Chapter One: Whatever The Hell We Want

As I sat on the floor of the sky box all I thought about was one person. Not my mother, nor my father, someone that had been in my life since I was 15 years old. Now I was 21 and for 6 years now he had been the most important person in my life.

As far as the Ark was concerned I was 16 years old and wouldn't be floated. What the Ark didn't know wouldn't hurt them. I had committed the crime of "being born", my brother and I were so close together in age that I lied and said I was the younger one. I looked young enough to pass as younger than my 17 year old brother, not that it had kept him out of trouble since. He had gotten himself locked up in the sky box anyways. An older sister has to look out for her younger brother. My brother's name was John

I had another two years in here and only got one visit with him a week, something which hadn't happened for about two weeks now. We were in quarantine as far as we knew.

I could picture his short, brown hair and his brown eyes. I could picture his perfectly chiseled face and I just wanted to feel his hands in mine again, it had been too long. I had been locked in here for a year and it had been that long since I had been able to be in his arms.

Bellamy Blake.

The door to my cell was thrown open and two guards from the Ark entered through it, each grabbing one of my arms and lifting me off the floor. I screamed as I felt myself get lifted off the ground. "What's going on?"

Once they had me standing up the guard spoke. "Prisoner 235, up against the wall."

"What's happening?"

No answer. "Now."

I stood up against the wall and spread my legs, putting my arms behind my back, feeling the cuffs get slapped on, along with a thick piece of metal that clamped on tight. They started to lead me out of the cell and down the hallway. "Where are we going? I'm not 18 yet. You can't do this." They continued, not speaking a word to me.

I saw faces going by as we passed other cells, the other prisoners stared back at me. We took a left and the faces disappeared. I hadn't "turned" 18 yet, but I guess they had found out the truth. I was about to be floated without getting to say goodbye. I began to panic. "Please, let me say goodbye first. I need to see Bellamy. You guys know him, he's a cadet. Just call him on the walkie." They chuckled as they shoved me forward a little faster and I began to yell, hoping that maybe he was in the vicinity. "Bellamy!" Suddenly we began to walk up a ramp and I gave it a second try, yelling again, "BELLAMY!" And with that I was shoved into a room and fell to the floor on my hands and knees.

When I looked up I saw the faces of at least 100 other people staring at me. A guard grabbed my arm and lifted me up, shoving me in a seat right next to a familiar face. A young girl with long black hair looked back at me. Octavia Blake. "O!"

"Skylar!" Octavia wrapped herself around me. I had known her since Bellamy and I had been together. She had been arrested for the same crime as me. We had only been in lock up for about a year, we had done well to keep ourselves hidden. Suddenly a screen in front of all of us lit up and the Chancellor appeared. "Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. 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 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."

From somewhere in the back a young guy shouted. "You dad is a dick, Wells" What the Chancellor's son was doing on board this ship was beyond me.

Jaha continued to talk. "If, however, you do survive, those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. 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 non-perishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years. No one ever made it there. Because we spare you no food, or water, or medicine, I cannot stress strongly enough, that Mount Weather is life."

People were beginning to climb out of there seats while Jaha spoke. A young man with shoulder length brown hair got up and people began to talk to him. A prisoner near me was ecstatic. "Spacewalk bandit strikes again. Go, Finn! Check it out" He pointed at the young man.

Finn floated over to Wells. "Your dad floated me, after all."

Wells ignored him. "You should strap in before the parachutes deploy."

A young girl with blonde hair that sat next to him spoke next. I recognized her. Clarke Griffin. "Hey, you two," She pointed to the two young men that were floating around. "Stay put it you want to live."

Jaha spoke loud enough again to hear him over everyone talking. "You must locate those supplies immediately."

Finn began to speak to Clarke. "Hey, you're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year."

Clarke had always been quick witted. "You're the idiot that wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk."

Finn smiled at her. "But it was fun. I'm Finn."

Jaha spoke again. "Your one responsibility is to stay alive."

Suddenly the drop ship lurched and everyone that was out of their seats hit the wall or the floor. Finn slammed against the wall and there was screaming all around. Clarke glanced around at everyone. "Stay in your seats!" Then she looked down at Finn. "Finn, are you okay?"

