Disclaimer: I do not own the 100, only my OC.

Forms of writing:

Third person POV

Thoughts

Memories

Enjoy!


Mount Weather


Maybelline

Maybelline couldn't believe he actually told Spacewalker. Slowly, she turned back to the two boys, meeting Andrew's eyes immediately. Finn watched him too, eyes wide open like saucers in his shock.

"What did you say?" he gasped in perplexity.

Andrew shifted his weight from one foot to the other and took a breath, about to repeat his statement.

"He heard you," Maybelline announced flatly as she wrapped her arms tightly around her chest.

The red haired boy's blue eyes eyed her with scrupulousness.

"What?" he asked almost unknowingly.

"Nothing," the black haired girl replied with a shrug. "I just recall that you signed something… pact of silence I think it was called. Don't you remember? It was quite a big deal at that time…"

"That's why I didn't break it until now," Andrew explained, his voice even. „But, May, it doesn't mean anything anymore. We don't have to make a fuss about it."

"You've never made any fuss about the promises you gave anyway, so I can't really say I'm surprised," Maybelline remarked tartly.

They just stared at each other for a moment, reading one other's expression. Maybelline wasn't sure what irritated her more - was it the casualness with which he blurted it out, like it was nothing at all, or that he said it before Finn Collins, the yet undeclared camp gossip magazine reported?

"Will you let me explain what I meant?" Andrew asked, frowning. Her took her continuing silence and unrelenting cold stare as consent. "I said, that now it's not worth making a fuss about. The Rorchack test is over. No one else will ever take it again, no one else will ever pass it."

Maybelline blinked while his words sunk deeper into her, and yet it took a moment before she realized their true meaning - before she was able even to consider that he could be right.

"It's over, May," Andrew spoke up again. „What was the original plan? The group of people who passed the test should have been the first on Earth. You're the only one who ever passed, and that didn't matter anyway, because the Ark began to crumble apart and they would have to land here no matter what. So if you think about it, this entire past decade was actually completely for nothing."

Maybelline almost forgot that they were not alone in that moment. She pressed her lips into a thin line and turned her back to him because she couldn't stand the look of those prudent blue eyes any longer. This was one of those moments when she truly hated how Andrew was always right. Why did he have to always be so right…?

"Yeah, it wasn't an easy realization for me either," Andrew added bitterly. "But… there's nothing we can do about it now. It's time to move on."

It was truly pathetic how much his words actually surprised her. Maybe she was constantly busy because of the Exodus project, but that wasn't an excuse for her to take a bling eye to the clear facts staring at her in the face. No one else will ever take the Rorchack test, no one else will ever train for it ever again. It was over. Ten years have passed her and her commission has failed before it even truly started. Instead of a team of other people who went through what she did, she was here with rakish children, who no longer had a place on the Ark.

"May?" Andrew asked cautiously approaching her. "Listen, I won't tell him anything else, if you don't want to."

"No, you're right," she replied calmly and started walking again. "It doesn't matter anymore."

None of it mattered.

Bellamy

He didn't even have to think about, not even for a second. She was the first one who came to his mind as soon as he found out his gun was missing. He didn't even bother himself with thinking about other possible suspects.

It was her. It had to be her.

With clenched fists, he searched the entire camp and every nook of the dropship. Ge looked everywhere.

But there was no trace of Maybelline Emery.

Where the hell is she?!

Bellamy was angry - mostly at himself for letting something like that happen. And he was perhaps even more furious because of how easily she managed it! She just strolled into his tent and robbed him without him waking up! From now on, Bellamy Blake was going to sleep with one eye open, that was for sure.

"Are you kidding me?" he frowned at Murphy and Dax, who were just running up to him, still with nothing found.

"She's nowhere around the camp," Dax told him with a shrug. „It's like she just vanished."

"I checked the springs and the heat, but let's face it, she could be anywhere at this point," Murphy added.

