Chapter 16
On the Ark
Clarke was thinking about how to get the ones she needed out of their cells. Those on the top level could theoretically get out through the ceiling as long as someone opened the panels from the other side. Those on the ground floor could also get out through a panel in the back, but those on the floors in between were harder to get to. According to Octavia the way the skybox was laid out, there were very few places they could get them out. They'd have to use the panel Octavia, Miller and Murphy used to find that secret stash, but to get them out of their cells would be hard. She couldn't ask Kane to let them out, he'd want to know why. Likewise she couldn't ask him to move them to cells they could escape from. She needed to talk to Murphy.
"Hey Murphy," Clarke said when she went to visit him.
"Griffin," he said, warily. "What do you want?" She looked at him and said one word.
"Help."
"With what?" This time she hesitated as a guard walked by.
"Kane sent me. He thinks you'll open up to me when you won't to him."
"That's why he's been pulling me into interrogation all the time?" Murphy sounded astonished.
"Probably. Look, I don't know why he thinks you have info that he needs, but he does. I think he's just as paranoid as Jaha," Clarke said with a sneer. The guard moved off.
"I need your help to stage a jailbreak!" Murphy only just managed to keep his expression neutral.
"How?"
"That's the part I need your help with. How can we get those in the middle levels out of their cells?"
"No idea," he said. Clarke thought about what was needed.
"I need a thief on the outside," she said. Murphy sat back and crossed his arms.
"And what makes you think I'd tell you anything," he said, flicking his eyes to the guard walking up behind Clarke.
"I don't expect you to, Murphy, but he asked me to visit to see if you'd say anything."
"Then you'll have to tell him I don't know anything."
"He'll probably pull you in again if you don't give me something."
"I haven't got anything! How many times do I have to say it? I know nothing." The guard moved on.
"Try Hunter Kenney, Orchid station. She's our age and still hasn't been caught."
"Can she be trusted?"
"If you make it worth her while, then yes, she can be very loyal."
"Would she talk to me?"
"Not at first, but if you can get her a visitor's pass for me, then I can talk to her."
"That'll have to do. I need that thief fairly quickly."
"Tell Kane to check the south west corridor in Flint. Floor panel just outside the old science station there. I think that's an unmarked stash spot. Too much traffic for that section and no-one living there." A guard walked back again.
"Alright," Clarke sighed. "I'll tell him I tried but you won't give anything up."
"It's not that I'm not giving anything up, Griffin, It's that I literally don't know anything! Why won't anyone believe me?" Murphy said, aggrieved.
"Alright, alright, I'm just the messenger," Clarke said, holding up her hands. The timer went for the end of visitation and Clarke got up and left.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Two days later, Hunter Kenney sat in the visitors room waiting for Murphy. She didn't know who had let her visit him, but she was grateful. Murphy was a friend of hers at school before his dad was floated, after that, he seemed to just drift away from her. She was sad because she was a bit of a loner and the only real friend she had was him. At school she was the one at the back of the class, on her own, trying to hide out until the end of school and she could leave. Now with a visitor's pass for Murphy, she wondered what he wanted.
Murphy walked in and sat down in front of Hunter.
"Hey, Hunter, thanks for coming," Murphy said, smiling.
"Yeah, I got the pass. What's up?" Murphy took a very quick look to see if a guard was near them and saw both of them were at opposite ends of the room, nowhere near them.
"I need you to go see Clarke Griffin," He held up his hand subtly to stop her from interrupting. "Something's going down and she needs a thief."
"Wait, 'miss goody two shoes' actually said she wanted a thief? What for - besides stealing something?"
"Clarke's actually a good person, Hunter. She may have been born in Alpha and has a councillor for a mother, but she's got a rebel streak in her and right now, she's exercising it."
"How?"
"I can't tell you that here, just go see Clarke. She'll be in Orchid station at 8pm tonight, section b corridor 6. She'll meet you there and tell you what she can. Right now, she can't tell you much in case the guards and Kane - or her mother - find out."
"Alright, can you at least hint at what's happening?" Murphy looked around again and saw a guard coming towards them.
