"How do you lose a sick girl who's been unconscious for nearly a week?" A familiar voice demands.
"Who is that?" Bellamy questions as he and Selia break apart.
"It's Cage," Selia sighs. "The president's son."
"Yeah, they told me about him."
"He's been checking on you everyday like before," Maya says. "He must have gone to your room."
"She can't have gotten far, sir. We'll find her," another man says through the radio.
"You better," Cage growls.
"We shouldn't stay here," Selia tells them. "I don't think they'll come looking in residences, but I don't want risk it."
"No, you need to rest," Bellamy argues.
"I can't put them in any more danger," she insists. "And I don't think we have time to rest. Did you talk to Monty and Jasper? Are they okay?"
Bellamy's expression darkens in a way that nearly makes her sick. "Things have changed, Sel. We don't have as much time as we originally thought."
"What do you mean?"
"Maya and I went to talk to them, but they put the dorms in lockdown. We can't get to them."
The cookies she ate settle unhappily in her stomach as bile rises in the back of her throat. Dr. Tsing's words replay in her mind, you'll never have to worry about them again.
She should have gone back to her room when Roan said or fought harder when they caught her. Anything to protect her friends. Anything to keep from failing them.
"Have they already started harvesting?"
"They haven't taken anyone from the dorms yet, but…" Maya's answer trails off in distress. "Harper and Monty went missing a couple days after they sedated you."
Selia releases a sharp exhale, forcing the fear down as it brings more tears to her eyes. "We have to find them before it's too late."
The young guard turns back to Roan who nods in agreement with her silent plan, but Bellamy grabs her arm to get her attention once more.
"You don't understand. We overheard the guards talking. The president released them, he got Monty and Harper back to the dorms, and he was going to let everyone go home, but he was betrayed."
"The president was betrayed?" Sel mutters in confusion until she realizes who would do such a thing. "By Cage? He what – took over? Just like that?"
Bellamy and Maya both nod as Selia processes the news. If Cage is running the show, then Dr. Tsing is right up there with him, which only spells tragedy for her people. The clock that has been ticking since the moment Abby diagnosed her with cancer suddenly cracks because time is no longer running out just for her, but for every one of her friends in the mountain.
"We need to get the hell out of here," she murmurs.
…
In the warehouse, they pour over the packet Selia found in the president's office in search of the source of the acid fog. Maya left to find a more useful map when it became obvious the one they have isn't going to help, but the guard still rereads everything she already has memorized.
"Three hours," Bellamy mutters as he checks his stolen watch. "I have to check in."
Selia nods and watches him climb to his feet before moving to the radio still hidden in the wall.
"Work Station, do you read me?"
As he waits for a reply, she glances at Roan who is obviously exhausted, but refuses to get some sleep like she suggested.
"Just close your eyes already," she insists.
"I'm fine," he grumbles.
"Roan, surely you trust me by now. You can sleep."
"It's not you I don't trust," he hisses, glancing warily at Bellamy.
"If you trust me and I trust him, then you can trust him," she whispers so he won't hear.
"Is that how it works?" He returns with a roll of his eyes.
"Work Station, this is Mount Weather. Do you read me?" Bellamy repeats.
"Yeah, that's exactly –"
"Bellamy?" A familiar voice crackles through the radio, cutting Selia off mid-sentence.
The young guard turns her head so fast that she nearly gets whiplash, but she's unfazed by the ache in her muscles. Her heart pounds so loudly that it almost drowns out the next words to come through.
"It's me, Kane."
"Where's my daughter? Is she okay?" Marcus demands, panic threading in his strong voice.
Selia hasn't heard his voice, his real voice, in what feels like forever. And after believing time and again that she would never get to hear it in life even once more, the shock and relief leaves her completely frozen.
"Sel," Bellamy beckons her over gently as she gapes at the radio in his hand. "Come talk to him."
"Bellamy?" Marcus grows more worried from the responding silence.
Roan stands suddenly and moves in front of Selia to pull her to her feet. Once her knees stop shaking, he gives her a soft shove. Bellamy steadies her and places the radio in her hand.
"Go on, Sel," he murmurs, kissing the top of her head.
She inhales a shuddery breath before finally replying in a small childlike voice, "Dad?"
There's a long pause, one that makes her believe that this all might be a hallucination, but then static returns and so does his voice.
"Selly?" Marcus breathes. "Selly, baby, are you okay?"
His voice is so thick with emotion that she can practically hear the tears he's holding back. She doesn't bother to fight her own as they leave warm trails down her cheeks.
"I'm okay, Dad. Are you?"
