A high pitched ringing echoed through her ears, her head was throbbing and there was a sharp object digging into her lower back. Nola was hoping it was one of her research books from inside her backpack, however the warm liquid puddling at her backside was telling her otherwise.
The room was dark, they had survived, Nola was pushed up against a wall with the body of a young boy sprawled over her, he wasn't moving, along with a few around the room. The only way to tell she wasn't the only one left alive was the occasional moan from other survivors of the Ark.
She quickly wiggled out from under the little body, eyes stinging and on the verge of nausea, Nola scooted a few metres away where there were no people – alive or dead – faced the wall and threw up, not that there was any food in her, her throat stung from the bile burning as it resurfaced. After hurling a few times she moved further away from the people and tried to steady her breath.
Most of the people were still disoriented, some were calling names, others were crying – out of both happiness and the loss of loved ones – and others were merely moaning. Nola felt a hollowness swell inside of her and she eyed the Ark survivors for familiar faces. Although descending from space was an absurd decision to make, it was their only hope, it was either die in space where no one would know or remember you, or die trying to return to Earth. There would be many losses that day, but this day would remain in the history books for lifetimes.
A few metres away there was a lone figure hobbling around to each of the survivors, Abigail Griffin. She was checking their vitals, figuring out which were survivors and which were deceased. For a split moment that their eyes met there, Nola could see a mix of relief that they had survived, sadness for those who hadn't, anticipation for that was awaiting them outside, and concern for the young woman who's face reflected in the doctors eyes.
Abby walked over, careful not to step on anyone as she made her way to the young woman and knelt down beside her. Abby rested her hand on Nola's shoulder, squeezing it, reassuring her that they had indeed survived what should've been their demise.
The doctor's hand moved from Nola's shoulder to her neck to check her pulse, she knew the girl was alive, it was just for precaution, she then grabbed a small torch out of her pocket and flashed it over her eyes.
"I'm fine Abby, really. I landed on my books but its nothing to worry about. There are others that need the attention more than I do." Abby knew her well, She and Nola's mother were once good friends, so Abby had the privilege of seeing her grow up, many few were in her life long enough to be apart of it. But the girl was lying, she was a hard girl to decipher to others but Abby had known her long enough to know when she lied.
Abby huffed at the girl before her, her long light brown hair cascading down to the middle of her back, the shorter tips carrying a bit of vomit, her fine features and high cheekbones enhancing her beauty were easy on the eyes, but it meant very little with her large hazel eyes staring back at Abby with a steady stare, assuring her that she was better off than the others surrounding them. She was a young woman who grew up too fast, with those eyes she's able to confront even the most influential adults, those eyes were more powerful than her beauty. But right now, deep within those eyes held pain, not just for those surrounding the two but Abby could see that she was in physical pain.
"Show me where you landed on the books." She said with a stern look, knowing that Nola would try to be left alone, she was renowned for doing things on her own and without others knowing, which had her in trouble multiple times in the past.
"But it was fine in the end wasn't it!" The fourteen-year-old girl shouted as she stood her ground against her mother. Abby had come for a cup of tea during her break, she never got to see her dear friend enough. However her friend Diana was in a heated discussion with her daughter Nola.
"Barely honey. How many times do I need to tell you to stay away from the hydroponics? They're what keep the gardens alive, without them we would have no crops. No food. We wouldn't survive; they're essential to the Ark. And every time you sneak in there you risk contaminating the area." Her mother Diana responded clearly drained from todays work only to have another mission on her hands.
"Mother! I know how it works, you know better than anyone else that I am more knowledgeable that those baboons that work there! I know more than them and could do a much better job!" Nola was frustrated with her mother; she had aced biology and Earth Studies and had improved the water efficiency by improving its quality and stream consistency yet her mother couldn't grasp the concept that even as an intern for Doctor Alfred – the Head Botanist – she should be able to help more because there is more she can still do!
Diana stared at her daughter, Nola's shoulder length hair sticking out in all different directions, a smudge of black grease above her eyebrow, her hazel eyes piercing her mothers with that steady stare that told her she would not back down, her cheeks flushed and she looked as though she had just run five laps of the Ark, while getting chased by the goats. Diana worried for her daughter, even though Nola's actions were in the best interests of the Ark community, she just couldn't deal with what would happen if Nola's experiments were unsuccessful, evidently causing harm to either Nola or the Ark. She took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Nola. Just because you have some leeway in the improvements of the hydroponics during your internship with Dr Alfred, does not mean that you can take action on your own. What would have happened if security found you? Or if you had injured yourself during your experimentations?" she sighed, "You are unbelievably lucky that Freeman found you. If it were anyone else the situation would've been out of my hands."
