Author's note
Just a quick note, but thank you to everyone who is reading this. I wasn't sure how much people would like it so its great to see that people are taking an interest. I also wanted to mention that my uploading may be a little haphazard, but the aim is at least 1 chapter a week, usually uploaded Sunday night. My motiavtion also comes from reviews and favorites so, keep them coming :)
Chapter 5
The air in the dropship was static, charged by the intensity of the tension in the room. I sat on 1 side of the room, on a box with my back against the wall. Finn was facing one of the other walls, his hands on his head. Clarke and Bellamy were both glaring at his back, their eyes trying to bore holes into him. Octavia was curled up in a ball in the corner next to Raven. She had argued with Bellamy about Lincoln but had given up and sat down, leaving him to sort out Clarke and Finn though i didn't think that that argument was over. Last we had seen of Lincoln was him running across the bridge, hand on his shoulder preventing any more loss of blood. I guessed that was the image clear in Octavia's head. Jasper and Monty were sat on the floor next to me. Jasper had been quietly explaining what had happened at the bridge to Monty, though he wasn't so flamboyant as he had been in the show. He was a lot more shaken. The entire way back from the bridge he had struggled to walk in a straight lline, only calming down when he saw the dropship, and Monty on the ramp.
Finn turned to face Clarke and Bellamy, "What were you thinking?" Finn said cooly, setting his gaze on Clarke, "This was a peace talk and you brought him" he pointed at Bellamy, "and him", His hand moved to point at me. Bellamy scoffed, "What do you think she was going to do? You could see what the grounders think of us. They think we invaded their lands, killed their people, destroyed their villages. They don't want peace, they want to wipe us out. If we," He gestured to himself, me, Raven and then Jasper," hadn't been their, You would have died, Octavia would have died, and Clarke would have died. Octavia's grounder boyfriend will probably have died as well." he glared at Octavia as he said the last bit, who simply returned his look with just as much hostility. Finn spoke again, "They probably saw you in the trees. They realised that we were threatening them because you were there." Clarke let out a laugh, shaking her head, "Finn, come on. You seriously think that this is their fault?" She shook her head again, "Your peace deal, almost got you, me and Octavia killed. As Bellamy said, if it wasn't for these guys, our head will be on a spike in the grounder camp or something." Finn raised his voice, "No, if you had just done as I said, and not brought weapons the talks would have gone fine, no problems." Clarke matched his voice level, "Did you see the grounders? They had men on horses with swords and bows, they had archers in the trees, the leader had a god damn sword on her. If Bellamy hadn't shot her, they I wouldn't be having this conversation with you, would I?" She nodded at Bellamy, who returned the gesture. "How did you meet...Lincoln...any way?" Raven asked from her position next to Octavia. "On one if my...walks...through the forest, I spotted Octavia meeting with a grounder, " Bellamy settled his icy glare on Octavia, who once again met him unflinchingly, "They shared a kiss then went into a small cave. I waited outside the cave for a while, maybe an hour, before Octavia emerged from the cave and made her way back to the dropship. I snuck into the cave and was met with Lincoln, who almost cut my throat before I stopped him. I told him I meant no harm and that I only wanted to talk. We talked for a bit before I realised that not all of the grounders were happy with this war, some wanted peace. So we hatched the plan to try and get peace between us and the grounders. One which you ruined spectacularly, well done." Finn did a slow, sarcastic clap. Bellamy crossed his arms across his chest, "You really don't see it do you?" Bellamy advanced on Finn, leaving only a sliver of space between their faces. Bellamy was quite a bit taller than Finn, so the manouver seemed to intimidate Finn, though he hid it quite well. "The grounders don't want peace. They want to kill us all. They have done nothing but threaten us since the day we came down from the Ark. Peace isn't possible here, it is a foreign concept. Survival is possible, but only if we defend ourselves. People like you prevent that from happening." Finn held Bellamy's eyes, neither stepping down. "Alright, that's enough." I spoke up. "Arguing about why these talks failed won't help. Figuring out what to do now, considering the grounders are on their way, will help. So, why don't you focus on that first." Bellamy took a step back from Finn, placing himself once more next to Clarke, who seemed to be considering what I had said. "Adam's right" Clarke said finally. "The grounders are now on their way, no two ways around it. So, we need to strengthen the walls, set up patrols, make sure we are ready for when they come." Clarke's voice showing the true reason as to why she is the leader here. "Don't forget, winter is on it's way" Octavia's voice called from the corner, "We will need to make sure we have a decent amount of food stored up,as well as blankets or clothes to keep us warm." "Learn that from your grounder boyfriend" Bellamy shot at her. Octavia looked as if she would lash out, but Raven stepped in, "She's right. The nights are already getting colder, and the days aren't lasting as long. We don't have long till winter so we should really begin preparing immediatly." Bellamy scowled at the pair of them. Clarke spoke before he got a chance to say anything, "That's the plan then. Bellamy, make sure our defenses are ready for the grounders. Octavia, see that we have a significant stockpile of food for the winter. Raven and Jasper, keep working on gun powder and splitting the bullets, we'll need as many as we can. Monty, see if we can get the radio working, maybe even set up some walkie talkies, they could come in handy as well. Adam, go around camp, help out where necessary. And Finn...just stay out of the way and don't cause trouble. Alright people, let's move.
