TwilightEclps: Thank you for your kind words. This one's for you - since you seemed to read my mind!
For the other guest reviewers: thank you for saying you love it.
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Chapter 4
Abby was in the council chamber waiting for Jaha and Kane to join the rest of the council. She wondered why they'd called the meeting. This was not the usual day they convened their weekly meeting. Jaha and Kane came in and sat down.
"Council members, it has been brought to my attention that the air supply is running out." He stopped as gasps ran around the table. Abby was stunned. He didn't give Jake the chance to explain what was going on. If he had, then maybe Jake would still be alive. Then again, maybe Jaha just wanted the glory of telling them for himself.
"Before Jake Griffin died, he told me of the breakdown of the equipment. I made sure that the new Chief Engineer checked it out first and when he confirmed it, I called this meeting. Kane and I have sent some people to the ground to check for viability. That announcement about a craft being accidentally jettisoned into space was a cover story. We sent them down to Earth."
"What will they find down there?"
"I have no idea, but we need to know if the Earth is survivable to go down. We cannot live up here for much more than a year or so."
"How will they let us know if it is?"
"We sent them down with a radio. When they find out, they'll radio us to tell us," Jaha said.
"Who went?"
"I'm not at liberty to say at the moment, suffice to say they are qualified to do their jobs."
"I would like to propose that we make sure that we have an up-to-date inventory, Chancellor. If we are going down, we need a lot of things to make a home for us," said one of the council members.
"I agree," said Jaha. "Abby, can you make sure the medbay supplies are inventoried?" Abby nodded, still too stunned at his betrayal to say anything.
"The rest of you, check your sections and see if you can find anything to take with us." They all nodded.
"Okay, dismissed," Jaha said. All but Kane left the room.
Abby walked to the medbay and told Jackson to do inventory on everything they had on orders of the Chancellor. Jackson nodded and went back to work. Abby went to her quarters to think about what it meant.
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"Hey, Monty," Harper said when they met after school.
"Hey, Harper, ready for our date?" Monty answered.
"Definately," she said.
"Come on, I've been thinking of where I can take you. The Ark is such a small place, but I did find one place I think you'll like." They walked down several corridors before Monty led her to a small dead end at one end of an unused corridor. Monty had been busy. He'd gotten some of his precious supply of food and created a kind of picnic for them in front of the bubble window looking out over the Earth. He had chosen this place because at this time the world would be displayed before them. He led Harper to the blanket he'd placed down and told her to sit. He opened the basket and pulled out a small supply of food. Harper was amazed, it was very difficult to save food because they were so short of food. Monty had saved a little bit from each meal for the last few days. He had intended to splurge at the weekend and eat it all himself, but now he was having a date with Harper, he decided to share it with her.
Monty sat down with her and plated up a selection of goodies for her and he took the rest. They ate quietly watching the Earth go by.
"What do you think it's like down there?" asked Harper.
"I don't know, but I hope that it's liveable," he said.
"I thought it wouldn't be like that for another 100 years?" Harper said, frowning.
"Well, yes, but I just hope anyone down there has survived," Monty said, looking at the Earth with a faraway look in his eyes.
"You think people have survived down there? They said the radiation would be too bad for people to survive the war."
"I don't think they've got their facts right, Harper. I mean why would they send people down, otherwise?" Monty forgot who he was talking to and was thinking out loud about Raven.
"What do you mean? Send people down?" Monty looked at her and realised what he'd said.
"I mean I hope there are people living down there," he attempted to cover his mistake.
"No, Monty, you said that they sent people down. What do you know?"
"Look, Harper, can you keep a secret?" Harper nodded. "I mean the kind of secret that will get you put in lockup if they find out you know." Again Harper nodded.
"My friend Raven was sent to the ground with some other people. She volunteered to go, but she thinks the others didn't. She thinks they were supposed to be floated. She claims that Jake Griffin is one of them. She doesn't know who the other two are, only that one of them is around our age." Harper started at that. Could Sol be one of them? Harper never bought the story that Sol had been floated. After all, she was underage and should have been put in lockup. The fact that she wasn't there made her wonder if she was sent to the ground.
"My friend Sol is missing, Monty. She's not quite 18 so she should have been put into lockup, but she isn't. She's underage to be floated, so where is she?" Monty was surprised that someone else was missing.
