"Prisoner 237, Shaw Comma Mallory. Prison 274, Shepard Comma Dax." The guard shouts, making his voice echo around the metal cell. We're like two feet away from him but I guess shouting makes him feel tough.

"You know you don't have to say comma out loud, right?" I remind the guard, who insists on calling me Shaw Comma Mallory.

"One inmate per unit. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Well, at least once more." Dax snorts and the guard's glare intensifies. He flicks out his shock baton. Before he could escalate the situation Atom walks by and does a double take at Dax and I sitting in his cell. Atom smirks before cupping his hands around his mouth to make sure everyone in our section can hear him.

"Mal is in Dax's cell… Again!" Everyone in the area whoops and hollers, even though I've never slept with Dax and they all know it. Teenage boys are so annoying.

"Prisoner 301, Holloway Comma Atom, get back." The guard flicks his baton again, shocking it against the doorway. Atom doesn't even bother dropping his smirk.

"Yeah, Holloway Comma Atom. Mind your own damn business." Dax tells him. Atom winks at me over the guard's shoulder before walking off.

"Prisoner 237, Shaw-"

"Comma Mallory, yeah I get it. What do you want?" I cut the guard off.

"All prisoners to their cells." He shocks the door with his baton again. "Now!"

"Oh my god, Dax, I'm like, so intimidated." Dax rolls his eyes and lays back in his bed. I think the trick to looking effortlessly cool is being a sociopath. The guard grabs my arm, stands me up, and pulls me out of Dax's cell, down the row to mine. Once I'm in, he lets me go but stands outside my cell with his arms crossed.

"All prisoners in their cells, now!" He shouts again, this time loud enough for the whole section to hear.

"What'd you do now, Mal?" Atom shouts at me from his cell across the room.

"I didn't do anything. Fuck off, Atom."

"Yeah! Fuck off, Atom." Jones adds from the cell next to Atom's.

"Fuck you, Jones."

"Prisoners!" The guard shocks his baton onto my door again. "Quiet down." As soon as everyone is in their cell, the guard presses a button on his walkie. Seconds later all the cell doors slam shut and a bunch of guards walk into our section. One by one they start dragging us out of our section of the Sky Box.

I'm not really worried about where we're going. Best case, it's some kind of holiday I forgot about where they make us watch some dumb video but we get snacks. Worst case, some kind of mass floating but it's only 5 months until I'm 18 anyway so it's not like I'd miss much. My cell door opens and a different guard than before is waiting for me.

"Prisoner 237, hold out your wrist." I hold out both my wrists for him to cuff but he slaps one away. He fastens a weird wristband around the other one and when it closes it digs into my skin making me wince.

"What the hell is that?" I yank my wrist back. The guard ignores me, grabbing my elbow and pulling me out of my cell. He drags me past all the other cells they've cleared and down a weird hallway. There's a line of kids from every section of the Sky Box, slowing moving through an airlock. So, mass floating it is.

"Mal!" Atom called from the front of the line.

"What?" I had to shout for him to hear me and everyone between us who wasn't used to our rowdiness either rolled their eyes or glared outright.

"Mal!"

"What, Atom?"

"Are we getting floated?"

"How would I know?"

"We aren't getting floated, we're getting in a dropship." Some kid in front of Atom said. That caused everyone in line started talking, the noise level in the hallway rising considerably. A few guards tried to quiet them down but no one paid them any attention until they flicked out their shock batons. The line of delinquents quieted to a murmur until there was another shout from behind me.

"Look what you did, Atom!" John Mbege scolded sarcastically. Atom flipped Mbege the bird, causing a guard to threaten Atom with his baton which made Mbege laugh.

"Hey, this is Mal's fault. She was in Dax's cell again." I rolled my eyes at Atom's comment and the stupid shit that's bound to follow.

"Again?" Mbege asked, looking me up and down and smirking.

"Shut up, Atom! We weren't doing anything. I was in your cell this morning." Mbege whistles and I glare at him, making him smirk again.

"Slut!"

"Fuck you, Trina." Trina smirks at me from her spot in the line. She doesn't mean it but I'll still break her nose if she says it again. Or if anyone else says it.

"Prisoner 237, Shaw Comma Mallory," this fucking guy, "do you need to be restrained?"