"Right now I can't talk about it in front of the guards so I'll talk about school. So what's going on in school then, Hunter. You learn anything new?" Hunter looked at him weirdly just as a guard walked past them.
"You really want to know about school?" she asked.
"Well, yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have asked," he replied.
"Fine, Mrs Colson had us doing some experiments with magnets the other day. It was pretty cool. We got them to levitate!" The guard moved on.
"He gone?" Murpy asked, not daring to turn around.
"Yeah," Hunter said.
"Jaha and his cabal have been keeping things from the rest of the Ark for a very long time. This cabal goes back to the war, Hunter. They found things hidden in secret places and are trying to find more. Pike was floated, Sydney, and Jaha are in prison somewhere and Shumway was floated when he resisted arrest. Right now, we need a thief on the outside. Go see Clarke." Hunter nodded, wondering how she'd been dragged into this.
"Why me?" she asked.
"Because when Clarke asked for a good one, I gave her your name. I trust you Hunter, you've never been caught." Hunter narrowed her eyes.
"What's in it for me?"
"I have no idea, what do you want?" Hunter thought about it for a while.
"I want in. Whatever's going on, it's better to be on the winning side and if Pike and Shumway have been floated and Sydney and Jaha arrested, then they are no longer at the top of the food chain. I want in." Murphy nodded.
"Tell her that!" Murphy said, turning his head away slightly, not looking at her as another guard walked past.
"If you love her, just tell her." Hunter wondered what he was talking about now, but soon realised a guard must be in the area. Her suspicions were confirmed as a guard waslked past her from behind. Once he was gone, Murphy spoke again.
"It'll be easier talking to Clarke, she'll make sure there are no interruptions." Hunter nodded again.
"Is it all like this? All cloak and dagger?"
"Pretty much, right now."
"This could be the most fun I've had in a while."
"Why?"
"Stealing is losing it's fun factor, you know? Now that the guards are not trying to keep me out of certain areas, it's gotten a bit stale."
"Certain areas? Where?" Murphy asked, urgently and seriously. He sat up a little straighter when she said it.
"Why?"
"Because those could be stash spots not marked on the schematic I saw. Don't question that right now, Clarke will tell you, but you need to check it out and see if there are any areas you think should be checked out."
"How do I get that information to the guards without them thinking I know something?"
"Talk to Clarke. She's using Kane to get information we need without him knowing it. He thinks she's working for him, she's not, she's working for us."
"Who's us?"
"The kids in the prison. She's trying to find out which kids were set up by Jaha's guards and get them freed. I'm not sure what she wants a thief for, but she asked me for a name, so here you are." Just then the bell went for the end of visiting.
"See you around, Murphy," Hunter said.
"Yeah, see you, Hunter." Hunter walked out of the prison section wondering what she'd gotten herself into. Whatever it was, it was a damn sight more exciting than anything she'd done recently.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
That night, Hunter turned the corner into section B, corridor 6 and saw the blonde she expected to see.
"Hunter Kenney?" Clarke asked.
"Yeah," Hunter replied.
"Come on, we can talk in here," Clarke said, gesturing to the open door. Hunter hesitated slightly and then walked into the room which had nothing more than a table and several chairs around it. She sat down and Clarke sat opposite her.
"Thanks for coming, Hunter. What's Murphy told you so far?"
"Damn little, but enough to pique my interest."
"Okay, I need your word that you'll keep this to yourself, okay? Murphy vouched for you and said he trusted you, so I need you to give me your word that none of what I have to tell you goes any further." Hunter looked at the serious blonde in front of her. She got the impression that Clarke was not fucking around.
"I promise not to talk to anyone else about what you tell me, other than who you say I can talk to." Hunter's caveat was more of a fallback. If she and Clarke and Murphy were the only ones, she'd be very surprised. Clarke nodded. She proceeded to tell Hunter everything except for the hidden bunker and the past life. She did tell her about the four sent to the ground, Jaha's arrest, Kane finding a load of evidence against him and others and the secret stash of food they'd hidden. She told her of the ones on the ground and that they would help them when they got to the ground. She told of the failing air supply and the fact that her father had been supposedly floated for wanting to tell everyone and that she'd been put into solitary just for knowing about it. She told her about Erin and Octavia talking to Harper and Bellamy and figuring out some things and then getting the information to others, all under the guards' noses. Hunter understood where Murphy's double talk had come from and silently applauded the girls for coming up with the goods.
