Chapter 5 - The Way You Smile When You Try To Bend The Truth
Bellamy strode into the room where his generals from all clans sat. Not bothering to acknowledge any of the greetings they gave him. His body was full of hard lines of tension and his jaw worked his muscles up and down as he ground his teeth together.
"I want the sky people gone." He ground out as he sat at the head of the table.
"Yes, Heda." Everyone bowed their heads.
"I want them all dead, especially the Sky Princess." He finally looked up at his generals. "Tristan, tell me what Trikru has planned. I warned you, that if they failed to honor our peace talks then we would show them our strength."
Tristan's hawk-eyed features stared up at Bellamy. "Heda, we are going to release the prisoner with the sickness. Once it takes hold Anya and her warriors are going to attack, full force."
He templed his hands, tucking his fingers under his chin. "You believe that she will get it done?"
"I believe that Anya is mad enough now that they will indeed get it done." He inclined his head towards Bellamy.
"If she fails this time, Tristan, you will be returning to Trikru and you will not return until you see it done."
"Yes, Heda." Tristan bowed as did the remainder of the room. Bellamy rose without a word and swept out of the room just as quickly has he had rushed in.
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The next morning passed Clarke by in a fog. A group of them made their way to the crash site. Raven was looking for something called a Black Box. She wandered around the wreckage not really seeing or hearing the others as her eyes skipped over each charred set of remains.
The first thing she does remember is Raven calling out to her as she peered into the leaking piece of debris. "Rocket fuel?"
Raven looked at her in concern as she nodded. "Hydrazine. It's highly unstable in its non-solid form. If this stuff meets fire, we're all pink mist."
Raven reached down and soaked a cloth in the Hydrazine as it dripped out of the tank. She called out "fire in the hole" as she threw the wet cloth into an area away from the other kids that was still smoldering from the crash. She called out to Murphy that they needed to clear the area and Clarke sunk back into her head as she watched the rest of the kids fall into line as they began to leave the crash site.
By the time they arrived back in camp the kids who stayed behind had broken into an excited chatter. One of the younger kids that had been clinging to Wells throughout the last several weeks came flying out of the dropship to bounce slightly on her toes in front of Clarke and Wells.
"Wells! Pascal came back!"
Wells cocked his head, "He came back?"
The tone of her young voice raised in pitch. "Yeah! He came back. I mean he's all bloody, but he came back. At first, we thought he was a grounder when he hit the trip wire and some of the boys went out to check but it was Pascal! Connor and Derek found him and brought him inside the dropship."
"Is Trina with him?" Wells crouched down to the little girl's height, gently brushing her hair back out of her face.
The little girl dug her toe into the ground, unable to meet his eyes. "No, we didn't see her."
Murphy turned to look at a couple of the gunners with the little girls answer. "Take some guns. Pair up. Search the woods around here."
Having the answers that she needed, she moved around the rest of the group into the dropship. She shook her head to clear it, knowing she could not allow her grief to miss something that could be vital to their survival. Seeing the crowd gathered around the young man who was writhing in pain. "Alright, everyone clear the area. Get outside."
Clarke leaned down to check the boy. He was covered in blood, one eye swollen. Cuts and abrasions all over his face and arms. His clothes were torn and bloodied. Clarke lifted his hands to inspect them and noticed the ravaged nail beds where the nails had been torn away. His chest was heaving as he tried to draw breath.
"Pascal, what happened to you?" Clarke ran her hands gently over his hair, dropping her voice low to be as soothing as possible.
He opened his one good eye to look up at Clarke. "G- grounde-ers. They, they took us. Me and T-trina. Tortured u-us. Kill- killed her."
"What did you tell them?" Murphy's voice made Clarke jump, not realizing that he had followed her in.
"Murphy." Clarke turned around and chided the dark-haired boy behind her. Pascal cut Clarke off before she could say anything else.
"Everything." Pascal gripped Clarke's arm, pulling her face back towards him. "And then they killed Trina. They just - just killed her. I tried- tried to -"
Clarke shushed the distraught man. Whispering reassurances to him as she tried to pass water through his lips. She grabbed a cloth and started to wipe away the blood that coated his face after getting a little bit of water into him. Clarke met Murphy's eyes silently over the prone boy.
Clarke started feeling nauseous later in the day after trying to get Pascal into some semblance of rest. She took a moment to head over to the red and white tent that housed the radio. Hoping the Ark has started communicating again and that someone in Medical could help her. Not her mom though, her mom was dead.
