The 100 - Arrival Day

I feel the sun on my face. I see trees all around me, the scent of wildflowers on a breeze. It's so beautiful. In this moment, I'm not stranded in space.

It's been 97 years since a nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on Earth, leaving the planet simmering in radiation. Fortunately, there were survivors. Twelve nations had operational space stations at the time of the bombs. There is now only the Ark, one station forged from the many.

We're told that the Earth needs another 100 years to become survivable again; four more space-locked generations and man can go home, back to the ground. The ground, that's the dream. This is reality. Reality sucks!

On the Ark any crime, no matter how small, is punishable by death, unless you're under 18. Juvenile offenders are confined, put in lock-up. Prison Station – we call it the Skybox.

Chapter 1 – The Skybox

Within the Skybox, in a sparse two person cell, the only sound that could be heard was the scratching of a piece of charcoal against the floor. A girl sat between the two bunks in the room, her blonde hair pulled back into a braid, all her attention on the image she was creating. The scene was of someone standing among trees looking up at the night sky. Clarke Griffin was absorbed in her art, wondering what the sky really looked like from the ground, if her imagination was close to the real thing. Her cellmate, Thalia Grace, looked over from where she was laying on her bunk to see what Clarke had drawn this time.

"Pretty," she said. "You better be careful though. We're running out of wall space." Then she went back to staring at the stars through the skylight in the roof.

Clarke gave a small smile at Thalia's sarcasm, as though running out of things to draw on was their biggest concern. It was true though; the walls and floor of their cell were covered in Clark's drawings, sketches of plants, animals, old buildings. Thalia appreciated Clarke's talent, especially as it gave her something to look at other than the blank cell walls. To Thalia the worst part about being in lock-up was the amount of shear boredom. Aside from basic schooling, meal time and the meager amount of time that they were allowed for recreation, they were stuck in their cells. Thalia sometimes amused herself by throwing small pieces of metal that she fashioned into darts at a target on their cell door. After years of practice she never missed.

Thalia had been put in the Skybox when she was nine years old, and in the eight and a half years since then had often wondered if she could die of boredom or sensory deprivation, and if that wouldn't be better than waiting to be executed when she turned 18, which wasn't too far away now.

Not too far away for Clarke either, she thought. The two girls had lived lives as different as they could be on the Ark, but they had known each other before Clarke was confined a year ago. Clarke's mother was the Ark's Chief Medical Officer and Thalia's doctor when she had spent two years in and out of the hospital for an immune deficiency starting when she was five.

She still saw Dr. Griffin from time to time when bouts of weakness or sickness came up. The infirmary had the medication that could make her better, but she had not been allowed any of it aside from the most common since she had been confined. The medicine was saved for the law abiding citizens, while Thalia had to get by on diet and exercise prescribed by Dr. Griffin, along with a few synthetic vitamins, to keep her healthy.

The few times that Thalia has met with Dr. Griffin in the last few years had been much like what she remembered from her childhood. Dr. Griffin was kind but firm and also sincere, unlike so many other people at her level. Clarke took after her mother, not just in looks, but in demeanor; she was focused, kind and plainly honest, and she also had her mother's talent for healing people, making them better. When Thalia had had to stay in the hospital for weeks at a time when she was a child she often saw Clarke trailing after her mother, watching and learning from her. When they ended up sharing a cell Thalia learned that Clarke had started training as a doctor as well. Thalia was more than a little surprised when the girl who used to visit her in the hospital ended up as her cellmate in the Skybox seven years later. Clark's mother had an important position on the Ark, not only as Chief Medical Officer but also as a member of the Council that ran the Ark. Someone with those kinds of connections can usually find a way out of whatever trouble they got into. Whatever the reason, Thalia decided to see her new cellmate as an opportunity. All juvenile criminals are reviewed when they turned 18 and may be pardoned for their crimes depending on what the Council decided. No one had been pardoned in the last year, but having a friend whose mother is on the council could be useful.

Having spent half her life in the Skybox, Thalia knew almost everything about almost everyone in it. She knew who deserved to be locked up, whose crimes were petty or out of desperation, and who had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time or had angered the wrong people. Being a councilwoman's daughter, Clarke grew up in a more privileged life than most of the people in lock-up, and of course there were those who resented her for it, and for her connection to the Council that put them there.

