I sat there staring at Dax letting what Clarke had said to me sink in. Why would they take him to let him go? Did they do something to him? Was that the reason some of us where starting to fall ill? I heard the tarp we placed in front of the door move open.
"Rayne, I've been-" He was cut off by Clarke.
"Bellamy, stay away from her." She told him as I turned my head to face the two of them. Clarke had her arm out holding Bellamy back from coming towards me.
I could see the pain in his eyes, he'd just gotten me back, and we'd all just gotten each other back. Now, well now he couldn't even come within a foot of me without the chance of catching whatever this is that I was sick with. "It'll be ok Bellamy." I said smiling weakly at him.
"This isn't ok Rayne. What's wrong wit her, what's wrong with all of them?" He asked Clarke looking around the room at the four of us that where currently situated on the floor bleeding out of some Orpheus on out face.
"Did he do something to her? Clarke answer me now." He shouted at her.
"Don't yell at her, please Bellamy." I sputtered out softly.
I started loosing my breath again panting heavily, just like Dax was doing. My stomach started to sting with pain, I wanted to vomit but I hadn't even eaten anything that would cause that to happen to me. I looked back at Bellamy who had moved around Clarke and was kneeling not to far from me, shock taking over his face, soon replaced by fear.
"What the hell is this?" He asked Clarke as he continued to look me over.
Clarke stood there; "I'm… I'm not sure Bellamy… it could be-" I cut her off after I had been staring at Dax, the two of us looking at each other fear taking over out eyes. It had dawned on me; I knew exactly what this was. I had read about it time and time again, we all had. It was one of the few things that had happened on Earth right before the bombs had gone off.
"It's biological warfare." I told them as I slowly turned to look at the two of them.
"We were waiting for the grounders to retaliate for the bridge…" Clarke started explaining to Bellamy as she placed her hand on his shoulder. His eyes not tearing away from mine for a second.
"This is it. Dax is the weapon." She said as he finally looked up at her with disbelief.
Clarke and Bellamy had begun to fix up the drop ship to make way for anyone who started getting sick. Making small beds, putting clean water and clean rags all over the place. They found my med kit and brought that inside for me too. I had begun to clean out Dax's wounds ignoring the fact that the two of them had started to pace around the room driving me literally insane.
"Is this your revenge?" Bellamy finally stopped pacing as he turned to face Dax. "Bellamy…" I warned.
"No, is this your revenge for me banishing you? Helping the grounders kill us?" He asked him again.
"I didn't know about this, all right? I swear it." He told him as I began to pluck some dirt out of his eyebrow wound before dabbing it up with a wet cloth removing some of the dry blood off his face.
"Stop lying!" Bellamy shouted startling me causing me to push hard into one of Dax's fresh wounds. Which in turn was the reason Dax winced in pain. "When are they coming?" He asked him.
"Dax, think, all right?" Clarke said as she leaned against the wall behind Bellamy. Murphy soon entered the drop ship, as Dax was about to speak causing him to grow silent once again. Something was defiantly up there, yet with me sick, and trying to gain Clarke's full trust again I couldn't risk saying anything.
"What can you tell us that's useful?" Clarke asked him again as he turned his attention to me mumbling something under his breath. "What?" I whispered to him.
"Did you hear anything?" Clarke continued asking from the other side of the room. Dax just shook his head as he looked over towards Murphy. "They are vicious, cruel." He told us as he put his hand on my leg.
"You want to see vicious?" Bellamy asked walking towards him and I. I shifted my leg away from Dax holding my hand up to stop Bellamy only to hear him sigh angrily. I looked at him sympathetically; I knew this was killing him. I also knew this was pissing him off and if everything Clarke told me about the night Dax was banished is true… we have more than unwanted leg touching to be concerned about.
"Don't." Clarke also warned Bellamy, moving towards him whispering something as he looked at me sadly.
"What ever this thing is, it spreads through contact." Clarke said out loud as Finn ran into the room.
"Clarke?" He said coming to a stop behind Bellamy.
"Finn, you shouldn't be in here." She told him walking away from where she had moved and towards him. "No one should."
"Someone said you where sick." He said his voice filled with panic. Clarke shook her head as if to say no; "Rayne is sick, as are Connor, and Derek."
"Rayne are you all right?" Finn asked.
I shrugged "Still alive." I joked as Bellamy whipped his head towards me. "Not funny, Ray." He warned.
"Clarke, what is this?" Finn asked her, as he looked over at me.
"I don't know," She admitted "Some kind of hemorrhagic fever. Right Ray?" She asked me confirming herself I just nodded. Anyone who doubted Clarke's intelligence was simply and idiot. I mean sure she did stupid things but she was still an incredibly smart girl.
