Cattle. They were being treated like cattle. Skaikru had taken the bunker, but they couldn’t hold it. 

Octavia had won the conclave, and it was decided that all the clans would now share the bunker. But not all of them. Not all of them would be able to survive. Skaikru were being herded like cattle into the rotunda, with the gossip going around that there could only be one hundred. Only one hundred of them could survive in the bunker with the other clans, and there were more than just one hundred of them. Not all of Skaikru would survive.

One hundred. One hundred spots, filled by an equal lottery. That was the announcement, and it wasn’t taken well. Bryan had pressed back into one of the walls, watching quietly as the man snapped about the girl grounder who’d been staying with them, and as he and others demanded her own people save her. But Octavia saved her, Octavia declared there was then one less spot to fill, and that they had to decide the rest of the spots. Skaikru had until midnight to choose, or they would all be dead.

One by one they made their way into the office of the bunker. One by one they wrote their names on slips of paper and put them into a bowl. And just like that, one by one they’d be drawn out, to see if they would earn a spot in the group of survivors, of people who would be able to survive in the bunker. That was how they would know if they would live, or if they would be sent out to face their death in the vicious death wave that was about to take over the earth. A slip of paper would decide their fate.

Bryan had been standing off to the side, trying to blend in to the crowd to hide. He could see Jackson and Nathan holding onto each other next to Mr. Miller, and he quickly looked away. His heart could only take so much pain right now, and seeing his soulmate with someone else wasn’t something he could stomach. He glanced back up at the bowl of names instead, knowing for a fact that there was no way his name could be called, and there was no way for him to manage to stay safe inside the bunker; no one wanted him there, he wasn’t important to anyone, so he would be one of the first kicked out, he was sure.

He pressed his back to the wall even more, hands shaking and head down, just trying not to cry. How could this be happening? He heard Kane calling the names, one by one, and heard the whispers and whimpers of those who’s names were called or not called. Nate. His name was called, but Bryan didn’t look up. Couldn’t, not when he knew the other was with Jackson, not when he knew he’d see them, and see the look on Mr. Miller’s face. Bryan trembled, ignoring those around him and waiting. Waiting…

Jackson took over saying the names, and Bryan clenched his fists. But it was one name, and then someone spoke up. The man saying they had a plan, that Jaha was going to do something, and that they had to stick together. He knocked the bowl down, shattering it, and the chants of ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ began instead. Bryan, despite his better judgement, couldn’t help but get caught up in the change and fist pumping. Fighting was the only way he knew to survive anymore, the only way he could have any chance, he thought, of getting to live in this bunker. Fight.

But they didn’t get to fight. They didn’t get a chance, because Jaha changed the plan. The door opened, but out came canisters. Canisters of gas, that as it released it, began knocking people unconscious. Bryan was knocked out just as the others were, falling in a heap to the ground. There was no fighting. There was no way to try and protect themselves. The gas knocked them out and robbed them of the opportunity; not that Bryan really thought they’d have a fighting chance anyway, but even an attempt was better than laying down to die, wasn’t it?

When he woke, he wasn’t in the bunker anymore. Instead, he was lying on the pavement, outside of the bunker, where he’d been dropped and left. He could hear people screaming, pounding on the door and the ground around it; the people who’d been like him, shipped out of the bunker for those who were the chosen ones, angry and scared at being thrown out. Bryan slowly sat up, trying to breathe even though it was so hard already. He watched the people who were there as well when he stood, quiet.

The death wave was close, that was clear. The radiation burned, and he could hear the panic and fear around him. His hands shook and he felt like he wanted to puke or cry. All he could think about was how he was going to die alone; how he didn’t have any of his friends anymore, or family, or Nate… And then a hand was on his shoulder and it made him startle, turning to face who it was, and found a little bit of comfort. Mr. Miller was there, giving him a sad smile, and pulling the boy into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” Mr. Miller spoke gently, “I’m so sorry, Bryan. You should have been in there. You should have been one of the ones they saved.”

Bryan bit his lip hard, shaking his head and hugging the man in return. “No,” He whispered out softly then, “You should have. Nate needs you, sir. They need you in there, you shouldn’t be out here with the rest of us. I’m just… I’m just a stupid kid from Farm Station. Why would they need me?”

Mr. Miller took a gentle hold of the boys chin, making Bryan look at him as he spoke. “Because you are one of the last ones from Farm Station,” He stated softly, “But more importantly because you are a smart and capable young man, Bryan. I’ve always thought you would do great things, and I’m sorry that you won’t get the chance to.”

Tears welled and Bryan just stepped forward to hug the man again, feeling his heart ache. He’d always thought of Mr. Miller like a father in law, ever since he and Nate had gotten together. The man was family to him, always had been and always would be. Even after his and Nate’s fight, Bryan had never thought about things being any different. So being out here, and Mr. Miller being out here, hurt a lot.

“Come on, let’s find a place to sit down,” Mr. Miller spoke then, patting Bryan on the back after a moment and stepping away a little, before guiding the boy through the small crowd of people that were gathered, farther away from the door to the bunker. There was no point in being close to it. It wasn’t going to open again; not until five years had passed and they wouldn’t be alive that long. This was going to be it.

Together, they sat down, leaning back against the wall. For a long few moments, it was quiet, before Mr. Miller was the one to speak up.

“Do you remember the first time Nate brought you over to our room, to introduce you to me?” Mr. Miller asked, a soft smile on his face as he thought about the past.

“… Yeah,” Bryan spoke, unable to help the blush that colored his cheeks; he remembered well just how shy and nervous he’d been in front of Mr. Miller when Nate had brought him over to meet him. Who wouldn’t be nervous about meeting the Chief Guard and him finding out that he was dating his son? Bryan remembered it well, how nervous he’d been, and also how kind Mr. Miller had been towards him; how he’d invited him in like he was already a member of the family.