"And where would she go?" Bellamy retorted angrily. Could she just take his gun and run into the woods?

"Mount Weather maybe?" Murphy suggested with raised eyebrows.

Bellamy was jarred by a strong desire to hit something. Of course Emery went there. She had wanted to go there since they landed, and now she had his gun and there was nothing holding her back here. That was probably where she was heading the night when he decided to go after her - and his move ironically just extended her stay at the camp. But that didn't change anything. Bellamy still needed to get that damn bracelet off her and his gun back.

"Check around again," he ordered the two boys firmly. "And if you find her - bring her to me."

Dax simply nodded and immediately ran back into the forest, but Bellamy noticed that Murphy didn't. He still stood there, hands in his pockets, impassive expression on his face.

"What?" Bellamy narrowed his eyes at him.

"What are you going to do about her?" the younger boy questioned expectantly. "That girl's obviously a big problem for our thing."

Our thing, huh?

However, Murphy was undoubtedly right. Emery was in his way and Bellamy knew that there wasn't any chance that he could somehow manipulate or make some kind of deal with her- certainly not after what happened in that cave. Not like he thought it was possible before that anyway.

Bellamy looked at Murphy intently.

"I'll deal with her," he said, his voice strong. "Just find her."

John Murphy nodded, apparently satisfied with his answer and disappeared. Bellamy was left alone, and after a while he realized that he was just sullenly staring at the ground, pondering about the difficult situation the girl put him in. To hell with Maybelline Emery.

He decided to leave it for the moment since he couldn't do anything if she wasn't around and he wasn't planning on going to Mount Weather any time soon. He put his hands on his hips, besieging the camp with his vision. Most of the children listened to him pretty well. They gathered food, searched for firewood, collected water and tried to create some dwellings from what was left of the dropship. Bellamy couldn't help himself but think how much easier all of this would be for him, if Emery had never been sent down with them…

He caught a glimpse of a little girl, she was probably one of the youngest in the camp. She sat apart from all the others, leaning on a tree trunk and humming some low tune. Her eyes focused down on the ground where she was scratching some unreadable scrawls into the dirt. That image brought up some memories in Bellamy's head. A little girl. Lonely. Humming a quiet melody. All that lacked was a hole in the floor and regular checkups to escape from.

"Hey," Bellamy spoke up to her, coming closer. "Are you okay?"

The blond haired girl lifted her head and her eyes him landed on him warily.

"Yes," she replied softly.

Bellamy squatted next to her. "Why aren't you with the others? It's always safer in the crowd," he told her sententiously.

The girl dropped her eyes back to the ground on the stick, drawling a long line across her chaotic picture.

"They think I'm weird," she shrugged.

Bellamy frowned slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he took the slim piece of wood out of her hand which forced her to look up at him again. „Being different than they are doesn't mean it's wrong," he told her with a firm voice.

The girl watched him, her gray eyes wide and a little suspicious.

"What's your name?"

"Charlotte."

Maybelline

"I thought that anyone could participate in the Rorchack test. You know, if they pass the physical exam?"

"It was like that in the start. But the Council then agreed that without rigorous training no one could really pass, so they let all the children on the Ark go through the first phase of Rorchack test. You did it too, they probably just told you it was a psych exam."

"You're kidding me, that was it?! It took two hours, and those questions were just ridiculous! How could anyone even concentrate that long, weren't we like eight?"

"Someone obviously could. They chose the fifty children with best results and then the real fun started."

Maybelline was wrong. It did matter. It wasn't important, that the test was over and there was nothing to hide anymore - the fact that Andrew was just casually telling Finn Collins, of all people, about how exactly their life looked like over the past ten years was simply unbearable to her. Maybe it was over, but this was her life and it felt… personal. The Spacewalker didn't deserve to know, he didn't deserve to know any of it, any of her. But there was no stopping Andrew now, was there?

