They all got into bed that night with their shoes on, and pockets crammed with food.
Maya came around to say goodnight to Jasper—and the realisation that she had done this almost every night hit him quickly. Was she spying on them, or just being a friend? Jasper groaned involuntary as he was forced to examine the situation, just as Maya pulled him into a hug.
She immediately withdrew, and concern shone through her eyes, "Did I hurt you? Are you okay?"
Jasper shook his head quickly, and then regretted it when sparks of pain and dizziness overcame him, "I—woah—no, I'm okay, Maya. Don't worry." His shaky tone was enough to cause Clarke to lock eyes with him from behind Maya, and he blinked rapidly at her for a moment or so.
A few of the others, who weren't feigning doziness looked over at him with worry in his eyes as well, and Jasper did his level best to dispel it with a confident grin.
Clarke marched over to him though, smooth fingers brushing against his forehead with a frown— and didn't that just bring him back to his spearing days. He shuddered slightly at the memory, but came back to the present at the sound of her voice, "You don't have a fever or anything, and your stitches looked fine the last time I checked…"
"I'm okay, Clarke, I swear. Just got a bit dizzy from shaking my head. I'm up for this." The minute the words were out of his mouth, Jasper wanted to sink down to the ground and retract them furious. Behind Maya, Miller's eyes were glaring at him, and Jasper could only pray that she hadn't picked up on—
"What are you talking about?"
Jasper turned back to face Maya with a weak smile, "Oh, you know—our big snakes and ladders marathon tomorrow morning. Did I, eh, not tell you about that earlier?" Monty nodded furiously beside him, and slowly the other girl's face softened.
Maya grinned back, "You guys sure are into your board games."
"Quality entertainment," Miller's deadpan voice came from behind her, and Maya giggled for a moment until she saw that his face was blank, "Jasper needs to rest."
"Oh, of course yes. I'll catch you guys tomorrow then," Maya squeezed Jasper's hand tightly one last time, and he reciprocated the gesture, cringing inwardly due to her choice of words. He felt a sudden urge to hug her again, or do something even more impulsive because it was potentially the last that he would see of her. Jasper thought back to all the casual conversations and smiles across the dining hall, and the warm feeling in his chest when he would meet up with her between meals. But then he remembered the hanging bodies, swaying silently as the blood was drained out of them, and he wanted to throw up.
So he did nothing, just sat there practically motionless, and tried to pretend that he didn't feel anything as she pulled away.
Maya left quickly after that, and Jasper kept his eyes glued to the floor, sitting on his bed, in an attempt not to provoke Clarke's reaction. His stomach was churning with emotion, and he didn't know what to think or how to react. It felt like he'd just lost a friend, and maybe he had – but who was Maya, really? Was she one of them, or just an innocent bystander?
His inner turmoil must have shown on his face, because Jasper simply heard their leader sighing loudly, before she just bumped her hip against his shoulder, "Just get some sleep, Jasper. We've got time."
.
Clarke watched Jasper curl up in a ball on his bed, and exchanged a sombre look with Monty.
He'd gotten attached to the girl, fallen too hard and too fast, and it was easy to see that his loyalties were tearing him apart. Jasper never seemed to be able to do anything the simple way. But the steel was still present in Jasper's eyes, even if it had dulled slightly in Mount Weather, and Clarke knew that he'd still do anything to get out of this place.
She looked at him sadly for a moment longer, and then lay down on her own bed, mind racing.
She ran her fingers over the tight bandage on her own arm, and tried decided to take the stitches out herself when they escaped. The wound was healing well, and while there would always be a scar to remind her, it really was the best possible outcome. Clarke ignored the throbbing ache that radiated out from the deep cut, and tucked her forearm in close to her chest.
The hour passed agonisingly slowly, and Clarke tapped out each minute silently on the key card in her pocket. She needed to feel a fresh breeze on her face, and run through the forest until his lungs ached. This sedated lifestyle under tonnes of concrete felt like a slow death.
It only took a moment to slip silently out of bed, and the minute her feet hit the ground, the others were following.
Jasper needed to be touched lightly on the shoulder, but then he was awake and mostly alert, springing to his feet with more energy that Clarke had seen in days.
"Quick and silent," She reminded the others in a murmur, and several heads nodded back at her, "Don't be afraid to incapacitate anyone—but absolutely no noise." And then their guard at the door was making hand signals and they were moving.
The corridor was deserted, and they ran down it in complete silence, in pairs of two.
Clarke and Miller were leading, with the younger kids in the middle, and some of the others that they trusted at the back. She used the key card swiftly, and the small sounds of the door locks deactivating seemed to speed up her pulse even more.
They reached their destination quickly enough, and Miller only had to knock out one guard along the way—a bulky looking man who didn't see the chokehold coming. The look of surprise as 48 ex-delinquents ran past him was amusing really.
