And here is chapter 3 beta-read by The Krystal Cat !

Enjoy

Chapter 3

The day after they had brought Jasper back, Derek and Stiles managed somewhat successfully to distribute the apples they had found. They knew Bellamy and his goons would try to take them, either for themselves or to use as incentives for those who still had their wristband. So they recruited people who disagreed with Bellamy and organised the distribution so that by the time he or his men found out about it, the fruits were already being eaten by the youngest and those who didn't get food the night before. There were still a few incidences, some people fought to steal other's food and Murphy mouthed off to Derek, earning a shining new black eye for his efforts, but all things considered, it went well.

People started to realise they'd need to do more than run around to survive, tents where getting built around the ship and people looked around for food. But with the grounders out there, very few risked to step too far from camp and there wasn't a lot to eat around except nuts and berries.

They had a steady supply of water though. Clarke's group had found a source in one of their expeditions. Wells and a few others traveled back and forth and filled the contraption Wells had build to collect rain water almost everyday.

Things were settling fine, Derek had even started to build a tent for Stiles and him, when Jasper started to moan and scream in pain. Even with the trapdoor shut, the noises he was making were driving everyone crazy.

Three days later, the tent Derek was building was almost complete. It wasn't even a tent like what the others had build, but a wooden structure with four walls and a roof big enough to sleep comfortably and store a few things if needed. As he had been building it, he saw the looks a lot of people were casting his way. He knew they wanted to take it for themselves, but thanks to Murphy's still obvious shiner and also the fact that Derek was older and had a gun (not that he was showing it off since the last thing he needed was someone stealing it) people stayed away. Some tried to imitate his structure but it was obvious they had no idea what the hell they were doing.

As Derek looked around the small room he had created, he tried to list everything he'd need to make it perfect. The walls looked good, he had used wood all around, keeping them tight so no one could see inside, except through the small window he had made. He needed some kind of fabric to use as a curtain and they needed a mattress of some kind. Hopefully, his makeshift roof made of wood and various branches would be enough to protect them from the rain but some tarp would be better. He could have used some of the drop-ship's parachutes but Bellamy had used all that was left for his gigantic tent.

Suddenly, Jasper started to scream again after barely an hour of blissful silence and Derek sighed in exasperation. He didn't have anything against the kid, but if he could die sooner rather than later, it would be a relief for everyone.

Stiles appeared at the door of their new place, dark rings around his eyes after spending the last few days helping Clarke and Octavia take care of Jasper, with what little rest he could get disturbed by the screams of the injured teen.

"It looks good. Are we finally moving in?" Stiles asked with a tired smile.

"I still need a few things but it's good enough to sleep in. I'm going to explore around that house we found. See if I can find something useful."

"Okay, I'll come with you. Maybe there could still be medicine around that Jasper could use." Stiles sighed.

"No, Stiles. You look like shit. You need rest." Derek said firmly.

Stiles opened his mouth to argue then gave up and sighed again.

"I know… I'll probably slow you down anyway. You'll look for the medicine then? I know it's a long shot but-"

"More than a long shot… Stiles, those meds are dust by now, and even if they're not, they've expired years ago." Derek explained as he packed his bag with a bottle of water and the plastic sheet they had used to carry the apples.

"But it's worth a try!"

"The kid is dead Stiles!" Derek snapped. He had been getting more and more irritated ever since Jasper had started to scream. Three days later, he was starting to agree with Bellamy and wanted to get in that drop-ship to put him out of his misery himself. "Even if I do find medicine, I don't think we should waste it on someone who's not going to make it!"

Stiles froze for moment and stared at Derek with rage.

"This is not the Ark Derek, we don't let people suffer and we don't give up on them just because we're not sure they'll survive." Stiles said with an ice-cold voice before storming out.