"And then, after seven years of all that, they happily announced that we can start with our attempts to pass the Rorchack test," Andrew said with a fake enthusiastic smile. "There was a catch, of course."

Truth. There is always a catch.

"What was the catch?" Finn wanted to know and Maybelline really wondered if he ever paid attention to anything with this fervor before.

She glanced over her shoulder clearly feeling Andrew's intense stare. Was it really necessarily to tell him all those details? Why was he so enthusiastic and willing to babble all of this out the first chance he got? Maybelline would never talk about it, not even with a knife at her throat.

"There was one other exam we had to do, before we could even begin with the Rorchack test," Andrew explained serenely and his light blue eyes were shining with memories.

"The computer simulation."

One day on Earth, that's what they called it. But Maybelline felt like the entire mission lasted for weeks, so long that she couldn't even recognize what's real and what was a simulation. And that was probably the point.

The colors around her were electrifying and vibrant all at once, and she could hear the hum of leaves, gurgling water, even her own steps. The only thing that could detect that she wasn't in reality was her sense of smell. Because even with all this around her, Maybelline could still smell the cold, metallic scent that plagued the Ark. But one could hardly focus on that with piercing screams and menacing growls overwhelming all her other capacities.

Four of them were already dead, but it wasn't over - not just yet, not with the last woman crouching behind her still breathing, Maybelline wasn't giving up. Monstrous animals that evaded even description circled around them. They were too many for her to handle and protect the woman at the same time. One of the enormous wolf-like creatures dodged her blade when she moved to strike and jumped on the woman's back, tearing her bag off her body. Before Maybelline could put a knife in its skull, he disappeared into the trees and was replaced by three others. Maybelline managed to fend off two of them, the third broke his claw deep into the chest of her ward. But she was still breathing. It wasn't over.

However, in the next second, everything went black and silent. Maybelline felt her knees buckle - it happened every time whenever they broke her away from the simulation. All the pressure dissipated and she had to blink facing a sharp white light to refocus her eyesight. She wasn't in the middle of the forest anymore, she was in the small square room and five men sat directly in front of her being the glass, their faces stern. Her 21st attempt just failed.

"Wait," she exhaled heavily, still catching her breath. "She wasn't dead-"

"Take off your headpiece and leave the room," Shumway ordered her coldly.

Maybelline bit her lip, she was doing everything right. There was no chance to beat so big pack by herself, so what the hell was the trick?! What was she missing?!

"I still could-" she began to protest to no avail.

"Maybelline Emery," Kane spoke up in a firm voice, his green eyes unreadable. "Do what you've been told."

Maybelline swallowed thickly, looking directly into Kane's eyes. Was he irritated? Disappointed? Probably both. She loosened the iron headpiece from her head, as she'd been ordered, and placed it on the cold floor. And without an adequate look at the jury, she left the room.

xXxXx

"So I guess you didn't pass," a loosened voice said above her.

Maybelline didn't look up from her script of defensive strategy. She had no desire to look at Andrew, Mr. Perfect, who passed the pre-test on the third attempt and was about to pass the Rorchack test any day now. But he was never easily discouraged by her unwillingness and today wasn't any different. He sat across from her, intertwining his fingers.

"How was it?" he pushed on.

"We can't talk about it," Maybelline replied casually as she turned the page. Before she could even read the first word on the freshly turned paper, Andrew grabbed her book and pulled it out of her reach. Maybelline looked at him angrily. "Hey!"

"That won't help you, May," Andrew shrugged. "You're just wasting your time. I know you already know it all by heart."

"I have to do something," the black haired girl growled out, as she tried to reach for the book, but he just pulled it further away.

"A complete change of attitude would be nice," Andrew suggested cheerfully. Maybelline just shook her head and reached across the table, but the boy ducked back with a book. "You know what they say? If you cannot beat them... deceive them."

"I'm pretty sure it's 'join them'."

