KING, the hundred

thirty-four: man or monster

"what do I do? what do I do?"

rip 2 my youth by the neighbourhood

They made it about five minutes further into the darkness of the garage before they heard the yelling. Avery exchanged eye contact with both Bellamy and Octavia. They quickly made their way into a loose triangle formation. Bellamy in the middle and more towards the back with his gun and Octavia and Avery on either side with their knives and sword.

Then they heard the music.

When it started, it was far enough away to be dismissed as wind or dripping water or just the particularly loud scuttling of bugs. But as they drew closer, the eerie music got louder and louder, echoing within the concrete walls. Avery clenched her fist around her newly acquired gun. Octavia unsheathed her sword beside her.

They moved forward, their flashlights angled ahead of them, illuminating the area in front of them. After a minute of walking, they could see the small white box that appeared to be playing the music. Bellamy and Avery took cover behind large cars, aiming their guns at the seemingly clear area where the music box sat.

"Scott?" Bellamy called out quietly into the garage, sweat dripping down his face. "Are you there?" When he got no reply, the small group moved further forward.

"I got left." Avery said quietly, keeping her flashlight and gun trained on their left side. They moved together and they moved swiftly, checking each corner near them. When they ducked behind another nearby car, Avery heard the noise. It was hard to make out over the music from the box, but it sounded like squelching.

"Bellamy," Avery said, and his eyes snapped to hers quickly. She held a hand up to her lips and both siblings stopped to listen. "What the hell is that?"

As soon as she said it, Bellamy shined his flashlight into a far corner of the space. There, three bodies, covered nearly head-to-toe in blood, were leaned over something. Avery barely had time to make out that it was the guards and raise her gun before she heard Octavia's warning.

"Reapers." Octavia breathed. Bellamy and Avery pulled the trigger on their guns simultaneously. Bellamy shot two of the reapers in quick succession as Avery went for the one on the left. They barely had time to process what was happening.

"What the hell." Avery breathed, tears jumping into her eyes as she looked at the scene that had just unfolded in front of them in horror. Reapers had eaten a significant part of the guards chests along with part of their arms and legs. It was a gruesome and painful way to die. She shivered and bile rose to her throat, but tried to remain focused despite the horror they'd just witnessed.

Suddenly, another reaper emerged out of the shadows, making his way towards the group from the left. Avery raised her gun, prepared to shoot the man (if he could even be called that). But suddenly Octavia's hand was on top of the barrel, pushing it down.

"Stop, don't shoot!" She exclaimed in horror, looking more closely at the reaper in front of them. "It's Lincoln!"

Avery let out a shaky breath of horror as she watched the reapers face. Underneath the thick layers of blood and war paint, she could make out Lincoln. He was an ally, and maybe even a friend. This wasn't Lincoln.

Avery kept her gun raised as he moved towards them.

"Lincoln." Octavia tried again, her eyes growing wider with horror as the monster that was the man she loved walked closer to them, blood dripping from his unhinged jaw. "Lincoln, it's me! It's Octavia!"

Avery's finger hovered over the trigger as if she was waiting for something else to happen. Something that would prevent her from doing this.