Disclaimer: I do not own The 100. Any similarity in storyline or dialogue originated with the show or book.
Predator and Prey
Madeleine Blake had already evaluated her traveling companions to the best of her ability.
Clarke had taken the lead of the group pretty fast, putting herself in a category of leadership and pride. Finn liked to flirt, or he liked attempting to flirt. Madeleine noticed he enjoyed watching the facial response of the person he was talking to. Monty and Jasper were obviously best friends since before they were locked up. They played off each other well and liked to joke around.
And then there was Madeleine. She stayed at the back of the pack, watching her fellow delinquents closely, like a predator watching its prey.
"What's your name?" Jasper asked as he fell into step beside her.
Madeleine gave him a look that made him do a double take. "Madeleine Blake." She faced Jasper and took a short step towards him. "And you are Jasper Jordan."
"No," he stuttered. He shook his head momentarily. "I mean, yes. Yes, that's my name."
"Yes, it is," Madeleine stated simply before walking on.
She walked on her own until she was approached again. This time it was Finn by her side. It was as if they'd all taken bets to see who could get her to say more than a two sentences.
"Hi," Finn smiled.
Madeleine flicked a glance in his direction.
"I'm Finn," he said and extended a hand.
Mads stared at the hand with a raised eyebrow and looked up at Finn. "I know."
"And you are…"
"Madeleine."
"Your brother seems very—"
Madeleine gave him a look that made him flinch.
"He seems very nice," Finn finished quietly.
She glanced at the handsome brown haired boy and shook her head. For a second she thought he'd be the one to finally question her looks or unemotional answers. But she was wrong, and that rarely happened.
"Hey, guys. Would you try to keep up?" Clarke asked from her spot in front.
"Come on, Clarke," Finn sighed. "How do you block all of this out?"
He was gesturing to the plant life surrounding them, but Madeleine had barely noticed it. She was focused on getting to mount weather so she could get supplies for her and Bellamy.
"Well, it's simple," Clarke said. "I wonder, why haven't we seen any animals? Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe, we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us." She paused for a moment. "Sure is pretty though. Come on"
Madeleine smirked when the others were left staring after her. She slipped past them and followed Clarke through the vegetation.
"What did you do to get caught, Mads?" Jasper asked, causing Madeleine to shoot him a look.
He put up his hands in defense. "I heard your brother call you that."
"And you are not my brother," she stated with a quirk of her eyebrow.
"That—that is very true," Jasper stuttered as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Madeleine continued on behind Clarke after that. She didn't make it much farther without being bothered again.
"So, what did you do?" Monty asked.
"Stole something," Madeleine answered and picked up her pace.
"What you steal?" Finn questioned.
"A shirt," Mads answered.
"Why?" Jasper narrowed his eyes.
"Because I love my brother," Madeleine answered. She started to jog when she saw Clarke kneeling a few feet in front of them. The blonde girl motioned them forwards so Madeleine went to her side and saw why she had wanted them to join her.
Standing in front of them was a deer. It was feeding as the rest of their group caught up to them.
"No animals, huh?" Finn asked Clarke before he started to creep forward slowly.
Madeleine watched where he was walking and sighed when she saw he was about to step on a branch. When Finn did, the deer looked up and turned his head. Even Madeleine inhaled sharply when she saw that it had an extra head.
The deer leapt away quickly, leaving the delinquents in awe. Madeleine was the first to snap out of the daze. She stood and continued on in the direction they were headed—towards Mount Weather.
"If you're going to kill someone, it's probably best not to announce it," Bellamy said as he neared two younger delinquents.
The one with the big eyes laughed. "You're not really with the Guard are you?"
"No," Bellamy answered. "The real Guard will be here soon unless we stop it." He watched them for a moment before scoffing. "You don't actually think they'll forgive your crimes?" Bellamy laughed under his breath when they didn't answer. "Even if they do, then what? Guys like us, we gonna become model citizens now? Get jobs? If we're lucky, we'll pick up their trash."
"You've got a point?" The other delinquent asked.
"No," Bellamy answered. "I've got a question." He paused and held the younger man's gaze. "They locked you up and dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So, why are you helping them?"
"The hell we are," the second boy said.
"You're wearing those bracelets, aren't you?" Bellamy asked. "Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it's safe for them to follow us down."
