Chapter 2
Kane watched as the kids in the camp were laughing and hollering with each wristband that was taken off. He shook his head. Did they really think that taking them off was enough to keep the rest of the Ark from going down? He was determined to go to the ground even if they didn't have the cameras. They knew the kids would take them off, because that was what they told them NOT to do. He watched as another wristband came off. He checked the board to see who it was. Fox. Another was brought forward and held out their arm for them.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kane looked around to see Wells limping towards them.
"We're liberating ourselves, what does it look like?" Bellamy said. Murphy took over getting the bands off. Bellamy and Wells met in the middle, the others too concerned with the wristband removal to notice the argument brewing near them.
"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed. The Communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we've got. Take them off and the Ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow," Wells said.
"That's the point, Chancellor. We can take care of ourselves, can't we?" Bellamy said, raising his voice on the last two words.
"Yeah!" several delinquents shouted.
"You think this is a game?" Wells asked. "Those aren't just our friends and parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers. I don't care what he tells you," Wells continued, looking around at the delinquents now giving the confrontation their full attention. "We won't survive here on our own, and besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?" Bellamy took a step forward.
"My people are already down. Those people locked my people up." He was now pointing upward. "Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that." Kane winced. This was not good.
"My father didn't write the laws," Wells said.
"No, he enforced them, but not anymore, not here! Here, there are no laws!" The delinquents went wild whooping and hollering in joy and relief. Kane was debating whether to wake the council for them to hear it, but just then, Jaha and the others walked in. Most of them were still wiping sleep from their eyes. They stood and watched as the argument continued.
"Here, we do whatever the hell we want, whenever the hell we want. Now, you don't have to like it, Wells, you can even try to stop it or change it, even kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want!"
"Whatever the hell we want!" echoed Murphy. A chant that was soon taken up by most of them. Wells stared at Bellamy who stared back, daring him to do something about it. Suddenly they heard thunder and it began to rain. They all turned their faces upwards to the night sky.
"Rain! Real rain!" a girl yelled in glee.
"Water!" another said. They were opening their mouths, trying to catch the drops. It was the first drink they had since the Ark. Up on the Ark, the council and technicians sighed in relief. Abby was checking the boards for signs of dehydration and how much the rain alleviated it.
"We need to collect this," Wells said to Bellamy.
"Whatever the hell you want," Bellamy said gently. Wells walked away to find something to collect the rain in.
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This could be trouble," Kane said. Jaha nodded. He was pleased how his son handled it, reasoning out why the Ark should come down, but he also knew the rest of them couldn't care less about the ruling council and the rightful leaders.
"We have no way of communicating with them, Kane. Until they manage to make a radio or fix the one we sent down with them, there's nothing we can say or do. It's all down to them."
"Is there anything we can do to help them?" asked one councillor.
"No, we need to wait until they get to Mount Weather. Maybe there's a radio in there they can resurrect," Jaha said.
"Maybe Monty Green can. He's from Farm station but was touted as a future engineer. He's a genius with electronics, according to Sinclair," Kane said.
"Then maybe Mr Green can search for it while the others search for the goods they need." Kane nodded before turning back to the screens and watched Wells grabbing several dish shaped pieces of ship and placing them around the camp to catch as much rain as possible. Kane sighed as the rest of the council decided to go back to bed, Abby included. Shumway had succumbed to his injuries only an hour previously and Abby had been up handling the death duties. Kane thought he'd have to promote Byrne to Shumway's position, but she was such a by-the-book guard, that he was unsure if she was the right person for the job. He'd have to see what happened over the next couple of days. He sighed again and watched the screens again.
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Raven decided to watch Finn some more before she went to bed. She'd had to watch as her boyfriend flirted with TWO girls. That Octavia chick didn't seem like serious competition, but Clarke did. She saw the signs of infatuation on Clarke's face when they were talking just before Octavia jumped into that river with the monster in it. That long stare into each other's eyes had Raven searching for a weapon to smash something up. Finn was her boyfriend and he was making eyes at someone else? She couldn't even blame Clarke. Finn had never said one word about already having a girlfriend, so as far as Clarke was concerned, he was single. Raven doubted anyone else had told her about Raven, so she just hoped Clarke would wise up - or Finn grew a conscience.