Looking up Clarke was startled to see Raven sitting and fiddling with the radio. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't know anyone was here."
Raven turned to look at Clarke at the sound of her voice. Her eyebrows furrowed at the despondent look on Clarkes face. "You okay?"
Shaking her head to clear the sudden drifting thoughts. The nausea started rising in her throat again. Grief could do funny things, and Clarke had plenty to grieve. "Yeah."
Raven turned back to the radio musing on how they still hadn't heard anything from the Ark. "It's like they shut it down from their side. It could be solar flares blocking the signal."
Clarke moved further in the tent. "But you don't think so."
Raven shook her head, finally turning fully towards Clarke. "I got a bad feeling."
Clarke's hand came up to her stomach. Nodding in agreement "Yeah, there's a lot of that going around." Clarke turned to leave before Raven's voice calling her name stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm sorry about your mom." Raven finally looked up into Clarke's eyes. She stood up quickly. "Oh, my God, Clarke, your eyes"
Clarke reached up to wipe the tears off her cheeks. Bringing her hand away from her face she saw the blood staining her fingertips. A commotion from outside the tent and Connor's voice calling her name had her rushing outside of the tent. Conner was stooped over coughing up blood.
He looked up to Clarke's eyes, his own widened in fear. "It won't stop."
Raven came to stand beside Clarke. "Clarke! What's happening?"
Another kid from the other side of camp started coughing. Clarke stood still as she surveyed the camp. The nausea, the bloody tears, coughing up blood; they had finally found the retaliation from the grounders. Turning to look at Raven while she walked away from her. "Raven, get away...stay away from me."
Raven looked confused. "What?"
Clarke looked back at the boys who were coughing up blood. "They were the ones that brought Pascal in. Get them in the dropship now"
Clarke moved as quickly as she could back into the dropship before falling to her knees near Pascal. She shook him awake. "Pascal. Hey. I need you to look at me." She brushed his hair out of his face. "I need you to tell me how you got away from the grounders."
He looked up at her. "I don't know. I woke up, and they forgot to lock my cage. There was no one there, so I took off."
She looked away from him. "They let you go."
She heard the quick swish of the fabric as Murphy strode in. "What is going on, Clarke."
"Biological Warfare." She looked at him. "You were waiting for the Grounders to retaliate for the bridge? This is it. Pascal is the weapon"
Pascal's weak voice came floating up. "I didn't know about this. I swear."
"You didn't know!" Murphy shouted as he moved forward, reach out towards Pascal.
"Hey, Murphy! No! Whatever this is, it spreads through contact." That stopped Murphy in his tracks. The swishing of the fabric door drew their attention back to the entrance of the dropship.
Finn entered her line of sight, moving swiftly towards her. "Clarke."
Clarke walked backwards from him with her hands raised. "Finn, you shouldn't be here. No one should."
Finn shook his head but stopped moving towards her. "I heard you were sick. Clarke, what is this?"
She looked up at Murphy as she answered. "I don't know, some kind of hemorrhagic fever. We just need to contain it before-" The coughing from Derek cut her off.
She swayed as she turned to move towards the coughing boy. Finn reached out towards her to steady her. "Hey, don't touch me. You could get sick. Wash your hands. Now."
She grabbed the moonshine and poured it over his hands. They turned at the sound of Derek retching up blood. Finn looked up at her in shock. "What the hell is happening to him?"
She looked around at the others. "I don't know."
Derek vomited more blood, his chest heaving desperately. Clarke moved in closer as Derek struggled to try and sit up before falling over with a gasping breath as he clutched his chest. His eyes widened as his breath got more and more strangled. He finally stopped breathing.
Murphy looked at her in surprise. "Is he -"
"He's dead." She met Murphy's eyes. Holding out the moonshine again she poured it on Murphy's hands as well "Here. Alcohol. Hold out your hand."
"What do we do?" Finn's voice broke her eye connection with Murphy.
She looked at Finn before meeting Murphy's eyes again. "Quarantine. Round up everyone who had contact with him. Bring them here."
"And everyone they had contact with?" Murphy's voice took on an edge of hysteria.
"Well, we have to start somewhere." Clarke's voice took on a soothing edge. She turned to Connor who still had blood pouring from his mouth. "Connor, who was with you when you found him? Who carried him in? Think."
"Just us." He told her. Finn turned and left swiftly.
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Lincoln had been scouting the area surrounding the sky people, when he saw the prisoner covered from head to toe in blood. The young man was running as quickly as he could, looking over his shoulder at every turn.
