"We got one!" someone shouts from the gates as a squad walks into Arkadia, and Marcus Kane shoots a look at them before nodding to the few people sitting at a table: they can continue without him.
"I gave a clear order not to engage", Marcus hisses as he approaches the squad. "You were only supposed to pick up our dead, mayor". He looks at a bloody figure that hangs on the soldier's arms: it's hard to tell who they have, but this is the first time they've actually got a grounder alive. Kane comes a step closer. It could be a trap. Or it could be luck. He doesn't believe in luck though.
"We didn't, sir". Mayor Bern lowers her head and nods towards the grounder: whoever he or she is, it doesn't look like that creature is conscious. The grounder hangs with a head bowed and messy hair stained in blood covering face and neck. "She was hiding next to the spot".
"This looks fresh". Marcus comes near and presses a finger to the grounder's ribcage. Dark blood runs across his finger, and he raises his eyes, waiting to hear an explanation. None comes. "Did it… did she resist?" for a moment he's not sure how to call the creature. Mayor shakes her head negatively. Still, no explanation comes. "Take her to medical," he says, turning away and quickly walking back to the table. They still have a lot of things to discuss before he can call the Council meeting adjourned.
...
It's been two weeks since they landed on Earth. Fourteen times Kane saw a sunset and thirteen times he saw a sunrise. He didn't look at it, he knows he's seen it though. He's also seen his people killed off, dozen by dozen. They call those creatures 'grounders', not completely sure what they really are. Some of them seem to look like humans, some don't, but so far none of them could be talked to. Those who tried putting down the weapon and suggesting to stop fighting were killed the very moment the gun touched the ground.
"How soon can we question her?" Marcus asks, watching over a figure strapped to a gurney. This one looks human. Uncertain, he touches her forehead, moves his hand to her neck, shoulder, down the ribcage, presses the belly and a hip. He wonders if others are the same, hidden behind ugly masks made of mutated animal's sculls and teeth.
"The injuries are pretty bad," he hears behind his back and turns to face the doctor. "I've stitched her up and sedated. Whoever did this, meant to finish her," he finishes, showing a panel to Kane. Kane nods. The doctor rubs his own bruised cheek: they had a rough landing. It's hard to find a single person in the camp who's not been injured.
"Thank you, Jackson," Kane glances at the grounder one last time. Jackson's right: even if she attacked his soldiers, they'd not cut her like this. These cuts are small and they are too many. For a few seconds he wonders what's happened, then he goes back to work.
...
They need more food. They need water. Every second time they go to get either of those they're attacked by huge animals that one could confuse for people. They still need food and water.
Marcus wonders if maybe there was another way. He knows there wasn't: after the riot the only thing that could calm people down was a one way ticket to Earth, survivable or not. They'd kill each other otherwise. Damn you, Jake, he thinks again and again every time he remembers the Ark; damn you. It got ugly, much uglier than anyone could expect: hearing they only had a few more months of air made people go insane. It made them bloodthirsty. If only Jake had talked to someone – anyone – before going public, they'd not lose so many lives in the riot. They'd find a way to be civilized, Kane thinks, and then he admits that they'd also have no idea the Earth was survivable.
They'd not be forced to go down now, and by the time their great-great-grand children would finally land (if humanity survived that long, of course), the grounder civilization would've developed and they'd stand no chance against it. Even now their chances are rather slim.
Late at night Kane looks at the sky as if trying to see the Ark. He knows there's been another riot after the exodus ship survived the landing. He knows there is a new chancellor, again, for the second time in just a month. He knows that this one won't stand too long either – he'll probably face the fate of Jaha and his other predecessor (whose name Marcus doesn't even remember). At least now, with seven hundred people gone to the ground, the arkers have enough time to fix the air. That is, if they don't kill each other in the process.
If things continue like this here on Earth, those people up in the sky might be the only ones left alive after all. Kane hopes it won't come to that. He hopes there is a way to make peace with the grounders.
...
"Have you regretted volunteering, Jackson?" Kane asks, entering the medical. The young man turns to face him and shakes his head.
"You needed a doctor on the ground," he responds after a second. Kane nods. They did. But he was still surprised to see how many of the essential personnel volunteered – engineers, scientists, soldiers... If the Earth turned out not to be survivable, they'd all be killed by radiation, essential or not.
Kane walks to the gurney and looks at the grounder prisoner. She's awake but obviously tries to hide it: with her eyes closed, her pupils are moving as if she's trying to see through her eyelids. Kane knows she hears him, he knows she's listening.
"Do you understand our language?" he asks, standing above her head and attentively looking at her face: he wants to spot any change.
"She's still high on painkillers," Jackson steps in, injecting the woman with grey liquid.
Perhaps wasting their meds on a grounder isn't such a great idea, Marcus thinks to himself.
"How soon can she be questioned?" he asks, and Jackson hides his hands into the pockets, stepping from one foot to another uncomfortably.
"Uh… She can probably answer questions… I mean, if they speak our language, she can. But she's – she's lost too much blood for… for questioning… I wouldn't advice…" Kane shoots him a look, and Jackson stops talking. Marcus can't say he's surprised by the doctor's reaction. If they are going to survive here on Earth, Jackson's got a lot to learn about the price they'll pay for staying alive. He turns to the gurney again, sighs and puts his hand on the woman's bandaged shoulder:
"Do you hear me?" he asks, slowly pressing into the wound – not enough to make it bleed, but apparently enough for the grounder to react. She hisses and bites her lower lip, trembles a little, then slowly opens her eyes, looking straight ahead as if Marcus isn't there. "Do you understand me?" he presses harder, and she winces, turning her head to the side to look at Jackson. Jackson freezes. Marcus repeats the question.
"Please," Jackson steps closer, covering Kane's hand with his own, "She might not even understand what's happening just yet".
"Please," they hear a quiet female voice repeat and they freeze. Kane takes away his hand, and the woman jerks, visibly in pain.
"What is your name?" he asks, pushing Jackson to the side with his own body. The woman blinks a few times but remains silent. "Do you know where you are?" She blinks again. "Do you understand me?" Nothing changes. Kane bites his cheek, irritated.
"Ab… Ab…" the woman repeats several times, breathing heavy. She looks around as if trying to find something. Kane glances at the belt that keeps her neck attached to the gurney: this grounder wouldn't be able to move even if she was not sedated. He bends closer to her face, attempting to hear her whispers. "Abigail," she breathes out and moves uncomfortable on the gurney.