Radioactive

Prolouge

Almost everyone was already asleep in their sleeping quarters. The halls of the ark were quite, the only sounds were the slight machine hum that is ever present and the noise of the fluorescent lights hanging overhead. Almost everyone was tucked in their own little room with their loved ones. Spouses huddled together in bed. Children slept with blankets over their head. Everyone was down for the night. Well, almost everyone.

Screams were pouring out from the medical ward. "I need you to push. Now!" Inside, there was a woman, her husband, and a doctor. The woman's screams of pain seemed to fill up the whole room. "I see a head. You're doing great." The doctor said to the woman. The woman's face was covered in sweat, and she was gripping her husband's hand tightly with her own. "One last push." The doctor said encouragingly. The woman squeezed her husband's hand harder and, with every last bit of energy she had left, gave one last push. A tiny but loud cry filled the air. "It's a girl." the doctor said, handing the baby to the woman. "Clarke." the woman said, gazing at the her baby girl with nothing but love in her eyes.

The woman let out another scream of pain. "What's happening?" the husband asked, taking the child from his wife. The doctor's face turned a ghostly white. He looked up at the parents and said the three words that struck fear into their hearts. "There's another baby." The husband and wife looked at each other in absolute horror. "Okay, you need to start pushing again."

The woman did as she was told, her eyes never leaving those of her husband's. Another cry filled the room, much softer than the one before it. "It's another girl." The doctor handed the second baby to the woman. The doctor left the room, leaving the new parents with their twin daughters.

"Jake, what is gonna happen?" The husband grabbed his wife's hand, balancing the baby in one arm. "I don't know." The woman's eyes filled with tears. The doors to the room open as the doctor walks back in with new people behind him, two guards and the chancellor. The chancellor walks up the couple. "What beautiful children." The chancellor says, smiling sadly at the woman. "What are their names?" He asked, clamping his hands behind his back. "This is Clarke," The husband said. "Abby is holding Carter." The woman looked to her husband with nothing but grief in her eyes. The chancellor nodded. "Clarke and Carter." He turns to the doctor. "Which one was born second?" The doctor pointed to the child in the woman's arms. "No." The woman said, shaking her head. "No! You can't take my daughter away from me!" The woman yelled, clutching the now crying baby in her arms.

The husband handed the oldest baby to the woman to hold, and stepped in front of his new family. "Thelonious, please. You can't split up a family." He said, pleading his old friend. The chancellor only shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's the law." The chancellor nodded at the two guards. They rushed toward the woman, but the husband stood in their way. "Sir, I'm gonna say this once. Move." The man stood his ground. The guards produced a taser stick and electrocuted the man, causing him to fall to the floor. "Ma'am, please hand over the child."

The woman didn't move. The guard reached for the child, and the woman didn't flinch. She just stared ahead as the guard took away her child and handed her to the chancellor. "I am so sorry Abby." The chancellor nodded to the doctor who immediately rushed to help the man still lying on the floor. The woman had tears streaming down her face as she watched the chancellor and the guards take away her daughter.