"Okay," the kid with the big eyes interjected. "You sad we could stop it. How?"
"Take them off. The Ark will think you're dead. That it's not safe to follow," Bellamy said with a small smirk. "You follow?"
"All right," the big-eyed kid said. "And if we do, then what's in it for us?"
"Someone's gotta help me run things," Bellamy hinted before walking away.
After a while he stopped to take a deep breath. He knew he needed to focus on the plan that Mads laid out, but he couldn't stop worrying about her. She rarely left his side willingly and when she did, she always came back as soon as she could. Bellamy hoped that this time was no different. Being locked up couldn't have changed her too much. Right?
"You know what I'd like to know?" Finn began, causing Madeleine to roll her eyes. It seemed like he never stopped talking. "Why send us down today, after 97 years? What changed?"
"Who cares?" Madeleine murmured, causing everyone to look back at her. She kept her gaze focused on the horizon ahead of her.
"Maybe they found something on a satellite," Monty said. "You know, like an old weather satellite or—"
"It wasn't a satellite," Clarke cut him off. "The Ark is dying."
Everyone looked at the blonde girl except Madeleine. She never really cared about the Ark or the people on it. All that mattered was that she and her brother were together and safe. She was only going on the trip to Mount Weather to ensure their safety and bond. Clarke walked past the rest of their group members when they stopped and peered back at her.
"With the current population, there's roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone," Clarke added.
Finn caught up to her. "So that was the secret they locked you up to keep? Why they kept you in solitary? Floated your old man?"
Madeleine scoffed softly. She couldn't understand why he felt the need to know the answer to all these questions.
"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought people had the right to know. The council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic," Clark explained. She paused for a moment before continuing. "We were going to go public anyways when Wells…"
"What? Turned in your dad?" Finn asked.
Clarke moved on. "Anyway, the guard showed up before we could." She paused to look at Finn. "That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves some more time."
"They're gonna kill more people aren't they?" Monty asked.
Clarke kept quiet.
"Of course they are," Madeleine answered for her before walking ahead of the group.
"You don't know that," Jasper said, following her.
"It's the Ark," Madeleine told him as they walked side by side. "The council will sacrifice the poor to save the privileged… to save themselves."
"You don't know that," Jasper regretted.
"Is that all you can say?" Madeleine turned on him, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Jasper said as he took a step back from her. Madeleine was used to it. People always wanted to put distance between themselves and Madeleine.
"Right," she sighed before walking on.
"How old are you?" Jasper asked as he followed her.
"Sixteen," Madeleine answered.
"You seemed older," Jasper murmured.
Madeleine stuffed her hands into her pockets. "I know."
They walked together for a short while until they reached a small river. Madeleine stood on the edge of the boulder and peered over into the water. She quirked an eyebrow when she saw how inviting the water looked.
"Madeleine, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke asked from behind them
She didn't say anything while she removed her jacket and shirt, leaving her in her pants and tank top. Jasper watched as Madeleine pulled her dark, wild curls into a ponytail and jumped into the water.
"We can't swim," Monty said as the group walked up on the boulder.
"You don't have to," Madeleine said before she stood up in the water. She smiled faintly as the others started to take their clothes off. She was watching them and noticed that Jasper's gaze was focused on something behind her.
"Madeleine, get out of the water," Jasper said hurriedly. Madeleine followed his gaze and saw something moving towards her in the water.
"Madeleine!"
She tried to wade to the shore, but she wasn't fast enough. Suddenly, she felt something bite into her thigh. Madeleine screamed as she was pushed through the water and then dragged beneath it.
Madeleine tried to hold her breath as she was being pushed under the water, but she had never had the chance to practice swimming on the Ark, let alone be prepared to get attacked while swimming. Eventually, the animal pushed her up to the surface, allowing her to gasp for air. She tried to scream for help as she was being propelled through the water, but no one was coming.
Suddenly it let her go.
She was in deep water by then and thrashed as she tried to keep afloat. She could hear Jasper's voice, but her fear and the sound of the water were muting his words. Then he was in the water beside her. He wrapped an arm around Madeleine and pulled her to shore. They barely escaped a second attack.
"Thank you, Jasper," Madeleine panted as she laid flat on the rock beside him.
