47. Crumbled Into Pieces

When the explosion happened mountain rock started to shake before it crumbled into pieces like breadcrumbs. The mountain wasn't the only thing that was shaking either, the entire ground and due to the explosion everyone for miles would feel the vibrations as well as the loud sound of destruction. However that wasn't what interested any of the delinquents or Lincoln the slightest. Their focus was mainly on anyone walking out of that mountain, but it was impossible to see past the smoke and small flames that was spreading slowly around the mountain, though nothing too destructive or something that couldn't be easily controlled. The small group waited for a few minutes before they carefully approached the mountain.

Even though they all had been prepared for the destruction, neither Octavia nor the other kids expected the sight that met upon them as they walked slowly towards the soon crumbled rock fortress. They found unconscious bodies or maybe dead bodies of the guards, they weren't exactly sure, but it really didn't matter since they were in no position to harm them let alone to move so Octavia wasn't worried as they walked around or stepped over the bodies. The sight was smoky or simply put just a mess. There was fragments of steel and rock shrapnel lying around the around the mountain as well as the blast sight. Octavia stared at the tiny pieces, wondering if she should be glad that it wasn't pieces of flesh or bones she found as she desperately moved her gaze around the smoky area to see the figures of her older brother and her best friend.

"Bellamy, Clarke!" Octavia shouted out, hoping that her voice call them closer to her. "Can you hear me? Where are you?"

Shortly after the other kids began calling out for their leaders, the two people that had been the closest thing to a mother and a father while they had been on the ground on their own without the Ark or their own living parents to be there for them. Unfortunately their calls were unanswered, which brought worry and distress inside her body. They had a plan; they followed through the plan like Bellamy and Clarke had asked them to, but where were they? Had something happened to them without them knowing? Or had the blast done its job to well and accidently hurt or possibly even have killed them?

She hoped with every piece of her body that they were okay and that it was only her worried and vivid imagination that was trying to get to her, but still she didn't feel the slightest reassured as she reached the opening where the blast had cracked a hole that allowed them to enter. In one way she wanted nothing more to walk confidently into the mountain and seize it with storm, but she was also terrified to see if her worry was indeed true. She didn't want her last memory of her brother and best friend to be their dead bodies left behind in this hellhole. They deserved better than that, no matter what anyone else believed.

Lincoln had walked up next to her without her realizing it due to her being completely lost in thought. He turned to look at her, worried expressed on his face before he turned his gaze to what was right in front of them. They both knew that they needed to enter to find them or at least that the Mountain Men were really gone and that their presence would no longer hurt and harm anyone else again.

Octavia sighed heavily as she closed her eyes to prepare herself for what was to come next. "We should go in," She said quietly. Lincoln didn't say anything, but responded by nodding his head. "Don't think I'm being a coward since I haven't made my move yet, I was just preparing myself you know."

Lincoln nodded his head without moving his gaze and said, "I know. You are one of the strongest and bravest people I have ever met. It is one of the many reasons why I love you."

She didn't know why she was trying to defend her reasons for why she had walked inside yet, possibly because she really didn't want her boyfriend to think that she was truly as frail and weak as she was currently feeling inside. Then she opened her eyes again, showing the determination that she was going to face her demons just like Bellamy told her when she had to face her fear of the dark. Slay the demons while she was awake, although she couldn't physically slay her demons she had to at least be strong and brave enough to face whatever was inside that mountain whether it scared her or not.

Then she turned to look at him and said gently yet strongly, "I love you too. Now let's go and find Bellamy and Clarke."

Lincoln's lips turned upwards when he heard her words, but once again he didn't say anything. Instead he took the first step and walked inside the mountain. Octavia shook her head by her boyfriend's embarrassed love confessions. Guys were always so awkward and embarrassed showing and talking about their feelings; Bellamy was one of many examples of that at least in the beginning. It was a wonder how in the world her brother managed to capture Clarke's affections in the first place, especially since her brother was an overprotective and possessive ass.

She shook her head once more, in attempt to forget about this frivolous thought that she already knew the answer to or at least she could guess the answer to anyways. So she sighed deeply one more time before she followed after her boyfriend along with few of the other kids, who weren't there to stand guard in case something were to happen once they were inside. Hopefully they would find Bellamy and Clarke, alive and well, fast because this place seriously gave her the creeps and didn't want to spend any more time here than necessary.

Lincoln couldn't help thinking back on the last time he had been inside here as he went further into the mountain. Back then he had been so desperate to save Clarke's life that he had used unconventional methods to get to here as well getting them out. Without hesitation he killed several people he met on the way, anyone that posed as a threat to him and his little sister figure. Of course he had been trained all his life to be a warrior, even though in reality he wanted to just live peacefully without struggling to survive all the time. However the cruelty of reality stopped him from even thinking about pursuing his wishes, even after he was exiled, but lately he had begun thinking it was possible to live peacefully again especially after meeting Octavia and the other delinquents as they called themselves. Now the only thing he and the others needed to do was to find Clarke and Octavia's brother, Bellamy, so that they could finally start over and have a clean slate. Unfortunately it was easier said then done as they walked deeper inside. Dead bodies were building up the further they went and he quickly made the realization that their death had not been because of the explosion. And his suspicion proved to be right when he took a closer look at the bodies and found the similar symptoms of Acid fog poisoning.

"Oh my…" Octavia said quietly, shocked over the great number of dead people lying around. "What could have happened? Its looks like they have been exposed to something toxic or poisoned."

Lincoln turned to look at her before he answered, "Because they have been exposed to Acid fog poisoning, and based on the bodies we keep finding I believe they have been through a large exposure of it too. However what I can't understand is why they have been exposed to it. And according to their still slightly warm body temperature they haven't been dead for long and is definitely not because of the explosion either."

