Wildcat

Jake Griffin knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Ark was dying. He was the strongest Alpha born in generations and it was that more than science that let him know that his home was failing.

If he was a weaker man, he would see it as himself failing. As an Alpha that was what forced him to come up with a solution. There had to be one. There were always different options. None of them good, but it was about coming up with the best.

When it came time for him to procreate he had little choice in the matter. Omegas always picked Alphas, and since he was one of the only Alphas left on the Ark he had many Omegas. There was one though that didn’t want him like the rest of those on the Ark and that made him want her.

Abby… He wasn’t attracted to her like he should have been. She knew that. She kept his secret well, but Abby was someone who believed in the failing system that was the ark. So he treaded carefully and slowly came up with a plan.

After Clarke was born they spent more time together. Nuclear families and all. It was what was expected. His best friend Thelonius Jaha was a Beta who believed in the system. His wife was chosen for him, but Jake knew it wasn’t who he wanted. Jaha had higher ambitions than he did in a way.

When the Jaha’s left after dinner Jake cleaned up and listened to Abby gush about their little girl. Wells was also super smart, but Clarke. She said dada at 6 months and he and Abby were both over the moon.

“Hey Abby. Out of curiosity will Clarke’s child have more radiation immunity than us?” Jake asked.

Abby looked up at him and smiled. “Of course. Every generation is more immune. We were created to last in outer space.”

Good. That was all he needed to hear. Clarke had more immunity than he did. Which meant the other children did as well. What they didn’t have was lungs to breathe the air outside of the tin can that was the ark. Which meant that they needed to go back to earth.

Every breath he took he could feel it in his lungs. His skin itched, and his mind grew restless. Thankfully once he married, the higher ups on the Ark viewed him as more stable and gave him more responsibilities. So Jake did the work that was meant to be finished last week, and when Clarke was asleep he studied.

“What are you reading about tonight?” Abby asked.

“Chernobyl. Did you know that humans still didn’t inhabit it before the bombs fell, but animals did. Many made their home there.” Jake said, looking up to see how Abby would respond.

“That’s because animals have biological mechanisms that help them survive radiation.” Abby responded.

Good. Very good. They had sent over the last probe to earth 25 years ago with a single occupant in the escape pod. They lost communication. His own mother was going to be floated for stealing supplies to save him after his father tried to kill her. He intervened and got a scar across his chest. Elizabeth Griffin put up with a lot and losing her was a pain he would never recover from fully.

“Some say we are more animal than human.”

“Not up here Jake,” Abby smiled. “Up here we have the best of humanity.”

If only she knew… They didn’t have the best of humanity. Abby had never been down to the recycling depot. Where former astronauts' children were punished by leaders who deemed them a threat. Where they drank and drank, and breathed the most toxic air.

He was privileged, and married someone with privilege. He lived in one of the nicest rooms in the Ark. His daughter got good food, and Jake knew he would surprise her with an orange the way his mother surprised him. They were the lucky ones, but soon none of them would be lucky, and the problems that happened in parts of the Ark that usually weren’t seen would be happening all over the ship.

“Well… If I should live up to my wife's expectations I should go to work. I’ll be back before you leave for your shift.” Jake said before leaving his wife with his sleeping daughter.

At his desk he started calculations on a clear sheet. The color from the pens weren’t as good as they were years ago. But he made due. He traded some rations for some moonshine and traded some of that for some flowers and created dye so that he could use the pen like it was intended.

This wasn’t work. Well it was. It was a passion project. A way to save as many people as possible.

There was one thing that needed to be dealt with on the ground. Something he hadn’t accounted for, but discovered when researching Chernobyl. The super reactors that were built to withstand a nuclear war would be breaking down. Which meant if they were going to survive longer than a few years on the ground those would need to be dealt with.

Everyone on the Ark shared files, but this was an added tag. Someone had already done the research. Jake clicked under the other file added to the tag and it was a list of bunkers that were active before the bombs.

He would need to print these out. Not only that, but he needed to learn how to hack. Perhaps whoever had created the tag would be helpful. Perhaps they could share information. It was something he could study at home. Likely a bit of trial and error, but it would help if he had a computer expert.

