Here's The Next One.
To reviews
Scurra71900: Yeah, grounder relations should be fun to write with Maynard, especially in season 2. He will become extremely important in finding a relationship with the grounders.
Guest: I agree, but no spoilers.
The-Anti-Akuma: Sure.
123: I'm happy you like it.
Guest: Perhaps but considering that I'm this far along now probably not. In the future I will have POVs from characters that are on the Ark now.
Hitmen101: You're welcome. Thanks for reviewing consistently by the way.
Don't own the 100.
The rocket launching party ended about an hour ago. The amateur NASA program had been pretty damn successful in my opinion. We had probably saved hundreds of lives. Knowing that I had been a major contributor to this was sort of surreal. I had never felt so accomplished before.
I now sat on my cot shirtless, checking my shins. The damage was still pretty brutal. The skin was torn and mutilated. To be honest I was surprised that I hadn't broken bones or worse. Kicking a tree until I bled was a stupid move. Even the most hardcore Muay Thai guys didn't kick trees until they bled. Though, they did kick trees regularly.
Now, as the sleeve I had worn as a bandage all day was soaked in blood, I was reapplying using the sleeve that had been my bandana. I wasn't sure why I had gone for that particular look, but what was done was done, and I damn sure wasn't putting that shit back on. So, instead, I cut it up and wrapped my shins again, hoping the skin would start to heal soon.
Part of me knew I should seek out Clarke's help, but I wasn't really in the right frame of mind to ask for help. I was pretty self-sufficient, and I didn't want to ruin my reputation as the intelligent and rational guy. Maybe I was giving myself too much credit though. After all I was involved in most major conflicts that had developed on irradiated Earth thus far.
My train of thought was interrupted by the approaching sound of determined footsteps. Clarke's footsteps. Also, I thought I detected a smell of apprehension on her, but I couldn't be sure.
"Ya can come in," I said preemptively, knowing Clarke would ask for permission to enter.
The front flap rolled up seconds later revealing Clarke's concerned face. Her apprehensive smell grew tenfold as she entered my tent.
"Have you seen Octavia?" She asked, her tone mimicking her expression.
"Nah," I answered. "She missin'?" That was potentially problematic.
"Yeah," Clarke returned. "Bellamy was looking for her, but he couldn't find her anywhere. We're doing a sweep back through camp."
"Does Bellamy think she's in trouble?" I asked.
"He seems to," Clarke said.
"He ain't overactin' or anything?" I questioned further wanting to be sure Bellamy wasn't just being an overprotective big brother.
"He could be," Clarke responded. "But there's always the chance that she actually is in trouble."
The conversation paused as I couldn't think of anything to say. I nodded still thinking of what to do. Octavia could be in trouble. She could've been attacked by the grounders, or she could've hit her head on a rock and broken her neck. There were a number of things that might have happened, many of which could mean that she was in trouble.
"Lemme help ya'll," I said swinging my legs over the side of the cot to stand.
Unfortunately though, my weak ass shins decided to fall apart that very moment. Shooting pains lanced up the nerves in my legs. The open wounds on my shins metaphorically caught fire. My knees buckled and I barely kept my self from falling through the wall of my tent by catching myself against my desk.
"Shit," I swore gripping the edge of the makeshift desk tightly.
I was holding on for dear life, afraid that if I let go, I would make a fool of myself by falling on the floor.
"What happened?" Clarke asked. "You okay?" She approached my putting one hand on my shoulder and grabbing my wrist with the other.
I briefly tensed at the contact but forced myself to relax. I wasn't really a fan of touching.
"Yeah I'm alright," I hissed still supporting myself with the desk.
"Bullshit," Clarke called me out on my lie. "You practically collapsed. Tell me what happened." Her tone was commanding and left no room for argument.
"I might've kicked a tree until I cut my shins open," I said sheepishly.
Clarke narrowed her eyes for a second then let go of my arm, "Why?" She asked.
"I was pissed," I answered still feeling embarrassed. "It was stupid, but I can't do anythin' about it now."
Clarke sighed deeply and placed her hands on her face, thinking about what to do.
"What's the problem?" I asked. "I'm alright." I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince her or myself now.