"Does she have any family?"
"Yeah, she has a sister, a second child. Erin is in prison. I haven't been to see her yet, I don't know what to say to her."
"Meaning?"
"How do I tell her that her sister was floated before she was 18?"
"You think she was one of those sent down?"
"I think she was, Monty, it's the only thing that makes sense." Monty thought about it and realised she was right.
"Do you have any pictures of her?"
"No. I still need to tell Erin her sister isn't here anymore, though."
"Do you think she already knows?" Harper was startled as she thought about it.
"Maybe," she said, her eyes going wide in surprise.
"When you visit her, see how she reacts and see what she says about her sister. Don't tell her right away, see what she says first," Monty said, hoping it would be helpful.
"I think I will," Harper said, slowly nodding her head.
"We need to keep this information secret, Harper. Not one word to anyone who doesn't need to know, alright?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Good, now let's watch the view for a little while longer before we need to go back." Monty and Harper leaned back against the wall side by side and held hands as they watched the Earth slowly spinning beneath them.
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On the ground
Raven arose first the next morning and relieved Rory of sentry duty.
"Anything?" Raven asked her, yawning.
"Nothing," replied Rory.
"Good, I'm going to relieve myself then I'll get some more water. When Sol wakes, we'll see if she can catch some more food for us."
"Sounds good, Raven. I liked that rabbit we ate yesterday."
"Me too. I wonder if we can catch something bigger so we can take some with us," mused Raven.
"That would be good, but we've nothing to carry it in unless we cook it first."
"True. I have no clue how long cooked meat lasts. I know from the survival books that raw meat goes off quite quickly and the warmer the weather the quicker it goes rotten."
"Nice thought," said Rory. "Go relieve yourself and then you can take over while I go." Raven nodded and headed back to the tent she shared with Rory to get some toilet paper.
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Later in the day when Sol had caught three rabbits and a bird that got caught in the trap, and had cooked them, they wrapped some of the meat up in some broadleaves that were nearby. They filled their water bottles and set off once again heading towards Washington DC.
They were walking through a small clearing when suddenly they were surrounded on all sides by people pointing spears and swords at them. They stopped and held up their hands, showing they had nothing in them. Each one was watching one side and then a lone woman came forward. She had close-cropped, dark curly hair, a tattoo on her face and a sword in her hand. She stopped in front of Raven.
"Raven," the woman said. All four of them jumped slightly.
"Who are you?" asked Raven, "and how do you know my name?"
"You do not remember?" asked the woman.
"Remember what?" asked Raven. The woman looked over her shoulder to another woman. She turned back.
"Your name is Raven Reyes. You come from the sky. You are one of the Skai People." Raven just stared at her.
"What sky people?" she asked.
"In one more turn of the seasons, 100 children will fall from the sky. You came down several days later and joined them. You fought against my people, killing hundreds of them by burning them alive in a ring of fire. Half of your people were killed, you were shot in the back by one of them. You lived but you were crippled and barely able to walk. Most of those who survived were captured by the Mountain men and taken into the mountain. One escaped with one of my people. We formed an alliance to get both of our people out of the mountain, but the mountain made a deal with our Commander and she took it. Our people were set free while yours weren't. We left your people on the mountain and left with ours. One of your leaders still went inside and then she killed everyone who lived in the mountain by letting in the radiation. It killed everyone. After that, our two peoples did not trust each other, both thinking that the other side started the war between our peoples. Only your leader and our Commander were trying to keep the peace. Others of both our peoples were determined to wipe the other side out. We came together again when a new threat emerged and nearly won. Once again your leader was the one to stop it, but our Commander was killed by one of our own. A second primfaiya happened and we all died." The woman stopped then.
Raven and the others were having a hard time trying to take it all in. As far as they were concerned, this was the first time they'd come down.
"Wait, wait wait," said Raven. "You believe we've been here before?"
"You have. I do not know those with you. Those sent down were children, thrown away by the leaders in the sky to test if the earth was safe. No adults except for Bellamy and you came down."
"Bellamy?" asked Rory, startled to hear her son's name.
"Yes, Bellamy Blake, brother of Octavia Blake."
"They are my children," Rory said.
