𝐎𝐍𝐄, the journey to the ground

      𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄.

      She stands in a forest, her shoes crushing the blades of grass below her feet. Breeze blowing her hair behind her head. Sun hitting her eyes, forcing her to keep her hand up so she can see what's in front of her. There's a cottage residing in the middle of this forest, right along a wide river. The cottage isn't large, but large enough to hold every dream she's ever had.

      She often thinks about this, imagining how her life could be like if she wasn't confined to four metal walls that have suffered almost a hundred years of wear and tear. This dream has circulated through her brain many times, keeping her focused on what's possible, rather than the reality around her.

      The Ark has never been a place for dreams, but rather a place for truth. A place where truth grounds people, keeps them tethered to reality. The truth of how there's still one hundred years left until the citizens of the Ark can even think about going down to the ground. One hundred years before some people can experience the dreams she's had her entire life.

      She itches for the ground. To breathe real air, rather than the stale air that has survived generations. To see grass, trees, natural bodies of water — she could go on and on about what she wants, but she's stuck knowing that she probably will never get it.

      She's lived within the walls of a cell in solitary for almost three years at this point, living amongst her imagination and the occasional book a guard will bring her — a book her father passes along, rather than keeping her isolated in her cell, lacking any human contact at all. She's come to terms with her reality, her impending doom that's only hours, possibly minutes away now.

      She had always imagined her eighteenth birthday beforehand, but rather than imagining it in a way that members of the Ark would approve of, her dreams were of touching down on the ground, seeing colors that the Ark didn't have, smelling natural resources that the Ark couldn't dream of having. It hasn't taken her long to recognize the reality of her situation, how she's not getting that.

      She stopped dreaming of these things a long time ago.

      The fate of Makayla Donnelly has been written in the stars ever since a single day a few years ago. She sealed her fate with her actions, breaking off from the path she had paved for herself for years, and creating a new one, that doomed her fate. She sealed her fate to one of having the oxygen that would dance around her lungs be sucked out of her in a split second, leaving her motionless and another body to float around space.

      To think that this is what her life has come to, sitting and waiting on the cold metal floor of her cell just to be brought to her death, would disappoint the younger version of her. The same girl who was innocent enough to believe that her eighteenth birthday would be filled with happiness and the images she would think of late at night as she turned the tattered pages of old books is now counting down the seconds for her eighteenth birthday to be celebrated with a funeral.

      She traces shapes on the cell floor as she listens for the incoming footsteps of a guard, or multiple, to take her away. There's always steps outside her cell door, only for the figure — or figures — outside to walk away. She counts, second by second, until the door swings open, welcoming her to her impending doom.

      "Prisoner 1 — 5 — 3, against the wall" A guard says, commanding her to follow standard protocol, one that she's become familiar with whenever it was time for meals. She wouldn't consider herself dangerous, or anywhere close to being a danger to anyone, for that matter — but the members of the Ark have twisted minds that have changed the way she's perceived.

      Once upon a time people would tell her that she's the most innocent, the most pure member of the Ark. Once upon a time people would laugh at her dreams, sometimes criticize her, but they would appreciate her. Light in a room full of hopeless dreams.

      Even after her brief moment in the spotlight, barely anyone remembers her. Nobody could place a name to the face, or associate a dream with a person. To put it quite plainly, she's been forgotten.

      She looks up from the floor, slowly but surely standing up and turning to face the wall. "Is it time?".

      Her answer comes in the form of handcuffs around her wrists.

      Years ago she wouldn't have accepted that her fate has been predetermined. She would've argued that she can change her fate, change the way her life has been designed — no part of her would've accepted that her fate is one where she gets sent out of an airlock into space, just to get all the oxygen sucked out of her lungs.

      She probably would've fought back. Gone down kicking and screaming, saying that her punishment is undeserved. She would've fought for her freedom, fought for her life, fought for her sanity.