Raven switched on the monitor and tapped in Finn's and Clarke's monitors and put them up side by side. She sat on the one comfy chair she had and watched as Clarke marveled at the glow in the dark trees and flowers. It did look amazing, though.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Finn said. Clarke turned her head to look at him.
"Did you go to the river?" she asked, spotting the large leaf with water in it.
"Figured it was worth losing a finger or two," he said, nonchalantly. He passed over the leaf. "Here." Clarke took it and took a little sip.
"You call that a sip?" he said. Clarke smiled at him and Raven growled. She couldn't help it. Even over a drink, Finn was turning on the charm. "You think this means we're all gonna grow two heads?" he asked, facetiously. Clarke laughed at him, Raven swore at him.
"Stay away from her, Finn!" she yelled at the monitor.
"What do you know, she can laugh!" Finn said, also laughing. Raven growled some more.
"Come on, you have to see this!" he said, leading her a short distance away. He knelt down and looked at some tracks in the dirt. "That's a toe," he said, pointing to the front of the print. "Plus, near as I can tell, whatever it is, it's walking on two feet. My guess…monkeys!" Clarke burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, it's just, according to everything I've read, there were no bipedal animals anywhere near here, certainly not monkeys!"
"Right," Finn said, not deterred at all. "You read anything about glow-in-the-dark forests or man-eating snakes?" Both had a laugh at that. Raven turned off the monitor, still fuming. She didn't want to see him and Clarke getting it on. She went to bed, still pissed at her so-called boyfriend. She needed a way to get down there to stop him - or Clarke - before anything happened.
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The night shift aboard the Ark watched the monitors as they were doing their jobs. Normally, it was a boring shift wher nothing happened, but with the prisoners on the ground, they could watch the kids. Most of them were sleeping, but a few sentries were still awake.
They had their ususal meeting just after the shift change and then they settled down at their consoles or stations to carry out the necessary monitoring of the cameras and electrical equipment. They bantered about who did what during the day shift and about what they'd watched before they came on duty.
"Did you see that rescue?!" Jeff Franks said. He was one of the technicians on the night shift. "The way that Jasper kid just jumped into the river to save the girl? Man, I don't think I would have been that brave, knowing I couldn't swim!"
"If she was a looker like that Blake girl is, you would!" Terry Williams said, laughing.
"Yeah, all right…MAYBE," Franks replied.
"Shit!" exclaimed Robert Sung, a guard on duty in the command centre. Everyone turned to see what was wrong. They turned to the monitors he was staring at.
"Oh, Fuck!" Franks said.
"I'll call the Chancellor up here," Williams said, initiating the call. They watched as Bellamy chased Wells. Jaha came running through the door just as Bellamy caught up with him.
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"Shh, shh. That's far enough. I don't want to shoot you Wells, hell, I like you, but I do need them to think you're dead," Bellamy said, holding a gun on Wells. Jaha stood there, frozen as his son's life hung in the balance and there was nothing he could do but watch.
"Why are you doing this, for real, not some crap about getting to do what you want to do?" asked Wells. It was a question Jaha wanted answered too.
"I have my reasons. I also have a gun. So I ask the questions, and the question is, why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you, Wells, and yet here you are, still doing his bidding, following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you? Stand up to him. Take off that wristband and you'll be amazed at how good it feels."
"No. Never gonna happen. Is that clear enough for you?" Wells said. Jaha smiled, at least his son was standing up for himself.
"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry it had to be this way," Bellamy said, putting the gun into the back of his pants and calling several others down from where they had them surrounded. Wells ran but was soon run to ground by several of them.
"NO! NO! Get off me, NO!" Wells yelled, trying to get free.
"Get him down, put him down!" Bellamy ordered the others.
"No! Come on man, let me go!" Wells pleaded.
"Get it, do it," he ordered Murphy.
