Clarke was walking outside the wall, with two guards, apparently being the only trained medic earned her extra protection. She was just thinking about her new relationship of a couple hours with Zane, well Zane and Octavia, she had always figured she would find someone to love on the Ark, depending on how annoying he was being about the last match they saw it might be Wells, but she was happy, and she liked to think that Wells would be happy that his death had caused something good to come out of tragedy rather then just causing more misery.

She wasn't realy looking and saw that she had ended up at where they found Wells body. An hour ago she had entered her new relationship, and done something to strike back at her mother.

Clarke was staying as still as possible as Monty worked on her wristband. He was trying to contact the Ark but needed a working band to transmit back.

He carefully pried off her band while having a small tool poking at its circuits. It came off, but was still working.

" I- I got it. Yes! With this we'll be talking to the Ark by tonight."

Zane spoke up, " We'll done Monty, get me if you need anything."

Zane and Clarke walked out, talking.

" So did you do this for the Ark, or to strike at your mother?"

" A little of both, I just- dad was sure that if we told the Ark all of the people would band together and everyone could work out a solution, she didn't need to believe in the people, just us, me and dad. But she didn't, she turned us in, she knew what would happen she's on the council and she told them anyway, she killed my father and when they come down here I don't know how I gonna look her in the eye with out seeing him fly out of the airlock."

He pulled her into a hug, " You need time, you just found out and now with Wells, it'll take time."

" Thanks, God I need some air, I think I'm gonna go for a walk."

" Which brings something up, your trained by your mother, your the closest thing we have to a doctor, any time you leave the wall, two armed guards, your too valuable to risk."

" Got it, do you have some picked out?"

She smiled as she walked lost I'm memory, before tripping on a root. She assured the guards she was fine while getting up, but froze when she saw that she had moved some grass with her fall, showing the fingers Wells was missing, and a bloody knife, made from the scrap of the dropship.

Zane was talking with Jasper, who was still nervous to go outside the wall after nearly dying of infection from the grounders spear.

" So I know how to make a still. Me and Monty can run it, it would give us something to disinfect with-"

" And something to drink at the end of the day, okay but I'll be posting guards. Having a drink is fine, being so drunk you can't defend yourself isn't."

He was standing in the largest tent, right in the middle of camp. It was where he met with people and when needed they had meetings that remained secret, most of the 100 simply called it the command tent.

Clarke came running in right up to him.

"Z- Zane you need to see this."

At that moment Bellamy came in, intending to talk to Zane about how the work was being done, he insisted that he make them work longer, only feed those who did enough work, and punish those who didn't, but Zane refused to listen.

" Whoa, what's got your panties in a twist princess?"

Clarke pulled out a makeshift knife, not surprising pretty much everyone in camp had one, but this one was caked in dried blood.

" I found it in the woods, near severed fingers. I- I'm pretty sure it's the knife used to kill Wells, and it wasn't made by grounders, that's one of our knives. There's a murderer in camp."

Bellamy spoke up, " There's more then one murderer in this camp, that's nothing new, but we need to keep this quiet. "

Clarke turned to him pissed, " I know you hated him, and it was most likely one of your group's people that did it, but Wells was my freind, I'm not going to let his death go because you say so."

Zane put the knife back on the table, leaning down and listening to them argue.

" Fear is making then work harder, faster, longer, fear of the grounders is building that wall."

" No you want to use the paranoia to try and draw more to that crazy gang of yours, you've been trying to weasel control from Zane since he beat you, I will not let you use Wells death for your own ends!"

Zane made his voice known.

" Enough. We will keep this quiet, for now. We don't know all the facts, for all we know one of the grounders stole the knife and used it. We don't even know who's knife it is."

" Yes we do."

Clarke showed inside of the handle where the Initels' JM' had been scratched into the metal.

" JM, John Murphy, you psychopath best friend killed Wells."

Bellamy stayed silent, thinking if Murphy really had killed Wells, he had been encouraging Murphy's more violent tendencies as they kept others in line, now he was wondering if he had gone too far.

