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CHAPTER 1

Clarke

Clarke shivered as a gust of wind blew through the clearing, rustling the red and gold leaves that still clung to the trees “Clarke,” soined countless ti creek She’d heard it in the groaning branches And most of all, she’d heard it in the wind

But now she didn’t have to tell herself that it was ih her chest and Clarke turned to see hera basket full of apples from the Earthborns’ orchard

“Have you tried one of these? They’re a wooden tables, picked up an apple, and tossed it to Clarke “Three hundred years of genetic engineering and we never ca like this back on the Colony”

Clarke s camp All around them, Colonists and the Earthborns cheerfully prepared for their first joint celebration Felix and his boyfriend, Eric, were carrying heavy bowls of vegetables grown in the Earthborns’ gardens and prepared in their kitchens Two Earthborns were showing Antonio hoeave branches into wreaths And in the distance, Wells was sanding one of the new picnic tables with Molly, who’d recently started training with an Earthborn orker

Froht of them all now, it was hard to believe how much hardship and heartache they’d all endured over the past few ers who’d been sent to Earth to see whether humans could survive on the radiated planet But their dropship had crashed, severing contact with the Colony While the hundred had struggled to survive on Earth, the re Colonists realized their life support systeen levels dwindled, and panic spread, they fought their way to the dropships, which, unfortunately, could only hold a fraction of them Clarke and the other members of the hundred had been stunned when several dropships full of Colonists landed on Earth Less surprising: Vice Chancellor Rhodes engaged in a brutal can to seize power from the teens, who had beco other casualties, it resulted in the death of Sasha Walgrove, Wells’s girlfriend and the daughter of the peaceful Earthborns’ leader, Max, igniting tension between the groups But they’d eventually coue faction of violent Earthborns anted to destroy the Colonists—and now everyone seened as Vice Chancellor and he helped form a new Council, comprised of both Colonists and Earthborns

Today wasn’t just the first joint celebration between the groups: It was the first tiether before their newly united people Clarke’s boyfriend, Bellamy, was one of the new Council ive a speech

“It looks like everything is co Colonist help two Earthborn girls lay the tables with rough tin plates and wooden cutlery “What should I be doing?”

“You’ve been doing h Just try to relax” Clarke took a step back and drank in the fah it had been athat her parents hadn’t been floated back on the Colony as punishment for treason, as she’d been told They’d been sent to Earth instead, where they’d faced countless dangers and finally made their way back to her The two doctors had since established the rebuild after the attacks by the violent Earthborn faction, working with Dr Lahiri to heal those ere injured, and, along with Clarke, Wells, and Bella the bonds between the Colonists and their peaceful Earthborn neighbors

For the first tiun to feel peaceful, and full of hope After , it finally felt appropriate to celebrate

Clarke’s father strode across the clearing toward the rough-hewn tables, pausing to wave at Jacob, an Earthborn farmer he was friendly with, then turned back to fix Clarke with a huge grin His left arhtly colored corn

“Jacob says the rain will hold off long enough to get a good view of the moon when it comes up” David Griffin laid the corncobs on the table and thoughtfully scratched his bushy new beard, peering into the sky as if he could already see it “Apparently, it’ll be red along the horizon Jacob called it a Hunter’s Moon, but it sounds like what our ancestors called a harvest moon”

As a child, Clarke had soroeary of his endless Earth lectures, but now, after a year in anguished er chatter ratitude

Yet as he spoke, Clarke’s gaze shifted toward the tree line where, in the distance, a fa out of the forest with his bow slung across one shoulder “You know, I kind of like the sound of Hunter’s Moon,” Clarke said distractedly, a s across her face

Bella the caether, knowing that he was looking for her erous planet threw at theether

As he ca on his back It was an enor, spindly neck By the looks of it, it would feed half the group tonight A surge of pride fizzed through her Although their ca a nuuards, Bellamy was still far and away the best hunter

“Is that a turkey?” Clarke’s father asked, nearly knocking over a table in his hurry to get a better look

“We saw the at Clarke’s side She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she watched Bellaht they were peacocks, with those blue feathers Either way, they were too wily for us to catch one”

“Bella,” Clarke said, then blushed when hereyebrow