Everyone shouts and groans in pain as the ship shakes, and the lights blink, but after one last crash, and the whirring of machinery fades, we sit in still silence.
We didn't die.
Well, not yet anyway.
"Listen." I hear Monty say after a few moments of everyone collecting their thoughts. "No machine hum."
I strain my throbbing ears and true enough, for the first time ever...there's no humming.
"Whoa." Jasper breathes, voicing my thoughts. "Thats a first."
As if a switch was flicked, everyone suddenly unclips their belts and makes for the door to see the outside world, but I stay rooted in my seat for a few seconds longer.
We actually did it, we made it to Earth. If my parents could see me now...
"Finn, is he breathing?"
Those words knock me out of my state and I scramble out of my seat and over to Finn, who's crouched over one of the boys who were also floating around, Blondie with the others.
"Finn?" I ask quietly, kneeling before him, he doesn't look injured, but from the shake of his head he gives Blondie, I know that his mind all over the place. The two kids who followed him out of their seats are dead, and he blames himself.
"The outer door is on the lower level, let's go!"
"No, we can't just open the doors!" Blondie runs off, presumably to the lower level, and I'm left with a traumatised Finn.
"Hey," I place a tentative hand on his arm, "it's not your fault, Finn."
"They followed me." He has a far off look in his eyes. "They followed me and they're dead because of it."
"You can't think like that."
"Please Carter, just...just give me a sec, okay?"
I reluctantly nod and leave him alone, following the rest of the crowd down to the lower level. I climb down the ladder to see who other than a guard standing by the door, a girl slowly making her way towards him.
"My god, look how big you are." The guard grins, taking in the girl's appearance. She throws her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
They clearly know each other then. Maybe old friends or neighbours.
It's only when they release each other that she narrows her eyes. "What the hell are you wearing? A guard's uniform?"
"I borrowed it, to get on the dropship. Someone's gotta keep an eye on you."
My eyes narrow in confusion. He's not an actual guard?
The girl hugs him again, but it's short lived once Blondie speaks up from behind them.
"Where's your wristband?"
The girl spins on her heel and glares at blondie, "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."
Woah.
"No one has a brother." Someone called out.
"That's Octavia Blake! The girl they found hidden in the floor!"
Ah. Octavia Blake. Now hers is a crime she involuntarily committed.
A one child policy has been enforced on the Ark for generations, giving birth to a second child is a crime. If—when said child is caught without having identification, they would be kept in lock up until they turn eighteen, just like the rest of us, whilst the parents get floated.
There hasn't been a second child case in years, and Octavia has been rumoured to be one of the longest hidden. Living under the floor for sixteen years is certainly a damn long time.
Octavia lunges at the crowd, clearly unimpressed by the gossip about her, but is held back by the guard, her brother.
"Octavia! Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by."
"Oh yeah? Like what." She breaks free of his grasp and stares at him.
"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." He tells her, smiling.
Everyone faces the door once again, and the Octavia's brother holds a hand on the lever. The anticipation was suffocating. When that door opens, we could die, but if we stay in here we would definitely die.
The odds really aren't in our favour.
Finally, he pulls down the lever and as the ramp lowers, bright natural light floods the room and I blink a few times to adjust. Everyone is silent as we take in the view outside.
Octavia slowly walks out, and takes a deep breath. I peer around a few people and watch as she walks down the ramp, pausing when she gets to the bottom before jumping off and onto the ground, taking a few steps forward. I grin as she lifts her arms up into the air and yells,
"WE'RE BACK BITCHES!"