A Commander's Reign [BOOK 2]

Prologue

Somewhere in Earth's orbit......

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

Before the chancellor could even react, three bullets shot into his chest and he fell to the ground, his own blood pouring out and creating a pool of crimson where he sat slumped against the wall.

*CLANG!*

The military pistol feel from the young man's grasp and landed onto the metal floor. Distance voices echoed, the guards must be coming. The young man made a dash back to where his group was hiding, alarms started to blare, the Ark was about to go on lockdown. He had to get to the escape pod.

Through the restricted area he went, luckily there were no guards as they were called to the scene of the crime. Then he burst through the doors of the space travel area. The others were waiting there.

"Oliver!" The oldest of the group, Harry called the young man's name.

"Did you do it?" The girl called Lucy asked.

Oliver panted, trying to get his breath back, "yes, yes I did. We have to get out of here!"

A man named Riley gave Oliver a concerned look, "are you sure about this?"

Oliver looked back at Riley with an unsure expression, "Earth is the only chance we have, yes we may die of radiation, but we might not!" Oliver stared at each of his friends, "plus what do we have here? Me, Harry, you and Lucy will be floated and Ivy will be locked up all because she was a second child!"

Ivy stood in the corner, the youngest of the bunch at just fourteen. This was unfamiliar territory for her, she had only seen her family's quarters and she was hidden behind a wall when the guards inspected the room. She looked scared, but who wouldn't be?

"He's right, we have to chance this! I programmed the escape pod to land near Mount Weather, it was a military base before the bombs, it should have food and water, all the supplies we need to survive!" Lucy, the techie of the group said.

Oliver opened up the hatch to the space pod, "Well if it's ready, then let's go!"

Riley, Lucy and Harry hopped in the escape pod, while Oliver held his hand out to his little sister, "Come on Ivy, don't be afraid."

Ivy held her mother's necklace tight and slowly took her brother's hand. Oliver gently pulled her in and gave her a hug.

"We have to try this," he whispered into her ear.

Ivy pulled away, "I understand."

Oliver nodded and pulled the escape pod door shut, "we are ready," he said to Lucy who had her hand on the eject button.

The woman nodded and with one deep breath, she pushed the button. The escape pod came to life as it lit up the space a bright white and the ground started to vibrate as it got ready to eject from the Ark. Then the doors to their freedom opened and the escape pod started to half fly half fall down to Earth. All five of the Arkadians strapped themselves in their seats and hoped for the best as they began to penetrate deeper into the Earth's atmosphere.

As they got closer to the ground the escape pod began to shake violently and the Arkadians began to scream and hold onto their seatbelts tight as they fell through the clouds. Then suddenly, the parachute deployed and it went quiet as they floated down.

*CRASH!*

They had landed onto the ground. Because the escape pod was old, it only just managed to get them there safely, but now it was truly broken because of the rough landing, not to mention the fried engine. The Arkadians sat there, breathing deeply trying to get their composure back. Oliver was the first to undo his seatbelt and get to his feet, his legs shaking so much that he was struggling to walk to the exit. He put his hand on the lever that would open the door.