So far he had discovered that one part of America still got snow. He discovered that before Clarke was born. Snow would reduce the implant of whatever vessel they sent down. They only had a few lifeboats. Not as many as they had people.

Which was why he came up with an idea.

From Clarke’s first words, to first steps. Jake was there to witness them all. He recorded them and kept them on his ipad. He started to encrypt them. It was a way of practicing, and he had gotten better. He was so good he narrowed down an area where the person created the file as well as when it was dated. He was just working on decrypting the name. V. Wagner.

There were no Wagners that he knew on the Ark. Hacking into the mainframe he might risk discovery, because he would be searching for someone's personal file. It was also last logged 10 years ago…. His mother had left around that time.

“So… Why the sudden interest in what’s behind the system?” Sinclair said, lifting up his i-pad.

Jake smiled at the Beta. “Why not learn something new? I already know how to keep this old boat afloat. Maybe I can learn something to improve its efficiency,” Jake said.

Sinclair was a mechanic, but he also knew how to run computer systems. Since it was a hobby for him, it was easy to approach him. Perhaps they could hobby together.

He kept on hanging out with Sinclair. He hung out with him so much that he invited him over for Clarke’s birthday party. He got her an orange, and he couldn’t wait for her to try it. All of their close friends and family gathered round. They had rented the projector and put on a kids movie for Clarke, and her friend Wells. Glass, and Thalia were also there, so it wouldn’t just be Clarke and Wells. Abby invited them, and they were from the same station.

There wasn’t much in the way of spare anything on the ark. Things had been recycled so often that they didn’t even have paper. So to wrap Clarke’s orange he purchased a bit of cloth. It was the size of a pocket square, but it did the job.

While everyone sang his daughter happy birthday Jake filmed. Abby handed Clarke the orange, and when she opened it up he knew exactly how it felt. “What is that Clarke?” Jake asked.

“An Orange!!” Clarke said excitedly.

“Now save the seeds Clarke. It’s a precious gift your father got you. Maybe your friends would like a piece?” Abby encouraged.

Clarke tried her best to open the orange and then he held out his hand to help her. He peeled the orange, and would save the peels. It would be added to his water reserve to make a special brew. With a little luck there would be a few jars travelling with him down to earth.

He was so proud of his girl. Clarke took a piece and handed them out to her friends, one by one. Then for the adults she brought a piece. Wells' mother was sick and wasn’t there, but Glass’s mother and Thalia’s father thanked Clarke for the gift.

Jake was the last one to be handed a piece and he knew how it was going to go. Clarke handed him her last piece. He shook his head and pushed it back to her. “Try it baby. It’s your gift. Daddy got to try one when he was your age. Now it’s your turn, and maybe when you have a child of your own you can carry on the tradition.”

When Clarke ate her piece everyone else did the same. It was better this way. He remembered sharing it with his mother and father. He wanted to save a few pieces, but his father took them and Jake found the bottle they went in years later. His father made bootleg alcohol, and now he was doing the same. It was one tradition he didn’t want Clarke to carry on.

All the kids slowly trickled out and then the adults. Abby left with Jaha to check on his wife. He held Sinclair back, and when they were alone aside from Clarke he brought over the orange peel.

Perhaps it was the first act of doing something illegal that had him thinking that he could trust Sinclair. They drank a bit of what he had before, and started to play cards. It seemed that most families had a deck. It was one of the smallest things to bring on ship, and one passed down from family to family or bought at the commissary.

“Your little girl is a sweetheart Jake. I know some adults who would have ate the piece without thinking twice.” Sinclair said.

“Then you know some pretty shitty people.”

“I wasn’t born to Alpha station.” Sinclair said.

Jake nodded. “I was lucky I wasn’t kicked out. Not after what happened with my father and mother.”

“Ohh… Your mother was the last one to go out with the probe. Too bad we couldn’t get a reading,” Sinclair responded.

He sighed and stopped playing cards. “Do you want to know why I really approached you last year?” Jake asked.

“Most people who befriend me would have asked me to fix their water pressure by now,” Sinclair teased. “You haven’t got more from me than I haven’t been willing to give. So why tell me now. You already are better at computers than me and it took you over a year.”

Jake bit his lip. “Tomorrow… Meet me, in hanger bay 4 C dock. After work,” Jake said.

He went to work after Abby came home. For the most part they had a fluid family dynamic. They would switch on and off. Abby usually worked during the day, he worked at night. Since he was in charge of the night shift it was mostly sending in crews, and checking on them to make sure the work was being done correctly.

After work he went to the Hanger. He was inside of the pod when he heard Sinclair come in. Jake pulled out his tablet. He prepared the information on it earlier. It was information on the lifeboats.

“Jake?” The man called.

“In here,” Jake called out and opened the door.

The cover moved letting Sinclair know his location and the man creeped under it and then in. He shut in, and looked around. There wasn’t any dusk. He had been working on this pod checking out every last nook and cranny but he wasn’t a mechanic. This was a mechanics work.

“A bit of a bigger ask than adjusting your shower pressure.” Sinclair said.

“Hear me out,” Jake begged, handing him the ipad.

Jake explained to Sinclair what he knew. What was kept from Sinclair and the rest of the Ark. Only a few people knew or paid enough attention to know that even in 7 more space locked generations there wouldn’t be enough room for everyone to get to the ground.

“Holy fuck,” Sinclair swore.

“I have a plan,” Jake said.

Sinclair took a few deep breaths and ran his hands through his hair. “Do you have any of that orange vodka?” Sinclair asked.

Jake pulled it out and handed him the small flask. He had a feeling they would need it. Once Sinclair had a couple sips and then a large swallow he started to lay out his plan.

“I’m going first. I need some help to make sure this thing can handle the drop.” Jake said.

“Your mother went before you and didn’t get back to us. What makes you think that you can?” Sinclair asked.

He wiped his hand through his hair before clenching a first. “It would be chaos. If even one person in earth monitoring station leaked that the ground was inhabitable…”

“It would be chaos, and there aren’t nearly enough lifeboats.” Sinclair finished for him and Jake nodded.

“So…” Jake said before laying out his reasoning for learning how to hack, how to fix computers, as well as other systems. If he could get a message from one of the bunkers, which likely had a couple satellites near them. Then he could contact Sinclair.

“What next?” Sinclair asked.

Jake took another few deep breaths. “I contact you periodically letting you know I am alive. After a year. I should have broken into one of the bunkers. I’ll check my radiation levels and then you will know it is safe to send the kids.”

“The kids?” Sinclair asked.

He nodded. “You give tours don’t you? I know my section does. So… Kids tour the lifeboat. They get locked in and a launch system is set in place. I’m going to trade what shine I can for seeds, and other goods to go down with me and the kids. We aim for here,” Jake said, pulling out the map where he captured the snow covered areas.

There were many bunkers in the United states, but few were capable of supporting a large population. If people survived on the ground, they would be living inside of them or near them. Most of them were in Canada, or NY. There was one in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The adults on the trip would have to split up into teams, and hopefully he would be there to bring them to a temporary home.

“The kids can absorb higher levels of radiation than we can. They also heal faster. If I’m good, they should be fine. Then you can play them a video of me, and why I decided to ‘Suicide’ by earth. “Then play the one throughout the Ark while they are travelling down.”

“No one is going to like this,” Sinclair said.

Jake nodded gravely. “Parents accompany their child. Abby will be with Clarke. Likely Wells as well if his mother isn’t better. I can’t see Jaha doing something so trivial while running for election.”

“Guards will be there as well,” Sinclair said.

“Good. Who knows what we will face down there. I’ll let you know I am alive and my radiation levels. I will try to find some good land and start farming, and hunting. They are going to need food and blankets.” Jake said.

“You're insane… In a good way. The only way to bring down the ark and all of its inhabitants is by bringing the ark down itself. Stations will split apart.” Sinclair said.

“And you will have a couple years to do the math… But for now we need to work on this pod, or else it really will be suicide by earth,” Jake teased.

Life went on. He spent time with his daughter after school and she wanted to go to the library. It was mainly digital but there were some books. One of the first mothers of the ark made a few children's books from the stories they remembered. Not many children were actually aboard any of the stations when the world ended, so there were limited childrens supplies, and they had to be checked out of the library.

Vera Kane was doing another one of her hippy speeches. Clarke wanted to give the tree some of her water, and Jake looked at his own. He would let Clarke give the tree the rest of his. His daughter's health was more important than his own.

