunnels by her. Although she wouldoccasionally venture to the surface world, she was still too hurt,deep in her soul, to rejoin the city above.

Sitting on the park bench in the cold winter air the man barelymoved, not even aware of his surroundings. He was half expecting tobe arrested at any minute for the crime of being honest andoutspoken. Everything that that had once been his was gone, takenaway by men who destroyed other innocent people for politicalgain.

He sat there still as death, looking at the letter and the picturehe held in his hands, tears freezing on his cheeks. He had thoughtthat his position, his reputation, and the truth of his words wouldprotect him. His lawyer had tried to help him against the McCarthywitch trials. But in the end it had been for naught. They hadstripped him of his position and his reputation. They had branded hima commie. Then, when he spoke out against them in public, they hadtaken away his freedom of speech by threatening him with the secrecyoath. His landlord had evicted him because he 'didn't want no Commieliving in his place. So 'they' had even caused him to be driven fromhis home. Then when he thought they could do no more to him they hadexerted their lies and caused him to lose his new bride of less thana year and a half. That was six months ago and the pain was as raw asthe day he got the letter. His vision had become so blurred that hecould no longer read the words in the short letter sent to him by hisex-wife but he knew it now by heart. Her father, a very wealthy man,had forced her to go to Paris where he had gotten their marriageannulled. The letter had shown up three weeks after she haddisappeared. From the very top of the mountain of hisaccomplishments, he had fallen to the deepest depths of despair.There was nothing left of him now but the empty shell of what mighthave been. Now he was just another lost soul.

Grace was alerted by the sound of a soft sigh from behind her.When she turned around she noticed the lone figure seated on thefrozen park bench. He was sitting so still that she had not noticedhim before. She walked around to the front of the bench and lookeddown at the man sitting there. He didn't even seem to notice herpresence. His face was young but deeply careworn. His head was bowedand he seemed to be looking at the two items in his hands. In onehand he held what looked like a wedding picture. In the other handwas a letter written in a very neat hand. They both appeared to bewell handled and spotted with tears or snow, she couldn't be surewhich. Then she kneeled down and looked into his eyes. Those eyeswere bottomless pits of misery burned into his face. He seemed to bestaring into emptiness. Here was a soul so deeply wounded that itwrung her heart to see it.

Slowly, gently she reached out and touched his shoulder. At firsthe didn't react, then very slowly he raised his head, his blurredeyes seeming to look through her as though she wasn't there. With herother hand she took his wrist. She said only three words. "Come withme," as she gently pulled him up. The young man stood and followedher like a zombie with no will of its own.

Grace led him into a storm drain runoff pipe. After severalminutes of walking, the circular drainage pipes gave way torectangular steam tunnels lined with pipes and cables. She led himthrough a door and down a long flight of spiral stairs. At the bottomof the stairs she led him into a maze of rough hewn tunnels andchambers cut into the bedrock. Finally they stopped in a smallchamber that was furnished with bits and pieces of mismatchedfurniture. As she set him down on a rickety old chair he began toshiver, his clothes damp from melting snow. She turned to a storagecabinet made from several old apple crates and pulled out two veryworn and patched blankets and wrapped them around him.

She told him simply, "I'll be right back," as she walked out ofthe room. In the background he slowly became aware of a banging noiselike the sound of rock hitting metal in an uneven pattern thatsounded vaguely familiar, then the sound ceased. A few minutes latershe came back in carrying a battered old tin cup which she handed tohim saying, "Drink this." Inside the cup was steaming hot tea, withsugar and cream, which he drank almost without consciousvolition.

She pulled a box over and sat on it facing him, laying a hand onhis knee. She then smiled at him with a sweet-sad smile that pulledat him from somewhere deep inside. "My name is Grace. I live downhere with a few others. If you need help or a place to sleep, you'rewelcome to stay here with us for as long as you need." Then she justsat there giving him plenty of time to respond.

Her gentle kindness, non-judgmental attitude and the understandingsympathy in her eyes, slowly drew him out of his shell. He lookedinto her sad eyes and felt compelled to return her patience. "My nameis Jacob . . . . Wells." He handed the empty cup back to her. "Uh… Thank you for your kindness."