Lincoln felt his heart plummet into his stomach. Anya had been the first to make the leap to aggression and Octavia must have been unable to convince her brother of the truth. Moving quickly, he flew across the brush hoping to make it back to the camp before the boy did.
By the time he reached the camp walls they had already escorted the young man inside. He knew it was too late. He vowed to sit and watch until the last of their people was gone, to hold silent sentry to what was sure to be a bloody end to the sky people. To tell of their story when they were all gone. What he didn't expect was less than 3 hours later, when the sickness had truly begun to spread, was for the long-haired peacemaker to seek him out.
Finn gestured to Lincoln in greeting. "We found the kid your people sent to infect us. People are dying, Lincoln. Please give us the cure."
Lincoln looked at the boy in surprise; surprise that this boy thought that he was one of the good grounders in such surety that he'd approach him for the cure that didn't exist. "There is no cure."
"So, you're just gonna let my people die?" The lines of angry drew Finn's face into a fierce scowl.
Shaking his head. He wasn't sure how this boy had been one of the strong ones if he had such a weak countenance. "The sickness passes quickly. Few are immune. We use it to soften the battlefield. Though I am surprised you are one of the strong ones"
Finn's scowl slid off his face to a look of confusion. "The battlefield?"
Lincoln was sure this boy would never have made it as a warrior. "They will attack at first light. It is our way."
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A few hours later Clarke was standing on the edge of the ramp to the dropship. Wells concerned eyes looked at her. "You got enough food in there, water?"
Clarke's soft eyes met his. "Yeah." The corners of her mouth lifted. "Some medicine might be nice."
His lifted his in response to her. "I'll see what I can do."
Wells turned to move towards the exit of camp when a kid turned to look at him with bleeding eyes. Wells staggered away from him, urging him to move into the dropship. The other delinquents stood up and started to trip over each other to get away. Before another girl collapsed into someone's arms, coughing blood up over everyone who was close.
The panic that swept the camp quickly turned violent as kids pulled guns on each other. Wells and Murphy tried to get the group to calm down and think straight. Clarke walked back into the dropship to grab a gun.
Firing two shots to get the group's attention she started to walk down the ramp, swaying ever so gently as she did. "This is exactly what the grounders want. Don't you see that? They don't have to kill us if we kill each other first."
When one of the kids turned a gun on Clarke, Murphy elbowed the kid in the throat and turned to her. "I hate to state the obvious, but your quarantine isn't working."
Clarke swayed more noticeably as Wells called out her name. Finn jogged back into camp up to the edge of the group. Unable to help herself as weakness raced through her body, she pitched forward. Finn darted forward to catch her before she hit the ground. Raven's shriek to not touch her reached her ears as he swept her feet out from under her.
"She's right let me go. I'm okay." Clarke tried to resist his hold.
"No, you're not." He said as he lifted her higher. "There is no cure. They don't use the sickness to kill. They-"
Murphy cut Finn off pointing angrily at the dead bodies that had accumulated off to the side of the dropship. "Tell that to them!"
Finn's teeth ground together as he bounced Clarke up in her arms. "They use the sickness to soften the battlefield. They are attacking at first light. Come on, let's get you in the dropship."
Clarke's head lolled onto Finn's shoulder as she struggled to open her eyes. "What do I have to do to stop you from coming in here?"
"Get better." He gazed down at her with a soft smile on his face. "If I'm not sick by now, then I'm probably immune."
Finn set her down on an empty hammock that used to hold Pascal's body before he succumbed to his injuries and the fever.
"What else did Lincoln tell you?" Clarke used all her energy to look up at Finn. "I'm assuming that's how you know."
Finn brushed some hair out of her face before running his thumbs along the skin under her eyes. She must have looked grotesque; she knew the blood still sat in her eyes from the red tint she had to her vision. "The virus doesn't last long."
Clarke tried to move out of the hammock before Finn's hands moved down to her shoulders. Pressing her back into the hammock. She conceded for a moment before she started to struggle again. "They need to stay hydrated."
Finn's hands swept over her face again. "You need to stay hydrated." His voice placating.
Clarke leaned up to sip the water from the cup that one of the kids who had gotten sick first, brought over. "Okay. Them, too. Please?"
The other kid nodded and headed off to get the others who were still bed bound water. Clarke pleaded with Finn to take the healthy ones with them and leave. His eyes soften on her face. His only response was, "If you think that's even a possibility, you don't know me very well."
