The Ground

"Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it's beauty." - Albert Einstein.


"Chancellor Jaha has approved a mission to Earth. He's sending the juvenile prisoners to the ground." ... "It's doubtful those kids will survive." ... "What do I have to do?" ... "Kill the Chancellor."


It was usually cold on the Ark. But then again, when you're floating in space in what is really just a glorified tin can, you can't exactly expect to stay warm. Unless, of course, you were Kyra Quinn, who was currently running through the metal corridors as fast as her legs could carry her... That usually warms you up pretty fast.

Pounding footsteps were quickly catching up with her but despite the pain that was appearing in her abdomen and her lungs that were working in overtime, she pushed herself further and further. She had almost reached her room, could see the familiar door taunting her in the distance, when a large hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back with a hard tug. The box the girl was holding fell to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shumway asked as he roughly shoved Kyra against the wall. The girl winced on impact and noted that she had probably just gained a bruise along her back.

"To my room?" Kyra questioned, her breathing erratic. "It's kind of where I live."

Wrong move. Shumway tightened his grip on the young adult's wrist and she squirmed in a failed attempt to free herself. If his grip got any tighter, she was sure she would earn herself a trip to the medical station.

"How much did you hear?" He demanded.

"Enough to know that you're a goddamn psychopath," she retorted angrily. "Tricking some poor guy into doing your dirty work by telling him that you can get him to the ground? That big, deadly, radiation-soaked ground? You know they'll all die down there and you're willing to send another one?"

"Another two," the older man smirked. "Looks like you'll be going down with them."

"What are you talking about?" Kyra frowned. Her fear was growing but she did her best to keep it at bay. "I'm 21 years old and I'm not a criminal!"

"Well, it's either that or I kill you. But that option is just messy. Plus, I'm sure Griffin and your dumb-ass boss would notice your absence... This way is just easier for us both." Shumway shrugged. "And I know you're not gonna tell a goddamn soul about this, because if you do, you know I'll find out."

"You can't do this!" The brunette thrashed. She didn't deserve this. She had never doing any wrong by the Ark, had always done her job, had (mostly) held herself together after her father's death. And now, after all her hard work, she was being sent to Earth where she would more than likely be burnt to a crisp from the inside out. The thought made the back of her eyes burn with unshed tears.

"Watch me."

When Kyra regained consciousness after being knocked out by Shumway's goddamn weapon, her head felt muddled and foggy. It took her a few moments to realise that she was longer in the hallway, nor was she in her room. It took her yet another moment to notice the red harness that was strapping her into her seat.

With wide eyes, the frantic girl looked around only to find dozens of teenagers - no, criminals - from the Ark in the exact same position. Her wrist still ached from the tight grip the guard had on her and her stomach dropped as she remembered the moments that led up to her inevitable death.


The day had started off pretty simply. Kyra had just woken up, had a quick breakfast, and was making her way to work when she bumped into Abby Griffin.

"Kyra! Are you on your way to work?" The mother of one asked politely, her hands holding a box of medical supplies.

"Yeah, why? Is there something you need?"

"Do you mind these back to Ark Station Medical on your way? If it's not too much trouble, I mean," Abby asked, holding the box out with a hopeful look on her face. "You'd really be helping me out."

Kyra pretended to ponder over the request before she took the box with a small smile and a nod. "No problem. I'll drop it off for you."

"You're a life saver." Abby grinned as Kyra walked off in the other direction with a salute.

"Tell me something I don't know!"

But of course, luck just wasn't on her side that morning. On her way to Ark Station Medical, Kyra just so happened to hear a conversation between two males that made her stop in her tracks. She recognised one of the voices as Shumway - the not-so-friendly guard - but she couldn't place the other voice in the room. A slight nagging at the back of her mind had told her that she knew that voice - had heard it before - but who it belonged to remained a mystery.

As the conversation was reaching an end, Kyra stumbled back in shock and a metal needle fell from the box she was holding. Kyra held her breath, hoping - praying - that the pair hadn't heard the clatter. Maybe they would just assume it was the vents - they made strange noises from time to time. But no.

They heard.

And she ran.


The loud mutterings from those around her quietened down, causing Kyra to break herself out of her reverie. A screen came to life, showing the familiar image of Chancellor Jaha.

"Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now," he began. Prisoners of the Ark and one innocent girl, Kyra thought bitterly. "You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us; indeed, for mankind itself."

As he spoke, Kyra took in her surroundings, noticing a few familiar faces with either a confused, scared, or extremely pissed off expression. She recognised a few people she used to see around the Ark from time to time, including the Chancellor's son and... Clarke Griffin?

Kyra knew the girl was a prisoner - had actually been there when she was arrested - but the thought of possibly seeing her on this suicide mission had escaped her mind. Well, at least she would be dying with a friend.

With a frustrated sigh, the nervous and agitated girl turned back to Chancellor Jaha's announcement. She was dimly aware of Clarke's eyes burning into the side, having heard her noise of discontent and wanting to know the source.

"Kyra?" Clarke asked in disbelief. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Kyra shrugged weakly, her brain scampering to find an excuse for being on the ship. Surprise? No, that was weak. I was attacked by a mad man and forced to burn to death on the ground? Nope, couldn't say that either. Just as she had opened her mouth to swiftly change the subject, her eyes were drawn to the metal band that was now secured around her wrist.

"What?" Kyra muttered to herself. When did that get there?

"It's so they can track our vitals," Clarke explained to the confused girl. "It's basically their way of seeing how we'll react to the Earth, whether we'll die or not." Oh, cheerful.

"We have no idea what is waiting for you down there," the Chancellor continued, grabbing Kyra's attention and simply filling the viewers with confidence... Yeah, right. "If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable.

The girl scoffed, just as an unknown boy shouted, "Your dad is a dick, Wells!"

Kyra liked Wells. He was always kind to her whenever they spoke and she didn't blame his father for locking up so many of her friends over the years. Not completely, anyway. A part of her was angry at the older man and the other half just didn't care. She knew some of them had committed a crime, after all. But listening to him explain that they were potentially being sent to their deaths and that it didn't really matter because they were of little significance anyway made her think that yeah, maybe Chancellor Jaha was a bit of a dick.

The look on Wells' face hardened as the Chancellor continued.

"These crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean."

Well, obviously, she thought bitterly. If we all died down here, their crimes wouldn't matter. Neither would we, apparently.

"Spacewalk bandit strikes again!" Called a voice, drawing everyone's attention away from the Chancellor on screen.

"Go Finn!"

Kyra turned towards the cheers to see a guy in a green beanie floating through the air, after clearly deciding that he didn't want nor need his harness. Kyra disagreed. She clung onto her own harness for dear life.

The guy - Finn - moved with ease, coming to a stop in front of Clarke and Wells.

"Check it out," Finn grinned at Wells. "Your dad floated me after all."

Kyra held back a snort of laughter.

Wells shook his head, choosing to ignore the previous comment. "You should strap in before the parachutes deploy."

More cheering came from the right of the Exodus ship as two more guys - boys, really - began to unbuckle their harnesses.

"Hey, you two!" Clarke called out to them. "Stay put if you want to live."

They ignored her - just as the Kyra had predicted. They seemed to be at that point in their lives where they thought they knew better than everyone else, and if that's how they wanted to be then so be it. Kyra wasn't going to waste her breath when she knew her words were only going to fall on deaf ears.

"Hey, you're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year." Finn grinned at Clarke, effectively pulling the girl's attention away from the two stubborn boys.

"You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk." Clarke replied, not looking impressed in the slightest.

"But it was fun," he shrugged carelessly. "I'm Finn."

"Your one responsibility is to stay alive," the recording of Jaha continued.

Clarke didn't answer. Instead, she chose to berate the other two floaters once more.

The brunette onlooker rolled her eyes, her mind already thinking of several sarcastic comments to make when the Exodus dropship suddenly gave a large jerk, succeeding in both scaring the shit out of her, and causing the floating boys to crash straight into the side of the ship.

Kyra winced, her knuckles beginning to turn white from holding onto her harness so tightly. She was dimly aware of the heated conversation occurring between Clarke and Wells, the screams coming from her peers, and the sparks coming from inside the dropship itself, but she couldn't bring herself to focus on one of them.

She was just wanting to survive the landing.

The landing quite literally went out with a bang as the ship gave one more violent shake before going completely still and silent. The engines died down and all of the screaming - and arguing - stopped.

