Summary: It's 2149 and Mark Reynolds is assigned to protect the Shannons, a family who secured passage on the tenth pilgrimage. It is not uncommon for pilgrims to enlist protection leading up to the departure. However, protection requires money and as far as Mark can see, the Shannons don't have much. They don't even seem to want him or the other guards there. So exactly what secrets are the Shannons hiding, and will Mark be able to protect them?
Re-watching an old episode of this inspired me to write! I have plenty of ideas where this could go so if there is still a fan base for this I will continue … Review and follow so I know to keep writing!
Xoxox – CAB
As soon as Mark heard about the opportunity, he jumped on it. It pays well, only lasts a few weeks. Easy as possible. And it is perfect timing too because he could really use the money.
When Mark was eight, his mom died after excessive exposure to the air outside. She coughed up blood until she was no longer breathing. Less than four years later, his dad left. Ever since then, he's had to take care of his family as best as possible, so they don't end up on the streets – a death sentence. So Mark supports them the only way he's known how: fighting.
Mark isn't technically the oldest, but even before his dad left, he was still the man of the family. Ever since they were younger, Mark was known to jump on anyone at school or on the streets who so much as looked at his siblings the wrong way. Blood relation never mattered to them. In every way it truly counts, they are family. Therefore, when Mark turned sixteen and found out he could make money by defending others? Why not! He already proved to be good at it.
So here he is, leaving for another assignment. "I don't want you to go," Macey complains. She is the youngest of the atypical family, almost twelve, and used to getting her way. She can be slightly bratty and will still throw tantrums when she deems necessary. Now she sits, her arms crossed defiantly, up in the cramped loft amongst the strewn pillows and blankets where they all sleep.
"Shut up," Macey's birth brother, Stephen, complains from the floor near the door. He's slightly older, fourteen, and is immersed in the family's one, cracked Plex, as usual. "Unless you want to starve from lack of food or die from breathing in air, let the guy go," he says. He's not wrong. The apartment they live in is small even for today's standards, and the air filtration isn't the best. In the summer, when it's hotter out, the vents function worse and they all must wear their rebreathers to bed, even with the extra filtration Emily, the oldest and Mark's birth sister, rigged outside the vent.
"I will be back as soon as possible," Mark promises everyone as he finishes packing his duffle bag. "The tenth pilgrimage is leaving in twenty-four days so I will be back in about three weeks. That's less than a month."
"Yeah, Mace," Stephen says comfortingly. "That's less time than usual." But, of course, being Stephen, he has to add, "Given that Mark doesn't get killed or, at least, seriously maimed."
"Mark!" Macey squeals, jumping down from the loft.
"I will be fine," he says quickly, hugging her tightly. "This really isn't that dangerous." Sure, he tells them that all the time, but this time he actually means it.
Mark takes a step that lands him in the kitchen, but not before giving Stephen a small kick to the side and stern look. "Be nice," Mark warns and Stephen just rolls his eyes.
Emily stands up from the kitchen table and hugs Mark. "I'll miss you," she says into his shoulder. She's about a year older than him, currently in college and studying biology and engineering while working part time at the hospital for extra money. She's hates it, being around the dying people all day, but she really looks up to most of the doctors there. "Just think," Emily tells her brother quietly when she finally pulls away. "This is just one job closer to Terra Nova."
"Don't be unrealistic," Mark says, slightly annoyed.
"It's called optimistic," Emily quips back. "Terra Nova is stupid not to want you. You'd make a great soldier." Mark doesn't say anything in response. Emily has always been so full of hope – when their mom got sick she thought she'd get better, when their dad didn't come home from work she thought he was just running late, and now she's convinced Mark will one day be recruited for Terra Nova. Of course, Mark doesn't foster this silly notion and Emily's optimism has never led them anywhere thus far. Their mom is dead, their dad is seven years late, and Mark risks his neck and spends weeks away from home at a time with barely anything to show for it.
Mark can't really be angry with his sister, though. He loves how caring she is, a trait he's never been particularly good at expressing. It was her idea to step up and take in Macey and Stephen when their mom left for Terra Nova; she had gone on one of the first pilgrimages and children weren't allowed yet. Mark would never have come up with that idea or volunteered to do that if he had been on his own, no matter how much he loves Alicia. She had been like a second older sister and mom combined for him. She was the one who piqued his interest in security and helped him get his foot in the door.
Mark knows that his sister's next move in the argument is to point out that Alicia had promised to do everything in her power to get not only her kids, but them there as well. However, every pilgrimage that passes, Mark's hope dwindles more and more, leaving it up to him to provide for the others best as he can in this dying world. He thought of them as his family before Nathaniel left, then Alicia left, and he still feels that way about them now.
"Goodbye guys," Mark says as he walks out the door. Leaving home is always hard, but they are family. It's his first responsibility, not to make as much money as possible, but to get home. It's always his mission to get back to his family. Mark hasn't failed yet, and he doesn't plan on failing any time soon, so despite how much it pains him to leave, he knows this isn't really good bye.
It's see you later.