Then, I got a little too ambitious and let go of the desk. Trying to balance on my own was a stupid move, and I almost fell over again. Clarke managed to catch me by wrapping an arm around me under my arm pit. I was leaning on her heavily, my legs still screaming in pain.
"You're definitely not okay," Clarke said. "I'm taking you straight to the dropship, and you're going to let me look at your shins."
I grunted in response, not knowing what to say. I certainly wasn't happy about this development, but it probably was in my best interest to have someone more professional take a look at my injuries.
We hobbled through the mostly empty camp. The odd person would look at us questioningly, but they tended not to be too curious.
I limped my way up the ramp to the interior of the dropship, matching Clarke's steps to give myself support. Inside it was empty. No one hung around in here if they could help it. For most of the hundred I suspected it was somewhat psychological. They didn't want to stay somewhere that reminded them of their previous years imprisoned on the Ark. I didn't spend much time in here because it was a metal can that became unbelievably hot during the day. It was like being inside a thermos.
Clarke guided me over to a bench that had been made from one of the platforms that held the plastic seats. I lowered myself down to the cold metal, and, with Clarke's help, practically fell backwards onto it.
"Alright show me your shins," Clarke said.
I complied rolling up my pants so that my shins were clearly visible. It was obvious straightaway that I had done a poor job of bandaging my wounds. My skin was caked in dry blood around the edges and in between each layer of wrap. Each half of my sleeve which had once been dark blue, had turned a purplish color.
Clarke made a face indicating that she thought I was a total dumbass. That was probably true. She grabbed onto the edge of my sleeve bandages and pulled them off one at a time. Her fingers moved slowly and lightly around the bandages as the wounds revealed themselves slowly but surely. Once the bandages had been removed, Clarke dropped them on the floor.
"God," Clarke said looking at my mutilated skin. "You tried to fix this up yourself?"
The wounds were pretty brutal. The skin that hadn't been torn was yellow and purple, badly bruised. But most of the skin was an ugly mass of dead hanging skin, dry blood, fat, and pus. Hopefully I hadn't gotten infected. That would suck.
"Well," Clarke said rubbing her forehead with raised eyebrows. "You're not going anywhere today or tomorrow."
"Bu-" I started to object but Clarke shut me down in a heartbeat.
"No buts," Clarke spoke forcefully. "Maynard, you can barely walk now, and to be honest, I'm surprised you've even kept going for this long. You can't go anywhere. You could lose a leg if one of these gets infected."
She stared up at me seriously wanting a response.
"Yeah alright," I responded resignedly.
"Thank you," Clarke said softly. "This is for your own good."
"I know," I said huffing loudly. "Don't mean I have to like it."
Clarke smiled, "You probably won't like it."
I chuckled lightly. I found it funny that she had figured out some of my ticks already. She was certainly perceptive.
Clarke then broke eye contact, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Her smell shifted dramatically to one of fierce embarrassment. She stepped back clearing her throat.
"I should probably get some real bandages for you," She said.
"Thanks," I returned with a nod, trying to make her feel more comfortable.
Clarke smiled awkwardly and walked off to go find the necessary materials for bandaging my legs.
The second she left the dropship I leaned over to take a closer look at my shins. She was absolutely right, and I wasn't quite sure why I hadn't seen just how bad they were before. I inspected my left index finger for any dirt or mud, and finding none, I experimentally probed the wound on my left shin. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but I wanted to clear the pus from the wound. I was pretty sure Clarke wouldn't be a fan of that activity.
I used my fingernails to pluck a hole in the fist bubble. After popping said bubble, a moment of extreme pain engulfed me, but it passed as quickly as it came. I then swiped the yellowish goo aside and wiped it on the bench to clean my finger off as best I could. I repeated this process until I had removed every one of the pus bubbles from my leg. It hurt, and it seemed that each bubble I popped just added to the pain. By the end, my legs were metaphorically on fire again.
I groaned in both pain and frustration as I stretched out my back. Stretching only made my legs hurt more though. The next day or two were going to suck. Not only would I be in pain, but I'd also be confined to the camp for the foreseeable future.
"Hey everybody, gather around and grab a weapon," I heard Bellamy's voice call from outside.
It sounded like the group was congregating about something or other. Bellamy was probably leading a search party to go looking for Octavia who was still missing. Being curious, I wanted to know what was going on outside, but being injured, that would be difficult to do.