He lets out a breathy chuckle, "I am now, Sel. I thought I lost you, I thought…I don't know what I would do. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I – I was scared. I'm sorry."
"You never have to go through things alone, baby. I'm your father, no matter how hard it is, I will be right there with you."
"I know, Dad. It's okay now, though."
Selia isn't sure if that's the truth. She's so confused by what Dr. Tsing was doing to her and she can feel her body weakening with each passing minute, but she must stay strong. She has to help her friends and see her dad at least one more time.
"I know it is, I love you so much, Selly."
"I love you too, Dad."
…
"If they're taking them one at a time, then we all know what's happening," Selia murmurs in horror.
She and Roan had been waiting in the warehouse, pouring over the new map that Maya brought to find the acid fog system. Bellamy and Maya rushed in later than the planned time and more panicked than she expected. Selia's lungs struggle to fill with air from the stress of knowing they aren't moving fast enough. If they don't hurry, then they'll lose everyone.
"We need to call the Ark," Bellamy says, neither wanting to state the obvious.
The remaining kids of the hundred are dropping like flies while they hide in the shadows, desperately searching for a way to save them.
"Where are they taking them?" Selia questions Maya as he moves to update the Ark.
"We tried following them, but we don't have clearance for that level," she explains.
"We can find it on this map, the vents take us everywhere."
Maya joins Selia and Roan on the floor to point out the classified level and they quickly trace a route to get there. The young guard is momentarily distracted when she hears Clarke's angry voice scolding Bellamy.
"Have you found the source of the acid fog?" she demands.
"Sel thinks she might have, but that's going to have to wait."
"Where are they taking them?" Raven asks after he repeats what he just told Sel and Roan.
"I think we might have found a path," Maya tells them. "It's going to be tight."
"You have to find them," Clarke orders.
"That's the plan."
"If you don't, then all of this is for nothing."
Clarke leaves to go explain what's going on to Marcus and Abby and Raven helps Bellamy and Maya set up the mobile walkie. Selia stares at the vent schematics as the clock in her head ticks rapidly.
"I should go," Selia says suddenly. "Roan and I know these vents better than anyone and I'm smaller."
"No," Bellamy replies without pause.
"What?"
"It's dangerous and you're exhausted. You stay hidden and rest."
"Everything is dangerous, everyone is exhausted, and you don't tell me what to do," she quips in irritation. "I've been crawling around these vents for a while and I'm perfectly fine."
"Perfectly fine?" he repeats incredulously.
"What if you find the others and Roan and I deal with the acid fog?" she suggests instead.
"No."
"Bellamy," Selia begins through gritted teeth when Raven interrupts.
"Sel, I think he's right. Just rest for now and then you can help more when Bellamy finds them."
The young guard scowls at the radio.
"Is she giving me a hateful look?"
"One of her most hateful, I think," Bellamy answers Raven.
"Suck it up, Kane. You're being benched for once in your life."
Selia huffs but doesn't argue further. She knows she already lost.
…
Selia thought she would go crazy waiting in the shadows while everyone else worked. She resigned herself to her own weaknesses knowing she would only endanger them more if she went along. However, after Bellamy came back with the news of the missile pointed right at Tondc, where she knows her father is, she found her stubbornness once more. She did not come this far to not see her father again. And she has not survived this much to wait around for someone else to rescue her.
Hours later, their plan has been stretched and is in full swing. After Jasper's suggestion to Bellamy, Dante gave them information on how to irradiate level five. The daunting climb through the tunnel to get where they needed sounded like too much for the sick guard, but she only agreed to stay behind because she had something else on her mind. While Bellamy did that, Selia used Maya's direction to get her hands on a gun. Just the weight of it in her palm provides a veil of security and reminds her that she's far more than just some sickly prisoner trapped in Mount Weather.
After the level was sealed and the remaining kids from the hundred were holed up in the mess hall getting ready to fight, Selia and Maya took care of the next part – finding people to side with them. Vincent did most of the work and since the people they were brought to already wholeheartedly disagreed with Cage, convincing them to help hide their friends was easy. The next part is to get them to the people willing to hide them.
Unfortunately, Mount Weather isn't going to let their cure for the ground get away so easily which is why Selia is hiding in the makeshift operating room. The cages set up to house her people and, worse, the two dead bodies of the teenagers sent to Earth against their will sickens her. She hates herself for not being able to save them, but she silently promises that Cage, Dr. Tsing, and the others responsible for their pain will pay. She has been hesitant with Roan's hunger for revenge, but the longer she stares at the dead kids just discarded to the side, the more fury burns in her chest and the more she understands his desire.
