follow your calling.

the ark or the ground

you've chosen the ark.

proceed?

you were born in space.

it's been 97 years since a nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on earth, leaving the planet simmering in radiation. fortunately, there were survivors. 12 operational space stations at the time of the apocalypse. they joined together and became one; the ark.

on the ark, every crime, no matter how small, is punishable by death. unless you're under the age of 18. why? the answer is, in fact, why you yourself are among the minors locked in prison cells on the left wing of the ship. the ark is dying. overpopulation and a failing oxygen supply is leading everyone to their demise. when you tried to inform the citizens of the ark, you were caught and jailed for treason.

it is one month before your 18th birthday.

guards burst through your door.

you jump to your feet, panicked. it's not your time yet. you're still 17. this isn't protocol.

"prisionor 319," one of them says, brandishing a baton in his left hand. "hands against the wall, please."

"what is this?" you ask, turning to the wall but watching the guards out of your periphery. one of them, the one without the baton, begins approaching you. he is holding a metal box, of which he pops the lid. wristbands. metal ones, thick, with tiny needles inside. this can't be right - your mother is a doctor, you know, for a fact, that they use syringes if they need to sedate you. long enough to get to the airlock.

the guard fiddles with the box momentarily, and you notice the one with the baton seems distracted by something just outside your door. you steel your nerves and make a split second decision. you make a break for it.

the doors to the cells have been opened. there are guards everywhere.

you spy your mother running towards you - doctor privileges, you suppose. the second she's within reach, you grasp for her arms.

"mom? mom what's going on?"

she almost smiles. "you're being sent to the ground. all 100 of you."

then, suddenly, you've blacked out.

when you wake up, you're on a spaceship. or, perhaps more appropriately, a dropship. you recognize some of the people around you.

wells is just to your left. he was your best friend, but you're convinced he's the reason your dad got floated - executed, that is.

finn is directly across from you. he was jailed for taking an illegal spacewalk. you think he's got a bit of an attitude problem.

monty and jasper are to his right. in juvi for stealing (or growing, really you don't know) weed.

the dropship begins to rumble, as a message from the chancellor plays on a mounted television, explaining what is happening. you are expendable. you're being sent to the ground to see if earth is survivable again.

the dropship takes off.

take off is rough, but once you're hurtling through space, the ride smoothes down significantly. enough that it gives finn and two other kids the terrible idea to unstrap themselves from their seats and float in zero g.

what do you do?

"stop it. you're going to get yourself killed."

say nothing

finn eyes you up and down, almost amused.

"you're the traitor that's been in solitude for a year," he says, tone matter-of-fact, though somehow still cocky.

"and you're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk," you fire back, not giving into his scrutiny.

he nods, then says; "but it was fun!" a pause, where he looks you over again. "i'm finn."

you don't respond.

finn floats on his back, drifting over to you and wells. he eyes wells up and down, before saying; "look at that, wells. your dad floated me after all."

wells grits his teeth. "strap in if you want to live."

finn scoffs, eyes drifting over to you.

you say nothing.

there's a sudden shudder throughout the ship, and finn goes flying. the two other kids aren't far behind him.

"the parachutes engaged," wells says. the dropship is slowing it's descent.

suddenly, there's a massive impact, and then silence. you've landed.

everyone unstraps.

you're among the last to make it down to the lower level, but you are in time to see an older boy - much older, by a few years at least, you know he shouldn't be here - go to pull the latch that'll open the doors.

"stop!" you say, pushing your way through the crowd. "the air could be toxic."

he regards you coolly. "if the air's toxic, we're all dead anyway."

you open your mouth to rebuttle, but then a different voice rings out over the crowd.

"bellamy?"

a girl pushes through the crowd and throws her arms around bellamy. he smiles, returns the hug. you only stare.

someone calls out something over the crowd, and the girl turns her head.

"do you mind?" she says. "i haven't seen my brother in over a year."

another voice, "no one has a brother!" then someone else, "that's octavia blake! the girl they found hidden under the floor!"

octavia grits her teeth, then launches herself towards the voices. bellamy just manages to grab onto her waist and hold her back.

"c'mon," he says, "let's give them something else to remember you by."

he pulls the lever. the doors open.

earth is beautiful. you knew it would be, but you never really thought you'd be as engulfed in awe as you are now.

you're also pleasantly surprised to find you haven't died.

you watch as - unexpectedly - none of the delinquents storm the entrance. no one trusts the ground just yet. except maybe octavia.

the girl takes a few steps forward and inhales - deep into her lungs. nothing happens. her eyes open, and she steps onto the ground. everyone watches with baited breath as she looks around the forest you've been dropped into. then, she raises her arms.

"we're back bitches!"

everyone rushes through the door. you can't even find it in yourself to be mad at them for being so reckless. there's just one problem;

they dropped you on the wrong damn mountain.

you find a map in one of the ark supplied packs on the dropship. the chancellor had given you clear instructions on the telecom, just after he stated that the lot of you were expendable. mount weather has supplies. all kinds of supplies, stuff you need to live; rations, water, shelter.

except now, there's an entire valley separating you and it.

what do you do?

assemble a team.

talk to wells.

you march over to bellamy. he doesn't seem to care about the chaos as much as you do. in fact, he seems to revel in it.