Clarke's foggy, fever filled eyes drank in Finn's face. Her hand coming up to brush his face with a soft touch. "I know you," her words whispered before her hand dropped back to her side.
Murphy stared between the two of them before offering up "At this rate, when the Grounders get here, there won't be anyone left to fight back."
Clarke's eyes drifted away from Finn's face to meet Murphy's. "That's the point."
Clarke could feel Finn's eyes scanning her face. As her eyes drifted closed, she heard Finn whisper "Then we slow them down." before he turned and strode out of the dropship and she slipped off to sleep.
The next time Clarke finds herself awake; Murphy is struggling to breath in a cot across the room. She moves over to him and takes the water from the young girl who was trying to get him to sit up enough to drink
He looked up at her; his face paler that she thought he could ever be. "You feeling better?"
She nodded at him with a soft "yeah."
"Finn and Jasper are going to blow up the bridge, buy us some time." He looked down at his hands. "It's almost dawn, we should get everyone inside. Close the door, maybe the grounders will think we aren't home."
She looked over at him in surprise. "Not everyone is sick."
He raised his eyebrows, "Sick is better than dead."
She looked back at him, mirroring his expression. "You don't think Finn and Jasper are gonna pull it off?"
He just sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Do you?"
She sighed but didn't answer the question. Standing up, she walked toward the entrance with a soft "I'll get everyone inside."
Clarke walked outside and called to the camp to make their way into the dropship. Anyone still feeling healthy to make their way up to the upper levels. It took some time, but they got everyone into the ship with enough rations and water for them to stay locked in for at least 48 hours.
By the time Clarke was finished loading everyone into the ship, Murphy was up and moving. He came to stand beside her, looking out at everything they built so far. Clarke was just about to say something to that effect when they hear the explosion. The dust that rose above the trees following the sound.
"They did it." Murphy sounded as surprised as she was sure she looked.
"I am become death, destroyer of worlds." Clarke eyes stared down the cloud of dust in the air.
At the sound the kids started to file out of the drop ship away from those who were still clinging to sickness, hesitantly returning to their posts. Clarke finally took a second to sit herself on the edge of the ramp.
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Bellamy paced back and forth in front of Tristan. His anger was a force that pushed Tristan back from his Heda.
"You are telling me that, this - this girl. That she - she blew our people up?" Bellamy's hands yanked at his hair as he paced. "That she took out dozens of our people in seconds."
Tristan stood silent with his hands clasped behind his back. Unwilling to answer and risk the commander's wrath.
"Well," Bellamy stopped to stare at Tristan. A glare firm on his face. "Are you going to answer me or not."
"Yes Heda." Tristan sneered. "This skai gada blew up the bridge with our people on it, but our warriors did not see her at the bridge, only her warriors."
"As you would expect. This is why leaders are leaders, Tristan. So, we must make the hard calls." He resumed his pacing. "Tristan, she must answer for what she's done. Take 300 of our warriors and get me her head."
"Sha, Heda." Tristan nodded.
Bellamy looked at Tristan, a fierce glare settled on his face. "I want it by the end of the week."
"Sha, Heda." Tristan bowed as he swiftly exited the room, leaving Bellamy to continue pacing the room as his long dark cape swept out behind him.
He couldn't believe that this little girl who couldn't even call herself a warrior could counter him at every move. He'd have been impressed if he wasn't so frustrated with her. She was making him look like a fool before all his people. Tensions between clans were straining at the bounds of the coalition, and they couldn't afford for them to snap. It would mean the end of him.
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Clarke turned to Murphy as he scrutinized the people on the first watch switching out with second. "It's been two days. Maybe the bomb at the bridge scared them off for good."
He raised an eyebrow at her with an amused smile on his lips. "You believe that?"
She smiled back at him, shaking his head. "No. They're coming."
"Jasper thinks he can cook up some more gunpowder if he gets some sulfur, and Raven says she can turn that into landmines." He shoulder checked her as his amusement bubbled up out of his throat. "So be careful where you step."
Clarke rolled her eyes at him, bumping him back with her shoulder.
"What I really need is a thousand more of her tin can bombs I can roll into their village and blow those Grounders to hell." Murphy sighed almost wistfully. "That's what they want to do to us."
She shook her head at him. "Can't believe we survived a hundred years just so we could slaughter each other." Turning her head towards him, scanning his face. "There has to be another way. Any word from the Ark?"
