Chamberstaneshia69: My personal issue with Clarke isn't always her decisions themselves, but usually it's with the process by which she makes those decisions. She always assumes that she is correct, no matter what. In this case, the decision to send Emerson back to Mount Weather was necessary to keep eyes off Bellamy's back.
Silentmayhem: It is hard to believe that Lexa wouldn't notice Clarke's nature. I'm justifying that to myself by attributing Lexa's inability to notice Clarke's relative incompetence to her own attraction to Clarke. Basically, because Lexa likes Clarke she is willfully blind to her poor decision making.
By the way, I don't want this to turn into a hate on Clarke fic. I don't dislike her at all, but she is a flawed character like all others. Her flaws just happen to get under Maynard's skin a great deal. As I mentioned at the end of the last chapter. She and Maynard will find common ground eventually, just not for a while.
Here we go again, another chapter.
(Camp Jaha. Maynard Draiman.)
Elena's left-hand sword clanged off of Lucille as I blocked behind me without looking. As I blocked the attack from behind, I kicked out with my right leg to keep Akio at bay.
One benefit of having a few of my fellow Furlan staying at Camp Jaha with me was that I had easy access to capable training partners. There wasn't anyone other than the Furlan that I could spar with without having to severely handicap my own performance. If I wasn't careful I could kill a normal person in a spar.
Roan and Dieter stood watching me take on Elena and Akio. Each man had taken on the role of coach for the fighters. Dieter coached Elena and Akio, while Braveheart coached me.
Over the course of a few minutes of combat, where we mostly felt each other out searching for weaknesses and holes, we'd attracted a crowd. There were grounders and sky people gathered around watching in awe as they witnessed the speed and strength of the Furlan up close.
Akio hopped back, dodging my kick, then whipped his spear out in the direction of my face. I ducked my head and backpedaled simultaneously, facing towards the combined force of Akio and Elena.
Elena wielded two short swords, one she held inverted, the other was held normally. Akio had a spear with a long blade on the end. The deadly part of the spear wasn't terribly thick, instead it was long, allowing Akio to use his spear to slash as well as stab.
"Attack as a unit," Dieter spoke loudly. "He can't defend you both at once."
Roan didn't speak as the three of us went back to circling each other. It wasn't the same as fighting a single opponent. They repeatedly tried to flank me and attack from either side, and I would respond by backing away to where they both faced me once again.
During one of these repeated motions, Akio, while coming around my left side, made a running attack. It was like a hit and run. He hoped to land a blow on me while he made his way around to the back. I took advantage of his attack, blocking his long-bladed spear with Lucille.
His attack stopped in its tracks and Elena came at me simultaneously. She attacked quickly with blows coming from multiple angles.
I ignored her for the moment and opted to get closer to Akio. Keeping pressure on the blade of his spear, I grabbed hold of the shaft with my other hand.
The move did just what I hoped it would. Akio, fearful that I was trying to take his spear away, snatched his weapon back. I tightened my grip and hopped slightly off the ground, allowing Akio to pull me towards him.
Behind me, Elena's attacks were left with nothing to hit. Akio's eyes went wide as he saw what I was doing. He tried to duck beneath my slash, but I was ready for that. As I came down, I aimed for Akio's back left shoulder, scoring a cut in red blood.
I landed directly in front of Akio as he straightened, making to attack with his free hand. My left hand met his left-handed punch, checking it aside while my right hand, still holding Lucille, whipped a second cut across his chest.
Akio pulled an annoyed face as the wound stitched itself up the instant I hit him.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as Elena again attacked from behind. I felt her first attack come for my back and turned to deflect the strike as I turned towards her.
Her inverted sword clanged off Lucille's blade while I planted a sidekick in Akio's gut. The Asian man stumbled back as Elena swung her second sword at my exposed back.
I dropped to the ground, turning back to Elena again. Using my lowered position, I attacked the back of Elena's knee, sending her toppling to the ground.
Elena propelled herself to her feet as quickly as she could while I dove forward. My shoulder slammed into her midsection, knocking her over again. I landed on top of her, but only had time to land a single cut against Elena before Akio attacked again.
I ducked quickly. Akio's spear passed over my head. Using one hand, I caught the spear by the shaft and snatched against it with my whole body weight.
Akio was sent flying over my head. The spear acted as a lever, flipping him up and over Elena and me. He landed heavily on the dirt with a grunt.
Elena wasn't going to lay back and accept defeat though. She bucked her hips, off balancing me slightly. Then, using a move I hadn't known she had in her arsenal, she trapped my left wrist and worked her other arm under my right leg. Elena bridged her hips quickly again, flipping me off her. I just barely managed to avoid the follow up slash at my neck by ducking just my head while I moved through the air.
"Good move Elena," Dieter complimented.
The three of us climbed to our feet simultaneously. In keeping with traditional Furlan rules, it was three cuts before someone was removed from the fight. Akio had taken two, Elena had taken one, and I hadn't been cut once somehow. That was good though, because now there was an equal number of strikes left to be landed on both teams.
"Focus on more complex attacking patterns," Dieter continued. "Make it hard for him."
Roan still said nothing.
"Got any advice Braveheart?" I asked jokingly.
"You seem to be doing alright on your own," Roan returned.