"You are Octavia's mother?" asked the woman. Rory nodded. "You died," the woman said. Rory's breath caught in her throat.
"No!" she said, before she fainted. Sol caught her before she fell to the ground and she gently laid her down.
"Indra!" said another woman.
"I didn't do anything!" Indra protested.
"You just told her she was dead, what did you think would happen?"
"I did not intend for the Blake's nomon to faint!"
"Nomon?" asked Sol.
"It means mother in our language," the second woman said. She had blond hair and a sword at her side. "I'm Anya, chieftain of Tondc, our main village around here."
"We're near Washington DC?" asked Raven, pulling out her map.
"No, you are several days away from there, but we were out hunting for a big festival we have for the end of summer and the gathering of the harvest," Anya said.
Rory woke with a groan and Sol was by her side immediately.
"Hey, take it slowly, Rory," Sol said.
"Rory? I thought Octavia's nomon was called Aurora?" asked Anya.
"She was," said Indra.
"Rory is a kind of nickname for Aurora," explained Sol. "We often shorten names up on the Ark. My full name is Solange, but I go by Sol. Only my nomon called me Solange." Anya smiled at the use of Trigedasleng spoken by a Skaikru person. She turned to the last person, the man.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Jake Griffin," he said.
"Griffin?!" Indra said, surprised.
"Yes, you know me?"
"Only that you are Clarke's father. You too did not make it down to the ground, though your wife did."
"Abby made it? Oh, thank God!" he said with relief.
Anya and Indra looked at each other, wondering if they should tell the truth behind the feud between Clarke and Abby.
"What? What is it?" asked Jake.
"I don't know if we should tell you," Anya said. "It may make you sad or angry."
"Why?"
"Because your family is at the heart of the troubles between our peoples."
"How?"
"Clarke was sent down with the hundred and became one of the leaders. Bellamy was the other. Those two were at odds about the people from the ground - grounders as they called us. Clarke was for peace and Bellamy wanted to kill us all. Sorry, Aurora, but it's true. Your daughter on the other hand, became one of our warriors - until the fall of the mountain. Octavia found a love for our way of life, but Bellamy didn't. He was too focused on killing as many as he could. Octavia fell in love with one of our people, but when the Ark came down, one of the people who came down was a man called Charles Pike. He too was all for slaughtering our people. Bellamy became his second in command and eventually stood aside and let Pike murder Lincoln, Octavia's love. That caused a division between your children. Clarke was trying for peace as well, but Bellamy's policy of kill them all had made sure that she wasn't trusted. She was the one that came up with the plan for the ring of fire, and she was the one that escaped from the mountain with me. Once we arrived at the remains of the Ark, it was dark and a guard shot and killed me. They shot Clarke in the arm too." Indra took over after that.
"She was the leader of those from the Ark as far as we were concerned, but Marcus Kane was the Chancellor of Camp Jaha. Jaha never came down with them, but he came down later. When Marcus came to our people trying to get peace, Abby took over as Chancellor. When Clarke arrived there, Abby was all for keeping her locked away behind the wire where she could keep her safe. Abby never understood that Clarke was trying to stop my people from slaughtering your own. Abby stopped Clarke every time she could. Clarke and the others had to sneak around to get anything done. It all came to a head when we'd captured one of the mountain men. We couldn't get any information out of him so Clark decided to use him for disinformation. She asked me and my warriors - including Octavia - to help her. We brought him out of his cell and walked him to the gates. Abby and Kane saw this and tried to stop us. Abby kept telling Clarke that she was the Chancellor and Clarke was just a child. She told us to stand down and we refused. We were following Clarke. She'd proved herself to us and we didn't recognise Abby or anyone else as the leader of her people. Several of the Ark guards had their weapons pointed at us. Eventually Clarke told her mother that she may be Chancellor, but Clarke was in charge and that she had to trust that she knew what she was doing. Clarke was repeating the words Abby had said to her when she'd first got to Camp Jaha. That was the dividing factor in their relationship. It was already strained when Clarke found out that it was her own mother that got her father arrested and floated and herself thrown into prison." Indra finished. Jake was in shock. He knew that Abby was the one who went to Jaha about this, but he had assumed that Clarke had been left alone. He had no idea she'd been arrested.
"Jaha did this!?" he spat out.