"So where do I fit into all this?"
"I need you to steal one of the master keys for the prison cells from either one of the guards, or more likely, from the evidence and possessions they took from Jaha's guards before they were floated."
"You want me to what?" Hunter asked, astonished. Of all the things she could imagine Clarke needing her to steal, a prison key was not it!
"Sorry, Hunter but we need to get those kids due to be floated out of prison and onto that escape pod. We need to save as many as we can. Only six kids have so far been cleared and I know there were far more than that fitted up!"
"How are you going to get more kids reviewed?"
"One of the councillors accepted the task of reviewing all the cases of every kid in lockup. I'll go see Colonel Byrne and talk about the kids who were released and then casually mention that it seems strange that only six kids were released other than myself, Octavia and Erin."
"You can do that?"
"Yes, Remember, Kane thinks I'm on his side, so Colonel Byrne knows I know everything. If I talk to her about it and mention the few to have been exonerated, that'll put a bug in her ear and she'll look into it herself."
"You have that much influence onthe adults?"
"Yes, I do. I'm from Alpha remember, and Kane trusts people from Alpha more than he trusts people from other stations."
"So he trusts you?"
"He does." Hunter thought some more.
"Murphy said to tell you about certain places that the guards were keen to keep me out of. He said they could be stash spots not on the schematic he saw. How is that possible? He's in jail."
"Kane gets him out every now and then to help him find Jaha's secret hiding places in the Chancellor's office. Since they found the hidden room, Murphy's been looking at a schematic found on the computer and had already seen where people have been moving around where they had no reason to be."
"Any chance I can see this schematic? I think I may be able to pinpoint some places as well. Some of them might already be known, but others may not."
"Are you in, Hunter? Because I can't let anyone who isn't looking at things that could get us imprisoned or floated. Ark rules still apply, but with permisson from Kane, we can get you access."
"What happens when you do get the kids out?"
"We fill that escape pod with as many as we can and we launch. We go to the ground and live there. I've got Kane's authority to bargain with the Commander for a place for us to live." Hunter nodded as she thought it through.
"Do I get a spot on that pod?"
"I don't know," Clarke admitted. "Right now there are a handful of kids I trust and several of those due to be floated. The ones I trust are already assigned to the pod, but if I take anyone else, then that's one less kid I can take and they could very well be floated." Hunter's eyes widened at the ramifications of it all.
"Those kids you're taking that you know and trust, these are kids you'll be using to keep the others in line?"
"Yes, some of those due to be floated are known to us, but the rest? Until we know we can trust them, I need people down there watching them. We can't afford for anyone to fuck this up, Hunter. This is our best chance at a peaceful life."
"What about Murphy?"
"I've already explained the situation and he's agreed that unless he's been compromised, he stays here."
"So what happens next?"
"Once we are down on the ground, I go talk to the Commander and negotiate for a piece of land we can live on. I may even suggest we are indoctrinated into the Kongeda."
"What's that?"
"It's a group of twelve clans that-" Clarke broke off when Hunter's eyes got wide.
"Fuck!" Hunter said, "What the hell is happening?"
"Hunter?" Clarke asked. "What are you seeing in your mind?"
"Grounders!" she hissed. "I see grounders being killed for not taking that damn chip!"
"You remember?"
"Fuck, yes, I remember!" Hunter turned to Clarke. "You were the leader of the hundred. You escaped Mount Weather."
"Were you one of the hundred?" Clarke asked, not remembering her.
"No, I came down in Mecha. Even though I lived in Orchid, I was just 18 when we came down and had just started working in Mecha. I can't really remember much about it, one minute I was working on a panel and the next, I was shoved into a seat and belted in. The guard who did it told me to stay in my seat and not to undo the harness. When I asked him what was happening, he said we were going to the ground."
"So you were never part of our group?"