It was nice, he realized then, a nice distraction from the death wave that was headed their way, to talk about the past and all the nice times that had happened. All the good memories they’d all made on the Ark, before Nate had gotten arrested, before the hundred had been sent to the ground, before the Ark joined them, before Ice Nation, before everything had gone to hell. It was nice to remember the laughs, the embarrassment, the joy that had happened. Even if it hurt, even if the radiation was causing pain and killing them, the memories were there.

When the death wave finally came it was the worst pain that Bryan had felt in his entire life. They saw it coming, and Bryan was sure it would be painful, but he hadn’t imagined just how painful. It didn’t last long though; the pain. It lasted only a second or so, but it felt like an eternity as the radiation killed him and destroyed his body; killed and destroyed everything that was in it’s path as it made it’s way across the land.

Then the pain was gone, and Bryan was slowly opening his eyes. He could see dust and rubble, and for a moment wondered if it was possible that somehow he’d survived. But he could see through his hands, could see the ground underneath him, and as he looked up at Mr. Miller, he could see through him too, as well as everyone else that had been nearby to them. They were dead. They were all dead, killed by the death wave.

They were on the other side.

“Bryan!”

He had stood up, and lifted his head in confusion at hearing someone call his name. That was a voice he recognized! Iris? He spun around, seeing a group of people that were see through just like he and the others were, but this group was different. This group hadn’t been with the ones thrown out of the bunker. These were people who’d passed before them, before the bunker.

Bryan barely had time to register all of this, before suddenly a girl was rushing forward, the one who’d spoken, and was throwing her arms around him in a hug. He let out a shaky breath, shocked to realize that he could feel her, and hugged her back just as tightly.

“Iris…” He whispered out, feeling emotional. Iris had saved his life in Ice Nation, had been one of his best friends, there for him when he’d lost his father, there for him when he was struggling and sure he was going to die. She had died in the Mountain when it was destroyed, had been killed when Bryan hadn’t been able to save her as she had him. “Iris I’m so sorry,” He choked out then, “I’m so sorry…”

“Shh, shh,” Iris just hugged him tighter, swaying a little and pressing a friendly kiss to his cheek, “You were so brave, Bry. I’m so sorry that you’re here now. There’s no more pain now though. It’s okay.”

Bryan could hear the others around them, reuniting with loved ones and people searching and finding those who they’d lost and hadn’t gotten to even say goodbye to. Crying and yelling, he could hear people being upset, people sad, people just grateful they were reunited. He felt another hand on his shoulder then and let go of Iris, turning to see who it was.

Gina. Another friend, another person who he’d confided in, another person who’d died in the mountain, where he couldn’t save them. Seeing here too was just as emotional for him, knowing that she was here.He quickly wrapped his arms around her as well, hearing and feeling her chuckle at him.

“It’s a good thing you can’t hug me too tight anymore,” Gina’s voice was teasing and light as she wrapped her arms around Bryan in return, “You’ve gotten pretty strong since the last time I saw you.”

He was sure that if he could, he’d be crying at this point. All he could do was apologize over and over again; wishing he’d been able to do something, wishing he’d have known, wishing he could have changed things and saved them. It hurt, and it was so much to deal with. It wasn’t that he was upset about being dead, he was upset about them being dead too.

“Is there space for more in this hug?”

Bryan looked up, and if he were alive, he was sure his heart would be freaking out. Jasper. Riley. Bree. Fox. Monroe. He had known as they left Arkadia that Jasper, Riley, and Bree had been part of the group that had stayed behind to die as they wanted, but he hadn’t really expected them to be dead. It hurt, seeing them and knowing they were really dead, even if it had been what they’d wanted to do. He just nodded, unable to speak just yet, stepping forward to hug each of them; his friends, his family, the ones that he had missed and never wanted to reunite with like this.

As he finished hugging Monroe, he saw more people stepping over towards them, and he stepped away to quickly almost throw himself at them in a hug. Hannah. Mr. Green. Pike. The three of them were just as important to him; Hannah had been like an adoptive mother to him after his parents had passed, had been there for him through all of the things at Ice Nation, where they’d lost his parents and Mr. Green. Pike had been like an adoptive father to him; had taught him how to shoot and fight and survive, had been the one to keep him alive until they got to Arkadia.

“I’m so sorry,” He whispered out to Hannah, hugging her even more, knowing that somewhere Monty had to be alive then, that his friend was at least safe. He gave thanks for that, knowing that Hannah and her husband wanted their son to survive and live on. He’d never gotten to say goodbye to her, or to any of them, and this was helping his spirit; knowing they were there, that they cared that he’d died.

“Come with me,” Hannah was smiling softly then, taking Bryan’s hand and leading him away from the group, to two who were standing a little farther back, arms around each other and watching them. Bryan knew almost instantly who she was taking him to see, and he couldn’t help but feel even more grateful for the woman.

His parents.

“Mom… Dad…” He was sure there were no tears actually falling, but he was sobbing nonetheless, letting go of Hannah’s hand and rushing forward, nearly crashing into his parents as he ran into their arms. He could hear his mother sobbing too, her arms around him tightly. She was repeating ‘my baby’ over and over again, swaying them a little and just keeping her son close, his father holding them both tightly.

There were regrets, so many of them. Bryan didn’t want to die, he didn’t want his friends to have died, he didn’t want his family to have died. He wished he could have saved them; wished he could have prevented the bad things from happening, prevented so much of the destruction and sorrow that had happened to all of the people he cared about. But there was nothing he could do, nothing he could have done.

The time for regrets was over; they were all dead and on the other side now, and there would be no more pain for them. Here, they would be at peace, watching over those that were left that they cared about, and together again.