Nova's Point of View
Clarke stepped out of the room and looked directly at me instantly clasping her one arm closer to her side. She took the heel, smart girl. I did the same thing which is why it surprised me they still offer the heel's to the girls. It's not like its really that far off that someone would feel unsafe and try to protect themselves.
Then again I did make the heel I broke into a shiv and nearly killed someone.
"Sorry about the noise." Dante said as Clarke and I walked towards him. "Hydroelectric power from Philpott damn, fresh water from our own underground reservoir, fresh food from our hydroponic farm." He began to explain to her.
I felt her move closer to me as if almost to create a bit of distance between her and the president. At least she felt mildly safe around me, not that I was going to or ever going to cause harm to her. I needed her alive and well to help get me out of here.
"I don't understand. You're on the ground. You know it's survivable. Why would you stay here?" She asked as she looked over to me as if I may have answers for her.
"It's not survivable for us." He told her.
"The grounders seem to have managed." She said looking at me as I smiled proudly.
"Natural selection works, the grounders who couldn't survive who couldn't survive in the radiation didn't. Those who could passed on their DNA down the generations which is why Nova can handle the radiation, for better or for worse, here we never through that process."
"Well, neither did we. We've been on the ground now for… Solar Radiation." She said looking at him as I sighed.
I had no idea what they where talking about, part of me didn't really care either she was having some sort of epiphany anyway. Learning something I figured out not to long ago myself. They couldn't leave the mountain because of the Sun. Or so that's what they where telling us, making us think was the case. My people where scared of them because of what they wore outside, and their weapons.
"Very good, Your DNA ran the same gauntlet as the grounders. Only because the radiation levels in space are even higher, your ability to metabolize that radiation is even stronger. Truth be told our scientists were blown away by the efficiency of your systems. If not for that your friends would still be upstairs in quarantine." He explained to her as she turned to me with a weary expression glazed onto her eyes.
Basically he without telling her, told her they where now his test dummies to figure out a way to survive outside the Mountain. Which is exactly what my people where till they must have realized there was nothing in our DNA that could help them. That was the only reason I could think of as to why I am the only one of my people who came here that are still alive.
"Please." He said as Clarke entered the elevator in front of her. "Can she come with me?" Clarke asked pointing at me shocking me.
The President stood there looking at her for a few moments before turning around and looking at me with a stern expression on his face. "I suppose there is no harm in that." He told her as he placed his hand on my back lightly pushing me towards Clarke and the elevator.
The doors to the elevator had begun to close till Dante put his hand out stopping the door, and walking closer to Clarke. "First, give me the heel." He told her as she slowly and reluctantly pulled it from her sleeve and handed it to him.
"You're not fighting for your life anymore, Clarke. You've made it. Welcome to Mount Weather." He told her as the door closed.
She kept turning to me clearly wanting to say something to me, opening her mouth to talk but stopping and shutting it when she would realize that we where not alone in the elevator. I nodded to her to show that I know she needed to say something to me. We would talk in due time, I was almost positive of the fact that she would have many questions about who I am, where I came from, and what I was actually doing here.
The doors soon opened and we walked out into Level 5, which was where she was captured when we nearly killed Maya in the first place. Keenan was standing in the center of a room talking to a group of young people, Clarke's people. When she took my sleeve dragging me towards the group of people so that she wasn't completely alone in the room.
"Clarke." A boy I recognized ran over to her, causing everyone in the room to turn around and look in her direction.
Clarke and another girl where always the two of there people that had captured the attention of my leaders. They wanted the other girl for study, breeding, mating who knows, but I did know they wanted Clarke dead. My brother and I were branded traitors for disagreeing with the way the all thought about that. The fact that they wanted to hurt any of these people at all.
They all soon crowded around Clarke hugging her and rubbing her back almost as if they didn't even believe that she was standing there with them at all. She seemed just as shocked and relieved to see them, happiness flooding through all of them. I was actually happy for them, being able to find each other like that in the face of everything that had happened.