I gritted my teeth in preparation of the pain I would feel. Then, pushing my body up with my hands, I got slowly to my feet. My legs hurt, though not as badly as I had expected them to. I limped towards the exit, moving slowly one step at a time. My deadened nerves made it difficult to feel the floor and I nearly tripped over my own bare foot. Catching myself on the wall, I eventually made it out the door and onto the ramp.
Outside kids with torches were grabbing makeshift weapons from a haphazard pile next to Bellamy. It looked like they were going out after Octavia after all.
"My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours," Bellamy explained. "Arm up. We're not coming back without her."
Once again, I found myself admiring Bellamy's determination and dedication to his sister. He might've been a little overprotective of her, but if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that Bellamy tried his best to be the best brother he could. It was really kind of touching to see.
Even Jasper, now recovered from his injury, was preparing to go out after Octavia. Clarke seemed to hold him back for a second, but after a word from Bellamy, she moved out of the way to allow Jasper through.
For my part, I kept limping towards the congregation of criminals. I could feel hot sticky blood dripping down my legs, but I ignored the sensation and stayed focused on my goal.
"We need a tracker," Bellamy remarked to Clarke. Not a second later he noticed me. "Maynard? You good to go? We could use your eyes out there in the dark."
Clarke's head whipped around in an instant, "What the hell are you doing out here?" She hissed as she approached menacingly.
She stood right in front of me looking straight up into my eyes. It didn't look like I was going anywhere. I made a pleading gesture to Clarke, but her serious look left me with no alternative.
"Maynard isn't going anywhere," Clarke said to Bellamy though she kept her eyes on me, like I was going to run away if she didn't. "He needs to let himself recover. Right?" She raised her eyebrows daring to say otherwise.
"Yeah," I said slowly, trying to figure out what I could say that wouldn't get me in trouble. "I can't exactly go anywhere right now. I'm havin' trouble walking."
Clarke nodded with a look that said, 'that wasn't so hard was it?' I huffed in obvious frustration.
"Right," Bellamy said awkwardly. "Finn. Get out here."
I guess since he couldn't get the first-rate tracker, Bellamy would have to settle for the lesser version. That thought made me smile a little bit. Finn didn't rush to Bellamy's side, in fact he didn't even show up at all.
"Maynard," Clarke's voice brought my attention back to the blonde still standing in front of me. "Go rest." It was clearly an order, but I had never been one to blindly follow orders.
"I'll go in a minute," I promised. "Just, let me see them off first ok?"
"Fine," Clarke growled. She didn't sound happy.
"I ain't gonna die," I said trying to reassure her.
"That's not the point," Clarke replied. "We need you to be healthy. You're the best fighter we've got, and if the grounders show up…we need you."
I said nothing because I knew she was right. I didn't want to just do whatever she said either though. Clarke remained in front of me, the two of us in some sort of confused standoff.
Clarke sighed deeply, "I'm not saying you shouldn't say goodbye. I just think you should be careful is all."
"I'll try," I responded.
Clarke smiled, "Thank you."
I nodded in return and started walking after Bellamy and his group.
"Finn," Bellamy called out again. "We're leaving."
"All right I'm coming," Finn said. I heard him exit his tent behind me.
Finn stopped Clarke to speak to her. I thought about listening to them but elected not to. I was deciding not to be an asshole who listened in on other people's conversations. Bellamy and the others stood at the wall conversing quietly. The others who weren't going out stood in a clearing between tents where a small fire burned.
"Guys come look," One kid said. He pointed to the sky where hundreds of sparkling objects rained down out of the sky. "They're so beautiful."
People started talking amongst themselves again. The drone of conversations was impossible to keep up with.
"They didn't work," Raven's voice cut through the chatter. "They didn't see the flares." She stepped up behind Clarke and Finn looking up at the sparkles in the sky.
I now realized what those objects were. They were dead bodies, floated from the Ark to prevent the smell of decaying bodies building up.
"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy questioned.
"It ain't a meteor shower," I said.
"It's a funeral," Clarke agreed. "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the Earth from the Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side."