The next we days was a flurry of jobs. I went around camp, always doing one thing or another. I went to bed each night exausted, falling into a deep adn dreamless sleep. My dreams were fading. I used to have them every night, but now, I have maybe one a week, sometime not even that. Often, I dreamt about the orb, that I was engulfed by it and suddenly I was falling through the clouds, only to wake up the second I hit the ground. Now, i was so tired my nights were black, nothing happening from the moment I hit the bed to the moment I rose the next morning to the arguing of one person or another. Sometimes it was Raven and Finn, sometimes it was Monty and Jasper, it varied from morning to morning. The jobs I did also varied. More often than not, I was training people. Guns, hand to hand, a couple people even wanted to learn to fight with a spear so I did my best to teach them. Jasper was rapidly becoming the best shot among the 100, but he still fell well behind me and Bellamy. I also helped Jasper and Raven with ammo. Jasper had made some rudimentary gun powder from various ingredients we had managed to scavenge from the few bunkers we found. I made a few runs to the bunkers, along with Finn (much to his disgust), Miller and Monroe (both of which seemed to view me as Bellamy's second hand, thanks to my marksmanship and knowledge) to grabs some supplies. We found a few more rifles, a few more barrels of ammo, and a host of blankets and warm clothes, though alot would need repairing to be of any use. The ammo turned out to be next to useless, as it just jammed the guns. I spent a whole day with Raven and Jasper to try and get them to work but we gave up on them. Clarke had asked me, just after the attack at the bridge if i knew what was going to happen. After assuring her I didn't know, she asked me if I could convince Octavia to look for Lincoln, and ask him if he had any information he could give us. Octavia was quite relectant, thinking that it was a trap where she would lead Bellamy to Lincoln, so I agreed to go with her part of the way, and if we were followed I would hold them up. When we had left, I doubled back, finding Bellamy and a couple others following our tracks. I managed to convince Bellamy that he didn't have to approve of Octavia's actions, but to at least respect her privacy. He wasn't so pleased about that, but he turned back all the same.
Octavia found me working with Raven on the bullets. Octavia popped her head through the flap in Raven's tent, "Adam, could you come with me a sec?" she asked, before smiling at Raven. "Yeah, sure. I'll be out in a minute." I finished the bullets I was working on, said goodbye to Raven and went out to meet Octavia. We walked through the camp towards the dropship. Most people stayed out of our way, but now, rather them avoiding me, they were avoiding Octavia. Scornful looks were thrown in her direction the whole way to the dropship. "So, I take it people aren't happy about you and Lincoln" I said, "Nope." Octavia said with a scowl, "The guys in the food hut have taken to calling me 'Grounder Pounder'. Lovely name, I know.", Her face darkened at that. "They'll get used to it, trust me." I reassued her. "Why aren't they as understanding as you?" Octavia whined. "Because I met Lincoln. And I know other grounders. Though I haven't met them, I know that they are just as good as Lincoln. Though, to be fair to you guys, they aren't as kind as Lincoln." I explained. We reached the dropship and climbed the ramp. As we entered, I spotted Clarke working with someone, who had managed to get a huge gash down his arm. Clarke was busily bandaging the arm, stopping the flow of blood. Bellamy burst in behind us, and immediately spun Octavia around to face him. "What the hell were you thinking?" He practically shouted at her, "The grounders are out there and you decide it was a good idea to go speak to your boyfriend out in the forest?". Clarke spoke before either me or Octavia got a chance, "I asked to go see if Lincoln could tell us anything about the grounder's tactics." She said, not looking up from her patient. The bandage was finished, and the patinet made a hasty retreat down the ramp. Bellamy stared at Clarke. "You sent Octavia out there? Adam could have told us with out having to send Octavia out to be attacked by the grounders" His voice hadn't let up much. "Uhh, I just want to point out that I can't tell you about the grounders tactics really. I just know how they fight, and from which way they will be coming." I said quickly before anyone else spoke. "Besides, it doesn't matter, Bell, Lincoln was there and he said that they will attack over the bridge. He's not sure how many warriors they could send, but it's alot. More than enough to overwhelm us." Octavia explained. Bellamy turned away shaking his head. "Bellamy, we need this. It's like having a man on the inside, giving us information." Clarke said, advancing on Bellamy. "Oh you are going to have lots of fun with him on the inside of Mount Weather" I murmered. "What was that?" Octavia asked. "Nothing" I said qucikly, smiling to a bewildered Octavia. Clarke and Bellamy were having a heated debate once more. I nudged Octavia, "Let's just leave these two, shall we?" Octavia nodded and followed me out of the drop ship. "I'm starving, what about you?" I asked, realising I hadn't eaten all day. "No, Lincoln had some roast deer that he had hunted so I had food there."Octavia waved me off. "No problem, don't get into trouble." I said, heading off in the direction of the food huts, whilst Octavia went off to do whatever.
