Flaw
Chapter One
Brave New World
Welcome to the new age.
-Radioactive/Imagine Dragons
ONE YEAR LATER
They come for her a month early.
"Are you afraid?" Octavia asks.
"Haven't we already had this conversation?" Alex asks in reply, turning her head to the girl and raising her eyebrows. The pair lay on the bed clothes that they had pulled off and put on the floor, staring out through the skylight into the vast expanse of space.
"Well you never give me a straight answer." Octavia replies. "Excuse me for being curious."
"Well what do you want to say O?" She asks, before pressing the back of her hand to her forehead. "Oh Octavia, I'm so terrified of the inevitable void I will soon fall into, please hold me as I cry!" She laughs as Octavia picks up the pillow from under her head and smacks her with it.
"I hate you!" She snaps.
"The feeling's mutual, darling." Alex replies, making Octavia pick up the pillow again and smack her with it. "Quit it!" Alex exclaims, trying to keep in her laughter. "What about you?" She asks.
Octavia shrugs, placing the pillow down. "Probably. I don't-"
Octavia never does finish her answer. The pair jump up at the sound of the cell door opening and two guards walk in. "Prisoners 167 and 168, against the wall."
Alex starts shaking her head fervently. As much as she plays it off like it's no big deal, Alex is very, very afraid of her execution. "No, no, we still have more time! I still have a month!" She tells them, backing into a corner.
"We still have time, you can't do this!" Octavia exclaims.
"Prisoners 167 and 168, against the wall." The guard repeats, this time getting stepping closer towards her.
Alex shakes her head again. "We still have more time." She wants to see her family, she just wants to see her sister and her mom and Raven and, hell, even Finn for Christ's sake. The chancellor wouldn't execute someone early, he knew that would mean uproar.
"Al'." Octavia says warningly, not liking the look on her friends face.
"Prisoners 167 and 1-" The Guard doesn't get to finish his sentence, as Alex slams her fist into his jaw and darts out past the other guard.
"We still have more time!" She screams as she reaches the hallway. I just want to see my sister. "I still have-"
She doesn't get to finish her scream as the guard catches her side with his shock baton, making her screech in pain and crumble. "Stop! You're hurting her!" Octavia screams as Alex feels a sharp pain in her neck.
Her head hits the ground with a thump.
The sound of shouting wakes her up. The first thing she notices is that she's been strapped into a chair and that her neck was fucking aching from being in that position for so long, thank you guards. She lifts her head and lets out a groan, as a voice from beside her grabs her attention. "Wakey, Wakey, Sleeping Beauty, you're missing out on all the fun." The boys deadpans.
Alex glances to her side to see Octavia unconscious beside her, breaths a quick sigh of relief, before turning to the boy. "What?" She asks, squinting at him. He nods in front of him and she turns to the chaos in front of her. She is surrounded by a large group of fellow prisoners for a reason she could not work out. Mass execution? Were the council deciding to be more morbidly efficient? Her attention is caught by a dull pain in her wrist and she looks down to find a metal bracelet attached to her skin. What the hell?
There's a jolt and the lights flicker on, along with a television screen on the wall which displays the Chancellor Jaha. Alex's lip curls in disgust. "Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You have been given a second chance and, as your chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there."
Alex can feel the fear creep up her spine. Down there? They were sending them to earth? But what about Minerva and her mother and everyone else on the Ark? She couldn't leave her mother and sister alone. She was the one who took care of them. She-
She clenches her fists and mentally slaps herself to shake herself out of this. Her sister has survived a whole year without her. Raven gave her updates regularly when she came to visit Alex in prison. Besides, Raven is still up there. She could count on Raven.
"If the odds of survival were better we would have sent other, but frankly we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable."
"Wow." Alex deadpans, her tone unimpressed despite her internal panic. "Fuck you too."
The boy beside her snorts.
"Your dad's a dick, Wells!"
