Hey, guys. This is just the first chapter, this story is by no means finished, but I thought I'd put it out. I won't publish the rest until it's finished, but I would like your input. I've started about a dozen stories and not finished one of them. I hope this is the story I finish.
AN I do not own The Hundred nor am I making any money from it. This story is purely for entertainment.
Running Home
By Samdagger
Chapter 1
Sol ran. She was running from the guards on the Ark. She had no idea why they were chasing her, but she knew that if she was caught, she'd never live past her 18th birthday. It was one thing to be caught red-handed, but she'd never put one foot wrong and now she had guards chasing her. She turned into the main corridor for Flint station. If she could just reach the maintenance hatch on D corridor in section 12, she could lose them. Sol was tall and skinny, a trait that was needed right now. Most of the guards got decent food and they were big and beefy, they wouldn't fit into the pipework she wanted to go into. Once into the tunnels of the Ark, she could theoretically live there. Food and water were still supplied daily and she could get someone to use her chip and get food and water to her. She had enough friends who had loved ones taken by the guards who would help her, she just needed to get to that corridor.
She turned into the corridor she needed and came to a screeching halt when she saw three guards coming towards her down the corridor. They were already past the place she needed to enter and she could hear the pounding of feet behind her. It was over. She was done. She held up her hands and offered no resistance when they grabbed her and cuffed her. She was dragged towards the Skybox and dragged into a room, pushed into a chair and handcuffed to the table. The guards then left.
Sol wondered what was going on. A few minutes later Kane and Chancellor Jaha walked into the room and sat down.
"You are not in any trouble, Solange," said Jaha.
"Don't call me that!" Sol spat out. "That's a name only my mom called me, you don't get to call me that!"
"My apologies," said Jaha. "Sol, I have a proposition for you. If you do this, we'll pardon your sister and set her free from the Skybox." Sol was immediately on the defensive.
"If you harm her in any way, I'll find a way to destroy you!"
"Sol! Calm down!" said Kane. "We are not here to hurt anyone. We just need your help with something." Sol narrowed her eyes. She knew that any proposition from them would not be a good one for her.
"What do you want?"
"We need to send someone to the ground to see if it is survivable," said Jaha. Sol was startled.
"The ground's not supposed to be survivable for another 100 years!" she said. "What's happened?"
"Why would you think anything was wrong?" Jaha said.
"Because if there was nothing wrong, then you wouldn't need my help," she reasoned. Jaha and Kane looked at each other.
"You're right. We can't tell you what the problem is, just in case you decide not to help us," said Kane.
"If I don't help you, what happens to my sister?"
"She get's floated on her 18th birthday," Jaha said, with a shrug. Jaha was nothing if not callous in his indifference to human life that was not one of the privileged.
"And if I do?"
"Erin will be released and be allowed to live on the Ark in your place." Sol thought about it.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"Go to Earth and see if it's inhabitable," said Kane.
"That's it? That's all you want me to do?"
"Yes, essentially."
"And there's the kicker," said Sol.
"Meaning?" asked Kane.
"You said, 'yes, essentially'. That means there's more to it. Come on, spit it out. What exactly do you want from me?"
"We'll be sending you down to the Earth as part of a three person team. You will be the guard for the other two."
"ME? A guard? For whom?"
"The other two people. They will determine if the ground is liveable and will radio back with the results of their tests."
"And what about me? You say I'm their guard, does that mean I get a weapon to protect them with?"
"Both Jaha and Kane hesitated. They didn't want to give her a weapon as they were needed aboard the Ark, but without one, they knew that Sol couldn't protect the other two.
"We can give you one gun with a limited supply of bullets," said Jaha.
"And the other two? Do they know that they are getting a guard?"
"We haven't decided who else will go down with you yet," admitted Jaha.
"When are you sending me down?"
"In a couple of months. We need to train you in self-defense and other things," said Kane.
"Who's going to teach me, 'cos if it's Shumway, then no thanks. He's a psychopath, Jaha. He likes to hurt people."
"You have no proof of that," Jaha said, defensively.