"No! Don't do this! Don't do this! No, come on, man!" Wells was begging but none of them were listening and Murphy shoved the pry bar under Wells' band and pulled it upwards to snap it.
"Aghhh!" Wells cried out in pain. Murphy was not being gentle about it. The band came off and finally, Wells was released. Everyone ignored the boy lying on the ground in shock at what had just happened. They left to go back to bed, leaving him alone and vulnerable to any predator in the area.
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Jaha was in shock. His son still lived and he was even more grateful for the monitoring cameras and microphones. If they hadn't been installed, he would have thought his only remaining family was dead. He would be alone and he would have been devastated. He watched as Wells slowly got to his feet and slowly walked back towards camp. He went to his tent and collapsed on his bed and fell asleep. At least Wells was safe enough inside their camp walls. Now he just had to find a way of staying safe within the walls. Jaha hoped that with the band off, it was good enough and they'd leave him alone believing they'd made their point.
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The following morning, Jaha retold what he'd seen that night.
"They'll target Clarke next, won't they?" Abby said, fearfully.
"I think so, but taking the band off is all they're going to do. With them thinking that we'd think that they'd died, I think they are trying to cause maximum damage to our own emotional and mental states so we'd know what it was like to lose a family member," Jaha said. Abby nodded.
"So what now? We can't get in touch with them to let them know we know they're safe and we can't go down there yet, so what do we do?"
"All we can do is watch and wait. All the ships are being checked as we speak. There's nothing left to do." Abby sighed, this was the part she hated, when all they had to do was wait.
"Alright, what's happening now on the ground?"
"The party of five are still walking towards Mount Weather and the camp seems to have settled down some. There are still some holdouts against getting their bands off, so we know some of their vitals, but the others seem more concerned with having fun than organising and taking care of business. So far, they only have the rain water to drink and no-one has tried hunting or foraging for food plants," Jaha explained.
"They need food soon, Chancellor. They can go about five days without eating, but they need water within two at the most, otherwise, they'll slowly starve or dehydrate."
"I know, but they think they don't have to follow any rules. It's stupid and dangerous!"
"They're kids led by a former cadet guard," Kane said. "They seem to want anarchy, it lets them get away with bad behaviour."
"And lets people be exploited!" Abby said. "With that attitude, I have no idea where it would take them."
"And there's nothing we can do until we go to the ground. Even if they fix the radio, they can ignore anything we say. They are off the Ark, Chancellor. They've already proved the ground is livable so they are now pardoned. We can't do anything to them for the crimes they committed on the Ark. They don't need us, Chancellor, they need to prove to themselves they can survive and for some reason, they think that it's NOT doing what we want."
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Chancellor!" called one of the technicians. Jaha looked over to him and then to the monitors the technician was pointing to. They all watched as they reached a place near the base of Mount Weather. They went over to watch what happened next.
Clarke was watching Finn and Jasper fiddling with a vine.
"You wanted to go first. Now quit stalling!" she shouted up to Finn.
"Just hang on until apogee, and you'll be fine," Jasper said.
"Apogee? Like the Indians, right?" Finn said, trying to be funny.
"Apogee, not Apache," Jasper explained.
"He knows. Today, Finn!" Clarke said, exasperated. Raven smirked at Clarke telling Finn off.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Finn said, plucking up his nerve to swing over the river. "See you on the other side," he said, taking a step back to push himself off the mound.
"Wait!" Jasper said, eying Octavia. He was trying to impress her.
"What?" Finn asked, secretly pleased with the delay.
"Let me. I can do it," Jasper said, looking at Octavia again. Finn followed his line of sight and grinned.
"Knew there was a badass in there somewhere!" Finn said, still grinning. Jasper gave a small laugh. Finn handed the vine over to Jasper and moved to the side. Jasper fiddled with it, nervous to actually do the jump.
"Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper. The trick is not fighting it," Finn told him. Jasper nodded and took a deep breath.