"Do you need a place to stay?" she asked.

Jacob bowed his head. "Yes," he hesitated, "I…I'm afraid Ihave . . . . . no place else to go."

Grace pointed to the makeshift bed in the corner of the smallchamber. "Why don't you lay down over there and get some rest."

Jacob looked up at her. "I don't want to put you out."

She smiled back. "Nonsense. We share everything down here. You'rewelcome to sleep here for now. I'm going to go see about arrangingfor a place of your own while you rest."

With that she swept out of the room, dropping the tatteredtapestry into place across the door behind her. Jacob sat there forseveral minutes sipping his tea and gazing at the tapestry coveringthe doorway. The tapestry was so faded and patched that he could nolonger make out the original pattern. As he looked around the room hesaw that everything in it appeared to be old discards that showedsigns of multiple repairs. The chair he was sitting in had fourcompletely unmatched legs. There was a desk made of two pairs ofcrates with a board laid across between them. There was a bookshelfmade of boards supported by mismatched bricks. On the bookshelf wereabout two dozen old beat-up books. The bed was a slab of foam rubberlaid over old beat-up box springs. The sheets were faded and patchedbut they were clean. Despite the shabby condition of everything inthe room, the room itself was as neat as a pin. There wasn't a speckof dust anywhere in the room. The most remarkable thing was that allthe light in the room was supplied by a dozen candles scattered aboutthe room. The dancing light of the candles gave the room an almostmagical fairytale appearance.

Jacob finally gave in to his exhaustion and lay down in the bed.For a long time he just lay there looking at the picture and theletter and mourning the loss of everything that had ever meantanything to him. Finally sleep overtook him.

When Grace got back to the chamber she found Jacob dead to theworld. In his hands he still held the photo and the letter. Gracegently took them from his hands. As she looked at them both a singletear formed in her eyes. She set them on the crate that served as anightstand. Next she removed his jacket and something fell out of hispocket. It was some kind of security badge. This too she set on thecrate. His jacket she carefully folded and placed on the desk.Finally she took the two blankets and placed them over him. As shewatched him, even in sleep, she could see the sorrow and loss deeplyetched on his face. Grace's heart went out to this poor lost soul,for she saw in him a kindred spirit. She understood the depths of hisloss because it matched the depths of loss within her own soul. Inhis face she also saw a gentle nobility of spirit that she felt sheneeded to bring out. She smoothed back the unruly brown hair andpatted the blankets into place then she left the room.

The first place she went was to John's chamber. John had firstcome to the community a little over two years ago. With him had comehis new wife, Anna. All she knew was that John said he was fleeingpersecution because he had spoken out against the government and forSocialist reforms. He had a very charismatic personality and he was afantastic organizer. In a very short time he had pulled the wholecommunity together and organized it under his leadership. He had alsodeveloped a set of simple codes that could be used to send messagesover the old pipe system buried deep beneath the city.

When she reached his chamber the tapestry was pulled down over thedoorway. In this community a tapestry over the doorway was aseffective as a do not disturb sign over a locked door. Grace decidedto go to the chamber that had been turned into a communal diningarea. William brought her a small bowl of soup. William was onlythirteen years old and had only been down here for a couple of monthsbut his artistry in the kitchen had made him the de-facto communitycook. He had taken over for the original cook, Old Jackson, who wasthe oldest person down here. John said he was probably a fossil thatrefused to stop moving. She didn't know William's story but shesupposed that like everyone else down here he was a lost soul withnowhere else to go. One thing she did know was that William had akind and understanding heart, and a mercurial disposition. His brightred hair and dancing eyes gave him a very mischievous appearance.

William sat down next to Grace. "So, how is the new boarderdoing?" William's jolly demeanor was one of the few things that couldusually cheer her up and his cooking could cheer up even theGrinch.

"He's kinda low right now, but I think he will be okay." Her mindseemed to be somewhere else as she smiled back at William. "His nameis Jacob and I think he may be staying with us for a while."

Old Jackson eased himself into the seat on her other side, lookedclosely at her as he patted her hand. "I think that will be a goodthing," he smiled at her, "for both of you." William stood up andheaded back into his kitchen. People would be showing up very soonfor lunch and he wanted to be sure everything was ready. Jacksonstayed and talked to her while she ate her soup.