"You've no proof that some of the kids in lockup committed the crimes they are accused of, but you still put them in there on the say-so of Shumway," cautioned Sol. Kane narrowed his eyes, while Jaha just sat there, unresponsive to her words.
"You will be trained by Major Burns," said Kane. Burns was a no nonsense woman who took her job and oath seriously. "She will train you on the things you need to know."
"Okay, as long as I can still see my sister before I'm sent down, then yes, I'm in. You have to keep your promise too, Jaha. My sister is set free when I go down."
"Agreed," Jaha said with a nod.
"Good, now remove these cuffs, please, they're chafing me." Kane got up and released her from her bonds. Sol rubbed her wrists, trying to ease them.
"Erin will be released just before you go down. You'll see her set free," Kane said. Sol nodded.
"Anything else - other than the standard 'don't tell anyone about this' threat?"
"No, that's it. Major Burns will contact you first thing in the morning. For now, you can go visit your sister." Sol nodded again and stood up.
"If you'll excuse me, that's exactly what I'll do." With that, she got up and left the room without giving either man another look.
"Think she'll do it?" asked Jaha.
"Yes. She has nothing to lose and everything to gain, Sir," said Kane. "Her sister is more important to her than anyone."
"Good, maybe we can get her to do what we want for a change," Jaha said. Kane said nothing, but got up and excused himself to go back to work.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
"Hey Erin," said Sol as her sister entered the room.
"Hey, Sol," her sister replied. Once the guard had sat her down and had retreated back to the wall by the door, they high-fived - the only form of physical contact they were allowed, and only because the guards had checked them both first.
"So what's going on?" asked Erin.
"Nothing at the moment, which is why I had some free time to visit with you," Sol said.
"Yeah, right!" said Erin. "You're a very busy person, Sol and I know you don't have much free time."
"Yeah, but this morning I was chased all over the Ark by the guards. They cornered me in Flint Station and took me in for questioning." Erin gasped.
"You okay?" she asked, trying to look for signs of physical abuse.
"Yeah, they just wanted to talk, that's all."
"About what?"
"They thought I was someone else. Crazy, I know, but apparently there's someone in Orchid Station who looks like me - well us."
Both sisters had the same dark hair and slight mediterranean complexion. Whereas Sol was named after a long dead French relative, Erin was named for their great-great-grandmother, who came from Ireland. As with most of the families on the Ark, it had become a big melting pot of cultures. Four generations in and most had at least three different countries and cultures in their immediate ancestry. There was French, Irish, American, English and a little bit of Italian too in the Armstrong make up. Each culture was respected by the family and each subsequent generation was named in turn for one of that country's or culture's names. The next was supposed to be Erin, but as she was a second child, Sol's child would be named with an Italian name. Giovanni for a boy or Sofia for a girl.
Both girl's had gotten their father's height, but their mother's looks. Their mother was considered a beautiful woman and had been courted by a lot of men - and a few women - before she married their father. One of his direct ancestors was a famous basketball player - hence his height. Neither of their parents could figure out where the wild streak the girls had, came from, but they loved their children nonetheless.
"They finally figured out it was someone else?"
"Yep. Cameras showed me in the clothes I'm wearing right now as being in Factory station on my way to school. At the same time, this other woman was seen in Alpha station, stealing something. Someone identified me as the culprit and I was hauled in before they even got their facts straight. I did get a nice apology for the false arrest, though, so that was good."
"They apologised!?" asked Erin.
"Yeah, I think it was because the one who arrested me was a rookie and hadn't becomed hardened to being a guard yet."
"Probably," said Erin. She changed the subject.
"So, it'll be your 18th birthday in three months, have you decided what to do?"
"Do? I don't want a party, Erin, 'cos you won't be there. What's the point of celebrating something without family?"
"But…?" Erin started.
"No, Erin. I'm busy trying to figure out what I want to do as a job for the rest of my life."
"What are your options?"
"The usual. Guard, Factory, Farm or Hydro. Nothing that needs an innate ability to do. Training will be given for those jobs. Anything for Electronics or mechanics needs someone who knows what they are doing and can fix things on the fly. I can't do that."
