"Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily." - Napoleon Bonaparte
They arrived at camp and Bellamy immediately called for Clarke. They took him into the drop ship, and Raven was busy with her radio. Valery sat down on the ground and saw Bellamy arguing with Octavia from a distance. Angrily Octavia walked towards Valery, away from Bellamy, who closed the gate. Storm was coming.
Valery stood up and grabbed Octavia's arm. "Let me clean your wounds, they'll otherwise get infected." Valery said with a smile. Octavia nodded. "That would be nice, thanks." Octavia replied quietly. Valery and Octavia sat down in the drop ship, somewhere in the corner away from the others.
Valery found a bottle of Moonshine and a bit of that seaweed. "It's gonna sting a little bit." Valery warned Octavia carefully. She tapped a piece of cloth on Octavia's forehead and hands and suddenly Octavia let out a sob. "hey, just say if it hurts, I'll stop immediately." Valery said shocked, seeing Octavia sobbing.
"It's not that," Octavia cried, "it's Bellamy! I hate him, he blames others for his mistakes!" Valery laid down the cloth and hugged Octavia. "You know how he is," Valery said, he doesn't mean it, "but you are right. If we just left, Finn would be okay." Octavia shook her head.
"It's not even about that..." Octavia started and stared into the distance, "he said that his life ended when I was born and that it's all mom's fault, while he took me to that stupid party!" Octavia snapped and threw the cloth away. Valery had no idea what to say.
"Oh, Octavia," Valery mumbled and she hugged her again, "he's a jerk, I know. And I hope he realizes that was the worst he could say. But he was really worried about you, and he wants to protect you. You walked alone into the woods, you have to think better before you do something."
Octavia let Valery. "I know, I am sorry..." Octavia replied, "but the Grounder didn't hurt me, I don't think he intended to..." Octavia said, shaking her head.
Valery frowned and sighed. "The other Grounders killed Roma and Diggs." Valery said frowning, still seeing the empty eyes of Roma looking up to her.
"I know," Octavia said, thinking, "I wanted to scream, I saw Roma being pierced, but he kept my mouth shut. We were hiding from the other Grounders, now I'm thinking about it." Octavia said, half smiling.
Valery looked warmly at Octavia. "Well, I am glad you are okay." Valery said and stood up. "Thank you for looking for me, really." Octavia replied. "Let's see if we can help, Clarke, shall we?" Valery said while helping Octavia up. Clarke was standing next to Raven, who was trying to contact the Ark.
In the meantime the storm came, making a lot of noise. Valery was standing next to Finn, who was breathing very slowly. Valery cut off Finn's t-shirt, only leaving the cloth around the wound. Clarke came back to take that away. A bit of blood escaped from the wound, dripping on the floor. "He's a bit warm, but that's good." Valery said to Clarke.
Clarke wrapped a new piece of cloth around it, looking worried at Valery. "Isn't there anything you can do? With anything you can?" Clarke asked Valery. In return, Valery shook her head with regret.
"His future looks sad... I have this feeling," Valery mumbled, "right here." She said and tapped on her stomach.
"I know you have those cards, use them. I want to know if he will survive, if we don't do this for nothing." Clarke said urgently. "Clarke it doesn't work that way." Valery said a bit surprised by the question.
"Just do it! Please!" Clarke snapped hopelessly. Valery walked towards her bag and grabbed her mother's Tarot cards, which she didn't use for ages, just to kind of scam people.
She sat down on the floor and grabbed the cards with her left hand. She made a fist with her right hand and knocked against the cards, to get rid of the negative energy. Suddenly, people gathered around her, watching her. Valery felt incredibly uncomfortable when she saw Bellamy standing.
She closed her eyes and in her head, she thought: "Will Finn Collins live?" She took a deep breathe and opened her eyes, looking at Clarke. "I will draw three cards," Valery said, "one for the past, present and future." She knocked against the cards again and drew the first card. "The Hanged man, reversed," Valery said while laying down the card, "meaning that you are at crossroads, stuck between two options and have no chance to escape."
