[edited: 2 January 2017]

•••

as it was released, causing Raine to jolt awake in her seat. Blinking, she looked around, spotting countless others teenagers. Ninety-nine, to be exact, for the Council had decided that it would be a smart move to send one hundred teenage 'criminals' down to Earth, to test whether or not it was survivable.

Raine couldn't remember how exactly she had gotten where she was, or who had strapped her in, but she did remember managing to kick one of the guards in the stomach before something sharp was pressed into her lower back and she'd passed out. In all truth, she hadn't expected to wake up again, and especially not where she was now.

A few of the frightened teens cried out as the drop ship shook again, rattling loudly, and it was then she became aware of the dull pain through her wrist. Glancing down in curiosity, she saw a large, silver bracelet. Raine didn't remember wearing this before she passed out - a guard must have placed it on her wrist when she was unconscious. She wondered briefly what it was for.

Suddenly, bright light flooded the ship, and multiple televisions flickered on, revealing Chancellor Jaha. "Prisoners of the Ark, you've been given a second chance."

This caused Raine to snort loudly and rolled her eyes in disgust.

"And as 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 have sent down others. Quite frankly, we're sending you, because you're crimes have made you expendable."

Raine sneered at the screen, curling her hands into tight fists. She wasn't supposed to be here; she had done nothing wrong. From somewhere across the cabin, someone shouted, "You're dad's a dick, Wells!"

People nodded in agreement, some even laughed, including Raine. The ship rattled again, the lights flickering on and off, and the Chancellor continued, "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 two years–"

Looking away, she spotted a boy with long-ish brown hair floating around the ship. He was smirking as he floated, flipping through the air.

"Check it out," he said to Wells, crossing his arms, "Your dad floated me after all."

"Aye, dumbass." Raine barked, catching everyone's attention, "Get back in your seat, before the parachutes deploy."

He ignored her, and Raine watched as two more idiots unbuckled their seatbelts and began to float around the cabin.

"You must locate those supplies immediately." Chancellor Jaha spoke, but no-one was listening.

"You're the traitor who spent a year in solitary." The boy mused to a blonde girl, who looked annoyed.

"You're the idiot who wasted a month's worth of oxygen on a damn spacewalk." She retorted smoothly.

"It was fun." The boy defended himself. "I'm Finn."

"No, you're stupid." Raine snapped, refusing to give up. Without warning, the ship jerked sideways and the three boys flew across the cabin, slamming into the wall. Sparks rained down, and Raine heard a boy scream as he tried to kick them away.

People let out loud screams as the drop ship plummeted towards Earth and Raine clung to the seatbelt, screwing her eyes shut. The ship stopped moving, and Raine opened her eyes, looking around. It seems they had landed. Taking a few deeps breaths, she saw the lights flick on and stay on.

"Listen," the Asian kid called, "No machine hum."

The kid with the goggles spoke, "Whoa."

With a loud click, the seatbelts undid themselves and Raine was able to throw them aside and stand up. She was a bit shaky at first, but quickly gained her balance. Raine spotted Finn leaning next the two boys, unharmed. The other two, however, were not so lucky.

"Are they breathing?" the blonde girl asked, and Finn shook his head in horror.

Raine clapped sarcastically, "I hope you're proud of yourself, Finn." Raine placed emphasis on his name, and whilst he hung his head the blonde girl glared at her, and Raine shrugged, "He has to live with it, not me."

Climbing down the ladder, Raine could see a large crowd had formed, everyone wanting to get outside. A tall, muscular boy with dark hair stood at the front of the crowd, holding his arms out, "Hey, just back it up guys."

Pushing her way through the crowd, Raine saw the boy reach for the leaver to open the door.

"Stop!" cried the blonde, and Raine sighed. She really didn't like that girl. "The air could be toxic!"

"If it's toxic then we're dead already." The boy responded.

"Bellamy?" a voice called, and Raine turned to see another girl climbing down the ladder, with the exact same coloured hair. She had been sitting across from Raine on the trip down.

"My god." The boy whispered, as the girl stopped next to him. "Look how big you are."

They hugged tightly, and Raine, despite wanting to go outside, diverted her eyes. It was like she was witnessing something private and it made her feel uncomfortable.

"What the hell is this?" the girl asked, pinching the fabric of his jacket between her fingers, "A guard's uniform?"

"I borrowed it to get on the drop ship. Someone's gotta keep an eye on you." He grinned. They hugged again, but the blonde girl spoke up.

"Where's your wristband?"

The brunette rounded on her, sneering "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."

"No-one has a brother!" someone called, and people began to nod.

"That's Octavia Blake!" a girl cried, and Raine finally understood. "The girl they found hidden in the floor!"