About the time she had finished her soup, the rest of thecommunity had started wandering in. Finally John arrived with Anna athis side and took his customary place at the head of the table. Johnhad an air about him, almost like some king holding court. Even hiscustomary chair bore a vague resemblance to a medieval throne. Afterlunch Grace talked to John about the new man. She asked John aboutgetting the new man a chamber of his own. John said he would come bylater to meet the newcomer and see what he could do. He alwaysinsisted on checking out any newcomer before letting them stay.

Later that afternoon John came by to meet Jacob. They bothrecognized each other right away.

John remembered Jacob Wells from his days at the University. Itwas during his first year there. All the campus was abuzz about theyoung man that had been accepted to one of the top medical schools inthe country. Jacob the youngest man accepted in that schools history.John had run into Jacob several times and had developed a healthyrespect for his drive and intelligence. That was the last heremembered seeing Jacob.

Jacob remembered John Pater as an acquaintance from his last yearat the University. John had been a bit of a radical back then and hadgotten involved with a campus socialist group. Jacob had thought thatthe socialist group was made up mostly of hopeless dreamers andcollege life outsiders. John, however, was more level headed andlooked at it as a serious alternative to the highly competitivecapitalist life style. The next year after Jacob left, John had risento the leadership position within the socialists at the campus.Shortly after that, he had caused quite a stir on campus, then haddisappeared along with his then girlfriend. That was a little overtwo years ago. There had been rumors that the Feds were after him asa subversive bud the details were obscure. Jacob suspected that Johnhad fallen prey to the same witch-hunt mentality that had ruined hisown life.

They both hit it off and John filled Jacob in on all the recentdevelopments within the community. John had found tunnels whilehiding from the Feds who had labeled him a commie subversive. Gracehad stumbled into him and Anna and had brought them into the group ofrefugees she was living with. After becoming a member of the tunnelcommunity he had begun to organize them into a society very much likethe kind he had talked about while at the University. John had alsodeveloped a primitive communication system with the unused pipes thatran through the area and a modified form of Morse Code. Jacob wasmoved to a chamber that was very close to John's. With John'sleadership, Jacob's intelligence and Grace's compassion, the three ofthem were able to inspire the community and improve the quality oflife for everyone. As time went on, Jacob's medical knowledge madehim the community doctor, which gained him a great deal of respect.The whole community prospered under their leadership.

* * * * *

Grace was ten years older than Jacob and was best described asuneducated. But she was kind and her presence went a long way tohealing the emptiness and pain in his heart. It would be moreaccurate to say that they healed each other. Eventually they fell foreach other and a year after she brought him in, she became pregnant.The pairing mores down below in the tunnel community were of the'whatever works' type. Some suspected that Jacob was the father butno one cared that they continued to live in separate chambers or thatthey didn't get married or even openly acknowledge theirrelationship. As long as they both were happy with the arrangement,then everyone else was okay with it.

Jacob had gotten into the habit of going with Grace when she wentfor walks in the park. Now that her pregnancy was starting to show,he had become doubly careful to always stay nearby.

It was late evening of that summer as Grace and Jacob exited therun-off drain. They had been talking about the unborn child. "I thinkI would like Devin, after my grandfather, if it's a boy," Grace wassaying. "If it's a girl I think…"

That's when they heard the sound of a woman sobbing. As they movedtowards the sound they found themselves approaching the very samepark bench where Grace had found Jacob a year and a half ago andthere was a woman sitting on the bench. The sound of crying hadceased but it was obvious by the hunch of the shoulders and the bowedhead that she was very unhappy. As they approached her, she reacheddown to the bench next to her and picked something up. As she raisedher hand they could see that it was a gun. They both stopped dead,uncertain what to do. The woman's hand stopped moving and began towaver. It looked like she was trying to decide what to do with thegun. Very slowly and quietly Jacob worked his way around towards thefront side of the bench. The woman finally drew the gun up and heldit flat against her chest for a long time.