"No." I bit back. Mbege snorts and the guard shifts his glare to him. A different guard puts his hand on Comma Guard's shoulder and whispers something in his ear. Comma Guard gives me one last glare before stalking down the hallway. The other guard nods at me and I roll my eyes. I know it's childish but the guards are annoying. Sending one away doesn't make us friends.

A few headache inducing minutes later the line starts moving forward quickly. The guards guide everyone into their seats on the dropship and buckle us in like little kids. They separate me from most of my friends. I'm squished between the wall of the ship and some kid I've never met before. Though, to be fair, I haven't met very many kids. I got arrested for petty theft when I was eight, so everyone I know is from my section of the Sky Box. The kid next to me and the boy on his other side talk non-stop while everyone else gets situated on this ship. Soon enough, we're disconnected from the Ark and flying through space and it's awful. I don't get how people like spacewalks and zero gravity. My hands are gripping onto the seat belt so tightly that my knuckles are white and the guy next to me definitely notices.

"What's your name?" The kid next to me asks.

"Why?"

"I'm Monty. Monty Green." He holds out his hand. Whether it's to shake or cling to I don't know, but I grab it tightly anyway. "I figure if we're gonna die next to each other I should know your name."

"Mallory Shaw." We hit the first layer of the atmosphere, making the ship shake and spark. I squeeze Monty's hand tighter. If it hurts, he doesn't show it. "Call me Mal." He nods.

"This is Jasper." He gestures to his friend with his other hand. Our conversation is cut off by the screens coming on and Chancellor Jaha's face popping up.

"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. 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." I hate him so much.

"Your dad's a dick, Wells!" Someone shouts, making everyone laugh.

"Those crimes will be forgiven, your records wiped clean." Jaha continues, obviously not able to hear us in the dropship. "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 non-perishables to sustain three hundred people for up to two years." Everyone looks away from the screen when Finn Collins unbuckles and starts floating around the ship.

"Spacewalk Bandit strikes again!" Someone else calls and people whoop, encouraging Finn. Finn is infamous in our section of the Sky Box. Half for space walking and half for being a literal waste of oxygen. Our section of the Sky Box was infamous for being violent assholes mostly. Jaha's voice carried on, just barely audible over the teens on the ship.

"Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately. Your one responsibility is stay alive." The ship hits the final layer of the atmosphere and gravity kicks in. Two kids go flying across the room, breaking some pipes and wires in the process. Jaha cuts out and the wires send sparks all around the room making me flinch. The ship sails through the sky for way too long. Monty squeezes my hand again. I'm surprised he can still move it, given how tightly I've been clinging to it the entire time.

The parachutes finally deploy. When we land the dropship echos with cheers and screams. I keep a hold on Monty's hand until everyone starts unbuckling and walking around freely. We all surge forward towards the hatch to the bottom floor and I let the crowd push me forward. The floor above us opens their hatch before we can even start climbing down and starts shoving their way through. The person on the ladder gets shoved and Dax jumps down to my floor after them. I should have known he was the one doing the shoving. He's been my neighbor for 3 years. Atom does the weird boy thing where they slap each other on the back really hard in a 'friendly' gesture and then Dax sees me.

"Mallory!" He shoves two people out of the way so he can grab me, making me shout in surprise. He throws me over his shoulder and I try not to kick anyone in the process, it doesn't work and I catch a guy in the chin. My bad, dude. Only one person from our floor has made it down the ladder so far but that doesn't stop Dax from shoving his way back to the hatch and dangling me over the hole.

"Drop her!"

"Fuck you, Atom!" Atom's upside down smirk distracts me for a split second before Dax half drops me through the hatch feet first, thank god. Someone shouts for us to hurry up and he drops me completely, almost 7 feet the the bottom level of the dropship. I really need new friends.

The main door of the ship still isn't open. But that doesn't stop everyone from pushing forward and crowding onto the bottom level of the ship.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor." Someone from the front says. Octavia lunges for them but some guy holds her back.

"Who cares? Open the fucking door!" I yell. A few seconds later, they finally open it. Everyone rushes forward again and I let the crowd propel me outside.