"See you on the other side!" Jasper said just before he launched himself off the mound and out over the water. "Woo-hoo! We are apogee!" Jasper yelled just before he let go of the vine and fell to the ground on the other side. He got up and turned around to see the others. They were all yelling and cheering him for making it across.
"You did it, Jasper!" Clarke yelled in jubilation.
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Up on the Ark, most of Farm Station breathed a big sigh of relief that one of their kids made it to the other side safely.
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Jasper joined in the celebrations, whooping in excitement.
"Let's go, Princess. You're up," Finn said to Clarke. Clarke stepped up and reached for the vine.
"Come in, Clarke! You got this! Whoo-hoo! APOGEE!" He looked around and saw a sign covered in dirt. He wiped the dirt away and then picked up the sign and held it over his head for them to see. "We did it! Mount Weather! Whoo!" They were all pleased and yelled his name in happiness. Clarke was about to swing across when they heard a whooshing sound and they saw Jasper get hit in the chest and fall to the ground.
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The Ark gasped in astonishment.
"Jasper!" his parents yelled at the screen.
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"Jasper!" Clarke yelled in disbelief.
"Come on, Come on!" Finn said, trying to get her to move. They scrambled to some rocks. "Get down! Get down!" Finn yelled at the others. All of them were scared. That spear came from nowhere!
"We're not alone!" Clarke said finally.
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"Replay that!" barked Jaha. The technicians replayed Jasper being speared and falling to the ground. They watched as the spear hit him.
"Animals don't make or throw spears!" Jaha said.
"Clarke was right, they are not alone down there!" Abby said. "We sent them down there!"
"Can we see where it happened?" Jaha asked the technician.
"No, sir. Our cameras are not powerful enough to see that closely, sir."
"So we are reduced to the prisoners' cameras?" Jaha asked. The technician nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"There must be signs of settlements somewhere," Kane said. "We have to find them."
"Why?" Jaha asked.
"It would give an indication of how many there are, Chancellor. If people survived the war, there could be hundreds or thousands of them."
"But why not remake the world as it once was?" Jaha asked.
"I don't know, maybe they don't want to. Maybe there are not enough people to do that and they live in small communities. It's easier to hunt for a small village than to farm enough food for thousands of people, maybe no-one was left alive with the knowledge of how things worked or were made from the old world." Kane said.
"So what do we do?"
"Until they make contact, there's nothing we can do except check for places that should have guns. We need to get them armed for their own protection," Jaha said. Wells needed a gun to keep the rest of them from killing him and if that meant arming them all, then he would.
"What's your assessment of the injury, Doctor?" Kane asked.
"Without seeing him, I don't know. He could survive that or it may have gone through his heart killing him," Abby said. She hated not being able to help heal someone and all she could do right now was watch him.
"He's still alive, Sir," the technician said, bringing Jasper's monitor to the front and his vital signs up on another monitor. Abby studied them.
"If he isn't treated, he'll die," she said, "but if he can get the treatment he needs, he should live."
"Then let's hope those kids can find a way to help him," Jaha said, returning his gaze to the monitors.
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"Come on!" Finn yelled to them as they ran through the woods away from the spear wielding person. Monty was in front and he tripped and fell. Those on the Ark watched as Monty fell right in front of a skeleton. They had an up close view of it. Octavia stopped and pulled Monty to his feet, but Monty was still staring at the skeleton. They all stared at the bones and Clarke went over to a skul and picked it up.
"Who are they?" Finn asked.
"WHAT are they?" Clarke corrected him, showing the unusual skull. It looked nothing like a human's skull.
"We are so screwed!" Octavia said, still looking at the unusual bones. There was a scream coming from where they had just been by the river.
"Jasper! He's alive!" Clarke said, taking off back to the river. Finn caught up with her and reached out to pull on her arm.
"Clarke, wait, WAIT! Stay out of the trees." All four looked to where Jasper had been but only saw a blood trail. "He was right there!" Finn said in surprise.
"No! Where is he?" Monty asked, anxiously.
"They took him," Clarke said.
"So what do we do?" Octavia asked.
"We go back and get a rescue team and come back for him," Clarke said. The others agreed and the Ark watched as they set off for the camp once more.