The woman appeared to be about the same age as Jacob and despiteher reddened eyes and blotchy cheeks, she was actually quite pretty.In her other hand she held what looked like a wedding ring that shecontinued to stare at. During this time Grace had been quietlyapproaching her from behind. She wasn't quite sure what she was goingto do but she felt that she couldn't stand by and do nothing. Afterseveral seconds the young woman slowly laid the gun back down in thebench. Then she was holding the ring with both hands, turning it overand over. Suddenly she stood up and hurled the ring as hard as shecould out into the lake. While the woman stood there for severalseconds staring out over the lake, Grace reached down and grabbed thegun and stuck it in a pocket. After about a minute the young womanflopped back down on to the bench, placed her head in her hands andbegan weeping brokenheartedly.

Grace stepped around the bench as Jacob raced up to them. "There,there, honey, what's wrong?" Grace asked softly as she sat down onthe bench where the gun had lain and put her arm around the youngwoman's shoulders.

The young woman looked up at Grace and then at Jacob. They wereboth shocked at the pain and emptiness reflected in those blue eyes."He left me," she wailed. "After two years, he just threw me outbecause I lost my only child and I couldn't have any more children."The hopeless despair in the woman's voice brought a lump to Jacobsthroat and tears to Grace's eyes. "He called me a worthless barrenwaste, handed me annulment papers and threw me out." She dropped herhead to her hands and began sobbing anew.

Jacob dropped onto the bench on the other side of the sobbingwoman and put his arm around her also. "The man is a fool!" he statedwith some vehemence. "A man worthy of the name would never treatwoman like that." Grace was surprised at the passion in Jacob'svoice, but remembering what she had read in that letter the day shefound him, she understood it. He knew how it felt to be abandoned bythe one you loved.

Grace spoke. "What is your name, dear? Do you have any family, afriend, anyone we can contact for you?"

The young woman had stopped crying. "M…My name isM…Mary…I have no one." She appeared ready to break intotears again but she got herself under control. "My dad died a yearago…My mother died when I was fifteen… I have no otherrelatives." She looked like she could break down again at anyminute.

Grace gave her a long warm hug. "Well, Mary, why don't you comehome with us?" With her free hand, Grace took one of Mary's hands."Maybe after a hot meal and a good night's rest, you will findtomorrow to be a much brighter day."

Jacob had noticed that Mary was wearing a nurses' aide ID badgefrom St Vincent's Hospital. "We live with several friends who willlove meeting you and I could use the aid of someone with some medicaltraining." Jacob smiled at Mary. "Please come with us."

Mary finally ceded to their urging and started to follow them.Suddenly she stopped. "My gun."

"I have it right here." Grace pulled it out of a pocket of hercoat holding it rather gingerly. "I was going to leave it at thepolice station tonight when no one there is looking. Is theresomething else you would rather do with it? We don't allow guns wherewe live."

Mary looked at the gun in Grace's hand. "I was going to throw itin the lake but you can do what you want with it. I don't reallycare." Then she continued walking with them.

Grace took the bullets out of the gun and threw them out into thelake, then put the gun back into her pocket. They all continuedwalking.

When they started into the run-off tunnel Mary looked at themdubiously. "Where are we going?"

Jacob replied. "Our community is made up of people that have noone else to turn to and no where else to go. We also have some lostsouls who need a place to rebuild themselves. It is located in oldunused tunnels below the city. It is a place of safety, a refugewhere you can regain your spirit. We help and take care of eachother. You will find many new friends down there ready to give youany help you may need."

Mary shrugged her shoulders and followed. She had nowhere else togo. As the drain pipes gave way to bricked tunnels Mary began tobecome more interested in where they were going. When they starteddown the great spiral staircase she began to wonder what kind offantasy she had wandered into. Several times she heard a train passoverhead and realized they were far below the subway. The tunnelwalls now appeared to be carved out of solid rock. Then she heard abanging noise coming from some pipes that ran along the tunnelwalls.

Jacob smiled at Mary. "They know we're coming. We are to take youstraight to the dining chamber. William is already warming up a bowlof soup for you. They've also started setting up a sleeping chamberfor you." Jacob chuckled. "John is certainly efficient."