Clarke and the others rushed to them. Madeleine's pants were torn where the beast had latched onto her so they could see the large wound. Clarke kneeled by her side as she surveyed the bite mark on her leg. She reached across and ripped a part of Jasper's shirt, using it as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Madeleine could feel Jasper's hand on her waist, but she fought the urge to push it off. She hated it when people touched her. It reminded her of bad memories from her time in the orphanage. But Madeleine had always been good at reading people, and he was obviously a good person. So, she let Jasper be the first guy, other than her brother, to be allowed to touch her.
"Who's next?" Bellamy shouted into the crowd after another bracelet was removed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Wells asked as he limped towards Bellamy.
Bellamy stopped one of his men from advancing on Wells. "We're liberating ourselves. What does it look like?"
"Looks like you're trying to get us all killed," Wells answered. "The communications system is dead. These wristbands are all we got. Take them off and the ark will think we're dying! That it's not safe for them to follow!"
"That's the point, Chancellor," Bellamy said with a sly smirk. "We can take care of ourselves. Can't we?!"
"Yeah!" The kids around them shouted, making Bellamy look back at Wells.
"You think this is a game? Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there! They're our farmers! Our doctors! Our engineers!" Wells explained. He gestured to Bellamy and said, "I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own! And besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"
"My people already are down. Thos people," Bellamy said as he gestured to the sky, "locked my people up. Your father did that."
"My father didn't write the laws," Wells reminded him.
"No, he enforced them," Bellamy said, "but not anymore. Not here. Here, there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want!"
"You don't have to like it, Wells," Bellamy told him. "You can even try to stop me, change it, kill me, you know why? Whatever the hell we want!"
"Whatever the hell we want!" The delinquents started to chant.
Bellamy smirked softly as the chanting continued and Wells stepped towards him. That's when the rain started, pouring down on them like a waterfall.
"We need to collect this," Wells told him.
"Whatever the hell you want," Bellamy repeated and watched as he walked away.
He couldn't help but think about Mads as he looked up at the sky, letting the rain devour him fully. Bellamy wished she was there to witness it.
"I don't want to shoot you, Wells," Bellamy said as he stared at the younger kid. "Hell, I like you, but I do need them," he gestured to the sky with his gun, "to think that you're dead."
"Why? Why are you doing this? For real, not some crap about getting to do what you want to do," Wells wondered.
"I have my reasons," Bellamy answered. "I also have the gun, so I ask the questions. The question is, why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you, Wells, yet here you are still doing his bidding, following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you?" Bellamy paused. "Stand up to him. Take off that wristband and you will be amazed at how good it feels."
"No," Wells said. "Never. Not gonna happen. Is that clear enough for you?"
"Yeah, it is," Bellamy said as he put away his gun. His men came out from hiding and caught Wells when he tried to run.
The younger man shouted and fought as they held him down and pried off his wristband, but Bellamy didn't wait around to see that. He hid his gun with his jacket and walked away, wondering what Madeleine would think of what he had done. Bellamy thought she would be smiling.
Madeleine clenched her jaw as she looked up at Finn and Jasper. They were about to swing across the river on a thick vine, but they both appeared slightly hesitant. She watched as Finn prepared to swing across, but at the last moment, he handed it over to Jasper.
Madeleine pursed her lips as he took the vine in his hands and prepared to swing.
"See you on the other side," Jasper said before swinging across.
He landed roughly on the other side and the group rushed to see if he was okay. Madeleine smiled faintly when he got up and yelled.
"Come on, Mads," Finn said, "You're next."
Madeleine ignored the nickname and went up on the rock beside him.
"Come on, Mads!" Jasper shouted loudly. After a moment he shouted, "We did it!"
Madeleine looked at him across the river and saw that he was holding a sign. She could make out the words "MOUNT WEATHER" across the top.
"Mount Weather!" Jasper shouted. "Woo!"
The others smiled and shouted as well, celebrating their accomplishment.
"Jasper!" Madeleine shouted when a large arrow flew out of nowhere and hit him in the chest.
"Come on," Finn grabbed her arm as the others started to file down behind the rock.
They surveyed the trees as they hid behind the rocks.
"There's someone out there," Clarke breathed.
"We're not alone," Madeleine murmured. "We're not alone."
A/N: Please give me some feedback in a review. And favorite and follow if you haven't already.