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The following morning, Jaha watched his son. He was busy digging a couple of graves for the two boys who died on the way down. Kane had already gone to the boy's parents and told them about it. Now all they could do was watch as their children were buried behind the dropship. Wells stripped them of the clothing before lowering them as gently as he could into the graves and then filled them in again. He put up two crude crosses, unmarked because they didn't know their names. He picked up the clothing and boots and set off back to the camp.
He passed a few kids who were chasing another one amid yells about getting him. Wells assumed it was some kind of game but it looked like they were trying to kill the poor kid!
"Hey, Where did you get the clothes?" Atom asked.
"Buried the two guys who died during landing," Wells replied.
"Smart," Atom said, eying the pile of clothing. "You know, I'll take it from here. There's always a market for…" Atom didn't get any further before Wells cut him off.
"We share based on need, just like back home!" Bellamy walked down the ramp after kissing both girls he's slept with the previous night. He was shirtless.
"You still don't get it, do you, Chancellor?" Bellamy said. "This is home now. Your father's rules no longer apply." Bellamy took the shirt on top and began putting it on. Wells tried to get it back but Atom held him back.
"Oh, no, no. Atom, hold up," Bellamy told him. He turned to Wells. "You want it? Take it," he said, trying to bait him. Wells made up his mind and then threw the rest of the clothing on the ground. Several kids rushed over, fighting over the clothing.
"Get the boots!" one yelled.
"Is this what you want?" Wells asked him as the kids fought over the clothing. "Chaos?"
"What's wrong with a little chaos?" Bellamy asked. Just then a girl screamed and both of them went over to see what was happening. They saw Murphy forcing a girl towards the fire. The girl was fighting him but Murphy was stronger.
"Bellamy! Check it out. We want the Ark to think the ground is killing us, right? Figure it'll look better if we suffer a bit first." Those on the Ark were surprised and ashamed that they were devolving so fast.
"Let her go!" Wells yelled, knocking Murphy over and off the girl who scrambled away. Wells turned to Bellamy. "You can stop this," Wells pleaded with him.
"Stop this? I'm just getting started," he replied. The delinquents began chanting for a fight. Wells looked around him before turning back to Bellamy.
"Don't you see? You can't control this!" Murphy got back to his feet, pulled out his knife and launched himself at Wells.
"You're dead!" he yelled at him. Bellamy stopped Murphy from attacking Wells.
"Wait!" Bellamy dropped a knife near Wells. "Fair fight," Bellamy said. Wells picked it up and faced Murphy.
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Jaha was holding onto the console with all the strength he had as he watched his son in a fight for his life. The rest of the Ark also watched as one of the Alpha elite had to protect himself from the rest of the prisoners. Not many people had any time for those from Alpha, but even they didn't want to see him be killed. He was still seen as a child of the Ark.
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Murphy struck first.
"Aaghh!" Wells said as the knife cut his arm.
"That was for my father!" Murphy yelled. Wells watched as Murphy tried another attack, but this time, Wells was ready for him and after a short tussle, had him captured with a knife to his throat.
"Drop it!" Wells told him, referring to Murphy's knife.
"Wells, let him go!" Clarke yelled as the others came into the camp. Wells pushed Murphy away from him and Murphy tried to attack once more but Bellamy stopped him.
"Enough, Murphy!" he said. Bellamy turned to the others and saw his sister was limping. "Octavia, are you alright?"
"Yeah," Octavia said, sitting down. Bellamy looked around.
"Where's the food?" he asked.
"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn said, also sitting.
"What the hell happened out there?"
"We were attacked," Clarke said.
"Attacked? By what?" Wells asked.
"Not what, who," Finn said. "It turns out that when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last Grounder."
"It's true," Clarke said, looking around at everyone staring at her. She had their undivided attention. "Everything we thought we knew about the Earth is wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is that we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."
"Yeah, the bad news is that the Grounders will," Finn said.
"Where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells asked after not seeing him with the others.