Abby was accustomed to the adventures that Nola spent on her own. Sure, for a fourteen year old she was intelligent, she had tried to encourage Nola to intern at the hospital with her but the girl never had the stomach for it, and she was far too interested in plant life to be interested in human life.
Nola powered on in her argument with her mother, Abby knew that Diana was losing enthusiasm for the topic and knew Nola wouldn't quit yet. However, at the sound of Diana saying that mans name 'Freeman' Abby noticed the girl's spine go rigid. That man frustrated the Nola beyond words, he would always be near her, watching her, making sure she didn't interfere with things. She got away of course, but there were times when he followed her for hours on end. She confided to Abby about her issues and the doctor kept it between the two. Nola didn't like him one bit but Diana did, besides, the woman was right. If it weren't for him she would have been in the skybox by now for sure. He never did anything, but Abby kept an eye on him. He wouldn't survive if he were to harm a child in any way.
Nola hmm'd in agreement with her mother. Diana sighed knowing that there was no winning this argument today, Abby could tell that her work had been tough today and she clearly wasn't in the mood to deal with Nola's antics, the woman looked emotionally and mentally drained, she was over the discussion. "Nola, there will come a time where I cannot help you, when that time comes, I hope that you make the right decisions. Better yet I hope you don't do these sorts of things to begin with. It will bite you in the rear one day." With that Diana walked back over to Abby and sat in the chair opposite, sipping her tea. Abby knew what had happened but kept it to herself, she knew Nola almost as much as Diana, even though one was the girls mother and the other was not. An unusual friendship they had but a lifelong one indeed.
Nola knew that Abby wouldn't back down, she was a strong woman, Nola would not win today. She reluctantly took off her backpack, leaned over onto her side, pulling up her shirt. What Abby saw certainly wasn't from a book, a slash had been marked around her waist and how she got it? Probably from being jolted from her secure spot against the wall during the Ark's decent to Earth, but that was irrelevant now, thankfully it wasn't too deep and the doctor had a small medical kit where she could stitch it up and safely cover it with a bandage to prevent infection. It may leave a slight scar but those sorts of things didn't bother Nola. "Kane! Pass the med-kit beside you." She faced the man helping Sinclair with the other survivors; they had their senses back and were able to move around now. Kane Nodded and brought it over without fail.
"Can't have our head gardener injured now can we?" he half-heartedly mocked as the middle aged man passed the med-kit to Abby. She gave him a stern look and ordered him to go back and help the other survivors, now wasn't the time to play favourites, but they would need her in weeks to come when it was time to plant crops, he knew that.
Thankfully Nola had a high pain threshold so the stitches, although they were painful, remained bearable. Nola had discovered this when she was climbing a tree in the crop fields of the Ark when she was seventeen, she had been growing a moss that could only survive in moist lifestyles underneath the canopy of trees, she hadn't climbed up there in a few days and was pleased to see the improvement and growth from the moss, however she had underestimated the speed it would spread, she lost her footing and slipped on the moss on her way down, ending her tree climbing days until her broken arm healed.
While Abby quickly stitched her up Nola's mind wandered back to reality, hoping that her blood had not damaged the text in her books, hoping that her writing was still legible. After all, she was now the Head Botanist, since Dr Alfred had passed away almost a year ago, her research would be crucial for the people of the Ark's survival on Earth.
A few hours had passed and although Nola was injured - now stitched up - she did her best to help Abby, Kane and Sinclair who was now fashioning a large rectangle square cotton band aid along his forehead, to bring the Ark's remaining survivors to a better location, they found shade just outside the Mecha Station's infrastructure a short time ago and the view before them was mesmerising; a surrounding forest, a big blue lake and mountains. So many secrets and plant life to be rediscovered, out there just waiting for you! Nola kept thinking to herself. In time but not yet. Soon she would get to work again, this time on the Earth, not above it.
Now that Nola's brain had slowed down, her mind wandered to the man with the thick dark hair, deep brown eyes and a sprinkle of freckles along his cheeks. She wondered what he was doing. Was he safe? Was he happy? Was he with his sister? What was he doing? Was he with someone? No! Stop it! Nola you shouldn't be thinking about a boy. You don't have time to think about him. He is a distraction, what good will thinking about him do? You don't even know if he's alive? With those words Nola shoved thoughts of the man to the back of her mind.
Her childhood crush, once her friend, the delinquent, Bellamy Blake.