So Thalia made it her job to watch out for Clarke against the troublemakers and real criminals in lock-up, a job made easier by the fact that almost everyone in lock-up knew who Thalia was too. She had her own connections within their confined little world. Clarke was nobody's fool though. She knew why Thalia watched out for her. Even so the girls had developed a genuine friendship over time until they trusted each other enough to tell each other the real reasons that they had been confined.

Clarke, still lost in her own thoughts, suddenly came to attention when Thalia sat up on her bed, smoothing down her short, spiky black hair, and looked at the door. Clarke didn't hear anything out of place, but Thalia always seemed to know when something was happening.

The cell door swung open and two guards stepped in, one looking like a new recruit whose uniform didn't quite fit, and the other one older, more experienced. "Prisoners 3-1-8 and 3-1-9 stand up and face the wall."

Both girls stood, Thalia giving the younger guard a hard glare which made him flinch before facing the wall. The cold look in her electric blue eyes unnerved most people.

"What is this?" Clarke asked.

"Quiet. Hold out your right arm," the older guard ordered.

Clarke looked behind them to see the guard taking something out of a metal box. It looked like a metal cuff with needles on the inside of it.

"No," Clarke said, her light blue eyes shifting between the two guards. "No, it's not my time. You're early, neither one of us is 18 yet!"

"Hold out your arm," the guard ordered again, while his partner drew his shock baton, an electrified baton which was used to subdue prisoners.

"No, just check our files, you'll see," Clarke said as the guards come towards them. "You're early, you'll see that!"

Clarke was afraid now. Thalia was curious. One thing that was always consistent in the Skybox was that the guards followed protocol. She had never heard of anyone being executed before their time (unless they'd made a major infraction), and what were the wristbands for. She didn't know what was happening and one thing Thalia hated was not knowing – it didn't happen often.

"Take off the watch," the older guard ordered, moving towards Clarke first with one of the metal cuffs.

"No, it was my father's!" Clarke drew her hand back protectively and backed away from the guard.

"Take it off," he ordered impatiently, grabbing her arm.

"No!" Clarke shouted, trying to pull away but the guard did not let go.

Thalia had stayed quiet so far, waiting to find out what was going on, but one thing she hated more than not knowing, was seeing someone hurt her friend.

"Let her go!" Thalia said angrily.

When the guard turned his attention to her she responded with a punch to the throat that left him gasping. The second guard came at them with his shock baton to subdue them. The younger guard was inexperienced, and Clarke was able to grab the arm holding the baton and push it back towards him, the electric jolt dropping him to the floor. Both girls ran through the cell door, slamming it shut behind them.

The Skybox, true to its name, was built like a giant cube with cells along the walls and the center hollow so that when you stepped up to the rail you could see the upper and lower levels. And from what Clarke and Thalia could see, every cell was being opened; all of the prisoners were being ushered out by guards, most of them already outfitted with the metal wristbands.

"What the hell?" Clarke whispered.

XX

In another cell, a young girl sat on her bunk brushing out her light blonde hair and singing softly to herself. Iris Glass was also watching her cellmate, who was at the back wall of their cell in a handstand with her legs crossed as if she were sitting, her long hair making a pool of black silk on the floor beneath her. Her cellmate had her eyes closed and had been like that for some time.

How does she do that? Glass thought, wondering how she had the strength or the patience for it. "My mom does yoga."

Emily Kane opened her eyes and looked at the upside-down image of her cellmate, who was also one of her best friends. Glass smiled at her and went back to singing. Emily smiled too and closed her eyes again, listening. Glass had a beautiful voice and singing a familiar children's song, it brought them both back to happier times.

That illusion was shattered by the cell door opening. Two guards walked in and one of them said, "Prisoners 3-1-6 and 3-1-7, stand and face the wall." Glass quickly tucked her hair brush into her pocket and stood up.