"Jasper was hit. They took him," Clarke said. She looked at Wells and noticed his wrist was bare. "Where's your wristband?"
"Ask him!" Wells said grimly, pointing with his chin to Bellamy.
"How many?" Clarke asked, just as grimly.
"24 and counting," Murphy almost sang, smirking at their achievement. Clarke was furious.
"You idiots! Life support on the Ark is failing. That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them, you're killing us!" Clarke all but yelled at them, hoping some of it sank into their stupid heads.
"We're stronger than you think. Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves! That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The Grounders should worry about us!" Bellamy said, getting them riled up.
"Yeah, yeah!" several of them shouted.
"What do we do now?" Monty asked Clarke.
"Now we go after Jasper," she replied, knowing there was nothing she could say to calm the idiots down.
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Up on the Ark the command centre was deadly quiet as they digested the latest update from the ground.
"This could get really ugly, Chancellor," Kane said.
"I know. How are we on the exodus ships? Can we send one down with some guards to protect them from the grounders?"
"Not right now, Chancellor. They're not ready yet. We have another two months before we go down and we need most of that time to get them ready."
"Is there anything else we can send? Even if it's just a couple of guards, it's better than nothing."
"Sorry, Chancellor, but all the escape pods still with us were cannibalized for parts long ago. Most of them were launched illegally by people wanting to go back to Earth early on. We just don't have anything left we could use."
"Suicide by Earth," Jaha said, remembering his history lessons.
"Yes, sir," Kane said.
"Then we need to get more people working on those ships," Jaha said.
"Do we have enough of them?" Kane asked.
"I hope so," Jaha said, not telling him that there were only three left and definitely not enough for everyone.
"I'll go see Sinclair about ramping up the repairs," Kane said, turning away. Jaha nodded and turned back to the screens, hoping the kids didn't kill off those who came from Alpha.
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Abby returned to her quarters and immediately turned on the monitor and got Clarke's image on the screen. She paused it while she went to change. For all that she was the Chief Medical Officer, today was one of those days that she could not pass a task onto someone else. There were some she just had to do herself and because she'd put things off, everything happened at once. Abby was thankful she could get out of the hospital before the next day!
She changed her clothes and then sat down to watch her daughter, the only family member she had left.
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Clarke was kneeling on the deck of the dropship, trying to figure out what to take with her to get Jasper. They didn't have much - well they didn't really have anything, but they had picked up a few things. Clarke thought some of the broadleaves could be used for bandages along with vines to tie them on with. She'd asked some of the farm kids if they were dangerous or poisonous and they assured her they weren't.
She sniffled and fought back the tears that threatened to fall. This was such a clusterfuck and they'd only been on the ground for a few days!
She was not going to leave Jasper in the hands of who knew who or what. Those skulls were definitely not human, but radiation may have mutated people into whatever that was.
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Abby started crying along with Clarke who was still valiantly trying to hold hers back. There was nothing she could do to comfort her daughter who was going through a very rough time. Hated by the others for being from Alpha and nothing she told them seemed to be getting through. They all acted like it was one big joke or like their freedom was more important than the lives of those still on the Ark. Granted some of the kids no longer had parents but those who did also seemed to forget about them or didn't care. For the first time in their lives, there was no-one to tell them what to do and they were exercising their independence.
She continued to watch as Wells came through the hatch and Clarke quickly swiped any stray tears away.
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"There you are. When my father said they didn't leave us anything, he really meant it." Clarke looked at him and then saw the cut on his arm, courtesy of Murphy. "It's just a scratch," Wells said, trying to shrug it off.
"You're making friends fast. Keep it covered, it could get infected." Clarke looked at the bag Wells was carrying. "Nice pack," she said.
"Yeah, seatbelts and insulation," Wells said. "I also packed part of the parachute, figured we could use it to carry out Jasper."
"Good, give it to someone else," Clarke said, firmly. "You're not coming with us."
"My ankle's fine," Wells said, misunderstanding Clarke's reticence in letting him go with them.
"It's not your ankle, Wells. It's you!"