She drew the second card. "The fool," Valery said with a slight smile, looking up at Clarke, "indicating a new beginning." The others were watching very interested at Valery. Valery drew the next card. "The Devil," Valery said and looked down, "meaning guilt." She didn't finish the whole meaning for 'self-destructive behavior' wasn't a very nice prospect.
"Guilt for stabbing the Grounder, maybe?" Octavia said with a hopeful smile. "Yes, there you go." Valery said, smiling at Octavia. She grabbed her cards and put them back in her bag. "I want to be read as well!" One girl yelled from the crowd. "Yeah me too!" Another guy said. Valery stood up. "Okay, I will do that later!" She yelled, 'We need to save someone's life first!"
"Octavia, can you get me more of Monty's Moonshine?" Valery asked and Octavia nodded.
Valery walked up to Raven and looked at the radio. "Do you have the right frequency?" Valery asked. "It seems like it's struggling between two," Raven said while looking at Finn.
"Go to him, I'll try it." Valery said with a friendly smile. Raven nodded and stood up. Valery sat down and put the headset on.
"Calling for Ark Station. Report, Ark Station." Valery kept repeating. "Hello, are you there?" Valery asked and when she twisted a little button, the murmur stopped. She let go of it and waited. "The 100 are alive, Ark Station," Valery said again, "can anyone hear me?"
She looked over at Raven and shook her head. But she almost fell out of her chair when she heard someone talking on the other side.
"This is a restricted channel, please identify yourself." Valery believed it was Chancellor Jaha. She could't find the words, and signaled Raven. "One second." Valery said with her voice shaking. Everyone gathered around. "Raven?" Valery yelled and held out the headphones. Raven rushed over to Valery and took it over, everyone could listen to the conversation.
"This is Raven Reyes from Mecha Station, please you need to get doctor Abby Griffin." Valery walked over to Finn again, so Clarke could talk to Abby. "Raven are you there?" Abby asked. "Mom? Mom, it's me." Clarke said. "Mom, I need your help, one of our people was stabbed by a Grounder."
"Clarke? This is the Chancellor, are you saying there are survivors on the ground?" Jaha's voice echoed from the radio. "Yes, the earth is survivable, we are not alone." Clarke said. There was quite long silence on the other side, so Clarke got a bit impatient and anxious. "Mom he's dying, the knife is still in his chest. Valery left it in." Clarke said quickly.
"Clarke, is my son with you?" Jaha asked. Valery exchanged looks with Clarke and she shook her head. "I am so sorry," Clarke said shakily, "Wells... Wells is dead." It was silent again and Abby talked again.
"Clarke, is Valery with you?" Valery looked with big eyes at Clarke and shook her head. "Yes, she is." Clarke said looking back at Valery with a 'what-the-hell face'.
"Good, she needs to help you," Abby said, "I will talk you through it step by step." The whole drop ship was shaking thanks to the storm and Valery felt suddenly much endangered in it. Abby was talking through the radio, but they could barely hear her. "What?" Valery yelled. "Raven what's wrong?" Clarke asked. "It's not the radio, it's the storm."
"Clarke we need to hurry." Abby said. Octavia came back with more Moonshine and handed it over to Clarke, who looked confused. "No germ can survive that," Valery said to Clarke, "it's our best shot." The drop ship started to crack again. "The storm is getting worse." Octavia said. "Monroe, close the door." Clarke said.
"We still have people out there." Monroe replied. "Monty and Jasper aren't back yet." Octavia said mumbled. "Neither is Bellamy." Clarke replied. "Yeah, I don't care about that at the moment," Valery said flatly, "we have a guy with a knife in his body. Surely they'll find a place to shelter."
Valery was cleaning the area around Finn's wound with a cloth drenched in Moonshine. Raven walked over to Clarke with a needle. "Good, now I need thread." Clarke said. "There's wire on the second floor, that I use for the tents." Octavia said.
"Okay, let's see that, otherwise I'll rip open my jeans." Valery said to Octavia, who nodded and walked away. "Stay away from the blue wires, I rigged it to the solar cells on the roof." Raven yelled after Octavia. "That means they are hot! Got that?!" She yelled louder. "Yeah I got it!" Octavia yelled back as she climbed up the ladder.
