A New Earth Chapter 8 .. Wake Them up.
The pod slid out as it simultaneously opened. There was a swishing sound as the cold air released. Gaia could feel the pad underneath her body begin to warm as she slowly lay in a semi dream state. Had it already been 10 years?
She felt stiff in her joints and the dull throbbing was still present that she remembered in her leg. Indra held her breath, waiting for her daughter to wake naturally.
Cracking open her eyelids in the bright lights, was a strain. She saw shadowy figures looking down on her until her eyes finally adjusted and she was greeted by her mother's closed mouth smile, a rarity on Indra's normally stoic face. Gaia smiled, "Morning mother," she said sluggishly.
Indra raised her hand and softly stroked Gaia's cheek. "Morning Gaia," she answered back.
Gaia started to rise but Abby quickly stepped in as she and Indra both stopped her.
"Woah, Gaia," Abby said. "You need to take it slow. Those wounds are as fresh as they were when you went to sleep."
Gaia gave in with a tired huff. "Has it already been 10 years?" she asked feeling like she just went to sleep yesterday.
"Yes…and more," Indra said "But we'll leave that for later. Abby needs to look at your wounds," she added.
Gaia closed her eyes, anxious to rise, but still groggy from her long sleep. She was too tired to argue.
Abby looked her over thoroughly, "Your wounds are doing nicely, I'll need to change the dressings," she said. "But, you have to take it slow."
Gaia nodded obediently "Yes doctor," she said which made Abby smile.
"Good," Abby said and looked at Indra. "I'll leave you two to talk," she said "and we'll have the video set up in a little bit," Abby said.
Indra nodded. Gaia would be able to watch Monty's message along with Octavia later that day, so she could get a clear explanation of what they were facing.
As Abby left Indra with her daughter, she heard Gaia ask, "What did you mean when you said 'and more?"
Shaw and Echo stood in the corridor outside Miller and Jackson's room. Echo wasn't timid when it came to knocking. She pounded. Echo was irritated when she got the full story of Miller pulling a knife on Bellamy. She insisted on being the one to tell him he was reassigned to the landing team and Raven insisted on Shaw going with her. Raven knew Echo well enough to know where her loyalties were and for Millers own safety she thought Shaw could help keep Echo in check.
"What is it?" Miller's annoyance at the intrusion was clear; when he opened the door to the pounding. "Did Bellamy send you?" he asked with a distain in his voice as he looked her up and down.
Echo ignored his question. She pursed her lips. "Congratulations, you've been reassigned to the landing crew. Start gathering your gear," she said with loathing as she abruptly turned to leave.
"Wait…says who?" he asked, annoyed at her attitude.
She turned, "Says everybody," she snapped before she walked away.
He watched her go and Shaw stood there. He was impressed by Echo's control. Miller looked at him, unsure of what to say. "Welcome aboard?" Shaw finally said awkwardly before finally turning to catch up with Echo.
Walking along the corridor, Echo, satisfied, gave him a side glance. He looked at her as they moved in unison towards the hanger bay. "I guess you didn't need me after all," he said.
Echo smiled to herself. "Yes I did," she said. "If you weren't with me…I might have kicked his ass, and…I don't think that would go over too well."
Shaw smiled despite himself. "That might be interesting to see," he said as he kept pace with her.
"Having him on the landing crew is the right call. But it's still going to suck," Echo griped.
Bellamy stood at her chamber, studying Octavia as she slept peacefully. Her face didn't have the furrowed brow that she wore as Blodreina. Looking down on her brought so many memories, some were good, but many were bad. None were easy when it came to his sister. Flashes of pain and heartache scarred their relationship. He once loved her deeply but that love was broken now. He tried to talk to her, to break through, but she shut him out. She was willing to let him die, she all but ordered it. What he found when he opened the bunker was a monster, something he couldn't recognize.
Maybe their relationship was too broken to repair. "You can't save someone that doesn't want saving," he remembers the words Marcus told him before… Maybe the same goes for family. "You can't force someone to be family if they don't want to be," he mumbled. But through it all, he still saw the little girl she once was and that's what drove him to keep going back. "Maybe it's time to let go, he thought…you're not that little girl anymore."
Bellamy was so torn over Octavia and their future. The stories Indra told of the dark year and how it broke them all; was horrible and leaving her in the bunker to bear it without him caused guilt to well up in him. But even the horrors she was forced to endure didn't excuse her actions after he found her in the bunker.
"Indra thinks she can help you," he muttered "but I just can't" he said finally. With that realization; he pressed the button and her pod clicked into wake mode as it slowly began to warm inside and finally slid out and opened.
She was slow to open her eyes, and when she did, she was glad to see her brother.
She smiled, and rubbed her eyes. "Hey Bell," she slurred in a half awake state.
"Morning," he said with a forced a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"It didn't feel like 10 years," she said as she slowly got her senses clear.
"Just take it slow…give your system time to catch up," he said.
He helped her to sit up. She stretched and arched her back. He took a step back.
