Orbiting Infinity

Hi everyone, this is a really heavy, information filled chapter. I hope it's not too boring but I feel that I need to set the story well enough for you to be able to understand what is going on. Again I apologise for my grammar that is probably all wrong and also the sciency' stuff, that probably makes no sense at all. I didn't mean for the chapter to end here but I am aware of how long my chapters actually are – almost 5000 words each time! I don't know whether to make them shorter..? Anyway, enjoy x

3 year time jump, Lexa's POV

09:00

'Are you going to get up now or do I have to drag you out of bed?'

Lexa groaned and rolled over, away from the annoying voice demanding that she leave the safe, warm confines of her bed.

'Lexa I swear to god if you don't get up now there's going to be trouble.' The voice was moving closer and it sounded extremely frustrated.

'Anya. Stop please.' Lexa cried out. 'Just five more minutes.'

Anya and Lexa were roommates in the secluded Section 18. This was where most of the teenagers lived. Once people in The Pagon, the name of the underground military base Lexa and her friends lived in, reached the age of twelve they were required to move out of their old compartment, shared with their family, and into a new room in Section 18.

According to the Council it was to promote independence. You shared the room with a randomly selected roommate and Anya was the lucky individual chosen to share with Lexa. They were both fifteen, however Anya was clearly the mature one out of the both of them.

A quiet knocking was heard at the door and a boy's voice shouted 'Lexa, Anya. The presentation starts in ten minutes. We have to leave now!' Anya rolled her eyes and shouted back, 'She's not even out of bed yet, give us a second Bell.'

There was a brief silence and then the clicking of a lock could be heard and the door swung open. A smiling Bellamy stood on the other side surrounded by Octavia, Lincoln and Raven. As soon as Raven saw Anya she shifted to stand behind Lincoln. His huge, hulking frame dwarfed hers and she was practically hidden from view. Octavia stifled a laugh at the sight and proceeded to enter the compartment.

'Lexa get up we're not being late again because of you.' Octavia strode forward and grabbed Lexa's protruding arm and yanked her out of bed. Lexa howled as she practically collapsed on the floor due to her legs still being half asleep. Octavia just rolled her eyes at Lexa's antics and offered her a hand to help her up. Lexa accepted the extended limb and stood, stretching high and then turned to face her friends.

Lexa had changed drastically in the past three years. Despite only being fifteen, she was stunning. Everybody could see it. It was something about the way she held herself, poised and elegant, with her thick, glistening chocolate coloured hair that tumbled down her back in natural curls. She was tall, her legs long and toned to perfection. Her jawline and cheekbones prominent and defined. However, her eyes were a different story.

Once clear and filled with the desire to learn, they were now clouded and dull. The sparkle gone. Everybody knew why.

Ever since the loss of Clarke, Lexa had blamed herself. No matter what anybody said to her, Lexa felt as if it was her fault. Clarke had trusted her, called out her name, asking her to help, yet Lexa couldn't do anything due to the blackout serum surging through her veins.

'I'll get ready now, give me two minutes.'

Everyone watched as she left the main room and entered into a small, adjoining side room.

All was quiet apart from the faint slam of drawers in the adjoining room, echoing throughout the small space whilst everyone waited. The whole compartment was clean and orderly with a clear colour theme of blue and white. Lexa was very OCD by nature, she liked everything to be perfect and in order, and cared especially about hygiene and cleanliness. Anya didn't mind, as it meant she didn't have to do any cleaning.

Lexa remerged a few minutes later looking neat and polished, dressed in a chequered blouse and a short navy skater skirt that showed off her long, enviable pins. The skirt was slightly tattered along the edges, fraying slightly due to the many times she had worn it.

'Let's go.' Lexa started towards the door, glancing back at her group of friends. 'We're going to be late.'

'That girl is unbelievable.' Raven sighed as she followed Lexa out of the compartment and into the hallway.

Bellamy stood up and gestured to the rest of his friends to follow Raven. Once all of them were outside and in the corridor, he slammed the heavy door shut behind him with a clang.

They all arrived in the common room with just seconds to spare, rushing to their assigned seats and sliding into them just as Marcus Kane the Chancellor took his place on stage, behind the podium.

Lexa glanced to her left to see Raven sat just a few seats down. Raven glanced up, feeling a pair of observant green eyes resting on her. As soon as she realised it was Lexa, she sent her a reassuring smile. Lexa tried to smile back yet it came out as more of a grimace. Announcements like this were never good.

As Lexa looked round she realised approximately half of the Section 18 residents were present, which was around about thirty teenagers, most of them either looking really confused or just completely bored. A notion of dread began to flood Lexa's mind as she wondered why they were there.