"Asshole," I complained quietly.
My mind remained on the task at hand while the crowd around us continued to grow. Even the training grounders had taken a momentary break to watch us fight.
I wasn't in a position where I could attack my opponents thanks to their greater numbers. If I moved forward, I would quickly be overwhelmed by some sort of pincer movement where I would be engaged in combat with one of them and attacked from behind by the other. I bided my time, waiting for one of them to strike.
After a few moments of waiting, they came forward simultaneously. This was a situation where I would've preferred two swords to one.
Akio went after my legs with his spear, and thanks to the weapon's length, he reached me first. Jumping lightly, I planted a sidekick on Elena's stomach as she approached. A whoosh of breath escaped her lungs as she swiped down at my leg with her inverted sword. I managed to retract my kick just in time to avoid the cut.
As I landed, Akio struck at my head with the butt end of his spear. I leaned back just far enough to avoid the strike, but he kept coming forward. Akio spun with the blade of his spear striking out horizontally. I ducked that blow and pressed forward with a strike to Akio's right side simultaneously.
Drops of blood splattered over the ground while I straightened to face Elena. Akio was out of the fight and not happy about it.
Now, I had a distinct advantage, facing off against a single opponent. Plus, I was faster, stronger, and more technically capable. I couldn't let my guard down though. Elena was skilled and she could throw something totally unexpected in my direction.
I attacked this time, forcing Elena to defend against a heavy onslaught. She did so admirably, using her blades to alternately deflect or parry my attacks. She ducked under a horizontal slash and turned to stab outwards with her inverted blade.
I dodged back quickly, then with a spin of my own came down towards Elena's shoulder. She blocked that attack quickly and responded with a slash at my chest.
Letting go of Lucille with one hand, I trapped her attack in my other hand. Now with each of Elena's arms locked up, I kicked outwards, sending Elena scrambling back.
I didn't let up the attack, coming forward with a feint at her left shoulder then suddenly whipping back to attack the same location from underneath.
The tip of my sword landed a shallow cut on Elena's upper arm. I turned quickly, following one successful attack with another slash along Elena's stomach.
Once again, drops of blood flicked through the air as I defeated my second opponent.
Elena looked a bit annoyed, not nearly as much as Akio though.
"Told you you'd be fine," Roan joked.
I just shook my head in his direction. I turned my attention back to my two opponents.
"Good fight guys," I complimented. I gave each of them a fist bump, showing my appreciation for sparring with me.
"Not really," Akio grumbled. "I fought poorly."
"You did alright," I replied, trying to be encouraging. "You did good too Elena."
Elena smirked at Akio, "I did good. You were just alright." She elbowed him in the ribs jokingly.
"Shut up," Akio complained.
I chucked to myself as Dieter and Roan joined us. The crowd around watched us like they were the spectators at a zoo or something.
"I'm going to start calling you the Honey Badger," Roan commented as he stood next to me.
I gave him a strange look.
"Come on," He said. "You aren't afraid of anything and you'll fight anybody. Sounds like a honey badger to me."
I just shook my head with a smirk on my face.
(Camp Jaha, Engineering. Clarke Griffin.)
Clarke, joined by her personal bodyguard Ryder, made her way towards engineering. Bellamy hadn't made radio contact since he'd spoken to Maynard last night. Clarke was honestly annoyed that Maynard had been the first one to speak to Bellamy and not her. Then there was the way he'd taken on her mother and proved that the grounders and the vast majority of people at Camp Jaha supported him. As much as she hated to admit it, Clarke thought he'd made the right call with Emerson, especially after he'd explained his reasoning.
Maynard's plan was a basic misdirection, keep Mount Weather looking outside for the threat and they wouldn't find one inside. Clarke begrudgingly respected Maynard's plan. It would almost certainly work, and she couldn't help but admire the mind that had conceived it. Maynard was unquestionably brilliant.
That was what irked Clarke about him. He was incredibly intelligent and capable in all facets. It made him a difficult man to oppose. Yet Clarke still believed that she knew better than he did.
There were right answers and there were wrong answers in Clarke's opinion, and certain people were better at making the right calls. Clarke was one of those people. She would tell you that she was making the right call, but Maynard wouldn't. His brutal honesty left his decisions open for questioning. That didn't seem particularly stable to Clarke.
Clarke shook herself from her thoughts as she approached the door. She couldn't be distracted now.
"Has Bellamy checked in yet?" Clarke asked as she entered.
Inside, Skylar sat at her computer, working on something Clarke had no ability to understand. Raven was there as well, eyeing a diagram of Mount Weather's layout on a glass dry erase board.
Raven turned as she heard Clarke's voice and her eyes darkened the instant they landed on the blonde. She definitely hadn't gotten over yesterday's argument, and Clarke wasn't sure she ever would. Raven was a proud woman. She wouldn't be talked down to by anyone, and Clarke had done just that to her yesterday.
"Probably doesn't want to talk to you," Raven commented as she dropped a marker back into the small pocket beneath the board. "Can't say I blame him."
With that, Raven just walked out of the room. Clarke watched her go, uncertain of what was so wrong with Raven. She seemed to be unquestionably supporting Maynard these days, like she was playing second fiddle to her boyfriend. Clarke remembered Raven when she had first came to the ground, and she hadn't done that for anyone.