Octavia's eyes became darker and more concerned than before as she swallowed heavily before she asked, "Is it possible that Clarke and Bellamy…."

She didn't continue the sentence, but she didn't have to since they both knew what exactly she was asking whether Clarke and Bellamy were alive or not. And honestly he wasn't sure if they were or not, especially after finding body after body as they went along, but it was useless to try and reassure her of something that he didn't know for certain.

"I don't know, Octavia," He said sadly. "I hope that they are not, really hope that they are not dead, but I can't say for certain since I don't know what happened here and neither does any of you. So let's not jump to any conclusions until we have something that proves otherwise."

Octavia had a dejected expression on her face, but she nodded her head.

With nothing else left to say about the matter they continued on down the hallway before the hall split in two different directions. Seeing as it would take forever for them to search the entire mountain for them if they continued as a group, Lincoln and the others decided to slip up and cover as much ground as possible. He, Octavia, Jasper and a few others were in one group while Raven and Monty were in another group. While the other group was continuing the search on the ground level or rather where they currently was located, he and the others started moving upwards where he believed was most likely Clarke and Bellamy would go in order to remove the Acid fog system. The Mountain Men wouldn't be stupid enough to do it on the ground level where prisoners and traitors resided, so the most logical place the two would have gone would be upwards, which also meant they were a lot more exposed to by guards and anyone else they would have stumbled upon in the mountain. So without a word exchanged between one another, his small group began heading upwards while trying to ignore the sight and smell of death lingering through the mountain.

She was slipping in and out of the conscious world. There was no control and she could barely function to keep herself awake, let alone being able to think long enough to gather her thoughts and remember what had happened. However somewhere along the line, whether it was before or after what seemed to be her seventh attempt to stay awake, things were starting to return to her as she remembered that she and Bellamy had pulled the lever to release the Acid fog into the mountain, rendering it useless or unusable. Then the mountain shook, which actually caught them of guard, which was because of the explosion that was probably caused by the kids like they had planned before. However whether it was due to the unexpected blast or the Acid fog poisoning, they somehow ended up falling down on the floor and were rendered unconscious.

Clarke tried once again to maintain function of her body, but it didn't work. She couldn't even open her eyes long enough to turn to see if Bellamy or Maya was okay. So instead she forced herself to talk despite the numbness and pain she was feeling and called out, "Bellamy?"

No answer. She tried again, even though she felt the strain for forcing herself, but again met with no response. Seeing she was getting too tired and unable to keep herself conscious long enough she decided just to fall back into her unconscious state and accept whatever happened next. However she did hope that if things turned out too late for her, then at least she hoped that Bellamy got through this okay, that was more important and the only thing that mattered to her at the moment. She closed her eyes and welcomed the darkness once again.

Octavia didn't know if she should have been frightened or relived to see her boyfriend leaning over one of the dying bodies they encountered. Even more so when moments later she saw Lincoln ripping the dying man's head of his body in the most painful and vulgar way possible. The dying man had barely managed to release his last breath before his head was severed from his head. Lincoln only stared at the head for a second before he tossed it on the ground like it was garbage before he continued down the hall like nothing had ever happened. She blinked a few times before she ran up to him and asked exasperated, "What the hell was that all about? Why did you rip that guy's head off and throw it away?"

Lincoln shrugged his shoulders and answered lightly, "Don't worry I'm taking the head back with me in order to deliver a message to the Commander and the other Grounders. And besides don't feel bad about that man's death because he doesn't deserve it."

"Who was he?" Octavia asked strained, almost afraid to hear the answer because whomever this person was he obviously managed to get on Lincoln's bad side seeing as he got a even more horrible way to die except from being poisoned that is.

"From what I recall that man was President Wallace, the leader of this mountain and its people, only son, Cage Wallace. The man was bad through and through, not an inch of kindness inside his body especially since he was the one who ordered the torture on Clarke before."

Octavia nodded, understanding that he was extracting his revenge for what happened to Clarke, but that didn't explain what he said about using his severed head as a way to deliver a message. And without even asking about it Lincoln continued his explanation, "To be simple, the head is supposed to be a message to Lexa regarding her actions as well as a warning should she ever approach Clarke or me ever again."

Octavia wanted to say something, but ultimately decided against it. He had every right to be angry and wanted to protect Clarke, even though she didn't appreciate such ways to convene the message she really didn't have a say in the matter anyways.

And as she came to this resolution she didn't realize that they both had stopped in the middle of the hallway. However the reason for the stop was first of all the odd number of corpses lying in front of a half-opened door. She and Lincoln exchanged confused glances before they peaked in the door to see what had been so important that these guards had forced themselves in. It was a hallway filled with more dead bodies, but oddly enough all the bodies were laying in front of a shut door at the end of the hall. Their curiosity was definitely turned up a notch now, so they entered and walked down the hallway before they stopped in front of the door.

The state of the last door was pretty much worst to wear and it was clearly showed how determined these guards had been to get inside seeing as the door was almost broken apart. Which made their job in opening the door much easier when Lincoln and Jasper used their entire strength to remove or at least push the door to the side and making room for them to enter one by one.

She entered first and was followed by Lincoln, Jasper and the other kids. And once everyone was inside the sight that met upon them were shocking as well as frightening to see because inside there laid an unconscious young woman, who she didn't recognize but apparently Jasper did since he shouted out her name and leaned down to check her up. Maya as Jasper called was breathing heavily like she was desperately trying to hang on to her life, but Octavia didn't really focus on her at the moment instead she was breaking apart inside when she saw the two familiar bodies of her older brother and best friend. They both were dirty and covered in blood, Bellamy looking worse than Clarke, but it didn't matter since their appearance showed that they were not okay. Unable to hold her despair she shouted out, "Bellamy, Clarke!"

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