Emily was not as quick to comply. She opened her eyes and said lazily, "Mind if I get dressed first?" She was wearing only her underwear, but sweat glistened on her skin from the exertion of holding that position for the last hour. Emily smoothly uncrossed her legs and came out of her handstand, gracefully coming to her feet, not the least bit self-conscious. Her muscles moved easily, accustomed to the physical strain.

Emily picked her cloths up from where they were neatly folded on her bunk and casually slipped on her pants, shirt, jacket and boots, pulled her long hair into a ponytail and put her cross necklace around her neck before doing as the guard ordered.

One of the guards opened a case that had some kind of metal bracelets inside, bracelets that had needles in them. Glass looked at Emily, afraid. Were the guards here to kill them? Emily shook her head, no. The Council wouldn't waste medical resources on killing prisoners with lethal injections – prisoners to be executed were floated, shot out of an airlock into space – and even if they would, it was not their time yet. There was still three weeks to Emily's birthday, and while she wouldn't have been too surprised if her father had ordered them to get it over with, Glass didn't turn eighteen until next year.

"Prisoner 3-1-6, hold out your right arm," one of the guards ordered Glass.

Glass tensed and took a step back from them. Emily reached over to take her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Glass was spunky, but she was also small and sweet looking with a petite frame and the kind of face that made people want to protect her, including Emily. It wouldn't protect her from the guards though if she didn't do what they said. Emily didn't know what was happening, and she didn't trust guards. She also wasn't afraid of them; she could handle herself, but Glass could get hurt. Emily nodded to Glass to do what they said.

Glass held out her arm, still fearful, and the guard closed one of the bracelets over her wrist. "Ow," Glass said wincing as the needles went into her arm.

Then the guard turned to Emily. "Prisoner 3-1-7, hold out your right arm," he ordered coming towards her with another bracelet while his partner stood by with a hand on his weapon. In the months that Emily had been in the Skybox she'd earned a reputation among the guards. But she made no move, not even a wince, as the guard closed the bracelet over her wrist and the needles went through her skin.

XX

"Prisoner 3-1-9!" The guard Thalia punched was coming out of the cell behind them, his voice a little horse, but furious. They turned to run when another voice called out.

"Clarke, stop!" Councilwoman Dr. Abigail Griffin.

The guard grabbed Thalia's arm roughly. Thalia probably could have brought him down again, but with the entire cellblock swarmed with guards there was no point. She let him lead her away. When another guard advanced on Clarke, Dr. Griffin ordered him back, "Wait here."

"Mom, what's going on? What is this?" Clarke asked fearfully as her mother embraced her.

Looking over her mother's shoulder Clarke saw the cell next to hers being opened and two girls being led out. They had metal cuffs on their wrists and looked as confused as all the other prisoners. When one of them – a girl with Asian features and strait black hair pulled into a ponytail that fell past her waist – saw Clarke, she tried to pull away from the guard.

"Clarke, what's happening?" she called out before the guards pulled her away in the other direction.

"Emily!" Clarke said, even more fearful now seeing one of her oldest friends being led away. She turned back to her mother. "They're killing us all aren't they? Reducing population to make more time for the rest of you."

"Clarke, listen to me. You are not being executed," Dr. Griffin said putting her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "You're being sent to the ground, all one-hundred of you."

"What?" Clarke said stunned; it took her a moment before she continued, "But…it's not safe. No, we get reviewed at eighteen."

"The rules have changed. This gives you a chance to live." Her mother rubbed her arm trying to comfort her. "Your instincts will tell you to take care of everybody else first, just like your father. But be careful, I can't lose you too. I love you so much."

Dr. Griffin rested her hand on her daughter's cheek. Clarke heard a low pop and felt a sting in her shoulder. One of the guards shot her with a tranqu dart. Her mother held onto her and lowered her to the floor as the drug put her to sleep.

"Earth, Clarke. You get to go to Earth," said Abby, cradling her daughter in her arms like when she was small, and wishing that she could keep her there always.

XXXXX

Thalia was led by a guard to a line of other prisoners going into a hanger bay. Thalia scanned the faces of the prisoners around her, looking for a few faces in particular. She recognized most of them, and the range of expressions they wore varied from fear, through anxiety, confusion, excitement...

