Lottie squinted up at the sunrise. She'd always thought that those ancient poets had been full of shit, or at least on better drugs than she'd ever tried. But, they were right. It was crazy to watch the sky go from black to gray and then explode into streaks of color. It didn't make her want to break out in song or anything, but then again, Lottie had never been the artistic type.
Although it did seem like some of the other kids around camp were though, there was a whole group that had been drumming away all morning, it was honestly quite annoying.
Lottie had spent the night in the dropship, Roma had managed to find her a blanket, of course the leggy girl didn't stay in the dropship with her. One wink from Bellamy Blake and Roma was off towards his tent in no time.
The scream echoed through the camp, startling Lottie out of her thoughts. She jumped up from her spot against the dropship and looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. That's when she saw him. Murphy, standing by the firepit with a girl in his grasp.
Lottie's heart raced as she watched in horror as Murphy held the girl over the flames. She could see the fear in the girl's eyes and it made her blood boil. What kind of idiotic move was Murphey planning on doing now, besides the blatant assault?
"Bellamy, look," Murphy called out, "we want the Ark to think that the ground is killing us right? Figured it was better if we suffered a bit first."
Lottie felt herself cringe as she watched Murphy's twisted plan unfold. But before she could even process what was happening, Wells suddenly appeared next to her. He had clearly heard Murphy's words too and he didn't look happy.
Without hesitation, Wells charged towards Murphy and tackled him to the ground. The two boys grappled on the ground while Lottie stood frozen in shock.
Wells managed to knock Murphy over and get on top of him, pinning him down with all his strength. "You can stop this," he yelled at Bellamy.
But Bellamy just laughed, "Stop this? I'm just getting started."
Lottie couldn't believe what she was seeing. How could Bellamy be so dumb? Giving Murphey free reign over these teens wouldn't end up well for anyone. She watched as the other kids in the camp started chanting and cheering them on, urging them to fight.
Wells was holding his own against Murphy, landing a few good punches before Murphy got a solid hit in and knocked Wells off of him. As Wells struggled to get back up, Murphy pulled out a knife from his belt and held it menacingly towards Wells.
Lottie couldn't hold back a roll of her eyes as Murphy pulled out a knife, ready to strike at Wells. She could always count on Murphy to jump head first into a fight.
Bellamy's voice cut out over the chaos, "Wait," the crowd that had formed seemed to part around him as he made his way closer to the fight, "Fair fight." he said, holding a knife out towards them, tossing the knife onto the ground between the two boys.
Wells hesitated for a moment before picking up the knife. He looked uncertain and scared, but also determined.
Murphy charged at him again, shouting "This is for my father!" But this time, Wells was ready. He dodged Murphy's blow and quickly gained the upper hand.
Lottie watched in awe as Wells landed hit after hit on Murphy, who seemed like he didn't stand a chance against his opponent's anger and determination.
"You think you're better than everyone else," Wells yelled as he continued to pummel Murphy. "But you're nothing but a coward!"
Bellamy looked on with an unreadable expression on his face. Lottie couldn't tell if he felt any remorse for starting this whole fight or if he was secretly enjoying it.
"Let him go!" A loud yell echoed over the crowd, as the fight suddenly came to an end with Wells, holding a pathetic looking Murphey, with a look of triumph. Wells hesitated for a moment before tossing Murphy to the ground, Lottie and Bellamy quickly moved in to grab Murphy and pull him away from Wells, each of the grabbing a side, as Murphey threw an arm over the girl, to get a better sense of gravity.
As they did so, Monty entered the camp behind Clark and Finn carrying Octavia in his arms. Bellamy rushed over to her, leaving Lottie to deal with Murphey, panic evident on his face. "Octavia, are you alright?" he asked frantically.
"Yeah," Octavia replied weakly. She had a few bruises and scrapes but otherwise seemed relatively unharmed.
Bellamy pulled her into a tight hug before turning back to face Clarke and Finn. "What happened? Where's the food?" he demanded.
Clarke's expression darkened as she responded, "We didn't make it to Mount Weather."
Bellamy's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "What the hell happened out there?" he asked again, his voice rising in anger.
"We were attacked," Clarke explained.
Wells scoffed at this information. "Attacked by what?"
