No warnings needed this time, there are a few mentions about killing and maiming people but this a post-apocalyptic show and people die all the time so nothing new or outrageous to report.

"What's the meaning of this, why are you here child?"

"I have a message for Heda"

Titus became exasperated when he stayed silent "Well, don't waste my time, tell me and I shall pass it along to her"

"What I have to say it's only meant for her ears"

"Don't you know who am I insolent child?"

"I care not for your position; I have strict orders to talk to Heda and no one else"

Titus hollered for the guards, he expected the child to cower in fear but he remained stoically calm.

"Who let this child inside?"

"I did. He brought no weapons or poisons with him, only a hunting knife that he voluntarily relinquished upon arrival. He is from the Sankru tribe and his tattoo proclaims him as the heir…" the guard couldn't finish his explanation because Titus interrupted him abruptly.

"Arrest him!"

"But Flamekeepa they wouldn't have risk sending him in such a perilous travel if it wasn't…"

"I don't care. He defied my authority, arrest him!."

"But..."

"Do you want me to have you arrested too?"

"There is no need for threats flamekeepa, your orders shall be obeyed". The other guard intervened before her partner could get them both in trouble.

"Follow me please, everything will be ok".

Titus angrily cursed at her when she smiled at the child but she paid him no mind, his orders would be followed just maybe only in the letter and not the spirit they had been given.

Once they were further away from the throne room the man let his rage show. "Fucking jackass!. How dare he threaten to jail me?".

"Sush Rockburn, he is the flamekeepa" she reprimanded him half-heartedly.

"He is an asshole, that's what he is"

Inia simply shrugged, he was not wrong in his assessment. Flamekeepa he might be but well liked among the warriors not so much.

"Come along Vada"

"Are you taking me to jail?" He was not scared, simply curious. He would find a way to break out if he had to, he had been trusted to deliver his message and he was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish his mission.

"No, not exactly"

"But the man…" Vada was confused, where were they taking him if not to jail?.

"The flamekeepa only ordered to arrest you and that's exactly what we will do"

It was Rockburn's time to be at a complete loss. They had been married for ten years now and partners in the job for at least half of that time, he trusted her and very rarely questioned her actions, but if he was honest, most of the time Inia's thought process confused the hell out of him.

She knew her husband like the back of her hand and simply chuckled at his puzzled look. "Don't be so literal Rockburn, the flamekeepa didn't say where to place him under arrest, did he?. As no specific instructions were given I took the liberty to confine Vada to a spare room until we can arrange a private meeting with Heda"

The man let out a hearty laugh, oh how he loved his wife; she would never defy a direct order but somehow she always found a way to do whatever the hell she wanted.

- Arker camp -

Drew moaned once again. "Shut him up!." Someone passing by shouted. It already started, people ordering Clarke to shut him up or just kill him, it seemed that removing him from the dropship hadn't been enough.

"Don't lose your faith Glen, he will be ok". The boy smiled gratefully and kept running his hands through his boyfriend's hair while whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

Drew couldn't sleep all night. Clarke got Glen to go to sleep after a few hours but she stayed up, checking over him and so did Octavia.

The blonde took the poultice off his wound and started cleaning it as Finn came up.

"They surely got him good"

"The grounders cauterized his wound. They saved his life" She said. Not for the first time she wondered why they did it, why not simple let him die?. In her heart she wanted to believe that it was out of compassion but it was probably Tris and her warnings about Heda's orders.

"Yeah, so they could use him as live bait". He replied. Clarke kept silent, what could she say?. That theory was as valid as hers.

"Shit. That looks nasty"

"It's infected. Made any progress fixing the communication system?"

Monty shook his head despondently. He hated been the bearer of bad news.

"How is he doing?" Monty asked crunching down on her side.