'I'm just going to jump straight to it. And just so you know, this information is strictly classified and anyone heard repeating what is mentioned here today will be exiled, along with anybody they have told.' Kane cleared his throat.

'There have been rumours circulating recently about problems in The Pagon. Lack of food, a decrease in the water supplies, a shortage of oxygen. Now, I'm here to tell you these are all true.'

Lexa heard multiple gasps echo round the tightly packed hall, followed by heated whispers of phrases like, 'I told you so.' And, 'What are we going to do?' She turned to Raven who just sat there with a blank look on her face.

It was true. Lexa had heard many rumours during her year's underground that had worried her but she had just brushed them aside and continued living her life. When Lexa actually thought about it, recently their portion sizes had decreased and the water had gone up in price. However she had just assumed it was all normal. That maybe at fifteen they lowered your daily calorie intake because you no longer needed as much as when you were growing and a child. She was clearly wrong.

'Silence.' Kane called. 'As bad as this sounds we have a plan. Our scientists have calculated that there are approximately three years left of resources if we begin to ration them now. Three years may sound like a long time but believe me it will go by in a flash. This is why you are all here. You have the chance to become a part of something wonderful. To save our civilisation and become heroes amongst our people.'

Nobody spoke. They were all still processing the information. Lexa raised her hand.

Kane noticed and nodded for Lexa to speak. 'Mr Chancellor, I don't understand where we come in.'

'Miss Woods is it?' Kane questioned. Lexa nodded in acknowledgement. 'I was just about to explain if you had just let me continue.' His gaze lingered for a moment and a frown flashed across his features. He proceeded to scribble something down on a crumpled piece of paper in front of him.

'As I was saying, we, the Council and I, have decided action must be taken. We are running a few months behind due to a set back a few years ago. Our head doctor at the time, Abby Griffin, committed treason and was exiled because of it.'

Lexa remembered the day of Abby's exile. Abby had been locked up since the day of Clarke's disappearance and Lexa suspected she had something to do with Clarke no longer being around.

It was a very public event, the Council wanting to make a display of power, which in turn would bring obedience from some members of the population that were growing restless and threatening to cause trouble. Abby had been silent throughout. Treason was listed however it just didn't add up.

Lexa remembered the long walk through the exit corridor. She remembered the whispers, the theories about what Abby Griffin had actually done as the explanation given, treason, wasn't actually explained. How had she disobeyed the council, had she tried to kill Kane? Lexa had doubted that, as she had a sneaking suspicion it was something else.

She remembered seeing the huge, impenetrable steel door with the easily recognisable sign saying, Danger, radiation. On the other side of the door was a long corridor that lead to a set of about two hundred steps that, once you reached the top, brought you to another steel door. On the other side of that door was the surface. Lexa only knew about all this from her advanced mechanics class.

A tall man in a hazmat suit had taken Abby by the arm and marched her through the first steel door, sealing it shut behind him. Everyone knew what happened after that. The man had returned without Abby, and just before the door was sealed, a faint screaming could be heard. People began to wander away at that point but Lexa had stayed until the guard pulled her away.

'She was head of the whole programme and after her betrayal we had to start afresh. Now we are ready. It has taken the last few years to perfect a serum that will finally allow us to return to the surface.' He raised his hands as if expecting applause and shouts of approval, however he was met with a very different reaction.

Cries of, 'Are you mad? The surface isn't survivable, it's toxic. The radiation will kill us,' resonated from around the room. There was total uproar. Teenagers leapt from their seats and started shouting all kinds of abuse and obscene language towards the stage.

'What do you think of that then?' Lexa glanced over her shoulder to see Octavia sat in the seat behind her. 'Pretty crazy right!'

Lexa sighed. 'I think this is the start of something very bad and I don't think he's telling us everything, I don't think he's telling the truth.'

'I completely agree.' Raven appeared next to her. 'How does he plan to do this? Why us, why not the adults?'

Kane signalled the guards standing by the doors. They began to walk forwards, their guns swinging by their sides. 'Everybody take a seat right now.' Kane shouted above the complete chaos present in the room.

There were a few more outraged cries and then the ringing of a gunshot made everyone cover their ears and cower due to the close proximity of the gun. As Lexa raised her head slightly she realised that the guard had just fired his gun into the air to make everyone settle down. Nobody had been shot.