She took a moment to wonder whether they'll ever be ex-delinquents, or if that title will follow them for the rest of their lives. Just something else that the ARK had weighed them down with.
When they reached the security hatch, where the hazmat people enter and exit the mountain from, Clarke did a head count while Miller and another kid got suited up in two hazmat suits that were left hanging up in one of the storage closets. Everyone was present and accounted for, pressed up against the wall out of sight from the security cameras. They'd done a walk through earlier in the day, and discreetly noted the cameras' possible blind spots. Clarke just prayed they were right.
Jasper secured one of the helmets with shaking hands, but his grip was strong as he zipped up the back of the suit.
The two chosen ones strode confidently through to the control room, using the stolen swipe card, and then proceeded to make short work of the four people inside. Clarke was proud of the way they handle the situation, cold and seemingly removed from the violence as Miller slams one of the hazmat suits against the wall, and then promptly roundhouse kicked the other.
He opened the doors to the rest of them then, and Monty got to work operating the airlock and getting as many of them out as possible. Kids crammed into the chamber, and they all had to remind themselves that it wasn't the ARK—that freedom lay on the other side.
Clarke watched for a moment, and then was struck by a wild impulse.
She knew that it wasn't the logical thing to do, that she should stay and make sure her people get out safety—but she couldn't just leave Anya and the other Grounders trapped while they run free.
As she reached for the key card, Jasper met her eyes, and she knew that he was thinking the same. A quick signal to Miller relayed their mission, and with a nod from him, they were off at a run again. Jasper grabbed a spare guard baton that was propped up against the wall, and swung it like a baseball bat.
Ready, aim, fire.
.
By the time they reached the infirmary, Clarke was breathing hard and she was certain that alarms were about to start sounding.
A shrill ringing noise erupted the minute that she wrenched open the door, and all she can do is hiss loudly through her teeth. Jasper swung the baton nervously, and brandished it threateningly at the patients in the beds, all of them out cold.
She ran over to the vent in the wall, climbing awkwardly inside and came crashing out into the other room within seconds. Jasper followed close afterwards, and spotted a lone scientist hovering fearfully by the east wall.
Clarke spared a moment to see Jasper laying into the guy with the baton, choked sobs slipping out of his mouth in between wheezed curses, and then heads straight for the row of cages.
She didn't look at the two bodies hanging lifelessly – new faces, new Grounders—and instead dropped to her knees at Anya's cage. The other woman glared at her weakly, but there was no real malice in her eyes, and Clarke was too busy trying to tear the lock open to care.
A whistle made her look up, and Jasper tossed a set of keys over with one hand—that Clarke caught seamlessly and promptly used to open Anya's cage with a loud clang.
"We're getting out of here," She said breathlessly, already moved onto to another cage, "Feel free to follow our lead."
It took them precious minutes to get all the Grounders out of the barbaric cages, and mostly standing upright—and Clarke knew that they couldn't waste any more time. They'd already been detected, and it was surely just a matter of time before their luck ran out. She grabbed Jasper's free hand, that was trembling like a leaf, and started sprinting again, through the vent and straight into a room full of guards.
Weapons were loaded and pointed at them in seconds, and Clarke's heart sank like a weighted stone in the ocean.
The alarms were still shrieking loudly, and red flashing lights were tinting the room an ominous shade.
Jasper snarled uncharacteristically, and surged forward, taking Clarke by surprise as he swung the baton around like a lunatic. She immediately followed his lead, and began shoving guards back with her bare hands in desperation. They'd been in worse situations before and – maybe if they could just make it to the door, then they would have a chance…
Their saving grace was the Grounders.
Though they were weakened and injured, the small army of Grounders seemed to burst out of the vent all at once, streaming around past Clarke and Jasper to take their attackers. Clarke narrowly avoided a gunshot to the shoulder, saved only when a tall Grounder growled deeply and wrenched the gun out of the guard's hands. The man was knocked out instantly then by a headbutt to their forehead, and the Grounder simply moved onto his next target with a war cry as the man crumpled.
Even at their worst state, the Grounders were still a terrifying force of warriors.
"Air lock room," Clarke screamed above all the chaos, "Two floors up, service stairs to the left, and then straight ahead!"
She hoped that at least one of the Grounders had heard her directions, and then was forced to duck down low as a fist came flying towards her head. With her back hunched over and arms tightly protecting her head, Clarke forced her way through the melee to get to Jasper, and yanked him backwards from where he was locked in close combat with a guard.
The fight was on, and all Clarke wanted was to get back to her people.
.
Doing my best to get this up quickly - but I'm in college full time and getting the time to write isn't easy. I'm also not able to watch the new weekly episode until Saturday or Sunday each week, so please don't include any spoilers or hints in your reviews!
I'll try to reply to reviews in the next few days while I write the next chapter – but just know that I absolutely love every one of your comments and the feedback is so motivating and helpful. Keep letting me know what you think of this story :)
Thanks for reading.