Raven turned to Clarke and Valery. "Tell me you two can do this." Valery looked over to Clarke. "Clarke can do this, yes." Valery replied and started to clean the wound again. "Hey, they're back!" A girl yelled. Valery looked behind her and saw the people walking. "Bellamy!" Octavia yelled and climbed down the ladder.
Behind Bellamy, two guys carried the Grounder, who was blindfolded and tied in rope. "You brought the Grounder?!" Valery asked startled. "They will look for him!" She added pointing at the Grounder. "It's time to get some answers." Bellamy said.
"You mean revenge?!" Octavia asked angrily. "I mean intel, get him upstairs." Bellamy commanded. "Bellamy, she's right..." Clarke started. The radio started to murmer again and Abby's voice echoed through the room. "Clarke? Honey, we're ready, can you hear me?" Bellamy looked behind Clarke, to the radio. He stared at it, and Valery shivered by the sight of it.
"Bellamy, this is not who we are." Clarke said. "It is now." He replied and he walked away. Valery shook her head slightly, watching Bellamy as he walked away. "What an idiot! Ever heard of democracy? Not that it is on the Ark... If you sneeze to loud or disagree you are already being floated by Jaha and Kane! 300 peopel, floated for nothing... If they had just waited, ugh! Must have been my father who pushed it through! Valery yelled angrily.
"Thank you for your opinion, Miss Kane. Maybe you can apply for Chancellor next year? As you disagree with my authority..." Jaha's voice echoed from the radio. Valery's cheeks turned pink and had no idea what to say but she recovered herself quickly. "I will consider it." She replied flatly.
"I need to know what's going on, what's the position of the knife?" Abby asked. "The blade is at sharp, upward angle, between the sixth and seventh ribs." Clarke said. "Okay, how deep?" Abby asked. Clarke looked at Clarke shrugging.
"Eh, we can't tell, but I don't think it didn't hit any fatal organs, it is not bleeding... Finn's stomach isn't hard or bruised looking." Valery said quickly. "Okay, that's alright. Just don't remove the knife yet. Do you see any fluid?" Abby asked. Valery's heart was pumping in her throat and two guys started to fight behind her. She turned around and took a deep breathe.
"DAMN IT! EVERYONE, GO UPSTAIRS! NOW!" Valery yelled. Everyone looked with big eyes to Valery, and slowly they started to walk away. "Sorry, I let myself go." Valery apologized to Clarke.
"Please, do that more often. It works." Raven replied, looking at the people who were leaving the room.
"Valery already cleaned the area. Finn's a bit warm, but she says it's good." Clarke said. "That's alright indeed, fever sometimes accompanies the trauma. There wasn't any fluid right? Then the pleural membrane's intact, that's good. He got lucky." Abby said. Raven and Clarke smiled, looking down at Finn.
"Hear that? You got lucky..." Raven said with a smile to Finn. Valery walked away from Clarke and Raven, and looked up the ladder, listening. Octavia walked down the ladder and hugged Valery. "Go upstairs, Val. They are going to torture him." Octavia said and tried to push Valery towards the ladder.
"And do what? They don't listen to me." Valery mumbled, pushing herself from the ladder. "I know," Octavia suddenly said and held her face in her hands, "I just hate him!" She yelled and she kicked against the ladder. Valery took a big gulp of Moonshine and passed it over to Octavia. "Here." She said and gave it to Octavia.
She walked back to Clarke. "Okay Clarke, take a firm grip of the knife. You need to angle it upward and to the left very slightly as it exits the ribcage." Abby said. "How very slightly?" Clarke asked. "Three millimeters." Abby replied.
Clarke and Valery exchanged looks. "You do it." Clarke said to Valery. "No, my hands will shake like jelly on springs," Valery said terrified and she grabbed Clarke's hand. "You can do it, I trust you. We will do this together!" Valery said warmly and smiled. Clarke nodded. The whole drop ship started to rumble.