      Because once upon a time, Makayla Donnelly would've fought tooth and nail to get down to Earth — where she insists she belongs. Where she believes she could thrive. Where she could truly find what her purpose is, rather than be another body on the Ark wasting oxygen, one that doesn't provide much for the well–being of the members of the Ark.

      They drag her to a room, one that she's never been in. There's a round table in the middle, the esteemed members of the Council sitting at every seat. She's only ever interacted with a few members of the Council, only ever seeing them when she was brought to her cell almost three years ago. She wasn't given a trial — rather being thrown into solitary like it's nothing.

      They're shuffling through papers — papers that she knows are her file. Papers that detail her life through everyone's perspective but her own, giving her an identity that she won't accept as hers. She's not the basket case it makes her out to be, not the wide–eyed little girl who didn't have a clue what the reality of her situation is. She's not the girl that's been typed up into that file — she refuses to be.

      "Makayla Donnelly, correct?" A voice says, one she registers as Marcus Kane's. She remembers Kane — why wouldn't she? She remembers how it felt when he condemned her to her fate, telling the universe that she wouldn't get what she dreamed of. She stares back at him blankly, not knowing what to say.

      He seems to take her silence as an answer, glancing between the rest of the members of the council. Silent words are spoken between them, as if they're teasing her. She's known exactly where she's going to end up for the past three years — there's no denying that she can't escape this fate that's been planned out for her. The fate that she once refused to accept is now being dangled in front of her, almost in a teasing manner, and she'd much rather take it and run than stand here waiting.

      She watches as the Chancellor — Thelonious Jaha — glances between her and the rest of the council one more time. She doesn't think there's any point in causing the suspense, wasting her remaining time on a pointless conversation that could've easily been avoided.

      "Arson is deemed an inexcusable crime, so you will not be pardoned" The Chancellor explains, and her eyes dare to roll in their sockets. She bites her tongue, sensing another statement forming on the Chancellor's tongue. She doesn't think she deserves the extra punishment of sitting and waiting for the Council to detail her inevitable demise to her, when she knows exactly what's going to happen. Something she's accepted for a long time.

      "But, you will not be brought to the airlock today".

      "What is that supposed to mean?" She questions, not understanding why she isn't being floated. She's known her fate for years, but never once expected to be told she wouldn't be meeting that fate.

      A frustrated sigh is let out by the Chancellor, and she watches him rub his forehead with his hands. "You're going to Earth, Makayla. Has that not been what you've wanted this entire time?".

      She bites her tongue as her skin pales — she's almost certain that she didn't hear the Chancellor right. Going to Earth is impossible for another hundred years, and she's known this since the day she could properly understand what everyone around her was saying. She may have once dreamed of Earth, and was once determined to get there someday, but her dreams faded into the background a long time ago.

      She barely registers that she's being dragged away by the guards that have been standing beside her this entire time. She's hung up on the Chancellor's words, still debating if it's some sort of joke, some sort of sick and twisted action that only ends up with her being thrown into the airlock.

      How could she be given everything that she's ever wanted? How could she be handed the fate she once thought she could only dream of having on a silver platter? How could it be given to her by the same hands that made her think she would celebrate her eighteenth birthday with a funeral?

      How are her dreams that she was once told was foolish coming true?

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      𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇. Dreams that are not meant to come true. Dreams that are meant for drawings, books, journals — not real life, not for real people.

      The Ark has always been built off the basis of everyone doing their part to keep the human race alive. Her generation and the generations before that all were meant to accept that they would never reach the ground, but the work they put in would give the future generations the opportunity to see Earth for what it really is. They would get to reap the rewards of their efforts, rather than die from oxygen deprivation as the Ark shuts down for good.

      Everything that she was supposed to follow when she was younger, every foundation of life that she was taught by teachers and family members was to work hard to give the future generations a chance. They would get the chance of a lifetime, while her life would be one small part of the large effort to give the human race another chance at life on Earth. She was told to be a hard worker, to work hard to give the future generations this chance, but she wanted this chance for herself.