"This is my own improved version. It's much more effective, trust me."

You think I haven't tried that, huh?" Maybelline frowned at him."Do you really think that I didn't try to distract the pack, create traps, cover our tracks? They always find us, no matter what I do." She sat back, giving up her efforts for claiming the book back, there was no point to fight with that stubborn idiot. "I really don't understand why they don't say anything," she kept up, feeling pretty hopeless at that point. "Sure, we have to figure that out by ourselves, but how many people passed the pre-test? Three? It doesn't really look like we're setting off to Earth anytime soon, so how about a little hint?"

She remembered the look in Kane's eyes. Maybe it wasn't disappointment, maybe it was just confusion. This was definitely the closest she's ever gotten to the end, but it blew in her face anyway.

"They can't help us," Andrew stated calmly. "Because they themselves don't understand it."

Maybelline squinted her eyes at him - he was using that voice. It was the tone he used when he absolutely, undoubtedly knew what he was talking about.

"What are you talking about?"

"They don't know what we have to do to pass the pre-test. They gave us basic training, but they don't really understand the true purpose of all this. This simulation was created ninety-seven years ago, just like the Rorchack test. And they can't interfere, not even in the selection of candidates. They gave us all the test without adequately having an idea about what factors impact success - the computer simply evaluated the fifty best candidates on its own, no explanation."

Maybelline looked at him, her gaze cynical.

"Is that another one of your conspiracy theories?" she asked levelly. „Like that time you were convinced they bugged us through our bracelets?" She raised her right hand to thrust a metal bracelet to his face. Over the seven years, she had grown so accustomed to it that she hardly even felt it on her wrist.

"Well, now I know for sure that's not the case," Andrew said lightly. "Why do you think I'm telling you any of this so openly? On the other hand, it's not like they're not constantly watching us." He signaled up by moving his chin slightly. Maybelline turned her head a little and in the corner of her eye she saw that one of the guards stood at the other side of the room, his eyes fixed on them. With care, she went through everything that Andrew just told her, because it was starting to feel like he wasn't speaking metaphorically.

"How would you know for sure?" she asked suspiciously.

Andrews gently smiled and jumped to his feet. He walked over to her side of the table and sat down close beside her, putting the open book in front of them on the table.

"Pretend we're studying and please try to refrain from overreacting," he told her in a calm voice, his eyes fixed on the page beneath them.

Maybelline pursed her lips, but looked into the book exactly as she was told.

"Why do I feel that I'm not gonna like this?" she asked softly.

"Because your intuition is one of the few things you're actually good at," Andrew sneered at her provocatively.

"Shut up, Carlyle," Maybelline frowned, nudging him with her elbow. "Tell me how you discerned your paranoia that we live in the world of Big Brother?"

"I got into the system."

Maybelline blinked and her whole body tensed. At that moment, it cost her a lot of effort to not look at Andrew.

"You did what?" She asked with forced calm voice.

"I hacked into the system in the control room of the Ark," Andrew told her, his voice perfectly even. "That's how I know it, May. It's not a theory, none of that. The Rorchack test and everything to do with it is locked, nobody can tamper with it. They can run it, and the system gives them the results, but that's all."

Maybelline's eyes were wide with amazement, but still resolutely focused on the book, without adequately reading a single word on the page.

"Andrew, they could…"

"Float me?" the read headed boy supplied without blinking, casually turning a page. "Nah, they won't find out. It was worth it. I found out the bracelets really just measure our vital functions and keep records. And that even though they might look like they've swallowed all the wisdom of the world, our mentors are as clueless as we are," Andrew chuckled, obviously satisfied. "They have no clue how the system evaluates the results and what exactly we need to do to pass."

"So they don't really understand the purpose of the pre-test."

"They don't," Andrew agreed. "But I do."

Maybelline bit her lip. Suddenly, it wasn't hard to not look at Andrew. In her mind an idea occurred - a horrible one, which she tried to suppress, but it remained there. And she was so terribly ashamed.