"Which are you leaning towards?"
"Not sure. Being a guard would give me job security," Sol said facetiously. Erin laughed.
"Good one, now be serious, which job do you want?"
"Factory is just churning out parts with no variety, Farm is growing the same old, same old, hydro is just adding the correct chemicals in the right order and quantity to make the water drinkable, and the guards are trained to subdue people and arrest them. None of these options are very good, Erin.
"So pick the one you think will give you the most meaning," Erin said, with a shrug.
"I know, I just have to think about it some more."
"Time," said the guard near the door as a buzzer sounded to signify the end of visitation.
"Well, gotta go," said Sol, high-fiving her sister again. "See you next time."
"Yeah, look after yourself, Sol," Erin said, watching as her sister walked to the door before turning around and waving at her. Erin waved back. Sol left the room and Erin was escorted back to her cell.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
The next morning, Major Burns rang the chime to Sol's quarters. Sol opened the door and Burns just told her to follow her. Sol stepped out of her quarters and waited until the door had shut before following Major Burns. They walked for a while in silence before Major Burns stopped at a door and opened it. Both women stepped inside.
"This is where I'll be training you in a variety of offensive and defensive moves. You will be given weapons training as well as body conditioning. You will be fed on the food the guards have to put more weight on you and we will be training every day without fail. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Major, I understand," said Sol.
"Good, first lesson, never take your eyes off the person attacking you, but be aware of your surroundings at the same time. Difficult, I know, but if you don't learn this, then you could be ambushed while trying to take down your suspect."
Sol wondered what Burns had been told. Maybe she'd been told that Sol was a candidate for the guards and she was to be given training so she could start as soon as she turned 18.
"There will be physical exams and written ones and you will be asked a series of questions and your answers will also form part of the exam results, understand?"
"Yes, Major," Sol said.
"Good. For the next few days, you do nothing but conditioning and physical training. You will be shown what to do. Each morning you will do one hour's conditioning on a variety of equipment and then unarmed combat until lunch. After lunch, it's weapons training and more unarmed combat followed by another one hour of conditioning. This will happen each day for the next two weeks. You will also be given a series of exercises to do when you are in your quarters. Your schooling will be suspended for the next three months. These tests and exams will be the basis of your exam results. If you become a guard, you do not need to repeat the year. If, however, you do not become a guard, you will need to repeat this final school year again."
'Again?' thought Sol. It had been hard enough the first time, now they were saying she needed to repeat the year? Sounded like Major Burns didn't know she was going to the ground and would not be returning.
"Yes, Major."
"Good, let's begin."
So began a gruelling two months for Sol. She was trained and tested almost every day and each time she thought she couldn't take any more, they piled more on top of her. Each time she felt like quitting, Kane would remind her of her sister and Sol would find the determination to carry on.
Finally after two months, the training ended. She was given three days to relax before she was sent to the ground. Kane and Jaha had asked Jake Griffin and Raven Reyes to fix up an old junker of a craft to send the three people down. They had been told of the need to send someone down to test for viability and had modified the craft accordingly. Raven had made a few items that were fixed to the small space behind the pilot's seats that would test the air and plants and animals for radiation. Jake had made sure that the radio would stand up to re-entry and both of them had decided to make sure that anyone going down would be able to survive a crash landing. All in all, the craft was as safe as they could make it.
The day arrived and Jaha himself took her to get changed into some other clothing. A backpack was next to the clothing. In it was a handgun and a few clips of ammo. There was also a knife, supplied by Major Burns when she was told why she'd been training Sol. Major Burns had been royally pissed when she found out, mostly because Sol had been a really good student and would make a good guard, but partly because if she'd known from the beginning, she would have tailored the training specifically for the ground.
"Solange Armstrong, you will now be shown to the Skybox where your sister, Erin Armstrong will be released. You will then go to the spacecraft and get strapped in before you will be launched to Earth. Do you understand?"
Sol nodded.