"You came back for reinforcements. I'm gonna help!" They climbed down the ladder to the bottom deck.
"Clarke, he's right," Monty said, having heard the last part of their conversation. "We need him. So far no-one else has volunteered."
"I'm sorry, Monty, but you're not going either!"
"Like hell I'm not! Jasper's my best friend!" Monty said, raising his voice in anger.
"You're too important. You were raised on Farm Station and recruited by engineering," Clarke told him.
"So?" Monty asked.
"So food and communication." Clarke tapped Monty's temple. "What's in here, it's gonna save us all. You figure out how to talk to the Ark and I'll bring Jasper back." Just then Finn walked in. Clarke turned to him. "Hey, you ready?" Clarke asked him.
"I'm not going anywhere, and neither should you! That spear was thrown with pinpoint accuracy from 300 feet!"
"So what? We let Jasper die? That's not gonna happen. Spacewalker? What a joke. You think you're such an adventurer, but you're really just a coward!" Clarke moved past him and out of the ship.
"It's not an adventure, Clarke. It's a suicide mission!" he yelled after her.
"Build a wall, use the fallen trees. I'll watch out for her," Wells said to Finn before moving out of the dropship himself. Monty looked at Finn with disgust.
"Jasper looked up to you!" Finn's face dropped. He was losing the battle to charm people into liking him and doing it fast. He had to think of a way to save his reputation.
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"You tell them, Clarke. Don't let them stop you from doing the right thing," Abby whispered to the monitor. She knew it was dangerous to go after the boy, but she also knew Clarke had her own stubborn streak she inherited from Abby herself. Abby could not agree with Clarke's actions, but she also knew the boy's best hope for survival was Clarke's limited medical knowledge. Abby watched more of the drama unfolding on the ground, no doubt along with most of the Ark.
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In engineering, Sinclair asked Raven to look over the cannibalised escape pods for anything they could use to get the exodus ships ready to launch. Raven had gone to one of the quieter areas and used a computer to pull up the schematics and locations of every escape pod on the Ark. What she didn't expect was another pod listed there. This one was a very old pod built before the Ark was! She looked over the current escape pods and then told Sinclair she'd need to go and physically check what was what. He nodded and gave her two weeks to check everything. He's already given her the passcodes to the bays and the passcodes to every piece of equipment those ships needed and what they still needed to find.
Raven set off and went to the bay in Mecha on sublevel 3 - a level that was normally off limits to her. She entered the bay and looked around at a load of junk. It must have beenused as a dumping ground for anything they thought they couldn't use. She saw a couple of dust sheets covering something tall. She pulled them off and looked at it.
"Geez, this thing must have come from Mir-3!" she said aloud.
"Hey, what are you doing here! This is off-limits!" Raven spun around and saw a guard. It was Major Byrne.
"I have permission to check the escape pods and anywhere else that we might find things to repair the exodus ships with," Raven explained, holding out the tablet with her permission slip and job description. Byrne took the tablet and looked at it before she called through to Mecha and Sinclair. After talking to him for a few minutes, Byrne ended the call.
"Sorry, but I have to be careful who comes here. This is still a restricted area."
"Understood, but there may be components in this pod or in this bay that may have been overlooked as being usable for the exodus ships. With the Chancellor wanting the repars to be expedited, Sinclair thought this would be a good place to look along with the other escape pods," Raven said. Byre nodded.
"That's what Sinclair just told me," she said. "Do you need to be here a lot?"
"It depends on what I find," Raven said. Byrne nodded.
"Alright, it says you have permission for two weeks. I'll leave you alone to get your supplies, but I will be checking after that!" Raven nodded. If she could fix that junker, she wouldn't be here in two weeks, she'd be on the ground, tearing Finn a new one! Byrne left and Raven silently let out a sigh of relief. If Byrne was leaving her alone in here for a fortnight, she could get a lot done. She needed to figure out what she needed to fix it before she took anything back for Sinclair to use.
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo
These chapters will be slow going - if at all. I'm working on other stories and only on this one occasionally. Hopefully I'll have another story finished by spring. Samdagger.