A/N: Katie Clancy was born in space, and she'd never felt the sun on her face or breathed real air or floated in the water. No one she knew had. The Ark had kept what's left of the human race alive, but now their home was dying, and the one hundred prisoners were sent on a desperate whim by her Chancellor father, Jim Clancy, to the ground was humanity's last hope. Each of them was there for breaking the law, but on the ground, there was no law. All they have to do is survive, but they will be tested by the Earth, by the secrets it held, and even themselves.
Ages for reference (I will add more characters along the way as I introduce them):
Jim — 42
Melinda — 42
Landon — 18
Katie — 17
Ned — 17
Toby — 17
Katie kept her head down, her eyes focused on the concrete she was laying on. When she closed her eyes, she could imagine the feel of the warmth of the sun on her face, trees all around her, and the scent of wildflowers in the breeze. At this moment, she wasn't alone or trapped in the Skybox without her parents.
Except that wasn't true. It had been almost two hundred years since a nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on Earth, leaving the planet simmering in radiation and inhabitable to life. Fortunately, there were some survivors. Twelve nations had operational space stations at the time of the bombs, and there was now only the Ark, one station forged from the many.
Everyone on the Ark has been told the Earth needed another hundred years to become survivable again. Four more space-locked generations, and man could go home, back to the ground. The ground, that's the dream, but this is reality, and reality sucked for Katie Clancy.
It was nearly her eighteenth birthday, and up in the Skybox that only meant one thing: it was time to be executed for your crime. Rumor had it, they sometimes floated a prisoner before or after their birthday depending on their crimes.
So to be honest, she had been expecting the guards to come for a few days now. Katie wasn't scared anymore. She had had nearly a year to come to terms with it, and it was her own fault for getting caught anyhow.
Just then, the door to her cell was pushed open and two guards walked in, "Prisoner 118, get up, and face the wall," both of them commanded her.
"The word 'please' would have been nice," she muttered but followed their orders and stood up to face the concrete wall. "I mean I am about to die, it's the least you could do."
One of the guards let out a low laugh, "Change of plans, 156," he said, snapping something onto her wrist and making her flinch slightly.
"Come again?" She asked and looked over to see a metal bracelet clamped onto her arm, and two lights flashing on the side as the guard scanned it with some sort of activation device. There was the sound a hum starting up, and now she was really confused. "I'm not being floated?"
"Not today," the guard told her and grabbed her arm, and shoved her into the hallway.
She was even more confused. She had been on solitary lock up for the last ten months since her arrest. Why was she being let out in the day-to-day prisoner life now? That was when Katie noticed that many of the other prisoners were also being dragged through the hall, all with the same bracelet clamped to their wrist, but not every single one of the prisoners was being taken from their cells.
"What is happening? Where are you taking us?" She asked, her voice a little frantic as her heartrate picked up.
"You are the prisoner here, 118. Shut up and stop asking questions," one of the guards said as they near a ship bay.
Soon she was shoved into what looked like a large makeshift metal ship and as she looked up, she noticed ladders that led up into the ship for different levels. There were at least a hundred other kids around her age and younger strapped into what looked like seats, but she didn't exactly want to sit in one of them just yet. Were they going to kill them all like this and are just telling them they aren't?
Wasn't she supposed to see her parents one last time?
"The Ark Princess has arrived!" One of the prisoners, a girl's voice, hollered from the second level.
"Where are you taking me? I want to see my father," she said as the guard nearest to her shoved her toward the closest seat. "What is going on?"
"Get in your seat, 118," the guard muttered and she paused to give him a dirty look over her shoulder, and he immediately backed off.
Rookies, she thought wryly, even they still knew who she was.
"Aw, she thinks her daddy can save her! He threw you away like the rest of us, Princess." Another person shouted as Katie slid into the seat and pulled the strap across her chest.
She tried her best to ignore what anyone else was shouting and just clicked the leather buckle, and once the guard was satisfied he walked away as the door sealed shut behind him. She must've been the last person brought aboard, and that would paint a target on her back, wherever they were headed.