The voices in the crowd became either surprised or despondent. Eventually though, the surprised voices too became equally saddened. The stench of hopelessness drowned my senses. It was so strong my eyes began to water. I shook my head and sneezed, my body trying to expel the powerful scent from my nose.
"They didn't get our message," Clarke said sounding genuinely broken.
And to think, that just hours ago, I thought that I had made the greatest accomplishment of my life. Every face in the crowd reflected the powerful hopelessness that was seeping from the hundred. They looked just as sad as they smelled. I sneezed again, louder this time. I shook my head trying to clear my sinuses. I got a couple odd glances from faces in the crowd, but after returning said looks with an evil stare the lookers turned their heads.
"This is all because of you," Raven said bulling her way past Finn and Clarke walking straight towards Bellamy.
"Hey, I helped you find the radio," Bellamy reminded the angry Hispanic woman.
Finn ran up behind Raven holding her back to ensure she didn't take a swing at Bellamy in her volatile state.
"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it," Raven shot back.
"He knows," Clarke told Raven trying to keep her calm. "Now he has to live with it."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. These people were perfectly willing to throw savage insults around, and I loved it.
Bellamy took another look at the sky, his face showing his regret, "All I know is that my little sister's out there and I'm going to find her. You coming or what?" He brought the issue right back to Octavia, as there was little he could do to fix the other problem that now fell from the sky.
"Yeah," Finn answered softly.
"What are we waiting for?" Bellamy questioned. "Move out!"
Bellamy and the rest of his search party sans Finn left immediately. They parted the crowd like Moses parting the Red Sea.
"We have to talk to them," Clarke said in a rush. "Three-hundred won't be enough. The oxygen level will just keep dropping, and if we don't tell them they can survive down here, then they'll kill more people. They have to."
"Guys," Jasper reminded the group. "They're leaving. We've got to go."
"I gotta do this," Finn said, turning back to face Raven. "And you should stay and fix the radio okay?"
"Fix it?" Raven questioned. "The transmitter's smashed. Unless there's a parts depot down here, we're not talking to the Ark."
Clarke and Finn's eyes met, thinking the same thing I was.
"Art supply store," Clarke said.
Finn looked at Clarke sort of awkwardly while Raven's eyes snapped back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I know a place you might be able to get a transmitter," Clarke said.
"Great," Raven said keeping the awkward tone of conversation. "It looks like you're coming with me instead."
"Finn," Jasper spoke up. "We're not going to find her without you."
"Be careful," Finn reminded those of us who were staying behind.
"Hey," Raven reached out grabbing Finn by the elbow and pulling him to her. They kissed briefly. "I love you."
Clarke let out a pained sigh and looked at me, wanting anything else to look at.
"Guess I shoulda stayed in the dropship after all," I said pointing out the awkward drama I had become a part of.
"I love you too," Finn said back to Raven, though it sounded like he didn't really mean it.
Clarke bit her lip to keep control of her emotions.
"Raven," Clarke touched the dark-haired woman on her shoulder. "We'll go in just a minute. Let me take care of Maynard first."
"What's wrong?" She asked turning to me.
I pointed down at my shins to answer her.
"Jesus," She breathed. "How are you even standing?"
"On my feet," I answered sarcastically.
Raven chuckled, "You're a pretty tough guy. You know that Maynard?"
I started to answer but Clarke cut me off.
"This tough guy," Clarke said pointedly. "Needs to let himself recover."
"I know," I said. "Fix me up doc."
I shot awake sitting up quickly. The blood rushed to my head and I nearly fell over, but I managed to support myself with a hand. My heart was racing, I was sweating, and I was breathing heavily. My head felt sort of foggy, like my brain was full of cobwebs.
I laid back down wiping the sweat from my forehead. I breathed in deeply, then out deeply, controlling my breathing. Hyperventilating was not something I wanted to happen. My vision too was cloudy, and my ears were ringing.
Through all the fog though, I could tell that I wasn't in the dropship. I had been moved, and now I laid on some cot in some unknown tent. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. The tent was fairly spacious, so it was probably being shared by two or more people. But there was only one cot, maybe two people in a relationship then.
I felt hot and cold simultaneously. Sweat rolled over me glistening on my chest. It was like being slowly covered in salty bath water. The sweat was everywhere. The only explanation to these things was that I had a fever.