The shout erupts from somewhere behind her seat. Alex swivels around, searching out the chancellor's son in surprise. "He sent down his own son?" Alex says, to no one in particular.
"You sound surprised." The boy notes.
"He's a bastard, but I didn't think he was cold enough to send his own son down." She replies, making the boy snort. Family came first to her, so she couldn't imagine someone doing this to one of their own. How could someone send their own child down to die?
He laughs bitterly. "Well your assumption was way off, sweetheart." He replies, his voice snide.
"Don't call me sweetheart." She snaps.
"And what do I call you then?" He asks.
"Alex." She says, turning to take her first good look at the boy. He is handsome and if it was on anyone else, his hooked nose wouldn't work, but it looks strangely good on him. His bright blue eyes have a glimmer of amusement in them. "What do they call you?"
"Murphy." He replies. There's another jolt, making Alex wince. The screen displaying Jaha begins to break up, distorting the screen slightly. Jaha's speech drones on and Alex has stopped listening.
There's another jolt, this one stronger than the last, which makes Alex's hands jump out to clench onto the armrests, but instead grab onto the hand of the girl on her other side. Alex glances over to see Octavia awake and clutching her hand. "Welcome back." She says.
"Where the hell are we going?" Octavia asks.
"Earth apparently!" She tells her. "You missed Jaha's big speech. Apparently we're the guinea pigs being sent down to see if the earth is inhabitable."
"Oh great!" Octavia cries sarcastically, making Alex laugh to herself.
"Go Finn!"
A shout grabs her attention, making her lean forward in the chair to spot a familiar boy floating through the drop ship. She rolls her eyes as her comes towards them. "Morning." He says, giving the pair a wide grin.
"Get back in your seat, spacewalker." She snaps.
"Aw, why do you have to be such a killjoy Al'?" He asks.
She rolls her eyes. "See if you can still call me a killjoy when you have a broken neck." She replies.
"Rude." Finn says, before he begins to move away after spotting someone.
"You really do know him?" Octavia asks. Alex would tell her stories about Finn and Raven.
"Unfortunately." She deadpans.
"I heard that!" Finn exclaims.
"You were meant to!" She replied, watching as he moves to float in front of the chancellor's son, before making a remark about Jaha floating him after all. "Witty!" Alex sarcastically calls after him He gives her a thumbs up in reply, which makes Alex roll her eyes. She does that a lot around Finn. She has known Finn since they were kids, when they ran around the Ark with Raven at their side. Their relationship was mostly them being sarcastic towards each other.
"You're the traitor who's been in solitary for the past year." She hears Finn say.
"And you're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk." The blonde replies, making Alex frown slightly. There were three people who knew the truth about Finn's arrest, which was shortly before Alex's. She was one of them.
"So that's Spacewalker?" Octavia asks her. "He's hotter than I expected."
"Finn? Don't let the-" She stops as the ship suddenly jolts again, this time stronger than the last. Finn and the other boys, who got out of their seats, go flying as the ship throws the about. Sparks fly as they collide with something, only for Alex to feel Octavia grip her hand. Alex grips it just as tight and squeezes it in fear as they get thrown about.
There's a thump and then nothing.
Alex's eyes open and she looks around to Octavia. "We're alive." Alex says. "Holy shit." Octavia lets out a relieved laugh and lets out a breath, before releasing her hand. There are marks on her skin from gripping it so hard. Alex tips her head back and grins from relief.
"Hear that?" A boy asks from further away. "No machine hum." Alex sits up straight. It's odd hearing complete silence.
"Come on, I want to see the ground." Octavia prompts her, making Alex tug off her seatbelt to join her. The pair jump out of their seats and get up, sticking together as they made their way through the dropship. Who knew a near-death experience could be a bonding one?
"Finn, is he still breathing?"