Everybody was mute and in shock. Kane saw this and continued. 'Please, everybody just take a seat. Anywhere, it doesn't matter. I understand this is probably hugely confusing for you all and that you probably have hundreds of questions you want the answers to, right now in this very moment. I ask of you that you just sit still for a few minutes and let me explain everything, or at least what I understand myself. For the last decade or so we have been aware of declining resources, yet haven't been able to do anything about it. Three years ago we had a huge breakthrough. Abby Griffin as I mentioned before, came close to perfecting, what she named the Astra Serum. It supposedly injected particles into the subject's body that would absorb and dissolve any form of radiation. It was trialled on mice and had a 100% success rate. Even though the serum was a supposed success, we were wary of how it would react with the human body. The Council voted to do more trials and make sure it was safe for human use but Dr. Griffin saw the potential and before it was made legal, she stole the test serum from where is was locked away and she…' Kane trailed off, a look of indecisiveness crossing his features.

He continued, 'To this day we don't know what she did with it and we will probably never know.' He looked nervous, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.

Raven nudged Lexa. A frown was cemented on her face. 'That sounded a bit off don't you think?' Lexa nodded in agreement. 'He looked like he was about to say something else. I wonder what stopped him.'

Octavia shushed them both as Kane began to speak again. 'So back to what this has to do with you, and I want silence please. We need to get back to the surface. In three years' time we could all be dead of starvation, dehydration or oxygen deprivation. All three are equally lethal. And that's only the beginning. We need twenty young, able bodied volunteers to become a part of what we have named the Astra Guard. A group of individuals who can return to the surface and help us to survive and stay alive down here till we are able to live on the surface ourselves.

Raven shook her head and murmured, 'That doesn't make any sense.' She stood up and said, 'Mr Chancellor, how will that help in terms of oxygen levels? We can't bring it back to you, it's just not practical. And how do you expect us to survive out there with no training? We don't even know if it's safe for us to just be running round out there. With all due respect Mr. Chancellor, the world may have changed beyond recognition.'

'Miss Reyes, as always, your brilliant mind is one step ahead.' Kane smiled. 'Currently we only have enough serum to allow twenty individuals to survive on the surface. We hope that you'll be able to bring us supplies that will enable us to make more of the mixture and then we can distribute it out to the other residents, section by section till everybody can live on the surface without feeling the effects of the radiation. We have chosen the thirty of you in this room because we believe you all have something special. We can't just inject any random person with the serum. We need a decent chance of survival. And in terms of training, you will have a year to get fit and prepare for the surface. It won't be easy but we have some of our best people ready to train with you and teach you all we know about the ground. Any other questions?'

Lexa's head was spinning. There was so much to think about. Before she was even able to sift through all the information she had heard, a boy she vaguely knew from her Earth History class, Monty Green began to speak. 'Sir, I work in the agricultural section and I have been aware of the decline in our food levels. Why are there thirty of us here if there's only enough serum for twenty? What if none of us even want to volunteer.' There was a slight intake of breath that could be heard clearly around the room.

'You make a valid point.' Kane admitted. 'Some of you may not want to participate, however I advise you to think very hard about what would happen if you don't. Your family members and friends would die. Innocent children, who won't ever reach their next birthday. And yes there are thirty of you. I am well aware that we don't have enough serum. If you decide that the Astra Programme is for you, this afternoon there will be a series of tests to see if you'll be a suitable candidate or not.

'If you have any more questions they will be answered tonight as this is all the information you need for now.' Kane stepped out from behind the podium and addressed the room. 'Remember what I said about secrecy. We hear all, we see all. Your life isn't worth one small secret getting out. Remember that. Lunch has been prepared early for you all. If you head to the canteen now you will be finished before the lunchtime rush begins. Good day to you all, I expect to see you this afternoon, same place at 18:00 hours.'

Kane stepped down from the stage and strode towards the exit, three guards following in his footsteps. The three remaining guards called out for the teenagers to leave the room and head for the cafeteria.

Lexa turned to Raven, overwhelmed by all the information. Raven took her hand and began to lead her towards the door. Bellamy was heading in their direction with Anya hot on his trail. Lincoln appeared out of nowhere, linking hands with Octavia. This would have been the point where the whole group would have cheered and exchanged high fives. Lincoln finally showing affection towards Octavia in a physical way was a big step. Especially after three years of brief contact and flirty exchanges. But everyone was silent as they filed out of common room and into the hallway leading to the cafeteria. As Lexa shuffled along, her feet feeling heavy, dragging on the floor, she felt Raven's strong, reassuring grip keeping her grounded. Without it she probably would have broken down.

13:00

When the six of them finally arrived in the canteen, they grabbed their lunches and all took a seat round a small, circular table in the corner. Everyone seemed to let out a sigh of relief as they dug into their lunch. Still no words were exchanged, all of them deep in thought.