Suddenly the ship started to sail down at a very alarming rate. I looked over at Octavia. "Shouldn't the parachute be deploying by now?"

Octavia looked over at me and grabbed my hand. "This thing has to be about 100 years old. Let's hope."

We squeezed each other's hand and began to relax when the ship suddenly started to ease up. We smiled at each other. When we felt the ship hit the ground buckles were instantly being undone. I unclipped my buckle and stayed in my seat. I couldn't even understand what was going on. Octavia stood up and I slowly let go of her hand.

Octavia looked back at me. "I'm gonna go look around and see what's going on." She smiled. "I'll be right back."

She disappeared and I began to listen to voices. There was a lot of voices and then I heard only one. "Hey, just back it up, guys."

I heard Clarke after that. "Stop. The air could be toxic."

The voice was familiar. I knew I had heard it somewhere. "If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyways."

And that's when I knew whose voice it was. When I heard Octavia's small voice say the words that I had been wanting to hear for weeks now. "Bellamy?" And the murmurs started.

I got out of my seat as fast as my feet would let me and began to push my way through the crowd. I could see the top of his head. I began to call his name. "Bellamy!" I pushed harder. When I was finally able to get to the front Bellamy's face lit up. I ran to him and he wrapped me in his arms. The familiar scents filled my nose and I was at home.

He held me out at arm's length and just looked at me, before pulling me in some and kissing my forehead. Bellamy was speechless and that was hard for someone like him. People looked around at Octavia and I. Prisoners began to talk. "Those are the girls that they found hidden under the floors."

Octavia lunged out and Bellamy grabbed her arm. "Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by." Bellamy pulled a lever on the wall next to him and a loud sound filled the drop ship.

Octavia looked up at him. "Yeah? Like what?" The door to the drop ship began to lower.

Bellamy smiled at her. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." And with that the door hit the ground and we all stared at the green foliage around us.

Octavia slowly started forward and then made a courageous leap onto the ground. We all stood there for a second to see what would happen and she suddenly yelled. "We're back, bitches!"

We all climbed out of the ship and I began to search, searching to see if my brother had made it onto the drop ship. I slowly walked around with Bellamy on my heels when suddenly I saw the back of someone's head that had short brown hair that was slicked back, just like my brother liked to keep it. My voice was weak as I spoke. "John?"

The young man turned around and shock set in on his face. The eyes of John Murphy stared back at me and he ran over to me and pulled me into his arms. Four years younger than me and he was still taller than me. "Skylar. Oh my god. I didn't think I'd ever see you again." They had always kept us apart when we were incarcerated.

I laughed as I held onto him.

Hours went by and I walked around, following Bellamy's every move, holding onto the back of his shirt. There was a young man standing by Wells with ski goggles on his head. Wells had a map and Jasper went to grab it. As he went to grab it Wells pulled it away. "You mind?"

Murphy pushed Wells back some. "Hands off him. He's with us."

"Relax. We're just trying to figure out where we are."

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

"We need to find Mount Weather. Your heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

Octavia sat down on a log next to us. "Screw your father. What, you think you're in charge here, you and your little Princess?" She pointed to Clarke.

Clarke looked up at her. "Do you think we care who's in charge? 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 twenty-mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."

Bellamy wasn't having anything she was saying. "I got a better idea. You two go find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."

Wells stood up for Clarke. "You're not listening. We all need to go."

Murphy sounded mocking. "Look at this everybody... the Chancellor of earth."

Wells looked at him menacingly. "You think that's funny?"

Murphy kicked wells in the leg and let him fall to the ground. Finn came flying off the side of the drop ship and landed on the ground, pushing Murphy. I lunged forward and Bellamy grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him. "But that was funny."

Murphy looked Finn up and down before Finn spoke. "Kids got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight."

Octavia looked over at Finn. "Hey spacewalker, rescue me next." Bellamy spun her around and she shrugged at him. "What? He's cute."

He gave her a look. "He's a criminal."

"They're all criminals."

"Look, O. I came down here to protect you."

"I don't need protecting. I have been locked up one way or another all my life. I am done following orders. I need to have fun Bell. I need to just do something crazy just because I can, and no one, including you is gonna stop me."

