Chapter One

I'm Like A Bird, I only Fly Away


A Sparrow was a small, plump, brown andGreybird with a short tail and stubby, powerful beak and were indigenous to Europe, Africa, Asia, America, Australia and other parts of the world and in many types of sub-species that all existedabout 97 years ago, before a nuclear apocalypse wiped out almost all life forms on Earth. Over2,400 survivors now live on a single, massive station that has resided in Earth's orbit, called "The Ark" ever since the devastation of their true home. Now, the Earth was nothing more than a dream and an amazing view to behold outside the window of The Ark where a girl with long, flowing red hair stood, looking out at the star-lit infinity in which the white, green, and blue planet floated; seemingly so close, yet so far away.

As she tore her eyes away from the planet she planned to fly to, Sparrow turned her back and walked down the hall with increasing trepidation. Her lonely footsteps echoed like a ticking clock, counting down the time she had left before she sealed her own fate.

As she turned the corner, her steps hesitated and she took a deep breath and held it as she approached the door, not knocking on it since she lived here and entered to find the person she wanted to speak to; her father sat at the dining table, checking her grades on the report card she'd left before visiting his girlfriend. She had left that Report Card before she knew what she did not and before she had even considered to do what she was about to. It had been an hour or so ago but it felt like an entire lifetime, almost like it was a different girl who that report belonged to.

"Dad?" she called, standing there nervously. The nerves had nothing to do with her grades, which felt odd as she usually felt exactly like this every time her report card came.

Her father looked up from the report with a very serious expression, which was normal as he really didn't have any other expressions.

"Your grades have not improved despite your increased study and you have a tutor. Are you failing on purpose as a means of rebelling because of Clarke? You do not get into the council with grades like this!"

Sparrow had already heard these things before so she really couldn't find emotion within her other than the nerves to have any real reaction. She had a good reason for why her grades were failing but not one she could speak of with him without causing damage to her family, whom she was trying to protect. Besides, her grades didn't matter any more, nor her father's unrealistic expectation that she would follow in his footsteps, and one day be on the council that was not going to exist for very much longer.

"I'm not trying to fail to rebel against anything. I've simply not been trying. My grades don't matter to me anymore," she admitted very calmly. It felt right, for it was the truth. She kept her tone respectful, for she wasn't angry with him or trying to hurt him. "You are right about one thing; This sort of is about Clarke, but . . . not in the way that you think."

"Explain?" he told her. He seemed to have noticed that she seemed to be behaving and legitimately felt this way.

"Last year," Sparrow begin, getting the hint that he was listening, "both Clarke and I were heading to study with Abby Griffin for our Medic studies. We were just inside by the door when we stopped where we weren't seen because Abby and Jake were arguing about the situation with the Ark; It's dying and there's no fixing it this time."

"Wait . . . !" her father interjected. "You've known this whole time?!"

"Yes, dad. I've known but I agreed with you, with Abby that people shouldn't know, that it would make everyone panic. Heck, I wish I hadn't overheard this but I did, so I kept quiet and pretended, for you, for Grams, that I didn't know anything. I was hoping Jake was wrong, that you would fix the problem like always . . . then I found out about the council sending the Delinquents to Earth to find out if it's inhabitable and – "

"And that's why you're telling me this now?" he finished for her. "You hope to join them?"

"Maybe I die quickly down there or I definitely die slowly up here," she reasoned. "Let me go, daddy, please! If everything is okay, we'll see each other again and if everything isn't okay, then . . . may we meet again?"

"May we meet again," he repeated, embracing her in a hug. "I will have to take you in now, before the ship is launched to leave. It happens in an hour so You won't be able to say Goodbye. There's no time."

"That's okay. It's better, really," Sparrow replied. She didn't want to think of it as Goodbye, for she held onto hope that everything would be okay. "You're not mad at me?"