      And now she's getting everything she dreamed of.

      Green grass, fresh air, winding rivers — she could list all the things that the younger version of her strived to obtain, but that list would go on forever. The part of her that had once accepted that she would die on her eighteenth birthday, and barely anybody would mourn her death, has now faded away and she feels at peace with herself. At peace with the fact that she's not celebrating her movement into adulthood with a funeral amongst the stars, and rather celebrating it with her childhood dreams.

      She doesn't even mind that there's a metal wristband attached to her arm, another reminder that the Ark is going to stick with her one way or another. Another reminder of the death she escaped that morning.

      There's a girl sitting next to her, picking at her jeans obsessively. She doesn't recognize this girl, not having seen the brunette before — so she assumes she's from another station, rather than Mecha, where she grew up.

      "Hey — are you okay?" She questions, watching as the girl intently picks at her jeans, rather than glance around the dropship and cause commotion like other teenagers are. The girl's head shoots up, almost looking taken aback by the fact that the blonde spoke to her.

      The brunette hesitantly glances at her, moving her hand away from her jeans. "How okay can someone be if they're being sent to their death four months early?".

      She bites her inner cheek. She didn't give it a thought that some people would think that being sent to Earth is a death sentence, rather than the freeing experience she believes it's supposed to be. She didn't think someone would become panicked over the fact that they're being sent to Earth.

      "I wouldn't say we're being sent to our death — why would the Ark waste a dropship just to get rid of a bunch of us?".

      The brunette rolls her eyes. "By the Ark you mean the Council, and the Council can do some fucked up things".

      She smiles sadly, because she knows it's true. The Council locked her away and killed her mother in an unjust way, and has done so many more cruel things to others. Many of the things done to plenty of the teenagers in the dropship have been unjust, unreasonable, and completely fucked up. She might be thankful that they've finally given her what she's always wanted, but she's not thankful for the method of how she got here.

      "I'm Makayla" She offers, changing the subject from the negatives of the Council to something that could turn positive. The girl beside her finally gives her a small smile as she holds out her hand, offering the brunette a pathway into a friendship she didn't know she had in her.

      "I'm Quinn".

      She smiles, hoping this interaction turns into a new friendship. She'd never go out of her way to replace what she has with one of her childhood friends — Sam — but she doesn't know if she'll be able to survive down on Earth without anyone to call her family.

      It's bittersweet, leaving the Ark. She's leaving her father and her best friend, someone who's essentially part of her family. She can't imagine a world without either of them, the two people being prominent figures in her life that have become a part of who she is. But also, she's getting all she's ever wanted — peace, happiness, and an area of the Earth to thrive in.

      Multiple scattered screens throughout the dropship turn on, showing the face of Chancellor Jaha. "Prisoners of the ark, hear me now" The Chancellor begins saying, earning some eye rolls and scoffs from the delinquents in the dropship. "You've 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's waiting for you down there, if the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you expendable".

      She doesn't think that any of the crimes the people on the dropship have committed have made them expendable — they're all humans, after all. She thinks that it's safe to assume that most of the crimes the teens on the dropship have committed are small crimes — crimes like theft, which doesn't deserve the looming threat of being floated.

      There's a muffled voice coming from another layer of the dropship, it being just loud enough for her to register that Wells Jaha's name was said.

      "Why the hell is Wells here?" She questions, not sure who she's directing that to. It doesn't make sense for Wells to be there — she's only spoken to him a few times, but from the conversations they've had, he doesn't seem like the type to get arrested. And his father doesn't seem like the type to allow him to get arrested.

      She sees Quinn raise an eyebrow out of the corner of her eye. "Jaha's kid is here?".

      She shrugs in response. "I think so. I'm almost certain I heard someone say his name through the floor".

      The audio from the Ark crackles again. "The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non–perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years".

      "Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately. Your one responsibility is to stay alive". The image of the Chancellor begins to come in and out, static overcoming the screen as commotion from another level grows louder. She watches the screen show the Chancellor moving to say something once again, but the static quickly cuts him off as the dropship grows closer and closer to the Earth's surface.