Derek let his head fall down and closed his eyes. He knew Stiles had been talking of his mother, Claudia, who had suffered for days before her fever took her, but he couldn't stop his mind from reminding him of his own mother and father, who had given their lives just so that a small dying child wouldn't suffer unnecessarily. Talia would be ashamed of him.

Still, he thought as another of Jasper's screams rang through the air, there wasn't anything he could do for the kid. Derek shouldered his bag, looked around one last time in case he had missed something, then left.

After storming off, Stiles bumped into Octavia, who seemed just as upset as he was.

"What's wrong? Is it Jasper?" He asked.

"No, just my stupid brother who thinks he can control my life." She said, irritated, before sighing deeply to calm herself. "You're lucky to be an only child…"

"I have a brother… sort of. Scott. We've been best-friends since forever." Stiles said, the corner of his mouth rising slightly as he thought about his family. Scott's dad left when he was 4, to be with his mistress on phoenix, and after Stiles' mother died, it sometimes felt like John and Melissa were raising both of them.

"Did he ever scare your boyfriend away?"

"No… But he'll probably try when he finds out about Derek." Stiles said, chuckling.

"Good luck to him." Octavia snorted, making them both laugh.

Clarke, Finn and Wells appeared not far from them. Stiles and Octavia observed in silence as the chancellor's son talked about seaweeds that could help Jasper. It was a strange conversation as Clarke ignored Wells' presence and acted as if Finn was talking instead of him. She even tried to go search for the seaweeds with just Finn and leave Wells behind but he had to go with them in the end since he was the only one who knew exactly what to look for. After the three teenagers left, Stiles and Octavia shared an incredulous look.

"This is either going to end in a bloodbath or a threesome." Octavia joked before they both made their way to the dropship.

Derek wondered for a moment if he should go back, find Stiles and try to apologise, but knowing his boyfriend, he needed time to cool off. Instead, he kept walking until he found the backyard they had discovered a few days ago. He found two apples they had missed, pocketed one and started to eat the other as he made his way around what was left of the house. There was a path through the trees that might have been the road, he couldn't see any asphalt but the ground felt different beneath his feet. He decided to follow it, hoping to find more houses or maybe stores.

He walked for a long time, admiring every new thing he discovered along the way. After a while, he found places where pieces of the road were still visible, old metallic structures that could have been guardrails and even an old rusted road sign indicating some town called 'Linville' in 10 miles. Hopefully he'd find something on the road but he felt confident that he could walk to the town and back before dark.

Three hours later, Derek finally found what must have been Linville. There wasn't much left, just a few buildings surrounded by rubble and ruins. He observed them for a few minutes, trying to decide if he should risk going into them to find supplies. They looked as if a simple blowing of the wind could make them tumble like a house of cards, but in the end he had no choice.

Derek heard a strange sound, like someone blowing a horn in the distance. Right after, hundreds of birds flew over him as if they were fleeing. Finally, a yellow fog started to fall and he quickly realized, after one wiff of burning sulfur, that he needed to find shelter. He ran into the nearest building and looked around, searching for a room without broken windows. When he couldn't find any, he left the building and ran to the next one. The fog was getting thicker, he knew if this building had no shelter either, he wouldn't make it out alive.

Stiles was officially freaking out. He had been in the dropship with Jasper and Monty when everyone had rushed in, closing the doors as some weird yellow fog started to get in. They said the fog burned their skin and it was everywhere, which meant wherever Derek was, he was probably in danger or even already dead, burned to a crisp by that creepy fog. No one was injured though, so maybe it wasn't that bad. The bottom of the drop ship was crowded as no one wanted to go up where Octavia was taking care of a screaming yet unconscious Jasper.

Stiles had tried to sleep with the others but he had given up after half an hour and was helping Octavia instead. Suddenly, Monty climbed up the ladder yelling "Murphy's gonna kill Jasper!" Octavia jumped to action and moved to close the trapdoor but Murphy was already too high up. Stiles looked around for a weapon but before he got there with a piece of metal he had broken from the ship, Octavia had already kicked Murphy in the jaw and Monty was sitting on the trapdoor to stop him from coming back. They used the piece of metal to block the door before collapsing and sighing in relief.