"No," he replied with a small, temporary smile. "I was, considering your grade scores but . . . now your behavior makes sense and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"I couldn't be more proud of you." The last words her father spoke to her before she was thrown in with the rest of the prisoners and given an ugly looking bracelet echoed in Sparrow's mind as she entered the Drop ship, which was filled with kids her age; Some of them she knew, others she'd never seen before. She allowed the guard to lead her to a seat and buckle her in, despite how it made her feel like a small toddler again, being placed in the old high-chair seat at meal times. Unlike then, when she voiced her unhappiness in loud cries as children do, Sparrow waited quietly until all the guards left before she unbuckled herself and looked around for something in the Drop ship that did not belong. She spotted the pack she used to carry her study books from class to class and hurriedly grabbed it and took it back to her seat.

"What's in the bag?" the person next to her asked as Sparrow buckled herself back in with the pack on her lap.

"Something illegal," Sparrow replied with a grin as she looked up and turned to see who it was. "A sibling," she told the boy, whom Sparrow recognized as Finn Collins who she used to have in Cutting Sign class before he was arrested for illegal spacewalking. As Sparrow smiled at the boy, considering him to be rather attractive, she wrapped her arms around the pack protectively. "I stand accused by myself of crimes I did not do and got grounded for life." It was true, she had stood before the council and had quite a lot of fun giving testimony to a series of crimes that dated back to a year since Clarke's arrest and pointed blame on herself for many unsolved cases of criminal activity. The people who actually did those things were safe, so "Your Welcome" to them, Sparrow thought privately. She even made her own father believe she might have done some of the things she admitted to, despite their little talk before the meeting. Who knows what she might have been doing during the time she claimed to be spending studying for grades she said she no longer cared about? "If the council had found out my father had a second child, they would float him," said Sparrow, more so thinking out loud than talking to him.

"You got yourself locked up to save your family," said Finn. "Me too, I didn't – "

A noise like lightning hitting the ship banged and the lights flickered for a moment as people yelled in surprise.

"It's okay, it's just the atmosphere," Sparrow said out loud, but the bag began to cry and Sparrow unzipped the already halfway open pack, allowing the small face of her little brother and his fearful expression to reveal itself.

"Hey, little guy!" Finn greeted cheerfully, causing the toddler to smile.

Sparrow cleared her throat pointedly before correcting him. "I'm – "

A loud noise like nails on chalkboard sounded, interrupting Finn and Chancellor Jaha's annoying face showed up on a screen attached to the ceiling. "Prisoners of The Ark, hear me now," he commanded them. "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 as a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

"Your dad is a dick, Wells!" someone shouted.

"Wells is here?! Sparrow asked, looking around for him.

"Those crimes will be forgiven," Jaha continued, oblivious to the interruption, which told Sparrow that he didn't see fit to speak to them directly but had left them with a movie of sorts. A crap movie starring Jaha speaking. At least he didn't stop to scold the room that now laughed at him. " – your records wiped clean."

"What are you doing?!" Sparrow hissed as she saw very clearly what Finn was doing. He had unbuckled himself from his chair and was now floating, weightless into the air as people yelled encouragements.

"The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a Military Base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough nonperishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years."

"Spacewalk Bandit strikes again!" someone yelled out.

"No one has ever made it – " Jaha was saying but no was was listening.

"Fly too?" the toddler babbled, pointing and smiling up at Finn who floated across the room

"No, no flying. We stay here," Sparrow told him, cursing Finn for being a terrible example.

"Hey, you two, stay put if you want to live!" Sparrow heard Clarke yell out to the others. She hadn't heard that voice in a year, since Clarke's dad was floated and she was sent to solitary confinement.

"Mount Weather is life."

"Shut up, Jaha!" Sparrow thought resentfully, wishing there was a remote control on the Chancellor's video.

"You must locate those supplies immediately," he prattled on. Sparrow was certain he had messed with the sound to make his voice resonate so well like the voice of God or something and rolled her eyes. "Your one responsibility is Stay Alive."

"Finally something we agree on," Sparrow argued with him mentally, scowling at his face before it vanished as the Drop ship sped up and the lights went out. The kids who had left their seats were flung around the room and were thrown into the wall where they fell to the floor and did not rise as the ship seemed to be falling apart around them. All Sparrow could think to do was to embrace her brother close to her chest protectively until things settled down.

"Listen," came a voice after a moment of silence. "No machine hum."