People began to murmur, looking at the girl with wide eyes. Octavia was looking around darkly, gritting her teeth in anger. She jerked forwards, ready to kick someone's ass, but her older brother pulled her back. "Octavia, Octavia no!" Octavia relaxed in her brother's arms, and he turned her to face him. Smiling softly at her, he spoke, "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

"Yeah?" she scoffed, "Like what?"

A smile played on his lips, "You're going to be the first person on the ground in a hundred years."

The siblings looked at each other, Octavia finally nodding with a grin on her face. Together, they turned to face the door, Bellamy reaching for the handle. Pulling it down the door fell open, filling the cabin with a blinding white light. Almost immediately, Raine could smell the soil and feel a cool breeze on her face.

All she could see was moss covered forest, and she breathed in deep lungful's of the fresh air. Raine had never thought that in her lifetime, people would be going back to the ground, let alone her. Her childhood dream was becoming a reality, and she desperately wished that her father was there with her.

Octavia walked forwards, looking around in awe. When she reached the end of the platform, she hesitated, until jumping down and landing on both feet. A smirk played on her lips as she raised her arms and shouted, "We're back, bitches!"

The crowd of teenagers erupted into loud cheers, rushing forwards in an ocean of excitement. Raine was swept up in the current, and she tried her best to remain rooted to her spot. As much as she wanted to run outside and party like the rest of them, she had other things on her mind. Like food, water, and the fact that all these kids were criminals. Clarke jumped down beside her, holding on tightly to a map.

"We need to find those supplies, like now." Raine said to her, and Clarke nodded, their prior engagement forgotten as they focused on more important things.

"I'm Clarke, by the way."

"Raine."

Raine followed Clarke, ducking under branches and making sure to avoid anything and everything. She didn't know what was what down here - and she had no desire to die on her first day. Clarke holding out a map, the two girls looked at it. It showed Mount Weather behind a ridge, so there needed to be one close by. Raine's eyes landed on a large mountain, with a cliff face that went down into a ridge and she groaned inwardly.

Finn appeared beside Clarke, questioning, "Why so serious, Princess? It's not like we died in a fiery explosion."

Clarke glanced at him, "Tell that to the two guys who followed you out of their seats."

He leaned closer, "You don't like being called Princess, do you Princess?"

Before Clarke could respond, Raine butted in, "Hey, that's nice that you guys are bonding, but do you see that ridge over there?" she pointed to it, and Finn nodded, a puzzled look on his face. "Behind that, is Mount Weather. The idiots on the Ark dropped us on the wrong damn mountain."

•••

Bellamy had convinced the fellow teenagers to help set up camp, and he watched as they carried out any supplies they could find, and even some of the old seats. A boy, who Bellamy had learned liked to go by the name of Murphy, sniffed as he carried supplies, "What about her?"

He was talking about a girl with long brown hair, her back to them as she picked up wood. "Just get back to work. I'll take care of her." Bellamy told Murphy and he nodded. Bellamy then walked over to the girl, inspecting the wood in her arms over her shoulder. "That wood won't burn."

She turned around, narrowing her eyes at the boy, and she said, "I know, genius, I'm gathering wood to build myself a shelter."

This was a lie, but she wasn't about to look stupid in front of some guy. Bellamy raised an eyebrow, "What about the drop ship?"

"And be in a confined space with you? No thanks." She responded sarcastically, and Bellamy's face hardened.

"Just watch who you're talking to, Mist."

She sneered, "You're not in charge of me, and it's Raine. Asshole." She muttered the last bit to herself as she walked away. Her fists curled around the wood, no doubt giving her splinters. Who was he to think that everyone was just going to follow him? It angered Raine, and unfortunately Raine was filled with anger.

She walked past Clarke and another boy, who seemed to be in a heated conversation about Mount Weather. Dropping her wood next to the drop ship, she stood next to Clarke and butted into their conversation. "If you're going to Mount Weather, I want to come."

"Nothing's been finalised yet." The blonde girl responded, glaring at the dark skinned boy next to her.

"Oh cool, a map." The boy with the goggles joked, "Is there a bar in this town? I'll buy you a beer."

Wells turned around, and snapped, "You mind?" He grabbed the boy's bicep dragging him backwards, the boy frowning at him.

"Whoa, whoa." He mumbled in confusion.

"Back off." Raine bit at Wells, opening her mouth to say more, but she was cut off.

"Hey, hands off. He's with us." Another boy spoke, walking towards them. A crowd was following him.

"Relax," Wells spoke, and Raine glared at the boy, "We're just trying to figure out where we are."

"We're on the ground." Bellamy called, and Raine groaned, "Is that not good enough with you?"

"It depends," she snapped at him, "Do you want to eat tonight? How about tomorrow?"

Bellamy looked the girl up and down, not responding. A crowd had formed, a ring around Raine and the others. Wells nodded, "We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message; it has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father." Octavia called, and Raine noticed how similar she was to Bellamy. People began to nod, agreeing with Octavia.