"You guys need to contain it before—" I was starting to say before I got cut off by Derek going into an anaplastic seizure on the floor not even two feet from us. He was retching, shaking, squirming, whatever you wanting to call what he was doing on the ground. I stood up everyone backing away from me as I walked over to the boy seizing on the ground.
I hobbled over towards Derek nearly falling to the ground as Finn tried to stop me from falling. "Hey, don't touch her. You could get sick." Clarke said.
A part of me really wanted to tell Clarke she had been near me and has touched me since I first came into contact with the infected Dax. The chances of her getting the sickness where incredibly high, I turned to face her as I smiled and nodded. "Thanks anyway." I told him before kneeling next to Derek's body as Connor leaned over.
"You ok? Your skins going gray." He asked me as I nodded, "So is yours." I pointed out to him as he began to look at his hands before pulling his legs close to his chest.
"Finn, wash your hands now." Clarke ordered him as he walked over to the small brewery that Monty and Jasper had set up inside the drop ship.
"What the hell is happening to him?" Finn asked as he began to pour alcohol onto his hands to wash off anything that he might have contracted from touching me.
Derek began to spit up blood into the grated floor; I shook my head at Finn's question. "I don't know." I told him. Derek continued coughing in pain a few more times before he collapsed to the ground one last time laying there completely still. I turned around to face Clarke and Bellamy who had looks of pure shock and fear written all over them.
"Is he—" Bellamy began to asked as I moved the boys hair out of my way and put my fingers to his neck checking for a pulse I knew wouldn't be there. This was a bio-warfare; they weren't intending to have any survivors.
I turned around slowly looking up at Bellamy, fear now gripping my eyes. "He's dead." I told him as Clarke put her hand over her mouth. Finn put his arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.
Everyone just stood there looked around at each other, confused and unsure of what to do next. The one and only thing everyone was sure of was that we were scared, terrified even. This sickness had an expiry date the second it infected you. However that did bring up the question as to how Dax was still alive.
"What do we do?" Finn finally asked Clarke after our moments of silence for Derek. I had finally stood up moving away from his body standing a foot away from Bellamy just staring at him.
"I need you…" I whispered to him as he lowered his head, "I always need you… hold on we'll figure this out we have too." He told me looking back up at me.
"Quarantine." Clarke said loudly snapping everyone's attention towards her.
"What?" I questioned softly.
"We need to round up everyone who had contact with Dax. Bring them here." She said as Finn nodded before leaving the drop ship in search for anyone.
"And everyone they had contact with?" Bellamy asked arching his brow and turning his head to look over at Clarke.
"Well, we have to start somewhere." She said as I cleared my throat getting both their attention.
"Clarke… you had contact with me… right before my eyes bled." I told her as her eyes widen with fear. "Then I'll help you examine everyone who comes in the drop ship."
"You go up to the second floor, you can look at anyone not yet showing symptoms… I'll stay down here with the sick." I told her as she shook her head no.
"We do this whole thing together or you don't help at all Rayne." She told me sternly.
I took in a deep breath before sighing; "Fine," I said walking away from everyone fixing up the room a second time.
"Connor," I said walking towards the boy. "Who was with you when you found him?" I asked him as he sat up in his corner.
"Who carried him in? Think." Clarke pressed on.
"The first one there was Octavia." He said looking up at us his entire face looking exhausted and out of it.
The second I heard her name I spun around to look at Bellamy who looked like he was about to blow up with worry. I moved towards him, "Calm down, if she isn't here than she hasn't shown symptoms yet… she could be immune." I told him as he lowered her head.
"You should be immune." He said before barging out the drop ship in search of his sister.
"We have to get her to go find Lincon." I whispered to Clarke softly, as the two of us walked away from the rest of the people in the drop ship.
"Yea, maybe he has a cure… after all he does have all those antidotes." Clarke nodded to me.
People had started coming in, in groups. Each group with different severities of being sick some coughing, some bleeding. Others had just started lookin pale, or around their eyes had begun to darken intensely. Clarke was on one side of the room checking people with symptoms of a cold, sending them up to the second deck if they weren't showing signs of sickness.
The not so lucky ones where sent to find a place to sleep on this deck. Bellamy soon returned to the drop ship putting a wet cloth to his mouth walking closer to me looking at me intently as I began to check a young girl out to see if she was sick.
"Yes?" I asked him, looking into the girl's mouth. She had no signs of swelling or redness on her tongue yet so I sent her up to the second deck.
"Your eyes are still bleeding." He pointed out as a young boy sat down in front of me. His nose showing signs of profuse bleeding, "Fine a bed James." I said to him as he nodded and began to walk away from me.
"All done." I heard Clarke say as Bellamy and I both turned around to see she was examining Octavia. We both walked over towards the two girls. "No visible signs of swelling of bleeding." Clarke told her as I began to get a better look at her, she was starting to get sick.
