𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐊
𝟒 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟑𝐓𝐇, 𝟐𝟏𝟒𝟗
"Prisoner 295, stand against the wall." A loud voice was heard from outside the cell door, waking up the young criminal from her nap. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she immediately shut them because of how blinding the lights were. She blinked a few times, adjusting her eyes to the bright room, and sat up from her surprisingly comfortable position.
Suddenly, a harsh, loud bang at her cell door made her quickly get up from her stiff bed. She yawned as she cracked her neck and brushed down a bit of her messy hair. A blaring buzz was heard, meaning the door was unlocked. Groggily, she walked over and leaned against the gray wall with her arms crossed.
The cell door opened, and a guard walked in with the same usual stern look on his face. The young brunette immediately glared at the sight of him. Johnsson-that was his name-the young girl hated that man with a fucking passion.
Johnsson was almost like her own guard. Every time she was outside of her cell, he was there. Hell, he even stands outside of her cell because, according to the chancellor "she's very dangerous" and "can't be left alone". They both hated each other equally and couldn't stand each other.
The death glare on her face instantly softened when Johnsson moved to the side and revealed another guard. Her favorite guard, Lorenzo Evergreen, the co-chief, and most importantly, her father. "You have ten minutes." Johnsson declared as he grabbed the door to the cell.
"Quiet, Johnsson. Get back to work." The co-chief responded with annoyance as he glared at the obviously annoyed guard. Johnsson quickly looked down at the floor, not wanting to face his chief's stare.
"Yes, sir." He muttered back, giving one last look at the father and daughter before he slammed the cell door shut.
The man looked back at his daughter, who was already looking at him, and both of their faces instantly broke into grins. He chuckled slightly before holding out his arms. She practically jumped into his arms and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying her head into his chest. Lorenzo immediately did the same and smiled as he rested his chin on top of his daughter's head.
"I've missed you so much, dad." The young girl mumbled against his chest.
"I missed you too, my little butterfly." He smiled, calling her the nickname he had given her years ago. His eyes wandered around the walls of her cell, which were filled with drawings of butterflies, of her mother, and of him. Over the past year, she had started drawing because what else could she do in that small cell? His eyes watered as he held his daughter, like it was the end of the world.
Which it practically was because just two hours before, he had found out something that would soon change his whole world. He had found out that Jaha, the current Chancellor of the Ark, had decided to send 100 criminals, including his daughter, to the ground. The same ground that had been unsurvivable because of the nuclear bombs that destroyed Earth 97 years ago.
The Chancellor had also made the decision to say that those criminals, including his daughter, were expendable. To either die finding out that the Earth was still unlivable or, either way, give the others on the Ark more time to "fix" the oxygen problem. He was furious, just like every parent of those 100 kids would be if they had any idea of it.
On top of sending those kids to die, Jaha also made the choice not to even tell the parents. And to those he only told, which were either guards or members of the Council, he threatened to charge them with treason if they told anyone, especially their own kids.
A part of him had hope that maybe there was even the smallest chance that the Earth was liveable. That's why he decided to tell his daughter-to warn her, prepare her, or something. He didn't care if the council found out. He needed to say goodbye, even though he didn't want to.
"Um, dad? Your jacket is poking my eye." Her soft voice broke him out of his trance, and he quickly let his daughter go.
"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Mar." She smiled when she heard the nickname that her mother had always called her. Her full name was Amara, but her parents, mostly her mom, would always call her "Mar."
"So, how's your week been, sweetheart?" He asked her as he jumped on her bed and got into a "comfy" position. Which was him lying down on his stomach with his legs leaning on the wall and his hands propped up, holding his chin up. Amara laughed when she saw how her dad was lying down.
"What? Why are you laughing at me, hm?" He smiled up at her and started kicking his feet like a teenage girl telling her best friends about her crush.
She giggled as she shook her head at her father's childish actions. "Nothing, nothing. Anyways, this week has been the same. But I did finally learn that knife trick you always do but never want to teach me." She rolled her eyes, remembering how she would beg him to teach her, but he always said no.
"You cheeky little bastard, that's my move!" He sat up and playfully glared at her. "Here, let me show you." She walked over to the side of her mattress, where she kept a small collection of weapons her father brings her every time he visits her. Being locked up really left her nothing to do, so Amara decided to continue learning self-defense and fighting like her parents had started a few years ago.
Before she could grab the knife, her father's hand stopped her. "No, I believe you. You don't have to show me." He gently grabbed her hand and brought her to sit next to him.
Amara frowned slightly. She felt a bit upset that he didn't want to see her; she had made a few mistakes that resulted in some blood. But the fact that he didn't even want to see made her worry because he always loved seeing her do new things.