Raine stepped forward, "Look, I don't like the Chancellor either, but that doesn't mean I want to go hungry. If we can find Mount Weather–"

"What, do you think you're in charge here?" Octavia sneered.

"No-one is, but at least I don't have my head up my ass about this situation. If we don't get those supplies soon, we will die." Raine replied matter-of-factly.

"Do you think we care about who's in charge?" Clarke announced to everyone in disbelief, "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 will be. How long do you think we'll last without those supplies? We're looking at a twenty mile trek."

"So we need to leave now." Raine explained. Raine could see the people start to agree, and even the Blake siblings looked like they were going to cave. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"I got a better idea." Bellamy spoke, "You three go. Find it for us. Let the privileged to the hard work for a change."

Raine growled, storming over to the older boy, intent on punching his teeth out. Her, privileged? Please. "What is your problem, Bellamy?" she hissed.

"I don't have a problem; you're the one picking the wrong side."

She scoffed, "Wrong side? There are no sides, but if there were I'd be on my side."

Someone was behind her, tugging on her arm. She turned, and came face to face with Jasper. "What?" she spoke, struggling to keep her anger under control.

"Just leave them." The boy told her nervously.

"That's it, run away." Bellamy sneered as she began to turn away. Whipping around, she raised her fist, ready to punch, but he caught it easily. His grip was vice-like, and Raine winced despite her anger. Leaning close, he whispered, "You can't hurt me, Mist."

The nickname only angered her more, and she struggled to get free. He let go of her wrist, and instead of correcting him again on her name, she spat, "You're an asshole."

Raine and Jasper retreated, the same time Wells spoke up, "You're not listening! We all need to go–"

Murphy ran up behind him and shoved him to the ground. "Oh look, everybody, Chancellor of Earth."

People laughed, and Raine bent down to pick up some wood she had collected, just in case she needed to use it. Wells got up, replying, "You think that's funny?"

Murphy smirked, lashing out and kicking Wells' ankle, sending him sprawling onto the ground again. Raine was getting ready to smash the wood against the kids head when Finn came out of the sky, jumping off the drop ship. He landed softly and glanced at Raine, who had the wood raised, an unimpressed look on his face. She lowered it, glaring at the boy. Stepping forward, Finn said to Murphy, "The kids got one leg, why don't you wait until it's a fair fight?"

"Hey Spacewalker," Octavia called to Finn, walking over to him. A sly grin was plastered on her face, "Rescue me next."

A murmur of laughter ran through the crowd, and Raine threw the wood down. Murphy left and the crowd dispersed, leaving Octavia to stare at Finn's back. Bellamy walked over, looking pointedly at his younger sister.

"What?" she huffed, shrugging. He's cute."

"He's a criminal." Bellamy deadpanned.

"We're all criminals." Octavia responded sarcastically and Raine bristled at her words.

Clarke was checking Wells' ankle, which she had determined was sprained. Wells was annoyed as this meant he couldn't accompany the group to Mount Weather. Raine headed over, intent on being in the loop when it came to getting supplies. Finn shuffled over also,hands in his pockets, and he asked, "So, Mount Weather. When do we leave?"

Wells glanced at Clarke in disbelief. Clarke stood up, "Right now." She turned to Wells, who was still on the ground, "We'll be back tomorrow with food."

Wells clenched his jaw, "How are you two going to carry enough food for a hundred?"

Finn smirked as he turned around, grabbing Jasper and Monty by their shoulders and spinning them around. They looked confused, but didn't say anything as Finn stated, "Four of us."

"Five, actually." Raine spoke up, and Clarke gave her a nod.

"Sounds like a party." Octavia called, walking over, "Make it six."

"What the hell are you doing?" Bellamy spoke, grabbing his younger sisters shoulder.

"Going for a walk." Octavia rolled her eyes.

"Hey," Clarke said, noticing scratches on Finn's bracelet. She grabbed his wrist, lifting it up for all of them to see, "Were you trying to take this off?"

"Yeah. So?" Finn mocked.

"It transmits your vitals to the Ark. Take it off and your family will think you're dead." Clarke explained, and an idea nestled itself into Raine's head. Little did she know, the same idea was in Bellamy's head also.

"Should I care?" Finn responded smugly.

"Do you want your family thinking you're dead? The Ark won't follow us down in two months if they think we're dying." Clarke reasoned, and Raine glanced at the blonde girl. No way was she ready to see her mother again. Hell, she'd be happy if she never saw her mother again.

"Okay, let's go." Clarke told the group of teenagers, and they started the hike.

"Before you get any ideas," Raine heard Octavia say to Clarke, "Finn's mine."

Raine snorted loudly whilst Clarke shook her head. "Before you get any ideas, I don't care."

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