He shook his head apologetically. "No. Radio silence. They must have finally run out of air."
The weight of her grief drew her eyes to the ground as her toes kicked the leave litter around. "Maybe my mom was lucky being on the Exodus ship. At least it was quick. No one is coming down to save us."
"Oh, Clarke." He shrugged his arm over her shoulder. "I'm sorry about your mom."
She sniffled a little but refused to let the tears fall from her eyes. She stepped out of his embrace just before the sound of a fire roaring behind them reached her ears as electrified shouts of the kids rose up. She and Murphy took off towards the fire.
"What happened?" Clarke grabbed one of the girls standing at the front, closest to the fire.
The girl just shrugged her shoulders. Clarke raised her voice. "Okay everyone, we can't get enough water on this to put it out. Clear everything flammable away from it and I need some people to keep watch on it to make sure it doesn't spread."
By the time the fire had gone out it was clear that they could not salvage any of the smoke house and all of the food in it was gone. Clarke turned to Murphy with a look, knowing he wasn't going to like the next words out of her mouth. "We have to hunt. Anyone we can spare goes out."
To her surprise it was Wells, who answered and not Murphy. "With the whole Grounder army out there?"
She sighed, running frustrated hands over face. "Look. We can't defend ourselves if we're starving."
"You're right." He agreed. Sighing, knowing that he didn't have any room to stand.
Within hours they had a plan in place and Murphy was debriefing the rest of camp. "Each group takes someone with a gun, and they're for killing Grounders, not food. We don't have the ammo. Use the spears for hunting. Get what you can. Be back by nightfall. No one stays out after dark."
Everyone was nodding but many of them looked nervous. Clarke was hoping that wouldn't keep them from finding food. Clarke made her way to the pile of weapons that were sitting in the middle of camp, when Myles approached her looking very much like a puppy she'd seen on the vids on the Ark. "Hey Clarke. You alone? You maybe want to go together?"
She couldn't suppress her smile as she agreed. "Sure. I'll get some gear."
He turned and bound away from her to grab a gun. She laughed slightly shaking her head as she tested the weight of a spear in her hands. A soft scuffle of boots behind her alerted her to the presence of a person before she heard Finn's voice. "You ready to go?"
Shaking her head Clarke turned to look at him. "Yeah, I don't think so."
His lips turned up in a quick flash of a smile as he looked her up and down. "Come on. I'm a good tracker. You're lousy with a spear, but you're sneaky. We make a good team."
Finn brushed a few fingers against her wrist before Myles bound back up to her. "Hey, partner, we're wasting daylight." Myles turned at the quick laugh that burst from Finn. "Oh, Finn, you're joining the band?"
"Sure." Finn's grin grew larger as he turned to meet Clarke's eye.
"Awesome. Haven't really got a chance to hang with you guys much." Myles turned to follow Finn and Clarke toward the gate. His bouncing voice never stopping, even as Clarke and Finn snickered at each other. "Hey, do you even know how I got arrested on the Ark?"
Finn shook his head as he ran his hands through his long hair. "I'm dying to hear about it."
After several hours Myles voice still filled the air around them. Finn still managed to keep the air around them light, even though they needed quiet to actually find the animal. The animal that they had finally caught the tracks of.
"Hope it's not one of those scaly panther things, is it?" Myles queried.
Finn shook his head as he traced the tracks in the dirt. "Boar"
Myles scoffed with excitement. "Good, because that panther meat is nasty, but I could eat a whole boar by myself, no joke. You know what the best part is of the boar? It's gonna sound gross."
Clarke noticed Finn's intense scrutinization of the dirt around the tracks, moving on to the next set quickly. "Myles, quiet for a second. Finn, what is it?"
Finn looked up to meet her eyes. "These tracks."
He gestured to the tracks on the ground with perfect pattern, outlining one set before pointing out the next two set of tracks. "They're perfect."
Finn nodded at her. "Too perfect. We're the ones being hunted."
Myles brought the gun up to scan the area around them. "I don't see anythin -"
Myles screamed as two arrows hit him in the chest in quick succession. He teetered down to the ground. Clarke moved down to hover her hands over his shoulders, calling his name hoping that he'd open his eyes and look at her.
Finn grabbed at her arm and tried to pull her away from Myles. "Clarke come on. We got to leave him."
Before he could yank her away from Myles a grounder came up behind her and swung a club down across the back of her head. She teetered forward as her vision started to fade to the darkness. The last thing she heard was Finn calling her name.
