"Hey, you know what I'd like to know?" Finn asked the group. "Why send us down today after ninety-seven years? What changed?"
Finn's words struck a chord within them.
Everyone on the Ark had dreamed of going to the ground, had envisioned it as they fell asleep, but that was all it was.
A dream.
What the delinquents had been sent down to do, to survive for the sake of the Ark, was nothing anyone could ever imagine happening. There was something strange surrounding the circumstances of their arrival.
They only had a two-week refresher course on Earth Skills and a departing message from Jaha after the dropship detached from the Ark. It was rushed and secretive. It didn't bode well for the condition of their home.
"Who cares?" Octavia chirped, her tone sweet yet callous on her tongue. "I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest!" she exclaimed, her hand resting around the trunk of a skinny tree before spinning around to land herself in Finn's path.
Finn gave her one glance before walking around her. The others followed to discuss the realization as if she hadn't said a word.
"I'd like to know, too," Casey stated casually, walking past Octavia without so much as a glance. "This isn't just some way to get rid of us without question. They would have just floated us if they wanted to do that."
"Or maybe they found something on a satellite, you know? Like an old weather satellite... or it wasn't a satellite," Monty theorized unconvincingly beside Casey, his hand rested against his chin as he thought on the mind-bending matter.
"Did you bring some of those plants you stole?" Casey asked Monty, distressed by whatever point he was trying to make.
"The Ark is dying!" Clarke blurted out suddenly, her body tense from the weight of her words as if she had been trying to hold them in, but they exploded out of her mouth without consent. Either way, she continued, "At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone."
Dead silence consumed them, stopping in their tracks as they stared at Clarke. She stared back at them, panting and shaken by her own words.
"What?" Casey asked, her voice hoarse as if Clarke's words had burned down her throat.
Casey's honey eyes were wide in horror. Her mom was on the Ark, one she loved more than anything and didn't want to think of as soon dead if the ground wasn't survivable or if the Ark's oxygen-depleted before they could get down.
"So, that was the secret they locked you up to keep? Why they kept you in solitary? Floated your old man?" Finn asked, he and Clarke now pulling the front to keep the group moving.
"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic," Clarke explained. "We were gonna go public, anyway, when Wells..."
"What?" Finn asked, turning to look at Clarke sharply. "Turned in your dad?"
The heartbreak and betrayal was evident on Clarke's face. Her eyebrows drew together, and her frown grew even more distressing. Casey couldn't imagine the pain of losing a father. One that you had grown up with, come to love, found a best friend in. She couldn't imagine her best friend betraying her, either. No matter John Murphy's wrong choices, she never believed he would betray her in the end.
"Anyway," Clarke continued, brushing past Finn's comment. "The Guard showed up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time."
There was another brief silence, the forest offering nothing but an uncomfortable silence.
"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked, his voice soft and features falling dramatically as soon as all the information placed on them clicked into place.
Casey's body grew stiff, her mind distant. She didn't want to think of her mom dying upon the Ark alone as the Chancellor killed more and more people. She knew it was who they were, kill the one to save the many. But what happens when the one outgrows the many? What then?
Octavia walked through the group, a grin curling on her lips as she said, "Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all."
Casey trained her sights on Octavia. The coldness in her veins boiled, and every muscle in her body constricted, ready to strike as she approached Octavia. The girl stuffed beneath the floorboards with no love for anyone on the Ark. Casey understood her hatred and callousness. Still, there were people that Casey loved on the Ark, and Octavia's uncaring attitude on whether her mom lived or died pushed Casey to the edge.
"They didn't all do that to you," Casey claimed. Her voice was lighter than she anticipated, teetering between the hoarseness she had encountered earlier and a strangled choke trying to hold back her rage.
"No?" Octavia asked, taunting her as she turned to look at Casey. "Well, they didn't help either."
Octavia shrugged, turned back, and walked away from the group, uninterested in their conversation.
Casey, however, wasn't finished with her. Instead, she stormed after Octavia, wanting to shake some sense into the girl before she said something she'd regret. Something that would turn everyone but her brother against her because he'd feel obligated to agree with her. Something that would cause Casey to punch her right in her pretty face.
