lizzy

Chapter 1 - Pilot

You and your friend Rachel sat silent in the skybox amongst the machine hum of The Ark.

The two of you had been talking all morning, daydreaming about what it would be like on the ground.

After all, you were born in space.

It had been 97 years since man set foot on earth.

The only survivors of the nuclear apocalypse were those on the various space stations orbiting the planet. Eventually they joined together to form The Ark, a society in space held together by strict rules, regulations and rationing.

You and your friends would know, being under 18, you were locked up for your crimes instead of being executed.

Rachel had just started talking about what boys she thought were cute. The two of you are from Farm Station so you knew the Farm Station boys best. You saw some of them the other day in the Earth Skills class you were forced to take.

"I MEAN HAVE YOU SEEN JOHN MURPHY?!?!" Rachel asked in a very excited tone

You laughed, she already knew who you’ve had a crush on for years.

"You know that John isn't exactly my type" you said with a smirk, thoughts drifting to a boy with shaggy dark brown curls and a goofy smile.

"I know! And I'm still saying that you should have just told-" Rachel was cut off by the door opening

"Prisoners three-two-seven and three-two-eight, face the wall" One of the guardsmen says as they enter

You stood up from your spots on the floor and and do as they say

They command you to hold out our right arms and they place a metal band around your wrist.

Worry sets in as they lead you into the hallway where it appears that every resident of The Skybox is being ushered out of their cells. There was screaming coming from the level above you.

You walked along the hallway with the others when you heard a familiar voice, worried

"Have you seen Monty? Is he already on board?"

You rushed forward to Jasper's side and place your hand on his shoulder

"Y/N? How did you get here? Have you seen Monty?" He asks, concern plastered on his face, goggles askew on his forehead

You give him a quick, tight hug.

"I'll tell you later, Rachel is right behind me. We haven't seen him but I'm sure he's okay. He's a smart guy" you say trying to reassure him

Rachel catches up to the two of you, rolls her eyes and looks back the way you came at a stretcher being brought up the hallway behind everyone

Clarke Griffin, unconscious, sedated. It must've been her who you heard screaming

Everyone is guided into The Dropship, Jasper climbs up the ladder ahead of you and as you go through the hatch you see him walking over to where Monty is already strapped in.

“There you are!” He says as he takes the spot next to Monty.

You follow and strap in on Jasper’s Left, Rachel slides in on your other side.

The two of you also greet Monty and watch as everyone else finds their spots

Across the ship, Clarke is placed in the seat next to…. Wells Jaha. What did he do to get put in lockup?

The guardsmen leave and shut the door behind them, the drop ship fills with chatter

You look to your left and see Rachel holding her straps with a death grip, her eyes closed tight out of fear and anticipation

Your own anxiety sets in and you reach out your right hand to grab Jasper’s sleeve

He looks at you with a smile but you can tell that he’s scared too

The ship launches with a thud

No going back now. You think to yourself . But at least three of the people I care about most are with me. We’ll get through this together.

“I can’t believe we’re on our way to earth.” Jasper says to you with a shaky voice

“Me either. I mean we’ve talked about this since we were kids. I just never thought it would actually happen”

The ship shakes violently as it hits the atmosphere.

Your hand moves from Jasper’s sleeve to his hand and he squeezes back tightly.

A screen on the wall turns on and we see Chancellor Jaha

He begins to explain our mission and why you were chosen to go to earth

Did he really just call us expendable??

A boy with messy long hair unbuckles himself and begins to float around the ship

“Spacewalk bandit strikes again!” Someone yells

I’ve heard about that guy before, if I remember right his name is Finn

Clarke and Wells are yelling at him but you can’t quite make out what they’re saying due to people cheering for the other two guys who follow Finn’s lead

The parachutes deploy and the three boys crash into the walls and floor as gravity returns.

You curse under your breath as sparks fly around you

The drop ship shakes as everyone around you begins to panic.

CRASH

The drop ship stops suddenly

Everyone looks around in silent disbelief

“Listen. No machine hum” Monty says, eyes wide

“Woah. That’s a first.” Jasper says as he slowly releases your hand

People around you unbuckle and start making their way to the lower levels

You unbuckle and turn to Rachel who is still shaking with fear.

You pat her arm “Hey, we’re alive.” You say as she slowly opens her eyes.

She unbuckles herself and the two of you follow Monty and Jasper down through the hatch

Everyone watches as a girl runs up and hugs a man in a guards uniform

People start talking about how that’s Octavia, the girl who was hidden under the floor her whole life, an illegal second child and that man was her brother.

The man, who you hear being referred to as Bellamy opens the door, you feel the rush of fresh air come inside

You see trees all around and a blue sky above them, you never thought you’d see a tree outside of the religious symbol on The Ark

Octavia slowly steps out

She gingerly steps onto the ground and takes in a deep breath and yells

“WE’RE BACK BITCHES!!!!”

Everyone ahead of you runs out of the drop ship

You, Jasper, Rachel and Monty look at each other before jumping off the edge of the ramp.

Your first steps on the ground are taken together.

Jasper starts running in wide circles, arms raised above his head screaming “WOOOO!!!!”

