I was underground in a network of dark tunnels that served as a secret "church" and refuge for an invisible segment of an oppressive society. Their religion involved a form of ancestral worship (I thought they could've been Chinese), offering jewelry and other valuables to their dead. The tunnel walls and ceilings were covered with these offerings. There were rows of earrings, medals and medallions, and necklaces dusty with age. Other sections of the network contained or hinted of large amounts of silver and gold that have accumulated over the years. And though these people were very poor (they were servants and menial laborers) no one ever stole or touched the offerings.  

The tunnels were dark and claustrophobic, about two feet high and two feet wide. Light came from small candles or flashlights that illuminated very small sections at a time. You navigated it on your back, lying down on wheeled platforms that you pushed or pulled with your hands. In this position you can see the offerings pinned to the ceiling like displays in a museum. Some looked like they've been there forever. 

These people were planning an uprising against the abusive upper class. The rebellion had the tacit approval of the head of their religion. Details were being finalized in the background.  

This religious head was visiting and I was a member of her entourage. We were touring the tunnels. 

We reached a recently added section. It seemed bigger than the rest of the labyrinth, big enough for us to stand up, and it was cleaner. The offerings on the walls were newer, less dusty. There was a cardboard sign indicating that it was a dead end, the tunnel went no further but she gave a snort, or said something like How cute, and pushed a spot on the wall and it opened. We stepped through and we were outside.  

It was night time. The secret egress was at the bottom of an enormous pit about five stories deep, a construction site for a huge building in the middle of a slum. It was in the city of Mexico. 

She was giving last minute instructions to the local leaders when the ground not far from us exploded, followed by another and another and another, and all hell broke lose. There was a rumbling sound as the pit walls started to collapse. The decrepit buildings of the surrounding slum started to fall as well.  

I was watching this on TV where it was being reported as an earthquake. Of course it was really a preemptive strike by government forces who somehow got wind of the rebellion. I wondered if they even knew about the tunnels and the people who lived there.  

And I wondered about all the gold and silver. 

When the clean up and "rescue effort" started (with bulldozers and earth movers) they discovered the bodies... hundreds, thousands... sandwiched between layers of earth, all crushed to death. They spilled out of the layers like thick paste. It was an awful sight.