Pilot

"Mommy!" I yelled running on my toddler legs as my mother walked through the door. Her bangs swept backward as she laughed and she set her gun down on the table before picking me up.

"And how has my sweetheart been today?" she questioned. I giggled as she kissed my nose. She was smiling but I saw her deep blue eyes slightly creased in worry.

"Where's your father?"

"Right here," he said, stepping through the door. His broad frame froze tensely when he saw the expression in her face.

"Ava? What's wrong?"

She set me down. "Sweetheart, why don't you go play with the new toy I made you the other day?" I scampered off happily but still managed to catch part of their conversation.

"It's Jake. Jake Griffin."

"What happened? You're scaring me Ava"

I heard a sob. "Oh god, Michael. They've floated him."

I ran my fingers through the doll's hair, missing my dad's next question.

"I don't know what for!" Mom's voice rose hysterically.

I frowned. Mom wasn't the type to be hysterical. She was mom. Calm, cool, and able to defend the ark at a moment's notice.

I finally glanced over at her. Her mouth opened and a buzzing noise came out.

What the-?

I was rudely awakened by the sound of my cell door being aggressively burst open.

"Frick," I said completing my thought.

"Prisoner 325 step outside," the guard commanded.

"Yes sir," I saluted him as I complied, scoffing at myself. So much of the fight had gone out of me. The ark and its council had taken too much from me and shown me that I couldn't win against them, so I couldn't care less as to what they did to me anymore.

"Dad I'm home," I yelled and went to kiss him on the cheek. He stared listlessly at the TV before slightly inclining his head towards me.

"Ava?"

"No dad, it's me. Liv."

He closed his eyes and sighed before he shook his empty scotch glass at me.

'No.' I shook my head and refocused on the guard currently attaching a silver wristband on me.

"Ouch, watch it dude!"

He responded by shoving me. "Move along prisoner."

I clacked my teeth as if I was going to bite him which earned me another shove.

I was led down a pathway where I joined a line of other disgruntled kids. They all wore the same silver cuff and seemed confused as to what was going on. We shuffled down the lighted corridor like zombies before stopping at a giant door.

"It's a ship," a small brunette girl commented from beside me.

"To where?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. It'll be better than being holed up in that cell."

The doors opened and we were crammed in. I was caught towards the middle of the mass of kids, unfortunately caught between two very tall boys. One of their elbows struck me on the shoulder causing me to yelp in pain. When I heard no apology, I made sure to stomp on his foot.

"Sorry," I said emphasizing the word as I glared into his eyes. I could see the brunette girl from earlier struggling to move in the crowd as well.

I finally managed to get onto the ship and desperately searched for an available seat. I sat myself down in the nearest one and was beginning to strap myself in when I noticed that the brunette was sitting beside me.

"Octavia," she said, introducing herself. I studied her closely. She seemed to be my age with olive skin and green-hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief. She kept scanning the ship with admiration as if she was soaking up everything she saw.

I don't know what she was so damn excited about but I wished I was that enthusiastic.

"Liv," I replied with a smile. "How long have you been cooped up?"

She snorted. "Oh I've been cooped up a long time."

I threw her a questioning look and she sighed, "I'm sure you've heard about the girl who was hidden away under the floor for years? Yeah." She pursed her lips, "I definitely know all about being locked away.

"That sucks," I said sympathetically. At that moment we were distracted by a crashing sound. The entire ship lurched and the lights flashed red as the screen in front of us flickered on to reveal Chancellor Jaha's face.

"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 not just a chance for you, but a change for all of us. Indeed, for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds for survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."

"Charming," I commented.

"Those crimes will be forgiven. Your records wiped clean," Chancellor Jaha continued, "The drop sight has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base…" I stopped listening to the screen as his words were sinking in.

"Liv," Octavia's eyes widened. "We're going to the ground!"

My brain was racing. I had inherited my mother's cool-headedness so my face was composed but internally I was panicking. We didn't know anything about the state earth was in now. How did they expect us to survive? The level of radiation alone could kill us as soon as we stepped foot out of this ship.