"No. I only managed to keep out of Jaha's hands because I was too busy keeping out of Pike's. I was living inside the tunnels of Alpha."
"Good. Bellamy is one of us up here, but he doesn't remember and we don't want him to. He made bad choices last time so we want him to have a fresh start. Octavia, Kane and myself were the first to be triggered by Raven who also remembers. Kane triggered Murphy and I triggered Monroe. There are three more triggered in the skybox and now you. I think that's enough who remember that past life, Hunter. Now do you understand why we need to keep all this quiet?"
"Yeah."
"Are you still in?"
"Yes, but I would really like to go to the ground with you."
"I know, but they should be sending the hundred down next year. I would like your help with something else if I can get Kane to okay it."
"What?"
"Not something I'm willing to tell you right now. If Kane doesn't okay it, it'll never happen so you don't need to know right now."
"Okay, so what do I do now?"
"Carry on as normal and when I need you, I'll find you. Where do you live?"
"Section 14, Corridor A, room 442, Orchid station."
"Got it," Clarke said. "Welcome aboard," she said, smiling and holding out her hand for a handshake. Hunter looked at it and gave her a Trikru armshake instead. They both grinned.
"Remember, don't talk to anyone else about this, not even those who remember the past. We can't afford for one word of this to get out."
"I understand," Hunter said.
"I'll see you within a couple of days most probably,'' Clarke said, getting up and leading her to the door. "Bye Hunter."
"Bye Clarke," she said as she left.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Clarke walked back to her quarters thinking of a way to get Kane to pretend to float kids while letting them live in the tunnels instead. Hunter could help with that, she could bring them food, hell they could use the food Jaha's cabal had stashed away, that way no-one would know, there wouldn't be extra food going missing. Yeah, that was probably the best way to use it. Keeping those kids alive was more important than using it on the ground in spring when food was once again growing and the animals were getting fatter from the spring greens. Now she just had to sell it to Kane. Maybe if Murphy or Hunter find more food stashes, they could be kept for those who live in the tunnels. She'd make sure that they were put aboard the dropship when the time came so thay could go to the ground.
Clarke walked into her quarters.
"Hey, honey," Abby called.
"Hey mom," Clarke said, absently.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Abby asked, concerned about Clarke's lack of response.
"Yeah, I'm just thinking about everything. With Raven and Dad being on the ground and the rest of us up here, I kind of miss them."
"I know, honey, I miss your father too." Abby hugged Clarke, trying to convey that she understood. She didn't know that Clarke was thinking about the bigger picture and couldn't tell her because she didn't remember nor did she know the entire plan. Clarke sighed.
"I'll be alright, just feeling a little melancholy today."
"Why don't you go lie down for a little bit? Dinner's in an hour. I'll wake you up then." Clarke nodded and headed for her room, but she didn't sleep, she planned instead. She planned out the escape if Hunter could get her that key, she planned where they should land. She thought about that. Wells would need some sort of visual marker to steer towards. Raven had said that he can fall quite far before engaging the engines. After that, he needed to actually look at the land and steer towards whatever markers they set down for him. She didn't know what kind of marker or where it was. She'd have to find out before they went and then figure out where to head for. The markers would have to be big enough to see from far above, but she believed that those on the ground could come up with something.