A whoosh of air entered the tent from the outside as the flap opened. Obviously, someone had entered the tent. I just hoped whoever it was knew that I was here. Otherwise, I would have to bullshit a story, as I didn't know why I was here. I couldn't remember.
"You awake Maynard?" The voice asked. It was female and sounded a little concerned.
I sniffed the air trying to figure out who had just walked in on me half naked and dying. Unfortunately, it seemed that my sinuses were just as clogged as my brain and eyes were. I couldn't really discern smells like I usually could.
"Guess that's a yes," The woman said noticing my sniffing. She placed a hand on my forehead, checking my temperature. "You're still pretty hot."
I tried to speak but found my mouth too dry to speak. Instead I mimed what I wanted. I opened my mouth and pointed at my tongue. Then I mouthed the word 'water'.
"Oh yeah," The voice said. "You're probably pretty thirsty. It's been over twelve hours since you passed out."
The woman walked into my field of vision, but I couldn't tell who it was. All I could see was her long dark hair. She dipped a canteen into a bowl of water that rested on a makeshift desk on the other side of the tent.
She then walked over to me and pulled up one of the plastic dropship seats next to the bed. She tipped the canteen down to my lips. The water tasted like heaven on Earth. It dribbled all over my face, but I got enough in my mouth to solve my dry mouth.
"More," I requested, my voice gravelly.
The woman chuckled and poured more of the wonderful water into my mouth. I swallowed luxuriating in the feeling of the cool liquid rolling down my throat. I exhaled happily, closing my eyes.
"Better?" The voice asked sounding relaxed.
"Yeah," I said opening my eyes to see Raven Reyes looking at me. "Can I have that?" I pointed to the canteen.
Raven handed the canteen over to me and I gripped it in my hand, being careful not to spill it.
"Uh, where am I?" I asked Raven.
"You're lying on my bed," Raven said sounding somewhat sarcastic.
"Oh," I spoke still feeling foggy. "Why am I in yer bed?"
"You passed out," Raven said like it was obvious. "Remember?"
"When'd that happen?" I asked confused.
"Right after Bellamy left," Raven said trying to jog my memory.
When I didn't show any recognition, Raven sighed.
"You really don't remember?" Raven asked.
"Nah," I responded. "That's why I'm askin'."
"Well," Raven started speaking again. "Bellamy left and while you were walking back to the dropship you just collapsed."
"That'd explain it," I said. "Ya know why I passed out?"
"Clarke said it was probably a combination of dehydration and blood loss," Raven explained. "She stitched up your wounds and said that you'd better drink a lot of water. Now you have a fever though, so you can't leave 'til it breaks."
I looked down to my legs and saw that my pants were still rolled up, exposing clean white bandages covering my wounds. My legs were clean of dry blood and pus. That was good. I was also shocked by just how helpful Clarke and Raven had been. I took a swig out of the canteen.
"Well thanks to Clarke then," I said raising the canteen.
"Yeah," Raven said. "She's really something huh?" There seemed to be a tone of suggestion to her voice.
I narrowed my eyes at Raven, "What's that mean?"
"I dunno," Raven said her tone still suggestive. "You tell me."
"I've got no idea what yer talkin' about," I said.
"Really?" Raven sounded surprised, yet also disbelieving. "You don't think she's really special?" Her voice raised an octave as she said the word 'special'. She batted her eyes suggestively.
"I guess," I responded eyes still narrowed.
"Okay," Raven said dropping the suggestive tone. "Is this just because your brain is fogged up? I know you're not stupid. I watched you do rocket science yesterday."
"Are ya sayin' that I'm into her or somethin'?" I asked.
"Obviously," Raven answered.
"I see," I stated simply.
A moment of silence stretched between us. Raven looked at me like she thought I was going to say something else. I drank from the canteen, trying to rehydrate. Gulping down the cool clear liquid greedily, the canteen was empty in less than ten seconds. I swung my legs over the side of the cot, preparing to stand and get more water from the bowl on the other side of the tent.
"Woah woah woah," Raven placed her hands on my chest, cautioning me not to stand. "Lay back down. I'll get you more water." She held her hand out expectantly.
I huffed and passed the canteen over. Raven gave me a smile of appreciation and went to refill my canteen.
