"So, they finally let out the pyro?"
"The Spacewalker gets another shot to defy gravity. It's so good to see you! Do you know what's going on?"
Louisa grabbed Finn's hand and squeezed. As good as it was to see her friend, she could still feel her anxiety rise.
"Good to see you, too. I wasn't sure if I'd see again after what happened with Dax. Killer right hook by the way."
Louisa blushed and squeezed his hand again. She didn't want to think about that, especially when she was strapped in on a drop ship to who knows where.
"You didn't answer my question, Finn."
Finn frowned and shook his head. It seemed that their destination was a mystery. A moment later an angry voice could be heard rising above the buzz of conversation.
"Wells, why the hell are you here?"
"Someone's not happy," Louisa noted her gaze shifting from Finn to a monitor that was a broadcast from the Ark's chancellor, Jaha. As she listened, she caught the phrases "second chance" and "surviving on Earth."
Oh, my God, he's finally gone completely mental. She returned her attention to Finn, her pulse racing. Finn was too busy trying to escape his harness to notice the dark-haired girl's anxiety next to him.
"Finn! What are you doing?"
"Checking out the blonde next to Wells. Calm down, Loui, I'll be fine. You're going to be fine, too. I'll be right back."
Finn managed to wiggle his way out of the safety restraints and proceeded to propel his way over to where the Chancellor's son was seated.
"Spacewalk Bandit strikes again!"
Louisa could hear her peers' calls of approval for her friend's daring. She soon noticed two other boys attempting to also free themselves. The ship started to violently shake as it entered the Earth's atmosphere and became subjected to the gravitational pull. Suddenly, Finn was flung into the wall as gravity took control.
Louisa let out a shout of distress seeing his dazed form drop to the floor. Unfortunately, the other two weren't as lucky. With one last lurch, the ship settled on what Louisa hoped was the ground. The restraints released with a click and Louisa raced over to Finn.
"You idiot! Are you okay? You better be, you're the closest thing to family I have!"
"Loui?"
"Oh, Finn!"
"Would you mind, you're rambling? It's giving me a headache."
Louisa rolled her eyes and gave him hug. When she had pulled away, she offered him her hand.
"Shall we?"
Nodding, Finn stood and led her in the direction of the exit. Bright light filtered in causing Louisa to raise her hand to block it out, giving her eyes time to adjust.
Finn stopped them next to the blonde girl that had been sitting next to Wells.
"Why so serious, Princess? It's not like we died in a fiery explosion."
"Try telling that to the two guys who tried to follow you out of their seats," the girl said.
"You don't like being called Princess, do you, Princess?"
"Jesus, Finn! Would you?"
Finn smirked at Louisa's question.
"Go make some friends, Louisa," Finn said giving her a gentle push.
"I hate making friends. Asshat!" Louisa grumbled.
"Love you, Loui!"
Louisa extended her middle finger towards Finn's voice as walked away. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tall trees that wore their green leaves like magnificent robes. The drop ship had landed in what appeared to be a clearing in a forest. She remembered reading about the flora and fauna of Earth before the nuclear bombs destroyed everything or so she had been told.
Growing up in Farm Station gave Louisa a lead on recognizing the plants around them and how they could be used. She remembered the hours she spent memorizing her lessons and practicing them hands on. Her mentor, Charles Pike, had told her she had a "green thumb." She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the painful memories.
"Watch it!"
"Oh! I'm sorry! John?"
Louisa looked up at the boy she had ran into from her spot on the ground. His angular face hadn't changed much since the last time she saw him. However, the coldness in his blue eyes was new.
"Loui? I haven't seen you since that visiting day. You look different."
Louisa took his offered hand and stood up. She thought back to the last time she had seen him.
Monty Greene and Jasper Jordan had come to visit, bringing her new books and more Valerian root, their last delivery before they were sent to the Skybox as well. They had been discussing the various uses of poison sumac and other herbs. Their conversation came to a halt when a fight broke out.
"Shut your mouth!"
"Why don't you go float yourself?!"
"You first, douche bag!"
That was when John's fist connected with his visitor's jaw. Louisa jumped to her feet, rushing over to the two boys.
"Loui, don't!" Monty called after her.
"Stop! John, stop! He's not worth it," she yelled, trying to pull him off the unknown boy, she later learned his name was Dax, the same Dax she herself would have an altercation with.
"Let me go, Loui! I'm going to stomp his ass!"
John shoved her away and continued punching any part of Dax he could reach. The guards intervened at that point, separating the boys.
Loui's eyes filled with tears as she saw John escorted out. She didn't know what had caused the fight, but she knew his presence would be sorely missed.
"Earth to Loui, hello?"
"Sorry, this is just so surreal."
"You're telling me. Never thought I'd see the Ground."
"I never thought I'd see you," she said looking at her feet.
"Loui, I-," Joh cut himself off when he noticed Wells and Jasper having a disagreement.
"Hey, hey, hey, hands off him. He's with us," John spoke up.
Louisa found his statement confusing as she was sure he had never seen Jasper other than when he would come to see her.
"Relax. We're just trying to figure out where we are," Wells said raising his hands in surrender.
"We're on the ground. That not good enough for you?"
The man who had spoken looked to be in his twenties with dark shaggy hair, sharp brown eyes, and tanned skin. He wore a guard uniform which struck Louis as odd. Why send a guard with us?
"We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority," Wells responded.
"Screw your father! What, you thing you're in charge here, you and your little princess?"