The relief suddenly disappears, before turning to worry as she looked around for Finn. Despite all the insults she throws, he's still her friend, so she elbows her way through the crowd to Finn, Octavia close behind her. She finds Finn holding the bodies, the guilt clear on his face. "Not your fault." She says, making Finn look at her as she crouches beside him. "The idiots shouldn't have gotten out of their seats."
Octavia looks at her, raising her eyebrow, before glancing from Finn to her. "I keep forgetting you're kind of twisted."
Alex rolls her eyes. "Thanks O."
Finn laughs. Alex rolls her eyes and slaps his forehead. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Getting out of your seat, idiot." She tells him. "Glad you're okay though." She adds as an afterthought.
"How sweet." Octavia deadpans, making Alex narrow her eyes at her. She mirrors Alex's expression, until the group hear a male voice, which makes Octavia turn away. "Bellamy?" She says, before going away from the group.
Alex exchanges a glance with Finn, before following the girl. She can hear people talking about Octavia as she elbows her way through. She reaches the front of the crowd, just as a guard says "My god, look at how big you are," to Octavia, just before she wraps her arms around him in a hug. Alex assumes that this is Octavia's older brother that the girl had told Alex so much about.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Octavia asks, once she has pulled back from the hug and notices what Bellamy is wearing. "A guard's uniform?"
"I had to get on the dropship." He tells her. "Someone's got to keep an eye on you." She hugs him again, just as someone knocks into Alex's side and nearly knocks her over.
"Watch it." She hisses at the boy who had knocked into her- what's his name- Murphy.
"Don't get grouchy with me, sweetheart." He whispers back at her, as Bellamy and Octavia took to some blonde. "I'm just trying to get a good view."
"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" She hisses back at him.
"Oh well excuse me." Murphy says, not sounding apologetic at all. Alex narrows her eyes at him and he just back smirks at her.
Her attention is brought back to the situation in front of her as Octavia darts forward, looking like she was ready to start a fight with the person who just announced who she was. Bellamy holds her back, telling her to stop. "Let's give them something else to remember you by." He tells her.
"Yeah, like what?" She asks.
"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." He tells her, making Alex grin. Hopefully the air isn't toxic because of radiation, because it would be a bit of a let down to, you know, be dead as soon as the doors open. Bellamy turns to the door and opens it, making steam erupt and letting almost blinding bright light in. Sunlight, real freaking sunlight. It was warm and bright and nothing like the artificial light they had up on the Ark.
Octavia places her foot on the ground and takes a few steps, the rest on the dropship waiting in bated breath. She jumps onto the ground, before throwing her hands into the air.
"WE'RE BACK, BITCHES!"
Alex can't help but cheer along with the rest of the delinquents. She sprints off the drop ship and onto the ground, looking around the ground her people had abandoned long ago. Everything is so much better. It's green and pulsing with life, not cold and barren like the Ark.
There is warm sunlight shining on her face and a slight breeze. She takes a deep breath in and grins. Even the goddamn air was better. Maybe it was just because it wasn't flowing through the vents on the Ark, she didn't know. All she knew was that her sister would love it down here. She had to get her family down here.
She looks around to see Octavia and grins at her. "We're back!" She exclaims, making Octavia laugh.
"Come on." She says, tugging her arm. "I want you to meet my brother."
"And who are you?" She turns to see Bellamy watching her closely, one of his eyebrows raised. She looks him up and down, frowning slightly at the blood stains on his uniform. She didn't even want to know. Apart from that, he is good-looking, apart from the douchebag haircut.
"Alex Park." She replies, stepping over to the pair.
"I knew you looked familiar!" Bellamy says, making both Octavia and Alex look at him in confusion.
Alex raises an eyebrow. "Do I know you?" She asks.
"Uh, no." Bellamy replies, smiling slightly. "But you were kind of a legend among the guards."