"Listen," said one of the boys in her row after a moment, "no machine hum."

"That's a first." His friend lightly joked.

That was when everyone decided to unbuckle their harnesses and race to the doors; the silence from both the ship and the outside clearly being taken as a good sign. The young adult gladly followed suit - albeit slightly shakily - taking off her harness and following the sea of people in front.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Finn crouch down in front of his fellow floaters who hadn't moved since they were thrown into the wall. Kyra had assumed that they were unconscious.

She was wrong.

"Finn, are they breathing?" Clarke asked worriedly.

A grim, slightly guilty, shake of his head gave her her answer.

"The outer door is on the lower level. Let's go!"

Frowning at the scene in front of her, the prisoner tore herself away and followed her peers down the ladder towards the doors, Kyra trailing behind apprehensively. A man in a guards uniform stood in front of them and Kyra's heart lurched. Had Shumway sent him?

"Hey, just back it up, guys." The guard said, holding out his arm to keep the crowd calm. Kyra's eyebrows scrunched together slightly as she studied his voice.

"Stop!" Clarke yelled, pushing her way through the sea of people to the very front. Kyra rolled her eyes at the dramatics. "The air could be toxic."

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead, anyway." The guard stated.

Kyra nodded, and although she hated agreeing with a guard, spoke up. "He's right," she said, drawing attention to herself and avoiding Clarke's gaze in the process. "We either stay in here and die of starvation and dehydration, or we take a chance and go outside," Kyra paused to shrug, "I know which one I would prefer."

The guard nodded in agreement, turning to pull the lever that would open the doors and basically set them free.

"Bellamy?" A gentle voice said from somewhere in the crowd. Kyra watched as a girl with long brown hair - darker than her own - and a shocked expression stepped forward.

"She knows the guard?" Kyra muttered quietly to Finn who stood beside her.

"My god," the guard - correction: Bellamy - said when he turned to face her. The guy smiled and Kyra paused to appreciate the sight. She hated herself for admiring a guard but after all; she hadn't seen many good-looking guys in her time. "Look how big you've gotten."

Wait, what? Kyra frowned. Creepy, dude.

The pair rushed forward to embrace.

"What the hell are you wearing?" The girl asked as she pulled back from the hug. "A guard's uniform?"

Kyra raised an eyebrow slightly. So... he wasn't a guard?

"I borrowed it to get on the drop ship," he explained simply with a slight chuckle and Kyra's stomach dropped. The voice, the sneaking on the drop ship... Was this who Shumway was tricking? "Someone's gotta keep an eye on you."

The somewhat sweet moment - Kyra couldn't really comment until she knew the ins and outs of the situation - was ruined when Clarke spoke up. "Where's your wristband?"

Well, if he snuck onto the ship then he obviously wouldn't have one, Kyra thought. But then again, she wasn't supposed to be here and she had a wristband. Damn Shumway.

"Do you mind?" The girl swirled round to glare at Clarke in annoyance. "I haven't seen my brother in over a year." Kyra did a double take. Now she knew who the pair in question were. The Blake siblings. The youngest, Octavia, had been hidden under the floorboards until she was eventually discovered and then forced to spend a year in prison, up until this very day. Kyra frowned. Poor girl.

"No one has a brother!" A male voice called from somewhere near the back of the crowd. That was true, at least. Having a sibling wasn't a very common occurrence on the Ark. Mainly because it was illegal.

"That's Octavia Blake; the girl they found hidden in the floor!" A female replied.

Octavia growled and lunged forwards, clearly intending to maim , or at the very least seriously injure, the gossiping teens.

"Octavia! Octavia, no!" Her brother said, his voice deepening as he wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and held her back. "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah? Like what?" She asked with a sharp tone.

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." Bellamy suggested with a growing grin.

Octavia grinned in return as she watched her brother turn again to open the door. Nobody could turn down that offer. As the door opened wide, Kyra blinked at the bright light that entered the dropship. There was so much colour, so much fresh air. It was just like she had imagined, and so much more.

It was beautiful.

Octavia's steps were hesitant, but when she finally reached the ground and heard the leaves crunch underneath her weight - a sound none of them had ever heard before and that was, quite frankly, music to their ears - she threw her arms up in the air and yelled loudly.

"We're back, bitches!"