SOLDIER
book one
It's been 97 years since a nuclear explosion radiated life on Earth and life support on The Ark is now failing. In a desperate attempt to grant the citizens of the SpaceCraft more time, 100 juvenile delinquents are sent down to the...
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AS Vivienne and Murphy now trailed ahead of Bellamy and Wells, the silence between them grew tense, Murphy's earlier harsh words still lingering in her head.
Vivienne had prepared herself for skepticism and judgment from her fellow delinquents, but the words still cut deep. It was one thing to anticipate their mistrust, but quite another to feel the weight of their assumptions, especially when they knew nothing of her, not really.
Despite growing up with good friends like Clarke and Wells, and enjoying the privileges that came with her father's status as a prestigious council member—like a larger apartment and extra ration points—Vivienne carried heavy burdens. No one understood the darkness that had engulfed her life in the years leading up to her arrest, the way her family had crumbled around her and how the floor was torn out from underneath them.
Murphy kept a careful eye on the blonde girl beside him, his curiosity.. "What's the deal between you and Wells?" he suddenly asked, shattering the heavy silence that hung over them.
Hesitating, Vivienne kept her eyes trained on the uneven path of the forest ahead of her, unsure if Murphy was someone she wanted to confide in. "What do you mean?" She queried after a moment.
"Just that, you two seem to know each other pretty well."
The blonde shrugged nonchalantly, but her mind raced, wrestling with emotions she had tried to suppress. "Yeah, we did. A long time ago," Vivienne replied, her tone carrying a weight of nostalgia and unresolved tension.
"What happened?" Murphy pressed, his curiosity getting the better of him as he assumed the privileged would group together yet here Vivienne was, walking at his side and hanging off Bellamy's every word.
"I got arrested," she replied simply, "and yesterday was the first time I'd seen him since."
With deepened brows, Murphy tilted his head. "When were you arrested?" he asked.
"Four years ago. I was thirteen," she disclosed, her words revealing to Murphy a past laden with untold stories.
"And he didn't visit you?"
Vivienne shook her head, memories flooding her mind, transporting her back to her first night in the Sky-Box.
It was eerily quiet, so quiet that Vivienne could hear the echo of every thought swirling in her head, each one reverberating in the confines of her cell. Her exhausted eyes remained swollen from tears, refusing to stop, while her trembling hands tried to grasp desperately for the memory of her mother's touch. But all she could see was the crimson stain of the guard's blood, etching its mark on her small, trembling fingers.
The door to her new room clicked and jarred open, her Grandmother walking in with two guards posted close behind her at the open door.
"Gran!" the small girl cried out, her voice echoing through the stark room, but she remained collapsed on the floor, unable to move. Her grandmother hurried to her side, concern etched on her face as she knelt beside her.