The opportunity arises to take some action. She hears the crying of a girl and knows she is one of the hundred. Over the radio, they heard what Cage had planned to take back the level, but Selia and Bellamy knew their friends were smart enough to keep that from happening. However, they knew there was a risk and the young guard is dying to use her newfound gun.
Still hidden behind the cages, she waits with a pounding heart as the cries get closer. When the door creaks open, Selia moves into view, startling the two men dragging who she now knows is Fox.
"What the h –?"
Before either man has the opportunity to do anything, Selia has put a bullet in their heads.
"Selia!" Fox cries in relief, throwing her arms around the guard who stares at the two bodies slumped on the floor.
"You're okay," she murmurs as she hugs the sobbing girl.
Selia's gaze is pulled away from the Mount Weather guards when Bellamy and Maya arrive in the room.
"You guys alright?" he questions, his voice surprising Fox.
"We're good, but we've got to get her hidden," Selia says as the teenager moves to hug Bellamy.
Selia's fingers flex around the pistol still in her hand as she casts a final look at the men she killed before following the others out.
…
"Distracting him is a waste of time," Roan grumbles. "We're going to kill him anyway."
Selia and Roan hide outside of the armory in preparation of robbing the place. Similar to the way Sel got her hand gun, Maya somehow managed to snag someone else's key card so Bellamy could keep his as he searched for the source of the acid fog. The challenge remains, however, with the guard inside who stands in the way and holds the key to unlocking the gun safes. Maya suggested she come with them and try to distract the man, but instead she stayed behind to figure out how to get the guns to the kids of hundred. It comes as no surprise that Roan doesn't want to use a non-lethal method and, unfortunately, Selia has reached the point where she's begun to agree with him.
Rather than voicing her agreement, she simply says, "We can't get caught in here."
"Then unlock the door," Roan orders.
With a sigh, she uses the key card to let the Grounder in and follows him after the struggle ends seconds later. Selia looks at the dead Mount Weather guard briefly before stealing his key card. Just as she begins to worry about the state of conscience for the little remorse she feels, the man's radio crackles to life.
"This is President Wallace talking to the people who killed ten of my men," Cage's voice rings through the silence. "I thought we'd try something a little different this time."
As Cage describes his plan of using Maya as bait, Selia and Roan sling as many rifles as they can over their shoulders before running out to find Bellamy so they can save their best ally.
…
Despite the guns being useless in the end, Selia was relieved to have her friends away from level five. She was also relieved that they were able to rescue Maya before she ran out of air. After dividing all those left in the hundred to hide with the various Mount Weather citizens willing to help, Bellamy was able to finally deal with the acid fog. With the mountain's greatest weapon disabled, they are ready for their final battle.
Selia and Roan crawl through the vents for the last time and drop out in the harvest chamber. The key to opening all the Grounder-filled cages is held tight in her palm and she's ready to release their secret army.
"We're finally going to be free of this place," Selia says to who she now considers to be a good friend. "You can go home."
"Can I?" Roan returns skeptically. "Your friend Clarke's alliance with Lexa happened without our help. I have nothing to use as leverage."
"Clarke's alliance means we're already on good terms with Lexa. All we have to tell her is everything you've done in here to help; she'll have to let you go back."
Roan shakes his head, clearly not as confident as the young guard.
"Roan, I promise I'll do anything I can to help you go home. Us being in this mountain isn't going to be for nothing," she assures. "I've got your back."
"Thank you," the Grounder nods stiffly, but the look in his eyes in sincere.
"Of course. Now, let's get to work," she says with a grin, holding the key up in the dim light.
Selia's internal clock ticks on, but for the first time since she's been in space, she believes she can beat it.
I'm back...
First off, I cannot apologize enough for how long it has been since I updated. I know it's ridiculous and you probably figured I abandoned the story, but I promise I did not! Right after my last update, there was a loss in my family and things got crazy. Then, I was so excited for winter break because I finally had time to write and I discovered that I had total writer's block.
So, I know this chapter isn't very good at all, which I'm very sorry for, but I had to get it out. I had so much more planned for Selia in this season and I've been trying for months to make it work, but I finally had to just accept that she wasn't going to add much to the plot this season. I just couldn't get any of my plans to work and still put the characters where they needed to be. But now that I've gotten this part that I've been so stuck on finished, I can get back into the story and give you much better chapters.
Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait and this truly uneventful chapter. I hope I didn't lose all my readers because you've been amazing and I love your support.
Please review and let me know if you're still reading or if you just started the story!
Thank you for reading, favoriting, and following! Special thanks to my wonderful reviewers!
Hope to hear from you,
- V :)