Just then, a familiar male voice sounded over the speakers, "The hundred are on board and prepared for departure." Then the video started to play on a screen attached to the wall and she nearly burst into tears. It was her father giving a message to all of them, Jim Clancy, their chancellor. "Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. As your Chancellor, I hope you will see this not only as a chance for you but as a chance for all of us on the Ark to someday come back to the ground."
She looked up, observing more around her. The dropship, like the Ark, had been cobbled together. Three levels stacked from largest to smallest. Right now, the dropship launched and soared, causing several people to scream, some even to cry in fear, and a few others to vomit from the motion sickness. They were in free fall, sparks becoming flames as the heat shield met the thickening atmosphere. She took her eyes from the windows and tried to focus on the message her dad was giving.
"You have just begun the descent into Earth's atmosphere. I won't lie. We have no idea what waits for you down there…" Her eyes fell shut at that. That wasn't going to win him any favors. It wasn't going to help her either. "If the odds of survival were better, we would have sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you...expendable."
"Your dad's a dick, Clancy!" Someone agreed with her.
"If you do happen to survive, your crimes will be forgiven," her father spoke carefully, almost directly to her. "The records wiped clean."
"Yeah, right!" Someone yelled.
"Screw you, Chancellor!" Another person howled in anger.
A few other painful jabs were hurled her way at her father, but when the ship jerked everyone was silenced in fear and listened to Jim speak. She stopped listening and tried to focus on everyone around her without the sounds of their voices. Most were panicking while others were angry, and some just enjoying the thought of what Earth could be like.
She smiled at that. Her father had done this to save her. She knew that now. Jim would have never been able to forgive himself if he had to be the one to press the button and kill his own child for trying to save her mother's life. She still didn't know if the medicine she had stolen had worked.
Was her crime even worth it in the end?
"This is not, however, a waiver against future crimes once you are on the ground." Her father reminded them all. "While unsupervised, you will adhere to the laws of the Ark, or you will be punished under them. You have one job, ladies and gentlemen, one responsibility...stay alive. One month. That's how long it will take to be certain that it's safe for the rest of us to follow." Just then, another severe jolt opened a storage compartment. A few rolled maps spilled out, floating weightlessly overhead. "In the meantime, some of you may be tempted to strike out on your own. Don't. Your drop site has been carefully chosen and we aren't fully aware of what threats may be waiting for you one the ground.." Her father continued.
A face in the crowd dragged her attention away from the screen. A ruggedly handsome blond boy lit up when he saw the floating maps. "Oh, hell yes." The boy mumbled. With that, the boy drew a shiv from his boot and cut the straps of his harness, floating out of his chair and over towards her. "Looks like your dad floated me after all, Princess."
"Before the Last War, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain in order to shelter the government of the United States." Her father's voice caught her attention again and she tried to ignore the boy's taunting, hoping he would leave her alone. "...except no one ever made it there. According to the archive, it was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain six hundred people for up to ten years. Because we could spare you no extra food, water, or medicine, you must immediately locate those supplies. We have stocked you with some things to help you set up some sort of camp life and spared your axes and other tools that may help you. There are several maps of the area as well."
The boy soon gave up on teasing her and launched himself throughout the ship, soaring exuberantly through the air to the delight of the rest of them. She knew this wasn't going to end well once they entered the atmosphere. He could die if he landed roughly enough.
"Spacewalker strikes again!" Someone cheered, making the blond boy laugh.
Spacewalker? Who was he?
Her mind quickly connected the dots and she remembered her father telling her about the infamous Ned Banks who had taken a fifteen-minute joyriding spacewalk and wasted a whole three months of their air supply. There was only so much of that left, and that must be another reason why her father was sending most of the adolescent criminals to the ground.
Katie watched him do a couple of backflips before she had the nerve to speak up. "Get back in your seat or you'll get yourself killed," she warned him, unimpressed.