      Just as quickly as the commotion started, the commotion stops. The only sound is quiet breathing of the rest of the delinquents until the hatches open, giving the delinquents the opportunity to file down the ladders and reach the bottom. She's quick to unbuckle herself, Quinn shortly following after her, and they're quick to find themselves in the middle of a large group of people as voices are heard from the front of the mass.

      "Bellamy?" A female voice asks, and she's not sure who that is. She can't see past some of the delinquents' heads, not giving her the opportunity to see the scene that's unfolding in front of them all.

      There's brief silence, before a voice responds. "Octavia — look how much you've grown!".

      A person in front of her moves their head, and she's able to see the two figures at the front of the dropship. She watches as they hug, being quick to notice similarities in their features. But she's not that interested in witnessing the reunion of these two, instead finding herself eager to move outside towards things that she once thought she could only imagine.

      "What the hell are you wearing — a guard's uniform?" Octavia questions, quickly dropping the hug. The blonde bites her tongue, assuming that the Ark had sent down a guard to watch over them. Her mind quickly comes to the thought that she was inches away from the freedom she's always wanted, and yet the Ark is there to hang over her head.

      "I borrowed it to get on the dropship with you. Someone's got to look after you" The man says in response, a smile painted on his face.

      A blonde girl pushes her way through the crowd, making her way to the front. She can't see the expression on her face, almost growing tired of waiting as people converse at the front. The blonde questions the man about his wristband, and she swears she can feel her patience running thin.

      She watches as Octavia turns to face her. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year".

      The girl's statement causes the crowd to whisper amongst each other, most of the words being exchanged are ones that she can't understand. There's no reaction out of Quinn, and she doesn't understand why, because the news of someone having a brother on the Ark seems like a curse, one that nobody can speak of aloud.

      Someone shouts out something that strikes a bone in the girl, which causes the younger of the two siblings to lunge forward, her patience having grown thin with the entire crowd. Her brother holds her back, and she swears she can feel one of her last strands of patience tear away.

      "Octavia — Octavia! Let's give them something else to remember you by!" Bellamy quickly says, holding his sister back from causing a fight. She lets out a sigh, itching to storm through the crowd and pull the lever herself so she can get out of the dropship.

      She's waited eighteen years to see the ground. She yearns for it. Every part of her itches to feel the grass, to breathe the air, to know what it's like to be somewhere where she belongs. She doesn't want to wait any longer to see if she'll celebrate her birthday with her death.

      She misses the rest of the siblings' conversation, only bringing her attention back when the lever is pulled and the sun starts to peak through. As the dropship's door finally hits the ground, she finds a smile painting her face, the realization dawning on her that she's finally getting everything she's dreamed of.

      Octavia steps off of the platform, taking in her surroundings. She's anxious where she's standing — wanting to know if the ground is truly survivable or not. Itching to know if she'll end up dead by the end of the day. Everyone around her is quiet, watching and waiting for a sign that it's safe. She listens as the brunette lets out a joyful laugh, spreading her arms out, shouting with pure glee that they're back.

      Even though she didn't make the declaration — she's never felt more free in her life.

—————————————————————————————

      𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐒, staring up at the passing clouds with a smile on her face. Somewhere of in the distance, behind the clouds and the bright blue sky she's always dreamed of seeing, the Ark orbits the Earth, where her father and best friend reside. Where her family is missing out on the experience of a lifetime, something she's always dreamed of having. They don't get to see the moving clouds from on the ground. They don't get to breathe in the fresh air, or see colors besides gray surrounding them.

      They don't get to live out her dreams like she's getting to.

      Her dreams aren't shared by everyone, and she knows for sure that Sam doesn't think the same. She knows that being able to float in zero–gravity has always been his dream, but she can't help but wonder how he would really feel if he were on the ground. If he got to experience these things firsthand, rather than read about them in books. Rather than imagine them, if he would even attempt to do so.