You start laughing and the three of you follow his lead, running through the forest around you.

As everyone calms down down you see Clarke and Wells looking at a map the she drew

Jasper walks up to them and says something but Wells pushes him away

A group of boys walks up and defends Jasper. You recognize the leader, John Murphy, the boy Rachel had been talking about just that morning. Maybe he’s not so bad after all.

Jasper rejoins you and you begin to walk away when you hear Wells tell everyone they need to get to mount weather

As you turn around you see Murphy shove Wells to the ground

Before Murphy can get closer , Finn jumps off the ship between them stopping the fight.

…….

You begin to chat with some other people around you when Jasper and Monty are pulled away by Finn and you turn to join them

Finn and Clarke explain that they’re going on a mission to mount weather and are bringing Jasper and Monty with them

“I’m coming too. Let me check with Rachel.” You say before walking over to where Rachel is sitting on the grass

“Hey, the guys and I are going out to help find supplies. Do you want to come too?” You ask when she looks up at you

“Nah dude, I’m still shaken up from the landing, I’m gonna stay with the group.” She replies “Besides, it gives you a better chance at being alone with him” she smirks at you

“Yeah, but Monty will be there. I know the three of us will stick together but it might be hard to be alone with him with Monty there” you say with a sigh

“Monty knows”

“Monty knows?? How do you know that?” You whisper, surprised

“He’s known almost as long as I have. Monty may be a genius but it doesn’t take one to figure out that you have a crush. I’m pretty sure the only person who doesn’t know is Jasper.” She says as you try to hush her at the last word

“Okay, I guess I’ll be fine. And I’m going to have a talk with Monty later.” You say and head back towards the group

You walk back, stepping beside Jasper and glance at Monty, looking for any kind of reaction

“Rachel isn’t coming, so I guess it’s just the five of us” you tell them

“Make that six!” Octavia says as she approaches the group

Bellamy tries to get her to stay but she’s not listening and Clarke warns Finn about taking off the wristbands

Clarke begins leading everyone through the forest, Finn and Octavia just behind her as you, Jasper and Monty take up the rear.

You walk so closely next to Jasper that your arms rub against each other. He smiles at you with that big goofy grin of his

“Beautiful out here, isn’t it?” He asks you

“Yeah, it is” you say, warmth rising to your cheeks

….

The group walks through a section of the woods with flowers all around

Finn picks a flower and places it behind Octavia’s ear with a grin

“Now, that, my friend, is game.” Jasper says to Monty, impressed by Finn’s effortless flirting

“That, my friend, is poison sumac” Monty replies casually

Octavia throws the flower to the ground in panic as Monty explains that the plant is actually beneficial

Clarke asks us to to catch up with her, annoyed at the banter, she comments on the lack of animals we have seen

As we continue on Finn tries to make conversation

“I’ve got to know what you two did to get busted” he says to Monty and Jasper

“Sumac is not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean” Monty replies with a smirk

“Someone forgot to replace what we took” Jasper says, elbowing Monty.

“Someone has apologized, like a thousand times” Monty replied with a laugh

Jasper turns to you

“Y/N, you still haven’t told me what you did. You were with us when we got arrested but they let you go. I was thankful that they did, but got worried when you stopped coming to visit”

You hesitated, everyone was looking at you.

“I was worried that they’d find what you guys hid behind Monty’s wall. If they did another search before your reviews and found it . . they would have floated you for sure……I..I thought I was giving you a better chance……”

You said as tears began to well but you took a deep breath and continued.

“They found me in the hallway with some of it, but they thought I was taking it from storage, not putting it back. Rachel was far enough away not to be noticed but she punched the guard who caught me.”

“You were trying to protect us?” Jasper asks his smile wavering

You nod.

“That was brave, and stupid.” Monty says while patting your shoulder.

Jasper puts his hand on your back, walking a little faster, helping you keep pace with the group.

“How about you, Octavia? What’d they get you for?” Jasper asks trying to continue the conversation with the rest of the group

“Being born.” She replies coldly

You cringe a little Jasper must not have heard or remembered everyone chatting on the ship

“That is so not game.” Monty says, Teasing Jasper

Clarke and Finn are crouched, looking through bush up ahead. You all gather in behind them and see a deer facing away from you in a clearing

“No animals, huh?” Finn whispers

Snap

Someone stepped on a twig.

The deer looks in our direction and the sight is horrifying

It has two heads fused together.

You all gasp

It stares momentarily then runs off

……..

Finn breaks the silence by asking why they sent people down here now after all the years

The group discusses their various theories, old records, satellites etc while Octavia is spinning around a tree

Clarke pipes up

“The Ark is dying”

She goes on to explain how there’s a problem with the oxygen filtration and how Wells betrayed her and her father

How sending you down bought time for everyone up there

“They’re gonna kill more people, aren’t they?” Monty asks

Your mind drifts to your parents, how long do they have left?

“Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all” Octavia says running ahead

“You don’t mean that!” Jasper shouts while following after her

You and Monty share a look before following him

You come over a hill and see Jasper staring ahead jaw dropped open, you couldn’t help but think of how cute he looked with the awestruck expression

“Damn, I love Earth….” He said as you walked up

You could finally see what he was staring at

Octavia. Undressing.

