Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Terra Nova, and neither do you. But if one of us did... ;)
The alarm clock rang loudly, but Elisabeth was already awake. She slapped a hand on the button, silencing the machine before it woke Zoe up. The little girl was curled up beside her, hugging her closely. Elisabeth knew this wasn't a habit she should encourage, Zoe needed to learn to be okay in her own bed, but since it was their last night in their home, Elisabeth had caved to her daughter's pleading. One more night couldn't hurt.
Elisabeth gently removed her daughter's arms before rolling out of bed.
"Mama?" Zoe mumbled sleepily.
"It's okay, you can sleep a little longer." Elisabeth said.
Zoe made a noise similar to a moan before sighing and rolling over. She was asleep again within moments.
The small apartment was almost entirely empty now. Just general appliances and the beds remained, with the exception of two large bags, two sets of cloths, and a few things like brushes and other small things.
It was incredibly early. Probably way earlier than she actually needed to wake up. But she wanted to have the time to check and double check, or knowing her, triple check to make sure they had everything they needed. It wasn't like they could come back if they realized they'd forgotten something.
Elisabeth kept her hands busy as the anxiety crept into her chest. This was her last day in 2149. At ten o'clock she and Zoe would be going through the portal to Terra Nova.
Please, please be the second chance you're made out to be, Elisabeth thought. A second chance was what she needed, and what she wanted for Zoe. A world without war and a diminishing environmental stability.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. Zoe was a perceptive child, she understood that today was a big deal. Afterward, Elisabeth helped her five year old get dressed and brushed out her hair.
She never thought she's say this, but they were fortunate to live in Chicago. At least they didn't have to travel far to get to the portal, it was only a forty five minute ride on the rail. They left to hours early, though, in case there were delays. You know, like a shooting or something.
"Are you ready to say goodbye, baby?" Elisabeth asked, hoping Zoe's pet name would calm her.
They stood in their apartment, bags on their backs. Elisabeth didn't much care for the place itself, not with all the odd wires and pipes providing safety hazards, but this was where Zoe grew up. She would miss it if only for that.
"I guess. Bye." Zoe said, looking around. "Are you gonna miss home, Mama?"
Elisabeth smiled down at her daughter. "I'll remember it, but I wont miss it. You and I are going someplace better."
Zoe gave her a smile, trusting her mother implicitly.
Taking Zoe's hand in hers, they walked out the door and toward their 'someplace better' in Terra Nova.
##
Jim fought a fierce battle every day. His opponent? His alarm clock. Every morning he would manage to sleep through it or instinctively press the snooze button. This morning wasn't any different. He'd hardly slept last night and the prospect of getting up and getting his two teenagers up wasn't appealing in least.
Make that one teenager. Because Maddy was an angel and woke him by giving him a gift-an orange.
"Where did you get that?" Jim muttered. Oranges were a rare commodity, and a ridiculously expensive one at that. How his sixteen year old daughter got her hands on one was a mystery. But it lured him out of bed, his body craving the citrus.
Maddy was up, dressed, and ready to go. Jim knew she was eager to leave for Terra Nova, that life in 2149 wasn't in the least bit kind to her. He hoped it was everything she was dreaming of, because he wasn't sure if she could handle another disappointment.
Josh, on the other hand, was still sleeping on the couch in his sweatpants, hair flying this way and that. His seventeen year old didn't have a room in their two bedroom apartment, having insisted his sister and dad be given the rooms.
"Get up." Maddy said, exasperated. "We have to leave in an hour, Josh. One hour."
"It'll take me ten minutes to be ready." Josh grumbled.
Jim tossed the orange peal at him. "C'mon. We both should have been up a half hour ago."
It would have been hectic if it weren't for Maddy. Maddy had checked their bags, packed last minute items, did just about everything else. Honestly, he wasn't sure where she got it from, because that sure wasn't like him nor was it like that mother of hers.
"What are you guys looking forward to most?" Jim asked them as they each nibbled on their share of the orange.
"There so many world renown scientists living in Terra Nova. You know how I'm always mentioning Ken Horton and Malcolm Wallace?" Maddy said without missing a beat. Jim nodded, the names sounding somewhat familiar. Josh snorted a no. "They live there. And I really want to study the flora there." Among other things. Plants were just one thing Maddy wanted to study.
"What about you?" Jim asked Josh.
Josh shrugged, a moody look on his face. "Nothing."
Jim sighed. He knew why Josh didn't want to leave: Kara. And while he wasn't going to get upset with him for not wanting to leave his girlfriend behind, his patience was wearing thin with his sour attitude.
"There has to be something. Maybe you want to see what you can do to get Kara there?" Jim suggested.
Josh nodded slowly. "I guess so. I mean, if it's possible."
Jim knew what he was looking forward to. He wanted his children to be in a world without rebreathers and a soaring crime rate.
Jim was a security guard for Hope Plaza, though he use to be a regular cop four years ago. He lived only twenty minutes from the portal, but they left thirty minutes early just in case. Honestly, in Chicago, you never know what was disaster was going to happen.
"Dad? Do you really think Terra Nova is what they say it is? A second chance?" Maddy asked him.
Jim gave her a small smile. "I don't know. But I've spent four years watching people go through the portal looking like they've been saved from hell."
"But what if it is hell on the other side?" Josh asked, a genuine look of worry on his face.
Jim took a last look at their apartment before walking toward the door. This place has both pleasant memories of his children, and hellish memories of his former marriage.
"Then we'll get through it, just like we always do."
##
I was looking through my documents folder and found this, and fell in love with the idea all over again. Remember, reviews are the ticket to another chapter, so if you liked this, review!