❝ everyone from my time is dead. i don't belong here; i don't belong anywhere. ❞
Ninety-seven years ago, the earth became soaked in radiation, leaving few survivors. Some of them were stuck up in space, not knowing when it would be safe to return. O...
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AFTER LANE AND THE others got back the camp, her latest memory was tattooed in her mind. It answered none of her questions. She only knew that she was running from men in suits because they wanted to find out if she knew the ALIE code. That didn't answer why she ended up in the bunker. When Kane asked her if any new memories surfaced, Lane lied and said no. Kane wouldn't understand, anyway. She would tell him when things started to make more sense to her.
Lane had been in her room for a long time. She sat on the bed staring at the photograph from the box Bellamy found. Her family seemed so happy in the picture. Lane's smile was wide. That fourteen-year-old did not understand how terribly things would change. Lane wished she could go back to Morgan City when she felt true happiness.
She was feeling less and less like an outsider every day she was in Arkadia. Lane's new friends made her feel welcome. They joked around with her like she had been with them all along. Unfortunately, not everyone was as inviting as her friends. Just when Lane started to think maybe someday she could fit in at Arkadia, everything went downhill. Fast.
It started with a simple question in the main hall as Lane was looking for a new book to read, "Do you have any suggestions?" Lane asked the old man behind the table where all the books sat. She was trading a watch she found in the bunker.
The old man looked over the books, "I've read almost all of these. We don't exactly get new ones anymore," the man glanced at Lane and smiled as he picked up a book that was covered in dust. "This is one of my favorites."
"To Kill a Mockingbird," Lane said with astonishment as the man handed her the book. "I read this in high school."
She reached into her pocket to hand the old man the watch, but he shook his head, "No, you keep it."
Lane felt a wave of gratitude for the man, "Thank you."
She was about to dive into a conversation with the old man about classic literature when a younger man who looked about Kane's age strode over to the trading tables. He had a look of anger and disgust on his face, and it was all directed at Lane. She had no idea why.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Lane gave him a look of confusion, "I was just getting a book-"
"Well, get one somewhere else. I don't want you talking to my father, grounder."
Lane put her hands up to show she was staying calm, but the old man spoke up before she could, "It's okay, son. She's no danger to us."
"You're wrong! She could be a spy for the Commander!"
Several people had stopped what they were doing to come see what was going on. They watched, probably hoping a fight would break out so they could gossip about it later. "A spy?" Lane scoffed. "Yeah, because the grounders totally put me a ninety-seven-year long sleep just so I could come here and spy on a bunch of brick-headed idiots."