So, this is what Earth looks like. Trees and grass and plants everywhere like Farm Station on steroids. The vibrant green hue is almost blinding after spending my life on the dull gray Ark. The sun is shining down on us and everything around us. I knew the sun would look different on the Earth but this is… it's amazing. The heat on my skin contrasts with the cool, wet grass brushing against my exposed ankles. The smell of the forest is almost overwhelming. Floral and fresh. I've read every book about Earth I could get my grubby little hands on but nothing can compare to actually being here. I almost want to cry, but I won't. Everyone is serene for a moment, even the violent offenders. They let themselves truly appreciate the Earth for the first time.

We're quickly brought back to reality by some blonde bitch with a map. Then of course, Murphy picks a fight with someone. Mbege comes out of nowhere, slings his arm around my shoulders, and drags me over to the group forming around Murphy and the other guy. The blonde girl is trying to get everyone to go on some dumb hike to get food.

"We need to get to Mount Weather not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this'll be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty-mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."

"I got a better idea. You two go, find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change." Octavia's brother suggests. A few kids loudly agree with him.

"You're not listening. We all need to go!" The boy stressed, trying to get anyone other than the blonde to listen to him. Murphy leaps forward and shoves him.

"Look at this, everybody…" Murphy threw his arms out and gestured around the group "the Chancellor of Earth!" The other guy scowls at Murphy.

"Think that's funny?" Instead of answering, Murphy kicks the guys ankle out from under him, snapping it and making him drop to the ground.

"Wells!" The blonde girl tries to help Wells off the ground but Mbege grabs her and holds her back, pushing me into the boys I was next to on the dropship, Monty and… someone.

Wells stands up and gets into a fighting stance, albeit with a slight limp, and Murphy doesn't hesitate to mirror his position. Murphy should hesitate, I've fought him more than once and I always win. Before they can get any hits in Finn Collins jumps off the dropship and lands between the two fighting boys.

"Kids got one leg. How about you wait 'till it's a fair fight?"

"Screw that. Go for the eyes, Murphy!" I yell, trying to get some excitement back. Mbege rolls his eyes and shoves me.

"Excuse her, she was raised in a prison." Murphy is too busy trying to stare down Finn to care. Octavia jumps down and saunters over to Finn.

"Hey Spacewalker, rescue me next." She flirts, making everyone around them chuckle. Murphy finally gives up and walks off, dragging Mbege behind him. Monty and his friend turn to me. John… James… Jazz… Jasper! Monty and his friend Jasper.

"Were you really raised in the Sky Box?" Monty asks. Jaspers eyes flick to me before going back to ogling Octavia.

"Kind of. I got locked up when I was eight." Dax suddenly comes up behind me and gives Monty and Jasper his 'I'm a spooky murderer' look that works way too well on strangers.

"Who's your friend, Mal?"

"This is Monty! And his friend Jackson. Uh, Jasper." Dax snorts and looks Jasper up and down. Jasper shifts uncomfortably under Dax's gaze and Monty frowns. Before I can try to ease the tension, Finn jumps in again. This time just dragging Monty and Jasper away from us.

"You shouldn't tease guys like that, Mal." Dax scolds me. He starts dragging me through people to our small friend group.

"I'm not teasing anyone. I'm making friends!" Dax glances back at me and snorts.

"They don't want to be your friend, doll."

"Fuck off, Dax. Don't you have small animals to torture or something?" Atom laughs and pulls me away from Dax, into his chest.

"Mal, you are the small animal he tortures." Dax glares at Atom and Jones and Connor laugh. I shove Atom away from me, making Jones laugh even louder.

"Shut up." Atom shoves me back and I stumble into Jones. "You all suck." Jones shoves me too, making me stumble into Murphy who just walked up to our group with Mbege right behind him.

"Watch it, Shaw. I almost stabbed you." Murphy shoves me too, and Dax grabs my shoulders to keep me steady.

"Stabbed her with what?" Atom asks, actually acknowledging the reason Murphy came over in the first place.

"Check it out. I made a knife with metal from the dropship." Everyone crowds around Murphy as he proudly shows off his new weapon. The boys are easily impressed.

"Cool." Jones mutters before trying to grab it. Murphy pulls it away from the group and Atom smirks at Jones' defeated look.

"Show me how, Murphy." Murphy stares at me for a second before sighing. He nods his head towards the ship and I follow him, not without a suggestive look from Atom. That boy is never not thinking about sex. He's ridiculous. Murphy doesn't even like me, he only hangs out with us because of Mbege.