In the midst of my mini-crisis, a boy with shaggy hair floated by our seats. Our eyes met and he winked at me, grinning. I couldn't help it and burst out laughing. Here we were, headed to possibly our death and this kid manages to flirt. I kept smiling. I had forgotten what it was like to be carefree like that. Maybe going to the ground wasn't a bad thing. According to all the books, Earth was beautiful and people were free to be whomever they wanted. So what if there was a post-nuclear war. Like Octavia said, it'd be better than that cell.

The boy had moved on in front of a blonde girl.

"Clarke?" I accidently said out loud. Her eyes widened and I saw her begin to say my name before she was distracted by two boys trying to get out of their seats as well.

"Hey! You two! Stay put if you want to live!" She yelled at them before dragging her attention back to the smiling boy.

"Your one responsibility is to stay alive," the Chancellor finished.

'Thank you for those wise words of wisdom Jaha.' I thought. The ship shook violently and jolted us around elliciting screams and moans from people as they spiraled into panic mode. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing. I would not die in this stupid ship.

Suddenly, the hum dwindled down until there was absolute silence. I looked over at Octavia.

"Well, we're alive."

"Listen," a kid from the corner said, "No machine hum."

The kid next to him replied, "Whoa, that's a first."

It was that break in silence that seemed to spur us to move. Everyone scrambled to unbuckle their seat belts and see what exactly it was like outside. I followed suit and climbed down the ladder.

"We can't open the doors," I heard Clarke yell. She had gone over to check on the floating boy and his two followers but was now climbing down so that she could be near the doors.

A guy in a guard's uniform stood next to the doors where the switch was.

"Just back it up guys!" he yelled. What the hell was a guard doing here?

"Stop," Clarke commanded and everyone turned to look at her as she forced her way to the front. Still the bossy girl I knew. "The air could be toxic!"

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway," he replied shortly. He stood proudly, his dark hair brushed formally to the back and had freckles dashed across his face. There was no way he was under 18 like the rest of us.

"Bellamy?"

Octavia had followed behind me and was hanging off the ladder. Bellamy had broken into a smile and she rushed forward to hug him. I studied their faces before realizing that the man must be her brother.

"My God, look how big you are," Bellamy observed as they stood hugging.

"What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform?" She questioned as she pulled away from him.

He smirked, "I borrowed it to get onto the drop ship. Someone has got to keep an eye on you." They hugged again and my eyes flickered to the floor sadly. It seemed like an intimate moment and I didn't want to intrude. My heart ached for my family but I couldn't waste time on thoughts about them.

"Where's your wrist band?" Clarke interrupted.

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year?" Octavia snapped back.

'Ah so I was right.'

Octavia suddenly threw herself at a girl in the crowd and I was momentarily confused. Did I miss something?

Her brother caught her before she could do any harm and said, "Octavia, Octavia, no. Lets give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah, like what?" she said heatedly.

I decided to join the conversation then, "Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years."

My eyes caught hers and she immediately grinned. My eyes flickered to Bellamy for a brief moment and he gave me a nod before moving to open the door. He yanked down the lever and we collectively held our breath as the door slowly lowered. My eyes squinted at the blinding light that filtered into the ship. Octavia rushed out onto the ramp before jumping onto the ground and I heard gasps from the people who expected her to die. The green of the forest outside was just visible from my position on the ship and I felt a slight breeze sift through my hair.

"We're back bitches!" Octavia screamed, throwing her arms in the air.

Everyone cheered with joy and poured out of the ship. They were punching the air and whooping and I was right with them, doing the same. I breathed in deeply and reveled in the fresh air. My eyes shuttered closed as I felt the sun's warmth on my face and I had the strangest urge to hum in pleasure. When I finally reopened my eyes, I found Octavia rushing to hug me and we jumped up and down, screaming like the crazy teenagers we were.

"Everything's so beautiful," I said, breathless from the adrenaline.

"I couldn't agree more," a voice said behind me.

I turned to see Bellamy making his way toward Octavia and I. Our eyes met again and he gave me a little smirk. I rolled my eyes in response. What a little shit.

(Author's note: I hope you guy's enjoy my story so far!)