Haunted || Octavia Blake || 1 ||

22: T h e N i n e t y - E i g h t

XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia is rescued and taken back to the drop-ship. She starts repairing her relationship with Bellamy; but there is a downer to the works - Clarke. As she recovers, Octavia shares a moment with Jasper, all fantasies of Finn Collins seemingly forgotten].

I laid back against the pillows of my makeshift bed and sighed.

I was so confused, so lost, so hurt, so angry ... So many feelings, so many emotions, but how to express them? There didn't seem to be any suitable way.

Clarke was acting all superior and mysterious. Bellamy, although a dictator and a near-murderer, was trying to make amends with me. Finn, unsure of his feelings, was hooking up with Raven, a broody, smart mechanic sent down from the Ark. Jasper, a nerdy geek who had a crush on me, finally got his wish when I kissed him. Murphy, an evil conniving little devil, carried out his cruel intentions on victims like Charlotte. Atom, Bellamy's right-hand man, lay recovering from an attempt to take his life ... We were so messed up. We were all messed up.

I was messed up.

As I began recovering from my bumpy little trip to the grounders' tunnel, I learned the terrible truth: the one hundred was no longer the one hundred. We were the ninety-nine.

One of the girls that had gone along on one of the search parties who'd been hunting for me had been separated from the group and accounted for missing. As the group returned to the drop-ship, they stumbled across her mangled body, a sack tied over her head and a crumpled note in her hands.

"LEAVE OR DIE."

That was the message on the note. It was a warning, a warning that that girl was not going to be the last of the grounders' victims. They thought we had come to take over their territory and they were intent on destroying us ... Well, that was the story according to Bellamy. I, on the other hand, was not so sure.

They could've easily killed Jasper when they thrust that spear through his chest. But they didn't. They could've easily reached Raven's pod before we did and murdered her. But they didn't. They could've gotten rid of me when they found my unconscious body at the bottom of the cavern. But they didn't.

As I thought about all of these things, my mind wandered back to when I encountered that grounder in the tunnels. If he had wanted to kill me, he could have. He had the swords. I only had a flipping candle. But he didn't. He let me go.

I bit my lip to suppress a silly smile when I remembered looking into his eyes, his human eyes, his beautiful, deep, hazel eyes.

"Hey."

I glanced up to see Bryce hanging shyly around the drop-ship doorway.

"Oh, hi Bryce," I smiled as I waved him inside. "Come on in. It's good to see you."

"And you too," Bryce sighed with relief as he sauntered over and plonked himself on the end of my canvas mattress. "When the others didn't come back with you, I - I ... well, I - I thought you were dead." His eyes filled with tears as he spoke.

"Bryce," I leaned over and caressed his shoulder with my hand. "It's okay, buddy, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere ... not under Bellamy's watch anyway."

Bryce chuckled as he embarrassedly wiped at his eyes. "Yeah. I guess that's true."

"Are you okay?" I questioned, concerned. "Holding up under the pressures of camp?"

Bryce nodded his little head vigourously. "Oh yes. We've nearly finished the wall that Bellamy told us to build. It surrounds the entire camp and is very sturdy. I tested it out myself ... with Dustin."

I smiled knowingly. Dustin and Bryce were pretty close. It was kinda cute.

"And?" I prompted laughingly.

"We just need to finish building the gates and we'll be done," he finished excitedly. "It's a huge accomplishment. Bellamy says we're having a party to celebrate."

"Huh, I'm not so sure Clarke would agree with that," I smirked. "But, on the other hand, who agrees with Clarke?"

"Almost no one," Bryce guffawed. "She's kinda bossy, though, right?"

I pretended to think about it for a minute before answering, "Well ... I guess she is. But then again, she is one of the privileged and is probably used to telling others what to do. All she wants is the best for us, her people. I'm sure she would never purposefully put any of us in danger but still ... yeah, she is annoying."

Bryce laughed at this. "I know right?"

A sudden scraping sound near the door caused both of us to jump and look up in surprise. Bellamy was just entering the compartment and when he saw Bryce sitting with me, he cast the boy a stern glare.

"Bryce, shouldn't you be helping Monty and Dustin finish up the reparations for the gate?" he asked.

Bryce leaped to his feet. "Y-yes," he stuttered. "I - I'll go do that now. Bye Octavia!" he gave me a quick wave before scampering away.

Bellamy raised his eyebrows as he turned towards me.

"Aw c'mon, Bell, he's a cute kid," I argued. "He won't do me any harm. He's so funny and entertaining. Well, I think it's high time for me to get some fresh air so I'm just gonna go and ..."

Before I could finish my sentence or before Bellamy could protest, a loud groan cut through the air.

Startled, we both turned to stare at Atom's writhing figure.

"Go get Clarke!" I yelled at Bellamy. "Hurry!"

Bellamy returned a few moments later with an anxious and concerned Clarke. She wiped at Atom's forehead with a cool cloth and loosened his clothing in an effort to slow down his rapid breathing ... but it was all in vain.

Clarke had only been there for a few seconds when suddenly, Atom's body flopped and he stopped moving.

"Oh my god," I gasped with baited breath. "Clarke ... he - he's not ..."

"He's dead," Clarke whispered as she bent down and placed her ear to his chest to hear his heartbeat. She straightened up as a single tear slipped down her cheek. "Atom - he's gone."

My mouth fell open in shock. "W-what happened?"

"He had a seizure. There was nothing any of us could do," Clarke mumbled sadly in response.

I glanced over at Bellamy as he abruptly whirled around on his heel and ran from the room, a hand tightly pressed over his mouth.

"Bell!" I called out after him. "Wait!"

"No. Don't," Clarke hushed me with one motion of her hand. "I'll go and talk to him. You stay here."

I stared after Clarke as her figure disappeared through the drop-ship door. Then, I turned to gaze at Atom.

Struggling to my feet, I limped over to where his still, silent body lay and I passed a reverent hand over his face. "I - I didn't know you very well ... but I know you didn't deserve to die ... not like this. I - I'm so sorry."

Slowly, I pulled the sheet that'd been covering him up and over his head. I tucked it in around the edges and smoothed it over before returning back to huddle up on my bed.

I tucked my knees up to my chin and placed my head on top of them as I rocked back and forth.

I couldn't believe it. Atom was gone. And now? We were the ninety-eight.

Gif: Octavia when she hears the news of Atom's death.

XX