Indeed. It had been their first true moment of silence. It was followed by a loud rumble as all the buckles disabled, freeing them all to walk around the ship. They had landed on Earth . . . or the moon, depending on how accurate the shot, how much The Ark cared, and how badly damaged the ship was that they didn't shoot off in the wrong direction.

"Finn, is he breathing?" Sparrow heard Clarke ask from across the room.

Sparrow didn't hear Finn answer and was about to see if she could do anything to help when she heard another voice shout "The outer door is on the lower level!"

"Lets go!" another voice shouted.

Sparrow turned on her heal and hurried off in the opposite direction.

"No!" Clarke shouted, causing Sparrow to halt. "We can't just open the doors!"

"Why not?" Sparrow asked as Clarke hurried toward her. "We can't stay here."

"Who is that?!" Clarke asked, noticing the little face poking out of Sparrow's pack. "How – "

"Hey, just back it up, guys!" an adult sounding voice rang out over the voices. Sparrow and Clarke exchanged confused faces and Sparrow pulled the straps of the pack over her shoulders as Clarke began to climb down the ladder.

As Sparrow joined her old friends, Clarke and Wells on the main floor, they didn't have time for reunion.

"Stop!" Clarke yelled, hurrying toward the door. After sharing a look, Sparrow and wells followed.

"The air could be toxic," they heard Clarke explain to a guy who was definitely not a delinquent by the looks of his facial features, not to mention his guard uniform.

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

"Oh crap, they sent a guard down to watch us," Sparrow whispered, moving to hide behind Wells, who took the hint, looking curiously at the little one.

"He's not a guard," Wells said quietly.

"Bellamy?" a voice called out. It belonged to a girl Sparrow recognized as Octavia Blake, the girl who was discovered hiding underneath the floor. Sparrow had heard how the girl had been imprisoned last year, following the execution of the girl's mother, sentenced to death for the crime of having a second child."

"My god, look how big you are," said the guard, named Bellamy, beaming proudly at her.

Sparrow began to understand what was happening here as the siblings embraced each other.

"What the hell you wearing?" Octavia now asked. "A guards uniform?"

"I burrowed it to get on the Drop ship," Bellamy admitted. "Someone's got to keep an eye on you."

"Where's your wrist-band?" Clarke asked Bellamy, noticing he had no ugly bracelet.

Sparrow frowned at her friend who was clearly not adding up the subtle clues here.

"You mind?" said Octavia, turning to Clarke. "I haven't seen my brother in a year."

"No one has a brother!" A boy from the crowd argued.

"That's Octavia Blake," a girl's voice from the back of the room announced, yelling loud enough everyone could hear. "The girl they found hidden in the floor!"

Octavia looked about to tear that girl a new one but her brother restrained her, holding her back.

"Octavia! Octavia, no!" he yelled until she stopped struggling to break free and hit someone. "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah? Like what?!" she retorted.

"Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years." He turned around and pulled the lever which brought the door falling down and a blast of green light shone on their faces through leaves high up on tall trees that surrounded them in a dense forest.

The air they breathed was sweet and cool as they stared in awe around them and Octavia walked across the door before jumping off the top onto the ground with a soft thud into the dirt. She raised her arms and shouted, "We're back, Bitches!"

Everyone cheered and ran forward, passing her to jump and run around through the trees and shrubbery. But burdened with precious cargo, Sparrow did neither of these things and instead stayed with Clarke whom she had long missed the company of.

"Hey," she called out to her friend. "Look, I know we had our differences of opinion but I hope we're still friends. I missed you, Clarke."

"You shouldn't be here, Sparrow," Clarke scolded, turning away.

"I'm here because my dad had a girlfriend and she had a baby, her only baby but dad's second. If I didn't bring him, my little brother was going to die a slow painful death alone in a prison cell and my dad would be floated. At least here we all have a chance!" Sparrow retorted before walking away, hurt by Clarke's rebuff and reconsidered enjoying the new surroundings rather than follow someone who clearly didn't miss her as much.

She sat down on a moss covered boulder and sat down the pack on the ground before lifting her brother out of it and placing those little feet down on the soft earth and let go, allowing him to stand there on his own.