"Yes. He has been the cause of so much pain and death on the Ark and down here."
"I don't know what to say," Jake admitted.
"I think we all need time to digest what you've said," said Sol. "I don't say what's going to happen in the future is what you've just said, but for us, this is the first time we've been here." Anya pulled Raven to the side and whispered in her ear. Raven was shocked but knew she had to tell Sol.
"Erm, Sol?" said Raven.
"Yeah?"
"In the interest of total disclosure, I feel I should point out that you're from Factory station and when that station came down, only one person survived. A 16 year old girl called Mel. No-one else did." Sol realised that the last time she'd died. Not a nice thought, but she also realised that this time around, she was already down and alive. Now all she had to do was make sure it stayed that way.
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They set up camp in the clearing and the Trikru warriors went hunting for some food. Indra was rubbing two sticks together for a fire when Sol stopped her.
"Here, try this," she said, handing the flint and striker to Indra. Indra took it and looked at it.
"What is it?" she asked. Sol hadn't realised that rubbing two sticks together was the only way they knew how to make fire.
"Sorry. I'll show you," she said, holding her hand back out for the flint and striker. She knelt down and put a small pile of dried moss and a few wisps of dried grass on a stone, positioned the flint near it and showed the correct angle needed to produce a spark. She struck the flint with the striker and produced a spark. Unfortunately the spark died out before landing on the pile. Sol moved the flint much closer and tried again. This time the spark landed on the pile and began to smoulder. Sol immediately got down and blew gently on the spark to make it burn brighter and faster. The spark jumped into a small flame and Sol added more small twigs to it and kept blowing until she had a decent fire going and was putting sticks and logs onto it to keep it going. She sat back and looked over to Indra, who was staring in wonder at the speed at which Sol had started the fire. Sol knew they had more flint and strikers so she gave Indra hers. Indra was grateful though she didn't show it, she just nodded once to Sol and experimented with striking a spark. It took a few goes until she got it right and was getting a spark on almost every strike. She was happy to have it, now they wouldn't struggle in finding the right sticks to use. She wondered if they knew any more things they could use to help their people.
Raven was talking to Anya about the area around them, Jake and Rory were sitting side by side, talking softly about what they'd heard about their kids. Sol on the other hand had wanted to go on a hunt with the warriors, but Anya and Indra had said no, so she was practicing braiding rope from the vines around them.
"What are you doing?" asked Indra.
"Making rope," replied Sol, not stopping in her braiding. Indra sat beside her and watched as she slit open a vine and pulled out the strands. She watched Sol separate each strand apart and then recombine them into three braids which she then braided again into one braid. Once she had made enough rope, she coiled it up and attached it to her backpack. Indra was curious. They didn't make rope that way and wondered why no-one had figured it out. She was also wondering what else Sol had in her pack but didn't want to seem too curious.
Sol pulled out her telescope and asked which tree she could climb to have a look around. Indra was curious to see what she could see from the top of the tree that was different from what they could see. Sol showed her the telescope and showed her how it worked. Indra was sceptical that you could bring the distance closer with the instrument, but she put her eye to the end Sol had pointed out and immediately dropped it and pulled her knife, thinking the warrior on the far side of the clearing was nearly on top of her! She looked and saw the warrior was still on the other side. Puzzled, she looked again through the telescope and again lowered it. She did this several times before Sol pulled it from her grasp.
Sol got up and went to a tree and started to climb it. Indra followed after her, intrigued at what she would see though the magic eye. Sol found a high branch that was still sturdy enough for the both of them and she looked out over the other trees. She saw the warriors hunting a boar and watched as they brought it down. She handed the telescope to Indra and pointed to where the warriors were. Indra looked and saw her warriors far nearer than she thought they were, but when she lowered it, she couldn't make out much more than ant-sized people moving about. She looked through the telescope again and realised what a tool this would be for scouts and raiding parties - and warfare! She wondered if she could find one for herself. She'd seen enough from the 100 and now from these four people to know that they did know things that could help them that weren't really tek, but could be used by the Trikru and the Commander. She really needed to talk about what they could show her and what the Trikru could use.
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On the Ark
Harper went to see Erin on visitation day.
"Hey Erin," said Harper. "Hope you don't mind me visiting you."
"Not at all, but who are you?"