Andrew turned to her, eyeing her with his piercing gaze.

"Isn't this the moment when you resolutely forbid me to tell you anything about it?" he wondered, clearly surprised.

Maybelline closed her eyes, but said nothing. She would have done exactly that ten attempts ago. Damn it, she would have done it even one attempt ago. But today… She was so damn sure that she would pass that test and now only had only one hour before the lounge would close and she had to go back in the dormitory to her father… Who would already know she failed once again.

"I would've told you anyway," Andrew said with a quick shrug. "You were trying for a long time and I really want you to pass the test and get that iron bracelet off your wrist."

Maybelline opened her eyes again, but remained silent. She was tensed in anticipation, waiting for him to tell her. Andrew leaned closer.

"You have to leave them behind," he told her softly.

Maybelline blinked. No, that couldn't be right. The instructions clearly said that-

"You have to figure out which one of them bears the cure," Andrew kept on in a low voice. "And when you do, take the backpack and run away. You don't look back."

"That can't be true," Maybelline breathed uncertainly. "The mission clearly says my job is to get doctors in the village alive. At least one of them must survive."

"You have to be farsighted, May, be able to read between the lines," Andrew said calmly. "The Council and mentors may be trying to make soldiers out of us, but Rorchack never wanted that. We are supposed to be survivors, not mindless puppets. Why do you think we were selected? Each one of us fifty had a problem with authority, which made no sense to me at first. But I believe that we were chosen precisely because lowering our heads and listening to what they say it's not in our nature."

"Maybe it should have been," Maybelline spoke up weakly and Andrew immediately locked his eyes with her.

"No, it shouldn't. I don't care what Marcus Kane tells you."

"This isn't about him."

"No?" Andrew raised his eyebrows, but then shook his head, turning back to the book. "Think about it, Maybelline. Yes, you should get them to the village alive, but the pack can't be beaten - not even if you train a hundred years. It's supposed to be like that. It's supposed to teach us that some battles can't be won. But you can alway find another way, the second best option…"

"Those doctors are the only ones who know how to use the drug," Maybelline countered. "Without them, it would be useless."

"But the village has other doctors, right? People who can figure it out? But there is only one cure, May. So what's more important?"

"So I should just… let them die? Just leave them behind?"

Maybelline could still hear their screams echo in her ears. How could someone just turn around and leave without at least trying to help them?

Andrew looked at her. "It's just a simulation, May."

"It doesn't feel that way."

"But it is," he insisted. "It's just a test that needs to be passed to pass another goddamn test. And when that happens, you'll be free. Nobody will be able to force you to do anything you won't like, no one will be standing behind your back on Earth. But you have to do this for us to finally get there."

Maybelline watched her friend for a while. Andrew figured out all of this on his own. Three attempts, that was all it took for him while she just kept blindly following instructions because that was what their mentors constantly beat into their heads for so many years. It was almost a funny paradox that they didn't even know that they were lowering their chances of success by doing just so. But Andrew figured it out. Andrew Carlyle somehow got into the most watched room on the Ark and hacked into the system without anyone noticing. Just like that.

"How is it possible that you haven't already passed the Rorchack test?" Maybelline asked, truly puzzled by the notion. Someone had to be first, it had to be him.

For the first time Maybelline witnessed Andrew's face darken and his eyes harden. A week ago, he failed his fifth attempt, and in three weeks he was bound to try again. That's the was it went - once a month, twelve chances a year.

"I can't get through the final phase," he admitted with something in his voice making him sound very distant.

"What is it?" slipped through Maybelline's lips before she could stop herself. Andrew never looked less like himself than he did in that moment.

