Wool

For generations, they've lived underground, looking out at the bleak world as it gets blurrier. The only way to preserve that view is to go outside and clean, but to go to cleaning is to go to death. That's why they have a system. A brutal code. And Sheriff Holston, after a lifetime of serving that code, has now broken it. They live beneath the earth in a prison of their own making. There is a view of the outside world, a spoiled and rotten world, their forefathers left behind. But this view fades over time, ruined by the toxic airs that kill any who brave them. So they leave it to the criminals, those who break the rules, and who are sent to cleaning. Why do they do it, these people condemned to death? Sheriff Holston has always wondered. Now he is about to find out. "Thousands of them have lived underground. They've lived there so long, there are only legends about people living anywhere else. Such a life requires rules. Strict rules. There are things that must not be discussed. Like going outside. Never mention you might like going outside. Or you'll get what you wish for."--Amazon.com