"Sorry, I'm Harper-"
"Sol's friend!" Erin exclaimed.
"Yep, that's me."
"I'm glad to see you. No-one but Sol has ever visited me in here," she said.
"I'm sorry, I should have visited you earlier."
"No, no, it's alright, Harper. You're here now so that's good." She looked over to the guard that had just turned away from their table. She bent towards Harper a little before talking again.
"Sol's been sent to Earth," she whispered. Harper was shocked, but it did confirm what she had suspected.
"She's not the only one. Raven Reyes and Jake Griffin are also there as well as another woman," Harper whispered back. Erin sat back and only just stiffled a gasp.
"Anything else?" she asked quietly. Harper shrugged but said that her boyfriend Monty was a friend of Raven's and he knew she'd been sent down. Erin nodded and as the guard came back, they talked about inconsequential things until he was out of hearing again.
"Do you know why they were sent down?" asked Erin.
"No idea," said Harper, "but it must be something very important to send them down earlier than necessary." Erin nodded again and once more talked about small things. Erin told her about her cellmate and Harper talked about her date with Monty.
They kept this up all through visitation, trying to have a secret conversation scattered with small talk when a guard came near them. At the end of the visit, Erin was taken back to her cell. Once there she waited until the guard had left and then went to find Octavia. During visitation, the prisoners were only allowed to mingle with a few others so she knew where Octavia would go. She found her near the end of the level near the doors to the solitary confinement units. There were bars and a locked gate cutting off that section, but if you talked loud enough, those nearest the gate end could hear.
"Octavia, got something to tell you!"
"What?" asked Octavia. Erin looked around and saw no-one else in the area.
"I had a visit from Harper, a friend of Sol's. She said that Sol was sent to the ground along with Raven Reyes and Jake Griffin!"
"What!" Octavia exclaimed. Erin nodded.
"Harper said that her boyfriend is a friend of Raven's and she left him a message saying she was volunteering to go down as she knew if they went down in a deadfall, they'd most likely die."
"What's a deadfall?" asked Octavia.
"It's when a ship is jettisoned to a planet without using the engines or a pilot to navigate with. In theory, thrusters are supposed to fire at a predetermined time and that would set the craft down gently. Problem is that the craft has to be over its target area for that to happen. If it's off course, then the thrusters would be firing at the wrong time. Raven went down to pilot the craft to keep them safe." Octavia nodded, taking it all in.
"She say anything else?"
"Only that another woman was sent down with them but she doesn't know who it is nor their name."
"Let's hope they survived and can find a way to communicate with the Ark. If we need to go down early, it would be nice to know it's safe," Octavia said, staring at nothing and thinking things through.
"Yeah, we've got to keep this quiet, Octavia. If they find out we know, then they could float us early," Erin warned.
"Yeah, I know. Let's go back to our cell and talk some more." Erin nodded and led them back to their shared cell.
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The next time Bellamy visited, Octavia used the same technique that Erin and Harper had used for having a conversation.
"Bell, Erin said that Sol was sent to the ground with Jake Griffin and Raven Reyes and another woman," Octavia started. Bellamy nodded, not surprised.
"Really? That's interesting, because I found a document in the guards office that has a list of people who hadn't been floated when they should have. Mom was on that list. What if she's the other woman?" Octavia put her hands over her mouth to stifle the gasp she wanted to expel. She waited until the guard had passed before talking again.
"If that's so, then she's still alive!"
"The other three on the list were Jake Griffin, Raven Reyes and Solange Armstrong."
"That's Sol, Erin's sister!"
"So if they were sent to the ground, why? It's too early according to Jaha and the scientists."
"Maybe they were wrong," said Octavia. Bellamy nodded. "What were you doing in the guards office anyway?" Bellamy watched as the guard caught the last few words of the question and came closer.
"Oh, the guards had spilled some powdered glue and then spilled some water on it. It had set fast, so I had to clean it up." The guard took note of what the boy said and would check it out later.
"So, what's happening now?" asked Octavia.
"Not much, work, eat, sleep, the usual," he said with a shrug. The guard lost interest after that and wandered away to check on another table.
"It's true, but something happened and the guard on duty left the room, locking me in it. I think he forgot about me." Octavia smiled.
"Find out anything more?"