"Not by what, by who" Finn replied.
Lottie watched as everyone gathered around Clarke and Finn, eager to hear more about the mysterious attackers. She couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over her as she listened to their conversation.
"So who are these people?" Bellamy asked, his voice laced with anger and suspicion.
"We don't know for sure," Clarke replied.
Wells scoffed again. "That's ridiculous. There's no one on the ground except us."
"It's true," Finn chimed in. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors."
Lottie's mind raced as she tried to process this new information. Survivors? How was that even possible? They had been told that the Earth was uninhabitable after the nuclear apocalypse.
"The good news is that it means we can survive here," Clarke continued, trying to inject some hope into their dire situation. "Radiation won't kill us."
Bellamy's expression softened slightly at this news, but he still looked skeptical. "And what's the bad news?" he asked.
Clarke hesitated before responding, "The grounders will." The group fell silent at this revelation and Lottie felt a chill run down her spine.
"What do they want from us?" Octavia spoke up for the first time since being brought back to camp.
"We don't know yet," Finn admitted. "But if they were willing to attack us just for being here, then they must be desperate."
"We need to be careful," Bellamy said firmly. "We can't trust anyone out here."
Lottie felt a pang of sadness at his words. Was it really going to be like this? Constantly living in fear and suspicion?
"Where's the kid with the goggles?"
"They took him."
"Where did they take him?" Bellamy demanded, turning to face Clarke.
"We don't know for sure," she replied, her expression mirroring his own frustration.
Without hesitation, Bellamy turned to Clark. "Is he dead," he said firmly.
"We don't know," she offered.
Clarke's heart sank as she looked at Wells' bare wrist. "Where is your wristband?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear and anger.
Wells pulled away from Clarke's grasp and gestured towards Murphy, who was still in Lottie's grasp. "Ask him," he said bitterly.
Clarke turned to Bellamy, who had a grim expression on his face. "How many?" she asked, dreading the answer.
Murphy spoke up, his voice full of malice. "Twenty-four and counting," he replied, a cruel smirk spreading across his face, as he pulled away from Lottie.
Lottie let him go, moving over to check on Octavia. She slung her arm around the younger girl, taking her away from the commotion that seemed to follow around every friend, Lottie had made so far.
They moved into a secluded corner of the dropship, away from the rest of the group. Lottie had managed to scavenge some basic medical supplies from the dropship, but they were running low and she knew they needed to find more soon.
"How does that feel?" Lottie asked, her attention on wrapping the gash that Octavia had received. She grimaced as she saw how deep it was, but tried to keep a calm demeanor for Octavia's sake.
"Better." Octavia replied, wiping her nose with her hand, unintentionally smearing blood from the cut on her face. Lottie really wished that she could find real bandages and antiseptic. They were all being exposed to germs that their bodies had never encountered, and the risk of infection was high.
"Thanks," Octavia said with a small smile.
"Don't thank me yet," Lottie replied with a wry grin. "We still need to find more supplies."
Octavia's smile faded as she looked around at their surroundings. The makeshift camp consisted of tents made out of tarps tied together and a small fire pit in the center where Bellamy and Murphy were still fighting with Clark and Finn
"How are we going to survive out here?" Octavia asked, her voice filled with worry..
Lottie took a deep breath before responding. "We have no other choice," she said firmly. "We need to stick together and do whatever it takes to survive."
Octavia nodded, but Lottie could see the fear in her eyes. They were all just teenagers trying to navigate this dangerous new world without any guidance or experience.
"We'll figure it out," Lottie reassured her, even though she wasn't entirely convinced herself.
"How is she doing?" Lottie asked Bellamy, as they sat by the opening of the dropship, later in the evening.
Bellamy turned to look at Lottie, watching her as she looked over at Octavia's sleeping form. He knew that Lottie had been worried about Octavia, but he also knew that she was a skilled medic and would do whatever it takes to keep their group alive.
"She's doing okay," he replied with a small smile. "Thanks to you."
Lottie let out a relieved breath and lifted an eyebrow at Bellamy. "Because it would really suck if you followed through on your threat from before."
Bellamy's smile faded as he remembered his words. "What did I say?"
