You and Me

Chapter 7

Clarke gave herself ten minutes to appreciate Earth before taking out a map and realizing they were on the wrong mountain. It was in the middle of that realization that Octavia came flying in for a hug. A group was put together to trek to Mount Weather, but Bellamy was not a part of it, just told her and Clarke to be safe.

She trekked through the forest with Octavia, Monty, and Jasper talking her ear off while the spacewalker flirted. When they came to a river and Octavia started stripping, Clarke knew Bellamy was going to have his hands full. And then, when she saw the creature coming for Octavia, that Bellamy was going to ring her neck.

"Octavia!"

The boys ran to the edge of the water, but Clarke grabbed a large rock and threw it far from Octavia, successfully distracting the creature. Clarke jumped in after Octavia, Jasper following after her and getting them all to shore.

"Your brother is going to kill me," Clarke said as Octavia threw her arms around Jasper and kissed his cheek in thanks, ignoring the gash in her leg.

*

"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. You know why?" Bellamy spread his arms wide, the eyes of all the teenagers on him as he spoke to Wells in front of the fire. "Whatever the hell we want."

"Whatever the hell we want!" cried Murphy, a chant following. The cheers and yelling only increased as the sky opened, and they felt rain for the first time.

Bellamy turned to watch the mass of children screaming the words. He had to find a way to get them to believe him that it was better to take the wristbands off. Clarke was going to disapprove, but she didn't know he'd be floated upon her mother's arrival.

*

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather."

"Why not?" demanded Murphy.

"We were attacked," explained Clarke.

Despite having been assured Octavia's snake bite was handled, Bellamy stepped closer, looking over her and Octavia. "By what?"

"Not what, who," said Finn, dropping onto a log, exhausted. "It turns out when the last man from the ground on the Ark died, he wasn't the last Grounder."

Clarke looked around at the frightened teenagers staring at her, "It's true, everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"Yeah, the bad news is the Grounders will," argued Finn.

Next to her, Wells looked at the assembled group and over to the despondent Monty. "Where's the kid with the goggles?"

"Jasper was hit. They took him." Clarke caught sight of Well's wrist and lack of wristband. "Where's your wristband?"

Wells scowled at Bellamy. "Ask him."

"How many?" Bellamy met Clarke's stare head-on but didn't speak.

"Twenty-four and counting," Murphy smugly replied.

"You idiots!" Clarke marched up to Bellamy. Murphy stepped up to her but with a look from Bellamy he moved back. "You want to know why I was in confinement? Why they gagged me?" She looked at the teenagers, the ones that had seen her in Earth Skills. "I wasn't a danger to them, only their control because I knew their secret. The Ark is dying."

A ripple cut through the assembled crowd, reaching even Bellamy who shifted next to her. "Life support is failing, they'll run out of air in three months, if they don't start reducing population before then. 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."

She could see she was getting to them, but Bellamy stepped in front of her. "We're stronger than you think. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. You are not prisoners anymore! They say they'll forget out crimes. I say, you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The Grounders should worry about us!" The crowd started cheering. Clarke grumbled and pushed past Bellamy angrily.

*

Bellamy stopped Octavia from following Clarke. He understood the anger. If she'd shared why she was in confinement, he would have acted differently.

"What the hell was it?" He wrapped her wound with a spare shirt he'd found.

Octavia pursed her lips. "I don't know. The others said it looked like a giant snake."

"You could have been killed."

"I would have if Clarke and Jasper didn't jump in and save me."

Clarke showed up at Bellamy's side, nudging him out of the way as she readjusted his makeshift bandage. "Still wasn't the wisest idea jumping into a lake without knowing if it was radioactive. You need to lay off this leg, Octavia."

"What? No, I'm coming with you."

Bellamy opened his mouth to shut that down, but Clarke continued, "No, an injury like that only leads to more if you keep going." Bellamy nodded in agreement, then was surprised when Clarke turned to address him. "Still have your gun, Bellamy?"

"What of it?"

"We'll need it if we're going to get Jasper." Bellamy glanced at O and at the camp behind Clarke. "Or would it be too degrading to associate with the Ark's princess?"

Bellamy didn't deign to reply. "Murphy, come with me. Atom? My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?"

Atom glanced at Clarke and Bellamy, both of whom waited for his acquiescence, and nodded. Clarke turned away, Wells at her heels, and began walking out of camp and into the woods.