"Good. When you see your sister, you can tell her that you are going to Earth and that you did this to free her. You will not talk about it any further. If you do, your sister will be re-arrested and placed back in the Skybox, understood?" Again, Sol nodded. She was then led to the Skybox and taken to her cell. A guard unlocked the door.
"Erin Armstrong, you have been exonerated. You are free to go." The guard then stood back and allowed Sol in to hug her sister.
"Sol? What's going on?" Erin knew that as a second child, she would not be allowed to live.
"I've made a deal with Kane and Jaha. I'm going to the ground, Erin. You get to take my place on the Ark. You're free, Erin." She hugged her sister again.
"But how?!"
"I can't say any more, Erin. Just trust me. You are now free. Go with the guard and he'll take you to our quarters and help you get established." Erin was dumbfounded and could only nod. "I've got to go now. I'll see you when I see you. Stay safe." She hugged her sister for one last time before stepping back and out of the cell. It was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. She was leaving her sister and she knew she may never see her again, but for the chance for her sister to live free, this is what she would do.
Sol made her way back to the changing room and the backpack that was there. She transferred her possessions into the bigger backpack and then stuffed the smaller one inside too. You never knew if you'd need it on the ground so better take it just in case.
Once she'd left the changing room, she was taken to the airlock and told to wait. She was there for several minutes before the guards came and brought two unconscious people with them and another young woman as well. The guards just waited with her until Kane came into the room.
"Sol," he said, walking over to a monitor and switching it on. Sol watched as she saw her sister being escorted to the door of her quarters and watched as the guard walked her through the procedure for transferring the quarters to her. DNA and handprints were used to ensure no unauthorised personnel could enter. Sol smiled. Her sister was free! She nodded her thanks to Kane. He walked to the airlock and opened it. The guards walked in first and strapped the two unconscious adults to the chairs in the back. Raven then climbed into the pilot's seat and Sol was told to sit in the co-pilots seat. There was not much room, but Sol managed to squeeze her backpack into the floorspace by her feet.
"Raven Reyes is going with you to pilot the craft. She volunteered," Kane explained. "The two behind you were due to be floated. We decided to make them the same offer to save their lives." Sol nodded. Kane stepped back and closed the craft door. The guards and Kane left the airlock and the inner doors closed. Raven fired up the engine, the outer doors opened and the ship was detached from the Ark with a metallic thunk. The drop made her stomach churn and Raven let them fall for quite a while before firing the thrusters to ease them to the ground. Re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere was rough and they were bounced around a lot.
"Sorry!" yelled Raven over the noise. "Can't be helped though!" Sol just dug her fingers into the seat she was sitting on and hung on.
They landed with a thud and Raven shut down the engines.
"Everything's shut down," she said. "Can you check on those two in the back?" Sol nodded and with shaking hands, tried to unfasten the harness, but found her hands weren't steady enough.
"Here, let me," said Raven gently. She reached over and unfastened the locking mechanism before she turned back to the radio. Sol swivelled her seat around to check on those in the back.
"Shit!" exclaimed Raven. "Radio's not working! When Jake wakes up, I'll kill him!" Sol just looked at her, worried at the ferocity of the dark-haired woman.
Sol turned back to the two unconscious adults. She gently patted them on their cheeks to wake them up. Both of them groaned at the same time.
"Hey, welcome back," she said with a smile.
"Where are we?" asked the man.
"Earth," said Sol.
"Earth!" the woman exclaimed.
"Yeah," said Sol.
"Jake, the radio's dead, you wanker! I thought you were fixing it?"
"I did!" the one called Jake exclaimed in return.
"You didn't do a very good job, then!" Raven said, scorn dripping from her tone.
"Get me out of this harness and untie my hands and I'll take a look," he said. Sol moved to him and unfastened both their harnesses. When they turned around, they were cuffed using zip ties. Sol sighed before turning around and checking her pack for the knife. She brought it out and cut their ties. Both of them rubbed their wrists. Sol went to open the door when the woman called out not to.
"It could be poisonous out there," she said.