Skylar swiveled in her chair towards Clarke. She adjusted the brace on her knee briefly and looked critically at Ryder. Obviously, the redhead was attempting to ignore Raven's earlier comment.
"You worried someone's going to take a shot at you inside the Ark?" Skylar asked.
Clarke sighed, slightly frustrated. She was in danger. Mount Weather could attack her at any moment because they wanted her dead. She didn't have the luxury of walking around without protection like Maynard did. Her body didn't heal wounds in mere moments.
"Wait outside Ryder," Clarke ordered.
Her bodyguard nodded in agreement, stepping outside of engineering to give Clarke and Skylar some privacy.
"Lexa ordered him to watch me," Clarke explained.
"Whatever," Skylar responded, swiveling back to her computer.
The keyboard clicks came again while Clarke stared at the radio in concern.
"He's late," Clarke said. "What if something's happened to him?"
"He'll be fine," Skylar said, staring intently at the screen. "Just relax Clarke."
Clarke huffed to herself. She couldn't relax. She didn't have time to relax, not when hundreds of people depended on her.
She set her eyes to the glass boards Raven had stood in front of moments earlier. They were covered in various graphs, numbers, and equations. Someone had been doing some serious math. Clarke had no idea what any of it meant.
"You've been busy," Clarke commented.
Skylar swiveled back to see what Clarke was talking about. Clarke continued looking at the equations, but at one graph in particular. It was labeled with level of output on the vertical axis and volume of water on the horizontal axis.
"Oh yeah," Skylar returned. "Raven and Maynard were helping me find a way to shut down their power. When you combine those two brains you get something really special. Raven's mechanical knowledge plus Maynard's math." Skylar made an impressed expression.
Clarke shook her head in annoyance. Maynard had a small hand in everything that was done around here it seemed.
"I told you acid fog is our priority," Clarke replied harshly. "Not the dam."
"Until Bellamy gets eyes on their dispersal system there's nothing else for us to do," Skylar replied. "I've been running simulations based on May's calculations."
Clarke stepped up behind Skylar to see what she was talking about, "Can we cut off their power?"
"Maybe," Skylar said. "I'm still trying to figure everything out."
Clarke moved on from the computer, as she had no ability to understand what all Skylar's inputs meant. She spotted a tone generator to keep the reapers back. Clarke grabbed it and pressed a button on the side. With a loud whirring sound, the tone activated while a blue light was emitted simultaneously.
"How many of these have you made?" Clarke asked.
"Raven's been working on those," Skylar said.
"Well then how many has Raven made?" Clarke questioned exasperatedly.
"Only two so far bu-" Skylar started, but Clarke cut her off harshly.
"Two?" Clarke questioned incredulously.
She tossed the generator back on the table.
"That's not enough," Clarke said. "There'll be reapers everywhere."
"Hi-frequency tone generators don't grow on trees Clarke," Skylar returned flatly. "Raven is doing what she can. We barely have enough parts according to her and Wick."
"Skylar," Clarke spoke over the redhead. "I am about to leave for TonDC, where Lexa and the heads of all twelve grounder clans are waiting for me to tell them we're ready. Only we aren't ready, because they still have acid fog and we only have two tone generators."
"Clarke," Skylar spoke softer, her usual sarcastic nature abandoned for the moment.
The redhead swiveled in her chair again, facing Clarke.
"We'll be ready," She said.
Just moments after Skylar spoke, the radio popped a crackled as someone spoke on the other end.
"Ark Station do you read me?" It was Bellamy.
Clarke scrambled to the radio and snatched it off the receiver.
"Bellamy you're late," Clarke berated. "Every three hours means every three hours."
"Nice to talk to you again to Clarke," Bellamy quipped.
Clarke was not amused with his joking. This was serious stuff.
"Have you found the source of the acid fog?" Clarke asked.
"No," Bellamy radioed back. "That's going to have to wait."
"What?" Clarke asked. "No. Nothing is more important than that."
"Our friends are," Bellamy replied. "They've started taking them from the dorm, one at a time every few hours."
"Taking them where?" Skylar asked, using a secondary mic she'd hooked up to her computer.
"I don't know," Bellamy answered honestly. "We tried to follow them, but they went to a classified level. Maya borrowed the schematics of the vent system from her boss and we're still trying to find a way in. Anything?"
Clarke wasn't sure who that last question was directed to, but was answered seconds later by a female voice.
"I think I found a path," The voice, who Clarke guessed to be Maya, said. "But it's going to be tight. Here's the walkie Skylar asked for, and the earbud."
Clarke looked to Skylar in confusion.
"We're going to make him mobile so he can talk to us from anywhere," Skylar explained.
"Bellamy you have to find them," Clarke spoke through the radio again.
"That's the plan," He returned.
"If you don't, all of this is for nothing," Clarke said deadly serious.
"Yeah," Bellamy returned incredibly quietly.
Clarke put the radio down.
"I'll be right back," She said.
She made her way out of engineering with her usual determined gait.
"I thought you were going to TonDC," Skylar said in confusion.
Clarke ignored her and walked straight out the door.
She made her way through the halls towards the council room.
The door hissed as it automatically opened to allow Clarke entry into the room.
