No one spoke.
The body laid where it had fallen, twisted at an unnatural angle, eyes staring at nothing.
No one screamed. No one panicked.
Kael felt nothing. Neither did most of them.
Life on the ARK had long accustomed them to death. Accompanied them since birth. Maybe a neighbor, a parent, a sibling. The ARK was unforgiving. And maybe that had twisted them in ways no teenager should. They could not compare. Did not know what was normal. After all that was their life. That was survival.
And other than death, there were more important matters for them. The sound of the engine had long since ceased, leaving only silence on the shuttle. Gravity had returned in full force. It could only mean one thing: they had arrived at their destination.
On earth.
And that realization was louder than any sound. Their hearts beating wilder than ever.
One by one they opened their restraints and made their way to the exit. The first to arrive was Finn. It was a hatch to the lower level of the shuttle. One by one the teenagers went down the ladder into the lower levels, where a smaller group had been secured during the transport.
Out of compassion some remained for a moment, checking one last time on the fallen boy. To see if there was still a spark of life in him. But that was not the case. Their little compassion would not change that. And so they left him behind.
Kael did not remain behind out of compassion but to gather his thoughts. Just staring at the boys and girls that disappeared down the ladder, lost in his own thoughts. For all his courage and fearlessness he showed on the ARK and during the descent the finality and unknown of the situation still weighed on him for a moment. When he finally gathered himself he was one of the last still remaining on the upper level.
Nearing the ladder he noticed there was someone else. The girl from earlier who tried to warn the others. Kael had never seen her before. She was a cute blonde he thought. She was the last to leave the boy and the most shaken about his death. She must be from the upper levels. Only those born into privilege on the ARK could still be shaken by the death of a stranger. And still Kael did not judge her for it. Perhaps he even admired her for her compassion.
"Go ahead" Kael said gesturing towards the ladder.
The girls looked at him, then nodded "Thanks"
He let her descend first and followed shortly after her. He paused midway, looking over the lower deck. With fewer seats, it seemed larger, more like a hall, yet crowded with nearly a hundred teenagers. All pushed towards the exit, eager to be the first. To reclaim earth.
And at the very front of the crowd, Kael saw familiar faces. Bellamy and Octavia. They seemed to have a discussion with the crowd but from the back he could not hear them. But just like Bellamy he understood what this moment meant to Oktavia. Just how much it mattered. So he stayed in the back, letting them take the lead. He could greet them another time.
He watched how the blonde from earlier pushed through the crowd and tried to warn them. To be cautious of the unknown, of possible contamination. But even her sound arguments could do nothing against the restless crowd.
And so the ramp dropped.
Light flooded in from the outside. Everyone closed their eyes on instinct. When they opened them again, what greeted them was a lush green forest. A scene they could only ever admire in a picture book. For a moment that alone stole their breath.
Oktavia was the first to move. Slowly but cautious she took a step forward, then another. With each step, each breath, a new courage seemed to fill her. Finally she placed her feet on the ground. On earth. For a moment everything went quiet again.
"We are back, Bitches!"
The others erupted. Laughing, crying, shouting in disbelief, hands thrown skyward. Joy poured from them, chaotic and raw. All began to rush down the ramp.
At last Kael walked down the ramp.
The air filled his lungs
Real air.
His face softened, years of restraint and cold discipline melted away in the warmth of the sunlight. The spark he had hidden for so long, buried under ARK rules and survival, finally ignited. No, it exploded free from its cage.
He crouched, letting his fingers brush the grass. The blades tickled his palms. Like a child he began to move away from the crowd. He touched the rough bark of a tree, ran his hand along its smooth curve, inhaled deeply.
It was such a mundane thing. And yet for them who were born and raised in space, for those that lived their whole life in a metal cage and only knew organic life from books, it was more than that.
It was freedom.
Without him even realising a few tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.
Awe and joy filled him.
For a moment everything stopped. It was just perfect. Finally the dream he had since childhood, the dream each generation before him carried, had been realised.
They had set foot on earth once more.
Humanity had returned home.
And Kael, with joy he had not felt since he was a small child, drifted through this tranquillity.
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a/n:
Sorry for the short chapter. Just didn't seem right to add anything more to this moment. Have a great day.
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