"Looks like we've got an adorable stow-away," a voice called over as Bellamy Blake approached them.

"Oh no!" Sparrow replied sarcastically, "This isn't what it looks like, sir! I swear, I found him here!"

Bellamy chuckled, showing perfect white teeth as he grinned at her humor. "Your brother?"

"Guilty," Sparrow accepted, though with a proud smile. "I'm Sparrow, this is Beau. His mom put him on the ship before all of us we're brought there by the guards. She told me it was happening so I could get arrested and bring him here. See, Cole is her first but he's dad's second, so this is his only chance for a life not being hidden away."

"He's lucky to have you," Bellamy agreed, "I would have done the same for Octavia if given the choice. Who's your father?"

"The Counselor, Markus Kane," Sparrow answered, avoiding his eyes now. "Sorry about your mom. Mine was floated too, when I was five. I don't know why or what she supposedly did, my dad would never talk about it."

"You know, no one has said that before," Bellamy admitted, his voice betraying his emotion. "No one has given anything close to condolences. Thank you."

"Yeah, I get that too. It's like after they get floated, everyone just pretends the person never existed."

"Yeah," Bellamy agreed, messing up Cole's hair as he stood back up. "You need anything for him, let me know."

"Thanks, Bellamy" she said with a smile as Bellamy nodded and motioned for her to follow as he walked away.

"Come on," she said, picking up Beau and carried him as she followed Bellamy back toward the Drop Ship.

"Relax," Wells was saying, standing next to Clarke and the Drop Ship door. "We're just trying to figure out where we are."

"We're on the ground," Bellamy answered. "That not good enough for you?"

"We need to find Mount Weather," Wells explained, walking towards them. "You heard my father's message, that has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father," was Octavia's brilliant response, which made Sparrow cringe in revulsion. "What? You think you're in charge here? You and your little princess?"

"Princess?!" Sparrow repeated in confusion.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke argued. "We need to get to Mount Weather. Not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a 20-mile trek, okay? So, if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now!"

Sparrow frowned as she thought about this.

"I got a better idea," said Bellamy, looking from Wells to Clarke. "You two go, find it for us. Let the privilaged do the hard work for a change."

"Yeah!" the crowd cheered in agreement.

"You're not listening," said Wells, looking around at everyone. "We all need to go!"

"I'll go. My brother needs that food," Sparrow decided, moving to stand next to Wells and staring up at the Drop Ship, wondering what they would do for shelter on this journey to the mountain. The Drop Ship would not be coming with them to provide shelter, obviously. No wonder no one wanted to come on this hike through the unknown without food and water on the way and without shelter for the first time in their lives. They would rather stay here near the closest thing they had to home and experience freedom without fear of what was actually waiting for them in the vast wilderness.

"Look at this everybody," said a boy Sparrow knew to be John Murphy. "The Chancellor of Earth."

"Think that's funny?" Wells retorted, backing away from John who'd just intentionally walked into him and Sparrow moved out of the way just in time before John lunged at Wells, shoving him down onto the ground.

"No, but that was," John replied with a clever smirk on his pointed, chiseled features.

Not wanting anything to do with this or expose her brother to the needless violence, Sparrow moved away from the scene and set down Beau near a Boulder she then sat on as she adjusted the pack for their travels ahead to have holes for his legs. Sure, he could walk fine by now, but he was still little and would get tired and probably slow them down if he wasn't sometimes carried a while.

"You're coming, right?" Clarke asked as Finn, Monty, Jasper, and Octavia passed by them."You need to carry him or he'll slow us down."

"You worry about the map, I worry about him," Sparrow told Clarke, glaring at her. Clearly they were no longer friends. Fine. That meant Clarke didn't get to boss her around anymore then. "Get going, then" she added, jerking her head toward the trail as she rested her elbows on her knees, ready to get up once Clarke moved away.


The title of this chapter is a song called "I'm Like A Bird" by Nelly Furtado

Disclaimer: I do not own the song. I listen to music as a writing muse.

I write fanfictions for writing practice. I welcome comments and critique as I am always looking for ways I can improve while working on my own book. I thank you for reading my Fanfiction.