A Whole New World | Octavia Blake [1]

Chapter 1

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Addison was a little girl, all she ever dreamt about was the ground; how mud felt between her toes, how tall grass would feel if she were to skim her palms over the tops, like people do in the old films see's seen. What dirt and air smell like if she took a deep breath, if they had any scent at all, like the old films depict.

The mere thought of Earth excited her. She hoped to one day be able to stand on its Earth and become a resident like her ancestors once were almost a hundred years ago.

As a child, Addison always figured the Ark would somehow discover how to freeze the entire population and be put into a deep slumber; no one would age until the day Earth's survivable again. Now, at 16, the small hope she had left vanished into silly, childish and naive thoughts.

As a prisoner, Addison had nothing but time to think about anything and everything her mind happened to wonder to. A year ago, she and her best friend, Liam, had been walking down one of the corridors to her compartment from school. Only minutes from being home, guardsmen grabbed and cuffed her, stating she's under arrest for a crime she never committed.

  Liam's been Addison's best friend for as long as she can remember. He's from Alpha, and given the chance, he'd sneak rations to Addison and her parents. Even though her father worked in Alpha, he rarely brought home enough credits to feed the small family of three. The amount of credits he earned were low —all because he lived in a much lower and poor station.

Addison hardly ever allowed her father to spend all his credits on them. She took it upon herself to steal food and sometimes medical supplies, for her mother on harder days.

After Liam had discovered Addison's stealing, he begun to accompany her and became an extra two hands for food. She never stole as frequent as she used to, and having Liam certainly lowered her chances of being caught.

At the age of 10, Addison's mother fell ill and overtime, it progressed for the worse. But a few months ago, her mother died and left Addison with nothing but memories. No belongings, no goodbye. The Ark kept her mother's fate hidden from Addison. She only knew because the guardsman she befriended informed her.

Addison instinctively jumped, the sudden loud noise of the alarm ringing throughout her cell. Bright fluorescent lights flooded the concrete cell when the heavy metal door unlocked.

She squinted and moved a hand above her eyes to blocked the light that burned her eyes. Two guardsmen enter. The man in front had a metal case tucked under his arm; fairly tall and lengthy, trimmed-to-the-scalp red hair and naturally olive-complexioned. Another guardsman filed in behind the red-headed one; built stouter and shorter, swept back blonde hair and a cold stare. The hand that held the shock baton clenched and unclenched around it, itching to jolt Addison if need-be.