"I'm sorry, love." He apologized when he saw her facial expression immediately change from excitement to somberness. Amara looked down at the floor with her hands on her lap, her fingers going over the small scars on her hands from accidentally cutting herself while learning new knife tricks. His eyes filled with tears as he thought about how his daughter was being sent to Earth to die in four days.
"It's oka- Wait a minute. What's wrong, dad?" She quickly questioned when she noticed the tears in her father's eyes. His eyes widened, and he wiped his eyes with the sleeves of his jacket.
"Nothing, darling, it's nothing. He quietly mumbled as he looked at her, not wanting to say goodbye to his beautiful daughter, who reminded him so much of the love of his life.
"Dad, please tell me what's wrong. You know you can tell me anything. She placed his hand in hers and laid her other hand on his shoulder, comforting him. He wiped away a few tears that managed to escape.
"Did Jaha say something to you? Did he do something to you? Because I swear the next time I see him, I'll fucking kill him." She stood up, her anger rising. "Amara, no, you can't do that." He chuckled at the image of his daughter beating the crap out of Jaha.
"Why not? I'm already condemned to death. What will he do? Nothing, because he'll already be dead. And the worst they can do is kill-" Amara began to rant angrily but stopped instantly when she felt her dad glaring at her.
"What did I say about you talking about that?" He stared at her and moved his head a bit, motioning for her to sit back down. She sighed but sat down next to her dad. "To not talk about it. But, dad, I don't care about that right now. Please tell me what's wrong." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Ok..ok." He nodded and sighed before telling her everything, not missing a single detail.
Her eyes went wide, and her lips parted, wanting to say something but not knowing what to even say. Amara couldn't believe what she heard; it was crazy. She was being sent down to Earth with 99 other criminals. All because the Ark is dying and she and the others were "expendable."
"When, dad? When are they doing this?" She whispered, making her father look at her. "The 13th. In four days." His voice trembled as he began to think about what would happen that day. Her glaze traveled from her father to the floor. It felt like her whole world just shifted when she heard those three words come out of her father's mouth.
In four days
In four days
In four days
"What about you? What will happen to you? Or everyone else on the Ark?" Her voice cracked as she raised her head back up to look at her father. "I don't know, love." Amara looked into his eyes, kind of hoping he would want to go with her.
"Yes, I've thought about it. But Jaha made it very clear that anyone who tried to do anything or sneak on the dropship would be executed immediately." He sighed, already knowing what his daughter was going to ask from the look on her face.
"Well shit." Amara mumbled as she threw herself back, laying down on her bed. She stared up at the bottom of the upper bed of her bunk bed, and her eyes started to water as she thought about how she was being sent down to die. She knew Earth hasn't and won't be survivable, but a small part of her hoped that it was. Amara began to imagine how her life could be if Earth were livable.
But she was soon snapped back to reality when she felt her dad move back and lean his back on the wall. "Wait, if Earth is survivable, how will you know? Will there be a radio on the dropship for us to communicate with the Ark?" Amara questioned as she sat back up next to her dad.
"I don't know, I wasn't told any more than what I told you. But I'm pretty sure there will be one." Lorenzo turned his head to look at Amara and wrapped his arm around her neck, making her lean her head on his shoulder. "If not, then they're dumb as hell." He chuckled, causing his daughter to laugh, which made his smile grow even brighter.
Every week, all Lorenzo looked forward to were these visits with Amara. However, now he wouldn't even be able to see his own daughter. He was furious not only because obviously Amara was being sent down to die but also for having his choice of going down with her.
"I have hope, and I believe that Earth may be survivable again, so Dave and I talked." He spoke softly before resting his chin on Amara's head. "We've packed some things for you and Nate. Jacopo is going to leave it in one of the panels, ok? Because if Earth is survivable, you're going to need it. " He sighed as he felt Amara's arm wrap around him, embracing him.
"Thank you, dad. I love you so much." She murmured against him as he hugged her back.
"I love you more, butterfly." He whispered back. They stayed cuddling each other for a while as the room fell into a comfortable silence. Who knows how long until they would get another moment like this? Who knows? They might not see each other again.
"I do need you to do something for me." He spoke gently before Amara let go of him and sat back up. She turned her head, facing her father.
"I just need you to be ready, ok? And find Nate, please? Get on the dropship together. I don't want either of you to be alone. He told her, making her nod her head.
"Thank you for everything, dad. Please know that, okay? I love you so much, dad. So much." She spoke softly before embracing him again. Lorenzo smiled and wrapped his arms around his daughter, not wanting this moment to ever end.
"You're my everything, and I love you more than you could ever imagine." His smile grew bigger, if it even could, before kissing her head.
"I love you, my little butterfly."
𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬..
𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 !!
𝐎𝐇, 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐖𝐄 𝐆𝐎
𝐛𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐦 ♡