Tragedy ✧ John Murphy

• Chapter 1 •

She broke eye contact with him a couple moments later because she was at the front of the line. The guard let go of her arm and she was pushed in the direction of the drop ship. Everyone else was just going in and there was no way to escape, so she just followed the line.

She climbed up the ladder to the second floor and found a seat, which she sat in and strapped into. Soon after, a prisoner sat in the seat next to her. She looked over and was surprised to see that the prisoner was John Murphy, her best friend whom she met a year prior when she first got put in lockup.

"Hey, Jules." Murphy greeted her with the casual smirk Murphy usually had on his face. "Hey, Murphy." Julia responded.

"Do you know what's happening? Why they're sending us to earth? Do you think this is some new type of mass execution they're trying out on us?" Julia questioned her friend.

"They better not be." Murphy answered and their conversation didn't go any further as neither had any answers and there was a lot happening around them.

The next few minutes were a whirlwind as the guards finished putting the prisoners in the drop ship. Then it was sealed off and released from the Ark, letting it start falling towards the planet below.

Everyone's questions were soon answered when a video appeared on every wall for everyone to see. It was Chancellor Jaha.

"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." Jaha paused and Julia glanced over at Murphy.

"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." Jaha paused again.

"Your dad's a dick, Wells." Someone spoke, which caught Julia's attention. Wells Jaha? What was he doing there? Surely the Chancellor wouldn't arrest and send his own son to Earth, not knowing if he'd survive or not.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean. The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount Weather was a military base built within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough nonperishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years."

Jaha wasn't done speaking, but Julia was suddenly unable to hear when some prisoners started whooping and cheering.

Julia peered across the room, trying to figure out what they were cheering for when she saw Finn had unbuckled himself and was out of his seat, floating.

Julia rolled her eyes. Finn was one of the nicest people she had ever met, but certainly not the smartest. She hoped he had enough common sense to strap back into his seat before the parachutes deployed.

"Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately. Your one responsibility is to stay alive." Julia caught the end of Java's speech just as two more guys followed Finn out of their seats.

Then the parachutes released. But something went wrong because they were suddenly whipped in one direction. The people strapped in were fine for the most part, but the three that were out of their seat went flying.

"Finn! Finn!" Julia shouted, desperately looking for any sign that her cellmate wasn't dead or maimed.

The drop ship was still barrelling like crazy towards the ground and inside the lights were all sparking and blowing, things were breaking and clattering, and there was smoke coming out of a pipe.