Ned chuckled and pushed off the top of a seat to come back over toward her again. "Lighten up, Princess. You don't have to worry about me." He chuckled and placed his hands above his head to make it look like he was relaxing. "I think I am just fine where I am." The blond-haired boy pushed off one of the walls, ricocheting back and forth.
She leaned back in her seat and sighed, staying silent then. He was seemingly dumber than she had thought, as soon as the parachutes opened, he was screwed. Two more boys had quickly followed Ned's lead and cut free from their seats. Idiots. They were going to get hurt, even killed, but what was she going to do about it if they weren't going to listen to her? Besides as she saw it, that meant there were three fewer people to take up food on Earth.
Just then everything was drowned out by a huge crash as the ship jolted. The heat increased inside the small ship, and Katie knew they must be getting closer to their destination. Possibly entering the atmosphere."
"I cannot stress this strongly enough. Mount Weather is life." Her father's voice announced loudly.
"You should come down before the parachute deploys." She yelled at Ned. "All of you." She said to the other two. "Or you'll be dead."
Ned turned his attention to her slightly, but because he ignored her warning once again, so do the other two non-somersaulting floaters.
"It is from there, God willing, that the next age of man will begin...with you." Her father's voice cut through again. "Finally, I am sure you're wondering about those wristbands... I promise that they are not a punishment, but a lifeline. They are how we will know you are alive once you reach the ground and—" Her father's voice was cut off by the parachutes deploying.
"Get back in your seats," she yelled, hoping they would have time to grab onto something or get into their seats.
Sudden rapid deceleration ended all of the fun in an instant and this awful sound of tearing metal came from all around. The video monitors went all black and the lights throughout the ship flickered as she looked to see where the floaters had gone. She noticed in time that the two boys who had unbuckled after Ned slammed to the floor with bone-crushing force as the drop ship's shaking increased, but Ned had headed her warning and had enough brains to get back to his seat and rig his harness back together.
The two boys who had followed him were not so lucky and were killed instantly. She pulled against her seatbelt, attempting to help the unmoving bodies. The harnesses wouldn't release until they landed, she knew that, but she wished she had a shiv to break free as he had.
The kids screamed as the ship hurtled at neck-breaking speed towards the cloudy and bluish-green surface of the planet. Katie gripped the edges of her seat as the ship violently shook again, but this wasn't turbulence. It was something else. Hundreds of individual collisions and possibly trees slowing their descent. They were not yet on the ground.
Katie knew they must be nearing the landing from her knowledge of books, and then there was a gut-wrenching thud and shriek of metal as the ship gave one last shudder and stilled. The inside of the cabin smelled of smoke and exhaust, mixed with blood, sweat, and fear. But they were on the ground, she knew that. There were a few more terrifying seconds and… just silence.
"Listen… no machine hum." Someone a few seats over to the right of her said.
She was struck with surprise. It was the first time in her life that she had actually heard real, true silence. No machine humming or footsteps against the metal ground. Only complete and total silence. Finally, and all at once, the harnesses released. Everyone was still and quiet for a moment before a flurry of people crowded near the ramp.
Katie jumped up and started instantly for the boys lying on the floor as all of the people crowded by the exit, but they were already long gone. She knew from the way one boy's head was twisted completely around the wrong way, and the other had a large gash across his throat from where he had landed, but she had checked for a pulse anyway.
When she knew for sure that those boys were dead, she stood up and made her way toward the front of the ship. "Wait!" She yelled and hated the commotion as she shoved past people. "The air could be toxic still. What if we open the hatch and everyone dies?"
"We can't stay locked up in here anyways, Princess," a voice came from behind, the same one from before. She turned to see Ned standing behind her. His green eyes locked with hers, and there was a hint of a smile on his lips as he reached for the ramp released button. "What kind of plan do you have in mind?"
"I think we should take a minute to figure out what we want to do before we do it," she said, trying to shove his hand away. "What if the air is toxic? Have you thought about that?"