"Plans have changed," She said. "I'm staying here."
"The commander's expecting you," Kane returned.
"Our people inside Mount Weather are in trouble," Clarke explained. "I'm not going until I know they're okay."
"What can you do for them from here?" Kane questioned.
Clarke sighed to herself. She was tired of being questioned.
"You'll go to TonDC in my place," Clarke said, ignoring Kane's question. "Lexa respects you. I'll get there as soon as I can."
With Kane notified, Clarke made to return to engineering. She was stopped by a hand on her wrist.
"Clarke wait," Kane said.
Ryder stepped up towards her, drawing his sword partially from his sheath.
"Put it away," Clarke ordered her bodyguard.
He stepped back, complying with her instructions. At least someone obeyed her orders.
"Clarke," Kane said softly. "Being a good leader means knowing which battles to fight."
"And which to delegate," Clarke interrupted. "I know."
Kane eyed her with an unreadable expression on his face.
"Please," Clarke continued. "I need you to go to TonDC."
"Fine," Kane returned. "I'll go."
"Thank you," Clarke replied as the door opened to admit someone else into the room.
Clarke turned to see that it was her mother who entered. The two of them weren't exactly on comfortable ground right now.
"What is it?" Abby asked.
"Kane will explain," Clarke answered, just wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible.
"Perhaps your mother should go?" Kane pointed out. "She is still the Chancellor after all."
Abby looked back to Clarke curiously.
"Which is why she's needed here," Clarke returned.
She turned her back and left them behind with Ryder in tow.
(Dead Zone. John Murphy.)
Their small group had been walking for two days now. For at least thirty hours of that time, they'd been in the desert. And Murphy had thought the woods were bad.
The temperature changes were brutal. At night, the desert was freezing cold, and the wind chilled you to the bone. During the day, you thought you'd burst into flames it was so hot. Combining each of those temperature extremes with the ridiculously dry climate, left your skin raw.
No one had removed their jackets. Wearing long sleeves kept the sun off your skin. Pretty much everyone had taken whatever extra clothes they had and turned them into headscarves, protecting the face and neck from the sun.
Jaha led the group with a large stick in his hand, using it to help him walk onward.
After what seemed like an eternity, they stopped walking.
Murphy knew that Jaha was looking for a tent. He claimed that they were approaching the place where he had met a family living in that tent. Murphy was skeptical that they'd find it, but Jaha maintained single minded focus that they would.
For his part, Murphy couldn't really think about anything other than the sand. It made him itch, but it also reminded him of a song of the same name. Sand by He is Legend. The guitar riffs were so heavy in that song. Murphy loved that one.
On some level, thinking of the song made Murphy sad. He hadn't seen a guitar in forever. First, he'd been in the skybox where outside items weren't allowed, then he'd come to Earth where there wasn't much of anything left. Murphy might feel less purposeless if he could begin the process of relearning to play.
"Sir, do you recognize anything?" One man from the group questioned Jaha.
Jaha, whose head was completely covered in an olive-green head scarf, breathed heavily for a few moments before responding.
"Their tent was near here," He said, pointing out across the dunes. "I'm sure of it."
Murphy scoffed to himself. How could Jaha know the tent was near here? Every single part of the desert looked exactly the same. It was impossible to tell the difference between where they'd been a few miles ago and where they were now.
Jaha then started off again, making his way down the dune they stood on. He went slowly, so as to avoid tripping and tumbling down the side.
"What's the matter?" Murphy questioned the others in the group who eyed the descent cautiously. "Got somewhere better to be?"
Jaha stopped at the bottom of the dune, shading his eyes from the sun. Murphy approached behind Jaha, noticing what he was looking at. Just up ahead, a small wooden cart lay on the ground. There wasn't anyone near it.
"You see anyone?" Murphy asked.
Jaha looked around, attempting to answer Murphy's question. Obviously, he hadn't seen anyone because he made his way towards the cart relatively calmly. Murphy followed, only he was far more suspicious of the circumstances. People didn't just leave stuff lying around. It could be a trap of some sort.
Suddenly, a slight figure wearing a headscarf vaulted over the side of the cart, drawing a knife. The figure said some threatening words in a grounder language with a distinctly female voice. The young woman held her knife tightly while the sky people watched her suspiciously.
There were eighteen of them and only one of her. So, unless she was a demon like Maynard, she was effectively screwed in a fight.
"We mean you no harm," Jaha said placatingly. "Do you speak English?"
"What do you want?" The woman asked with concern in her voice.
"Nothing," Jaha answered. "But it looks like you could use a hand. What are you doing out here alone?"
Evidently, the woman decided that they weren't going to attack her. She sheathed her knife and lowered the bottom half of her scarf. Beneath the scarf, Murphy saw she had bronze skin and a dark tattoo rounding her right eye. It was kind of cool.
"My brother and I were on our way to the City of Light when wastelanders attacked," She explained emotionally. "They took our horse, all our water, everything. They killed him."
Jaha lowered his face scarf, so as to appear more personable to the woman. Murphy just eyed her like he would eye anyone else. He didn't feel great sympathy for her, but her plight was unfortunate.
"This cart is all I have left," She said sorrowfully.
"Give her some water," Jaha ordered.
