On his graduation day Lake looked over his fellow cadets. He couldn't remember ever being close to anyone else on the ark other than those he trained with. They had worked day in and day out. Putting hours in at the gym. Rotating shifts and having weekly meetings. They bunked together 5 days a week except for the weekend. That was their only time to spend with those they loved, friends, and family. Marcus Kane, his father called his name as the music continued to play and he snapped back into reality. He approached the stage grasping his certificate in hand and shaking his fathers with the other. A hand reaching out to him and patting his back with a small congratulatory smile. "You've done good my son". He was happy to do his father proud, but that far from fixed their relationship. He knew now that he graduated, would be placed with the guard, that he would get the much-needed space he wanted from him. Looking out back into the crowd at the whoops and hollers his best friends stood up cheering for him. Soon to be his partner in the guard. He remembered the first day they met, the day he met Bellamy Blake.
He had to be 13 or 14 when he started following his father around on shift. Before that he would beg him to go. He had always looked at his father like a superhero. Protecting those on the ark and serving justice. Sure, he hadn't really seen his dad do anything too drastic. Just instructing people based on ark rules and making sure order was upheld. He was waiting with him as Kane spoke with president Jaha. "I have faith in you Kane, and I expect nothing less than the best from you and your team. We need to stand together now more than ever". Looking down at the little boy by his side. Jaha leaned down placing a hand on his shoulder. "And one day maybe you can be just like him". Lake smiled. Looking up at his father as he did the same looking down at him. That was the last time he thought it, he wanted to be like his dad.
After many days of shadowing his father, things started to get ugly on the ark. People started to panic more. Rations were being sold illegally between citizens and he couldn't remember ever seeing his father have to use force on a citizen before. This time he slammed one of the lower-class members against a wall in the hall. "Hands up"! He yelled as he searched his pockets. Fishing through them for any stolen rations. What he found was much worse. Two vials of medicine. Marked for doctors to hand out only. "What are these, these are restricted to medical staff only. We don't have the supply to just go throwing them around". The man looked terrified, trying to explain. "They're for my son and wife. They are sick. We don't have the means for medical treatment, and they aren't getting any better. Please I just need it this one time". Lake looked at his dad's face. Unphased with any type of emotion. "You know the rules, you know what happens to citizens who steal these types of vials".
"Dad". Lake said. He didn't want to intervene; he was thinking his father was so focused on the man that he had forgotten he was there. Instead Marcus yelled at him, without so much as a glance his way. "Stay out of this son, know your place". "But dad, there is a women and child involved, can't we go to medical and ask". He didn't mean to make his dad angrier, but his father jerked his attention away from the man and toward him. "I said no"!
That was all the man needed, as he wiggled out of Kane's grasp and ran off, zooming through the corridor and trying to find a place to hide. He was at a distance, but what came next he never would expect. Kane held up his gun and shot him in the back. Lake was shocked, stepping back terrified. His father just killed a man, an innocent man that was trying to help his family. Kane looked back at him. "You should have just stayed quiet and stood there, instead you had to keep talking. Should have kept your mouth shut. Maybe he would still be alive".
Was his father really blaming him for this? How could he, his own dad put that kind of guilt in a child. Two more cadets showed up eyeing the body laying there in the hall covered in blood. "Toss him into space, find out what room he's in, there's bound to be 2 more that can be floated". He was going to float them, innocents? What kind of person was this man? He squatted down in front of him. "First thing you need to know. No witnesses". He stood up, stone cold and emotionless. "Let's go we have more rounds to complete".
On finishing their rounds Lake stayed quiet trailing behind his dad. He didn't say anything anymore as he knocked on doors and completed inspections. The hour was growing late, and he was on his last row in the station. Kane must have sensed his son's unease and tried to buy him off. "Hey, listen. I wasn't fair back there I know, but sometimes. Sometimes things need to be sacrificed for others to survive". Lake didn't understand that. He was a kid, he grew up with words from their mother telling him to be kind, and attentive to others. Always think of more than yourself. His father wasn't around much because of the hours he worked, but now he was happy he didn't know him like he wanted to before. He didn't want to know his father at all. As his father waited for the next ark member to open the door, he sent Lake to do the last inspection on his own.
You can't buy me back, Lake thought. I will never again think of you the same. A hero when you are a monster. He made his way to the last door, doing as his father told. Knocking once before it answered. A thin woman with black long hair. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days. She held a cloth in her fingers, thimble hanging on her thumb. She was a seamstress, and where their room was located, they were the lowest of the low. He moved in shutting the door behind him. "Room inspection". The women looked at him shocked, not sure if she should take this seriously. But as Lake moved around her room her eyes became shifty and she grew more serious. "I… I just had a room inspection a day ago, is this really necessary"? Lake just stayed quiet. Looking under tables, in corners for contraband. When he moved to the bedroom door the women yelled "WAIT"! Lake pushed it open.
The sight on the other side shocking him. A boy probably around his age and a little girl. It was unprecedented to see two children in one home. That was illegal, and from the way they looked, their features. They were clearly siblings. He shut the door, retreating from the space. "Please you have to understand". Hearing the women plea like he did the man, to his father. He knew what he had to do. Leaving the home, his father was just finishing up. Reaching to his side for his gun when he heard the women's worried voice. He walked into the hall, meeting his gaze. The women staring at him. Shuffling her fingers in the cloth and silent. Her chest rising and falling from being so worked up. Kane looked at his son, and back at the women. Addressing him.
"Anything to report"? Lake looked at the women. "Nothing here sir, just tossed her things around a bit, it jumbled her nerves". Kane stared at the women, trying to read her face. But his son was not a liar. He looked down at him. "Okay then, let's get home your mother will be waiting". Lake followed his father as he turned his back to him, looking over his shoulder at the women and holding a finger to his mouth. A secret, a secret he would keep.
Looking at his friends now. Sitting by him with his certificate. He wouldn't change a thing. From the first day he saw Bellamy Blake and his sister Octavia to this moment as they sat by one another. Happy as hell. He would look out for his friend, until the end.
I hope you enjoyed, I will be writing more on this one today. And there will be a lot of different things and situations that are not in the books or movie. Because while they are fantastic I have nothing to do with them or claim. Just a good idea for a story. Happy to welcome comments or ideas. As always BE KIND