NOTHING TO LOSE

Disclaimer: I don't own the 100 only my OC.

Summary: The journey to the Ground wasn't an impulsive decision nor the last resort. This mission was carefully planned and aimed for from the very beginning. The first chancellor AlexanderRorchack, the most respected scientist of his time, had created a special survival test to carefully select a group of people who will be sent first. The testing has finally begun after eighty years in space, dozens of chosen people began to train for that purpose since their childhood. The only problem was that there was only one person, who managed to pass the test in twenty years. Therefore, when a fault putting the entire Ark in danger occurs - Maybelline Emery is sent along with a hundred delinquents on the Ground, having the best chance of survival. But will it be enough?

Hi, there! :) So, I haven't read the book but I heard that it's very different from the show anyway.

Warning: This isn't gonna be a fluffy romantic story and sometimes it can be quite dark.

Forms of writing:

Third person POV

Thoughts

Memories

Enjoy!

Prolog: 101

Her eyes were closed. She was imagining his face, trying to memorize every detail. Those green eyes that many considered cold and austere, his arrogant smile. He wasn't a kind person, at least, that's what everyone else thought of him. But… they didn't know him at all. He was kind enough when it mattered, especially when it mattered. And to Maybelline - no matter what happened - Marcus Kane had been and always would be the kindest man in the whole universe.

"Remember what's important. Remember your mission."

"I will."

"Stay focus. Stay cautious. Don't let them distract you. You don't care about them. Any of them. If anyone gets in your way, you leave them behind. They're nothing but dead weight. Tell me you understand. Promise me."

"I understand. I… I'll do my best."

"I know you will. You always do."

The bickering in the background was disturbing her, clouding her thoughts and annoying her to no end. They were all really nervous due to the suddenness of the drop - some looked excited, some depressed and some were whispering their last prays.

To the ground, we now return.

The trained part of her scoffed when she found herself thinking that.

A few of them were glancing at her and she could tell that they recognized her from the broadcast on the Ark. Clarke Griffin kept her eyes on her constantly, frowning in the process. But at least, she didn't dare to speak up and Maybelline supposed for that she could be grateful. For all of their sakes.

You don't care about them. Any of them.

His words rang even stronger in her head when she saw three boys break away from their seats with Finn Collins at the head of all of it. His small expedition in Space had cost the Ark two weeks of priceless oxygen, giving him a nickname, Spacewalker. She didn't plan to say anything, but small Griffin girl did. Maybelline could almost hear Clarke's mother in her lecture, alway so high and mighty all the way up on her pedestal. But her efforts were futile - if those kids knew how to follow orders, they wouldn't have been there.

The ship landed hard and with anticipated yet still unwelcome complications. She quickly scanned the cabin, finding that the two of the three boys who didn't have their seatbelts buckled were already dead. She turned away from the scene.

You don't care.

I don't care.

98 left.

The bickering started once more, this time louder than ever before. Maybelline didn't pay too much attention to it - not until she overheard one thing that intrigued her enough to listen.

"Why are you wearing guard's uniform?"

She recognized Clarke's voice and gently pushed several children out of the way to see who she was talking to in such an accusatory tone. By the door of the dropship stood a tall, dark-haired boy. Bellamy Blake. Even if Maybelline hadn't read about him in his sister's file, she would have remembered him - his family was quite infamous up on the Ark. But she knew for sure that he wasn't on the list, he shouldn't be there. The dropship was heavily guarded before launching, was it possible that he slipped inside unnoticed?

"Excuse me?" Octavia Blake snapped back at Clarke. "I haven't seen my brother for a year."

Maybelline passed around them, letting it go for now, as she wasn't really interested in petty family drama and had other things to do. Her duty. Maybelline slipped through the crowd and straight towards the monitor, that was set beside the door. She refocused her attention on what it was telling her. The pressure outside seemed all right, the temperature reached 18 °C and she made the safe assumption that nothing seemed too out of the ordinary as she reached out to the screen to press the opening combination.

"Don't do it!" Clarke yelped out and her hand froze in its movements. "The air outside might be toxic!"

Maybelline turned to her, giving her a pointed look of contempt.

"If it's toxic, we're dead anyway," Bellamy Blake responded before Maybelline could.

Clarke gulped, realizing the facts. The chances that they would all die as soon as the door opened weren't high, but they were there anyway, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Certainly not now, there was no turning back.

"Anything else, Miss Griffin?" Maybelline asked her flatly, disinterested.

Some dared to snigger as the blonde's cheeks flushed red, in both embarrassment and anger. Nevertheless, Maybelline didn't wait for an answer, she returned to the monitor and jabbed in the unlocking code. When the bright green of the confirmation glowed on the screen, she slowly placed her hand on the lever and glimpsed back to the others. With Bellamy Blake on board, technically 101 were sent down here with her. That meant 99 were left.

"Take a deep breath," she advised them. "It may well be the last time."

She was surprised to see that some of them actually obeyed. Others stared at her, their eyes filled with bitter resentment. She could hardly blame them for that. Right now, she was the only one who represented the system that got many of their parents floated and them sent into the Skybox. But that was their own doing, right? The system was important and there for a reason… Maybe she did blame them for it. Maybe she blamed the offenders. Maybe she just didn't care.

Maybelline pushed the lever down and the door of the dropship fell open. They were immediately blinded by a golden glow. Several gasps left almost everyone but Maybelline.