Murphy removed his pack from his shoulders to follow Jaha's direction. The man next to Murphy dropped his hand to Murphy's arm, trying to stop him.
"Wait, no," The same man who had spoken to Jaha earlier said. "We barely have enough for ourselves here."
"Touch me again and I'll end you," Murphy threatened flatly.
He began to take the pack towards the young woman, but a look from Jaha forced Murphy to turn back to the same man.
"In a non-criminal way," Murphy added, trying to keep Jaha's wrath of his back.
Murphy approached her and removed a water bottle from his bag. There wasn't much in it, but she probably needed the help more than he did right now. He held the bottle out to her, but she wouldn't take it.
"It's okay," Murphy said.
The woman took the bottle and unscrewed the lid, drinking its contents gratefully.
"We're on our way to the City of Light as well," Jaha said. "What's your name?"
"Emori," She answered, meeting Jaha's eyes first, then Murphy's.
She remained silent for a moment, then spoke again.
"Everyone in the Dead Zone is looking for the City of Light, almost no one finds it," Emori said. "I can get you there if you pull my cart."
Murphy looked to Jaha uncertainly. He didn't like the sound of that. It was too convenient, too easy. There was something wrong.
"Done," Jaha agreed almost instantly.
Murphy flicked his eyes from Jaha to Emori. Her eyes were a brilliant amber color, wide and sincere. Murphy couldn't tell whether there was any deception there or not. Yet for some reason, he felt that the sincere look wasn't entirely genuine. Her eyes were beautiful nonetheless.
"Caspian," Jaha ordered. "You're on the first shift."
Murphy smirked to himself, watching the guy who'd smacked his arm stare at the cart in disbelief. Served him right. What kind of name was Caspian anyway?
"Thanks for the water," Emori said.
Murphy turned his attention back to her, taking his canteen.
"No problem," He replied, less smoothly than he would've liked.
For some reason, Murphy found himself unbelievably attracted to the scarf wearing Emori. There was something about that look in her eyes, like Murphy couldn't tell whether or not she was being honest with him that made him excited. A better man wouldn't have such feelings, but Murphy certainly wouldn't be calling himself a better man than anyone else anytime soon.
(Mount Weather, air ducts. Bellamy Blake.)
It was dusty and cramped in the vents. Bellamy thought he might have a minor lung disease once he got out. At least they weren't so small that he had to lay on his stomach to fit. Bellamy had been able to crawl around like a baby so far.
Bellamy could hear voices coming from above and below him. The air ducts ran straight through the walls, so it was likely that he was coming into contact with every room in the mountain. The voices didn't say anything distinguishable, but the fact that he could hear them surprised him. He vaguely remembered something about sound waves travelling faster through denser substances than less dense ones. Maybe that was why he could hear them, because sound travelled faster through solids than gasses.
"Okay," Skylar radioed. "Tell us where you're at now."
"I'm at an intersection, which way?" Bellamy returned.
The new portable radio was much handier than the old school one they'd been using. The only downside was, if he was stopped and searched, they'd definitely know he wasn't one of them.
He looked down the left hand turn off and down the path in front of him. They looked equally as dark and smelly as the part of the duct he was in now.
"Bellamy, we think you're close," Clarke said. "The lab should be up ahead."
Then, as he looked down the straight-ahead path, he noticed a severe problem. There were five branching paths about twenty yards down the tunnel.
"Any chance you could be more specific?" Bellamy asked.
Then it didn't matter what Clarke and Skylar said. He heard the distinct sound of a drill whirring loudly from the far-right duct. That was definitely the lab that way.
"Never mind," Bellamy said.
He crawled down the path for a few minutes before he came to a more open space. He could stand up straighter in here. The part of the duct he crouched in was like a large box with a fan slowly rotating in front of a vent on one side. He wasn't sure what this part of the tunnel did any differently from the other part, but it was certainly more comfortable.
He looked through the gaps in the vent, seeing the source of the whirring sound. It was indeed a drill. A woman was using the drill to penetrate into the body of a young man. Bellamy recognized him as one of the hundred.
Using a syringe, the woman extracted what looked like blood from the body. Bellamy wasn't close enough to see what was different about the substance. It couldn't be blood, because then the doctor would have just withdrawn some and been done with it. The drill wouldn't be necessary.
"You ready for the last treatment you'll ever need lieutenant?" The doctor asked, walking towards a man sitting on the other end of the room.
"You have no idea," The man returned. "I've waited my whole life to breathe fresh air."
"Let's get back to this secret army he claims to have," Another man spoke. He was more well kept than the first man, like he was in charge or something. "Did he tell you anything that might help us find it?"
Another man became visible to Bellamy as he walked across the vent. He fired up the drill again, going back to whatever they'd been doing before.
"Stop drilling please," The man in the suit ordered.
The guy with the drill did stop.
"The window for extraction after death is extremely short," The doctor said as she administered the shot to the guy getting the treatment.
"I only need a minute," The suit said.
"No sir," Treatment guy answered his question. "Nothing about the army. He did say he was coming for you, and that if we let his people go, he'll let our people live."
"What's his name?" The suit questioned.
"Whose name sir?" Treatment guy asked in return.