"You told me that if I didn't save your sister that you would blow up the goddamn planet and everyone on it," Lottie reminded him with a smirk, and rolled her eyes, but then she turned back to Octavia and the playfulness drained from her face. "What is it?" Bellamy looked from Lottie to his sister. "Nothing," She said quickly. "I just wish I had some antiseptic for that cut on her face. And some of the others are going to need antibiotics."
"So we don't have any medicine?" Bellamy asked, frowning in concern.
She looked at him, startled. "I think the medical supplies kits were thrown out of the dropship in the crash. We'll be fine, though," she said quickly, the lie shooting out of her mouth before she had time to make her features match it. "We'll be okay for a while. The human body has a remarkable ability to heal itself.…"
The flap to the dropship flew open, as Bellamy strolled in, his hands full each with a canister of water. "Good morning ladies." His eyes bright and an easy grin on his face as he made his way over to Octavia's makeshift cot.
"Oh thanks, Bell." The younger girl said, sitting up and grabbing on of the waters out of her brothers hand and taking a quick sip.
He gave her hair a quick ruffle, before turning to Lottie, "Here." holding the second container towards her. He was close enough that Lottie couldn't help but notice the faint smell of sweat clinging to his skin, blending in with another sent that she couldn't identify, but one that reminded her of the scent of trees. "How's the leg?", he asked Octavia, making an exaggerated show of squinting and examining it from all angles.
"Much better." Octavia flexed it gingerly., as Bellamy moves to sit on the ground next to his sister.
It was dark still inside the dropship, a ridiculous time of morning, Lottie noted off-handedly as she took a sip of the water, that Bellamy offered her. She held the canteen close to her chest, feeling its coldness against her warm skin. She took a small sip, savoring the taste of clean, refreshing water that she hadn't had in days. It wasn't just the thirst that was quenched - it was the taste of hope. A faint smile crossed her face as she looked back to Bellamy. "Thank you," she murmured softly. The sloppy stiches that she had given Octavia this morning were still holding up.
Bellamy had woken her up a few hours after she had tried to lay down last night, and shoved a busted looking canister at her. It had been filled with real bandages, and a bit of surgical thread. It held, but there wasn't going to be much she could do if they didn't find the actual medical chest. It still hadn't turned up in the wreckage, and most likely it had been thrown from the dropship during the crash and destroyed. The small amount of peace they had was disturbed by Clarke barking in the dropship, with Wells following along behind her like a lost puppy.
Murphey and Adam, another on of Bellamy's goons, had been hanging out, just outside the doors, and as such seemed to come in sensing Clarke's need for chaos.
"Hey, you feeling better?" Clarke asked Octavia, grimacing at Lottie's sad excuse for stiches. Lottie didn't really have a steady hand for stiches. Clarke would have done it herself, if she wasn't as preoccupied with getting ready to head back out after Jasper.
"Yeah, are you guys leaving? I'm coming too." Octavia said hurriedly, moving to stand.
"No way, not again." Bellamy cut in, moving Octavia back into a sitting position.
Octavia sighed, then stuck her bottom lip out in a pleading expression. "Please, I didn't come all the way to Earth, just to sit in the dropship."
"You don't have a choice." Bellamy said, standing up. "But I certainly didn't risk my ass coming here, just to watch you get gangrene."
"How do you know about gangrene?" Lottie asked actually surprised. No one would have ever developed that kind of infection back on the Ark, and she doubted that he was the type to read ancient medical texts for fun.
"No, he's right." Clarke butted back into the conversation, cutting off whatever answer Bellamy had been brewing. "Your leg is only going to slow us down." Clarke said, before turning to Bellamy with a pointed look, "I'm here for you."
Wells leaned in, eager to insert himself into Clarke's conversation. But when he opened his mouth to speak, she simply turned away and continued discussing business with the others without acknowledging him. He felt a twinge of frustration at being ignored yet again.
"I hear you have a gun." She said pointedly.
With a roll of her eyes, Bellamy turned towards Clarke and away from his sister, before grabbing the bottom hem of his shirt and lifting it high enough to show a sliver of tanned skin and the dull black handle of a gun. One of the ones that the guards back on the Ark had access to.
Lottie twisted her head to get a better look, whether at the expanse of skin, or at the gun, she couldn't tell you.