Around her eyes had begun to darken, the rims of her eyes where bloodshot as if they had been bleeding just like mine had the few times they did during the morning. I lowered my head after noticing Bellamy had seen her eyes too.
"So you're saying she doesn't have it?" Bellamy asked cautiously.
"She's saying she doesn't have symptoms, but that could change." I told him as Octavia's eyes widen at the thought of possibly getting sick like everyone else in the room.
"Exactly; we need to keep her here just in case." Clarke continued as she had also started to show signs of shortness of breath.
"No way. Look at this place, it's bad enough Rayne's in here." He said to Clarke. "She'll get sick just being here."
"Do you want to stop the spread, or not?" Clarke asked. "Look. I'll have her stay on the third level with the people who aren't symptomatic yet."
"She'll be safest up there." I added in putting my hand on Clarke's shoulder.
"Think of it as a way to stop her from sneaking out again." Clarke mused looking between Octavia and I who where now eye locked attempting to tell each other that this was going to be ok.
"Screw you, Clarke." Octavia said tearing her eyes away from mine as I shook my head.
"We'll let you know if her condition changes." Clarke ignored Octavia as Bellamy nodded looking at me before turning on his heel and leaving the drop ship.
Octavia was about to walk towards the ladder, "Octavia, Wait." Clarke said to the young girl who just stared at Clarke with hatred.
"What now?" She snapped.
"We need you to sneak out again." I breathed out to her.
"What why?" She asked.
"We need to know if there's a cure, Lincon might know where it is or how to get it… he might even have it… please O' I'm begging you." I began to say to her as I hobbled over Clarke grabbing me to support me.
"No need to beg, you're like my best friend, and practically my sister in law… all you had to do was ask… I'll head out right away." She said as she snuck out of the drop ship preparing herself to leave.
"I'm not really comfortable sending her away, who knows if she'll come back this time, she'll probably stay with him." Clarke said causing me to smile.
"She'll come back, have faith." I told her.
Clarke and I stood just outside the drop ship as Murphy and another boy carried out the second body, the first being Derek's. She looked behind us to see Connor and another boy watching in disbelief that their friends where starting to drop like flies. Clarke and I had already discussed how this was only the beginning to what was happening to the camp.
Clarke looked up her eyes attaching to Finn's, "You still have feelings for him don't you?" I asked her as she tore her eyes from him. "He has Raven." Was all she said as we heard Bellamy shout out to the people.
"All right, show is over. Get back to your posts."
"That's not what I asked, Clarke. I asked if you still liked him."
She lowered her head, "It doesn't matter if I still do, or even if he still likes me… he has Raven, and I… I … I have Murphy." She told me as I grabbed her by the shoulder turning her to face me.
"We only get this one life Clarke, enjoy it while we have it… and by the looks of things… Raven's jealousy is ruining their relationship just fine on it's own. If you don't want to be with Murphy… than don't be. No one is making you stay with him, where is he anyway?" I asked her.
"Watching Dax." She said emotionless, "And I guess you're right, when things are over between them… then I can talk to him about it… till than… it's in his ball park." She told me as she walked back into the drop ship leaving me standing there alone as Bellamy made his way over to me.
"You got enough food in there, water?" He asked me as I smiled at him, "Yea we're fine. Some medicine would be nice though." I said as she cracked a smile at me.
"I'll see what I can do." He said as Clarke and Murphy both walked out standing on either side of me.
"Octavia, you ok?" He shouted.
Clarke's eyes widen with fear, Murphy knew she wasn't in the drop ship. I looked to Clarke who moved closer to me, "What are we going to say?" She asked me.
"Um… I have no idea?" We both turned to face Bellamy when we heard him making his way over to us, anger dawning his face.
"Bellamy, she's not here." Murphy said causing both Clarke and I to stiffen.
"We sent her to see Lincon." Clarke explained as he looked at me, "You where ok with this?" He questioned me.
"We needed her to find out if there is a cure, if there is he has it." I told him as he lifted his head from looking at the ground.
"Who told her to leave?" Bellamy asked angrily.
I was about to open my mouth to admit the entire thing was my idea when Clarke stepped in front of me, "I did, Rayne said we needed to send someone out to find a cure possibly a plant. It'd be a natural cure… I knew Octavia was the only one who would get the cure directly from Lincon…" She said. "Sending her was my idea."
"I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't let her go." Clarke continued as Bellamy's face continued to fume with anger.
"If anything happens to her, you and me are gonna have problems, Princess." Bellamy said harshly as he turned around and began to walk away.
"Why did you cover for me?" I asked her.
"It's better he's mad at me, than you." She told me with a smile.