Chapter Text
Two hundred years. That's how long the human population must wait until it is safe to return to their home planet- Earth. Only 97 years have passed since the planet underwent a catastrophic event, leading to the mass genocide of the entire planet and all its living creatures. What once inhabited 8.3 billion human lives killed over 6,640,000,000. The human population and all of Earth's magnificent, natural, beauty was now destroyed; all because of nuclear warfare. And while the bombs themselves wiped out 80% of the planet, the atmospheric radiation took billions more. Had it not been for the safety net and creations of Becca Franko the human population may have went extinct in a matter of days.
The young scientist invested in her own company, earning millions of dollars for her large scaled government projects. One of her greatest achievements? Designing and creating thirteen space shuttles capable of sustaining four hundred people per station, and yet only three hundred people made it aboard each space craft. Meaning 3,900 human beings were saved before the bombs landed on the Earth's surface. Three thousand and nine hundred people remained of the human race with room left to grow. Three thousand and nine hundred lives held the future of an entire species existence for two hundred years. Becca designed each space shuttle with enough oxygen and generators to far exceed their time frame needed to return home; if only they functioned properly for so long.
Ninety-seven years is a long time. And with time comes many problems that could never have been predicted in the past. Becca Franko may have designed each station to withstand the conditions of space, but she could never have predicted the stupidity of humanity. Over the course of 97 years many accidents occurred that damaged the oxygen systems. Many times their were broken pipes that caused the oxygen to escape, miscalculations in engineering, or a faulty seal line to the open doors of space. Everyone in space made every critical decision they saw best to ensure the human race survives; which included many strict laws and alliances.
Those whom took refuge in space realized coming together and sharing resources would ensure the human race not only survives, but thrives. In so coming to this conclusion all thirteen space stations joined and became the Ark. Rules were set and a government was made. Everything on the Ark was rationed to the people, the laws of marriage were strict, as were the capabilities of having children: one child per family, no exceptions. Anyone found to be have more than one child will be punished by death, and the family addition? taken away from its home and placed in a secure location until they are of age to be reviewed. If one is found innocent of all accounts they are free to join society among the other Arkers and partake in keeping their home up an running, but if they are found guilty, the punishment is death. Many will find that life on the Ark was not as easy as they had hoped it to be, but the council made all decisions with one goal in mind- the survival of the human race.
And yet even with their rules and around the clock maintenance work done to the space stations, it would never be enough. Not even a hundred years after being in space and the Ark begins to fail.
In a desperate attempt to save oxygen and test of the Earth's surface could be survivable, The council and chancellor sent a hundred delinquent prisoners to the ground. Each with a wristband to send their vital signs up the Ark, letting the people know if they could truly come home safe, or if the radiation was too deadly to survive. It was cruel and desperate, but the hundred juveniles were given no choice- either they die a prisoner on the Ark or free on the ground. And to them their was no better way to go than this. Free.
Or so they thought...
When they first landed everything was far more than they could have imagined. From the grass crunching under their boots, to the soil clinging to the bottom, from the fresh air they breathed, to the immensely on-going trees that stretched as far as meets the eye. No more rules or Adults giving them orders to follow. No more out of control laws that will get you killed no matter your age. And above all, no one could tell them what they would be. But what comes up must fall down.
On a hike to find supplies for survival the not only find the Earth's natural predators and prey's have survived but evolved. The terrain on the maps given to the hundred by the Ark had changed. Rivers ran through areas that they once did not before. Trees and thick brushes with overgrowth blocked much more than they could possibly see, and then there were the monsters they had no idea how to defeat. One delinquent in particular was attacked in the shallow waters of a river nearby, one they needed to cross to find their resources for supplies. The beast within the waters was large, too large, and the delinquents had no weapons to put it down. All they could do was distract it long enough to let her go. And it did. The only person among the hundred that had a weapon was Bellamy Blake, and even he was limited on ammunition. Given the monster was underneath water the bullet could have ricochet off a rock or stopped within the waves of the water. There was no point in using the only capable weapon they had. even if all he could think about was saving his sister. Luckily spacewalker had the brilliant idea of shoving a boulder into the river to distract it, and by luck it worked.
Bellamy nearly forced the group to return to the dropship to recoup and find another way around, but the boy with the goggles had another idea. They used a vine to cross the waters safely, and as miracles would have it, it works. One by one they each take turns swinging across until their feet land on the new ground before them. Once everyone is across the group continues further through the woods as they follows the map towards Mount Weather. The longer they travel the darker the woods begin to be. Bellamy looks at their surroundings , the hair of his neck standing straight up.
"Uh, Bell? I think we should go back."
Bellamy observes their surroundings more at his sisters hesitation. There were looks eerie weathered down signs with warnings that heed cation, others demanding trespassers leave. While some could have been made before the bombs, too many of them looked suspiciously too new to be over a hundred years old. With a curt nod in Octavia's direction Bellamy stops and looks to the others
"I'm with O, on this one. We should head back to camp and find another route."
"We can't go back now. We're so close to finding the Mount Weather supply bunker." Finn argues.
"Look spacewalker, if you want to go get them yourself, be my guest. But I will not let my sister risk her life more than she already has. We're done here." Octavia limps as she walks, leaving Bellamy to move by her side and help her balance. As he and Octavia turn to leave, the others continue to stand around.
"What the hell. I don't plan on dying today. Do you?" Murphey says as he walks towards the Blake siblings.
Jasper and Monty look as if they want to leave but Miles and Finn think they should stay. The hundred has no supplies, but Mount Weather is suppose to have everything they need. This is there only chance and more than two people are needed to carry enough for a hundred people. The logic made sense, and so the pair of best friends decide to stay. The group separates into two once the decision had been made. Though Monty and Jasper watch as the Blakes and Murphey leave they walk in the direction Finn and Miles lead.
Eight minutes. That's how long the two groups are separated before two bodies barrel through a thick brush of trees and run into John Murphy on the river's bank. Bellamy does what he can to keep Murphey from acting out in retaliation while Monty and Jasper flail around as they continue looking back between the trees and their friends. Just before Bellamy could ask anything Finn burst through the same path the other two did moments before.
"What the hell is going on?" Bellamy exclaims, looking between a terrified Monty and Jasper, and an exasperated Finn. "Spacewalker-"
"Miles i-is dead. Th-they killed him." He stutters as he continues to look back between the trees.
"Wait what?! Who?" Octavia shouts. Finn looks at her then to Bellamy, his silence lingering on moment by moment. His next word opening an entirely new problem the hundred could never have prepared themselves for.
"Grounders.
And to think everything the Arkers believed to be true was wrong.