"Really?" Alex and Octavia say in unison, the latter girl looking an Alex in surprise before asking "Is this because of what you did?" Octavia knew why she had gotten arrested, however she didn't know why Alex had stolen the meds in the first place. That was one secret Alex was keeping under wraps.
"Well, when I say legend, I think it's more like-"
"Annoyance?" She assumes, cutting him off. He nods in reply. She doubted she was more than an irritation to the guards, since it took them a while to find the criminal that took the meds.
"And managed to evade the guards every time." Bellamy adds, looking amused. "Seeing Galloway get that pissed off was priceless."
"Glad you found it amusing." Alex deadpans, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't expecting a guard to sound so approving of her crimes. Then again, was he even a real guard? She had heard Octavia ask him why he was wearing a guard's uniform earlier.
The sound of commotion grabs the group's attention. They turn to the front of the dropship to see a blonde and Wells Jaha, the latter pushing back one of the boys Alex had seen on the drop ship. Murphy tells him to back off, leading a large group of boys. "Who's the blonde?" Alex asks, recognising most people but her.
"Clarke Griffin." Bellamy says, making Alex nod as she recognises the last name. She must have been Doctor Griffin's daughter. She would hear the doctor mention a daughter when she would make small talk during visits.
"Relax," Wells says. "We're just trying to figure out where we are."
"We're on the ground." Bellamy says. "Is that not good enough for you?"
"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority!" Wells explains, making Alex clench her fists in annoyance.
You know, she's getting real fucking tired of the Jaha family.
"Screw your father!" She snaps at him. Right now, she is taking out the anger she had on the chancellor on him, for enforcing the rule that left her family in ruins.
"Yeah!" Octavia agrees. "Do you think you're in charge here? You and your little princess?"
"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke asks. "We need to get to Mount Weather! Not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this will be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty mile trek, okay? So if we want to get here before dark, we need to leave. Now."
"How moving." Alex mutters, making Octavia smirk slightly. However, Clarke's speech seems to have encouraged the others to help her.
But encouragement can be dashed just as quickly as it can be built up. "I have a better idea: why don't you two go find it for us?" Bellamy suggests. "Let the privileged do the hard work for a change?" There's a chorus of agreement from the others in the crowd.
"You're not listening." Wells says. "We all need to go!"
He's suddenly shoved forward by Murphy, who mocks "Look everybody, it's the chancellor of earth!" He glances over at Alex for a split second, who watches the group with a curious look, before his smirk grows wider and he looks back at Wells.
"You think that's funny?" Wells asks.
Murphy pushes him again, this time catching his ankle and makes the boy fall down. Wells struggles to his feet, limping slightly, before getting into a fighting position. Murphy glances over at Alex again, before he begins to bait Wells, getting cockier every time he took a glance at her. The fight is broken up by Finn who literally leaps between the pair. "Kid's got one leg." He says warningly. "How about you wait until it's a fair fight?" As bad as it is, Alex is kind of disappointed. She wanted to knock the Chancellor's kid down a few pegs, show him that they weren't going to take too kindly to being ordered around now that they were free on earth.
"Hey spacewalker!" Octavia calls to him. "Rescue me next!"
The remark makes the dark look on Finn's face vanish, before being replaced by a wide grin. He walks away and Alex joins Octavia at her side. "Think you could put in a good word for me?" Octavia says to her, making Alex laugh.
Bellamy makes his way over to their side. "Mind if I talk to my sister privately Alex?" He asks, though his tone indicated that he really didn't care about what she said.
"I'll leave you two alone then." Alex says, moving away from their side, eager to not be caught in family conflict.
She shoves her hands into her pockets and walks around aimlessly. Apart from Finn and Octavia, she knows, or has rather talked to, about zero of this people. When she arrived in the Sky Box, she kept to herself. Why get close to be people if they were going to be executed at any time? Ray was one of the few people she got close to, unavoidable as she was her first cellmate. After she was executed, Alex didn't want to get close to her new roommate as she didn't want to go through that pain again. However, Octavia didn't make that possible. There was just something about her that made her so easy to get along with.