"So, about Clarke then?" Raven prompted as she refilled the canteen.
"I'm not into her," I said stopping the line of questioning in its tracks.
"Are you sure?" Raven asked continuing to prod at me.
"Yes," I answered simply.
"Okay," Raven said disbelievingly. "Whatever you say. It just looked like the two of you were pretty close. And she seemed pretty worried when you passed out."
"Clarke's like that about everybody," I said trying to downplay whatever had happened while I was unconscious. After all I didn't have a crush on her anymore.
"It seemed like more than that to me," Raven continued.
"Ya know if yer gonna keep botherin' me about this I'm just goin' back to sleep," I said.
"You probably should," Raven said. "It'll be good for you, plus I need to fix this radio." She held up the still nonfunctional radio.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Fixin' the radio's more important than messin' with me about Clarke."
"It's not as fun though," She complained.
"Whatever man," I rolled over, leaving my back to Raven.
Raven laughed at my reaction before standing from the seat to go work on the radio. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
Hours later I still couldn't sleep. Raven was still fiddling with the radio. The sound of clicking and crunching coming from the radio indicated that it still wasn't working. Raven would occasionally make a sound of frustration as well.
I didn't blame my lack of sleep on Raven though. It was more that my now stitched up legs itched like hell. The worst part about bandages was that you couldn't really scratch your itches without removing the bandages. That bothered me, and unfortunately it was also keeping me from falling asleep.
I sighed heavily. Now I was pretty much stuck laying around with itchy legs for the rest of the day.
A separate sound apart from the clicking of the radio drew my attention away from my thoughts. It sounded like footsteps, but I couldn't be sure of anything in my foggy state. I heard the flap of the tent open. Someone stepped in.
"How's it coming?" Clarke asked as she walked past me.
Raven didn't answer. I couldn't tell what was happening visually, as I was now pretending to be asleep in the hope that neither of the women would realize that I could hear everything they said.
"Are you okay?" Clarke questioned Raven's behavior. "You hardly said a word the whole way back from the bunker."
Raven held her silence for a few moments. Then she dropped the radio and stood up to face Clarke. I couldn't see what happened but based on the awkward noises Clarke made Raven had shown Clarke something she didn't expect.
"Raven…" Clarke trailed off.
"Tell me I'm wrong," Raven said.
It seemed to me that this probably had something to do with Clarke and Finn having slept together. I definitely couldn't show myself to be awake now, otherwise it would be obvious I had been eavesdropping.
"Tell me Finn didn't make this for you," Raven said. So evidently Finn had made something for Clarke and Raven found out.
Clarke made some noise that indicated she wanted to speak, but either didn't know what to say or was too busy being interrupted to make a point. Both were probably true. I felt bad for the blonde. It seemed like she had indeed slept with Finn, and that she hadn't know about Raven. Clarke had been taken advantage of, plain and simple.
"Tell me you weren't screwing my boyfriend as I was risking my ass to come down here," Raven's voice grew in intensity.
Silence enveloped the two for a moment.
"I-I can't tell you that," Clarke stammered breathlessly.
The silence was back again stretching over another few awkward seconds.
"He made one for me too," Raven explained. "Just in case you thought you were special."
Raven's boots brushed on the grass as she turned from Clarke.
"Do you think I wanted this?" Clarke pleaded with Raven. "I didn't even know you existed. Look, as far as he knew, you were dead Raven. Or you would have been soon enough, my mom too and everyone we ever knew on the Ark, and there was nothing we could do to stop it."
"He could've waited more than ten days," Raven observed sadly. I could hear her holding the tears back as she spoke.
Raven sighed and sat down in front of the radio again. I heard Clarke turn away and move to exit the tent. She stopped briefly in front of me, but then she kept walking.
"Do you love him?" Raven asked.
Clarke stopped again in front of the door. She turned to face Raven again.
"I hardly know him," Clarke answered. Without another word, the blonde left the tent.
Raven tossed whatever was in her hand to the ground. It slapped lightly against the grass. I wasn't sure if I should say anything to her. My words might only make her worse.
Then she started crying. I heard her first light sob, then it only got worse from there. I heard her slap the radio. If there was one thing she couldn't do, it was break that radio by accident. That would be really bad.
