Working her way around the edge of the stage, Jennifer led the group of hesitant students up the far steps and onto the back side of the stage. She imagined they’d all behave themselves and stay quiet after giving them the warnings she had, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. Forcing herself up past the vines, moss, and mushrooms covering the back steps was much better, in her opinion, than taking a chance of some moron waking Matthew and being turned into fertilizer unnecessarily.

Being as quiet as she could, Jennifer made certain to lead the group following her back as close against the far wall as possible, all while keeping a watch out for anything that resembled a trap door in the floor. Luckily, for her, the door was one of those impossible to miss things, as it created a huge gap, resembling a hole, in the overgrown moss carpeting that covered everything else. Working her way over to that gap in the greenery, Jennifer bent down and gently tugged on the trapdoor pulling it open, revealing a narrow stone path sloping down into the earth.

Glancing back to make certain that she was still being followed, Jennifer carefully started down the smooth slope. Much to her grateful surprise, the ground was granulated and soft; the type of stone which was perfect to get a grip and walk on, and yet not so hard as to hurt the soles of her feet. Feeling a little relief that she didn’t have to worry about falling and hurting herself sliding down the slopped corridor, Jennifer slowly walked ahead a dozen steps or so and waited for the others to gather closer.

“Where… Where are we?” Kayla asked, moving to hover close behind her.

“Someplace special,’ Jennifer answered cryptically. How the hell was she supposed to tell them that she didn’t know either! Working up her courage with the others close together, she slowly started walking carefully down the tall, narrow passage.

The hallway she was in was nothing like the one Matthew and Rebecca had been forced to endure as they entered the gibberlings’ dungeon. The passage here was smooth carved granite, with room for the tallest man to walk upright without worrying about hitting his head, and wide enough the fattest slop to walk easily through the tunnel with no fear of getting stuck. There were no cobwebs. No dust. Only the smell of fresh stone and the gentle whiff of a clean, warm breeze carried through the passage.

With no twists, no turns, and no problems, the tunnel sloped downward at about a thirty-degree angle for what was about a five-minute walk, before it suddenly opened up into what could only be called paradise.

Emerging from the passage, Jennifer found herself in awe as she stood along the center of the east wall of a massive cavern. The ceiling loomed higher than the tallest skyscraper that she’d ever seen, and the cavern extended off further ahead than she could see. In the far distance, if she looked left and right, should could make out the north and south walls of the cavern where they touched the corner of the east wall, and followed them with her gaze as they faded off into the western horizon.

The ground was carpeted in vibrant green grass, with a rainbow of flowers scattered in bright patches across the landscape. If she strained her eyes, Jennifer could make out what appeared to be a massive waterfall at the limits of her vision on the north wall, and a wide stream flowed slowly at the limit of her vision, before emptying into a large lake in the center of the cavern.

The ceiling of the cavern was sprinkled with dimly glowing crystals which twinkled and pulsed lightly, like stars in the sky, and a warm glow emanated from the lake, reflecting off its waters and bathing everything in a gentle light reminiscent of the moon’s.

“Wher… Wha… How?” Not even knowing what question to ask, Kayla stammered in awe as the others gasped and whispered softy among themselves.

Jennifer knew exactly how they felt, but she also knew they were all looking to her for answers. Swallowing back her own sense of wonder, she tried to imitate Matthew’s indifferent shrug. “I told you guys it was some place special,” she told them, robotically. Special wasn’t the word for it, her mind screamed at her! The place was a damn paradise! An impossible paradise, buried in the earth under their school!

“Food. Water. Shelter. Everything’s here that is needed to survive.” Once again, Jennifer forced her voice to sound robotic and unimpressed. No need for everyone to realize how large an impact the place here had over her. If she acted like it wasn’t that big a deal, the others might as well.

“Where’s the food?” Bossman asked, straining his eyes to look around everywhere he could, as if he expected a Taco Bell to be hiding behind a flower somewhere from him.

“There’s fruit and berries which can be gathered,” Jennifer told them, trying to sound confident in her proclamation. She didn’t really know there was. All she had to go on was Matthew’s words that food, water, and safety existed down here. Trusting that he hadn’t lied to her yet, she smiled and waved her torch wide from side to side. “You might also find some small game if you look for it, the lake and river probably has fish in it, and there might even be fruit trees on across the other side, past the lake.”

“It’s bright enough, and safe enough here.” Jennifer crossed the fingers on her left hand so no one could see as she hoped Mathew was right and it really was safe enough here. Swallowing down her own uncertainty, she shrugged slightly, imitating Matthew’s I-don’t-care attitude, “What I’d suggest is splitting up into pairs and then spreading out to look for, and gather, anything which you think might be edible and then bring it back to check with everyone else to make certain it seems safe, before sharing and eating it.”

Everyone looked around for several moments, hesitant over the idea of separating. Kayla was once again the first to respond, as she moved up and wrapped her right arm around Jennifer’s left. “I’ll stick with you then, so those pervert boys won’t bother us.”

Smiling lightly, Kayla gently tugged Jennifer’s arm, leading her away from everyone else while they still debated over what to do.