"May we meet again,"said Clarke's voice through the speakers and Kane was silent as he mulled over everything they had just learnt.
There was obviously a lot more to the story than they had originally thought. There were survivors on Earth. Admittedly, this was always a possibility.
The first ever usage of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima had not resulted in the total annihilation of everyone who had been exposed to the radiation after. However, the scale of the Apocalypse had been said to be on another level.
The mushroom clouds created by the bombs reached miles into the sky and were visible from all of the stations. There had been attempts from the various space stations and eventually the Ark to radio in to Earth, but after no response from all of the nuclear strongholds for 10 years ,probably due to the ambient radiation in the air, there had been no further attempts to reach out to the ground.
Secondly, the fact that the survivors had not adapted to the new Earth, but enough of then had survived to form a political system of sorts.
Finally and most surprisingly, if Clarke's words were to be believed the Grounders had also shown signs of having been exposed to the Darwin nanobots.
It wasn't clear how they'd gotten access to them and it was worrying for the 100. The Grounders were apparently not peaceful at all. The crucial aspect most seemed to overlook about the nanobots was that the chances of their power manifesting were only low if one lived a conflict free life and it was under those conditions that the probabilities had been calculated after the Blight Era.
Therefore, it was likely that the nanobots would behave differently in dangerous situations. They were made for war after all. The only silver lining was that it was likely that more of the 100 would develop powers if they themselves were in dangerous situations.
Marcus tried not to think about how many of the 100 would die in said dangerous situations.
"May we meet–"began Jaha before the radio stopped transmitting and vibrations began to echo throughout the Ark. The monitors showing all the video captured by the cameras also went completely black.
Abby turned to Sinclair and said,"What happened? "
Sinclair tapped buttons on the keyboard rapidly before letting out a sigh of frustration, "I'm fully locked out of the sys6. Those shockwaves we felt are probably coming from the stations ."
"Diana,"muttered Jaha before he turned to Kane, "Marcus, I'll need you to get guards to go and do some reconnaissance and find Diana. Make sure the Guard is aware of who's responsible for this. Abby, we need you to go and help whoever is injured once Marcus is back. He'll protect you."
Marcus nodded and left the control centre with Abby. He took out his radio and adjusted it to the channel used by all of the Guard,"This is Marcus Kane, speaking. We have a rebellion on our hands. Guard key points and the control centre. Culprit is Diana Sydney. Anyone who allies with Diana is to be shot dead."
Abby flinched at the order, but she allowed herself to be guided to the nearest assembly hall by Kane. She knew that the Guard couldn't afford pull any punches if they wanted to stop Diana before she did anymore damage to the Ark.
Abby turned the last corner to her first stop and she was horrified by the sight that awaited her. The doors and walls of the meeting hall had been blown to shreds.
There were burn marks across the entire room and the sight became worse once she entered the room. There were no survivors at all. There were body parts strewn across the entirety of the hall and Abby was barely able to resist the urge to vomit.
Abby's grip on her emergency first aid kit tightened and she knew at a glance that there was nothing left to do. The quiet in the room was pierced by a barely audible moan. Instantly, Abby felt a burst of relief that there might be someone to help and she searched for the source of the noise.
It was not meant to be.
Her heart sank as she saw who it was and she felt her heart ache as behind her Kane rushed to his mother who was bleeding profusely from her wounds and laying on her side in a puddle of blood.
"Mother,"breathed Kane slowly as he ran to her side and held onto her hands,"You'll be okay. Abby will help you. Don't worry. We'll get down to the ground and you can plant the Last Tree like you always wanted. "
Marcus began to shake as his hands grew slick with the blood of his mother. His eyes began to tear up and he looked at Abby who still hadn't moved an inch,"Abby! Help her! What are you doing just standing there?"
Abby shook her head and said solemnly,"I'm sorry, Marcus. There's nothing I can do for her. She's lost too much blood."
Vera slowly pulled her hands from her son's grip and slowly wiped the tears streaking down his face before holding onto his face,"Marcus, it's alright. My time is over. Please promise that you'll plant the Last Tree when you get to Earth."
"I promise, Mom,"said Kane slowly even as he felt his mother's grip begin to loosen,"I love you so much, Mom."
"I love you too, son,"said Vera as tears began to gather in her eyes,"I know you never liked it, but please say the Blessing for me."
Marcus began to shudder and he delicately positioned his mother onto her back before once again grabbing onto her hands and he began to speak softly, "In peace may you leave this shore. In love may you find the next. S-safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground."
Vera smiled tightly despite the pain she was in and said,"May we meet again."
Vera's eyes closed and her chest stopped rising slowly. Kane pressed his head to his mother's chest and let the tears that had been gathering in his eyes fall.
"May we meet again."
Kane rose to his feet and he accepted the hug he found himself enveloped in courtesy of Abby. They stood for only a few moments before Kane took a step back.
"Let's go Abby,"said Kane,"Diana's killed over 500 people in this station alone. We still have many more to go."
Abby blinked away the tears in her eyes and followed Kane as they proceeded towards where they knew the next meeting hall was. Diana had probably tried to kill as many as she could across the meeting halls and she knew that now wasn't the time for sentimentality.
The Station Hall Diana had hit was the most populous on the Ark and Abby could only hope that the smaller halls had survivors on them.
A spray of gunfire erupted nearby and Kane pulled Abby behind him as he took out his pistol and aimed forward.
There was silence for a few moments before they heard something that was most certainly out of place.
Rushing water.
Instantly, a literal wave rounded the corner and before Abby and Kane knew it they were swept up by the wave. The grip that Kane had had on Abby's arm was broken and Abby felt a rush of panic as she was slammed into various objects at high speeds. She could barely see anything and she wasn't even sure which way was up.
The need to breathe became near unbearable and Abby knew it was only a matter of time before her lungs would forcibly inhale and take water into her lungs before drowning to death.
Luckily, the wave seemed to have lost it's momentum and Abby was slammed into a wall at the end of a corridor. She took in deep breaths and felt the knot in her chest dissipate slowly as she took in more oxygen.
She heard footsteps approaching and Abby dared to open her eyes, but she felt the panic within her burn anew at the sight of the source of the sound.
"You know on Earth they called that a tsunami, but those were a lot larger than what I made. I bet you didn't expect to almost die of drowning on the Ark though,"said Diana as she sauntered up to Abby who was still sprawled against the wall.
Abby waited for Diana to approach and crouch down near her before she struck. Abby felt adrenaline pump through her veins as she reached for the neck of Diana and prepared to choke her out.
It was all for naught however as Diana casually caught Abby's arms and began to squeeze. Abby let out a low groan of pain as she felt the bones in her wrists began to creak from the pressure they were under.
"I wouldn't try that again,"said Diana coldly as her eyes seemed to pierce Abby's soul,"You just might die this time."
Abby dug deep for the courage she'd need for this and spat directly into Diana's face,"Just kill me already. "
Slowly, a predatory grin grew on Diana's face,"Now why would I do that?"