She also needed to figure out where the Arkers were going to live. She knew she would be going to Polis to be with Lexa, but the others - the Arkers - needed a set area to live in. Somewhere they knew the boundaries and couldn't say they didn't and that meant an island. She'd checked out the three islands Kane had suggested and Barbados seemed the best one. It was outside the hurricane zone and had freshwater ponds on it which was vital. The island was about 200 square miles and it even had an airport at the bottom end. It seemed ideal. Jamaica was another place they could live but it might have been a bit too close to another island. Clarke was worried about some of the Arkers island-hopping to get back to the mainland. Bermuda wasn't a big island, more a thin strip of land curved at one end. There were a couple of freshwater ponds but mostly to the western side and it was slap bang in the middle of the hurricane zone. Getting the pilots to go to Barbados would be difficult as they would want to live on the mainland. Clarke sighed, perhaps a nap would be good for her. She got up off the floor where she'd sat and climbed into her bed. She was asleep not even five minutes later when her mother crept in to see her. Abby smiled and crept back out again.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Erin was thinking about everything she'd heard about those on the ground and those they'd met. She wondered how Sol was doing. She knew she and Sol were alike in a lot of ways including not really fitting in anywhere yet. She hoped that she could fit in with those already on the ground. She wanted that sense of belonging she got with her parents and sister, but because she was a secret, the Ark wasn't really her home. After she was discovered, her parents were floated and she was put in prison. Imprisoned at 14, one year in there before Sol made the deal to get her released and then out for one hour, if that, before being arrested again and put back into prison! She was now almost 16 and Sol would have already turned 18. Erin wondered how much longer before they went to the ground. From everything Clarke and Octavia had told her, and Raven and Sol on the ground, she knew that her life would start with the ground. The Ark was the place she was born, but the Earth would be the place she lived.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Octavia was thinking back on the previous life. She remembered coming down, watching Finn spacewalk, seeing those other two floating and then they hit the atmosphere and they died, crashing into the comm system. Ending Jaha's message wasn't a bad thing, but them dying was. That was when she realised that the ground wasn't safe either. She may be free of the Ark's rules, but there were still creatures out there that would kill them, given the chance. And then they met the grounders, or more specifically she met Lincoln, the love of her life. He basically kidnapped her and healed her and when she escaped, he tracked her down and dragged her back and chained her to the wall. She knew he was trying to heal her, but the image Bellamy and the others saw when they came to rescue her was one of her chained up.
That was the start of the division between her and her brother. It got worse when she started dating Atom and when he died. She blamed Bellamy for his death though it was Clarke that actually took his life. But it was another crack in their foundation. Octavia thought fondly of Atom. Atom! Where was he? They'd triggered a few of the hundred, so why didn't they think to trigger him? Octavia tried to think if he was in the skybox or not and she couldn't. She needed to talk to Clarke, see if she knew. If not, she'd get a pass and go talk to Murphy. Atom could be trusted but because he died so early on, anything they told him about the previous life would be met with scorn or ridicule. The whole story from their landing to their deaths was less than a year and look what happened in that time frame? If someone told her about it, she wouldn't believe it either.
Would they trigger Atom? Would they include him at all? He was only three months short of his 18th birthday when they were sent down so he would be due for floating if they didn't go down on time. Who else had she forgotten about? She racked her brains trying to sort our names and faces, but she knew very few people. She never went to school before and when she did now, she could remember a few more faces from the dropship. Oh, Roma and Diggs, they died looking for her as did John Mbege. Mbege was a troublemaker, but then again so was Murphy and he turned out - well not exactly a good guy, but on their side at least. Maybe Mbege would too, given the chance to grow up and mature. Who else? Trina and Pascal. She only remembered their names because they were missing for a few days before their bodies were found. She didn't remember them. There were several more faces she remembered from that hemorrhagic fever as well. She couldn't put names to most of them but it was a shock to sit in class and look around and be able to say how they died! Fever, fever, grounder attack, ring of fire, bone marrow extraction, it was frightening how many of her classmates died within a few months on the ground. In fact she could only recall about a dozen people from the dropship that survived to the end, the rest died in between. Less than a year and they were all dead. Octavia wondered if the air supply hadn't broken down, would they truly be the only humans left when the nuclear reactors finally blew? It was a frightening thought and not one she wanted to dwell on.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Clarke met with Hunter three days after their first meeting. This time, she went to Hunter's quarters and met her mother. Her father had died after a fall and his allotted medication had been used up. It was not enough and he had died. She looked at an older version of Hunter, both were around 5 foot 8 iches, with sandy hair. Hunter's was cut short, almost a crew cut while her mother had hers past her shoulders, held back in a ponytail. Slim, thin features adorned both of the women, but what set them apart was the thin scar on the back of Mrs Kenney's left hand. Rumour was that it happened when she was working in a factory station work area, helping with making some cables to replace ones that were getting worn. One of the workers wasn't watching what he was doing and had accidentally let go of one end of the twisted cable before it was finished and it whipped back onto Mrs Kenney's hand, cutting her. The worker was found guilty of neglect and floated. Mrs Kenney spent sevral days in the medbay while Dr Griffin and Dr Jackson spent their time trying to save her hand. They succeeded and now she had almost full range.
