Guiltless Sin || John Murphy

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Prologue

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Byrd laid on the floor, her stomach pressed down onto the cool concrete. She pressed the small piece of metal into the floor, etching away at her latest graffiti design. Dried out cuts lingered in her palms and between her fingers from using the metal as a carving tool, but she never let it dissuade her. The countless images carved onto the walls, floor and ceiling were proof of that. She wasn't stopping till she was dead, and she had a year till then.

The girl jumped when the door was unlocked from the outside and swung open, two guards walking in heavily armed. She scoffed as she looked over them both, before continuing to carve out her image. Any time anyone came into her skybox, they were armed just as heavily as the two men were; huge guns in arm, knives on their legs for back up, body armour covering their abdomens.

'Is all that really necessary, boys?' She drawled.

'Prisoner Three Two Seven, stand and face the wall with your hands in the air,' One of the men stated firmly.

'Give me two seconds.'

'Now, Byrd.'

She looked up slowly, a deadly glare set on her face; no one called her by her name anymore. It was usually psycho, or nutjob. That was all that was labelled above her head for her crimes. Ones that she held herself accountable for proudly.

'Alright, alright,' She sighed as she stood and raised her hands up; 'I'm going. But you do know, I still got a few months. Quite a few.'

The second she was facing the wall, the two men pounced; drawing her arms down behind her back. Though, Byrd had other ideas. She clenched the piece of metal in her fist and stabbed one of the guards in the leg, headbutting the other, before she bolted out of the room. Though, it seemed she wasn't the only one dying that day. Everyone in her section of the Ark was being drawn out of their skyboxes by guards, most of them struggling to get free as they yelled out questions as to what was going on.

'Prisoner Three Two Seven, don't move,' A guard called out to her as he approached her with a gun aimed at her head.

'Are you culling all of us?' She asked calmly, not an ounce of fear in her voice. 

'Raise your hands in the air.'

'No, really. Are you?'

She wasn't afraid of dying, being stuck in a skybox for over three years did that to a person. Being stuck alone with her thoughts about the future helped Byrd come to terms with what was to happen to her. She struggled as her arms were pulled behind her back, the metal ripped from her hands; tearing the skin open with it. She didn't even make a sound as her palm began to burn, blood dripping from it and onto the ground.

'Fidel, make sure Dr. Griffin sees to this girl's hand before she is placed on the dropship,' The guard restraining her stated.

'Yes, sir,' Fidel replied with a salute.

'Dropship?' Byrd queried before she smirked; 'You're sending us to the ground? You want us all to die miserable deaths, don't you? You sick bastards.'

'Byrd, stay quiet,' Her usual guard, David Miller, hissed as he limped out of her cell.

'Why? You're sending us to the ground where we're all going to die horribly.'

The man ran a hand over his face, a long sigh leaving his mouth. She yelped as something sharp jabbed her wrist, but she couldn't see what was happening as extra weight weighed down on her hand.

'I'll take her to the dropship,' David informed the other guards.

'Fidel, go with him,' One of the other officers stated.

'I think it be best if I take her alone, she'll behave with me.'

'Are you sure? You're injured.'

'Yes, sir. I'll be fine.'

'Well, move. We haven't got much time.'

Miller nodded, grabbing Byrd's upper arm and began to lead her away from the group of men, following where the rest of the ninety nine delinquents were going.

'Why are they doing this?' The girl asked.

'They want to see if it is habitable. It's been almost a hundred years,' The man replied.

'And if it isn't, we all die?'

'I suppose.'

'Damn. Jaha is a dick.'

The man didn't say anything, continuing to limp behind her.

'You know, you can go see the doc now. I'm a big girl, I'm sure I can find my way to my ever impending death,' She drawled.

'Like hell you will,' He shook his head.

'You sure? What if I stab you in the other leg? Would you go then?'

'Not a chance, Byrd.'

'Wow. Miller finally grew some balls.'

He shoved her forward harshly, making her stumble over her own feet before she sneered over her shoulder at him. She personally had nothing against the man, he'd never gone out of his way to harm her like the others; they just shot nasty comments at one another. A game she found rather amusing. Miller smirked at the look, leading her over to where Dr. Abigail Griffin stood watching everyone load into the drop ship.

'Officer Miller, why isn't she sedated?' Marcus Kane snapped.

'Sorry, sir. I haven't had the chance, had issues getting her. She needs medical attention,' Miller replied quickly.

'No pris-'

'Kane,' Abigail Griffin interrupted; 'Where is she hurt?'

'Her hands.'

Byrd was quickly spun around, her hands clenched into fists as she tried to contain the blood in her bleeding one. She fought Abby as she pried them open, eventually giving up when David shot her a look she rolled her eyes to. There wasn't much the doctor could do in the thirty seconds she had before she was to be loaded, merely pouring antiseptic into the wound before wrapping a bandage around her hand. The girl looked up at David when she was done, waiting to be moved again, but he merely stepped closer.

'Good luck, Byrd,' He stated.

Something pricked her neck, a lazy smirk crossing her lips, 'You son of a bitch.'

Everything went dark.