The camp had gone downhill in less than an hour. The teenagers swarmed the side of the dropship, and in the middle were Murphy and Wells, fists raised and ready to fight. Murphy was light on his feet, dancing from side to side tauntingly as he raised his brow cockily. On the other hand, Wells stayed firm in his stance, a scowl on his lips as he steadily watched Murphy try and scare him into an attack by feinting blows.
After a moment, Murphy had found Wells' weak point. All of his attention was on the upper half of him. So, when Murphy moved forward and locked his foot around his ankle, Wells was easily slammed back.
Wells didn't stay down for long. Then, standing up, his ankle twisted as he used his other to keep his balance.
The teenagers around them were watching eagerly, chanting wildly at the two. They were eager for blood to spill, not bothered by who, but mostly wanted Wells' blood spilled the most. They projected their anger at what Wells' father had done to them and wanted to see him eaten away down here with no protection.
Casey had made it to the dropship and through the crowd mid-fight. She didn't want to realize the severity of the situation, but as she stood on the edge of the crowd, she could see another 'fire in the arresting officer's quarters' incident about to happen.
She was about to drag Murphy from the fight by the back of the neck, embarrassing him in front of the whole camp, but he got lucky. The floater in the dropship had landed in between Murphy and Wells. He flipped his shaggy hair from his eyes as he smiled between the two.
"Kid's got one leg," the floater said to Murphy with a small, condescending smile. "How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"
Murphy scowled but didn't move to try and fight Wells again. He knew the others would only see him as pathetic and hostile if he did. Instead, Murphy clenched his fists and frowned. He turned, finding Casey in the crowd. She nodded her head for him to walk over. Murphy did but stormed past her.
"I'm fine," he claimed before walking out of the crowd.
Casey rolled her eyes as she walked away from the crowd. She stood off to the side as the rest of the delinquents began messing around as night crept in. She frowned, tapping her leg as she wondered if they could even survive the night.
"Hey, uh, Casey, right?" the floater asked suddenly with a relaxed smile as he strode up to her. His hands were shoved into his pockets as he looked down at her. "I'm Finn. Noticed you were about to jump in to break up the fight. Sorry to ruin your moment."
"Not a moment," Casey willed herself to say, eyeing Finn for a turn of intention in his body language. "Just trying to keep my brother in line."
"Your...?"
"Figuratively," Casey assured him. Her eyes drifted over to where Bellamy stood, talking to his sister intensely. Octavia glared at Bellamy and snapped back whatever she had to say to him.
"Well, you seem smart and brave. Some of us noticed that, well, we're not on Mount Weather like we're supposed to be. We have no supplies. A few of us are going on a trip to get some. You wanna come?" Finn asked her.
Casey turned back to him and then caught sight of Murphy walking around with a group of teenage delinquents ready to pick another fight. She turned back to Finn with a curt nod. She needed a moment to breathe outside of them.
"I'll go," Casey said, holding her hand out to him. Finn peeled his hand out of his jacket and shook hers warmly. "Anything to get out of here," she admitted, pulling away.
"That's one," Finn exclaimed and dragged her over to the others venturing to Mount Weather.
"Casey is joining the team!" Finn cheered as they approached the others. "Casey, this is Clarke, Monty, and Jasper."
Finn started to head out, but Casey stopped him, asking if she could tell Murphy bye. He assured her they'd wait until she returned, but they needed to get going soon. Casey nodded her head and darted down the small hill, past Octavia kissing Bellamy's cheek, and skidded to a stop in front of Murphy.
"Woah, Case, what are you doing?" Murphy asked between a chuckle, holding his hands out in case he needed to steady her.
Casey stood, panting slightly with her hands on her thighs before standing straight.
"I'm going... to Mount Weather," she breathed heavily, fanning her face. "Shit, I really need to work out more."
"You're going to Mount Weather?" Murphy asked with a raised brow and frowned. "No, come on, stay here. Like Bellamy said, let the privileged kids do it. They deserve it for what they've put us through!"
"John," Casey sighed. "You know they won't be able to bring back enough food for all of us. I'm not asking you to go."
Murphy frowned, readjusting his footing, and crossed his arms. He wasn't convinced.
Casey rolled her eyes.
"Besides, I can't stand to be around him," she stated, darting her eyes towards Bellamy so he'd understand who she meant.
"Him?" Murphy asked, confused until he looked back at Casey and realization crossed his features. "Is he the guy—?"
"Yeah, so, I'm going," Casey explained, crossing her arms and mimicking Murphy's stance without realizing, her finger tapping four times against her wristband.
Murphy looked down at her hand and then back to her face. His eyes darted around as he took in what she was saying. Murphy couldn't think about it long, stressing himself out. So, he waved his hand at her dismissively, pushing back the negative thoughts as much as he could.
"Fine, whatever," Murphy sighed.
"Oh, and save me a cot since we're obviously sharing a tent. Like old times," Casey grinned, pulling him in for a tight hug.
"Um, what if I was saving that cot for girls?" Murphy asked, dramatically stepping away from her and raising his hands.
"What girl would want to be with you that could be with me?" Casey asked with a smug grin and winked, daring away before he could hit her upside the head.
"Ready to go?" Finn asked her sweetly when she made it back to them.
Casey nodded, and the group headed out for Mount Weather.
"Before you get any ideas," Octavia spoke up, walking in between Clarke ahead of her and Casey behind her. "Finn's mine."
"Before you get any ideas," Clarke huffed. "I don't care."