"Not well but I still have some other things to try. Can you call for Wells and Murphy?. And Octavia too"

"Hold his arms and legs. Octavia please get him something to bite"

"Finn, Monty, hold his legs still. Murphy, Wells do the same with his arms" Clarke gave directions as she grabbed her knife and put it on the fire on her side. Not for the first time the blonde wished they had some alcohol to help numb his pain, she made a mental note to ask Jasper about producing some; without other anesthetics available they would definitely it.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?". It wasn't really a question.

"No, Monty, you're not." She said grimly and waited for a couple of minutes for the knife to heat up.

"Okay, is everyone ready?. He can't move or I could hurt him even more" She said. When the boys nodded Clarke grabbed the knife and moved over to the wound. As soon as it made contact, Drew's screams got worse and he started trashing.

"Hold him still!. I need to cut all the infected flesh before it gets worse" Clarke shouted to them. Everyone redouble their efforts, he was deceptively strong for someone on deaths doors. Drew was losing consciousness just as Glen came up.

"Stop! What are you doing?!. You are killing him!".

"I know it looks horrible but Clarke is only trying to save his life" Octavia said while enveloping him in a comforting hug.

"She can't". Everyone turned to the voice, it was Bellamy. Surprisingly it was Glen who faced him.

"Back off." He said forcefully. He might not understand what was going on but he trusted Clarke. She was the first to help him when Drew went missing; she risked her own life to find him and protected him when everyone else, including Bellamy, wanted to execute him. She had promised she wouldn't let him die and Glen wholeheartedly believed she would do her best.

"He is not going to die!" the vehemence in her voice alerted other passer byes. A crowd was already gathering to see what the ruckus was about.

"If you are only here to be a jackass, leave." Clarke said as she continued her work.

"If you can't see he is a goner, you're deluded. He is making people crazy." Bellamy said and many silently agree with him. Drew's shouts and moans certainly didn't get garner him any sympathy among the delinquents.

Clarke turned to look at him; the ice in her eyes was frightening. "If you are in his situation one day, should I give up on you too?. Should I let you die because people are annoyed by your pain?".

The crowd had gone silent. Everyone was waiting with bated breaths, if they had learned something was that Clarke and Bellamy's battles, of wits or hands, were nothing short of epic.

"There is still hope for him Bellamy".

"This has nothing to do with hope. It's about guts. You may not have the guts to make a hard choice but I do". He exhaled loudly and squared his shoulders in an attempt to look more intimidating "He's been like this for 3 days already. If he is not better in 48 hours or less, I will kill him myself."

Before he left Clarke turned to him. "Leave Drew alone". She looked at the crowd that had gathered around them. "Whoever tries something will find themselves without their guts, are we clear?"

"Octavia, are you staying?".

The brunette nodded and kept her arms around Glen, who was openly sobbing and holding her like his life depended on it.

Bellamy left without another word. Clarke smiled to herself; it seemed he was starting to learn that his sister would do whatever she wanted, regardless of his opinion.

"Fucking jackass!. How dare he…?!. He just doesn't care about anyone but himself. Mmm… no offense." Monty backtracked instantly but Octavia simply shrugged.

"Yeah, Bellamy is an asshole but this time he happens to be right."

"No, Finn, he is not". Clarke dropped her eyes in exasperation; she was so tired of fighting with everyone. "Look, if Drew bothers you are welcome to leave" She said firmly while re-wrapping the wound.

"Murphy, can you look after him for a while?. Octavia, please take care of Glen". They nodded, not even questioning her.

"Wells, Monty, can you guys take a look at this and see if you know what we are dealing with?" She said while passing them a big leaf with a little bit of the grounders poultice on it.

Wells and Monty carefully examined the plants like she asked. They talked back and forth until they seemed to reach an agreement.

"It's some kind of seaweed".

"A tea would definitely be more effective" Monty added.

"Ok. We just need to find more"

"We are looking for a slow current, the water should be reddish rather than green or blue, and…"

Finn intervened "I know just the place."

