Chapter 1

The first thing to register as Kendra slowly woke up was the throbbing pain in her head as she tried to open her eyes. The second thing to register was that she was strapped to something. So, of course, she did what any rational person would do after waking up with a headache and strapped to some sort of chair. She panicked. She started thrashing about in her seat, only to find that she really wasn't as confined as she thought, there were only straps over her torso, but everything else was free. In light of this observation, she slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the pain in her head as her eyes were exposed to the bright light of… wherever she was.

As she looked around, she noticed there were a bunch of other kids in a seat like she was, but they all seemed to be awake already, unlike her. The room they were in looked big enough to hold about thirty to forty seats and she noticed a ladder in the middle of the room that must lead up to another level. The room suddenly shook and she groaned in pain as her head hit both sides of her headrest due to the shaking.

"What the hell was that?" She asked the question to no one in specific and didn't expect a response, so she whipped her head to the right when someone spoke up.

"The atmosphere, I'm assuming."

Kendra almost gasped as she looked at the person who had spoken. He had dark brown hair, slicked back and sleek, with dark brown eyes and tan skin that was littered with freckles all over his face. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen such a, well, pretty man. She smirked to herself when she realized the boy was looking her over as she was him, and he didn't seem disappointed. Then, she realized what he had said.

"The atmosphere? As in the Earth's atmosphere?"

He rolled his eyes, "No, the Sun's atmosphere, what do you think?"

She was about to retort when it sunk in. Atmosphere, Earth, how she thought she heard the ground before she was knocked out. They were being sent to the ground. After almost 100 years, they were going to the ground. Her elation and excitement was immediately followed by fear of what they would find there. Would it be safe? What if it was still irradiated? Her thoughts were cut short as the Chancellor appeared on a screen in the middle of the room. She ignored what he was saying as she turned back to the boy who had spoken.

"I wasn't exactly expecting to wake up on a dropship down to Earth, so sorry for asking that exceptionally valid question."

He rolled his eyes a second time as she heard a commotion from an upper level, something about a "space walker" was all she could make out from the faint voices.

She turned back to the boy, surrendering to the fact that he was the only entertainment she had available at the moment, but stopped short as she realized what he was wearing. A guards uniform? That didn't make any sense at all.

"So, tell me Freckles, why are you wearing a guard's uniform if you're not really a guard?"

He looked at her with mild surprise in his eyes, "What makes you think I'm not a guard, Sleeping Beauty?"

Her eyes narrowed at the name, "I'm not stupid, they would never send a guard down with us, Jaha said it in the video, we are expendable, a guard is not. Simple."

The boy looked impressed for a quick second before going back to looking bored and uninterested, "Anyone could have figured that out, it doesn't make you special."

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Wow, Freckles, you really know how to sweet talk a girl."

His reply was cut short when the ship jerked suddenly and screams sounded from all over. The lights were flashing and she squeezed her eyes shut, both in pain and fear as they continued hurtling towards the earth at a dangerous speed for several seconds. There was one last jerk as they hit the ground and then, silence.

Kendra took a deep breath as she heard people unclipping their seatbelts and moving around. She kept her eyes closed as she waited for the pain in her head to subside, but opened them as she felt someone unclipping her belt for her. She was startled to see the dark eyes of the guy with the freckles in front of her.

"You okay, blondie?"

She took another deep breath as she calmed herself down, "Fine. So why don't you take a step back so I can get out of this seat, yeah?"

He held his hands up and took a step back as she stood up and stretched her hand above her head. The two of them moved toward the front of the room where the door was.

Freckles went up to the door and the lever that would open it as people crowded around, "Hey, just back it up guys."

As he reached for the lever, Kendra was about to stop him, when there was a cry from the ladder, "Stop!"

They all turned to see who it was and Kendra breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Clarke, her long time friend from before her time in the Sky Box.

Clarke made her way to the door, pushing her way through the crowd, "The air could be toxic."

Freckles rolled his eyes, "If the air is toxic we're all dead anyways."

"Well that's an optimistic thought," came Kendra's reply.

Freckles was, again, reaching for the lever when he was stopped by a voice, "Bellamy?"

He turned to face the owner of the voice as she made her way through the crowd, "God, look how big you are."

As they embraced, Kendra couldn't help but smile at the reunion, the two obviously loved each other. She wished she could have the people she loved down with her as well.

As the girl pulled back she frowned at the uniform that Freckles, or Bellamy, was wearing, "A guard's uniform?"

"I borrowed it to get on the dropship, someone has to look out for you."

As they hugged again, Clarke suddenly realised something, "Hey, where's your wristband?"

The girl glared at Clarke, "Do you mind, I haven't seen my brother in a year."

Suddenly there was murmuring among the group and Kendra's eyebrows shot up as someone voiced her thoughts, "No one has a brother!"

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor!"

Kendra was shocked as she had heard nothing of this, but that was probably due to the fact that she had been in solitary for two years.

Octavia lunged towards the girl who had spoken, rightfully angry and upset about that being brought up, but Bellamy grabbed her before she could reach anyone.

"Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah, like what?"

He smiled at her, "Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years."

She smiled at him at faced the door as he finally pulled the lever to open the door. Everyone blinked as the bright light spilled in from outside. As her eyes adjusted to the light, Kendra gasped at what she saw. Green. Everywhere she looked was green. And then she took a deep breath in, closing her eyes in delight at the fresh taste and feel of the air. This wasn't the recycled and filtered air from the Ark. This was real, fresh, true air.

Everyone watched as Octavia slowly made her way down the ramp and jumped down onto the ground. The ground. She paused for a second to look around and then,

"We're back, bitches!"

With that, everyone ran out of the dropship, running to drink in that fact that they were back. They were on the ground. It was real, it was actually happening.

Kendra waited until most people had left to make her way outside. The ground was soft with leaves and dirt and she loved it. She looked up and gasped at the sight. The trees were so tall, you couldn't see the tops, and they pointed right up to the blue sky. And she decided at that moment, her new favorite color was the very shade of blue that she was seeing in the sky right then. She took another deep breath, and unable to help it, she laughed out loud. Happy to be alive and given the chance to live. Happy to be, finally, free.