Life is too short as it is.

Mine was never that exciting to begin with anyway, but it was a lot more thrilling than being stuck inside an empty cell.

I sighed and leant my head back against the stone cold wall, drumming my nimble fingers on the floor.

I wish they'd just get it over with instead of keeping me cooped up in here until I'm eighteen.

Life is too short to live like this.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and an influx of light flooded in. I snapped my head in the direction of two guards.

"Prisoner 318, face the wall."

I did as I was told, turning towards the slab of concrete behind me.

"What's happening?"

"Quiet. Hold out your arm."

I shook my head, a mixture of confusion and panic taking over me. "What's going on?"

"Just do it."

"I'm not eighteen yet. You can't do anyth-"

A tight hand wrapped around my wrist and my arms were yanked behind me.

"Let me go!"

I was shoved out of the door where chaos awaited.

All I could hear were shouts filling the air.

"What is this? What's going on?"

I glanced over the railings, noticing how prisoners were being removed from their cells.

"Keep moving!"

"No."

I stopped dead in my tracks, overwhelmed by what was happening and very dizzy from all the shouts.

One of the guards pulled out a weapon, holding it threateningly. Without thinking, I swung my fist and hit him in the face.

And then I legged it.

I didn't get far before a tiny spike pricked my neck and my body fell heavily to the floor.

Everything became fuzzy.

And then dark.

~

I woke to murmurs and a rattling noise. Something jerked, causing me to fully come round.

My eyelids felt heavy as I lifted them open. At first everything was blurry, but then I managed to take in my surroundings.

I was strapped to a chair, as were many other people.

It looked like we were on a dropship.

"Hey."

I turned my head upon hearing my best friends voice. "Clarke? Oh my god, Clarke! Where are we?"

She didn't look that much different since I last saw her. Her hair was a little bit shorter, but that was about it.

I was caught between feeling absolutely relieved and happy that I finally got to see my best friend after all this time. But also incredibly nervous about what on earth was going on.

"Don't freak out-"

"Why would I fre-"

The lights flickered.

"Oh my god what was that?"

"Prisoners of The Ark" I looked up, noticing Chancellor Jaha on a TV screen. "Hear me now. 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 is 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. Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean."

The ship rattled, causing people to groan as we hit hard bumps.

"The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war-" Pixels invaded the screen briefly, causing his voice to become slightly muffled.
"Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years."

This is insane.

I heard shouts and cheers for the name of someone called Finn. Soon enough, the Chancellor's voice became background noise.

I watched as a smug Finn floated around in the air, due to the absence of gravity. He floated towards us and stopped in front of Wells, the Chancellor's son. Clarke and Wells were good friends until he turned her father in, along with mine.

I tried to ignore Wells for the time being but I was confused as to why he was even here.

"Looks like your dad floated me after all."

Wells' face hardened. "You should strap in before the parachutes deploy."

A girl's laugh rang out and I watched as two guys began unstrapping their seatbelts.

It wouldn't take a genius to know that this landing was going to be rough.

God, people could be so stupid.

"Hey you two, stay put if you want to live." Clarke warned.

I looked back up at the TV screen. "Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately."

"Hey, you two. You're the traitors who have been in solitary for a year." Finn said, looking between Clarke and I.

"You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk." Clarke retorted back.

"But it was fun." He grinned. "I'm Finn."

I rolled my eyes, diverting them back to the Chancellor once more. "Your one responsibility is stay alive."

Unexpectedly, the parachutes deployed. I immediately knew something had gone wrong. The lights were malfunctioning like crazy. And the idiotic boys without seat belts slammed into the wall, including Finn.

I heard Clarke yell out for him.

A steam pipe suddenly blew, sending steam into the tight space. I squeezed my eyes closed as sparks of electricity rained down on us. The dropship started continuously rocking backwards and forwards and I squeezed my hand around my seatbelt.

"Retrorockets ought to have fired by now!" Wells shouted over the noise.

"Okay. Everything on this ship is a hundred years old, right? Just give it a second." Clarke replied.

"Clarke, there's something I have to tell you. I'm sorry I got your father arrested."

I scoffed.

"Don't you talk about my father." She snapped.

"Please Clarke, I can't die knowing that you hate me."

"They didn't arrest my father, Wells. They executed him. I do hate you."

The ship jolted one final time before everything went quiet.

"Listen." One boy spoke up. "No machine hum."

"Woah. That's a first."

Clarke unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out of the chair, running over to Finn.

I unclipped mine too, standing and stretching my arms.

"The outer door is on the lower level. Let's go!" A male voice yelled.

"No, we can't just open the doors!" Clarke replied, sprinting to the ladder.

I followed her, quickly climbing down the ladder and pushing my way through the crowd of people.

"Stop. The air could be toxic."

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead anyway." A deep male voice replied.

I reached Clarke, stopping in my tracks right behind her.

Then a voice spoke up from the crowd. "Bellamy?"

Everybody went silent.

"That's the girl who hid under the floor." I heard someone say, not very quietly.

She stopped right in front of the guy in the guards uniform, who spoke to Clarke.

"Oh my god." A wide smile appeared on his face. "Look how big you are."

The girl wrapped her arms around him for a few seconds before pulling away.

"What the hell are you wearing? A guards uniform?"

"I borrowed it to get on the dropship." Bellamy replied. "Someone's gotta keep an eye on you."

He chuckled before pulling the girl into another hug.

"Where's your wristband?" Clarke questioned.

The girl whipped around. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."

"No one has a brother!" I heard someone shout from the crowd.

"That's Octavia Blake!" Another replied. "The girl they found hidden under the floor."

Octavia lunged forwards but her brother pulled her back. "Octavia. Octavia! No. Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah, like what?"

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

The two of them shared smiles before Bellamy headed over to the leaver. He hesitated for a moment. My heart pounded in my chest, anxiety overcoming me.

He pulled it down and the door hissed and opened, causing a blinding light to fill the room.

I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. Soon, I could see everything I'd ever dreamed of.

There were trees. The sun was poking through the leaves. It was beautiful.

Octavia stepped forwards, sucking in a huge breath of air. I held my own breath in anticipation, watching as she took careful steps along the platform, eventually stopping at the edge. She paused briefly, staring at her feet. Then she stepped down with a bounce. Her boots hit the ground.

She swung her arms up in the air with excitement. "We're back bitches!"

The entire ship started cheering, everyone pushing to get past. I smiled and grabbed Clarke's arm. The two of us stepped onto the ground and I looked around in amazement. Clarke turned her head to face me and the two of us exchanged grins.

"Freedom." I breathed out.

Her face notably fell for a moment, as she frowned in confusion.

"What?"

She didn't answer, she just walked through the trees and to the edge of a drop off.

"Clarke?" I called out. "Clarke, what's up?"

My best friend pulled out a map, studying it. Slowly, she lifted her head, nodding in the direction of a mountain.

"That's Mount Weather."

My eyes widened as I examined the shadowy mountain, which was stood miles away from us. My heart sunk when I realised what that meant.

"Why so serious?" I spun around, noticing Finn. "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." Clarke replied curtly, looking back down at the map.

I bit my lip, noticing the awkward atmosphere between the two of them.

"Do you see that peak over there?" Clarke spoke up again, nodding towards the mountains.

"Yeah."

"Mount Weather." She said.

"There's a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal." I added.

Clarke tightly pressed her lips together.

"They dropped us on the wrong damn mountain."

---------------

A/N

New year. New fanfiction. Am I right?

Anyway, I'm super excited for this so I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter xo