But it was too late, Ned pressed the red button and the drop ship's ramp slowly unfurled. She couldn't help but brace herself. Katie had grown up with people shoving the fact that the Earth was covered in radiation in her head from the time she could walk. She had no idea what to expect on the other side of that door, but she was definitely unprepared for what she was seeing.
Daylight streamed into the dropship and the sight of trees, actual living trees caught her breath, a breeze blowing her long hair back behind her shoulders. Katie hesitated, but just for a moment, before seizing her chance to make history. The ship had come to rest in the middle of a forest, fallen trees were everywhere, many still smoldering. Taking everything in, she finally jumped off the ship, and before anyone else could. She was the first person on the ground in nearly two hundred years.
It was the first time they had ever touched anything but metal. The sun sent warmth all over her skin and the scent of real, fresh air filled her lungs. The sight of so much color made her want to melt. It made her happy. She was happy. Something in her head told her that soon reality would crash down, but for these few moments, the fact that she was alive on the ground was a dream come true.
Neil Armstrong had nothing on her.
Melinda had been pacing the length of her living room for the last three hours. Once that became too stressful to her she went into the kitchen and made herself some tea. Ever since she had felt the entire Ark jolt and knew that the ship had left with her daughter on it, she couldn't sit still. Not until she knew that her daughter was alive and on the ground.
Even with all of the frightening things that the council had learned may be down there, she had a string of hope inside her wishing for her daughter to find something good down there. Katie was smart and quick-minded, and she would be fine, Melinda told herself.
She expected the knock as it sounded on the cabin door; Jim always did that on his way inside to let her know that he was home. He had called her on his way from his office to tell her that he would be done with the day soon, and would have more information for her then. Clearly, something had happened.
"In the kitchen," she said, stirring honey into her tea as she heard Jim step inside and close the door behind him. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, but she was too worried to face him. "How was your day?"
"The usual," he said, walking up behind her.
A set of solid, muscular arms wrapped around her, startling her a bit. It didn't take long for her brain to catch up to what was happening and she settled into the hold. "Did you get to see her?" She asked as she brought a hand up to run through his hair as his face settled into the warm spaced between her shoulder and neck.
"No. I didn't," he sighed, placing a kiss to her neck. "I ended up being too busy. I should have made time in case something happens. I should have." He leaned up against the counter beside her and took hold of her hand, bringing it to his mouth as he pressed a chaste kiss there. "But she's alive," he told her.
"She is?" She asked, looking up at him.
"Yes, and they have landed on the ground." He explained, turning toward her. "That's all I really know. One of the 100 has died already, but everyone else is still okay. Their vitals from their bracelets show excitement, happiness even. The ground must be habitable enough, and the one life lost must've been from landing troubles. Hopefully, no one was hurt too badly."
She nodded, sighing in relief. "So she's okay?"
"For now," he said, smiling sadly. "But what if I sealed her fate? What if I sealed all of theirs by sending them down there?"
"But if Katie had stayed on the Ark…" She tried to remind him.
He sighed, nodding. "I know," he closed his eyes and a tear escaped after a long day of pent up emotion. "I could never let her die to save your life, Melinda. Never."
She shook her head and moved over to lean into his embrace. "I should have never let her sacrifice everything for me. I should have known that she was going to do it, Jim. I should have stopped her."
His arms wound around her and held her close. "Hey, how could you know that she would do that?" He whispered.
"Jim, she is my daughter. I should have known," her voice shook with emotion as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I would have done the same thing for her or for you."
He chuckled, rubbing his hand against her back to soothe her in any way possible. "I know you would, but I have enough to worry about with our daughter trying to survive on the ground, Mel," he said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and sighed. "And I don't want you to blame yourself for any of this Melinda. If it's anyone's fault it's mine, and if I had known…" He trailed off into a sigh and rubbed his face warily.
"If you had known what?" She asked.
"I put the idea in her head about stealing the medication…" He whispered, trailing off and shaking his head. "But I never thought she would do it. I had just voiced aloud to myself that I could steal the medication and get away with it. I hadn't known she was home… and she had said she could steal it too, but I thought I talked her down."