He smiled grimly, lowering his eyes. "You'll see…"

"It was settled on Earth," Andrew started his explanation with a light tone. "All the signs of civilization vanished, just you in the middle of the forest with a mission to bring five doctors from one village to another, where an epidemic is breaking out. The problem was, however, that you were always attacked by a huge pack of degenerate wolves. I guess Rorchack suspected that animals won't look like they used to, so they really were something else."

"That sounds pretty awesome," Finn exclaimed, absorbing Andrew's every word, looking almost entranced. "Like a real-life computer game."

Computer game. Maybelline never thought about it that way before. The first time she went through the simulation, it scared her to death. It was harrowing, how convincingly real everything looked, even when she tried to remind herself it wasn't. She couldn't wrap her ming around how was it even possible, that she could feel all the wounds on her body so clearly when nothing was physically happening to her. It was more of a traumatic experience than a video game, but who knows? Maybe Collins would feel different if he could try it out for himself…

"Actually, it was pretty creepy," Andrew didn't endorse his enthusiasm any further. "You could really easily forget it's just pretend. Everything was so real, you could feel the wind on your skin, hear your own footsteps and see the smallest details of nature around you. So I don't think you would have liked it so much…"

"Yeah, well," Spacewalker drawled, his expression pensive. "I understand that it must be kinda annoying to get attacked by a wolf that you can't even tell isn't real…"

"A little bit," Andrew smiled. He was probably starting to realize that Finn will never be able to understand how it really felt. Anyone who hasn't experienced it couldn't.

"So that was the pre-test," Collins said, obviously not having ever enough. "And how was the Rorchack test?"

Without properly looking at him, Maybelline could feel how Andrew froze. Sure, he could pretend all he wanted that none of that mattered to him and everyone could know about the things they swore not to tell ten years ago, but the Rorchack test was something they have never even talked about together. It was quite possibly the only taboo on between them and Maybelline was sure that the other participants felt exactly the same.

"Some things aren't worth knowing," Andrew said, trying to sound unconcerned, though his voice was clearly off balance.

Maybelline picked up her pace, they were starting up the mountain now. Possibly nothing could be worse than upset Andrew Carlyle - it was something so unnatural to her as if the sun suddenly turn blue. But the truth was that this time he deserved it. He wanted to talk about their infamous past? So there it was, served him right. Thanks to Andrew, the Spacewalked now knew more - more than Maybelline was comfortable with. And it should be noted that all she was willing to tell people was her name.

"Hey," Finn said as he quickly caught up with her. Andrew was probably not willing to say anything else, so Spacewalked returned to his seemingly new favorite activity - bothering Maybelline Emery.

He began to walk beside her with his eyes glued to her face and hands comfortably shoved into his pockets.

"You look like extra unhappy that I now know all that stuff," he deduced from her expressionless face, a smirk dancing on his lips.

"I don't really care," Maybelline replied coldly.

Finn chuckled.

"Oooh," he drawled knowingly. "That didn't sound like-"

And before he could finish his sentence, his foot slipped on the wet surface and he - thanks his hands tucked away in his pockets - face planted into a mud puddle. Maybelline didn't move a finger to help him, even though she easily could have. Instead, she turned to Andrew, who just caught up with them, paid him a meaningful look.

"I thought you'd keep an eye on him."

Andrew gave a puzzled expression.

"He just slipped."

"You know very well that it was a bad idea to let him come, so admit it," Maybelline pushed on. "We might as well have taken all the others…"

"May, he just slipped," Andrew repeated emphatically.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," Collins spoke up from bellow them, wiping mud from his face. "I'm fine," he exclaimed so loud that Maybelline quickly turned around to check the surroundings. The boy will be the death of them.

Andrew let out an amused chuckle and pulled the younger boy up to his feet by his elbow.

"Try to keep it down, okay?" he chided softly.

Finn quickly dusted himself off, trying to clean the dirt from his face with his sleeve. For some reason, Maybelline quite enjoyed the look of him, all his messy and disoriented.

"You were saying?" she prompted with a sweet smile on her lips.

