𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗢, monty green

Chapter One

"I think I have vertigo."

Avery's voice slurred as she spoke, her feet stumbling over the ground and her arms flailing to stabilise herself. She looked down to her wrist, desperately trying to pull at the bracelet that had permanently clamped there.

Only moments before, the girl was pulled from her cell by two very violent members of the Guard. They had explained nothing to her; simply ordered her to turn and face the wall - addressing her only as Prisoner 302 - and piercing a bracelet onto her wrist.

She furiously tried to fight against them as they dragged her from the cell and out onto the corridor. Her eyes scanned across the Sky Box, spotting other prisoners being taken from their cells just like her.

It was then that a tranquiliser was stabbed into her arm, with no warning. Hence, the so called vertigo.

"You don't even know what vertigo is."

Avery scoffed at the insult, looking up from the spinning floor to meet the face of the person who spoke. Their face came into focus after a few slow blinks to reveal Abby Griffin.

Of course she had something to do with all of this.

It had been a peaceful year and two months in the Sky Box - as peaceful as prison could be - and it made no sense as to why she was being taken from her cell now. She wasn't turning eighteen for another few months: three months, and twelve days to be precise. Not that Avery was keeping track or anything.

"What the fuck is going on Abby?" She hissed, struggling to keep her drooping eyes open. 

The woman in front of her remained calm, motioning for the men to back off. When Avery looked around, she could see the other prisoners being shunned from their rooms, all wearing the same bracelet as her.

"You're killing us." She said bluntly, not finding a single shred of emotion in her own voice, despite her fear.

"No. We're sending you to the ground."

"Wha-?"

Before she could pettily curse the woman one more time, she found herself finally dropping into unconsciousness. And despite not believing Abby, she was telling the truth.

It had been ninety seven years since humans had been on Earth. A nuclear apocalypse killed everyone, and left survivors on space stations floating in orbit around the planet. Now, only the Ark remained, the twelve stations having merged together to form the place. 

This meant that there wasn't an awful lot of oxygen for everyone. To try and sort out this minor issue, their Council decided that every crime would be punishable by Floating (death) unless you were a child.

This is exactly how Avery and ninety nine other kids found themselves in the Sky Box. Most of them were locked away for stupid reasons - including her, in her opinion - but the girl counted herself lucky for not yet turning eighteen. She would be reviewed at that age, and in her case, most likely sentenced to death.

But somehow, when Avery woke up, she found herself on a dropship headed straight for Earth.

No being floated for her, instead, an inevitable death from radiation on the planet Earth. Or in a terrible collision with the ground upon impact.

Opening her eyes, she found herself attached to a seat by a seatbelt strapped across her body. The ship was already shaking and jolting, clearly in motion, and despite her desire to leave her seat her fear kept her from unbuckling her seatbelt.

 "Can you stop wriggling? It's annoying as fuck."

The girl sat beside her spoke bluntly and Avery couldn't help but laugh; both nervously and from amusement. The one who spoke had long brown hair hanging around her face, sparkling eyes and an unimpressed look on her face. When Avery looked to her, she immediately recognised the girl. How could she not?