" We don't know that for a fact, it may be his knife but why would he leave it, so close to the body at that. Until we know all the facts we should keep this quiet."

Zane made his stance clear. He hated himself for the look Clarke gave him, but no matter how much he cared for her he needed to think big picture. She just got a determined look on her face and walked out of the tent, with the knife. Bellamy followed trying to stop her.

He was about to follow as well when he saw a small figure come into the tent, it was Charlotte.

" Zane d- do you have a minute, there's something important I need to talk to you about."

" Sure, what's up."

" Well I told you about my nightmares, well I was also having problems when I was awake. In my dream Jaha would always taunt me if I was going to do anything, but I never could, my legs wouldn't move. Then I woke up and saw Wells, around, trying to be in control, and all I could see was Jaha."

It sounded to Zane less like night terrors and more like PTSD, but he wondered where she was going with this. He made a note to have her checked by Clarke later.

" I talked to Bellamy and he told me I had to slay my demons. So I followed We-"

She was cut off by chanting from outside the tent, Zane cursed when he realized that it had been going on for awhile but he was paying attention to Charlotte.

" FLOAT HIM, FLOAT HIM, FLOAT HIM!"

Zane ran out to see all of the 100 gathered near the wall and saw Murphy with a noose around his neck. He saw Miller and the rest of the guards trying to get to them, but the crowd was too thick.

Bellamy kicked the stool out from under Murphy.

Zane had seen enough. He drew his gun and aiming carefully fired a single shot. This had the dual purpose of shutting everyone up and cutting the noose with the round.

He stalked forward, the people in front of him parting, the guards behind him.

" Miller take everyone who helped in the physical act, Bellamy included."

The guards grabbed four kids, and Bellamy, while Zane was looking around. He was about to speak when Charlotte's voice cut him off.

" Enough, no one else gets hurt, it- it was me that killed Wells, I took Murphy's knife from a tree, and after Wells had sat down, I stabbed him."

She was openly crying by this point.

" This is all my fault."

" Your damn right it is, I say we float her."

Murphy had caught his breath at this point and as always was looking for someone to take his anger out on. Most of the crowd had snapped out of it when Zane shot but a few still got behind Murphy.

" We're not floating anyone. Well put her under guard and find a suitable punishment. We will not be ruled by the whims of a mob."

As Zane took Charlotte to the command tent he missed Murphy grabbing the knife used to kill Wells and slipping it into his boot.

All of the prisoners had gathered at the command tent, Clarke followed as well. He started pacing in the tent.

" Well this is a fine mess. Now Murphy will be on a warpath, most pf the guards are busy keeping this from becoming a riot, and unless I'm wrong Charlotte you were about to tell me this yourself weren't you."

" Yes I- I just wanted it to stop, to not see there faces every time I close my eyes. But it only became worse and l-"

She stopped and put her face in her hands, crying so hard her entire body shook. Zane hugged her, telling her it will be alright.

" Now I'm gonna go talk to Miller, the prisoners will be taken and held, Clarke please stay and watch Charlotte."

Miller was waiting by the tent that the prisoners were being held in.

" What are we gonna do boss, we can't let her go unpunished, but I can't kill her, even by helping you."

" We will not kill her, she will be punished and that will be that. And I will be the one to do it, if someone's going to hell because I ordered it, may as well be me."

They started throwing out ideas after half an hour a guard came in with a bloody nose.

" Sir Clarke and Charlotte are gone, someone knocked me out and they were gone."

" Shit, Miller get the guards searching, I'll go now, be careful not to go to far from each other."

He ran to his tent to grab his pack and knife, when he turned to leave he saw Octavia standing there.

" Bring them back, I'll keep the peace, and be careful."

Murphy ran away from camp, having heard from around the corner, this was his chance.

The little bitch had almost got him hung, she was gonna pay. He pulled the knife from his boot and kept running.

Bellamy waited to be separated from the rest before he choked out the guard, took his axe and ran. It was his fault Charlotte was in this situation, that made it his responsibility. He had to find her, and try to fix this mess.

