After our introduction period it was decided we should search around the pod before heading out into the vast unknown. Or the vast whatever it was out there. Already a handful of weapons had been found - a few guns, and a few more shock whips.
I winced as the engineer next to me switched one on. The low buzzing noise was an unpleasant reminder of home to say the least. He quickly switched it off though and moved on to the rest of the items in the chests that had been stowed away with us. Aside from weapons, a few medical kits had been found and pushed my way with some doubtful stares. A map, some backpacks and a few canteens had also been dug out. They certainly didn't leave us much.
I carefully packed what supplies that had been handed to me in the black backpack I had picked up. I had a canteen, a box of salty crackers, three med kits which all had various tools, vials and bandages in them and a pocket knife. I packed everything away before moving my hand to my belt, thinking that I should probably keep my knife somewhere handy in case I needed it quickly.
Of all days I didn't put on a belt, it was the one day I would actually need it. I groaned. I had on I had on tight white jeans, a black tank top and a black loose fitting shirt that fell off my shoulders over it. I didn't have a jacket and my black boots were snug enough that I wouldn't have any extra wiggle room to shove the knife in. Groaning again I attached it to the back of my jeans so that it was pressed against my back.
I'm probably going to stab myself if I fall, all because Jaha couldn't allow pants with pockets in the skybox, I thought to myself.
"Alright, we're going to open the doors. We will have guards go out in front and signal if it is clear," Rain called from the near the pods door. He, the guards and the two guys with supposed Earth Skills were the only ones given real weapons, and they raised them carefully as the airlock on the door released.
I gasped as the door touched the ground. This was it, this was Earth - and damn was it gorgeous. As the guards carefully made their way down the ramp everyone moved closer the doors. My eyes scanned the tree tops, everything was so green! I had read about trees in my studies back on the Arc, but none of the pictures or descriptions would ever come close to how they looked in person.
My fascination was short lived though, as a spear quickly impaled one of the guards standing to the right of Rain. A woman, one of the teachers, to my left screamed.
To the left of our ship wooden buildings were on fire, there were people running from structure to structure trying to gather what they could. But in front of us, slowly emerging from the trees were monsters.
Their bodies were smeared with black where their armor did not cover. Masks of leather, fur and what looked like bone covered each of their faces. They were terrifying, and the assortment of spears and swords they carried did nothing to make them appear more friendly.
We weren't alone on the planet I realized. Others had survived on Earth after we had left. These people, if that's what they were, had managed to survive a nuclear wasteland for 97 years and in just a matter of minutes we had already pissed them off. Great.
One of the men from the trees yelled something in a strange language. Rain lowered his weapon just slightly as he turned to call back to one of the older men in our group who had identified himself as a linguist earlier.
"Something you recognize Doc?" Rain asked.
The man shook his head and stepped forward slowly to move to the front of the group. The same man from the trees yelled something again, louder this time as he raised his spear.
"I think that means stop," the engineer who had been seated next to me earlier called out.
"You understand them?" Rain called back.
"No," the engineer huffed. "It's just damn common sense."
I wanted to laugh, but the fear from my imminent death kept me from finding the humor in the sarcastic exchange. The guard who was hit with the spear groaned loudly in pain though, and I was quickly snapped back to the present. He was bleeding out and unless we were able to close the wound quickly, he would die.
With a deep breath in, I made the most non threatening gesture I could - holding my empty hands out in front of me - I slowly moved towards the front of the ramp.
The man from the trees stiffened as I walked forward, but I kept my eyes on him only occasionally glancing down at the wounded guard, hoping he would get the message.
"What are you doing kid," Rain asked, sparing only a fleeting glance back at me as he kept his gun raised.
I was really going to have to do something about this "kid" nickname stuff, I thought to myself. Mental note for later: if I survive, get new nickname - something badass.
I didn't say anything back to Rain, my focus still on the man with the deadly looking spear in the front. As I neared the wounded man, who had been thrown back a few feet from the impact, I slowly dropped to my knees and turned my full attention to the dying guard at my side.
The man from the trees gave another cry and the group surrounding us moved closer. Well, shit I thought. Rain had the same thought, though his came out loud.
"We don't want to hurt you, we come in peace," yelled the translator who was still frozen in place from earlier. The warriors from the trees kept moving forward.
"Put your weapons down idiots," the engineer yelled. "Of course they want to kill you with your guns pointed at them like that."
Rain hesitated, but gave the command. It seems if we were going to die, it was going to be without a fight. Which was actually okay with me, because I was in no way cut out for fighting giant skeleton masked nuclear tree warriors.
The warriors quickly, and harshly, disarmed the guards standing at the front of the lift. Knocking them to the ground with the blunt side of their weapons. Behind me I could hear someone from our group crying.
I took a deep breath and focused back to my task at hand, trying to calm my nerves from the approaching warriors. I had to figure out how to get the spear out and stop the bleeding, we couldn't lose someone from our group yet. We hadn't even been on Earth for an hour yet, it was to early for us to already start dying.
I touched the handle of the spear, but the guard groaned in protest. It had to come out, and it was not going to be pretty. I froze though when a pair of black fingerless gloves came into view, gripping the spear handle just a few inches higher than my hands. I took a sharp breath in and looked up slowly.
It was a woman, with skin as dark as the black leather that covered her body. Her hair was cut short, but her sharp cheekbones and full lips easily distinguished her.
"Healer?" She asked in English. Her voice was raspy but clear.
I started to nod my head, but then froze. She has just spoken English. Maybe she could understand us!
"I am," a voice called from the group behind me. The woman snapped her head up at the sound. A man from our group stepped forward. His name is Lucas, I vaguely recalled. He was one of the only people in our group that I had recognized, he was a medical apprentice like I was.
"I am a doctor," he said again. Looking down at me briefly, he looked scared and I couldn't blame him. The woman next to me grunted as she stood to her full height. I saw her reach her hand back and then my world went black as I collapsed on the metal pod door.
Author note here: This is my first story I have actually published to this site, so any comments, criticism or feedback would be actually really helpful. This story is just me running off an idea I had while binge watching the 100. Eventually the two story lines will run into each other, but not before some more interaction with the grounders. It is a little slow moving at first, but I promise it will pick up.
