Welcome to the New Age
"I'm waking up to ash and dust, I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust. I'm breathing in the chemicals." - Imagine Dragons.
Kyra's legs shook slightly as she took her first steps onto the real life ground. The leaves crunched beneath her feet, her eyes were still adjusting to the bright sky, and the excited cheering and chattering from her peers rang in her ears. The cold, crisp fresh air entered Kyra's lungs as she breathed and an airy laugh left her lips. Her first real laugh in years.
She didn't know where to start. Some of the criminals were running off in different directions, dying to explore, but Kyra didn't want to risk getting lost just yet. Instead, she chose to wander slowly over to the line of trees that surrounded them. Tentatively, she reached out and stroked the bark of the trunk, her fingertips brushing against the damp moss that was slowly growing over it. She'd read about trees before. Apparently, they created the oxygen that they would now be breathing. Not oxygen like that stale stuff they made on The Ark, but real, fresh oxygen.
"How does it feel?" Said a voice from behind.
Kyra froze. Did Bellamy know she was the one listening to his conversation that morning? Did Shumway warn him about her? Shaking her head slightly, she turned to face him.
"It's... surreal." She answered truthfully.
Bellamy blinked and gave a slight shake of his head, as if reminding himself about the current situation. "You should head back to the drop ship now and stop messing around. We can't risk losing anybody."
Kyra scoffed. She was one of the closest people to the drop ship. Why wasn't he trying to assert his authority some place else?
"Hey, screw you!" Kyra called after him as he walked away. "You're not a real guard, you don't get to tell me what to do!"
"Fine," he called back over his shoulder with a shrug, "just starve then."
To prove a point - both to herself and Bellamy - Kyra stayed a little while longer by the trees, enjoying the new views and experiences. She ignored the argument between the Blakes and Clarke, and she ignored the jeering that came from the almost-fight with Wells and some random guy she didn't know with bug eyes.
When she finally rejoined the group, she heard Finn speaking.
"So, Mount Weather.," he said, "when do we leave?"
"Right now." Clarke answered simply. "We'll be back tomorrow with food."
"How are the two of you gonna carry enough food for one hundred?" Wells frowned.
"More like ninety eight." Kyra said as she stopped at a spot next to Finn, who swallowed deeply at the reminder. The brunette noticed Clarke's gaze flicker to her and ignored it. She couldn't answer any of the questions the younger girl had.
Finn shook his head, glancing around before grabbing two guys that Kyra recognised from their brief time inside the drop ship. "Five of us. Can we go now?"
Kyra did a double take. So she was involved now? The girl bit her bottom lip and weighed out her options. Stay with the others and possibly end up punching Bellamy in the face, or go with the smaller group and explore a little more? She chose the latter. After all, she could just do her best to ignore Clarke.
"Sounds like a party," came a voice from the left. They turned to see Octavia with a small smirk on her lips, "make it six."
Clarke stepped forward then, grabbing Finn's outstretched arm and gesturing to his wristband. "Hey," she said sharply, "were you trying to take this off?"
"Yeah, so?"
"So, this wristband transmits your vital signs to The Ark," Clarke replied heatedly. "Take it off, and they'll think you're dead."
"Should I care?" Finn replied which caused Kyra to smirk. Clarke hated when people challenged her.
"Well, I don't know," the blonde said, "do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."
Finally, the pair's discussion came to a close and after Octavia got her brother's consent, the group headed off on their journey.
"Now, that, my friend, is game." Said the boy with goggles on his head that Kyra had discovered was named Jasper. He and his friend Monty were currently watching Finn place a purple flower behind Octavia's ear, with Kyra just behind them.
"That, my friend, is poison sumac." Monty replied simply.
"What?" Octavia screeched, grabbing the flower and throwing it away. "It is?"
"The flowers aren't poisonous," Monty explained as Kyra snorted, "they're medicinal; calming, actually."
As the others continued to talk - with Clarke growing more and more annoyed, much to Kyra's amusement - Kyra wandered past the group and continued on forward. Her steps faltered slightly as she saw a flicker of movement up ahead and she gasped in surprise at the sight of a deer. She had never seen a live animal before and the deer was beautiful.
Carefully and quietly, Kyra stepped closer and knelt down just behind a rock to watch the animal. Slowly, the rest of her group formed around her to watch the animal.
"No animals, huh?" Finn said quietly to Clarke before accidentally disturbing the peaceful scene by standing on a fallen twig.
The sudden noise caused the deer's head to turn towards the group and the group of six gasped, jumping back in surprise.
Kyra's eyes widened as she took in the revolting sight of the gore-ridden deer. It was truly nightmare-worthy and nobody moved until after the deer sprinted off happily. The brunette's body was still frozen in place as the rest of the small group stood up and a gentle tap on the shoulder from Jasper is what got her to move on.
"Let's keep moving." Clarke snapped.
"Hey, you know what I'd like to know?" Finn asked as the handful of the hundred continued their journey through the forest, "Why send us down today after ninety seven years? What changed?"
"Who cares? I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest." Octavia smiled, spinning round with her arms outstretched. Kyra noticed her smile fall slightly when Finn walked past without giving her any attention.