The sun. She had imagined that feeling a thousand times, but it was nowhere near the truth. The warm rays fell gently on her skin, soft as a caress. That sensation was priceless. When her initial stupor faded, she looked around to examine their surroundings. They were situated in the middle of the forest. The trees ran up higher than she expected, the grass was greener, the air was thicker, fresh and full of the essence of wood.

"We're back, bitches!" Octavia Blake, who had already rushed out the door, screamed as she threw arms in the air, her voice tearing the silence that had settled at everyone's awe of the outside.

Everybody ran out - rejoicing, dancing, touching the ground, the grass, the leaves, touching everything. Maybelline moved away from them, surveying what was around. Several trees in the area were shattered to pieces as the result of a hard landing and the ship was severely damaged. She didn't even have to climb the iron ladder beside the door to see that the entire telecommunication sphere was gone - torn away. Maybelline sighed and checked her right wrist. The bracelet was working, so at least that was something.

"Maybelline?"

She looked up and towards the source of the voice. Clarke Griffin was heading her way along with the Chancellor son, Wells Jaha, by her side.

Are we friends now, Griffin?

They held what looked like a stack of maps in their hands.

Great. I see they wasted no time in snooping around in the dropship.

"We're on the wrong mountain. Look!" Clarke blurted out and shoved the map in front of her face.

Maybelline took it and ran her eyes over it briefly. Clarke, unfortunately, was right. Even from the spot where she stood, she could see through the trees the Mount Weather, which was their original destination. And it wasn't exactly nearby.

"The impact of the atmosphere and turbulences must have pushed us off course," she said evenly, starting to evaluate the situation. "Ten miles, give or take."

"Ten miles to walk through the radiation-soaked forest," Clarke said, frowning. Maybelline didn't respond as she looked back at the blonde, still squinting as the harsh sun she was yet to get used to burned her through her eyes. "Tell me the truth," Clarke persisted, her voice low and grave. "How high are our chances?"

Maybelline folded the map neatly and put it into a pocket of her leather jacket. When she lifted her eyes again, she noticed that some of the other kids began to gather around them, shamelessly listening in on their conversation. In the background, she caught a glimpse of familiar ginger hair. But that… wasn't relevant, she needed to focus right now.

"There are four types of radiation that we should be afraid of. In theory, of course. The first would kill us instantly. The second by the end of the day. The third by the end of the week..." she almost announced so she could be heard by all. Most of them were already there and listening, they might as well have used it to their advantage and get the message out to everybody.

"And the last one?" Wells asked, his tone showing how he wasn't exactly thrilled by the subject and its implications.

"The last one would be shown after several of generations. It would probably create a new degenerated race," Maybelline informed him matter-of-factly.

"Cool," a nearby boy, whom she recognized as Monty Green, exhaled in wonder.

Maybelline looked at him, eyebrows lifted.

"The first symptom for that kind of radiation is black spots showing up on the skin."

As expected, few immediately checked their bare arms, Clarke and Wells included. Maybelline paid them no mind as she tied her long black hair into a ponytail, away from her face, and tightened the belt around her waist with a long knife attached, getting ready for the journey.

"So... where exactly are we?" Wells asked.

"Earth," a deep voice replied. Bellamy Blake apparently decided to join the conversation dripping with sarcasm. Why not? "That's not enough for you, privilege?"

"No," the little Chancellor replied, clearly annoyed. "You heard what my father said in the report. We need to find Mount Weather!"

"Screw your father," jeered Octavia with a smug smile. "What? You think you're in charge here? You, your little princess and the star of the Council?"

Maybelline had joined the Council after she reached the age of consent. Partly because of that she passed the Rorchack test, partly because of her father. So she had been in the Council for a mere year, yet she already managed to rally a fanbase, it seemed.

Congratulations to me.

"I'll happily let you be in charge, Octavia," Maybelline told her impassively. Power plays and rebels did nothing to impress her. She was a pragmatist, a survivalist and had more important things to do than fooling around with them. "You have certainly gathered a lot of experience and knowledge spending sixteen years under the floor."

Octavia viciously bared her teeth, her eyes aflame with rage and violently surged toward her. Before reaching Maybelline, her brother grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Octavia, don't."

Maybelline suppressed a smile. There really was no reason for any other unnecessary provocations.

"We have to go at Mount Weather. How long do you think we'll last without supplies?" Clarke interjected, attempting to reason with them.

"This is not the Ark," Bellamy retorted firmly.

"Right, this is not the Ark," Maybelline agreed. "No one will force you to survive." With that, she turned and headed into the woods. She wasn't going to waste any more of her time trying to get the delinquents in line.

"Maybelline, wait! You can't just leave them here!" Clarke exclaimed, her voice reaching a high screech as she hale-heartedly followed after her.

Maybelline halted, looking straight into her eyes.

You don't care about them.

"I don't care about them," she echoed. "They wanna die here? That's fine by me, not my problem. Don't tell me what I can or can't do." And without sparing another breath on the princess, she walked away.

"Let the privileged ones do the hard work for once!" she heard Bellamy yell in exuberance.

The crowd of children around him cheered. Maybelline already knew that the unexpected presence of Bellamy Blake wouldn't be helping the situation. It was not an ideal start - but ideals were not what Maybelline was trained for.