Clarke's voice cut through the tense silence. "Good, then follow me."
Bellamy's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "And why would I do that?"
A calculating look crossed Clarke's face as she tilted her head towards the opening of the dropship, indicating the rest of the hundred waiting outside. "Because you want them to follow you? And right now, they think one of us is scared."
The corners of Bellamy's mouth twitched, considering her words before he rolled his eyes and turned to his two loyal followers.
"Murphy, you're with me. Adam, my sister stays here at camp. Is that clear?"
Octavia's lower lip jutted out in a pout, revealing her youth and vulnerability despite her attempts to project strength and independence. "I don't need a babysitter."
Ignoring his sister's protests, Bellamy turned to Adam with a serious expression. "If anyone lays a hand on her, they answer to me."
Octavia's tone changed suddenly, pleading with her brother. "Don't leave me," she said, her fear of confined spaces creeping into her voice. "You know how I feel about being trapped inside." A flicker of emotion passed over Bellamy's face at his sister's words, and Lottie couldn't help but wonder what memories were swirling behind his steely gaze.
"It'll be fine," Bellamy reassured Octavia, pulling away from her and striding towards the entrance flap. "Let's go!"
A twig snapped not far from Jessica and Connor, causing the two of them to whip their heads towards the source. They saw a young girl with a narrow face and stringy hair.
"Can I help you?" Connor said with a huff.
"Bellamy said that everyone who's not hurt should collect some wood, while they are gone." The younger girl replied, fiddling with her hands.
A thread of irritation coiled around Connor's stomach, and he gave the girl a tight smile. "I'm pretty sure that he actually said that we can do, 'Whatever the hell we want'."
The girl shifted uneasily, before throwing a anxious look over her shoulder.
"Off you go." Connor said, motioning her away with his hands, he watched her scurry off with satisfaction.
Look at how rude he is to that girl. He wants to say that to you as well.Jessica shook her head, trying to shake away her thoughts. She had been doing well since being sent to Earth, it was an amazing place to keep herself distracted.
It was crazy how much their surroundings could change through the day. In the mornings, everything felt crisp and new. Even the air had a sharpness to it. Yet, in the afternoon, the light mellowed and the color softened. It was as stark contrast to most of the personalities that she had encountered. Most members of the hundred fell into one of two categories, scared doormats (like herself) or rude brats (like Connor or Lottie). She didn't mean that as an insult, it was more of an observation.
The sound of laughter, drew her out of her thoughts. From the other side of the clearing, Jessica turned to see two girls perched on a low tree branch, giggling as they swatted at the boy that was trying to climb up and join them. Nearby a bunch of Factory Station boys were playing a game of keep-away with a 14 year-old-girl's shoe, the owner of witch was a laughing as she skidded barefoot across the grass.
Jessica tore open one of the crumpled nutrition packet, and squeezed half of the contents into her mouth, then slipped the carefully folded wrapper back into her pocket. After sorting through the remainder of the wreckage, they'd discovered what they'd all feared: The few weeks worth of rations that they had found when they first landed was all that they had been seen to Earth with. Either the council had assumed that the hundred would figure out how to find mount weather in less than a month... or they didn't plan on them surviving that long. Bellamy and his goons had strong armed most people into handing over any packs they had salvaged and had supposedly put an Alpha Station kid named Miller in charge of distributing them, but there was already an fledging black market: people were trading nutrition packs for blankets and taking on extra water shifts in exchange for reserved spots inside the crowded tents. Lottie and Clarke had claimed the bottom floor of the dropship as their infirmary, so only the injured people could crash there. While Murphy and co had claimed the upper floors.
Jessica looked up at the star filled sky. She never imagined how homesick it would make her to stare at the familiar scene from hundreds of kilometers away. It was unsettling to see the moon so tiny and feature less, like waking up to find that your families faces had been erased. Sitting at the campfire, others were grumbling around her. They had been on Earth for less than a week, and their rations were already dwindling. The fact that they had no medicine was troubling, but right now the biggest concern was the food supply. Either the Ark had miscalculated their provisions, or Bellamy's goons had been hoarding more than anyone realized. Either way, the efforts were already beginning to show. It wasn't just the hallows beginning to form under their cheekbones- there was a hunger in the kids eyes that terrified Jessica. She couldn't let herself forget that they had all been arrested for a reason. Everyone around her had done something to endanger the Ark, Jessica most of all.