"Hey!" Casey shouted after Octavia, her anger seeping through her teeth. "Those people up there, you don't know them. You don't know if they tried to help you or not!"
They walked up a small cliff side where Octavia stopped at the edge, looking over with a giant smile, barely listening to what Casey had to say. Octavia took off her pants as Casey approached. Casey noticed but didn't pay her mind for long.
"I'm talking to you!" Casey screamed, catching Octavia's attention, and the group below stared at Octavia, half-naked.
"Well, I'm not," Octavia shrugged, amused by Casey's bright red face. "I think you need to cool off," Octavia claimed, pushing Casey into the river without a second thought.
Casey sucked in a deep breath of water. It burned her throat and filled her chest as she sank to the riverbed.
Death by asphyxiation, so that's how she'd go.
Octavia's hand pulled her up to her feet, and Casey came up coughing. She had already been beet red from yelling at Octavia, but now she felt ten times hotter from the embarrassment coating her skin.
"Are you alright?" Clarke called down to her, standing at the cliff's edge, looking down in mild worry.
"Fine," Casey muttered, crossing her arms and lowering herself into the water.
Clarke nodded and looked at the river with creased brows before looking down at the map.
"Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here," Clarke commented.
Casey was too annoyed to keep listening. She just wanted out. Casey wanted to be dry and warm; honestly, she'd prefer to be in her cell right now than on the ground. Even if she'd be dead by now. She just didn't want to be in the water with five strangers.
Casey was about to move back to shore and sulk on the rocks when she noticed Jasper's horror-struck expression. He looked just beyond her and Octavia, his skin sheet white, and his mouth dropped into a silent scream.
Casey turned to look at what he was staring at. A shadow underneath the water and heading straight toward her and Octavia.
Alarms sounded inside Casey's head, anxiety wracking its way up her veins. However, she couldn't let herself get stuck, or a river monster would eat her.
Casey took Octavia's hand while she stood smiling, oblivious to the danger creeping up behind them. Octavia shouted a short 'Hey!' before Jasper started screaming at them to get out of the water.
Octavia managed out with the help of Casey, pushing her toward the others and Jasper and Finn pulling her out. Finn leaned down to pull Casey out, their hands brushing against each other's before she was dragged under the water.
Casey's lungs filled with water once again, burning her throat like acid, and her head spun from the sharp movements the creature tugged her through. If it weren't because she was being dragged around the river by her leg, she thought this might be what floating is like.
Casey broke the surface for a moment, spewing water from her lungs, and took a deep breath before she was back under again, ready to accept her fate.
A rock splashed into the water by the cliffs where the others stood, causing the monster to stop in its tracks. Another followed soon after, and the falling objects enraptured the creature. Unable to get past the new prey, the beast let Casey go and swam for the rocks on the other side of the riverbed.
Casey doggy paddled the best she could to the nearby rocks before the monster returned for meat rather than stone. None of the kids of the Ark could swim, but she hoped her frantic movements would work, anyway.
Jasper jumped into the water, tall enough to reach the bottom of the river without worrying about drowning. He met Casey halfway, taking her by the arms, and dragged her to shore, where Monty waited for them. He grabbed her hands while Jasper stumbled onto the rocks and helped her get steady before falling back.
"Thank you," Casey muttered, patting Monty's shoulder as she laid back against the rocks. Jasper met her there, falling beside her as well. Casey patted Jasper's thigh in thank you.
Clarke ran from where she had dropped one last rock and assessed the damage on her thigh. Teeth gouged into the skin of her thigh, but thankfully she wouldn't die. Casey probably needed stitches, but they had little for that. So Clarke did what she could and gave Casey a weary smile.
"You're going to be just fine," she assured her, leaning over to Jasper and ripping the hem off his shirt, wrapping it around her leg to slow the circulation.
Casey nodded softly, noticing Octavia kneel beside her head. She looked up into Octavia's face, which was painted with guilt and worry. Casey smiled softly at her, reassuring her it was okay.
"Thank you," Octavia whispered.
"Anytime," Casey muttered, but a lingering resentment filled her chest.
"You know," Octavia laughed nervously, her hand smoothing Casey's wet hair out of her face. "I don't think I ever caught your name."