"Hi, Mrs Kenney, is Hunter here please?"
"Yes, she is, come in," she said and moved out of the way. "Hunter! There's someone here to see you!" Hunter came out of her room.
"Clarke!" she said.
"Hi, I wondered if you've got time to go over that history homework we got yesterday? I'm struggling with it."
"Yeah, no problem. Mom, I'll see you for dinner, okay?"
"That's fine, honey, just be back to help me make it."
"Will do," Hunter said as she picked up her jacket. Once out in the corridor and walking towards the exit from factory station, Hunter asked where they were going. Clarke didn't say anything, just beckoned her to follow.
Hunter kept silent as she followed Clarke. She looked around and noticed that they were moving through Flint and it looked like she was going to go into Alpha through the back way. There were several ways into Alpha, but the most used was the main entrance. The entrance into Alpha from here though, was an almost forgotten entrance. In fact, the only way she knew about it was because she found it whilst exploring.
"Here, in here," Clarke said. Hunter had lost track of where they were and she stopped when she realised she was in one of the old tunnels running behind Alpha. Clarke got in after her and closed the hatch. "Follow me," she whispered and moved off again. Hunter had no real chioce but to follow her. This was an area she hadn't been to and therefore had no idea where Clarke was leading her. They stopped by a hatch and Clarke opened it. Two voices could be heard and Hunter jumped slightly when she recognised Murphy's. He was in jail, so how was he here? Hunter followed Clarke into the room and came face to face with Chancellor Kane.
"Is this her?" he asked.
"Yes, Chancellor Kane, this is Hunter Kenney. She's one of the tunnel rats here. She knows most of the back areas quite well. Hunter, this is Kane. Outside of this office, he's Chancellor Kane, but in here, he's just Kane. Sometimes we need Kane to know things we don't want the Chancellor to know."
"But aren't these the Chancellors offices?"
"Yes, but out there, everything's official. Here, we can be a little more informal and control what Chancellor Kane knows officially."
"Hey, Hunter, "Murphy said. Hunter was a bit dazed at meeting Kane.
"Kane!" called another voice from somewhere behind Murphy.
"What?" Kane said.
"Found another stash spot!" Kane moved towards the bookcase and swung it open. Hunter's eyes widened at the secret door into another room.
"How deep does this go?" she asked both Clarke and Murphy?"
"How deep does what go?" Clarke asked.
"This. What exactly is going on? I know what you told me but this is more than that!"
"This is us putting things right, Hunter. What Jaha and his cabal have fucked up, we are trying to fix. We've found all sorts of incriminating evidence against a whole host of people. Some of them have been floated after they admitted it or they were caught in the act. Monty Green is checking the Chancellor's official computer and Jaha's hidden files. Murphy is checking for hidden stash spots and secret places. We'd like you to help him with that. You know the Ark like we don't, you know it from behind the corridors and official walkways."
"I can do that," Hunter said, looking around.
"Show her the hidden goodies we found," Murphy said, seriously. Clarke nodded.
"Come on," she said, leading the way through the secret door.
Hunter entered the room and saw a desk, filing cabinet and a cupboard. Kane was looking over the shoulder of Monty Green, looking at something on the computer. Clarke led her over to the cupboard.
"In here is something Murphy found. He opened the door and saw it - or them." Clarke stood back and gestured to Hunter.
"Open it." Hunter looked at her and then pulled the two doors open. She looked at a large pile of ration bars and freeze-dried food.
"Fuck!" she said.
"Yeah, that's what we've all said. As far as we know, where there's one, there has to be others. Murphy's been finding them for us. We need to find them all."
"How has Murphy been doing this?"
"Kane takes him into the last interview room in the skybox. There's a secret hatch that leads back here - the same hatch we used, actually."
"So now what?"