The silence was finally broken, surprisingly by Lincoln, who usually stayed quiet most of the time, listening and observing. 'I think we should volunteer. I mean there's pretty much no other alternative, right?'

Raven made a small noise of disagreement. She swallowed whatever she was chewing and said, 'I'm not sure. They've never tested it on humans. We don't know what it will do to our bodies. We could die.' A hush descended as the weight of Raven's words sank in.

Octavia let out a small, defeated sigh, 'We'll be dead in three years if we don't do anything anyway. We might as well give it a shot.' Lincoln nodded his head in acknowledgement and as everyone realised the truth behind Octavia's short speech, they nodded their heads in agreement.

'So we're in agreement then?' Lexa motioned towards the other people in the room. Do you think they'll volunteer?' Lexa had been planning to volunteer anyway, it's not like she had much keeping her here anyway. There was nothing for her underground. Maybe this could be her way of actually achieving something with her life, and if it failed… Well then she'd be with Clarke and she could finally be happy.

'I think they'll come to the same conclusion as us.' Bellamy said as he reached out to grab Octavia's apple off her tray. The apple was small and deformed. Reinforcing Kane's point about food production becoming a problem to worry about. Octavia didn't even notice as she was too busy staring into her lap, where her and Lincoln's hands lay intertwined.

'I have to go.' Raven said as she stood up, grabbing her tray. 'I have a meeting with the head mechanic. Lexa I'm pretty sure you're meant to be there as well. We have to go now if we're going to get there in time. It's on the other side of the base.'

Lexa glanced at Anya, who smiled at her and said, 'I'll see you later, 18:00. Everything will be ok I promise.'

Raven reached for Lexa's arm and pulled her up. 'We'll see you guys later, don't be late tonight. I'll keep an eye on this one.' She motioned towards Lexa, who still looked dazed and out of it.

Bellamy nodded, 'See you tonight Reyes.'

18:00

Bellamy arrived just in time. Running round the corner, red and out of breath, rushing as usual. 'I'm here, I'm here.' He shouted out. He leant down, breathing in and out.

'Thank you for that announcement Mr. Blake. However I must remind you that running is prohibited and if it wasn't for the current situation you would have been punished. Please take a handout from that table.' Kane pointed to a table with a few booklets spread on top of it.

Lexa wondered what had made Bellamy almost late. Punctuality in the Pagon was essential and even if you were a few seconds late it was punishable. Bellamy took a booklet and looked up to see Lexa watching him. He stuck his tongue out at Lexa in an attempt to lighten the mood. When Lexa didn't reciprocate his expression, he mouthed, 'Are you ok? What have I missed?' Lexa just motioned for Bellamy to pay attention.

'As I was saying before Mr. Blake rudely interrupted, this is the first stage of testing. It's just a few simple questions and after you complete that stage we will move on. I just want to say before this all begins, how proud I am. Twenty four candidates is considered a huge success and I want you to remember that one day you'll be hailed as heroes by our people. What you are doing here today is courageous and highly commendable. Thank you for making this possible. Now if you'll all follow me and sit in your assigned seat. It's alphabetical order.'

Lexa waited to the end. When the seating was alphabetical she was usually towards the back due to her last name being Woods. As she took her seat, Kane called out for the test to begin.

As Lexa read the first question she shook her head at the obviousness of it. You have arrived on the surface, unprepared and without supplies when you see a table with a few items placed on top of it. Would you choose the… A tick box section followed. A spear, a medical Kit, a rucksack with unknown contents or a small bag of green pills. Lexa frowned, she would probably pick the spear. She put a small black cross next to answer A, a spear.

The rest of the questions that followed were of a similar kind. They weren't especially difficult, they were just hypothetical situations asking how the candidate would act, what they would say, what they would do. Lexa finished the test quickly, after having scribbled down a couple of detailed answers to some of the more lengthy questions.

As she looked around she realised a few other people had finished, including Octavia, who sat on the first row braiding her hair into intricate little fish braids. Bellamy was sat next to her and he was gnawing on the end of his pencil with a look of deep concentration plastered on his face.

Another fifteen minutes passed or so and it looked like everyone was finished. Kane seemed to notice the lack of scribbling pencils and called, 'Right, I think we're done here. Everyone leave their tests on the desk and wait for a guard to lead you to the next part of the test. One guard per person please.' A few people glanced round in confusion.

A girl Lexa recognised but couldn't remember her name raised her hand. 'Why do we have to go separately? Where are they taking us?'

