Tunnel Digging

The dim yellow lamp light flickered in the cramped room, casting a lonely shadow on the mottled wall, stretching it now long, now short. Lidi sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at the pitch-black hole, her brows slightly furrowed. A bit of dirt was still trickling down from the edge of the hole, carrying the damp smell of the deep earth.

“Hemi, stop digging. You should rest... if you can’t get up tomorrow morning, people will start to get suspicious.” Lidi’s voice carried a hint of weariness, tinged with helplessness.

“No! For the sake of my pure chastity, I have to escape from this place...” Hemi’s voice came from inside the tunnel, sounding a bit muffled. “We’re running out of time, Lidi. In another year we’ll come of age—we have to speed up the project!”

Lidi thought for a moment. “Hemi, do you even know how far underground we are? Even if you could dig the tunnel all the way through, do you know where you’d end up? You might just get caught and brought back by someone else.”

Hemi’s eyes widened. “Those are my lines you’re stealing!”

“Phew—it’s already late. I want to sleep.” Lidi stifled a long yawn with her hand, even a few physiological tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. “Stop digging. You’re disturbing me.”

“Fine, fine.”

Covered in dust, Hemi rustled as she crawled out of the narrow tunnel opening, tossing the badly bent metal soup spoon back to Lidi.

The spoon landed on the blanket, leaving a medium-sized dirt stain.

“Hey! Hemi, at least clean the spoon off.” Lidi, lying on the bed, was quite annoyed by this. “You’ve gotten dirt all over my blanket!”

Hemi seemed not to hear her complaint, just staring blankly at the twisted spoon and muttering, “Sigh... with this crappy spoon, who knows how long it’ll take to dig through...” She suddenly turned her head, her dirty face showing a hint of curiosity. “Oh, right, Lidi, I keep forgetting to ask—all that dirt I dig out, how do you even get rid of it? You can’t just pile it all up in the room, right?”

“Part of it, I carefully hide in the lining of my clothes or the secret pockets in my sleeves. When we’re all out on the square to get some air, I pretend to take a stroll and scatter it bit by bit. The other part, when you’re having your blood drawn, I sprinkle a little on an apple. The apples seem freshly picked and already a bit dusty, so nobody pays any attention to that.” Lidi replied without looking up, trying to pat the dirt off the blanket.

Maybe because it was underground, the soil was a little damp, and that dark stain couldn’t be patted clean at all.

Lidi frowned deeply. “You’ve dirtied my blanket... give me yours!”

“That sounds awfully troublesome.” Hemi shook her head. “But to protect my chastity, I’ll do my best... Oh, Lidi, what if we tried to escape while we’re out on the square for activity time? Like hiding in the forest over there?”

“Impossible. The half-blood guards are patrolling all around.” Lidi shot Hemi a look of disdain. “Those things have wings and can fly. If they caught us... we’d be sucked dry on the spot.”

“Yeah, there’s no way we could dodge those monsters... and there’s that tall barbed-wire fence. We can’t climb over it.” Hemi sighed heavily. “Ah—why won’t anyone come save us? I wish someone would come save us.”

“You used to say you wanted to stay here for the rest of your life.” Lidi exposed her without mercy.

“But things have changed, Lidi.” Hemi got animated, waving her arms. “We’ve got to find a way out!”

“Hemi, give me your blanket... and tomorrow you’re washing mine.” Lidi got straight off the bed, walked over to Hemi’s bed, and reached out to yank the blanket that was old but still clean. “I’m a bit of a clean freak. Having a dirty blanket really bothers me.”

“Our chastity is under threat right now, and you’re still worrying about a blanket?” Hemi looked incredulous. “Can you really accept those guys we’ve never even met before...”

“Because I need a blanket right now.” Lidi steered the conversation right back. “Hand it over!”

“Assertive Lidi is pretty great too... hehe... how about we share a bed tonight? I promise I won’t do anything—at most I’ll hold you and nuzzle a little...” Hemi wore a goofy, infatuated smile.

Lidi yanked Hemi’s blanket away, then tossed the dirty one back at Hemi.

That blanket still carried the faint warmth of Lidi’s body and her light fragrance.

Didn’t feel half bad, actually.

Hemi buried her face in the blanket, took a couple of sniffs, muttered something, and settled down to sleep wrapped in Lidi’s blanket.

...

Staying underground for a long time can mess with your head. Self-harm and suicidal thoughts are normal. But everyone here is a precious blood source, so such waste can’t be allowed.

That’s why Lidi and the others got a set time each day to go outside for some fresh air.

Outside, there wasn’t much either—just a big stretch of gray, dusty open ground with a few stumps left over, and when the strong wind blew, it kicked up dirt... All around was dense, almost eerie primeval forest. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but trees, with no way to tell where they even were.

The boys, full of energy, usually got together to kick a worn-out leather ball, running and shouting across the field. The girls mostly huddled in small groups of two or three, either chatting quietly or playing simple games like jump rope.

Yet, no matter how harmonious it looked, hidden deep in everyone’s eyes was a trace of wariness and guardedness that couldn’t be wiped away, each person keeping a subtle distance from the others.

Lidi and Hemi huddled in a corner, secretly shaking out the dirt hidden in their sleeves.

A ball flew toward Lidi, and Hemi, quick as a flash, blocked it and booted it away.

“Watch where you’re kicking!” Hemi scolded the boys angrily.

“Sorry, sorry!” The boys grinned and ran off.

“What a bunch of annoying jerks.” Hemi cursed under her breath.

“Hemi, you really hate guys, don’t you? Why’s that?” Lidi asked curiously.

“It’s nothing much...” Hemi scratched her head. “It’s because my parents always said that if I’d been born a boy, things would be better. They looked down on me and hit me and yelled at me just because I wasn’t a boy. So over time, I started to hate boys. Why should those guys be born stronger just because they’re male? I don’t want to be anyone’s sidekick. I want to live the life I choose, on my own terms...”

Hemi smiled sheepishly and scratched her head again. “Heh, pretty boring reason, right?”

“Not at all.” Lidi shook her head. “I think you’re amazing, Hemi.”

“Lidi...” Hemi’s face lit up with emotion. “If we ever get out of here, will you marry me?”

Lidi shot her a sour look. “Get lost!”