"You can do more than Murphy can. He's been looking at foot traffic though the Ark. He's been discounting footfall in highly used areas during the day or work times. He watches for a lot of foot traffic though barely used corridors and sections and heavy footfall in quiet times. So far, he's identified seven more stash spots."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Feed everyone when we go to the ground. For the first couple of days, we'll be setting up our village. This food will be taken with us so we can eat." Hunter nodded.
"So where do I start?"
"Go with Murphy for the next few minutes. He can't stay out of lockup for long. He'll show you what he looks for and then you can go find them. If you find anyone there, do not get caught. This is very serious, Hunter. We don't know who is Jaha's and who is ours among most of the guards. Only David Miller and Colonel Byrne are on our side. Most of the others are just plain ordinary guards, but some of them are dangerous and are Jaha's."
"Understood," Hunter said. "Who do I report back to?"
"Me," said Clarke. "Coming here without express permission isn't allowed so if you turn up here, someone is bound to get suspicious." Hunter nodded and went off to find Murphy in the other room.
"Think she'll work for us?" Monty whispered. Clarke nodded as did Kane.
"Found anything else, Monty?" Clarke asked.
"Only some more stash spots. Most of Jaha's files have been found, Clarke. All that's left are just miscellaneous normal everyday files dealing with his official duties." Clarke nodded.
"I want all the stash spots found, Monty. We need to make sure they do not get their hands on anything we could use on the ground. I know some of them will slip through the cracks, we just have to hope they don't try to steal one of the ships."
"I don't know where they'd keep their other lists at. Where was Diana Sydney keeping hers?"
"We haven't found them yet. Shumway's and Pike's have been found, but not hers," Kane said.
"What we've found so far will be enough to have her floated. Maybe if you promise not to float her and to take her down, she'll give up the location of her stuff."
"She wouldn't go for it, Clarke, she knows we don't need her."
"I know. Where was Pike's?"
"Some were in the escape pod and some were in a panel in his classroom."
"Seriously, he hid them in school?"
"Yes."
"Okay, when Murphy's told Hunter where to check, you'd better put him back into the skybox, it's getting close to the end of visiting." Kane nodded and went into his office. A few minutes later, Hunter came into the secret room.
"Kane's taken Murphy back," she said.
"He'll be back in about ten minutes. Monty, how are we on that escape pod and how many can we stuff into it?"
"It's fine so far, the nav system is not as bad as it was thought. I think Jaha's people back then were keeping it as a fall back, just in case. The pilot will still need to eyball the approach, but the nav system can take them to the general area."
"It can? Brilliant!"
"If we move some things about and squash people in, I think we can take 38 people including us."
"So with you, me, Harper, Octavia, Erin, Monroe, Miller, Drew, Jones and maybe one other, that leaves 28 spaces to fill. Did you find an up to date prison list?"
"Yep, I've provisionally drawn up a list of the 28 due to be floated for turning 18."
"Why provisionally?" asked Hunter.
"Because any kids put into prison from now until we go down could be placed on that list, depending on how old they are," Monty explained.
"Ahh," Hunter said, nodding.
"So, Hunter, over the next week, please go check those places Murphy has identified. If you find any more food, Hide half of it and tell me about the rest. Until we can all come down, kids are still going to be floated after we go down. I've talked to Kane and he's agreed that he'll pretend to float them, but what will actually happen is you take them to a secret place and they stay there until we go down. That's why I want you to stay up here. You're the only one I trust with this, Hunter."
"Me? But I don't know how to do that!"
"It's okay, Hunter. Once we explain to those kids due to be floated, I think they'll agree to hiding. That food you find will be used to feed them. I also need them to have access to toilet facilities, so if you can find them someplace near one they can use without needing to be out in the open, it would be better."
"That's all they need, though, right? Access to a bathroom and food?"
"Yeah, that's all."
"Okay, I'll do it," Hunter said.
"Good, you can check on places as you go to find these new stash spots." Hunter nodded as Kane came back.
