Kingdom of Life - The 100 [4]

Chapter 5

Apollon's POV

The lab was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. No human had set foot in it since the Earth was destroyed over 100 years ago, and yet, it looked like it had just been left that morning. The walls were white to the point of being blinding, and the technology was unbelievable, especially when you realize it's all 100 years old.

As a guard on this mission, the hardest part of my job was over for the time being – getting the group safely to the lab. Getting back shouldn't be nearly as bad, not after Raven had disabled all the drones. The other guards and I rotated standing at the entrance in case anyone had followed us. There was also the unspoken job Abby and Jackson had given us to watch Luna.

She had been right before, she was our prisoner. If she decided to get up and walk out of the lab and disappear into the woods, the other guards would have their weapons out in seconds, maybe even running after and tackling her. I'd join them in a heartbeat; she was our only hope.

The thing about people is you tell them they can't do something, and all of a sudden that becomes the only thing they want to do. Tell a child not to eat the cookie in front of them, and that cookie will become their whole focus. Or tell an adult they can't leave, and all of their thoughts go immediately to escape. Luna was our prisoner, and our cure. Without her, no more than 100 people would survive what was coming all too quickly. As long as we made her think she had a choice in all this, there was at least a chance she'd stay. I couldn't help but think what would happen if she eventually chose not too...

I walked over and knelt down next to the couch she was asleep on. Abby and Jackson had taken numerous blood samples from her already in the few hours since we had arrived, and this seemed to have knocked Luna out.

She must have sensed someone kneeling by her as her eyes fluttered open. She stared at me with that blank expression on her face. Since Niko had been shot by one of the drones, Luna seemed to have put up a wall around herself, a sort of barricade of emotion. She pushed herself up to sit on the couch, never taking her eyes off mine. I stood up.

"Thank you again, Luna." I managed a small smile.

"For what?"

"For staying. For helping us out. For-"

"Stop." I could see how this young woman had been able to lead her group of Grounders. Her voice was stern and commanding, the kind of voice you wouldn't go against willingly. I wondered if this was how she led her people, or was part of her emotional barrier. It could probably be a mix of both.

"How do you know it'll work?" She asked, anger rising behind her eyes. "How do I know this isn't all for nothing?"

I watched her for a second, thinking my answer through in my mind. Luna, our prisoner. But she couldn't feel like a prisoner, and she also couldn't chose to leave. Not yet. "Abby and Jackson are the best two medical personnel we had up on the Ark. If anyone can figure it out, they can."

"And what if they can't?"

I thought again for a few seconds, a quick sense of fear coming over me. Replicating night blood was plan A, the Ark bunker was plan B. One plan would save everyone, the other would only save 100 people – and not Venus.

Luna stood up, and I realized I had taken too long to answer. Luna had taken my silence as confirmation that all this could be for nothing, and she started for the door.

"Luna wait!"

"I'm done waiting." She continued, reaching the door and placing her hand on the handle.