Free || The 100 [1] || ✔

E I G H T E E N: rations

By the time the sun rose in the morning, the storm had passed. Also, the antidote for the poisoning worked and Finn was finally awake. The only bad part of today was that I was left with a massive hangover from last night and since we were on the Ground, there were no pain relievers. All I had was a bucket of water that Clarke forced me to drink to keep me hydrated.

I left Clarke and a sleeping Raven in the Ark with Finn. When I walked outside, I was greeted by the radiant sun that was soon replaced with the image of the destruction the storm had caused to the camp. I walked around, looking at the mess and soon found Bellamy instructing some delinquents.

"We'll get it cleaned up," he reassured.

I sipped some water out of the bucket I carried and Bellamy gave me a confused look. "I had a little too much of Monty's moonshine. Anyway, this isn't the only mess we have," I said as I showed Bellamy the piece of metal that used to be stuck in the Grounders hand.

Bellamy looked disappointed and grabbed the metal from my hand. "Athena, who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things."

"I don't think so, Blake," I paused to drink some more water. "We're all dangerous. Everyone that came down from the Ark did something dangerous for their own benefit or protection. What you and your boys did last night was dangerous and for your own benefit and protection."

Bellamy sighed and nodded in understanding. "Well, we can't let him go. He'll be back and not alone next time," he informed and I sighed in defeat, "It's not easy being in charge, is it?"

"No, it is not easy," I shook my head.

Bellamy locked his dark brown eyes with mine and shrugged in agreement. He patted my shoulder and then walked away to help some of the delinquents with their clean up.

***

Within a few hours, I finished my bucket of water and felt better than I did earlier in the morning. Raven had also gotten a lot of work done and set up a system where we could talk to the Ark almost face-to-face through a screen. Most of the delinquents were able to talk to their family and friends before Chancellor Jaha asked me to talk to him.

"Athena, nice to see you," Chancellor Jaha greeted which I returned with a smile and waited for him to continue. "So we hear you have a Grounder being held captive. Has he given you any insight on how to survive the winter?"

"He doesn't speak much, sir. However, we're doing fine on our own. We've started harvesting berries, curing meats, digging for roots. We might even start a garden sometime soon. But, the truth is, we will freeze before we starve. It's already starting to get cold late at night and all we have are the clothes on our backs," I informed.

"There's good news on that front," Kane jumped in to the conversation, "There's an old emergency aid depot not far from the landing site. Here are the coordinates."

"In addition to supplies, it can provide shelter for all of you and citizens coming down from the Ark," Chancellor Jaha chimed in.

"Nice to see you, Kane. Also, what makes you think this depot is intact?" I asked.

"It was designed to withstand the war that happened 100 years ago," Kane informed.

"Okay, we'll get to it right away," I responded.

"Could I have a moment alone with Athena, please?" I heard the Chancellor ask the rest of the people in the room with him. "Athena, we're very proud of what you've accomplished down there."

"It wasn't just me, sir. Bellamy Blake has kept everyone in control and I don't think we could have done anything without him," I replied.

"Bellamy Blake is down there with you?" Jaha questioned.

"Yes, he is. I know what he did to you, Chancellor, but Bellamy should be forgiven. He came down here for his sister whom you locked up. After Bellamy and I head to the depot, we all need to sit down and talk, okay?" I defended. "Now, who's up next to talk to their parents?"

Chancellor Jaha gave me the name of a boy named Dax. I took off the headset and with the map that had the coordinates, I set out to find Bellamy and Dax.

I found Dax curing meat and instructed him to go talk to his parents. I found Bellamy in the drop ship with Octavia.

"Bellamy, hey. The Ark found some records about an old depot not far from here that has supplies that could last us through winter. I'm planning to go check it out and I could use some help," I smiled.

"Why are you asking me?" Bellamy sneered.

"Well, we're leading these guys together. I don't want to risk anyone else's life out there either," I responded.

"All right. I gotta grab some stuff. I'll meet you in 10," Bellamy agreed.

I headed out of the dropship and grabbed my bag from tent that was luckily not damaged from the storm. I joined Jasper and Monty at the table that was packing nuts and berries.

"Hey guys," I greeted as I grabbed some packages and loaded them into my bag.

"Woah, where are you going?" Monty asked.

"I'm going to, hopefully, bring back some stuff that will help us survive winter," I laughed as Monty threw Jasper a berry to catch in his mouth but it bounced off of his forehead. "By the way, Jasper, how have you been feeling?"

"Well, for someone who was stabbed through the chest by a very large spear, I think I'm doing pretty good," Jasper smiled.

Bellamy joined me at the table and he loaded his pack with rations as well. "Hey, that's a lot of rations. This is just a day trip, you know that right?"

"A lot can happen in a day," Bellamy said as he closed up his bag and then lead the way into the quiet forest.