Murphy shows me how to make knives. He even shows me where he carved his initials into them and lets me copy him, with an 'M' for Mal and a little heart on each knife I make. Eventually, Murphy wanders off to harass Wells Jaha. Not long after Murphy leaves, Atom plops down on the ground next to me. I glance up at him but focus back on the weapon I'm sharpening.

"Cute heart."

"Thank you."

"Bet I could make a better knife than you." I roll my eyes and Atom grins at the gesture. "We should make more than knives. Spears and shit… for hunting, like in Earth Skills." Atom's actually smart when he's not around the other guys.

"That's actually a good idea." I tell him. He nudges my arm with his shoulder. "You get sticks, I'll make the blade part."

"Cool." Atom easily agrees. He gets up and walks into the forest, bringing Dax and Jones with him. Octavia's brother glances between the group and I before settling on me and walking over.

"What are you doing?"
"Making weapons. They're getting wood." He squats next to me and picks up one of the knives.

"What the 'M' for?"

"Mallory." He nods, examining the knife still.

"I'm Bellamy."

"Cool."

"Let me see your wrist." I give him a weird look but hold out my wrist with the wristband on it. He grabs it and holds it tightly with one hand, holding my knife in the other.

"What the fuck?" He jams the knife into my wristband making the needles dig into my skin. "Ow! Dude, what the hell?" I try to pull my wrist back but he doesn't let go. He just digs the knife deeper into the wristband. I grab one of the other knives I've made, about to press it against his throat before Murphy and Mbege run over.

"Hey, hey, hey, be careful!" Murphy scolds, yanking my knife out of my hand. The action almost knocking me over and making my wristband dig further into my wrist.

"Get off of me!" I yell. We start getting attention from everyone around us. Murphy grabs my shoulders, holding me still as best as he can. My legs are stuck under me and with Murphy holding me down I can't kick them out. Bellamy wiggles the wristband that still won't come off. Blood starts dribbling from my wrist before Mbege steps in.

"Dude, be careful." Murphy ignores his friend and my struggling. "Dax'll kill you if you hurt her."

"Fuck Dax. I'll kill you myself!" Bellamy doesn't even blink but Murphy's hold on me loosens for a split second. Atom shows up on the edge of the tree line but he's on the other side of the dropship.

"Hold on. I've almost got it." Bellamy twists the knife again and I almost yell out in pain but I keep it to a quiet wince. The boys get over to us just as my wristband pops off and drops to the ground. Bellamy smiles triumphantly.

"What the hell's going on?" Atom uses his 'tough guy' voice as he walks over to us. He, Dax, Connor and Jones drop the wood they got from the forest into a pile and Bellamy stands up. Murphy finally lets me go and I stand up quickly. I make a quick lunge for Bellamy, scratching his cheek with my nails before Jones grabs me around the waist and pulls me away. Atom steps between me and Bellamy, looking at the wristband.

"Nothing. I just needed her wristband." Bellamy holds up the stupid metal bracelet as evidence. "If the Ark thinks we're dead, they won't send a bunch of guards and Council members down here to lock us up again." He explains to them but he couldn't just ask me first?

"Fuck you, Bellamy!" I rub my still bleeding wrist with my hand. Bellamy barely glances at me, instead making eye contact with all the guys surrounding him.

"These wristbands are from the Ark. The people who locked us up, floated our parents, and sent us down here to die from radiation. Why should we let them risk our lives while they sit comfortably in the Ark, huh?" Bellamy's voice gradually gets louder as the crowd around us grows. "I say screw them. Why should they get to enjoy Earth after we do all the work?" He's right, but he's still an asshole.

Dax nods slowly, soaking in everything Bellamy says, before holding out his wristband. Bellamy grins triumphantly and Murphy slaps him on the back. They all walk over to a big rock and Dax puts his wristband on it, letting Bellamy break it off. The crowd around them cheers. Jones lets go of me now that Bellamy is too far away for me to hurt him and he joins them. A line starts forming to take off wristbands.

"You okay?" Atom whispers the question in my ear and throws his arm over my shoulders.

"I'm fine." He gives me a disbelieving look but lets me shrug his arm off me. "That's my knife." Bellamy took the knife I made, even after he hurt me with it. Atom laughs lightly.