Clarke kept running behind Finn, she was tired but also couldn't let Charlotte be killed. She should have listened to Zane, if she had waited... But it was too late for that now, Finn was helping her down some kind of hatch, almost like the car they hid in from the fog.

Finn was covering a sleeping Charlotte up while Clarke was looking around the old bunker.

" Why haven't you told anyone about this, there could be something useful here."

" Like what, there's no weapons, all the food expired like 80 years ago."

" You could have shared this."

He passed her a jar filled with colored pencils.

" You can share that."

" What's the plan here, you knock out a guard and lead us here for what?"

" To get you two away from Zane before he could kill her."

" Tha- That it? You pulled us into the wild, where grounders could attack, without any plan other then, get away from Zane. And he wouldn't have killed her."

" Hey you heard him, suitable punishment, what else could he mean?"

They kept arguing, neither seeing that Charlotte was still awake and heard everything. She stayed quiet but mentally, she was blaming herself, it was her who killed Wells. But her nightmares hadn't stopped, only got worse, until Zane made them stop. He was incharge of all of them and he had taken the time to help a little girl with her nightmares, that was why she had tried to come clean to him. The guilt was to much, whatever punishment he decided on, so be it, but now everything was a mess. Making sure the others were asleep she went up the ladder and snuck off into the woods.

She just walked when suddenly she was grabbed and pulled down, her mouth was covered and she tried to fight them off until she saw it was Bellamy, he had his finged to his mouth telling her to be quiet.

He led her away, not seeing as Clarke and Finn climbed out of the hatch. Finn started following her trail leading them to a cliff, they showed up just as they turned to leave.

" Bellamy what are doing, we need to go back."

" Go back? And what let him kill her, no I'll take her into the woods and take care of her, she'll be safe."

Clarke was going to say more but was cut off by a knife to her throat.

" Not as safe as you might think."

Murphy held the knife tight to her neck, already drawing a small bit of blood.

Charlotte screamed, " Don't hurt her!"

" You don't want me to hurt her, alright I'll make you a deal. You come with me, right now, and I'll let her go."

Charlotte started to walk over when Bellamy stopped her.

" Bellamy let me go!"

" You can't."

" I have to."

She backed up, " No one else gets hurt, not because of me. Not after what I did."

She turned and stepped off the cliff.

Zane had arrived farther down and was too far away, he had seen that look before.

It was his first week as a guard. A man had mixed up the medication for his wife and son, he blamed himself for their death. He took Zane's sidearm and, with that same look on his face, put a bullet in his mouth.

Zane saw what she would do, and knew he didn't have long, he opened his bag and grabbed the rope, praying to whoever would listen that it was long enough. He tied it around the tree next to him before securing himself. He saw her turn around and knew he had to time this perfectly.

" I must be out of my God damn mind."

He jumped off the edge, the rope swinging him over, and he felt the smaller body crash into his chest. He pulled her tight and pushed off the cliff lighty to slow himself.

" Oh thank God, I caught you. I caught you."

He didn't know if he said it for her, or himself.

He stated the rather painful task of pulling him and Charlotte up the cliff, using one arm. By the time he reached the top Bellamy had been pulled off of Murphy.

" Hey a little help!"

Everyone looked over and saw Zane clutching onto a rock with one arm and ran over, when they pulled him up they saw Charlotte, who had passed out.

Clarke ran over, " Oh my God, she- you- please never scare me like that again, please."

" If I have to jump off a cliff to catch another one of you, not gonna lie, I'll be a little pissed."

Everyone looked at the bloodied form of Murphy wondering what to do with him.

Zane let Clarke take Charlotte and walked over. He grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him to the cliff edge.

" Murphy as of now I don't want to see you near camp again, I do? I'll hang you over the side of this cliff myself, we clear?"

Despite one eye swollen shut you could see the fear on his face, clearly having devolved a fear of being hung. He nodded and collapsed when Zane released him.

He crawled away from the edge and just sat there. One of the guards dropped a knife for Murphy to take. They all prepared to leave when they heard a sound from the cliff. Drawing his knife Zane carefully walked to the edge and looked over, something climbed up and knocked him flat on his back.