"No, couldn't take the chance of getting caught," he said, bending his head down.
"We'll figure it out. Harper McIntyre was the one who told Erin. She said her boyfriend is a friend of Raven's. Maybe he knows something?"
"He might, but I don't know who that is," Bellamy said with a sigh. Just then the buzzer sounded for the end of visitation. They high-fived and Bellamy was escorted out with the others and then Octavia was too.
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Abby was in the middle of doing inventory when Monty came in with an injured thumb.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Oh, I was working on some electronics and I accidentally burned my thumb on the soldering iron," he said, holding his hand out for her to look at. She took a quick look and led him over to a private cubicle. She told him to sit while she got some supplies. While he was sitting there, someone poked their head around and asked if Dr Griffin was around. Monty kept his composure and said she'd gone for supplies to treat his burn. The man nodded and left. Dr. Griffin! Could this be Jake's wife? He knew from bits and pieces that Jake's parents were both dead, so it had to be his wife. His daughter would be way too young. Did she know her husband was alive? The Doctor came back and started to swab his burn.
Dr. Griffin?" he asked.
"Yes?" Abby said, looking up at him.
"Sorry, some guy was here looking for a Dr Griffin, I didn't know if that was you."
"Yes I'm Dr Abby Griffin."
"I think there's a Clarke Griffin in the year ahead of me at school,'' he said, trying to feel her out.
"Yes, that's my daughter."
"How is she? I haven't seen her for a few days."
"She was arrested and sent to lockup," Abby said, grimly.
"Oh, sorry, Dr Griffin. I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's okay Monty. After losing my husband, losing my daughter too is killing me emotionally."
"My apologies," he said, feeling bad at bringing up those memories. Abby nodded and continued to work on his thumb. When it was wrapped, she cautioned him not to do it again. Monty nodded, smiled, thanked her and left.
He went straight to Harper's quarters.
"Hi, is Harper home, please?" he said to the woman who opened the door.
"Sure, she's just finishing her homework," she said, opening the door wide so Monty could enter.
"Thank you," he said, politely. The woman nodded, but didn't say who she was.
"Harper!" she called out loudly. "There's some kid here to see you!" Harper's bedroom door flew open and she saw Monty standing there.
"I'll be right with you, Monty. Then you can show me those stupid equations we got for our homework," she said.
"No problem. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the lounge in Factory? It's quiet at this time of day."
"Sure, let me get my homework and we can go." Monty nodded and waited quietly and politely.
Once they were clear of the corridor in which Harper lived, Monty asked about the woman.
"She's my stepmom. She's always hated me because my dad would make sure I was looked after before spending time with her. She's jealous that dad loved me."
"He's your dad, he's supposed to."
"I know and I loved him for that, but I get the impression that her dad didn't."
"Oh," said Monty. He led them to his quarters and took her inside. Monty's parents were still at work and would be for another couple of hours.
"This is not the lounge in Factory Monty," Harper said.
"I found something else out today," he said without preamble.
"What?"
"When I burned my thumb on a soldering iron, I went to medbay and I was treated by a Dr Abby Griffin."
"Griffin?! That's the name of the man that went down with them!" Harper exclaimed. Monty nodded, and rocked back on his heels.
"She also has a daughter, Clarke who's a year older than me and is currently in lockup. Dr Griffin said that she'd already lost her husband and losing Clarke was killing her."
"Did you tell her about Jake?"
"No, I didn't know if I should. She's Dr Abby Griffin, Chief Medical Officer and a member of Jaha's council. I'd have thought she'd known what happened to him."
"What about Clarke? Does she know?"
"No idea."
"Do we tell them?"
"Not a clue."
"So now what?"
"Again, no idea. Harper, this thing is bigger than the two of us. We don't know who we can trust other than Erin - and that's only because Sol's her sister and Erin's in lockup."
"We need to find people we can trust to help us with this, Monty," Harper said, fidgeting with her hair.
"Will Abby go to Jaha about this if we tell her? Would she spy on them for us? Would she just take matters into her own hands? We don't know, Harper and until we do, we say nothing." Harper thought it through and reluctantly nodded.
"Okay, so let me get my math homework and we'll go to the lounge in Factory and work on them there. That way your stepmom won't be able to say we lied to her." Harper nodded, completely agreeing.