Bury the Hatchet (Bellamy Blake)

1

It smells like fresh water and something my nose has never known before. The air I'm inhaling is fresh and unfamiliar, and my lungs can't get enough of it. The sounds are delightful. Everyone around me, one hundred people, are making awed comments and sounds. I hear animals chirping, a slight breeze from wind I'm feeling for the first time, and feet walking on terrain my feet have never known. The blinding sun is warming my skin and illuminating everything around me. Speaking of light, my eyes can't take everything in. There's so much unexpected beauty, and it's ten times brighter than we're used to. Everything is green, there's a smile on everyone's faces, and the sky is a beautiful shade of blue, adorned with patches of white clouds. It's icredible.

Before, we could just imagine this. We have all seen pictures of the ground, but photographs don't do it justice. I've dreamed of the Earth's beauty ever since I was a little girl and they started telling us the stories in primary school. But, like photos, my dreams could not compare to the landscape that surrounds me. For just a moment, everything and everyone except the Earth and me fades away. I am alone with this unfamiliar ground, and I need several moments to comprehend that I am standing on Earth. I know that I will never be used to how captivating it is here. How could anyone ever be? I shut my eyes and allow the breeze to blow against my skin.

The council sent us here to die. I remember the announcement that the chancellor gave us while we were on the drop ship. They needed to test if the earth was survivable, so they sent us. After all, we're criminals. Every single one of us is expendable. There's a high chance we would be executed after the age of eighteen for our crimes, anyway. Why not use us as guinea pigs?

I'm pretty sure the radiation should have started to affect us by now. Maybe we just need to give it time, but my hopes are pretty high. Either way, I'd rather die with a positive attitude than sulking about being dropped down here with a hundred people, most of which I don't know.

"Adrian!" Someone calls. I turn to see my old friend Vivian. She grins and I pull her into a hug.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey! How have you been? We haven't seen each other since we were thirteen!" She exclaims. That's how old we were when I was arrested. I didn't know she had gotten incarcerated as well, though.

"Yeah. What'd you do?"

She chuckles and looks at her hands.

"I, um, got into a fight with some guard."

"Well, better than stabbing one." I mutter. She shrugs and squeezes me.

"I've missed you so much, Adri." She tells me.

"You too."

She skips away to catch up with others, leaving me alone again to absorb my surroundings. It only lasts for a short moment, though, as I hear my name again. I turn to see Bellamy Blake with an awkward smile on his face.

"Hey." He chirps.

"No. Get away from me."

"Aw, come on."

"No. Leave me alone. Just because we got sent down here to die together doesn't mean I don't still hate you." I snap. His eyebrows furrow the tiniest bit and he opens his mouth to say something. Before he can, I stomp away.

I didn't think there was anything in the world that could ruin the elation that I was feeling, but evidently I was wrong. Of all the people that they sent down, Bellamy Blake just had to be one of them. Great. I join the others in a crowd as they discuss the ground. Clarke, the doctor's daughter and privileged little princess, starts giving some annoying speech about supplies. She really needs to chill out. It's our first hour on the ground and she is already giving everyone a headache because they, according to her, dropped us at the wrong location. This is what we took earth skills classes for. I guess she's just too pampered to know how to survive without everything being handed to you. I chuckle to myself. Let's hope she's a fast learner.