18 months ago

A pair of golden, eagle like eyes carefully watched the guards on duty. The woman had been studying their shift patterns for the past few weeks, noting when one left and a new guard arrived. There was a short four minutes between each of them. Maybe five if the older guard, who couldn't walk as fast, was working.

She had a very short window to sneak in, get what she could and leave.

Otherwise 18 children would be going hungry tonight. Herself as well.

Rations were few and far between in the children's centre. They had reached their monthly quota already and the orphaned children were hungry. All of them without parents and some not even understanding why theirs had disappeared. Some had been floated for crimes, whilst some mothers had died during child birth. It was a cruel fate for these children, they were a minority on the Ark. Everyone had their own families to feed and forgot about the kids without one.

But Nora wouldn't let them go hungry another day. It had been three days since she had had a proper meal, having shared most of her meals with two other children; Kyra and Jimmy. They had both lost their parents but had found a friend in each other.

Her stomach growled and she frowned, waiting patiently for the guard change. One more minute…

Her bag was securely wrapped across her front, empty and ready to be filled with any food she could find in the canteen kitchens. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and made her forget about her own hunger. This was for the kids. If she got a meal out of it, then that would just be a bonus.

Bright eyes locked on the tall guard who waited by the door. He looked bored as he scanned up and down the halls. The position was given to those who were recent graduates from the cadet classes. Some were still in training, as she had begun to learn the more she studied their movements; some sure, others nervous.

She stayed hidden round the side, tucked between two crates, with a sliver of space open to her watch from. No one else had walked down the halls in a while. They were desolate at this time on the Factory station.

The guard fidgeted on the spot before hearing the familiar ding over the speaker. The sound of the shift switch over. She rose to the balls of her feet, ready to dash around the crates. The guard quickly moved away from his post, a grin on his face, happy at the prospect of a shift being over.

She grinned for another reason: food.

With the guard gone, she made quickly for the canteen doors, slipping between them silently. She turned, her golden eyes wide with delight as she spied packets of food lining the side of the canteen. They were left over from serving dinner. It wasn't much to the average eye but to the kids, it would be everything.

Without a second thought, she ran and quickly swiped the food, keeping her head down, away from the eye line of the cameras she had scouted out before. Her bag grew tight and she turned to stuffing packets of crackers in her side pockets and any available space. Spying the treats in the corner, she quickly grabbed two of the sweet bars for Kyra and Jimmy before closing her bag and grabbing one cracker packet for herself.

Time's up.

Glancing through the small window in the door, she saw the hallway was clear and slipped through the doors and made a run for it.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest. She had done it.

Her feet picked up pace again as she turned the corner, still gripping onto her bag tightly, not wanting to—

"Oof!" She slammed into another body, her head meeting their chin and knocking her for six. Pain radiated from the spot where solid bones had met. She rubbed it to magic away the stinging. Strong hands gripped her slightly and she heard something hit the floor. Her bag.

"You alright?"

When she opened her eyes, she felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice water over her. A cadet uniform stared her straight in the eye. The familiar markings standing out on his jacket. She had been found.

"Sorry about that."

Jumping from her daze, she blinked before looking around her. Her breaths grew short and shallow when she saw her bag on the floor, with a few packets of crackers having fallen out. She looked up slowly, swallowing the lump that settled in her throat. The dark haired man stood in her way, blocking her exit.

He was young, maybe just a bit older than her. There was more meat on his bones though. She could easily pass for a few years younger because of her weight loss. He had a healthy shine to his cheeks, with a smattering of freckles. Black locks of hair fell over his forehead, creating soft shadows. Dark eyes stared back at her, having clearly seen the food on the floor. But he hadn't said anything about it yet.

Cowering back, she didn't take any chances and grabbed her bag from the floor and ran.

"Hey!"

The voice called out after her, but she didn't stop. There was a chance he was following her, but she wouldn't stop her legs. She would ignore the burning of her thighs and the rumbling of her stomach as she ran in the direction of the children's centre. Her eyes were clearly set on the prize.

She wouldn't be rummaging through the canteen for a while after that.

Pushing open the door and locking it behind her, she slipped past the beds on the floor and the curtains separating them to find hers. Or rather, it used to be hers. Now, she shared her small double bed with Jimmy, who was 8 years old, and Kyra who was 6 years old. It was one of the few beds that were raised off the ground on a rusted old frame. She slipped the bag into her cubby hole, pulling out two packets before locking it securely.

She would tell Elizabeth about the food rations in the morning.

"Nora?" A small voice whispered behind her, thick with sleep.

She turned to find Jimmy sat up in the bed. Sitting down beside him, she saw Kyra at the other end; they were top to tail as usual. "Got you something." Nora produced the treat packet from behind her and felt her body warm at the smile on his face. The stealing was all worth it for the smile on the little boy's face.