"what can i do for you princess?" he says.

to try to pay no mind to the nickname. "i need a team." you say.

"for what?"

god, no one listened to the transmission did they? "everything we need to survive is across that valley. that means food, medicine, comfort. i need to take a team to figure out how to get us there alive."

bellamy doesn't say anything for a moment, but you get the feeling he isn't taking you too seriously. "fine," he says, as though he's admitting defeat. "take monty and jasper."

you raise an eyebrow. monty and jasper may be the two delinquents who might actually listen, but they're all bones. "you think they'll survive beyond two hours in these woods?"

"you asked for a team. i'm giving you one."

"count me in too."

finn comes up from behind bellamy, smirk pulling at his features.

you frown, but one look at bellamy and you know this is the best it's gonna get. "fine. grab monty and jasper, it's a 20 mile trek, so pack water and a nights rations."

finn smiles at you, and nods. "you got it, cap'n."

you try not to roll your eyes.

you begin searching for wells, but when you find him, you wish you hadn't.

the boy was talking to jasper, and clearly the conversation wasn't going well. wells was grabbing jasper by the arm, moving him away from what looks like a map.

"hey, hey, hey,"

it's murphy. his gang of goons isn't too far behind him. "hands off him, he's with us."

wells holds up his hands. "relax," he says. "i'm just trying to figure out where we are."

"we're on the ground," bellamy calls, standing a ways off. octavia is beside him. "is that not good enough for you?"

wells squares his jaw, but you can tell he's nervous. he takes a step towards bellamy. "look, we need to find mount weather. you heard my fathers message, that has to be our first priority."

octavia scoffs. "screw your father."

"you think you're in charge now?" octavia continues, and her gaze shifts to you, looking you up and down. "you and your little... princess?"

"do you think we care who's in charge?" you say, coming up from behind wells. "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?"

you pause, making sure everyone's listening. "we're looking at a 20 mile trek, okay? so if we want to get there before dark we need to leave. now."

"i got a better idea." bellamy says, not missing a beat. "you two go. let the privileged do the hard work for a change."

there's a chorus of agreement from the small crowd that has gathered around you. you take a breath, but before you can rebuttal, wells starts talking again.

"you're not listening. we all need to go."

just as he finishes, murphy shoves him from behind.

"listen everybody," he says, smirking. "chancellor of earth."

"you think that's funny?" wells says.

before he can register what's happening, murphy takes out his ankle, and wells is on his back.

murphy is standing above him. "no, but that was."

there's some chatter from the crowd as wells stands, squaring his shoulders and raising his fists, like a boxer. you can tell the leg murphy had taken out is bothering him, he's barely putting any weight on it.

murphy makes some swipes at him, but never actually hits him. he laughs. "c'mon," he says, taunting.

just then, seemingly out of nowhere, finn has fallen between the two boys.

he'd jumped off the dropship, in a sort of stunning, almost elegant way that leaves murphy speechless. maybe a little intimidated, even. finn looks him dead in the eye.

"the kid's got one leg," he says. "maybe wait 'til it's a fair fight."

murphy doesn't say anything, just regards finn coolly. the silence is thick. no one moves.

then;

"hey, spacewalker," it's octavia, walking up from behind finn, twinkle in her eye. "rescue me next."

finn smiles at her, and the tension dissolves. everyone slowly disperses - including octavia, being drug away by bellamy, leaving only you, finn, and wells. you immediately sit wells down, determined to look at his sprained ankle.

"so," finn says. "when do we leave?"

you turn to look up at him. "now." then, to wells, "we'll be back tomorrow with food."

wells squints at you, almost baffled. "how are the two of you gonna carry enough food for a hundred people?"

finn purses his lips and looks around, spotting jasper and monty just behind him. he grabs the two of them by the shoulders and spins them around so they're facing the two of you.

"four," he says. "can we go now?"

the four of you are packed; a nights rations, whatever you could scrounge up from around camp, securely sitting at the bottoms of your packs. finn cracks his knuckles, and opens his mouth to say something, when;

"looks like a party," it's octavia, sidling up to the four of you, bellamy close on her heels. "make it five."

"what the hell are you doing?" bellamy hisses.

"going for a walk," octavia says. her voice sounds strained.

you open your mouth to comment, when something catches your eye. you grab for finn's arm, pulling his wristband close to your face. there's a black scuff mark on it.

"were you trying to take this off?

finn eyes you a bit. "yeah. so?"

"so," you say, shoving finns arm away from you. "that wristband transmits your vial signs to the ark. take it off, and they'll think you're dead."

finn doesn't miss a beat. "should i care?"

you're just as fast. "i don't know, do you want the people you love to think you're dead? do you want them to follow us down here in two months? because they won't if they think we're dying."

finn at least has the decency to look guilty. he drops his head.

"okay," you say. "now let's go."