"Katie has always had a mind of her own. If she wanted to do something then she was going to, Jim," she started to laugh and wiped away her tears.
He nodded and sighed. "I know that. We raised to be her own person and to never let anyone tell her otherwise." He led her from the kitchen and they sat on the couch together.
"Yeah," she chuckled and followed him, relaxing beside him. "I think that kind of backfired on us."
"No, it didn't." He said, placing his arm around her shoulder. "We raised a strong, kind-hearted woman and I am proud of that."
And with that they leaned back they let silence fill the air and took in the sight of what was below them. The blinding green and blue of Earth were mesmerizing to see even if it was the only thing anyone could see around them, and it left a sense of calm over them to know their daughter was down there.
Katie was one of the first people to set foot on to ground again, and even if for the reasons behind it they were happy that she was safer down there today than she would have been on the Ark.
The first thing Katie felt was sunlight on her face and the feel of a breeze against the cheeks. Then she breathed in the air. The real air, fresh and pure, and clean for the first time in her life. It was the most amazing experience she had ever felt.
She heard the screams and shouts of the other people around her and she knew that they were feeling it too. They had scattered in different directions, yelling and jumping around in jubilee. Katie turned back to the dropship where only four people were left.
They were crowded around something, and when Ned turned around, she realized it was a map. He must be trying to figure out where her father had said their supplies would be and she began to walk toward the group, but then felt a hand on her arm.
"Come in the dropship. I want to speak with you," Katie recognized that voice anywhere.
"Toby," she hissed and spun around, planting a fist firmly across his face. "This is ALL your fault, you son of a bitch!"
Toby rolled back on his feet, but before Katie could hit him again, another pair of arms wrapped around her and dragged her in the direction of the dropship. They entered inside and went immediately toward the back.
"Let go of me!" She spat and the person released her.
"Hey, I just wanted to stop you before you did something you regret," the person said, and that was when Katie realized it was Ned.
She recognized all the people that were gathered around the map as people she had grown up with. Each had committed their own crime to get sent here, and here they were together again. Landon, Toby, and Hannah were all pointing at different places on the map when Ned hit his fist on the wall to catch her attention.
"What the hell were you doing?" Ned asked her.
She caught her breath and ignored Ned's question as she focused her gaze on Toby again. "You," she muttered.
"Katie, listen—" Toby started.
"Don't you dare say my name, you fucking coward," she yelled, attempting to launch herself at him but Ned's grip on her was strong and she wasn't budging. "Fight your own battles, Toby. Don't have someone else pull me off of you."
"Hey!" Ned yelled, slightly pushing her up against the wall in case she got any idea to try and go after Toby again. He didn't have a tight enough grip on her to hurt her, but he wasn't letting her budge any more than he wanted her to. "Calm down, Princess. What's wrong?"
She shoved him away with a dark scowl. "It's none of your goddamn business, Banks." She muttered under her breath. "This is between Toby and me."
"She's a criminal," Landon spoke up, who had been watching the exchange with his arms folded.
"News flash, fuckhead," she hissed, unable to control what she was feeling at this point. "We all are criminals here. The only difference between me and any of the rest of you was that I was trying to save my mother's life, and this guy is the reason I got caught."
Ned looked back at her, frowning but agreeing. "Yeah, Lan. What makes her any different?"
"She's a murderer. That's what," Landon declared from his side of the ship.
"Oh, please. Is that what they are saying about me around the Ark?" She sneered and rolled her eyes as she glanced back at Toby. "The only crime I committed was trusting this fool to keep a secret."
"I'm sorry, Katie. I had to tell my dad that I saw you take the medication." Toby sighed, shaking his head in shame. "I couldn't… I just couldn't keep that secret for you. Even if it was to save your mom. Do you realize what it cost me?"
"You turned yourself in," she chuckled. "That's not my fault that you implicated yourself."