"If we don't go out there, we'll starve or die of dehydration," said Sol. "If we couldn't breathe the air, we'd be suffocating when the air ran out in here," she explained. The woman stopped to think about it and realised that was true. She nodded her head. Sol opened the hatch and pushed it open. The first thing they saw were the trees and grass. Sol looked up and saw a brilliant blue sky with only one or two wisps of cloud.
"Wow!" she exclaimed. Raven opened her door and looked out.
"Wow, indeed!" she said, as she too looked upwards.
"Let me out," said Jake. Sol climbed out and pushed her seat forward to let him out. The woman climbed out on the other side.
"Oh, wow!" said Jake, awed by the scenery.
"It's beautiful!" the woman said.
"Yeah," the other three agreed.
Sol shook herself.
"Okay, Jake check the radio, please." Jake nodded and moved over to where Raven was trying to figure out why it wasn't working. Sol wandered over to the woman.
"I'm Sol," she said.
"Oh, I'm Aurora Blake," the woman said.
"Hi, Aurora."
"Actually, can you call me Rory? I prefer that."
"Sure, no problem - as long as you don't call me Solange. That's my given name and I don't like it. I go by Sol."
"Not a problem, Sol. So what do we do now?"
"Well Raven and Jake are checking the radio, do you know how that equipment in there works?" Sol asked, hiking her thumb in the direction of the craft.
"No, not a clue," she said.
Raven and Jake popped their heads up.
"You don't?" asked Jake. "I was told that you knew how to do that stuff. That you were a scientist that volunteered to go down."
"No. I'm a seamstress and I volunteered to come down rather than be floated," Rory said. All four of them looked at each other.
"I was told that there would be two people who knew how to use the instruments they sent down with us. I was trained by one of the guards as a guard for the two sent down," said Sol.
"And I was told that I was there to pilot the ship rather than be floated," said Jake. They turned to Raven. She held up her hands.
"Hey, I was told that no-one knew how to pilot the craft and that it was going to be a deadfall. I knew that would most likely kill anyone on board, so I volunteered. All four looked at each other.
"We were played!" said Sol. "I bet they re-arrested my sister and put her back in the Skybox! Those lying bastards!"
"My children are also still up there. They said that my second child would be released to take my place. They haven't, have they?!" she asked with sadness.
"I think my family has been told I was floated," Jake said. "I was the one who found out about the air supply running out and I wanted to tell everyone. I thought they had a right to know, but Jaha had me arrested."
"And all crimes are capital crimes and carry the death sentence," said Sol with finality. "What's the betting the radio was sabotaged so we can't report back?"
Raven and Jake looked at each other, horrified. They went back to looking at the radio and when Jake pulled the cover off the radio, he saw all the wiring had been pulled out. There was nothing to fix.
"Bastards!" yelled Raven.
Sol went back to the craft and looked in.
"Who put this stuff in here?" she asked.
"I did," said Raven. "I wanted at least some equipment to measure the radiation."
"Does it work?"
"Of course it works!" said Raven, agitated.
"No, I mean have they tampered with it?" Raven looked stunned before she climbed in to have a look. A few minutes later she had her answer.
"They've trashed everything!"
"They don't want us to survive, do they?" asked Rory. All four looked at each other.
"We're on our own now," said Sol.
"So what do we do?" asked Rory.
"We check for things on this craft we can use and then we get away from here," said Sol, bending down to double-check that the things she put into her pack were still there. The gun and ammo were gone, but they'd left the knife. She checked her personal belongings and was thankful that even though they took the clothing, her small box was still there. That box meant everything to her. It was her family's prized possession. She took it with her because she knew that before Erin was released, the guards would have been through everything and took anything that wasn''t nailed down. Erin may have been released, but those things that her family and herself had used, would not be left for someone who was just going to be arrested again once Sol had left the Ark.
"Is there anything else in there that we can use?" Sol asked.
"Yeah. I didn't trust them and I hid some stuff inside the housing. Jake, help me get this panel off, please." Jake helped Raven and after a few minutes, they left the craft with two small bags. "I couldn't get much, but I was able to fashion some stuff from the scrap on the station."
"What scrap?" asked Jake. We don't have any spare scrap."