"Kyra, wake up."

"Let her sleep, I've got another for her."

The boy tore into the packet, his eyes wide with happiness. Breaking off one end, he held it out to the redhead. "Here. Thank you." He leant closer to wrap his arms around her shoulder.

"Anything for you, bud." Ruffling his hair, they both devoured the sweet treat in seconds with smiles on their faces.

Nora readjusted Kyra, so she had the cover over her before sliding under it herself and resting her head on the flat pillow. The boy wriggled around the bed for a moment before settling.

She had had a close call with that cadet. He had probably already given her description to his officer, who was running checks on the databases and cameras to cross reference it. The cadet would no doubt get promoted for catching a thief. While, she would end up getting floated because of it. Because she was hungry. Because these kids were hungry.

But she'd do it all again, just to see that smile on Jimmy's face.


The day after she had stolen the food, she walked around the decks with unease settling deep into her stomach. Nora was waiting for a guard to snatch her up and take her to the Sky Boxes. But they never came, even when she passed a group of them. She soon settled back into her routine, helping out with lessons with the kids in the centre, teaching the young ones and leading activities.

Days passed and she never saw the cadet again. She preferred it that way; he would only ask more questions.

The rations had gone down well with the kids and few adults in the centre. But now she was expected to do it again. The pressure to get more food the next time that rations ran out was enough to make her squirm and dread it.

But for now, she would enjoy her full stomach. Finally, she had eaten a full meal, a proper meal. Maybe stealing wasn't that bad after all.

Her smile quickly slipped from her mouth when she saw the cadet up ahead. Looking around her, there was nowhere to turn and he had already seen her. With her heart beating wildly in her chest, she kept her head down as she walked on, praying this wasn't the moment she would be arrested.

A firm grip on her arm drew her back. She swallowed the lump in her throat. This was it.

She was pushed in a wall, with the cadet frowning down at her. Ice filled her veins as her whole body froze up. Fight or flight, fight or flight, fight or flight…

Flight.

"You forgot this."

Her eyes bulged as he held out two ration packs of crackers to her. Shaking her head, she didn't look up. "No."

Above her, the cadet narrowed his eyes. "I saw you drop these."

"No. I didn't." She muttered, trying to slip away but he continued to hold her still, not hurting her though. Risking a glance up, she met his dark eyes again. They seemed too gentle to belong to a future guard.

He shook his head at her. "Just take them."

"No." Her golden eyes turned hard. Her stubborn attitude shone through but quickly disappeared when she heard his voice.

"Cadet Blake."

The hand disappeared from her arm and the ration packet slipped from her view. "Shumway." The cadet nodded quickly in the guard's direction.

"Is everything alright here?" His eyes were firmly fixed on her. She held his gaze, unwavering, as he narrowed his dark, cold eyes on her. So much for her happy day.

The cadet, who was referred to as Blake, spared a glance down at her quickly. "Yes, it's fine."

"I see." Nodding, Shumway slowly approached the pair and she shrunk back even closer to the wall. "Miss Thorn. I trust you're keeping out of trouble in the centre?"

Meekly, she nodded and looked away. "Yes, sir." She couldn't look at Shumway without seeing him and her heart ached. She told herself she would never cry in front of him, never give him the pleasure of seeing how broken she was because of what he had done.

Cadet Blake's eyes watched her carefully, noticing how quiet her voice was.

"Good. New ration supplies will begin there soon." She gulped, fearing the shock lashing that would come soon. They were taunting and teasing her, drawing it out to see if she would turn herself in. "It seems you'll need them." A smirk appeared on Shumway's smug face as he looked at her, scanning her slightly matted hair and skinny body.

Rage boiled inside of her as she fought to control her emotions. Instead, she chose to stare at the floor. She wished they would just get it over with and arrest her.

"I'll see you at training, cadet."

His words shocked her, but not enough to look up. Shumway's hard footsteps echoed down the hall, leaving just the cadet and the redhead. "If you were gonna turn me in, you missed your perfect shot." Flicking her eagle eyes up, she noticed the soft expression on Cadet Blake's face.

He frowned, a small line appearing on his forehead. He was too young to have worry lines already. Her father told her that only older men who worried too much got them.

"That wasn't my plan." Extending his hand out, he offered her the rations once more.

"Is this a trick?"

The cadet shook his head, no.

Unwavering eyes found his and she knew he wasn't lying. But still she couldn't trust him. "You're not gonna turn me in?"

A smirk touched Cadet Blake's lips. "Why would I? You haven't committed any crimes… right?"

She frowned briefly, quirking her head at him. "I only did what I had to do." Defiantly, she raised her chin a notch before slipping away from the cadet and continuing on her way.