"The guy who gave you the message," The suit said. "The Jewish guy with the sunglasses."
"I heard them call him Maynard sir," Treatment guy said.
"Well, Maynard's little army won't matter," The suit replied. "Whitman just radioed in. Apparently, there's a war council meeting tonight in one of their villages. The leaders are going to be there."
"Sir I feel good," Treatment guy returned. "Let me take a team out and support Whitman."
"No," The suit declined. "He has less chance of being spotted if he's alone."
"Sir Whitman's good but he can't take out that many targets alone," Treatment guy argued.
"Which is why we're going to use a missile," The suit said. "This time we're not going to miss."
That really wasn't good.
Bellamy quickly crawled back into the ducts, trying to find a safe space where he wouldn't be overheard talking to Clarke and Skylar. It only took him a few minutes to find a room he could stand up in comfortably.
"Please tell me you hear all that," Bellamy said.
"We heard it," Clarke replied.
"We have to warn them," Skylar said.
"Did Kane take a radio?" Clarke asked.
"No," Skylar answered. "This is the only unjammed frequency. We have to keep it open for Bellamy."
"If I leave now, I can make it there in time," Clarke said.
"In time to be blown up you mean," Skylar replied.
Bellamy leaned his head back against the wall. This was a seriously terrible situation. With the information they had, they could save the people of TonDC, but they would simultaneously be showing that they knew what was going on inside. Bellamy himself would be in danger.
"When I get back," Clarke radioed. "I want to know our friends are safe and that the acid fog is down. Can you handle that?"
Bellamy wasn't sure whether Clarke was talking to Skylar or him.
"We can handle it," Skylar said. "Go."
"Clarke wait," Bellamy radioed. "Octavia was in TonDC when I left. Is she…?" He trailed off.
"She's here," Clarke radioed. "She's safe."
That made Bellamy feel a lot better.
"Okay, good," He said. "You be safe too."
"I will be," Clarke said.
Then, the radio clicked off.
(Trikru territory, TonDC. Octavia Blake.)
There was a great deal of bustle in TonDC surrounding the big meeting going down tonight. The heads of all twelve clans would be here.
Most of the time, Octavia had followed Indra around, learning various things about the different clans along with minor tidbits of grounder history. It was interesting for sure, but that was more Bellamy's area than hers.
A line of horses and riders passed them by as they walked. Octavia figured that group must've just come through the gate, as she didn't recognize any of them or their sigil.
"Azgeda," Indra said. "Last time they stepped foot here, we were at war with each other. Among them was that piece of shit Furlan Roan. Now the twelve clans fight together. Remember this day. You may never see on like it again."
Octavia hadn't seen why Indra was so against the Furlan, specifically Roan. Now though, she at least had some idea of why Indra disliked Roan. He was a member of an enemy clan, though now that he was a Furlan, Octavia doubted that his clan accepted him. But, she didn't bring that up. It wasn't her job to question these things.
Despite all this, Octavia found her mind continuously returning to Lincoln. He still hadn't returned from the mountain. She was beginning to fear the worst for him.
"You haven't heard a word I said," Indra accused.
That wasn't strictly true, but Octavia didn't really care.
"Sorry," She replied. "Bellamy left Lincoln in the tunnels two days ago and he should be back."
"Lincoln is no longer your concern," Indra spoke sternly.
Indra turned towards the man working with the sharpening wheel behind them. That was the reason they were even here. Indra was having her sword sharpened, and she needed to pick it up.
"Look," Octavia said. "I've done everything you've asked me to do, and I'll continue to do so, but what you're asking now is impossible."
"I'm not asking," Indra said, turning back to Octavia as she shoved her sword into her sheath. "We're at war, and a warrior does not mourn the dead until after the battle is won."
Octavia looked down to the dirt beneath her feet. She refused to accept that Lincoln was dead. She had thought so before and it wasn't true. It wouldn't be true now either, Octavia was sure.
"Go stand watch with the other seconds," Indra ordered. "Assassins from the Mountain will try again. We need to be ready."
Octavia nodded slightly as Indra walked straight past her. It seemed that no matter what she did, this would be a struggle. Indra wasn't particularly interested in independence. That was fine. Octavia could put up with a lot of bullshit.
(Camp Jaha. Raven Reyes.)
Raven worked the final piece of the tone generator into place. Since this morning when Clarke had come into Engineering, she'd completed a couple more. It wasn't easy though. There weren't enough parts around to create too many of them. Plus, there was the added distraction of Skylar talking with Elena.
The one female Furlan staying at camp had wandered her way into the room, searching for something or other to do. She seemed bored, something that Raven could relate to on occasion. Elena was definitely the type of person who always had to be doing something.
Elena was on the bigger side for a woman. She probably weighed somewhere around one-forty-five, but that one-forty-five was all muscle. She was pretty jacked to be fair. Her hair was streaked with silver, not yet completely grayed like the other Furlan, and cut fairly short. The extremely short ponytail the hair was pulled into reminded Raven more of a man's haircut. Akio had longer hair than Elena did.
Like all the Furlan, she had many tattoos adorning her skin. Elena's looked more artful though, like they'd been intentionally shaped and not accidentally formed by cuts. Her distinct neck tattoo was of a single arrow made of simple interlocking geometric shapes. It gave the arrow a unique look.