Octavia chuckled slightly as if she didn't believe Clarke but turned to look at Casey up and down with a smirk on her pink lips.
"What about you?" Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"All I want is to get through this day without feeling like my brain is about to explode," Casey told her. Octavia shuttered at the cold gaze Casey had pinned on her and turned away, uncomfortable with the hollowness in her eyes.
Casey walked through the woods with the group for about half an hour. Finally, a comfortable silence landed over them as the people who had never seen a patch of green grass or a tree loom over them became enraptured.
Finn had found a bush with beautiful purple flowers growing, plucking one of the flowers and presented it to Octavia, making her cheeks flush.
"Now, that, my friend, is game," Jasper claimed, staring at Octavia while he leaned over to his best friend, Monty.
Casey glanced at the two boys, recognizing them from the Ark. Jasper was lanky and sweet with warm brown eyes and goggles she had never seen him take off. Monty was shorter and not as bony as Jasper, with dark, soul-searching eyes. Monty typically seemed to be sarcastic, analytical, and blunt. At the same time, Jasper swam around in his own little world while minding enough attention to the outside world to still be nice to people. The two boys were around a year or two younger than Casey, so she didn't know them well. However, living on Farm Station, she knew them in passing.
"That, my friend, is poison sumac," Monty told Jasper bluntly. His eyes darted to Octavia when he said 'poison' and watched as his words lit a fire beneath her skin. She panicked, swatting the flower out of her hair as quickly as she could before it killed her.
"What? It is?" Octavia asked, her words clipped as she tried to remain calm, the flower now out of her hair.
"The flowers aren't poisonous," Casey assured her, although the damage was done. The flower was now crushed, bent beneath their boots, and swallowed by the dirt.
"Exactly. They're medicinal, calming, actually," Monty agreed with Casey, turning back to eye Casey for a second before shoving the flower into his mouth to prove his point.
"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper explained to the others.
Ahead of them, Clarke stood waiting for them impatiently, a frown on her face as she called out to them, "Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?"
"Come on, Clarke," Finn called back in mild curiosity. "How do you block all this out?" he asked, jogging toward her with the others following behind.
Clarke gave Finn a blank stare. Her blue eyes almost looked tired and beyond her years at Finn's simple question.
"Well, it's simple," Clarke began. "I wonder: 'Why haven't we seen any animals? Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe we've been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty though'," she finished with a slight shrug, turning to look at the others and nodding her head. "Come on."
"Someone should slip her some poison sumac," Octavia muttered, nodding her head at Clarke's retreating back.
They all laughed in response to Octavia, Jasper snorting loudly as if Octavia's comment had been the funniest thing he had ever heard. Monty elbowed him in the rib cage while Casey looked at him with a teasing look on her face as she quirked an eyebrow.
Jasper's face turned bright red at how quickly he had been caught, but neither said a word to further embarrass him.
They continued to trail after Clarke at the same distance as before. However, they tried to keep their attention on making it to Mount Weather rather than focusing on the newness of everything. They had time to take it all in later, and Casey would rather avoid Clarke barking at them again.
Finn turned back to Monty and Jasper with a broad smile, shaking his head in amusement at the two as he asked, "I gotta know what you two did to get busted."
"Sumac is not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean," Monty explained, his words lingering so that the connection was made. "Someone forgot to replace what we took," Jasper continued, darting his eyes to look pointedly at Monty.
"Someone has apologized, like, a thousand times!"
"What about you guys?" Finn asked, trying to diffuse the tension between the boys, even if it was lighthearted.
"Assault," Casey replied blankly. Her gaze fell hard as Finn tried to pull more out of her with those puppy dog eyes, but she wasn't budging.
Casey didn't feel like it was okay to just ask people what they got arrested for. She knew some was for stupid stuff like smuggling extra rations or smoking weed and forgetting to replace it, but some of it hurt. Some of it was too painful to remember.
Finn frowned, a little disappointed he hadn't gotten much out of her, but before he could bug them to give up something, Jasper jumped into the little game he'd started.
"What about you, Octavia?" Jasper asked without thinking, caught up in the excitement of the moment and his crush on Octavia.
Casey's eyes shot towards Jasper, her shoulders tense as Octavia answered shortly, "Being born."
Octavia stormed away from the group and towards Clarke, who squatted in the grass, watching something.
"That," Monty commented. "... is so not game."
Monty and Jasper began hitting each other on the chests, oblivious to what was happening around them other than their minor dispute.
"Stop it!" Casey hissed, the two freezing as she waved her hand for them to hurry up and move to be with the others.
The small group huddled close together. Their fears, worries, and questions about the ground were abandoned as they stared out at a clearing where a deer stood, eating the grass. None of them had ever seen a live animal. Yet, the antlers on the deer's head were large and proud, its fur silky and chestnut brown. The sight of the creature brought a smile to all of their faces. It reassured that nagging at the back of their minds that everything had been destroyed after the apocalypse.
Maybe they had more of a chance on the ground than they thought.
"No animals, huh?" Finn asked Clarke smugly.
He crept a few steps closer, his foot finding a branch, and snapped it in half. The deer perked up at the noise, startled, and turned to stare straight at them.
They saw something straight out of a nightmare rather than the images they had been shown on the Ark. Flesh peeked out of the sides of its face where a second grew. Three eyes stared at them for a long moment to ensure their first image of life on earth would scar them forever.
Then, it scampered off into the woods east of them, and the breath caught in their throats was let out in one loud sigh, now free from the sight.
Author's Note
Season 1, Episode 1: Pilot
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like. However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until the next one.