Prisoner 138 {The 100} [1]

Chapter 1: Prisoner 138

For as long as I could remember I dreamt of the Earth. More specifically what it looked like, how it smelled, and the kinds of animals that lived there. 

Countless times I have caught myself trying to imagine the feeling of sand between my toes as I stand on the shore of a beach, feeling drops of rain hit my face as I look out into the distance at a rainbow. I try to think of what the ground would smell like after a storm. But most of all, I try to imagine what it feels like to have the heat of the sun on my face as I lay in a field of wildflowers and tall grass.

Earth, that's the dream.

Only a dream.

Unfortunately, my reality was a small metal cell I have been confined to for the past year, arrested for a crime I didn't commit, on a 100 year old space station barely keeping afloat.

After Earth was destroyed 97 years ago by hundreds of nuclear bombs, the only survivors of the human race were aboard 12 different space stations that came together to form one large colony called the Ark. However, today there is only Mecha, Factory, Alpha and Farm station left.

Each station is responsible for a certain contribution to the Ark. Mecha Station has all the engineers and mechanics. They take care of the Ark and make sure it keeps running. Factory station creates things for us. They provide the Ark with clothing and blankets and other material things.

Alpha station is where the council lives along with the guards and the Chancoller. Lastly, Farm station, where I'm from, are responsible for all the food, growing exactly what is needed for the residents of the Ark to survive.

Due to the amount of resources that need to be rationed, each family is only allowed a single child and any crime no matter how small is punishable by death, unless you are under the age of 18.

The youngest of the Arks criminals were kept here, in what we call the SkyBox until our 18th birthday. Then our crimes are reviewed by the Chancellor to determine if we should be allowed back into society or executed for our crimes. Sadly, very few get happy endings.

Laying on the hard surface of my bed, I watched out the window as we slowly passed the blue planet known as Earth. With a sigh I closed my eyes and, for what seemed like the millionth time, I imagined myself on the ground looking up at the sky. 

My fathers favorite thing about Earth, he would tell me, was the different kinds of flowers and the colors of them. When I was little he would take me to the library and read stories about the Earth before the bombs and how beautiful it was. Before he died, all my father wanted was to see it, only once. He was the only person I knew who wanted to visit Earth more than my best friend Jace and I did. Only neither Jace nor my father would ever get the chance. None of us would as we were told the Earth needed another 100 years before it could be considered survivable again.

Choking back tears at the memory of my best friend and father, I pulled myself into a ball trying to push them to the back of my mind. But it was no use as Earth reminded me so much of the both of them.

Jace and I had been close since birth. Our fathers were best friends growing up, and we were born only a few days a part so we were raised practically as siblings. We had always dreamed of going to Earth together and having a picnic by a lake. We got the idea from a movie we once saw at one of the few movie nights Farm Station would have when we were younger.

I missed Jace just as much as I missed my father. Watching Earth as we passed made me feel closer to them, it made me feel safe.

The sudden screaming coming from outside my cell, pulled me out of my thoughts. Sitting up quickly, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up hesitantly. Walking over to the door, I reached out to try and pull on the handle when it opened suddenly, revealing two large men in guard uniforms.