At the moment Thalia felt mostly annoyed, at the metal cuff on her wrist and the sting of the needles going into her arm – she hated needles, they reminded her too much of her time in the hospital – and at the guard who still had a vice grip on her arm. It was the same guard that she had punched in the cell.

As the line moved further into the hanger bay the prisoners gasped at the dropship that was waiting to be launched, that they were being led into. There was a commotion in the line ahead as one of the prisoners panicked at the notion of being sent to Earth, a sure death sentence from what they had always been told. Prisoners started pushing, shouting and asking questions all at once. In the moment of chaos Thalia saw another opportunity.

When another prisoner was pushed in to her, she pushed against the guard still standing next to her and they both fell over. When the guard pushed her off she slipped his gun from its holster and tucked it under her shirt. Everyone else was too stirred up to notice, and the guard was busy trying not to get trampled. More guards came forward to control the crowd and get them back into line. Someone else came forward as well.

"Hold on," said Dr. Griffin as Thalia was being pushed back into the line. "This one is a patient of mine. Give us a minute."

Dr. Griffin led Thalia away from the crown, out of sight of the guards, before she stopped.

"I have something for you," she said pulling a small pack out of her pocket. She opened it slightly to show Thalia what was inside: syringes and vials of medicine. Thalia knew exactly what kind of medicine it was and that she would most likely need it. She also knew that people like her weren't worth wasting meds on, not to the council.

"You could be arrested for giving me this," she said. "What do you want for it?"

"I looked at your records Thalia. I know what you were arrested for, and the incidents that have happened while you've been in lock-up."

"What's your point?" Thalia asked warily.

"I also know that you and Clarke are friends," Dr. Griffin said taking Thalia's left wrist where she wore a simple bracelet with coloured beads on it. Thalia remembered the day she got that bracelet. They were releasing her from the hospital when she was seven saying that she had a clean bill of health as long as she took her meds, which back then were freely available to her. Clarke was with her mother in the hospital that day and gave Thalia her bracelet as a gift. That was the last time Thalia had seen Clarke before they ended up sharing a cell a year ago. Thalia didn't know why she had held onto the bracelet all this time. Maybe because it was one of the only gifts she'd ever gotten.

"This is yours," Dr. Griffin continued, holding up the med kit, "as long as you promise me one thing."

"I'm listening," Thalia said, eyeing the med kit.

"Look after Clarke, watch out for her, keep her safe," Thalia could see all the worry and pain in Dr. Griffin's eyes. She was terrified for her daughter, for what Clarke might have to face on Earth, not just from the unfamiliar land but also from the people she was being sent with. To Thalia it just seemed like she was being asked to do more of what she'd been doing for the last year, only for a different prize – Protect someone who could be an asset to her, and play her fellow prisoners to her advantage.

"I won't let anything happen to Clarke," she told Dr. Griffin. "You have my word."

Thalia had always been good at choosing friends who were useful to her but this time her choice was made from sympathy rather than just to get what she wanted; not an emotion she was accustomed to feeling. Dr. Griffin knew that Thalia was a lot of things, but she had known her since she was a little girl, and Thalia had never been a liar. She handed Thalia the med kit, knowing that she was giving Clarke the only protection that she could. Thalia put the med kit in the inside pocket of her jacket and followed Dr. Griffin back to the guards.

As she was being ushered into the dropship Thalia saw one of the faces she had been looking for: a young man wearing a black uniform – a guard, not a prisoner – Luke Castellan. No guards were being sent with them on this odyssey; there would be no chance to say goodbye. Luke held her gaze for as long as he could until she was led out of sight.

Thalia ended up strapped into a seat next to Clarke who looked like she was just waking up from a tranqu dose. She knew from experience that Clarke would have a headache. Thalia felt her stolen gun press into her back and the weight of the med kit in her pocket. Looking at Clarke, Thalia knew that she would have done whatever she could to protect her even if Dr. Griffin had not paid for it. Clarke was a friend, a real friend. Thalia didn't have too many of those. As the dropship was ejected from the Ark and started to move through space, Thalia fingered the beaded bracelet on her left wrist thinking that if they survived, they were going to need all the friends they could get.