A strange noise came from the trees. Connor sat up straighter, all his senses on the alert. There was a cracking sound, followed by a rustling. The murmurs by the fire turned to gasps as the group that had went out for Jasper, the kid with goggles, had came back. Clarke came through the tree line first, followed by Wells and Finn, carrying Jasper between he two of them.
Clarke and the boys trailing behind her headed for the dropship, "I need boiled water, strips of cloth, and some bandages." She called out, Lottie who had been sitting out by the fire jumped up and seemed to get back into work mode quickly.
Bellamy and Murphy stood with an animal carcass draped over their shoulders, a trail of blood in their wake. A panther. Connor's eyes traveled over the lifeless animal, taking in its dark black fur, spindly legs, and pointy ears. Connor froze as everyone around the fire scrambled to their feet, some of them inching forward for a better look, others backing up in terror.
"Is it safe?" Jessica asked.
"It's safe." Octavia's voice came from the shadows, and then she stepped into the light. "If the radiation had mutated the genetic material hundreds of years ago, there wouldn't be any trace of it now."
Everyone fell silent as Octavia stretched out her hand to stroke the creature's fur. Octavia turned to Bellamy with a smile, "We're not going to starve."
Then she said something Connor couldn't hear, and Bellamy nodded. "Who's hungry!" Bellamy yelled out, gathering everyone's attention.
The smell of the roasting jaguar was foreign and intoxicating. There was no meat on the Ark, not even on Alpha Station. All the livestock had been eliminated in the middle of the first century.
A little girl named Charlotte, her face dirty and her clothes tattered, approached Bellamy with wide eyes. "How do we know when it's done?" she asked, her stomach growling in anticipation.
"When the outside starts to crisp and the inside turns pink," Bellamy replied without turning his head, his focus still on rotating the spit above the fire.
Murphy snorted in disbelief, but Connor nodded in agreement. "I think you're right," he said.
After what felt like hours, the meat finally cooled enough for them to handle. Using sharp rocks as knives, they chopped the jaguar into smaller pieces and began passing them around the fire. Those who had taken off their wristbands - a symbol of their banishment from society - eagerly reached out for a taste of rare meat. Even Connor, who had taken his off earlier to escape water duty, couldn't resist indulging in this small luxury. The rich flavor exploded in his mouth, bringing a sense of primal satisfaction amidst their harsh existence on Earth.
As Connor walked across the circle, balancing a plate of steaming meat skewers in one hand and a cold beer in the other, Jessica's eyes followed him. She eagerly reached out for a skewer when he arrived at her side, holding it up to her mouth as she took a bite.
"Have you tried it yet?" she asked with a teasing grin.
Connor shook his head and chuckled. "Not yet," he replied, knowing he was in for it now.
"Well, that's not fair," Jessica pouted playfully. "What if it turns out to be disgusting?"
Connor glanced around the circle at their friends who were all happily munching on their own skewers. He shrugged and grinned at Jessica. "Everyone else seems to be okay with it."
But Jessica wasn't convinced. She pursed her lips together and looked at him hesitantly. After a moment, she smiled and pushed her skewer towards him. "Here, you take the first bite and tell me what you think," she said with a challenge in her voice.
"I'm okay, thanks," Connor replied, trying to decline politely. But Jessica was determined and giggled as she tried to sneak the meat into his mouth.
"Come on," she urged, "take a bite."
"Okay," he said, taking the piece of meat from her hands. She looked disappointed not to feed it to him, but Connor didn't care.
He took a bite. The outside was tough, but as his teeth sank in, the meat released a flood of flavor unlike anything he had tasted before, simultaneously salty and smoky and faintly sweet. He chewed some more and then swallowed, bracing for his stomach to reject the alien substance. But all he felt was warmth.
The children who had eaten their fill were now rising from the warmth of the campfire, their faces flushed with contentment. The crackling of the flames mingled with their soft chatter, creating a harmonious symphony in the clearing. But amidst the calm, a murmur of confusion began to spread, sending shivers down Connor's spine.