"The Ark is dying," Clarke said, acting like a dark cloud of the happy mood that had settled amongst them. "At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support - maybe four now that we're gone."
Finn wandered up to Clarke's side. "So that was the secret they locked you up to keep? Why they kept you in solitary and floated your old man?"
"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. " Clarke explained. "The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public, anyway, when Wells..."
"What? Turned in your dad?" Finn asked.
"Anyway, the guard showed up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time."
Kyra found herself frowning in between Monty and Jasper as the conversation continued.
"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?"
Octavia shrugged at the thought. "Good. After what they did to me, I say float 'em all."
Kyra then tuned out of the conversation as the walk continued. Truthfully, she was tired and hungry which caused her to trip over her feet quite a few times (she was saved by either Monty or Jasper, thankfully), but she wasn't going to stop now. Even if she wanted to, she didn't know her way back.
The sound of a splash caused Kyra's head to jerk up and her eyebrows raised when she saw Octavia standing in a crystal clear river.
"Oh, damn, I love Earth." Jasper grinned, causing Kyra to playfully give him a chastening slap on the back of his head.
"Wait," Clarke said, "there's not supposed to be a river here."
"Well, there is," Finn grinned, "so take off your damn clothes. That includes you, Kyra."
While the others were focused on stripping off the clothes with the intention of following Octavia, Kyra stayed put. She had never swam before, and even though the water was shallow enough for her to stand, she still didn't feel comfortable with the situation.
"Octavia, get out of the water." Jasper said urgently, breaking Kyra out of her thoughts.
"Get out of the water now!" Clarke repeated as a dark shadow could be seen in the water, making it's way towards Octavia.
Octavia screamed and both Jasper and Kyra rushed forward to try and get to her. Meanwhile, Clarke, Finn and Monty focused on pushing a boulder into the water. They were going by Clarke's logic that "If we distract it, it might let her go."
In his panic, Jasper stripped off his jacket and dove straight into the water, grabbing Octavia and planning on getting her to safety as soon as possible. The river was now tainted with red as blood came from the youngest Blake's leg and Kyra held out her arms to help the pair back on to land.
"Good job, Jasper." She smiled as she wrapped Octavia's previously discarded jacket back around her shoulders.
Jasper smiled in acknowledgement and Octavia dove forward to wrap her arms around her saviour.
"Thank you, thank you." She breathed heavily.
"Note to self," Monty started, "next time; save the girl."
The exhausted group shared a moment of laughter. They were all safe... For now, at least.
"Come on, wimp. Get moving." Kyra urged Finn with a grin on her face as they stood on the edge of a cliff.
Finn turned and gave her an amused, unimpressed look which only caused her to laugh harder.
"You wanted to go first," Clarke added on, which made Kyra nod vigorously in agreement. "Now quit stalling."
"Mount Weather awaits." Octavia added.
"Just hang on till the apogee, and you'll be fine." Jasper advised.
"The apogee like the Indians, right?" Asked Finn.
Jasper raised a brow. "Apogee, not apache."
"He knows," Clarke rolled her eyes. "Sometime today, Finn."
"Aye, aye, captain," Finn moved forward slowly and grabbed onto the hanging vine. "See you on the other side."
"Wait," Jasper said after Finn continued to drag out the moment, most likely in fear of injuring himself or making himself look stupid.
"What?"
"Let me. I can do it."
"I knew there was a badass in there somewhere." Octavia smiled which caused Jasper to laugh nervously and grip the vine tighter.
"Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper," Finn said, giving Jasper a pat on the back. "The trick is not fighting it."
Jasper took a deep breath to calm his nerves and shrugged, spitting out a "see you on the other side" before swinging his way across.
The group cheered a chorus of "Yeah!" and "You did it, Jasper!" as the boy celebrated on his own side.
"Yeah!" He screamed joyfully. "We are apogee!"
Kyra laughed in amusement at his actions as he bent down to pick up a sign and held it up excitedly for them.
MOUNT WEATHER. KEEP OUT.
"We did it! Mount Weather!" Jasper yelled excitedly.
"Yeah, Jasper!" Kyra grinned as she applauded the brave and slightly nutty boy.
Monty chimed in with a cheer before the mood dropped instantly as a spear flew out from behind the group and stuck straight into Jasper's chest. They all froze, their mouths open in shock and their bodies unmoving.
Jasper's eyes were wide, though whether it was from pain or surprise or perhaps a mixture of both, Kyra wasn't sure. The girl stepped into action, taking a step towards the vine in order to get to injured boy but was pulled back by strong arms wrapping around her waist.
"What are you doing?" She screeched as Finn pulled her behind a rock with the others. His arms remained in place as she continued to writhe. "We need to help him!"
"We need to get out of here." Finn corrected.
"But -"
"We'll come back for him. Just keep quiet and stay down, okay?" He said. When she gave a small nod, his grip loosened.
"What was that?" Octavia asked in fear, to which Clarke summed up all of their thoughts in one sentence.
"We're not alone."
A/N: So I couldn't make out all of the writing on the sign and had to leave a sentence out... Whoops.