Daylight |Bellamy Blake

Two

We soar through space for a couple of minutes more until there is a sudden crash, the lights flicker and we hear screams from the other delinquents. Bellamy turns to look at me with a questioning look in his eyes.

"We just entered the earth's atmosphere" I say to him and he gives a nod.

Suddenly a screen in the ship that I hadn't noticed before crackles to life and Chancellor Jaha appears on screen in what seems to be a pre-recorded video.

"Prisoners of The Ark, 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." The onscreen Jaha says and someone from the other side of the ship scoffs. "Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, 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."

From above we can hear people talking and soon the lower level of the dropship fills with chatter, clearly, no one is concerned about hearing the message.

"Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately. Your one responsibility is to stay alive"

Once the video finishes the screen turns off and the dropship gives a sudden lurch and more people scream, I look around at the frightened faces of the others and can't believe they would actually send us down here, as if we were nothing other than human waste.

We get pulled back and I know that the parachutes have been deployed but then we hear some crashing sounds and screams from upstairs along with some sparks. What was going on up there? The air fills with smoke as we plummet unsteadily to the ground and I'm not sure that this was supposed to happen.

Suddenly we crash into the ground and I choke back a scream at the sensation of hitting the ground. Next to me, Bellamy gives me an amused look and I roll my eyes at him. The machine hum stops and for the first time in my life, I don't hear the rumble of machines.

We undo our seatbelts and start to get up before any of the others react. Bellamy and I stand next to the lever that opens the door and try to keep back the anxious teenagers. They all start to crowd down from the other levels and soon it is full.

"Hey, just back it up, guys" Bellamy tells them with authority in his voice and surprisingly they listen and start to shuffle back.

"Stop" A blonde girl climbing from the ladder says. She pushes her way through the crowd until she stands in front of us. "The air could be toxic"

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead, anyway" Bellamy tells her matter of factly.

"He's right blondie, unless we open the doors we will all be dying of starvation by tomorrow night" I tell her.

"And who are you?" She questions me as all the others turn to look at me.

"I'm Ivy Kennedy, they sent me down here to help you guys survive, I know almost everything that we need to know to live down here"

"So then you know that if we open those doors we will be consumed by radiation"

"There is a 20% chance of survival at this moment and being in space has got us used to more radiation than normal. And unless you want to die cramped in here I suggest we open the doors"

"And the other 80%? What does it mean?" A boy from the back of the room questions and I almost want to slap my face at that idiotic question, seriously?