"Alright, extracting now." Clarke said and pulled on the knife. Finn suddenly started to moan. "Oh shit!" Valery said and started to stand behind Finn, holding him down. "Shhh, shhh," Valery hissed, "it's alright, we are helping you. Stay still, we are getting that knife out of you." Valery said. Finn nodded slowly. "Good plan." He replied.
"You can't move, got that?" Valery asked and Finn nodded. Valery looked at Clarke and nodded. "Okay, here we go." Clarke said. Finn groaned loudly and she pulled it out. The drop ship rumbled and they fell down, Valery hitting her head on the table.
"Girls? Girls? Are you alright?" Abby asked through the radio. "We're good, it's out! She did it." Raven said. Valery was still lying on the ground, her head and ribs hurting like hell. She touched her head and felt it was wet. She looked at her hand and saw the blood. She cursed something and pulled herself up on the table.
"I need to sit down, you can stitch him up, hmm?" Valery mumbled and she already walked up the ladder. She decided to take a look at the Grounder, see what Bellamy was doing. "What the hell was that?! Are we under attack?" Bellamy asked, with his back towards the ladder.
"No, it was storm damage." Valery replied. Bellamy sighed, still looking at the Grounder. "Come to disapprove my way of handling things again?" He asked annoyed. "No, I came here for my stuff." Valery replied weakly and she sat down next to her bag.
She looked at the Grounder, who was covered in blood. Valery somehow wished it was his own. Bellamy walked up to her and swooped the hair out of her face. "I hit my head." She said quietly and removed his hand. Bellamy walked to Miller and snatched a book out of his hand. "Look at it, it's his." Bellamy said and handed over the Grounder's book.
Valery looked at it and saw all kind of weird symbols. She couldn't make up anything out of it. She turned the pages, seeing various drawings. "They are really good." Valery said and looked up, smiling at the Grounder. She suddenly stopped, staring at one drawing. "He drew a smiling Octavia," she said quietly, "Bell, come on, he didn't want to hurt her."
Bellamy looked at Valery. "Just turn the damn page." Valery looked at Bellamy and turned the page. She looked down, and saw herself. She was drawn as she was sitting, but she saw sitting in what looked like flames, her eyes looking down and smiling. She looked at the Grounder, a bit less friendly.
"He also drew our camp, with 102 sticks drawn next to it, 10 crossed. He's been watching us ever since we got here." Bellamy said and walked up to Valery with a box. It was filled with little bottles. "What is it?" Bellamy asked. Valery shrugged and looked to him. "Will you please have a look at it?" He repeated. Valery grabbed one bottle and held it into the light.
She uncorked it and smelled. "Hmm, lovely." She said with a smile. She smelled lavender, marigold and peppermint. "Medical." She mumbled and grabbed another bottle. She uncorked it and smelled. "Gosh that's strong." She said. She hesitated a while, but she dropped a drop of the bottle on her head. It started to burn and itch, and quickly she washed it off with Moonshine and dabbed some of it on her face.
The hatch opened and Clarke walked up. "Is he alright?" Valery asked. Clarke nodded and walked to Bellamy, who was holding the book in front of the Grounder's face, asking him questions. Bellamy showed Clarke the book and the drop ship rumbled again. Valery moaned loudly when she tried to stand up, pressing her hand against her waist.
"Clarke! He's seizing!" Raven mumbled from downstairs. "On my way!" Clarke replied and she rushed down the ladder. After a few seconds, Clarke climbed through the hatch. "Val, Val, come down!" She yelled. Valery walked to the hatch, and climbed down the ladder in pain.
She saw Finn on the table, shaking terribly, his mouth foaming. "The radio's dead." Clarke said breathlessly. Valery bend over to Finn, looking at him. She opened his mouth and ran her finger through it. She looked closely at her finger, and felt the saliva. It was very thick and had a weird feeling.
Finn stopped shaking and Raven and Clarke pulled him on his side. Valery turned very pale and stared at Finn. She grabbed the knife of the ground and looked at it. "What is it?" Clarke asked shakily. "Poison." Valery replied weakly, staring with agony at Finn.