"Casey," she sighed, closing her eyes at the soothing feeling of Octavia's cool hand. "Casey King."
"King?" Octavia asked, letting out a soft chuckle. Her green eyes settled onto Casey's as she slowly opened them. A knowing smile came to Casey's lips before she closed her eyes again. "I should've known," Octavia muttered.
"Find any water yet?" Murphy asked Wells.
"No, not yet, but..." Wells replied amiably.
He turned to find Murphy and Mbege smirking at him, and Wells realized they didn't care. His words faltered at their teasing, but he ensured he didn't let the boys get under his skin.
"I'm going back out if you want to come," Wells told them, but his words fell off again as he turned to see 'FIRST SON, FIRST TO DYE' scratched into the side of the dropship.
Murphy and Mbege cackled like hyenas as Wells repeatedly read over the threat.
Murphy sniffed, rubbing his nose with the hand that held his knife to show he had been the one to write it.
"You know, my father, he begged for mercy in the airlock chamber when your father floated him," Murphy stated, spitting his words out at Wells.
Wells stared at Murphy for a second, turned away then walked towards him and Mbege.
"You spelled die wrong, geniuses," Well stated, bumping Murphy's shoulder as he passed him, a slight limp in his step from their earlier fight.
Murphy and Mbege both turned to watch Wells leave, smirking, knowing they had gotten to him one way or another.
"If you're gonna kill someone," Bellamy called, walking past Wells and up to the two. "It's probably best not to announce it," he said, looking at the side of the dropship and then back at Murphy, unamused.
Murphy chuckled, unfazed, asking, "You're not really a member of the Guard, are you?"
"No. The real Guard will be here soon unless we stop it," Bellamy explained, looking from Mbege to Murphy with narrowed eyes before continuing. "You don't actually think they're gonna forgive your crimes?" he chuckled under his breath, watching as Murphy's face fell, taking in his words. "Even if they do, then what? Guys like us, we're gonna become model citizens now? Get jobs?" Bellamy's voice lowered as he pointed out his believed truth if the Ark came down after them. "If we're lucky, maybe pick up their trash?"
Mbege wasn't impressed by Bellamy's words, his shoulders growing tense as he practically jumped at Bellamy, asking, "You got a point?"
"No, I got a question," Bellamy stated, looking from him towards Murphy again. "They locked you up, dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So, why are you helping them?"
"The hell we are!"
"You're wearing those bracelets, aren't you?" Bellamy pointed out, nodding his chin towards them. "Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it's safe to follow us down."
Murphy sighed, looking to the side as his hand rested over his wristband, tapping it four times like Casey had earlier.
"You're right," Murphy told him, looking at Bellamy, who seemed elated by his two words. "But Casey's mom is up there. She'd be devastated to know she'd died. I couldn't do that to either of them."
Bellamy smiled, his lips turning thin as he set his hand on Murphy's shoulder, so he knew he wasn't alone, squeezing tight.
"What's more important? Protecting your sister or letting them kill her because we trusted them?" Bellamy asked, Murphy's eyes flickering between his, conflicted. "Because it's not just Casey's mom who's coming down, it's all of them," he explained, shaking Murphy's shoulder to let his words sink in. "I'm doing what I can to protect my sister, too. So, what are you going to do to protect yours?"
Murphy took a second to think it over, but Bellamy was convincing. He knew exactly what to say and wasn't surprised when Murphy gave him a sharp nod.
"Okay," Murphy said, his expression steely. "You said we could stop it. How?"
Bellamy smiled, taking a step back.
"Take them off," Bellamy stated. "The Ark will think you're dead, that it's not safe to follow. You follow?"
"Right, and if we do, I mean, what's in it for us?" Murphy asked, nodding his head toward Mbege.
"Someone has to help me run things."
Murphy nodded his head, smiling widely at the thought of power. He glanced at Bellamy, his brows furrowing again.
"Casey isn't going to willingly take her wristband off," Murphy said.
"We can make her take it off," Bellamy assured him.
"No," Murphy stated sharply. "I'll get her to do it, but it's going to take some time."
Bellamy considered his words, then nodded.
"Fine, but if she's the last one with it on, I'm prying it off."
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.