That was until I saw him; the bow Anya had ordered the scout team I was out with to harm and use against them. I was after all the one who threw the spear, undressed him, and helped tie him up in the tree. I lowered my head worried he would remember me. Worried he knew who I was.
She pulled away from a hug looking at the two boys; "Finn and Bellamy?" She asked them.
"Clarke, they uh, they didn't make it."
"We don't know that." She told them, "What about Raven." Silence followed.
"Welcome, Clarke. If you have any questions, I'm Keenan." The girl said handing Clarke a package as everyone turned around to listen to her continue.
"No exits." I whispered to her when I saw the map she was looking at. She began to raise her head slowly, realizing something. I was right.
Rayne's Point of View
Running through the woods trying to keep up with Bellamy and the others, all the while trying to keep an eye on Finn to make sure he's ok. When we finally caught up to Tristan and Finn, Bellamy had us all kneel down in the bushes to keep out of sight. He turned around making sure I was still there.
"I know you're scared." Bellamy told them both as they sat there panting. "But we are warriors, we can do this."
"How?" Sterling stammered.
"Because we don't give up." I said as Monroe smiled at me softly.
"We attack as a team, when he goes for me Monroe goes for Finn, once he's free it's four against one." Bellamy said as I sat there and thought about what he said.
"Five against one." I corrected him.
"No, four." He said sternly as Monroe put her hand on my arm to tell me to just let her have his way.
"What do I do?" Sterling asked. Bellamy looked over at me, "Keep her alive, and stay alive."
"Bellamy…" I pleaded.
"Ready, 1…2…3…" Bellamy counted down as he stood up then bolted off towards the grounder and Finn.
Neither Monroe or Sterling moved from their spots, they stood there frozen in place, terrified out of their minds, and after the night we all went through I couldn't say I blamed them either. I could barely move and my boyfriend was the one who just took off running towards his death.
"Hey!" Bellamy yelled to the grounder.
Bellamy turned around to see that neither, Monroe or Sterling had followed him like planned. Not that I was any better standing there in utter silence beside Monroe as she pulled me downwards so that I was kneeling on the ground out of sight.
"Bellamy, get out of here!" Finn yelled as the grounder began to ride towards Bellamy, he threw the spear at the grounder and missed only to be tossed backwards by the grounder hitting the ground. "We should do something." I whispered as the two looked at me sadly, knowing I was right.
The grounder kicked Bellamy in the stomach causing me to gasp out in fear, the grounder than straddled Bellamy and began to punch him in the face multiple times, before knocking him completely unconscious on the ground.
Nova's Point of View
Clarke stood next to me near the farthest wall away from the President and his lead advisers. She turned to me; "How did you know there were not exits, how did they bring you here? You made it sound like they kidnapped you; you said there were other people. Explain."
"Getting right to it… I tried to escape before. No matter what I did there was no way out, even the main way out isn't actually a way out. After your people blew the bridge a few of us were left behind by our people when they retreated… the mountain men came and took us, asked us to change and become one of them, stop being savages… I was the only one to accept. I knew it would keep me alive… that was two months ago… I don't know where the others are but they never left. We don't belong here Clarke, neither do you." I told her as she nodded.
"You're going to help me get my people and I out of here." She told me.
"If you help me find the rest of my people, gladly." I told her, "Just don't do anything stupid, these people go by some weird laws." I told her.
She looked around; "I don't trust these people, they are too…" She began to say struggling with the words.
"Too perfect." I finished for her, "It's like they aren't even here, like something you would only dream of." I told her, she nodded.
"You aren't so bad for a grounder." She told me, nudging my arm. "Same to you, except not a grounder… sky…person…" I said to her causing her to laugh.
"You look familiar." She told me, "Like someone I know."
"You know many grounders personally?" I asked her with a chuckle.
"Yes, well not personally." She smirked. "There was one grounder, we had in our camp at one point… we well… we tortured him… however no matter how cruel we were to him he was always so kind and would always help us." She told me.
"Lincoln." I said softly, "Yea him… did you know him?" She asked me.
"Yea; he's my brother." I told her as she turned quickly.