"Don't break the radio," I cautioned, my voice still sounding weak.
"What the hell does it matter?" Raven asked through choked sobs. "My boyfriend just cheated on me. The only person I ever loved just betrayed me."
"I know," I said trying to be comforting. "But we need that radio. Ya can't break it, or we'll never be able to contact the Ark."
Raven groaned in frustration, but I was glad to see that she stood from her spot in front of the radio. She kicked at the dirt she stood on idly while still crying quietly.
"Hey," I said softly. "I know this must be hard for ya." Raven turned to face towards me. I laid on my back so she could see my face. "But we need ya. Don't let all this control you. Take a deep breath, calm down, and get back to work. Ya can hash this out with Finn when he comes back."
"I just don't get it," She said throwing her arms up and slapping them back down against her legs as she sat beside me again. "Why would he do that?"
"Dunno," I responded. "I'm not sure there's really a good reason either, but ya'd have to ask Finn."
"It's just," Raven continued with no real purpose. "He was always there for me. Finn saved my life when we were kids. He shared his rations and cared about me when no one else did. I don't see how he could change like that."
"Maybe he didn't," I said. "Maybe this was always in him, but ya just didn't see it."
"No way," Raven said. "He loves me. Or at least I thought he did." Raven placed her head in her hands.
I stayed silent for a moment not really knowing what to say.
"Can ya get me some more water?" I asked eventually.
Raven chuckled and took the canteen from my hand.
"Sorry for opening up on you like that," Raven apologized as she filled the canteen. "You didn't ask for any of this."
"Don't worry about it," I responded as she walked back over to her spot beside me. "I'm willin' to listen. There ain't much else I can do right now anyways."
"Well I-," Raven stammered. "I-. Thank you." She sniffed and wiped her nose, obviously feeling a little better.
"Sure," I responded awkwardly.
We sat in silence for a moment unsure of where to go from here. Raven tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and ran her fingers through her hair. Her fidgeting seemed to be related to our inability to come up with anything to say. I took a sip from the canteen.
"Why don't you tell me about you?" Raven asked breaking the silence.
My head snapped to my right to face Raven. I definitely hadn't been expecting that. Nobody really wanted to know about me, which was good since I didn't have an explanation of why I was here really.
I stayed silent stalling for time, as I thought of an answer.
"What's wrong?" Raven asked leaning forward.
"It's just well, nobody's ever asked me that before," I said still stalling. As I spoke however, some emotion I couldn't define rolled over me. I felt sort of happy, or contented, but neither of those were the right words to describe what I felt.
"No one?" Raven asked incredulously. "How come?"
"Don't know," I replied.
"Well that's their loss," Raven commented nonchalantly.
That indescribable emotion returned then, and I wasn't sure what was going on.
"Anyway," Raven brought the conversation back to the question. "Tell me about you."
"Well," I spoke. "I'm not really sure where to start."
"Tell me how you ended up in the skybox," Raven said patiently.
"I got caught stealin' food," I said. As I spoke though, images flooded my mind. Sixteen-year-old me sneaking into a farm in a space station. "When the guard showed up I sorta ended up in a fight with them. There were seven of them I think, and I couldn't fight them all at once."
"How'd that happen to you?" Raven asked.
"I didn't have any place to stay," I made up. Once again though memories of things that had never happened to me appeared in my mind. "I guess I wasn't a registered citizen, not that I remember at least."
"The Ark registers all citizens at birth though," Raven pointed out.
"Yeah," I said trying to come up with some sort of excuse for why I didn't exist before I showed up on the dropship.
Suddenly, without knowing why, my brain was filled with images of red. Images of flowing red blood coming from two people in their early thirties. I had never seen these people before. A man in dark clothing stood behind them. He held a thin knife in his left hand. I couldn't see his face or discern any of his other features.
Only a moment before this I had been thinking of saying that my parents had been murdered in front of me. I had stolen this idea from the TV show Dexter. Now though I could see everything that happened clearly. Then I realized that somehow, I was creating memories to fill in the past. I was creating my own past. I inhaled shuddering at the thought of the new memory in my head.
"Maynard?" Raven asked hesitantly.