"Okay, Murphy's back in lockup and I need to get home," he said. Everyone got up and the three kids left by the secret route while Kane left through the office door, locking it behind him.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Hunter moved through the tunnels to the first place Murphy suspected was used as a stash spot. She moved through the more used areas of Flint which were the living quarters, towards the less used corridors. She stopped to listen every few feet. So far, she'd been lucky and knew a few of those times she could have easily been caught, but those were her being bored and finding her own excitement. Now she knew if she was caught by the wrong people, she would be floated before anyone else knew about it.
She paused outside the hatch she needed. She listened again for movement inside the room, but she heard nothing. Next was checking for traps. Murphy had told her of the one used in the skybox. She checked for it and others. She found one, a contact alarm. This one was simple to fool, all she needed was a piece of flattened wire to slide between the contacts, both ends attached to one of the points and then the door could be opened. The trick was to make sure the wire was long enough for the door to be opened wide enough to pass through. Luckily for her, she'd thought it through and brought some with her. Using some adhesive putty, she attached the ends to the contacts and was able to open the hatch wider. She squeezed through and checked for any other traps inside. Finding none, she entered the room and started to look around.
She found a pile of food hidden in a small ottoman sitting next to a couch. She sighed, wondering just how much food they stole. She moved to the couch and checked for hidden places. She moved on to the desk and opened a drawer and saw some files. She read one and saw it was Shumway's file on the others in the cabal. He had notes on their usefulness, how much he trusted them and what he'd to do with them when they got down. Hunter realised that Shumway was trying to set himself up as king of the hill. He was delusional about how much he was needed.
She replaced it for now, she'd been told to move all files out and the food too. She'd do as Clarke asked and only report half the food once she'd moved the rest out and into a safe place. She moved on to the framed picture on the wall. She checked it visually first for traps and, finding none, she tried to move the frame, but it wouldn'r move. She stopped and checked the edges of the frame again. This time she checked the wall edge more carefully and found a couple of small hinges. She pulled on the frame from the opposite side and it swung open like a door. She looked inside and saw more files and food. She moved some of the things around and found a list of prison kids they wanted to exploit. Some had breeder beside their names - mostly the girls - and some had slave labour beside their names. Several other names were also in the list including Clarke Griffin. Hunter would need to be careful who read this file. She'd show it to Clarke first. She was sickened by the atrocities the cabal thought they could perpetrate on their own. It was bad enough exploiting other people up on the Ark, but for those who thought they were the last of their kind, it was disgusting.
She found nothing else so she moved the files out first and then came back for half the food. She moved that into one of the small spaces she'd found that had been overlooked by everyone, probably because it was screwed shut - or at least it looked like it had. Hunter had cut the screw heads off and glued them back onto the panel and used a low adhesive tape to keep it looking like it was still screwed to the wall.
She then went back and put everything else back as she'd found it and then left. This was more nerve-wracking than she thought. It was much more intense than doing it for fun!
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
She told Clarke the next day and showed her the file. Clarke checked the names in the file against the kids in lockup and found some that were not yet in prison. Roma Bragg, Kate Cameron, Harper McIntyre and...herself. Harper was definately going to the ground with them after finding that. Roma and Kate would be taken too. That was three more free kids for the pod and three more prisoners not taken. Clarke hoped that Hunter could hide them for long enough.
She sat down at the desk in the hidden room in the skybox. Now that it had been cleared out, she used it herself as an office, but she always took her files out with her. She left nothing for anyone else to find. She amended the list Monty had printed off for her. She took off the youngest of those due to be floated before the dropship was sent down and sighed. She knew there was a chance of someone being sent to prison who was 17, but she didn't want too many of them thrown in jail. She toyed with the idea of gathering the seventeen years olds together and explaining the situation and asking them not to commit a crime, but she knew if she did that, someone would tell others and then the secret would get out. 40 people to squeeze into the pod. She drew the configuration of the pod and then tried to figure out how to squeeze them all in. Wells as pilot need a seat, but the rest could be squeezed onto the floor space. If she put twenty five around the walls, then that means 15 people to put in the middle. The problem was how to keep them in one place and not move around. She didn't need them floating around and then smashing into the controls when they hit the atmosphere. She needed to speak to her dad and Raven next time she was alone in the radio room.