A girl resembling the man in the uniform stepped forward, each word dripping with venom.
"Do you think we care who's in charge? 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'll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty-mile trek, okay? So, if you want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."
Blondie had a point, but Louisa was warried of trusting the Children of Privilege. What did they know about working for what they needed or making tough decisions? It seemed the guard agreed.
"I got a better idea. You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."
Delinquents shouted their approval.
"You're not listening! We all need to go."
"Why?" Louisa sked.
Wells looked at Louisa and scowled.
"Look at this, everybody- the Chancellor of Earth," crowed John.
"Think that's funny?"
Wells pushed John, his temper rising.
"Wells," the blonde girl warned.
John took his opening to trip Wells.
"No, but that was."
John kept circling Wells, goading him to fight back. Before more harm could be done, Finn dropped down between the two boys.
"Kid's got one leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"
Saint Finn, to the rescue, Louisa thought. As annoying as Finn could be, his drive to be everyone's friend was endearing. Especially since that is how they met in the Skybox.
Finn was brought in a few weeks before Louisa turned 17. He came in during rec time and as usual, Louisa had her nose in a book. On that afternoon, her topic of choice had been folklore before the radiation. Not by any means practical but enjoyable none the less.
"What the hell, Durgan?"
One of the other kids snatched the book from her hands.
"Baba Yaga? Check this out! The old lady lives in a shack with, what are those?"
"They're chicken legs," Louisa answered calmly. "May I have my book back, please?"
"Can you quit acting like a freak for once?"
"Why don't you quit acting like a prick for once?"
Finn walked up and snatched the book away. The boys stared each other down for a moment while Louis kept looking at her hands.
"Whatever, dude."
The other boy walked away.
"Here."
"Thanks."
"I'm Finn."
"Louisa," she replied keeping her eyes on her hands.
"So, where are you from?"
"Ummmm… Farm Station."
Her cheeks flushed as she quickly looked up at her rescuer. His brown eyes focused on her, a smile on his lips.
"I'm from Mecha."
Louisa came back to the present to over hear the girl from earlier arguing with the guard.
"… I need to have fun, Bell. I need to just do something crazy just because I can, and no one, including you, is gonna stop me."
"I can't stay with them, O."
"Now what are you talking about?"
By that point, Louisa's attention was brought to where John stood with his group of guys. Louisa hadn't met John until she was condemned to lock up. Like with Finn, it was a book that broke the ice.
Louisa had been in the Skybox for almost a year when the guards brought a sullen teen in. He walked calmly between the men, taking in his surroundings. She remembered that the first time his eyes met hers, she felt a spark of electricity in the pit of her stomach. She had to meet him.
The next day during rec, Louisa was found in her usual corner with a book in her hands. On this day, prehistoric dwellings absorbed her attention. She was halfway through her chapter when she felt eyes boring unto her. For the most part Louisa kept her nose down and tail covered, however John had caught her in a disagreeable mood.
"Can I help you?" she said briefly raising her eyes from the page she was on.
John smirked and plopped himself down next to her.
"Dwellings, huh?"
"Mmhm."
"Is this for a report?"
"No."
"For enjoyment?"
"Mmhm."
"What, you think you're gonna build a hut?"
"What do you want?" Louisa huffed, closing her book.
"I'm John. John Murphy."
"Louisa Durgan, now go away."
"You're the girl that almost blew up Farm Station!"
"And you're the annoying kid that can't take a hint."
"Meow, someone's cranky."
Louisa couldn't help but smile at John's impression of an angry cat. He really was quite good looking, prominent cheekbones, blue eyes, brown hair, and a lean build.
"But really, why are you reading and why aren't you using a tablet?"
"I like feeling the pages and the smell."
"Makes sense, I guess. You didn't tell me why you're reading."
"It's silly."
"So?"
"I want to be ready, for when we finally can go back."
"You realize you'll be dead when that happens, right?"
"I know. Can't hurt to dream though, can it?"
"Depends if you like being disappointed."
"Now who's staring?"
John's voice broke Louisa from her trance. She smiled, letting him see the blush that rose to her cheeks.
"Funny, I was just thinking about the time we met and your staring problem."
"Ha! Well it looks like you got your dream. A chance to test all the things you read in your books."
"So true, oh we best make a shelter, because there is no way I'm staying in the drop ship with everyone else."
"In that case, you'll want to talk to that guy," he gestured to the guard. "It seems he's the man with the plan."
"Let's go."
Louisa grabbed John's hand and started pulling him towards "the man". Before she could speak up, Finn stepped in front of her.
"We're going to Mount Weather for the supplies, want to come?"
"No, I need to stay here and get a shelter built, at least a temporary one."
"Make one for the both of us?" He said glancing at John, his eyebrows furrowing together.
"Sure."
"Remember what I said, Loui," he said nodding at John.
"Yeah, yeah, go with your princess."
Finn nodded and joined Princess, Jasper, Monty, and the girl that argued with the guard, who now had his attention on Louisa and John.
"Um hi. I'm Louisa and this is John."
"I thought you went by Murphy?"
"I do. Only Louisa calls me John," he replied, elbowing Louisa.
"Bellamy," the guard said nodding. "What do you want?"
"Oh ah, I was curious if I might look in the drop ship for materials to build a temporary shelter?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Jo-Murphy said you were in charge."
"He did, did he?"
"Yes."
"Go for it. When you're done show the others how to make their own."
Louisa nodded and made her way into the drop ship, Murphy following.