KING, the hundred

forty-seven: the exchange of blood

"the shadows are falling, they're falling, they're falling around me
the wolves are closing, they're closing, they're closing in on me."

i'm not afraid by tommee profitt

TRIGGER WARNING: torture, blood (author is questioning their life choices)

It wasn't difficult to get Indra on board with her plan. In fact, it only took a minute to convince her. She was pretty sure all the grounder heard was "justice" and she was in.

They made their way to the airlock chamber where the prisoners were being held quickly. "They" being Clarke, Avery, Indra, and Indra's entire battalion, including Octavia.

Marcus and Abby stood in front of them, their stances confrontational. Avery stepped up to both of them, nothing but determination and a hint of anger in her eyes.

"Stop." Abby said, putting her hand out in front of Avery.

"You don't even know what I'm going to do yet." Avery pointed out calmly.

"You're not going to do anything." Abby stressed.

"They're killing us, mom!" Clarke stepped forward, staring the Chancellor down.

"Abby." Marcus butted in, gesturing to Clarke. "Maybe you should listen to them."

"We will go through you if you don't, so," Avery shrugged.

Abby stepped to the side, letting them pass.

"What do you need?" Marcus moved to stand beside Avery as she looked into the chamber where the men were being held.

"A knife." Avery said, lifting one out of her pocket and waving it around in his face slightly. Marcus looked like he wanted to scold her, but decided against it because of the weapon in her hand. "And to let go of what little conscience I have left." She mumbled the last part, but Clarke blanched. Avery glanced back at the blonde, warning her with her eyes that she wouldn't want to see what was coming next.

Avery stepped up to the airlock chamber, sending a few glances back at the crowd behind her. This was what she was good at. Manipulating people. She'd been doing it since she was a kid. But she'd never done it with so many people watching. It felt like she was teaching a class, and her students were looking on with sick fascination.

Avery turned on the microphone so that the prisoners could hear her speaking. She cleared her throat.

"My name is Avery King." She spoke clearly and assertively. "Your mountain is holding forty-seven of my people as prisoners. Our team found traces of their blood in your systems, which means," She sighed. "You've already killed at least one of them. Who did you kill?"

"I don't see how that's rele -" Abby started, but Clarke quickly shut her down. Avery had a plan, and she was far too set in her revenge to let it go to shit. Clarke knew the answer to that question didn't matter. But if Avery could get the men to answer one question, or to doubt each other for even a second, they were likely to give up more valuable information.

"Carl Emerson. Mount Weather Security Detail." Carl Emerson wasn't fazed at all by the question, staring right back at Avery with a straight face. His partner, however, didn't look so sure. That was good. Avery could work with that.

"Trust me, Carl." Avery said, keeping her voice steady. "You're gonna want to answer the question."

She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. The pause was long enough for the people behind her to get restless. The prisoners just stared back at her, their eyes occasionally flickering to the crowd of both grounders and Sky people behind her.