Alex is yanked out of her thoughts as someone wraps their arm around her neck, twisting her in the other direction. "Finn, what the fuck?" She asks, not appreciating being dragged around.
"We're going to Mount Weather." He replies, walking over to Clarke who is bandaging Wells' ankle.
"Why?" She asks, frowning at him. She can't understand why he would drag her along as well.
He looks at her, raising an eyebrow. "Weren't you listening to Jaha? There's supplies there." He replies.
"No," Alex says. "I'm asking why are bringing me along."
"Because." He says, before turning to Clarke. "So, Mount Weather. When do we leave?"
Clarke gets to her feet. "Right now." She turns to Wells. "We'll be back tomorrow with food."
"How are the three of you going to carry food for a hundred?" Wells asks, looking incredulous.
"Without your help, that's for sure." Alex mutters, glancing down at his bandaged ankle, before grunting as Finn's elbow collided with her ribs. She narrows her eyes at him and he gives her a look that says 'watch your mouth'. Alex looks back Clarke to see her looking at her with narrowed eyes and her head tilted. "Can I help you?" Alex asks, raising her eyebrow.
"Do I know you?" Clarke asks. "You look familiar."
"I doubt it." Alex replies, looking her up and down. "I don't think we run in the same circles, blondie."
Clarke falters. "Right." She says. "Whatever."
All while this was happening, Finn has turned to two boys standing with their backs to the group. He turns them around and pushes them forward, one tall and a lanky, wearing large goggles, the other smaller and had been the one who mentioned about the machine hum earlier. "Five of us." He says. "Can we go now?" The lanky boys smiles widely at her, making Alex give him a small smile in return.
"Sounds like a party." Octavia says, approaching the group. "You going?" She asks Alex, who nods in reply. "Good. Make it six!"
"Hey!" Bellamy calls, catching up with Octavia and grabbing her arm. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Going for a walk." Octavia says, tugging her arm out of his grip.
"Hey!" Clarke exclaims, darting over to Finn and grabbing his wrist. "Were you trying to take this off?"
"Yeah." Finn replies, giving her a confused look. "So?"
"Wristbands transmit your vital signs to the Ark." Clarke tells him. "Take it off and they'll think your dead."
"Should I care?" Finn asks.
"Well I don't know." Clarke says. "Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow your down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying." Alex's hand darts to the metal around her wrist. Her family might be following her down to earth, meaning that her sister would be free. No more hiding, no more worrying about surprise inspections. Minerva would be free down here. She had to keep the wristband on.
Clarke looks around the group, scanning their faces to see how they've absorbed the information. "Okay, now let's go."
Alex starts to walk, stopping to glance back to see what Octavia was doing. Octavia kisses Bellamy's cheek after he tells her to go. She grins and chases after Alex, grabbing her arm and pulling her along. "Come on, we are not getting left behind!" Octavia tells her, making Alex smile.
The pair catch up with the group, only for Octavia to slow down again. Alex turns her head to see Octavia walking with Clarke. "Before you get any ideas, Finn's mine." Octavia tells her, making Alex think to herself that she was pretty sure she told Octavia about Finn and Raven. Maybe not. She could remind her later.
"Before you get any ideas, I don't care." Clarke replies, making Alex roll her eyes. Well this adventure was shaping up to be so much fun.
Hey, so I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Thank you for reading the chapter and please let me know what you think!
Guest- No, Alex doesn't have her own blog, but just to let you know, I do post about this on my own tumblr, catherine-the-fangirl.
Thank you to Guest and kathrynwerewolves14 for reviewing, kathrynwerewolves14 for favouriting, and AppoloniaAstria, Marloweee1856, Naturegirl15, NerdButProud, ashtree15, kathrynwerewolves14, letsnotbetaken, potpourri and shugochara119 for following!