"We didn't mean to-" She began to say as I cut her off.
"We have done the same thing to our enemies, and we have done the same to them. Don't feel bad, and most certainly don't apologize for trying to stay alive and survive." I told her as she grinned.
"I will be back." She told me, I nodded as I walked over and sat down in a seat and began to eat some of the food on the table. I looked over and watched her as she sat down with the two boys from earlier. Jasper and Monty, I had to ask her what their names where and eventually I would need to apologize to Jasper for nearly killing him and putting him up in a tree in the blistering heat.
I began to hear Maya's voice causing me to turn in my seat to see who it was she was talking to. Jasper and Clarke… Jasper was sitting in front of her eating a cake and Clarke was standing there talking to her about who knows what. She then walked away from the pair and slowly began to head out of the room. I stood up and bolted out after her.
"Clarke?" I said softly.
"Nova, I got a key card…" She said as I nodded and began to follow her down the hallway, not even a quarter way down the hallway the alarms went off and Clarke turned to me. "Not a prisoner, huh?" She smirked.
"Clearly just concerned for us missing lunch." I rolled my eyes as she grabbed my arm and began to run down the hallway.
Every time we found an empty hallway the sight of guards walking towards us, would cause Clarke to start panicking. I looked around and shook her shoulder showing her a doorway that had a sign next to it that looked like a set of stairs. "Lets go!" I shouted at her as she rushed towards the door wiping the key card against the lock pushing us both into the door.
Once behind the door I looked up and she looked down, stairs. They seemed endless both ways. Turning to the door she pulled some wires apart causing me to look at her. She then grabbed me pulling me up the stairs; it felt like the stairs would never end. Like we would just keep running up them forever till we finally reached the top. She pointed to the end of a hallway.
She began to pull on the level as I stood there looking up at the door confused by it entirely. We didn't have anything like this anywhere I was from; everything was very simple to get into. Simple to use, basic, didn't need instructions or any visual cues. I turned and looked at Clarke as she pushed me out of the way lightly and began to turn the large wheel in the center of the door.
I would have figured that out eventually.
"Clarke no!" A voice shouted from behind us.
The two of us spun around at the same time only to see the boy Jasper standing along side with Maya. I turned my head slightly to look over at Clarke who was shaking with hesitation with the whole idea of breaking out of this place, that and she had to have been startled by her friend.
"You pull that lever these people will die." He told her, she looked over at me hoping for confirmation, which I of course gave to her.
It wasn't a lie; these people would die if she opened the door. The very air would likely suffocate them. "Even a little radiation could kill them." He continued saying as I looked around him to see that Maya had left his side, returning with a gun, "Don't make me shoot you." Maya told her.
"Nova come here… step away from her." Maya then ordered me.
She actually thought Clarke was more of a threat than I was? I practically planting the entire idea in the girl's head, or was it that she was sworn to keep me safe and down here like everyone else was. Their last surviving test subject of the 'grounder' people. Pathetic way to live.
"Wait" Jasper said stepping in between Maya and Clarke as Maya kept her eyes straight on me as if I was going to vanish into thin air like vapor.
"Clarke;" Jasper began to say as he moved closer to her. "Don't do this." He begged.
"I don't believe them." Clarke said, "Why would they lie?" Jasper asked her as she turned to me and I shook my head at her.
"Listen to me; we are safe here, because of you. We're safe." He continued.
"Not all of us." Clarke began to cry. "I'm the one who fired the rockets." He said as his voice began to crack.
"Should I not have done that?" He asked her as he looked to her, than me as if I had something to do with whatever it was he was even talking about. "When you pulled that lever you saved lives. Don't throw that away by pulling this one." She let go of the lever just as the entire military force of this place came into the room.
"There she is! Hold it right there!" The one said as they all held their guns at her before pushing her to the ground. One of the guards grabbed hold of my arm and began to drag me away from the scene.
"Nova, are you safe? Did she try to hurt you or infect you?" The soldier asked me causing me to look at him confused.
"Infect me with what?" I asked him as he continued to drag me down the hallway.