"I can't stay with them, O."

I looked between the two of them. Bellamy looked worried, something was eating at him. I knew that face when I saw it. "Now what are you talking about?

"I did something, okay, to get on the drop ship, something that they will kill me for when they come down. I can't say what it is just yet, but you have two have to trust me. You do still trust me, don't you."

Octavia looked a little ashamed. "Yeah."

He looked to me. I kissed his lips. "Of course I trust you Bellamy.

A little while later there was a group of them standing in a circle around a map. As they spoke I saw Finn pull Jasper, the kid with the glasses, and Monty, a small Korean kid, by their jackets and into their group. Then, as we stood with my brother and a couple other people I saw Octavia jump up and begin to speak. "Sounds like a party. Make it five."

Bellamy spun around as fast as he could. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

"Going for a walk."

Bellamy didn't think it was a good idea and I could sense it so I stepped in. "Do you really think that's a good idea O. You don't even know those people."

She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at me. Bellamy saw that his sister was looking for a cat fight so he intervened. "Go on."

She jumped up and down for a second and then kissed Bellamy on the cheek. "Best brother ever."

He sighed as he watched her walk away. Bellamy had always been worried about Octavia, every second of every day, the same way I had always been worried about John. I took Bellamy's hand and led him toward the tree line that circled our little camp we had been assembling, hiding behind one of the trees. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." I smiled and walked a little further, making sure we were out of earshot or eyesight of anyone at the camp. When we were far enough away I turned around to face him.

"What are we doing out here?" Bellamy definitely looked like he'd rather be doing anything but wandering around right now.

I pushed Bellamy up against the tree that was behind him and kissed his lips. He followed my movements, but moved his hands down to my butt, grabbing it and squeezing. He broke the kiss and looked around, making sure there was no one there. "It's been so long, are you sure you wanna do this?"

"I've never been more sure about anything Bell."

He grabbed my butt again and lifted me off the ground, letting me wrap my legs around his waist. There was a soft pile of leaves behind me and he gently laid me down in them, kissing my neck once I hit the ground.

Walking back to the camp we saw my brother standing, talking to Wells. Murphy had his knife lodged in his hand and I knew that nothing good was about to happen. I slapped Bellamy's arm and pointed. He ran up the hill and we got there as Murphy started talking to him. Murphy wiped his nose on his sleeve. "You know, our father," he motioned with his knife between himself and I. "He begged for mercy in the airlock chamber when your father floated him. I was lucky enough to watch."

Wells started to walk by the two of them, running into Murphy's shoulder as he did. "You spelled 'die' wrong, geniuses." I looked at the side of the drop ship to see that Murphy had carved 'First Son, First To Dye' in the side of it.

Bellamy walked closer to Murphy. "If you're gonna kill someone it's probably best not to announce it."

I slapped Murphy in the back of the head, forcing him to turn around and glare at me. Murphy looked at Bellamy for a long minute. "You're not really a member of the guard, are you?"

Bellamy sniffled. "No, not anymore. The real guard will be here soon unless we stop it. You don't actually think they're gonna forgive your crimes. Even if they do, then what? Guys like us, we're gonna become model citizens now, get jobs, if we're lucky, maybe pick up their trash."

The young guys standing next to John spoke up. "You got a point?"

"No. I got a question. They locked you up, dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So why are you helping them?"

"The hell we are." The young guy put his hands in his pockets.

"You're wearing those bracelets, aren't you?" Everyone in our little circle looked down at their wrists. "Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it's safe to follow us down."

Murphy stared at him, puzzled. "Okay. You said we could stop it. How?"

Bellamy smiled. A plan was brewing in his head. "Take them off. The Ark will think you're dead, that it's not safe to follow. You follow?"

"Right, and if we do, I mean, what's in it for us?"

"Someone has got to help me run things." And with that Bellamy walked away.

As night set in we all settled around the fire. Bellamy and Murphy had been taking people's bracelets off for about fifteen minutes now. Mine being the first wrist to come free. A young girl with dirty blonde hair was getting her bracelet off as Wells walked up. Bellamy walked away once the bracelet was off and yelled. "Who's next?" Everyone cheered.