"It's not a crime to steal another person's medication?" Landon was up from his seat and Toby had to hold him back, but he broke free and shoved Ned out of his way too so he could pin her against the wall himself. He was much rougher and she knew that she would have a bruise on her back from the way he had shoved her up against the metal. "What right do you have to play God?"
"My mother was dying and I did what I had to do," she said and shook her head at him. "You don't get to judge me."
"Yeah, and what about the person who's medication you stole? What about them?" Landon stood in front of her, finger pressed into her chin to lift it. "You killed my dad when you stole that dose, and for what? So your rich, privileged mother could live? Why does she get to live and not my father?"
"I didn't know about your father, Landon, and I am sorry that he died," she said softly and shoved him off of her. "I am sorry, but I wouldn't change my decision. I needed to save my mother, and I did what I had to do. There should have been more medication, and then I wouldn't have had to steal it. But we have bigger problems to figure out than the things that happened back on the Ark. My father said supplies would be on Mount Weather." She walked over to the map and looked over it quickly. "That's right there, and we were dropped here. There is a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal. We are looking at a twenty-some-mile trek, okay? So if we wanna make it back before dawn we need to leave now."
"I hate to say it, but the Chancellor's daughter is right here. I already want food," Ned said, an amused smirk appearing on his face as he looked over her.
What was he looking at? Why was he looking at her like that? She stared up at him in confusion, "What?"
"I think it's hot when a woman takes charge," he said, smirking.
She rolled her eyes. "Buck up, Ned. I don't want to be the one in charge here." She scoffed. "We need to get going."
"I've got a better idea," Landon said, raising his voice so the rest of the people could hear him. "You two go." He gestured to her and Toby. "Find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change instead of the rest of us."
"Yeah, let's have two people try to carry enough food and supplies for what, the hundred of us? How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? That is such a smart idea," she shook her head and walked over Ned. "Are you in?"
"Look, everyone, Chancellor of the Earth. Just like her father," Landon taunted and Ned couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth. "I should have known when my birthday passed and they didn't float me that your father was planning something worse for me. I was right."
"You think that's funny?" She spat, and the next thing she knew Landon had her pinned her against the wall. "Do you get your kicks out roughing up girls?"
"Maybe your father wasn't so smart to send you down here with a bunch of... dirty criminals," Landon chuckled, biting his lip as he grabbed a handful of her ass and there wasn't anything she could do with her arms pinned. "He might have saved his little girl from being floated, just another thing to add to the list of your privileges, but he can't save you from doing what I want to do to you…"
She had only now noticed the dropship had cleared out, and she was alone with Landon. There was nothing she could to stop him. She had never needed anyone to fight her battles until today.
"Landon, please... don't," she begged, hoping that maybe it would appeal to his emotions in some way.
"Why not?" Landon chuckled, pressing as close to her as he could. "You still a virgin, princess?"
"Stop it," she whimpered, and just when she thought it was going to get worse, it didn't.
"Huh. Yeah, Lan?" Ned reappeared and she caught his gaze. "You should probably think about that, man."
"What do you care if I ruffle Clancy's feathers?" Landon spat, turning to glare at the boy as he interrupted him. She did everything she could to plead with her gaze to him to not leave her alone. God, please don't leave her alone with him. "Her father floated my mother and let her kill my father. I say it's payback. I'll give you a turn after if you want."
"Oh, you see here Landon, I don't have to rape girls to get my dick wet." Ned's hand was pressing down on his shoulder. "Unlike you." Without another thought, the boy in front of her let go and lunged after Ned, but missed and slammed himself into a wall. "You are only going to go and do all the work for me by doing that, you know."
Landon tried to swing at him, but he dodged and caught his fist, twisting his arm and shoving him out of the ship as quickly he could. A moment later he returned and held his hand out to her. "You okay?"
"As much as I can be," she sighed. "Thank you."
"Any time, Princess." He nodded. "You want to go find those supplies to clear your mind?"
She wanted to do anything, and finding food and water sounded like a good enough distraction.