Octavia watches as Clarke's face falls. Her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion and denial, but she doesn't get a chance to respond. Abby runs over and takes Clarke by the arm as soon as she sees her, dragging Clarke towards the river as she whispers concerns through the air between them.
Octavia wanders over to the stone-covered riverbank where she last saw Jasper and Monty. Before she left to get Clarke, they were talking nonsense about purification techniques and water density. It seemed that they were having a bit of a disagreement because Jasper kept trying to splash Monty with water.
"Nice of you to make an appearance," Jasper greets. His face has splotches of soot all over it, a notable one on the tip of his nose. Octavia rolls her eyes at him and bows sarcastically, pulling a laugh out of him in a way only she can do.
"You know, you're pretty cavalier for a guy who's facing certain death," she tells him, referring to Clarke's prediction. He smirks.
"I've been close to death before," he says. "It doesn't really faize me anymore." Octavia snorts, walking over to him and wiping the splotch off of his nose.
"Yeah but this isn't just your death." Jasper wriggles his nose. "This is the end of the world." She picks up a bucket and begins sifting through the water like Monty taught her. Jasper joins her.
"Nah, the world's been ending for a while now." He runs his hand over the bucket's grate, searching for anything unusual. "I'm use to it." Their hands meet, lingering on each other for a moment.
"Hey, where's Monty?" Octavia asks, suddenly noticing his absence. Jasper looks around and then shrugs.
"A little while after you left, he said he had to go take care of something." Octavia's shoulders tense automatically, and she glances around. "Don't worry, he's probably off with Harper." Breathing a sigh of relief when she realizes that Harper is gone as well, Octavia relaxes and goes back to sifting.
"How's Clarke?" Jasper asks. Octavia thinks for a moment about their walk, the conversation that they had. It's difficult not to relive the way Clarke's face fell after Octavia admitted her truth. After a second of thought, Octavia shakes her head to clear her mind.
"She's carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders," Octavia responds. Jasper snorts.
"Like usual," he says. "But how's she holding up? I mean, the world just got a lot heavier." Octavia knows how true that is.
With this in mind, she glances around, taking in the sight of the riverbank. Arkadians are gathering materials and samples, some laughing and conversing. A few children splash in the water, enjoying another day on Earth, unaware of the sacrifices that got them here. There are so many happy faces. Yet, there are some whose faces look grim, whose mouths are set in solid, concerned lines. Some who know that the end is coming, and that they are powerless to stop it. Still, they're all alive and breathing, still able to worry or laugh or splash around in the water. After all that has happened, that has to be a miracle.
"She hasn't dropped it yet," she tells Jasper, and there's a sort of hope in the sentiment, hope that she thought she had gotten rid of a long time ago. But, no, it's still within her, waiting to latch on to the tiniest sliver of light at the end of the darkness.
"Jasper!" a voice yells in the distance. Leaves crunch under the foot of the person rapidly approaching them. "Jasper!" Now everyone is alert, wondering what could be going on. People have stopped what they've been doing, Clarke and Abby included. Octavia recognizes the voice, and the look on both Jasper's and Clarke's faces say that they do, too. Soon a girl is bursting through the foliage, scrapped and breathless, but looking otherwise unharmed.
"Harper!" Jasper exclaims, his face conveying his worry. He jogs over to her and helps her stay standing. "Where's Monty?" He looks around as if Monty is about to appear from behind a bush. Harper shakes her head, seemly on the verge of tears.
"I didn't want to leave him, but he told me to find you," Harper manages to get out between pants. Jasper grips her arms, his expression locked on hers.
"Harper, where's Monty?" Jasper asks again, his voice more desperate than before.
"He said you'd know what to do," Harper says, still not really answering the question. Clarke steps in and puts a reassuring hand on Harper's shoulder. The touch seems to force her to calm down and focus on Clarke. Octavia has always wondered how Clarke commands that sort of response; it's as if people can somehow sense that she will help them.
"Harper, I need you to tell me what's going on," Clarke says, her voice solid yet gentle. "Where's Monty?" Harper gazes up at Clarke.
"He's trapped."