"You'll get it back. Don't worry." I cross my arms over my chest and Atom's smile flickers. "You sure you're okay?"

"I said I'm fine, Atom. I just don't like being held down and cut by some asshole I don't even know." Atom nods sympathetically and I let him nudge me with his shoulder.

"Should I give them my wristband?" He asks. I sigh.

"Yeah. Just cause he's an ass doesn't mean he's wrong." Atom grins at me before walking over to Bellamy, cutting in line, and holding his wrist out. I watch the crowd for a few more minutes before letting my anger go and joining them.

"It's starting to get dark. We should build a fire." I suggest. Bellamy glances up at me and nods.

"Atom, Jones, use that wood you found to start a fire."

"Whatever you say, boss." Jones says, talking to Bellamy but winking at me.

"Fuck you, Jones. It was my idea." He ruffles my hair as he walks past me. Condescending assholes. I try not to pout when I sit on a stump behind Bellamy and Murphy. They busy themselves by taking off as many wristbands as they can. Eventually they are able to do it with minimal pain. I recognize the girl, Fox, who's next and she smiles at me before holding out her wristband. Murphy grabs her and yanks her over the fire until she's almost screaming and he pops off her wristband. He holds it in the air and the crowd cheers again.

"Who's next?" Bellamy demands, more than asks.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wells demands, storming over to us.

"We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?" There goes Bellamy with his weird ass cult leader speech. He would have made a good council member with the speeches and the little regard for my suffering and everything.

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed. The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we've got. Take them off, and the Ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow." Wells tries to reason with everyone, but they won't listen.

"That's the point, Chancellor. We can take care of ourselves, can't we?" Bellamy rallies the crowd and they cheer in response.

"You think this is a game? Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers. I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own, and besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"

"My people already are down here. Those people locked my people up. Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."

"My father didn't write the laws."

"No. He enforced them, but not anymore, not here. Here, there are no laws." The crowd cheers again. "Here, we do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want. Now, you don't have to like it, Wells. You can even try to stop it or change it, kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want." This isn't going to end well, is it?

"Whatever the hell we want!" Murphy echos Bellamy and the crowd start chanting with him. Bellamy and Wells try to stare each other down and thunder cracks, as if on cue. Rain start pouring from the sky and this time I join everyone in cheering.

Rain is incredible. Fresh water falling from the sky, I mean, come on! I kind of understand how it works, but honestly it's cooler if you don't think about the science behind it. I've always preferred magic to science. I throw my arms out, no longer giving a shit if anyone sees me being childish, and spin. And spin and spin and spin until I lose my balance and have to grab onto Dax and Jones to keep me upright. The rain plasters my hair to the my face and I have to keep brushing it back to keep it out of my eyes until another girl takes a hair tie off her wrist and pulls my hair back for me.

"I'm Harper." She shouts into my ear so I can hear her over the rain and the screaming delinquents.

"I'm Mal!" Harper finishes putting my hair in a ponytail and I grab her hand, spinning her in the rain with me.

Slowly the rain eases into a light drizzle. Around the same time, people start getting tired. The guys decide to sleep in the dropship and I drag Harper with me. It's been a while since I've had a good friend that's a girl. Not because I don't want them, I would have gone crazy if there weren't any older girls in the Sky Box with me. I think girls are just better at crime than boys and get caught later and less often.

Harper eyes Dax wearily, probably aware of his reputation, but I smile reassuringly at her. Dax, Jones, Atom, Connor, Murphy, and Mbege are all spread out on the floor of the dropship, affectively claiming an entire floor just for themselves.

"Guys, this is Harper. Harper's joining us." Murphy grunts, which is his usual response when I say anything. Atom looks Harper up and down and grins.

"The more the merrier." Harper gives me another concerned look and I kick Atom.

"Don't worry. They're all talk." I let Harper have the spot by the wall though, just in case. And I squeeze between her and Atom. I may be friends with these guys but I'm not reckless.

"Harper, this is Atom, Jones, Connor, Dax, Murphy, and Mbege." I tell her, pointing out each one in turn. She probably already knows but whatever, it's polite. Harper gives them an apprehensive smile and for the most part, they ignore us. Not twenty minutes later, we're all asleep.