Finn glared at her, and before he could say anything, Maybelline turned on her heel and continued briskly upwards. This time it was Andrew who quickly trailed after her.

"Aren't you little hard on him?" he asked, an amused smile on his face.

"How about you try not to lecture me every five minutes? Just for a change?" Maybelline retorted.

"C'mon," Andrew teased playfully. "Don't say that you didn't miss it."

"I got tired of it really quickly."

"That hurt."

They walked a few more steps and a plateau covered with grass opened before them. At the end of it was a massive door, wedged into the hill, yet still couldn't be overlooked. A surge of excitement rushed through Maybelline at the sight. She was so close.

"Mount Weather?" Finn asked, somewhat unnecessarily.

Andrew nodded. "Looks like one of the side entrances."

They rushed closer, carefully clearing the forest around them, but their surroundings were empty. Maybelline surged towards a small keypad next to the door, pressing in first of the codes, her fingers almost shaking in anticipation.

"You know the combination?" Finn marveled.

„How else did you think we'd get inside?" Andrew turned to him. "That we kick open the door, that survived a nuclear war?"

Maybelline stopped listening to them. It was already the fourth code she pressed in and nothing happened. The seventh... Eleventh... Sixteenth... And the door still didn't budge. Her hand stopped in the air.

"May?" Andrew asked, noticing the concern in her face.

"I have one last combination left," Maybelline let out covertly. What would she do if the door won't open? How was it that the possibility of this happening was just coming to her mind? What if the door won't open? What if…

"So that will probably be your lucky number," Andrew tried to keep an optimistic approach, but his voice was strained. He still had his parents up there, and he definitely wanted to see them again.

Maybelline entered the final combination of numbers, putting her hand away. She waited, but nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

"Try again," Andrew sounded flatly.

And Maybelline did. She jabbed in seventeen combinations again. And then again. And then once more. And when the door remained closed even there and no green light appeared, she hit the steel with her clenched fist, not even able to feel the impact in her fury.

"That's not possible," she said angrily, her eyes piercing through the door.

"Maybe it just doesn't work anymore," Spacewalker spoke up cautiously.

"It must work, it was built to survive an atomic bomb!" she replied sharply.

"Someone had to change the combination," Andrew said thoughtfully.

"Nobody was alive to change it."

"Grounders also shouldn't be alive, but tell that to Jasper," Finn remarked.

Maybelline turned to him, trying to get hold of herself again. "You're right, they shouldn't. But Jasper was struck by a spear. If Grounders had access to Mount Weather, I doubt they'd be using such a primitive weaponry."

"There must be an explanation to his," Andrew said, his bright eyes absorbing every detail of that damned door - she could see how hard he was thinking.

Maybelline closed her eyes for a moment, pressing her fingers on her temples and started to rub them. Where was the mistake? It wasn't possible for her to enter even one of the combination wrong, she was sure. She knew them. So if the numbers were right and the door should still work, then…

"Hey, guys," Finn said, his voice vague, drawing their attention. He stood at the door, his head titled high up with his eyes locked on a high corner that concealed a dirtied security camera.

"Do you think someone could still be inside?"

All three of them were staring at the unmoving camera almost hypnotized, probably thinking the exact same thing. Was someone looking at them right now?

"It's pretty unlikely that Mount Weather had enough supplies to last a hundred years," Andrew noted. "And according to the studies, the Earth only started being survivable very recently."

"And even if someone did survive, why wouldn't they send a signal?" Maybelline added, not taking her eyes from the camera. "Why wouldn't they come out right now?"

"Well, you're kind of armed," Finn pointed out.

Maybelline didn't know what to think. Her head was full of theories, each one crazier than the one before. But no, they should focus on only one thing. They couldn't open the door to Mount Weather.

Slowly, she bent down to the ground, picking a stone from the grass. And without any warning, she threw it directly into the lens, shattering it with a loud crack.

Finn was startled by her sudden action.