"Uh," I started unsure of myself. I was suddenly terrified to tell anyone about my past that I had only just invented. Had I known that I was creating my own past I wouldn't have created such a terrible one.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Raven said shrugging slightly.
"No, it's," I finally got a hold of myself. "It's okay." I took a deep breath in, "My parents got murdered. Right in front of me."
"I-uh," Raven said awkwardly. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," I assured her. "I was real young at the time. But after that I had to fend for myself. That's why I got caught stealin' food."
I took a drink from the canteen. Neither of us really had anything to say after that. I had finished my story, and it didn't look like Raven was sure how to respond. Eventually I decided to break the silence again but focus on a less serious topic.
"What kinda music do ya like?" I asked.
"Huh?" Raven seemed startled by my question.
"What kinda music do ya like?" I asked again.
"Uh, I don't know," Raven responded taking time to think. "I guess anything really. I just like to hear people's creativity. It's always amazing that people can show you how they feel in a song."
"Yeah," I agreed. "There's some things you can't express without music I guess."
Raven hummed looking a little more comfortable. Her eyes were still red rimmed, but I could tell she was also feeling much better than she had been earlier after her conversation with Clarke.
"What about you? What kind of music do you like?" Raven asked.
"There's lots of things I'll listen to," I explained. "But generally, I like Rock. It's a bit weird, but I like really old music." Of course, I had travelled forward in time. The music I liked was only twenty to fifty years old based on my old life. In this one though, Dark Side of the Moon had come out one-hundred-seventy-six years ago.
"Oh yeah?" Raven said interested and now actually smiling. "Like what?"
"Oh man there's so much," I said not knowing where to start. Geeking out over music was one of my favorite things to do. "Let's see there's Metallica, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, The Police. The big four grunge bands, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains. Uh… there's lots of good metal too, Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold, Shinedown, Staind, Deftones, anything that's got Maynard James Keenan in it."
"Wait," Raven stopped me in the middle of my rant. "Is that where you got your name from?"
"Yeah," I answered quickly wanting to talk about music some more. "My dad named me after him. Anyway, TOOL, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer are all great too. Let's see what else…"
I saw Raven smiling at me happily out of the corner of my eye. It was good to know someone would listen to me bullshit about stuff I liked.
"Uh, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Elton John," I continued listing bands while Raven nodded along.
"Anyways," I finally stopped. "There's a lot out there I like. Even some country songs are good too." I nearly started talking about country artists, but I managed to catch myself. "Sorry," I chuckled at myself. "Didn't mean to talk yer ear off."
"No," Raven said. "Thanks for telling me. But after yesterday, it's a little weird to see you like this."
"Like talkative ya mean?" I asked.
"Yeah," Raven answered. "But relaxed too. It didn't look like you relaxed too much to me."
"I guess," I returned. "Probly 'cause I had to think about how to get dinner when I was a kid."
"Well you know what," Raven said. "All that shit you went through, it made you pretty badass."
I chuckled, "Not right now."
"Once your fever breaks, you'll be back to your badass sunglass wearing self," Raven quipped.
I drank from the canteen again feeling shockingly contented. I couldn't stop smiling no matter how hard I tried. It was like a grin was plastered on my face. I hadn't felt like this in a long time.
"Well that's good to know," I responded.
We talked for at least another few hours. While talking with Raven I realized that I had been right about finding a friend in her. She really seemed to get me on some level. Not to mention the fact that I had revealed my past to her. Even if that past was created by me, it still counted.
Part way through our conversation, Raven went back to working on the radio, but she kept speaking to me while she attempted to solve our problem of contacting the Ark. It was perfect the way that we had come together at just the right time. I was able to help Raven deal with the emotional blow of discovering that her boyfriend cheat on her. While Raven was able to create a connection with me and become the first real friend I had made in years.
At one point I tried to leave so that Raven could have her bed back, but she refused saying that someone needed to watch me while I recovered. I was grateful to her for that. There weren't many people out there stubborn enough to shut me down when I was determined.
Raven really seemed to care about what happened to me, so I humored her and stayed on her cot. My fever continued to bother me, but eventually I grew exhausted enough to fall asleep.
Sorry this one was a little bit shorter, but I did kick the crap out of a tree in chapter 5 so I had to deal with the ramifications of that.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope ya'll enjoyed.