      "Hey sunshine, you good?" She hears Quinn say, the brunette sitting down next to her in the grass. She smiles, lifting her body off of the ground to face her.

      "This is the best birthday present I think I ever could've asked for" She explains, only feeling joy as she speaks. "I woke up thinking I would be dying, and instead I'm sitting on the ground, experiencing things I thought were only dreams".

      She watches Quinn raise an eyebrow ever so slightly. "It's your birthday?".

      She nods in response. "First day being an adult, and I'm spending it on the ground".

      She watches Quinn smile, a smile she hasn't seen before. She's glad others are glad to be on the ground, just like she is. She's ecstatic — feeling the childlike joy she hasn't felt since she was a little kid. She's feeling the same joy that she once felt when her parents, or Sam, would ask her what new fact she learned about Earth, what new information was taking over her personality.

      "Is this everything you imagined?" The brunette questions, and though the blonde hasn't been on the ground for long, she swears it's living up to her dreams. Everything she's seen — minus the roughly one hundred teenagers that are running around, causing chaos — somehow matches what the younger version of her would talk about.

      She nods. "Yeah, I —".

      "Mick?".

      She looks over, all words that she would've spoken disappearing from her tongue. She never thought she'd hear his voice again, the same voice that became intertwined with her family's years ago. The same voice that belongs to her best friend, one that has been there for her since they met.

      "Sam?" She questions, but she knows it's him. She can recognize that voice anywhere, since she's spent years around it. She jumps up from where she's sitting and runs over to him, launching herself into the biggest hug she thinks she'll ever give.

      The joy she feels radiates off of her, and anyone could feel it from a mile away. She has never felt more happy, joyful, or alive in her life, and she swears it just continues to get better.

      To think that not long ago she was more concerned with being given the fate she had been expecting for almost three years, and now she stands in the environment that she could only dream about once in her life. She's surrounded by what she's dreamed of, her best friend, and someone she hopes to become friends with soon.

      Her fate has been rewritten.

      "Why the hell are you here? What happened to zero–gravity? What happened to being a mechanic?" She questions, her words coming out too fast to understand. Her hands are on his shoulders, holding onto him as if he isn't real. Registering the fact that he's standing, with his own two feet, on the surface of the Earth now seems odd, given the fact that she's always known him to be a rule follower.

      To her, it truly feels like her life is being rewritten. The universe had once hung over her head an impending doom, one that she was reluctant to accept but inevitably did. There was a path that split into two, her actions causing chain reactions that led her to where she is today. The universe has rewritten her destiny, her fate, and there is no longer a looming threat of death hanging over her head. There is no burden of her life being limited to eighteen years being dangled in front of her, teasing her with the knowledge of her fate not being changeable.

      "I might've gotten arrested — but it wasn't my fault. Someone stole some random shit, and I got accused" He explains, holding onto her arms as well. She hasn't seen him in what seems like forever, almost three years of separation keeping them apart. This was a reunion that she wasn't expecting, having had no idea that she would ever see her best friend again.

      She frowns at that. "Are you okay with being here though?".

      There's a beat before he responds. "I'm conflicted. But at least you're here".

      She smiles, and then glances back at Quinn. "Quinn! This is Sam, I've known him for years. And Sam, this is Quinn" She glances between them. "I met her on the dropship".

      They smile at each other, and she can't help but feel satisfied with her current situation. She has her friends, someone she considers family, and she's standing on the planet she once could only dream about. She can only hope that the image that bounces around her mind every so often can come true, and she can share her dreams with others.

      Her fate has been rewritten, and her life can only go uphill from here.

      𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 —

rewriting this was painful as FUCK but at least i finally got it rewritten

makayla's my baby and she's gonna go through hell (so are sam and quinn) but she gets to be happy for a little bit 

welcome to disillusionment though! hope you like it!

𝟒𝟓𝟖𝟎 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