"You need to get changed. Indra and Gaia will meet you in the locker room and fill you in on everything," he said before turning to leave.
"Bellamy, wait," she said, stopping him.
He paused and turned briefly. "Indra's waiting, you should get going," he said before he left.
As she watched him leave, her heart sank. Ten years sleeping and nothing had changed. He was distant and had shut her out. She had made him angry before, and she had hurt him in the past, but he always came back. Her brother was a pushover and he never stayed mad at her for long, but this felt different and it frightened her.
As soon as he woke her up, he needed to get away. Seeing her, brought back all the bad memories, and hurt. It was too much. As he walked to the hanger bay, he began shaking. His heart was racing, and he broke into a sweat. He had to stop walking and lean over with his hands on his knees. He felt sick to his stomach like he was going to puke.
"Bellamy?" Abby said with concern as she rushed towards him. He looked up and saw her. He squeezed his eyes shut "great," he thought.
Abby had just left Indra and Gaia and was on her way back to medical when she noticed Bellamy in the corridor.
Bellamy straightened back up when Abby got there, "Are you okay?" she asked
"I'm fine," he said in a deep raspy voice.
"You don't look fine," she argued "Your shaking, you look flush. Do you have a fever?" she asked as she reached up to feel his forehead.
He backed away sheepishly. "I'm fine," he argued back. "I just…," he couldn't finish. He just looked towards the door to C section and shook his head. The look in his eyes was that of pain.
Abby looked back and saw C section. "You woke Octavia?" she asked.
He squeezed his eyes shut. "I did," he said and turned away from her. "I've got to go," he suddenly said and rushed away. He was about to lose it and he didn't want to be around anyone right now.
"Bellamy…wait," she called after him, but he kept going.
Abby watched him go and knew he wasn't sick. It was stress, all brought on by waking his sister, and there was nothing she could do to remedy that. It was something they would have work out on their own.
Abby turned towards C section and found her feet carrying her there.
Inside; Octavia stood next to her now empty cryo chamber. She immediately looked up at the person that walked in. A beat passed. "Abby,' she said softly. Confusion and questions danced across her face. Something was odd about the situation. She could tell by the amount of grounders still in deep sleep and the lack of others. It seemed eerily quiet. "What's going on? Where's everyone else?" she asked.
Abby cleared her throat and met Octavia's stare.
"Come on," she finally said. Let's get you freshened up and changed," she said holding her arm out to guide Octavia from the room, yet still not actually touching her.
"Somethings wrong," Octavia protested by standing her ground. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what it is."
Abby took a deep breath and exhaled. "Okay fine," she said shaking her head. "We've been asleep for over 100 years, and there is no Earth to go back to, but we found a new planet that we hope can sustain what's left of us. Now there's only a fraction of us awake until we know for sure," she said as if she had repeated the story thousands of times although she hadn't. "Now we've just awaken Gaia and they're waiting on you. We have a video that will explain everything that you should see for yourself."
"Wait…What?" Octavia asked at all she had just taken in.
"Come on," Abby said, "let's go."
Octavia followed Abby without farther protests.
Bellamy walked the corridor towards the Hanger bay trying to focus on something other than Octavia. They would be leaving in two days, and they had a lot of work to do. The shuttle still had checks that needed to be made, and Shaw rambled on about rewiring a major cable. Bellamy had been so preoccupied with deciding if and when Octavia would wake that he'd neglected his duties and now they were pressed for time.
"Stay busy," he kept telling himself over and over again.
When Bellamy got to the hanger bay, Shaw was in a pile of wires from some panel he had removed.
Bellamy just nodded to him as he passed. He wasn't in a talkative mood. Echo was checking off supplies that were stacked on the loading ramp. She looked up from her list when he came into view. She lowered her list and walked to meet him.
"Did you wake her?" she asked trying to meet his eyes.
He only gave a quick brief nod and then averted her stare. He quickly changed the subject and Echo knew he was in no mood to discuss Octavia. She wasn't going to push it, when he was ready to talk he would.
They quickly got to work loading supplies and taking inventory.
It was hours before Shaw had the panel back in place. "I'm calling it a night," he told Echo who was resting next to several crates. "You guys should too," he said "It's late, we can finish this up tomorrow," he said.
"Yea, I'm beat," Echo said, "we'll knock off in a bit," she said and nodded to Bellamy on the other side of the hanger, loading boxes.
She slowly got to her feet and started towards Bellamy as Shaw left them.
"Bellamy, it's late. We should call it a night," she said as she walked up to him.
He kept working and didn't respond. "Bellamy," she said louder, getting his attention.
He turned briefly. "Come on, we've been here long enough. Let's go get some rest," she urged him.
Bellamy looked tired. He protested but Echo insisted. "We'll finish up in the morning," she said.
He had been working nonstop since he got there, just trying keep his mind busy. They walked to their room in silence, and upon entering the dark room, Echo undressed quickly. He was in a dark mood and when he got like this he wouldn't speak to anyone, and she was no exception.
It would be a long, long night.