Chapter One

Ninety-seven years ago, a nuclear war broke out across Earth, completely destroying civilization. At the time the bombs dropped, twelve space stations could only watch their home's destruction in disbelief. The dire circumstances forced the last of humanity to join for hope and for survival, and together they formed The Ark. For nearly one hundred years, the remnants of humanity lived in space. However, things weren't meant to last and soon the air system on the Ark began to fail. In a desperate attempt, the Council decided to send one-hundred delinquents back to Earth, hoping the ground was once again safe for their survival.


The first night on the ground was rough. Even though the Ark had provided them with clothes that were durable enough to survive the cold terrain of space, it still wasn't enough for Earth's atmosphere. In space, recycling was key to their survival. They had been re-purposing the same clothing since the beginning, the patches and holes showed the wear-and-tear of time.

The air was brisk and chilly, signaling that fall was slowly creeping around the corner. All of the teens were frightened, despite the tough act they presented. As delinquents, showing any sign of weakness immediately negated any respect from those around them.

Once they'd landed, it hadn't taken them long to realize they had been dropped in the wrong location and that the communication system that was built in to help them was shot. Even so, they decided to set up camp around the drop ship, the delinquents splitting into groups to begin working. They were separated by their Ark station, for that would decide what jobs they could perform successfully. By nightfall, they had been able to find and store water from a nearby stream, cut down enough trees to begin building a wall. They had built fires to keep themselves warm, used metal from the dropship to construct makeshift knives, and used the parachutes to make shelters.

Everyone seemed to be doing okay. The thrill of not being under the strict ruling of the Ark was both liberating and seductive. Although some of them worried about their loved ones left behind, Clarke had lifted their spirits by telling them that they would be reunited when the Ark came down, much to Bellamy's dismay.

It had been a few days since they'd landed and Bellamy Blake was alone in his tent, where he tossed and turned. He was unable to get comfortable, physically or mentally. He couldn't fathom how anyone could be sleeping right now. He wasn't even in the mood for company from the girls who visited his tent earlier in the evening. He knew they just fancied him based on his newfound leader position, and if circumstances were different, maybe things could have another outcome – but not tonight.

During the day, Bellamy had tried to convince everyone to take off their wristbands. He knew that the chances of the Ark not coming down to Earth were slim, if rumors were true and the Ark was dying. With Jaha now out of the picture, Kane would be in charge, and he was more inclined about holding the laws in place. He was stricter than Jaha and would do whatever it took to keep the human race alive.

Although Bellamy had snuck onto the dropship to be with his sister, Octavia, and the fact that the delinquent had already buried two of their own bothered him. Being on Earth felt like a second chance. He could lead the delinquents. He could help them prosper and thrive. If the Ark ever did come down, he would never be able to prove himself and start anew. Once again they would take everything from him and leave him as nothing but a criminal.

Bellamy still could hear some of the teens chatting quietly in their respective tents, and secretly he wished that his sister would have preferred to stay with him simply so he would have someone to talk to, just to maybe keep his nerves down. Although he knew that he couldn't just chat with anyone. Most of the teens that were here are dangerous criminals and he did not want to deal with their immaturity.

Early the next day, once everyone was working on the respective project and a group, including his sister had headed out in search of Mount Weather, Bellamy had decided to explore the surrounding area on his own. He'd been hoping to clear his head and had been pleasantly surprised when he had stumbled across a river a couple of miles east of their camp. Pausing to catch his breath and take a break, he crouched down to take a drink of water, enjoying the pleasant taste of unfiltered water, when a snap of branches from behind him cut through the calm.

Instinctively, he froze, his breath caught in his throat. Glancing around, he wondered if anyone followed him there from the camp, or maybe it was one of the first animals he would see on the ground. He picked up his knife and held it before him, cautiously standing back up and turning around. Looking up, his jaw dropped.

A young woman with a deep tan complexion stood across the river from him. She had long brown hair that was pulled away from her face and woven tightly into braids. She wore a dark gray shirt covered by a leather armor jacket. Her legs were clad in matching leather pants, tall black boots laces up past her knees. What caught Bellamy's attention the most was the way the charcoal paint on her face brought out the golden brown of her eyes. He might have even considered her attractive if she weren't completely covered in dirt. That and the fact that she help a large sword in his direction, looking posed to attack if he so much as twitched.

His mind was whirling. He thought he must be hallucinating. There weren't supposed to be any human left on Earth. The radiation from the war had supposedly killed them all.

Clearly they had been wrong. Human's had survived all along.

For a tense moment they stared at each other, before she said something in a language he couldn't understand. He frowned, studying her, wondering what language she was speaking.

When he didn't respond, her body language shifted, becoming more aggressive and Bellamy felt his hand cautiously drift up to his waistband, where is gun was nestled. He didn't want to waste bullets if he didn't need to, but he had a feeling the gun would be of better use than his knife. Especially if she decided to attack him with that sword.

But she didn't attack, instead continued to study him, head tilting to the side as if thinking about what she wanted to do.

Beginning to feel frustrated, Bellamy finally decided to break the silence.

"Hello," he began cautiously. "Do you speak English?"

His words seemed to jolt her into action and she began to stride forward, expression fierce and determined, paying no heed to the shallow waters of the river which she quickly waded through towards him.

At her sudden approach, Bellamy stumbled back in a panic, bringing up his knife in defense, as if it would somehow protect him from her sword if she attacked him, completely forgetting about his gun. But he was no match for her. Before he could react, she was in front of him, grabbing his knife wielding arm and lashing out with her foot, kicking out his legs from under him.

Slamming onto his back, air fled his lungs in a rush. He didn't have more than a second to catch his breath, before she slammed the hilt of her sword against the side of his head.

As his consciousness started to fade, all he could think about was how stupid it was that he'd managed to get himself killed after only a couple of days on Earth. The blow to his head left him struggling to find his ability to move and even to see clearly, but Bellamy felt someone picking him up. He made note that this person seemed a lot stronger than the woman he saw at the river. He struggled to pull away from them, to fight back even, but they strongly held him in place. As he finally went to lift his head, to see who was really carrying him, his vision blackened, as he slipped into a dark oblivion.


Author's Note: Thanks for reading! New updates every week! Review please! Also a special thanks to my Beta, KatieBees!