Clarke nodded but turned back to Wells again "slow current, red water and…"

"I was just going to say we should try to find some turmeric too, if we combined them the tea would work as an antibiotic and pain reliever"

"Finn, can you take me to the lake?"

He nodded eagerly; it was his chance to finally be alone with Clarke. While looking for the weed and herbs maybe they could get a little bit lost and… his daydreaming suddenly got cut short when he heard Clarke asking Wells to tag alone.

While watching the scene unfold Monty whispered something that made Wells snort loudly, Clarke looked at them curiously but all the boys offered as an explanation were impish smiles, she was sure she didn't want to know what they were laughing about.

Finn, on the other hand, looked murderous; he never even got the chance to come up with a plan to seduce her. They couldn't help but laugh again, Murphy was right, Finn's angry face made him look like he was constipated.

Octavia listened to the horns in the distance even before she saw a yellow cloud rapidly coming their way. Lincoln had told her; well showed her through his drawings, as they still didn't understand each other, that the fog meant grave danger. The brunette immediately alerted Glen and Murphy.

"Everyone, inside the dropship now!. Run faster people!" Murphy started screaming to get everyone's attention and once they saw the cloud coming their way, they hastily followed him in.

"Seal any opening you can find!"

When they accepted his orders without questions he couldn't help but feel proud of himself. No one would have followed the old John Murphy, not by choice, and definitely not because they trusted him to have their best interest at heart, but now there were people looking up to him, asking him what to do.

Suddenly he felt something clashing against his legs. It was Charlotte; he instinctively opened his arms and held her close.

"Are you ok?"

She nodded but was on the verge of tears "What is going on, John?".

"I don't know, short stack. The fog must be some kind of acid, people's skin started burning"

"What about my brother?. Clark and the boys?. It was Octavia who spoke this time. She tried to reign in her panic but her voice had a distinctive hysterical tone to it.

Murphy sighed, wishing he had better answers for her. "We can only hope they found somewhere safe to hide"

"Monty can you help Glen to take care of Drew?. I will see if there is anyone hurt down there." He said and went down with Octavia to check on the others.

Murphy got down to the lowest level where practically everyone was and looked for a place where the others could see him. "Listen up everyone".

Once he got their attention he started to talk again "We have no idea what the hell was that fog out there was but it's definitely dangerous. It looks like it can melt flesh and who the fuck knows what more". The chattering and whispering cease, they all were hanging onto his words.

"We are not going to open the doors, under any circumstance, until we know for sure if it's safe to step outside." Most nodded but a few rolled their eyes in annoyance and started to protest.

"If I see anyone trying to open the sealing's the fog will be least of your troubles, are we clear?". That seemed to do the trick for no one dared to raise their voice again.

"What if we get hungry?" A red-head girl asked.

"There is still some of the panther meat that my brother got earlier and it's enough to last as for a while. Make groups of 5 and sent one person to the second floor, John and I will divide the food evenly and give the leaders your portion".

Murphy nodded appreciatively at Octavia's suggestion, it would definitely make things easier. "Word to the wise, anyone who takes more than their share or tries to take anyone else's will be punished. We may not like our situation but we are team and we will work together. Got it?" They nodded instantly. Murphy smiled with self-satisfaction; sometimes it paid to be feared.

Drew moaned loudly. "What about him? His screams are getting louder. Can't you make him stop?" Murphy locked his eyes with Mathew and everyone waited anxiously for his reaction. John Murphy was definitely not a man you wanted to cross on a good day, least of all in a precarious situation like this.

"Drew is fighting for his life so I'm sorry if he is a bother to you fucking dumbass but you will just have to deal with it!. Stuff your ears, sing a song, go and make out with someone, I don't care what you do but you will not go near him. Got it?".

The guy shrunk in fear and move even farther away from John.

"Does anyone have another idiotic question?" Everyone kept silent "Good. Whenever you are finished sent your representatives up. Everyone else stay down here and try to not kill each other".