Sabrina and Finn moved tentatively into the dropship, peering across the dimly-lit space at a moaning Jasper.
"Did it work?" she asked, kneeling down next to Clarke. The stink of diseased flesh and old blood clawed its way into her nose, making her stifle a cough. Judging by the greenish skin surrounding her poultice, the answer seemed obvious. Clarke smiled weakly.
"It stopped the bleeding, but not the infection," she replied, not unkindly. Sabrina closed her eyes, inhaling, then stopping her breath. No need to breathe in more death-fumes.
Stop. They were not death fumes. Jasper was not dying.
"We need alcohol. Or tarragon."
"Artemisia dracunculus," affirmed Monty, nodding. A frown quickly marred his soft features. "But that would take a day to find. At best." Sabrina ran a hand through her hair, which was growing oilier with each passing day. Great. All she needed now was lice, or, even worse, ringworm.
"We have one option, then, and no one's gonna like it."
It was decided that Clarke would be the one to cut away the infected flesh. Sabrina was in no mood to slice through diseased human skin, Monty was more needed at trying to set up communications to the Ark, Finn and Wells had little to no knowledge regarding medicine, and Octavia was nowhere to be found.
"You two: hold him down." Pointing to Finn and Wells, she motioned them towards a limp, twitching Jasper. As they took ahold of his limbs, Clarke placed the tip of her knife on the very top of his wound.
Averting her eyes, Sabrina looked instead at the door and concentrated on the sounds of the people outside. Just like last night, they were yelling, cheering, and chanting, most likely around Bellamy's bonfire.
Bellamy. And Murphy. Complete...scum. They were willing to hurt her, to kill her, all for some stupid wristband.
She fingered the cold metal absentmindedly, wincing as Jasper began to scream. His voice echoed throughout the hollow, metal space, harsh and animalistic as Clarke jammed her knife into his-
No. Not going to think about that.
The door burst open, revealing Octavia, who bolted to kneel at Jasper's side.
"You're killing him!" she cried, lunging across Sabrina at Clarke-
Instinctively, Sabrina grabbed Octavia's forearm with both hands, twisting the skin in two different directions to keep her still. An Indian rub, according to one of the guards on the Ark. Good for defending yourself, especially if you're small.
As Octavia glared at her, Finn spoke up, voice strained from the effort of holding down a flailing, screaming Jasper.
"She's trying to save his life." Sabrina shot Bellamy's sister a pointed glare. Octavia's recklessness would get her into trouble, if not others. And Sabrina had no intention of letting Octavia screw up her chances of survival, let alone her friends. Dying on Earth was not an option; she was going to pass away, old and wrinkly, of age amidst technology, food, and her family on the Ark.
Clarke nodded at Finn and Wells, who held Jasper down as she dug the knife into his skin, sawing away at his flesh. Jesus Christ, that woman was incredible. Turning away, face tingling with a warmth something like embarrassment, Sabrina leaned her back against the cool metal wall, slid down to the floor, and closed her eyes.
The sounds of Jasper groaning reverberated through Sabrina's head, grating harshly against her eardrums.
"Will someone shut him up?" moaned a female voice from her right.
"Just kill him already!" chimed in a guy to her left. Scuffling noises and the sound of a blanket being thrown against the wall made her start briefly before she regained control of her panicking body. Keeping her eyes open only a sliver and her breathing silent and low, she looked towards the source of the blanket-thrower. Murphy.
"That's it, I'm ending this," he growled, pulling himself to his feet and whipping out a gleaming, silver knife from his belt.
She watched him march towards the ladder that led to Monty, Octavia, and Jasper, running through possible scenarios in her head.
Get up immediately and try to stop him? Moronic. He was at least good 50 pounds heavier than her and could easily push her aside.
Sprint past him and shut the hatch? Nope. She'd have to push the metal ladder up through the hole, and then shut and lock the heavy door itself while fending off Murphy.
Distract him and make enough noise to wake up Octavia and Monty? Plausible. Could Monty and Octavia seal the loft and keep Jasper alive for another 6 hours until morning? Hopefully. One problem: what would she do? Clarke, Finn, and Wells were out on an excursion with Bellamy and his cronies to search for antibiotics, so she'd find no help there. If only there was a way she could get into the loft…
Murphy was twenty feet away from the ladder. Think fast, idiot.
Even though Murphy was a complete and utter evil dick, he was still a guy. And all guys have two brains: their brain, and their crotch. Yes, he'd tried to forcibly attack her and remove her wristband, but if she was going to make this work, she'd have to sell it to him 100%, then make a run for the loft. If this didn't work, well, she'd run for the forest. And try to not get killed by those goddamn grounders. Taking a deep breath, she paused for a moment, running through the plan one last time.
Slipping out from underneath her tarp, Sabrina unzipped her jacket and pulled off her cargo pants, leaving goosebumps along her stomach and legs. Jasper's groans decreased in volume as Murphy immediately looked over as she stood up, raising an eyebrow as he caught sight of her bare legs.
Switching directions, he stalked towards her, eyes raking over her form. Sabrina internally rolled her eyes, confidence flaring up in her chest as he visibly relaxed, coming closer and closer. 10 feet. 5 feet. 1 foot-go!
Sprinting and screaming, she bolted towards the hatch, shooting up the ladder and frantically dragging it up after her. Immediately, Octavia was beside her, eyes bright and alert. She must have been awake all this time.
The ladder was quickly tucked away, and the heavy hatch door pushed and locked into place, Monty helping out with the last few inches. His eyes were bloodshot and baggy from staring at the fuse box for hours on end.
Sounds of a fist pummeling the metal door echoed through the dark room. Sabrina bit her lip, stifling a laugh. Octavia cracked up, face lighting up in a smile that showed all of her pearly white teeth, and Sabrina eventually did the same, Monty having already fallen asleep.
"He fell for that?" Octavia snorted, referring to Sabrina's brief stripping.
"I couldn't think of anything else!" retorted Sabrina, giggling. God, adrenaline was quite a drug with a high better than anything illegal on the Ark. "You saw the whole thing?" Octavia nodded, corners of her lips twitching upwards as more banging sounded on the hatch door.
"Hey. It worked," she grinned, patting Sabrina on the leg.
Perhaps one Blake wasn't so bad, after all.