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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WAKING from the short slumber she had managed to fall into, Vivienne rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands, adjusting to the dim lighting in the bunker. She had been curled up into Clarke's side, who was leaning on Finn, both still asleep.
As her vision gradually cleared, Vivienne glanced around. Suddenly, her gaze passed by the bunk where Charlotte had been tucked in. Seeing the blankets tossed lazily onto the floor and her shoes missing, Vivienne's heart dropped. She sat up abruptly, panic surging through her.
Vivienne quickly paced over to the bunk, grabbing the duvet off the floor and piling it in her arms. Glancing toward the ladder, she saw the hatch left slightly open, likely because Charlotte didn't quite have the strength to close it properly.
"Clarke!" she exclaimed, dropping the blanket onto the bed before rushing over to the two still asleep. "Clarke!" she repeated louder, shaking the sleeping girl's shoulder.
"Vivienne?" Clarke queried groggily as she and Finn stirred awake. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the look of worry etched on Vivienne's face.
"Charlotte... she's gone."
•••
TRAILING after Finn through the darkened woods, Vivienne felt more on edge than ever. Her senses were heightened, every snap of a twig and rustle of leaves making her heart race and her breath catch in her throat. The forest seemed alive with shadows, each one a threat.
"This way," Finn confidently announced as he tracked the small footprints of Charlotte's boots through the looming forest.
Darting between two towering trees, Finn suddenly stopped and knelt down, his eyes scanning the ground. Carefully, he hovered the light of the torch over two sets of footprints, one much larger than the other. "Someone else was here," he stated, glancing up at the two blondes crouching beside him.
"Murphy?" Clarke queried, her eyes nervously darting between the indents in the dirt and Finn, whose shoulder lightly brushed against hers.
Vivienne rose to her feet, her eyes scanning the surroundings intently. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced through the dense woodland, followed by Charlotte's panicked shouts. "Let me go!" her voice echoed through the trees.
"Murphy found her..." Vivienne barely whispered, the weight of dread settling heavily upon her.
"We have to go," Clarke insisted urgently, rising to her feet with Finn beside her. "Now!"
•••
TORRENTIAL rain thundered down, coating the soaked ground in a dense fog. Vivienne's boots squelched through the mud, each step leaving a trail behind her. Clarke and Finn hastened to keep pace as she charged towards the cliffside, where Murphy's shouts and Charlotte's piercing screams echoed through the storm.