By the time they reached the dining chamber there were alreadyseveral people there waiting to meet the new arrival. As soon as theysat down at the long table William appeared next to them and placedbowls of hot soup in front of each of the three of them. Mary wassurprised at how tasty the soup was and at how friendly all thepeople were. By the time she had finished her meal she was feeling inmuch better spirits. John was there to check out the new arrival.

A young dark skinned husky boy, of around seven or eight, came upto them. "Hi, my name's Winslow. I'm supposed to show you to yourroom."

Mary smiled at him. "Thank you, Winslow."

After Mary left with Winslow, John turned to Jacob. "Jacob, areyou sure about this woman? Sometimes I think Grace has made you toosoft."

Jacob smiled. "You worry too much John. I trust Grace's judgmentand Mary needs us now."

When Mary entered the chamber Winslow had led her to, it wasunlike anything she could have expected. The chamber had no door.Instead there was an old tapestry draped across the opening. Graceexplained that when the tapestry was across the doorway it was like ado not disturb sign on a locked door. No one would enter a chamber ifthe tapestry was down, except possibly in a grave emergency. Insidethe room was a makeshift bed. And a battered chest of drawers. Drapedacross the bed were several pieces of patched clothing.

As she picked up a shirt, Grace spoke. "It's always a little cooldown here and the humidity is a bit high so we usually dress inlayers to keep comfortable. Winslow will meet you here tomorrowmorning and he will help you until you know your way around. We'llsee you at breakfast tomorrow morning. If you need anything just callout. I'm in the next chamber over and I'll be glad to give you anyhelp tonight you may need. For now we'll get out of your way so youcan get some sleep."

After they left Mary looked around her room…'Chamber' shecorrected herself...Light in the chamber was provided by ten candlesscattered around the walls. On the chest of drawers was a tall fatcandle with fourteen small evenly spaced marks on the side. It lookedlike it was intended to burn for a long time. Next to the candle wasa tattered old book. It was a collection of short stories by O'Henry.She put out all the candles but the tall one, crawled into the bed,and was soon fast asleep.

When Mary woke up she was disoriented by her strange surroundings.Then memory of the previous day came flooding in. That was assumingit was the previous day. The only indication she had of the passageof time was the tall candle on the chest of drawers. Or rather, itwas tall, now it was much shorter. When she looked closer there wereonly five of the small marks left on it. She went over and pulledaside the drapery. Sitting on the floor against the other wall of thecorridor, Winslow was fiddling with some kind of small woodenpuzzle.

Winslow looked up at her. "Good mornin ma'am. I'm here to help youfind your way around today. Would you like to get somebreakfast?"

She said yes and so began her first day in this strange fairytaleworld.

* * * * *

Mary had been living in the tunnel community for two months now.This had become her home. Everyone here treated her with love andrespect and Jacob had taken her on as a medical assistant. She hadalready had two offers of marriage. When she told them that shecouldn't bear them children they both said that they knew that butthey didn't care. She had turned them both down. No matter what theysaid, she could never tie a man down to her if she couldn't give himchildren. Several people had told her that she was being foolish butshe wouldn't change her mind.

Grace had been visiting with Mary and they were talking about theupcoming birth and laughing about Jacob's sympathy pains. He had evenexhibited signs of cravings. "He never lets me get too far away, likehe's afraid I'll break if he's not there," Grace laughed.

Mary responded. "You'd think, being a doctor, that he would knowthat there's no reason to worry."

"Actually there is." Grace got suddenly very serious. "When mysecond child was born, there were some serious complications and Ialmost died. The doctor told me that having another child wouldprobably kill me. Though we both wanted three children my husband andI settled for two. We were doing fine then about four years ago I gotpregnant again." Grace had lowered her voice. "I didn't tell myhusband about it. I got the name of a doctor that would do abortionsfrom a friend. When I returned from getting the abortion my house wasburned to the ground. Later that day I found out that my husband andboth my children had died in that fire." The look in her eyes showeddeep sorrow then changed to fierce determination. "No matter whathappens, I'm going to have this baby…for Jacob."

Mary took in this revelation with surprise and worry. "Are yousure about this?" Mary thought she understood what was drivingGrace's choices and she couldn't really fault her. "What do you wantfrom me?"