"Next time…" Stiles said with a smirk. "Can I kick him too?"

The next morning, the fog had cleared but neither Clarke's group, Bellamy's or Derek had came back by nightfall. Stiles had been on the edge of a nervous breakdown when someone called out "They're back!" Monty stayed with Jasper but both Octavia and Stiles ran out. Clarke was there, and she had the medicine for Jasper. Bellamy's group was also back. Stiles looked around for Derek but his boyfriend wasn't with them. When he paid attention to what was going on, he saw Octavia kneeling in front of a body.

Stiles gasped in horror when he saw Atom's body, the fog had burned part of his face and his wide-opened eyes had turned an unnatural color. As Octavia stormed off towards the dropship, Stiles turned towards the forest. The camp was surrounded by walls now, with only one entrance. He ran to it, grabbing the makeshift wooden door to get out but someone snatched his arm and pulled him away from it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bellamy asked as he shoved Stiles and placed himself between him and the door.

"Derek hasn't come back yet! I need to find him." Stiles begged.

"Sorry. It's too dangerous, I can't let you go out there."

Stiles barely waited for him to finish his sentence. He stormed forward, shoving Bellamy out of his way.

"Hey!" Bellamy yelled as he once again grabbed Stiles by the arm. "Look, I'm sorry about your boyfriend but he's probably dead by n-"

Stiles had not meant to punch him but he was desperate. Bellamy recovered fast but instead of hitting him back, like Stiles thought he would, he stood in front of him with both hands raised as one would do with a wild animal.

"Stiles, it is Stiles right? Come on, you don't need to do this." He said calmly. But Stiles didn't care, he kept shoving and hitting until Bellamy pushed him to the ground and held him there. "Calm down!" Bellamy shouted in frustration.

Beneath him, Stiles was struggling to breathe. He could feel hot tears on his cheeks as he tried to push Bellamy off of him. The world began to blur around him when Bellamy's weight suddenly disappeared from on top of him.

Stiles closed his eyes and curled up on himself as he tried stop his panic attack. He could hear people fighting and others cheering them on. When he finally managed to sit up and look around, he saw Derek pinning Bellamy to the ground with a hand around his neck.

"Derek…" He whispered, astonished.

Immediately, Derek rushed to Stiles, falling on his knees to hold him in a tight embrace. He moved back to face him and opened his mouth but Stiles punched him before he could say a word.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Where the fuck where you?!"

Derek stayed quiet for moment, staring at his hands resting on his knees before looking back up at his boyfriend with a sheepish look.

"I got lost… I found other buildings, brought some stuff back. There wasn't any medicine but I did get you…" He continued as he looked through his bag. "This!" He said triumphantly as he handed an old looking book to Stiles. "It was in a sealed box so it's still in pretty good shape." Derek continued with a small smile on his lips.

"Are you trying to buy me out with a book?" Stiles asked incredulously.

"Maybe. Is it working?" Derek asked, worried.

Stiles stared at him for a few more seconds before smiling brightly.

"Yep." He said before dragging Derek down for a passionate kiss.

The next morning, Derek woke up with Stiles still sleeping his arms in their very own little wooden house. There was old tarp on the roof and the door was separated from the outside by a shower curtain. They still needed something for the window but it wasn't urgent.

Derek moved Stiles gently and walked out with a content sigh. Things weren't the best but he was hopeful for once. He thought about maybe helping a few others to build their own shelters as he walked outside the walls to run around the perimeter. He needed to stay in shape and running here was definitely more pleasant than exercising in a tiny metallic appartment back on the ark.

He was barely a few feet from the entrance when he found Wells' dead body… someone had stabbed him in the throat.

Voilà! Now, don't forget to review, favorit and whatnot !