The reason that Raven couldn't focus with Elena in the room though, was because the Furlan was constantly flirting with Skylar. Raven couldn't tell if Skylar noticed or not, as the redhead seemed pretty engrossed in her work. Elena continued asking about how things worked and what Skylar was doing. Skylar answered every question, no matter how complicated, and Elena nodded her head along with Skylar as if she understood every word, though Raven was sure she didn't.
Raven set aside the now completed tone generator with a sigh. Four down, only seven thousand left, or however many Clarke wanted.
"So it's a hydroelectric dam?" Elena questioned, eyeing the diagrams mostly drawn by Maynard. "Why don't we just block up the river?"
"How long would that take?" Skylar asked.
"You're right," Elena replied. "Should've known better. That'd take way too long."
Raven smirked lightly to herself. It was actually kind of cute. Elena was trying to learn subjects that she'd barely heard of just to talk to Skylar. She was picking up knowledge quickly though, after all she was a Furlan. Those people weren't stupid.
"Can you help me map those diagrams into the computer Elena?" Skylar asked. "Better to see it three-dimensionally."
"Sure," Elena replied, rolling the glass marker board over next to Skylar's computer.
She sat on the desk and watched Skylar with an interested look again.
Raven smiled to herself. Skylar seemed to be unaware of Elena's interest, but Skylar's request for Elena to help her indicated that she probably held similar attractions.
Funnily enough, it reminded Raven of the early days of her relationship with Maynard. Back at the dropship, they always found every excuse they could to work together. Gradually it became obvious what they felt for one another.
She remembered yesterday when she'd nearly slipped up with her words. Maynard had been so down after he'd learned that Mount Weather was already taking blood from the forty-seven. Raven had nearly told him she loved him.
In all honesty, she wasn't sure why she was scared. Maynard was her boyfriend, but he was also her best friend. They could tell each other anything. Something just held her back.
What if he didn't feel the same as she did? It seemed stupid. Maynard wasn't the kind of guy to stay in a relationship if the love wasn't there, but maybe he wasn't there yet?
"Hey," The voice of the very man she'd been contemplating came from the door. "How're things goin'?"
Raven shook herself. She needed to communicate clearly with him. She could work through her concerns later.
"Hey badger," Elena replied with a slight smirk.
"Badger?" Skylar looked first to Elena, then to Maynard.
"Roan's nickname for me," Maynard explained with a shake of his head. "Guy thinks he's a comedian."
"You're the one who calls him Braveheart all the time," Elena commented.
Maynard huffed and looked to Raven with an annoyed expression. Raven smirked at him, enjoying his discomfort.
"Right," Maynard said rolling his eyes. "Anyway, Raven could I talk to ya for a second?"
Raven narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering what he was thinking about. She nodded and stood to join him.
He led her out into the halls of the Ark. Neither of them spoke during the short walk as Maynard walked up to the higher levels of the station where most of the private quarters were located. They passed directly by their own shared room until they finally reached their destination.
It was a small hatch in the wall opening to the outside. There was a small flat platform, kind of like a balcony where they sat and stared into the blue sky.
Clouds lazily drifted past the sun and over the mountains in the distance. In the moment, Raven couldn't believe this was all real. She was down on Earth, sitting next to a man she truly loved.
"Ya ever wonder if we're doin' the right thing?" Maynard asked after many minutes of silence.
Raven looked at him curiously, unsure of exactly what he was talking about.
"With Mount Weather I mean," Maynard clarified.
"We're saving our friends," Raven said.
"I know that," Maynard returned with a light smirk. "I meant the war."
"What other choice do we have?" Raven asked.
"Dunno," Maynard answered honestly. "Its just that we're so sure that we're the heroes. But are we really?"
"The Mountain Men damn sure aren't the heroes," Raven returned.
"Not to us," Maynard said. "What do they think though? Maybe they see their actions as a necessary evil?"
Raven looked back out to the sky, unsure of how to respond to Maynard's words. She saw what he was saying, but she wasn't sure what it had to do with either of them. Maynard's thoughts didn't apply to them.
"Everyone's the hero of their own story," Maynard said thoughtfully.
"Maynard," Raven turned to her boyfriend, looking him in the eyes. "You're doing the right thing. We're doing the right thing."
"Ya sure?" Maynard asked.
"Yes," Raven replied. "It's Clarke and Abby I'd be worried about."
Maynard cocked his head to the side curiously. He was obviously interested in her thoughts.
"You said it yourself last night," Raven continued. "No one person knows what's best for all of us. Those are the people you have to watch out for."
Maynard remained silent, thinking over her words.
"I know you're doing the right thing, because you're asking if you're doing the right thing," Raven said. "Clarke and Abby aren't. They just assume that what they're doing is right."
Maynard hummed and turned his eyes back to the sky. The streaks of gray in his hair were becoming more and more prominent by the day. Surprisingly though, Raven found that she liked it.
"I'd never thought of it that way before," Maynard said, then he looked back at her with a smirk. "Yer pretty smart ya know?"
Raven chuckled to herself and shook her head. As her eyes made their way back up to meet Maynard's again, she was struck by the overwhelming urge to kiss him.