Grace replied. "I want you to make sure that my baby is born nomatter what happens to me… And if I don't survive, I want you tolook after Jacob and my child. Take care of both of them for me. Andyou must never tell Jacob any of what I've just told you." Grace tookMary's hand, holding it very tightly and looked her straight in theeye with surprising intensity. "Mary, promise you'll do this forme."

Mary swallowed hard. "Okay, Grace…I promise that I will lookafter both of them if you can't. And I promise to keep what you toldme in strictest confidence."

Grace relaxed and smiled at her. "Thank you, Mary."

* * * * *

Eventually Jacob re-established contact with one friend from thecity above. That was an upper classman who had mentored him duringhis years at medical school and had become a doctor with a thrivingpractice in the city above. That friend, Dr. Peter Alcott, became auseful contact for medical supplies for the tunnel community. He alsohelped Jacob turn one of the chambers into a serviceableinfirmary.

The completed infirmary chamber was still brand new and Grace wasits second official customer. The first customer had been a sprainedankle earlier that morning. Jacob thought it only fitting that itsfirst day of operation should include the bringing of new life intothe world. There was almost a spring in his step as he went about thebusiness of preparing for the big event. He looked over at Mary whohad turned out to be an excellent medical assistant. He just wishedthat Mary's mood was less somber. She had been with them three monthsand he had never seen her smile.

Another contraction hit. Jacob and Mary were both there with her.After it had passed Grace grabbed Mary's arm and pulled her close towhisper to her. "Remember your promise." Then she grabbed harder asthe next contraction hit and Jacob told her to push. Grace knew thatsomething wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to hurt this much when yougot to the pushing part.

Jacob called out. "I can see its head. One more time and youshould be done." Grace noticed there were echoes of joy in his voiceas he spoke.

The next contraction came and she pushed with all her might. Asthe baby came out she could feel something tear deep inside her. Thenshe heard her newborn baby's cry and Jacob joyously announce, "It's aboy." She smiled, tears of joy in her eyes as she gazed over at thebaby cradled in Jacob's arms.

A warm happy contentment spread through her aching body as shewatched Jacob carefully checking the tiny infant over. She began tofeel herself slipping away when she heard Mary's panicked voice."Jacob, there's too much blood here." Those were the last words sheheard as the blackness closed in around her.

* * * * *

When Grace died giving birth to Devin, Jacob was devastated. Hetook to wandering aimlessly in the lower tunnels, little caring wherehe went. It was three days after her death that Jacob was wanderingblindly down a side tunnel and fell through a weak spot in the floor.He knew he had badly damaged his knee and could not make it back onhis own and began calling for help. He had been there for severalhours crying out in his pain and despair when Mary and John foundhim. It was another two hours before they could get him back to theinfirmary. Although no bones were broken he had torn some ligamentsand dislocated his knee. Though Peter came down and did his best forJacob, it took a long time to heal and he knew that he would probablyrequire a cane to get around for the rest of his life.

It was only John's friendship and the support of Mary that carriedJacob through that terrible time. Eventually between Mary'sdetermination to draw him back to the living and the need to care forhis new son, Jacob slowly came back out of his depression and againbecame a major player in the life of the community. Slowly, over thenext year, the pain of his previous life and of Grace's death beganto fade into the background.

As more children were born or rescued and brought into thecommunity, Jacob discovered he had an affinity with the children. Hewas always available whenever a child needed him. Many of the orphanstaken in by the community began to look upon him as a surrogateparent and had even started calling him Father. Soon all the childrenbegan calling him Father, even those children with fathers of theirown.

Mary also became more involved with the children. Down here shehad her position as Jacob's nurse, and she had the children. In manyways the children of the tunnels became her refuge. They softened thepain from the loss of her own child and subsequent barren state.

Through all of this Jacob and John became very close friends.Though they didn't always agree on how things should be done, theyadmired each other for their abilities and the communityprospered.

Peter told him that the McCarthy trials had collapsed and it waspossible for him to come back up and rebuild his life. But the worldabove had nothing left for him. Though the government had lostinterest in him, he decided to stay below. Jacob had found himself anew family and a new home below in the tunnel community and that waswhere he intended to stay.

The End