Oh…That’s what he’s staring at. You thought disappointedly

Clarke asks her what the hell she’s doing

She just looks back at everyone then jumps off the rock she’s standing on

Splash

You all run over and see her up to her shoulders in what appears to be a river

Monty tells her that none of you can swim

“I know , but we can stand” she says laughing while standing up in the waist deep water

Clarke says there’s not supposed to be a river here but Finn seems not to care and tells everyone to just take off their clothes.

You turn towards Jasper with the water behind you as everyone begins undressing. You take off your long sleeve shirt, leaving you in your sports bra.

Jasper had removed his jacket revealing his signature Earth Day shirt

He looks behind you, eyes widening

“Octavia get out of the water! Get out of the water now!” He screams

You turn around and see something serpent like come up behind Octavia and drag her under as she shrieks

Jasper continues shouting for her as the others come up with a plan to distract the creature

You help them push a large rock into the water and the creature briefly lets her go

“Octavia get to the shore now!” Jasper yells as he rushes past you and jumps into the water after her and begins to help her back to land as the creature begins to come back

Jasper pulls her onto the rocks, Octavia’s leg is badly scratched.

Clarke rushes over and begins treating Octavia’s wounds.

Octavia begins profusely thanking Jasper and pulls him in close for a hug but continues clinging to him.

“Note to self, next time, save the girl.” Monty says with a smile and everyone laughs nervously

You look up at Monty with a slightly sad smile and he returns it with a knowing look in his eye

…..

The group continues walking for a while until night begins to fall

You settle in a small clearing and everyone finds a place.

You begin to make your way over to where Jasper is leaning against a tree when Octavia settles down next to him.

You opt for your own tree nearby occasionally glancing at them but they don’t seem to notice as they fall asleep together

There’s a rustling beside you and you see Monty standing above you “Can I sit here?” He asks

“Sure.” You reply with a sigh

Monty slowly sits down on the ground next to you, crossing his ankles as he leans against the tree beside you

“Hey.” He says with a small smile

“Rachel told me you know” you say flatly

“Know what?”

You nod towards Jasper

“Oh, that. I’ve known for a while. I haven’t said a word to him” He glances at Jasper then looks back at you “How are you doing?”

“I’ll be alright. Do you think they really like each other?” You reply in a defeated tone

“Maybe. But you know he would have done the same for you, right?”

“I know he would, it’s just a little tough seeing them. I had this plan to tell him back on the Ark, but you got busted before I could act on it.”

“You’ll get another chance to tell him, I just know it. Good night Y/N” he gets up and goes to a nearby tree to settle down

As you’re drifting off to sleep, you hear some footsteps that startle you. You look up and see Finn and Clarke coming back into camp from a walk of sorts

…..

The next morning you’re back to walking your way to mount weather, it shouldn’t be far now.

You come up to a wide section of the river that you need to cross

Jasper and Finn work on a turning vines into a rope to swing across, it reminds you of the old children’s stories about people who lived in the jungle.

Once it’s complete, Finn and Jasper stand on a high rock as Finn prepares to swing first.

Jasper gives him a pep talk while the group stands and watches, you are between Octavia and Monty.

Jasper looks in your direction but you’re sure that he’s looking at Octavia next to you

He turns back to Finn “Let me. Can do it.” He says seriously

“I knew there was a badass in there somewhere.” Finn says with a laugh.

He hands the vine to Jasper who grips it nervously

“Hey. It’s okay to be afraid, Jasper. The trick is not fighting it.”

Jasper looks much more confident and says “See you on the other side.”

He jumps off the edge of the rock, tightly holding onto the vine. You watch, excited and scared it will snap but it holds the weight of his skinny frame as he swings across.

Everyone hoots and hollers

At the apogee, he lets go. He’s almost short of the ruins of a dock but he makes it, fumbling to get up after the hard landing.

He’s still laughing

“You did it Jasper!” Clarke yells as everyone is cheering

Finn invites Clarke to go next and she steps up onto the rock formation

“Wooo!!! Apogee!!” Jasper yells across the river.

He looks down and picks up a sheet of metal behind him

“We did it!!! Mount Weather!! Woo!!!”

He holds up the nearly disintegrated sign for Mount Weather, everyone cheers louder

He looks you in the eye and smiles as big and goofily as ever

You return a similar smile, excited for the rest of the journey

THUNK

Something hits Jasper in the chest and it knocks him through the air onto his back

You see him slumped back with a spear stuck in his chest.

Panic immediately comes and you scream

“JASPER!!”

You begin to rush forward but feel a hand holding you back by your arm, you don’t have to look to see that it’s Monty

Everyone is shouting at Jasper hoping to get a response but there is none.

Monty tries to guide you back.

“We need to go!” He urges

“No, I'm not leaving him!” You say as tears begin to fall

“We have to get to safety.” He says as you begin to let him pull you along.

When you’re all safely behind a bush, Clarke announces that you’re not alone down there

As everyone begins to run back the way you came you say to Monty through your tears “I love him…”