Their lips met tenderly. Maynard raised a gentle hand to the side of her neck while she tilted her head back to more comfortably reach him. They remained locked together and Raven felt her love for him reaching the forefront of her mind. When she was with Maynard alone like this, nothing else mattered. They were two bodies sharing one soul.
They broke apart finally, staring into each other's eyes. Maynard ran a finger over Raven's cheek softly.
"I love you," Maynard whispered softly.
Raven almost didn't believe the words she heard. They were so quiet she wasn't even sure she heard them correctly. Yet, in her heart of hearts, Raven knew what Maynard had said.
She felt like she was going to explode. The most perfect moment in the world somehow became even more perfect. It was overwhelming, all the questions and concerns about Maynard's feelings were put to rest.
"I love you too," Raven replied.
They kissed again, as fulfilled as people could be in that moment.
(Dead Zone. John Murphy.)
The small group had spent hours, since they'd found Emori this morning, on the trail. The sun kept beating down on their heads and everyone was sunburnt, but spirits seemed higher now than they had been earlier in the day.
Murphy, quite fortunately in his opinion, had spent much of the time speaking with Emori. The more he spoke to her the more he liked her. One, she was hot. Two, she was smart and curious. Three, Emori seemed to be in a similar position to himself. They were both outcasts of some kind.
"So," Murphy said. "I've got to ask. Why'd you decide to ditch your clan and risk your life to cross the beach from hell?"
"It doesn't matter," Emori returned, obviously not wanting to answer.
"Come on, take my mind off all the fun we're having," Murphy joked lightly.
They remained silent for a moment, watching the rest of the group walk in front of them.
"It wasn't my decision to leave," Emori said.
"Kicked out?" Murphy asked. "Okay now I'm interested. What'd you do?"
"If I told you," Emori said. "You would not look at me the same."
"Maybe," Murphy acknowledged. "But I might surprise you."
Murphy liked to think of himself as open minded. He was generally accepting of many different ideas and people. Maybe that had something to do with being a metalhead. Screamy music was a turn off to most people. From what he knew, most other metalheads tended to be open minded as well.
"What about you?" Emori asked. "How did you end up in the Dead Zone?"
"I could tell you the gory details, but since you're one of the few people on this planet who doesn't hate me at the moment, I don't think I want to blow it," Murphy replied, also not answering the question.
"Now I'm interested," Emori said as she smiled at him.
Damn that smile, Murphy couldn't resist.
"Okay," Murphy gave in. "You really want to know?"
Emori said nothing but waited in anticipation.
"I killed two people," Murphy said. "Tried to kill two more. I had my reasons, but nobody cared. I'm the bad guy. Told you I'd blow it."
Emori looked at him with an unreadable expression for a moment, then she stopped him walking with a hand on his arm.
She then removed the large cloth glove resting over her left hand. Beneath it was an unbelievably malformed hand, probably due to the radiation. Her hand had six fingers. The middle four were huge, like a giant claw.
"My people saw me as a stain in my bloodline," Emori explained. "Something to erase."
She put her glove back on and started walking away from Murphy.
"Then fuck them," Murphy said casually.
Emori turned back to Murphy in surprise.
"I wouldn't cover it up, I think it's pretty badass," He said.
Emori laughed to herself and shook her head, "Liar."
She turned and walked away from him, not believing a word he said. That was minorly annoying.
(Mount Weather, Dormitory. Bellamy Blake.)
Bellamy's plan was particularly good. He had managed to sneak his way into the group of guards going with the doctor he'd seen earlier into the dormitory to retrieve another sky person for bone marrow. At some point, he would fake an altercation with Jasper and sneak the man a gun.
An alarm blared in the hallway as the door opened.
"Get back!" One of the guards shouted at the delinquents.
"Here we go," Jasper said. "Come on like we talked about! Link up!"
It seemed that Jasper had already created a plan of his own to keep the guards from taking anyone else. It just wouldn't work. The guards had weapons.
The doctor walked in between the soldiers and pointed out a young woman from the group.
"This one," She said.
"Alright let's go," A guard said.
The girl looked petrified.
The guards continued forward, beating the delinquents back with batons. As the situation descended into chaos, Bellamy drug Jasper aside and slammed him into the wall, giving them some space to talk and not be overheard.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Bellamy asked.
"Bellamy?" Jasper asked.
"Shut up and listen," Bellamy ordered. "They're killing them. Next time they come you have to fight back harder than this. Do you understand?"
Bellamy gave Jasper a pistol, shoving it in his waistband under his shirt.
"Take this," Bellamy said. "Get everyone ready."
"Ready for what?" Jasper asked. "What's the plan?"
"I'm working on it," Bellamy said.
"Find Dante," Jasper whispered. "He's on our side. He'll help us."
"Okay," Bellamy returned.
"Hey!" A shout came from their right. "Everything okay over there?"
"Yes sir," Bellamy responded.
He socked Jasper in the stomach to sell his role then made his way out of the room to find the former president of Mount Weather.
There we go. Somewhat slow this chapter, but as usual, I got carried away.
And yes, Murphy is a metalhead. Every time I ever think about these characters in real life, I always come to the conclusion that Murphy is a guitar god. So, Murphy's arc will probably include that at some point.
Anyway, thanks for reading.