"What was that for?" He turned to her with wide, frantic eyes.

"If there's someone inside, they can't see us now," Maybelline replied levelly. "If they can't see us, they don't know what we're doing. And maybe they got nervous enough to open the door."

"And what if I don't want that door open?" Finn asked, retreating from them immediately, as if it was about to fly open any second now. "We don't know who might be inside."

"If you're scared, you shouldn't have come after us," Maybelline told him flatly.

"I didn't know what I was signing up for," Spacewalker frowned indignantly.

"That's your problem, you're unable to think ahead."

"Do you really have to always be so-"

"Guys," Andrew interrupted their argument, eyes locked at the forest that hovered out above the door and drifted up high into the mountain. „Do you hear that?"

Maybelline did. The sound was pretty familiar and ominous - a silent hiss that was swiftly getting closer.

"What is it?" Finn obviously didn't recognize it.

"Acid fog," Maybelline replied, turning on her heel. "Run!"

Andrew and Finn didn't need to be told twice - they immediately sprinted down the hill chased by a cloud of yellow smoke that was following them mercilessly. The problem was that the fog spread faster down the hill than it did on the plain.

"We won't make it!" Finn exclaimed as we looked over his shoulder while the mist quickly sought after them.

Maybelline held the same opinion. The last cave she spotted that they could use as shelter was seen several miles back - It was impossible to get there in time. In the corner of her eye, she saw Andrew slinging his backpack forward, starting to pull something quickly out of it.

"Come closer!" He shouted at both of them, holding a loose piece of sail in his hands.

Neither Maybelline or Finn hesitated, and once they got close enough, Andrew pulled the tarp over their heads, pulling them down on the ground. They quickly scrolled their ends together so they would be perfectly closed inside. Maybelline twisted around, helping Andrew close all the gaps by pushing pieces of sail under her elbows. For a few seconds, they all remained motionless, waiting for either death or a miracle.

After a while, it was clear that the fog was surrounding them, and although the air inside their little makeshift shelter grew heavy, it didn't burn their skin. Maybelline sighed out in relief, resting her forehead on the ground that they lived to survive another day.

"You're a genius. And your tent is… really cool," she told Andrew resignedly.

"It is, right?" Andrew chuckled, the relief in his voice quite evident.

"Damn," Finn breathed heavily as he tried to turn to face their direction, kicking them both several times before he managed to lie down next to Maybelline. "You just had to smash the camera…"

Maybelline and Andrew exchanged a glance as Finn's words forced them to think over what just happened and why.

"There's no doubt that the fog is a chemical weapon," the black haired girl stated. "But it could be launched automatically. That doesn't prove that someone is inside."

"It could be just a coincidence," Andrew nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe it's defensive mechanism that gets activated when someone gets to close to the base."

"Oh, God," Finn drawled out, his voice low and tired. „We almost just had out skin peeled off by acid fog, how can you two be so damn calm?"

Maybelline looked at Andrew.

„It was your brilliant idea to take him with us..."

"Hey, a moment ago you said I was a genius!"

"Okay, genius. I have a question. How do we know when the fog is gone?"

"Oh..."

"It didn't occur to you to sew a piece of plastic as a window here, huh?"

"Look, May, don't be ungrateful. Don't you remember how long the fog lasted last time?"

"How could I? I was in the cave with Bellamy freaking Blake!"

"Where?"

"Shut up, Collins. You shouldn't even be a part of this trip, so stop drawing attention to yourself!"

"Hey, man, ever since you showed up, she's been nothing but angry. I'm blaming you."

"Yeah, well, she's obviously incapable of controlling her emotions when I'm around."

"Seriously, I would prefer to be burned alive by that stupid fog than be trapped here with you two."


Hey there! As always, big thanks to those who read and like my story. :)

Also to my wonderful beta for help!

Make sure you let me know what you think about the chapter and have a nice day. :)