"Yeah, there was loads of it, Jake. I took stuff from those unused rooms and corridors. I found a metal cup and then pinched some of the metal flooring to melt down and make some more cups. I've got five here. I've got four knives and I made some metal spear points too."
"Anything else?"
"I put in two hammers, a small screwdriver set, some nails and screws and a compass I stole from my ex-boyfriend - the cheating bastard!"
"That's quite a bit of purloined goods, Raven," Sol said, smirking.
"Isn't it, though?" replied Raven, smirking back. "What have you got in your pack?"
"A knife and my family's personal box of possessions."
"That's all?"
"Well I did start out with my own clothes and they did give me a handgun and some ammo, but they stole those back. Oh, I do have another empty pack in my bag too."
"Well that's a pack each then. Give your empty one to Rory and we'll use it for food and stuff. Now, where the hell do we go?"
"I've been thinking about that - well about everything since our little revelation about our non-event - we can breathe just fine, and we're not supposed to. It was supposed to be another 100 years before the ground was safe for us. It's 96 years since the war and the radiation doesn't seem to be as bad as they thought. If that's true, then maybe they're wrong about there being no people down here. If we can survive, maybe others have too," said Sol.
"Do you think there are people down here?" asked Raven, not quite believing it.
"Don't know, but I'm not going to go around as if we own the land around us. If there are people, then we've just landed in someone's backyard, someone's territory. We need to be careful," said Sol. Raven and Rory nodded thoughtfully while Jake looked sceptical.
"Is there anything we need here?" They all looked around for anything they could take.
"Can't see anything," said Raven and the others agreed.
"Which direction should we go?" asked Jake. Raven took out her compass and turned until she pointed towards Mount Weather.
"This way," she said and headed off.
"Wait a minute, Raven. Where are we going?"
"Mount Weather. It's got supplies in it."
"And you know this...how?"
"Because Kane said so." She stopped and thought about what she had said. "Kane said so," she repeated with defeat. "Maybe not the best place to go if they want us to."
"I think we should go to Washington DC," said Sol.
"Why?"
"My great-great-great grandfather was in the Army and was one of those in charge of building underground bunkers in case of nuclear warfare. I've got his diaries and the diaries of all the other military family members up to and including my grandfather's. He was the one who came up to the space stations three months before the war. He was only supposed to do a four month tour, bringing the station all the info they needed for when they got to the ground. After the war, he made sure that he documented everything and stole back all the documents he gave to the leaders. Among the papers I've got are several maps with locations and a few riddles to crack before we could find them."
"And you think we should go find one?"
"Well, that's the thing. It's only one bunker, well loads of bunkers all interconnected so all the inner doors could be open and people can walk into any other bunker without needing to go through an airlock or above ground - but it has several entrances spread over most of the eastern United States," Sol admitted.
"How big is this bunker?" asked Jake.
"There's an entrance somewhere in or near Washington DC, another is in Chicago, another in Atlanta, one in Dallas and at least one more somewhere near Kansas or Kansas City - I haven't figured it out yet. Those are the big main entrances, there are probably loads of little ones. We'd need to check each one for leaks and stuff."
"So we should go and find the Washington DC entrance?"
"I think so. If nothing else, when we find it, we can take shelter there."
"Works for me," said Raven. Rory and Jake just shrugged and nodded. Sol nodded back and Raven turned to find North East.
"Raven, how do you know where we dropped?" Sol asked.
"I AM the pilot, Sol, I made sure to know where I was going."
"So where are we right now?" Raven grinned.
"Well, when I was looking at the map, I saw a place with an unusual name. I decided to alter the co-ordinates they gave me and head here instead."
"So where are we?"
"A small place South West of Washington DC called Sumerduck in Virginia."
"Sumerduck? Seriously?" asked Sol. Raven laughed.
"Hey, I needed a name I wouldn't forget," she explained, still laughing.
"And just how big is - was - Sumerduck?"
"Err… well I don't know, but it's tiny."
"Okay, let's get going," Sol said, starting to move off in the direction Raven had pointed.