Night had settled in nicely. There weren't any problems that we could see. Everyone was home and accounted for, the sentries were on watch, kept alert by friends bringing drinks and Bellamy walking past, shouting them awake and spirits were high, especially for such a dark time. Even Raven had put down her bullets and ventured out in look of some conversation and a drink. I walked along the top of the wall, looking both sides. On one side, there was laughter, drinking and light. On the other, were trees, the pillboxes that were under construction, and an eerie darkness. I passed Diggs who had his gun down, giving me a high five when I heard a clatter. Suddenly, the wall broke out with shouts and calls from people all along the wall, "What was that?", "That was the noise traps", "Someone find Bellamy or Clarke, quick". I was next to Diggs, my pistol aimed out into the darkness whilst he had his rifle propped on the wall sweeping across, looking for signs of movement. My eyes scanned up and down, more people were shouting. The I spotted a figure stumble between two trees before collapsing. "Hold your fire!" I shouted as loud as I could. The lowering my voice slightly, I said to Diggs, "Get the gate open. And find Bellamy." With that I vaulted the parapet at the top of the wall, landing on the earth the other side. I heard Diggs shout above me, "Get the gate open, Adam's gone down there." I kept my pistol up, as i made my way towards the trees where I had seen the figure collapse. I heard the creeping sound as the gate opened, with Octavia and two others coming out as soon as there was space. I kept on searching before coming across him. Murphey was laying on the ground, blood covered his face from cuts and bruises lined his exposed arm and torso. He had managed to roll on to his back, and was now staring at me wide eyed, wondering whether I would kill him or not. Octavia arrived, almost crashing into me. When she saw Murphey, she simply murmered "Oh gof, Murphey". The two others followed behind her, both crying out. One of them turned around to vomit behind a tree. "We need to get him inside, quick."Octavia managed, before moving to grab his legs. I was about to protest when she looked up at me, "Come on" she nodded her head to his arms, so I grabbed them and yanked him towards camp. Four guys with guns had come out of the gate and were scanning the area, guns trained outwards. One of those who ahd come with Octavia shouted out, "Quick, get Clarke. We have someone who is badly injured". Bellamy came out as some one went in, calling for Clarke. Bellamy immediatly turned on Octavia, who passed Murphey's legs onto Diggs. "Octavia, what the hell?!" Bellamy shouted. Octavia cut him off, "Oh lay off it Bell". She pushed past him, keeping pace with us as we carried Murphey through camp. People gasped as we made our way towards the dropship, most putting hands to their mouths, others turned away in disgust. Clarke was at the bottom of the ramp. "Quick get him inside. Now." Two people held open the tarp as we lugged Murphey through the drop ship door, carefully laying him down on one of the bunks inside. Clarke looked over his body, examining each of his cuts. The people who had carried Murphey in left the dropship, but not before they had knocked into Bellamy and Octavia who were jsut coming through the door. "What's happening?" Bellamy demanded, "Why did Diggs say you jumped the wall?". "Because I did." I said simply, "I saw someone collapse as so I jumped to see who it was and get them help.". Bellamy didn't look happy, "But instead it was Murphey, someone who we know for a fact is evil. And I'm pretty sure we said we would kill him if he ever came back here.". "We did." Clarke stated. "Then we should throw him back out there and leave him to die. He's crazy." Bellamy basically shouted. "Are you even human?" Octavia turned to Bellamy, "This is one of the 100. Sure he did bad things, but look as him. He's been through hell". "He's been through worse" Clarke said, "Look here" She held up his fingers," He was caught by the grounders. And they tortured him. His finger nails have been torn out." ."Ouch". We all turned to see Raven standing in the door way, Finn just behind her. They came in to stand beside Bellamy and Octavia. "He's been roughed up badly" Finn commented, "Here, let me help", he crouched down to help Clarke. I glanced to Raven just in time to see the eye roll I was expecting. Looking back I saw Murphey begin to shake, "Quick hold him down" Raven and Finn were quickest, Finn holding his legs, Raven his arms and torso. Clarke had begun to clean up Murphey's wounds when Monroe threw the tarp out of her way, "Clarke, help, someone is bleeding from their eyes". As if on cue, the infected person came in, held up by two others, "Set him down over there" Clarke gestured to another bunk towards the back of the drop ship. "What's happening?" Bellamy said, looking around in confusion. "Oh no...", It suddenly dawned on me. "What? What is it?" Octavia asked frantically. "I know what's happening. Murphey's infected with a disease. It spreads through touch". Everyone froze, looking at each other in worry and fear. "God help us" Clarke said out loud.