Wells hobbled over to Bellamy. "What the hell are you doing?"

Murphy began to walk at Wells and Bellamy held his hand out to hold him back as I grabbed the back of his jacket. "We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed. The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we got. Take them off, and the Ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow."

"That's the point, Chancellor. We can take care of ourselves, can't we?"

Everyone standing around us all cheered at the same time.

Wells was getting angry and started to raise his voice. "You think this is a game? Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers. I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own, and besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"

Bellamy spun around to talk to the crowd as he talked next. "My people already are down. Those people locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."

"My father didn't write the laws."

"No. He enforced them, but not anymore, not here. Here, there are no laws." More cheering erupted and he continued to speak. "Here, we do whatever the hell we want." I couldn't help but smile at Bellamy and hope he was making the right decisions. Something about him taking charge made me even more attracted to him. He continued to talk to the crowd. "Now, you don't have to like it, Wells. You can even try to stop it or change it, kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want."

Murphy threw his arm up in the air and looked around at everyone. "Whatever the hell we want !"

With that the whole crowd started to chant it. "Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want!"

Suddenly a loud sound rumbled over everyone. Everyone started to look around. I grabbed my brother's arm and got close to him. Murphy turned around and wrapped one arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, kissing my forehead. Something wet started to coat us and we all started to smile. I looked over at Bellamy and he smiled back at me. "Rain..." I stuck one hand out.

Wells looked over at Bellamy. "We need collect this."

Bellamy took my hand and pulled me out of Murphy's arms and into his. He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. "Whatever the hell you want." Wells turned around and started to walk away.

Bellamy waited until it stopped raining to go over to Wells. When I finally looked over at the two of them Bellamy had his hand over Wells' mouth and a gun in his face. I looked around and walked over there as calmly yet as frantically as I could. Wells stood up and Bellamy put the gun back in the front of his pants. Wells backed up some. "That's far enough. I don't want to shoot you Wells, hell, I like you, but I do need them to think that you're dead."

I started to walk forward when he spoke. I knew he was in the wrong this time. "Bellamy..." Bellamy held his hand up to stop me from talking.

Wells looked scared. "Why? Why are you doing this, for real, not some crap about getting to do what you want.?"

Bellamy looked around real quickly and then smiled at him. "I have my reasons. I also have the gun. So I ask the questions, and the question is, why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you, Wells, and yet here you are, still doing his bidding, following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you? Stand up to him. Take off that wristband and you'll be amazed at how good it feels."

Murphy and a couple other guys walked up behind me and Murphy held my arm in a tight grip. "It has to be done Skylar."

I looked over at Wells. You could read the fear on his face like a book. "No. Never. Not gonna happen." He tried to hold his ground. "Is that clear enough for you?"

Bellamy stared at him. "Yeah. It is."

I looked up at Murphy. "What has to be done?" Bellamy held his hand up and motioned toward Wells. I changed whom I was looking at as the guys that came down with Murphy walked toward Wells. "Bellamy! What are you doing?" The guys threw Wells on the ground and grabbed at his arm. Wells struggled to fight back against the two of them and they tried to wedge his bracelet off. "Bell! Stop this!"

Bellamy turned around to look at Murphy. "Bring her back to the drop ship."

Murphy tried to turn me around, but I fought him. "John, stop!" I shoved him. "Bellamy, you know this is wrong. What's the difference if they think that one person is still alive. If everyone else has their bracelets off then they won't come down for him."

Bellamy walked toward me. He tilted my chin up and kissed my lips. "Go back to the drop ship. I'll be there in a second." He spun me around and Murphy scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"John, put me down." I punched his back and he winced a little. "You may be my little brother, but I'm not afraid to hurt you!" He held my legs tighter. "You wait til you get back Bellamy!"

Bellamy stared back and I could see his shoulders go up and down as he sighed. I yelled at John until I couldn't see Bellamy anymore. Once he put me on the ground in front of the tent I slapped his chest.

Murphy laughed at me. "Good night sister bear." He kissed my cheek and walked to the drop ship, climbing in to head to sleep.

I slowly put myself in the drop ship, awaiting Bellamy's arrival.