“Bless you,” Vera said. “Bless the tree of life. The ground will appreciate your contribution when it finally returns home,” Vera said.

He couldn’t help but notice that she looked stoned. Very stoned. She was extremely happy though.

Later that night he asked Abby, and she told him a bit about Vera without breaking doctor patient confidentiality.

It shouldn’t have taken him this long to figure it out. V… Wagner. It had to be a maiden name. Abby had helped with the woman's treatments and she had been treated for over 10 years now. She had a mental breakdown shortly after his mother was sent down to earth.

When he had a free hour he headed to the Kane’s. Most people of Vera's age were retired or had light duties. The woman was the tender of the tree. A very made up position…

Jake was invited to have tea, and she poured him a fake glass…. It seemed like she was really crazy, but then he talked about the reactors, and the other files tagged together, and she grabbed onto his arm. The woman looked at him with more clarity than he thought her capable of.

“Don’t tell them you know. Don’t bring it up. Forget about it. We live and we die here. There are no other options but floating and the tree needs my water.” Vera said.

The woman then shook her head, like she was fretting about what she just said.

“I have another option. Would you like to water more than just a tree?” Jake asked.

The woman was delusional. Well everyone thought she was, but she listened to him. She nodded alone and listened.

After that visit Jake returned for tea the next week and the woman had her medical oil in one of the water containers. “We might need this if we have a bad landing. I just need a bigger container.”

“Let me worry about that,” Jake told her.

By month 6 Vera had filled up a water jug full of medical marijuana. Which was a lot. Jesus they gave her such a high dose. The woman had also collected seeds, some soil, and a grow light.

Sinclair met Vera in the hanger bay. Jake invited the woman down to look at what they were working with. If she had an idea for how to place the soil, and seeds then he was all ears. They needed a mini heater which Sinclair would have to provide.

People had survived in pods for months. They could survive in one of they were smart. It would be home base, and they needed somewhere to grow food in the dead of winter. Vera had some opinions and he and Sinclair implicated them. They would start the seedlings a couple weeks before launch to give them a try.

Vera invited them to come water the tree, and after a few months of trusting one another he decided to show, and Sinclair did as well. It was some older people like he normally expected, and a few younger people. Once she was done speaking she nodded to the crowd, and the kids left and the doors were locked.

“Jake Griffin is bringing us to earth.” Vera proclaimed.

Jesus… Fucking Christ…

It was one thing to say Vera was insane, but a group of fucking 15. Jake hesitated and Sinclair looked like he was ready to run down the old man who stood at the door.

One lady unwrapped the shawl around her neck, and approached with another coming from behind. “You will need blankets,” the first one said.

Fuck… Well… Sinclair and him hadn’t told Vera what the plan was after they got down there. He wasn’t sure if she was sane enough to realize what would happen.

“We don’t have enough drop ships,” a man at the back said. Jake recognized him as an older man who was the head of farm station when he was a youth. He was old now. Wrinkled and likely in his 90s. “So… What plan do you have youngster? I may not speak for everyone here, but I would rather my last breath be on earth,” he said and the group nodded in agreement.

Dropship, lifeboat, and then the breaking of the Ark… He told them the plan, and then he upped the timeline.

Jake spent the next two weeks barely sleeping. According to the Ark file on Vera, she was a brilliant botanist and was studying the effects of radiation on plant growth. So.. With any luck and some equipment Vera would be an avid farmer on the ground.

“No one suspects them,” Sinclair said, showing him a part that the old Farm station head bartered for.

“Why would anyone suspect us,” Vera batted her eyelashes, as she watered the soil and seeds with water given by the older people. “They will all be taking the orphans through the ship next year. We always volunteer as buddies when parents are busy. I will pay them back with a feast and fresh water from the ground,” Vera said before singing to herself.

It was time for them to return to the ground. All of them. He needed to keep himself and Vera alive. Vera could handle the plants and testing of the water, and soil. He could help clear land, and keep up communication with the Ark. Perhaps if he was lucky he could find his mother. He had a small red dot on his map on where her pod had landed, and Vera didn’t know it yet, but it was the second place he was headed to once he contacted Sinclair.