Reorienting himself Zane saw that the thing that had knocked him over was a giant animal of some kind. It was bigger than the bear ,had leather like skin, large wings and four limbs. It started snarling at them, mouth full of sharp teeth. Zane pulled his pistol and fired a shot into it eye, this clearly caused it great pain. It roared at them a final time before jumping off the cliff, flying away.

Miller was the first to speak, " What the fuck was that?!"

" Some kind of mutation, but I have no idea what it could be mutated from. But now it means we need to watch the skies. This day just keeps getting better. Alright let's get back to camp."

Walking through the gate Zane told Miller to have two guards put on Charlotte.

" Also I've decided her punishment, I need you too have two sturdy posts set up tommorw morning."

Miller clearly understood where he was going and nodded.

" Yeah, alright boss. We'll get it done."

He walked back to his tent, him mind full of thoughts of what to do next.

Laying in bed Octavia walked over and laid her head on his shoulder. The tent flap opened and both looked over to see Clarke standing there, nervous.

Octavia got up and put her hands on her hips.

" And what did we learn?"

" Don't be so impulsive."

" Good, now come to bed."

Clarke was laying down with them and they all fell asleep not long after.

The next morning Zane was standing in the middle of camp where two posts had been set up.

" Charlotte has confessed to the murder of Wells Jaha. On the Ark this would result in her execution...but we're not on the Ark, and how we deal with this will effect every generation that comes after us. She will be punished, with ten lashes."

There was a decent amount of resistance to this, the guards stopped anyone from coming forward but they still yelled, Bellamy had to be restrained.

She had her arms tied slightly above her head, Zane brought a piece of wood wrapped in rubber to her mouth.

" Bite this, it'll help."

She bit deep into the rubber. Zane backed up and unfurled the whip.

" One."

The crack breaks the silence, and Charlotte's muffled scream just after. Immediately a few people try to go help her but are held back by the guards.

" Two."

She cried out again and most of the people calling for her to die all had looks of horror, as of suddenly understanding what they were going to do, and what's happening now.

" Three."

She had gone quiet and limp but screamed and pulled on her restraints as the whip slashed her back again.

" Four."

She cried out again and tried to pull her body from the pain. She was crying but refused to past out, in her mind this was penance. She couldn't save her family, killed Wells, and let them nearly kill Murphy.

She didn't blame Zane for the whipping. In some way she was glag, she felt with every whip the guilt she had felt since her parents death leave.

" Five."

She screamed but not as loud this time, simply not having the energy.

" Six."

Her eyes had drooped but shot open with pain. Her scream broken up by sobs.

" Seven."

Her body had started to go limp at this point, lacking the energy to keep her body standing.

" Eight. "

She didn't yell out this time, just mumbling in pain.

" Nine."

Her entire body weight was on her arms and she was just able to stay awake.

" Ten."

After the final whip she let herself pass out, despite the pain she was in she felt relieved as if all the weight on her shoulders had vanished.

Zane quickly untied her.

" Bring her to Clarke for treatment. That's enough for today."

He watched her be carefully carried to the make shift clinic in the dropship.

" That's enough."

Clarke had to stich up the cuts on Charlotte's back but knew that it could have been worse. It he had removed her jacket the whip would have cut deeper, and being as young as she was it may well have done permanent damage.

He had to do what he did but he had been kind as well. It's what made her believe he was the one to lead, he was firm, but also understanding.

As she was rubbing the cuts with a paste made of red seaweed Charlotte woke up.

" Wi- will it heal?"

" Yes Charlotte it will heal fine, but it will take time and rest. Sleep now, when your better Zane wants to talk to you."

The young girl nodded exhausted and laid her head back down.

It had been an exhausting event for her. But she made a promise to herself there. Whatever it was Zane decided on, she would do her best to live up to it. He gave her a second chance, she wouldn't waste it.

I'm not gonna lie, I got a little uncomfortable writing the whipping part.

Well I hope you guys enjoyed and stay safe.