He stood up and walked over to where a small group had gathered near the edge of the forest. "What's going on?" he asked, trying to make sense of the growing commotion.
"Look," one of the girls pointed into the darkness.
Connor squinted, struggling to see through the thick curtain of night. "What am I looking for?"
"There," another girl exclaimed, pointing again. "Did you see it?"
At first, he thought they were pulling a prank on him, but then he caught a flicker of movement. A flash of light so fleeting that he almost dismissed it as his imagination. But then there was another, and another, like stars bursting into existence within the trees. He took a step closer to the tree-line, transfixed by the dazzling display that seemed to have no explanation. The clearing was now aglow with ethereal lights, as if invisible hands had strung them up for a mystical celebration. His gaze landed on the closest orb - a glowing ball suspended from a low-hanging branch - and he couldn't tear his eyes away.
There was something moving inside. A creature. It was some sort of insect, with a tiny body and disproportionately large, delicate wings. The word fluttered to Connor's lips. Butterfly. Some of the others had followed him into the forest and were now staring in wonder alongside him.
Jessica stood a few feet away from him, utterly transfixed. A soft glow lit up her face, and the tense, worried expression that had clung to her features since the crash had fallen away.
Murphy wasn't all bad, sure he might have been annoying at time, but at least he had came into the dropship with food in hand. He had brought enough for Lottie, and her patients.
"Figured you hadn't ate yet." he said with a laugh.
"Nope." she said, pulling a stick of jaguar meat out of his hands, "But thanks I guess."
"No take them all," he said, handing over five or six things of meat. "I don't really want to stick around to pass them out. Bellamy said that they were only for those without wristbands."
Lottie rolled her eyes, "Of course he did." she had mover over to the cot by Jasper and handed one to Monty who sat by him, busy with a wristband in his lap. "Get out of here before he finds out then."
Murphy turned to leave, but he stopped short and twisted to look back over his shoulder. "Oh, by the way, Cupcake, I found some debris from the crash when we were out in the woods. Any interest in checking it out tomorrow?"
Lottie inhaled as her heart sped up. "You think it could be the missing supplies?" She took a step forward. "Let's go now."
He shook his head. "It was too far away. We wouldn't make it back before dark. We'll go tomorrow."
She glanced at Jasper, whose face was still contorted in pain. "Okay. First thing in the morning."
"Let's wait until the afternoon. We are supposed to go hunting in the morning. That's when the animals are out looking for water." Lottie suppressed the urge to ask him where he'd learned that, although she couldn't quite mask the surprise on her face.
"Until tomorrow, then?" He asked, and Lottie nodded. "Great." He grinned. "It's a date." She watched them lumber out of the tent, then went back over to Jasper.
Lottie hurried over and knelt beside the boy. When Clarke had tried to pull out the poultice that was in his chest, blood had quickly started pouring from the wound by his ribs. Jasper was breathing, but his gasps were still labored and shallow.
Jasper was still asleep, and the newest bandage seemed to be holding up. Lottie had already changed the wrappings three times since they'd found Jasper and brought him back. The memory of stitching up the wound made Lottie's stomach churn, and she hoped that the boy remembered even less. Jasper had passed out from the pain and had been fading in and out of consciousness ever since.
"Think I'm gonna change it again," Lottie said, nodding towards Monty, as she handed him the rest of the food. Lottie pulled back the bandage, trying to keep her face neutral as she unwrapped the bandage. The skin around the wound was red and swollen, and pus was forming in the gaps between the stitches. The wound itself wasn't the problem, Lottie knew. While it looked bad, it was the kind of injury they wouldn't bat an eye at in the medical center. The infection was the real threat.
"Is it really that bad?" Monty asked in a hushed tone.
"No, he looks fine," Lottie replied with ease, the lie rolling off her tongue effortlessly. It was just another part of the job; she had become an expert at hiding behind a façade.
Later that night, when everyone else had drifted off to sleep, Lottie whispered reassuring words into the darkness. "Everything will be okay," she repeated, although it sounded more like a desperate plea than a comforting statement. She wasn't even sure who she was directing her prayers to anymore. After all, humanity had abandoned Earth during its most dire time. The planet wouldn't care how many lives were lost now.