We will survive- Chapter 9- Rover
"I can't authorize it. It's too risky," Kane said
"They're our people," Miller argued. "You mean you're willing to just abandon them?"
"I don't like it either but Polis is too volatile right now," Kane answered back.
"They were the reason you woke from the chip," Monty piped up.
"That's right," said Raven "We don't abandon our people. My God it's like Mount Weather all over again"
"We don't know if they're even still in Polis," Marcus said.
"And they could be in trouble," Miller said.
"They're right," said Abby from the doorway. She had walked in and heard the kids as they tried to convince Markus to approve the mission. "We don't know if they're safe, or in trouble. All we know is, they are a big reason we're here, and we should send someone to bring them home.
Marcus shook his head. "I'm not going to win this," he said. "Okay, Miller, Monty, Harper, you three," He started
"But I want…" started Raven.
"No, we need you here on the radio. Monty you're on the other end, keep us posted on everything. The first sign of trouble, the first sign of anything," he said
"You need to look like grounders. Miller keep the rover away from the city and get in the same way you snuck out," Marcus said.
"Yes sir," he answered
"What. Am I just nothing anymore?" Jasper said. "Are you afraid to let me help?"
"I don't think you're ready," Marcus said honestly.
The hard truth hurt Jasper. He just looked away, angry.
Monty hated it, but wasn't sure if Marcus was right or wrong.
Abby saw Jaspers face, "No maybe you should go," she said. Then she turned and looked Jasper straight in the face. "Do you think you're up to this?" she asked him.
"Yes. Let me do this, I need to do this," he said firmly.
He knew he had been hard on Clarke, Bellamy and Monty too in a backhanded way. He had blamed the three for Maya's death, and finally realized they carried enough guilt on their own. Piling more guilt on them wouldn't bring Maya back.
Abby turned and looked at Marcus. She just nodded yes.
"Alright," Marcus said as he looked at Jasper "If you think you can handle it,"
The group left Marcus and Abby alone.
"I don't like this," he admitted "We could be sending them into something, they aren't ready for."
"You don't think, you could keep them from going?" she said "Marcus, they were going whether you approved it or not. At least they asked first," she smiled "Besides like Raven said; we don't abandon our people."
"I just hope we don't lose even more of them," he said.
Miller, Harper, Jasper and Monty loaded their gear. "How are we supposed to look like grounders?" Harper asked.
"We'll worry about that later," Miller said "I just want to get going before Kane changes his mind."
Miller wanted to get out of camp. Away from the place he shared with Bryan. It was too hard to be there and he needed to be busy.
"The trading post," Monty said. Jasper nodded yes.
"What?" Miller asked
"We can get grounder clothes from Niylah's trading post. It's along the way, sort of," he said
"You know how to get there?" Miller asked
"Yea," he said as it brought back bad memories for him. "I can find it."
Jasper remembered how Monty was forced to kill his mom at the dropship and then he drove in the dark to Niylahs. "It'll be okay," he said.
Monty looked at his friend and nodded with a tight lip.
"Okay, then to the trading post it is," said Miller as the rover pulled out of the hanger bay.
The drive took most of the day and once it got dark, they kept going, but it was much slower. They still had a long drive but finally Monty decided they needed to stop. "I don't want to get turned around," he said "or go past it. It's just too hard to see in the dark."
The group stopped and made camp.
"Are you doing okay Nate?" Harper asked Miller.
"I've been better," he said "You know, Bryan couldn't wait till spring," he said
Everyone sat around the fire and just quietly listened as Nathan continued to share memories.
"He wanted us to build a log cabin, you know, like they always had in the history books. He would get excited just talking about it. He wanted to plant corn and tomatoes and have livestock. It's funny, back on the Ark, we didn't even think about the future, but once we got down here, it was like we could do anything, like we had all the time in the world."
Monty looked between Jasper and Harper. He had almost lost them both and he vowed that he wouldn't lose any more people he loved. Did he love her? Did he even know what it was supposed to feel like? They made camp, and Monty forced himself not to curl up next to her, not in front of everyone.
Jasper couldn't sleep. He watched the others, and kept thinking he heard something out in the darkness, but decided it must be some harmless animal. It still kept him from sleeping.
They loaded the rover and got going just as the sun began to make the sky glow a golden hue.
They drove through the day and made it to Niylah's late in the afternoon.
"Why are you here?" she asked. She recognized Monty and Jasper but not the other two.
She still didn't trust Skaikru but she no longer met them with a sword in her hand.
"Nylah, we need your help," said Monty. "Some of our people may be in trouble," he said.
"Why would I help your people?" she asked clearly she was agitated.
"Your Clarkes friend," Jasper said.
"Is Clarke in trouble?" she asked
"Yes, she's one," Jasper said
"We need disguises. We need to look like grounders so we can get into Polis," Miller said
Niylah looked over the group and frowned, but she walked towards the back. "Stay here," she said.
She came out with several items, just enough to get by.
"Thank you," Monty told her. "We'll comeback with supplies as payment, and I'll be sure to let Clarke know how much you helped."
When they were back in the rover, Jasper mumbled "Good thing you didn't tell her Bellamy was one of the missing."
Jasper filled them in on all that happened while Monty was off at the dropship and how it was revealed Niylahs father had been in the army that Bellamy attacked and helped massacre along with Pikes men.
The group had to backtrack to go around the thick forest in the rover as a straight shot to Polis would require them to be on foot.
After they left Niylah she walked to the back. "It's clear, they've gone," she said
"Why are you hiding from your people?" she asked.
"I have no people," said Octavia.