Kane frowned, 'You'll find out when you get there. Can we hurry this along please?' He motioned to the guards to start taking people out. Since Lexa was sat closest to the exit, one of the guards came to her first. 'Alright miss if you just follow me now.'

Lexa felt panic begin to set in. She glanced round looking to see if other people were following their guards. Lexa's guard stepped forwards and gently grasped her arm in his huge hand, pulling her out of the door. 'Don't worry miss, nobody ain't going to hurt you when I'm here.' Lexa remembered him from when she had moved into her compartment with Anya, he had helped her move all her stuff and he had sat with her whilst she cried. She had been really homesick, away from her family.

'Gustus right.' Lexa asked. 'Do you know where we're going?' He nodded and smiled. 'That's me yes. Just to Section 6A, miss. It's just the last part of the test.' Lexa bowed her head in recognition. Section 6A was part of the hospital, it was basically just the recovery rooms for patients who weren't ready to be on the main ward.

They continued walking in silence till Lexa asked, 'Do you know what they're going to do to us?' Gustus faltered. 'I know parts' he admitted, 'but it's classified.'

Lexa glared at him. 'We volunteered for this so nothing should be kept from us. We have a right to know.'

Gustus nodded his head in acknowledgement. 'From what I've heard miss, they're going to put you to sleep. You'll be in some kind of dream state. I don't know much more.'

Lexa smiled and thanked him. They had just arrived at Section 6A and Lexa could heard from behind them the loud voices of the rest of the 24 catching up to them. Once everyone had arrived Kane stepped forwards with a woman in a blue doctor's robe. He cleared his throat and everyone turned to face him.

'This is the final part of testing. You may have been lead to believe there would be more than just two stages, however we feel that this part of the trials will show exactly who is right for this programme. It takes a certain type of individual to overcome the next challenge we have prepared for you. You will be split into pairs. They are completely random and will have no effect on your results. Once I call your name you must enter your assigned room immediately. Please listen up. In room 1.'

Kane read out a list of names including Raven's. She was paired with a boy named Jasper Jordan.

'In room 8, Alexandria Woods and Costia Pierce. Lexa recognised the name. Costia lived just down the hall from her in Section 18. They exchanged smiles and said hello on occasion.

They both worked in separate sectors, so didn't interact much, however Lexa was drawn to Costia and she didn't know why. Well maybe she did. It might be because every time they did interact, Lexa felt a warmth flow through her that made her slightly dizzy. Costia was addicting. Lexa realised that from the moment she first saw her. Her personality and general persona was just infectious. Her long, thick, shiny brunette hair that reached her waist accentuated her ice blue eyes perfectly. The eyes that seemed to penetrate Lexa's soul every time she was caught staring. Lexa shook herself out of her daydream. She couldn't allow herself to think like this. It wouldn't be right.

As Costia realised she recognised who she was paired with, a gentle smile spread across her face. One that lit up her eyes making them luminous and glowing. They entered into the room and Lexa's eyes widened. There were two small beds with steel frames. Next to the bed were two machines, emitting loud beeping noises, attached to what seemed like hundreds of wires. Wires that trailed across the floor and became tangled amongst themselves. There was a female doctor stood in between the two beds. She motioned towards them. 'Lie down please.'

Costia went and lay down the left bed, so Lexa followed her lead and lay on the right bed. As soon as Lexa lay down the doctor inserted an IV into her arm and proceeded to do the same to Costia. The bed was too short for Lexa's long frame and the thin mattress made it hard and uncomfortable. A guard Lexa didn't recognise appeared at the door and pulled on the handle to seal it shut. His fist hit the small glass window at the top, yet no sound was heard. The guard gave the thumbs up sign and disappeared. The room is soundproof Lexa realised. Why would they bother soundproofing the room, what don't they want us to hear?

The doctor addressed them both. 'In one minute, a blackout serum laced with a hallucination powder will enter your system. You may feel a painful tingling sensation but that will disappear as you become unconscious. When you wake up you'll be told if you are one of the chosen candidates for the Astra Programme. Good luck.'

As soon as she finished speaking Lexa noticed her vision going black round the edges and she turned her head to face Costia's bed. To her surprise Costia was already looking at her. She smiled sweetly and whispered something Lexa couldn't quite make out. Then the room faded into darkness.

So what does everyone think? It's a bit of a mess and all over the place. I apologise for that, but I have loads of stuff planned for the next chapter which I have already started writing.

What did everyone think of S3E!?? I thought it was amazing and I'm still in shock!

I hope you like it anyway. Feel free to review and tell me what to improve or what you like about it so far.