Taming Chaos // J.M // The 100

Chapter 94

In the few minutes of careful silence, he's the only one they can hear, failing to slow his breathing through a windpipe tightening bit by bit.

Ethan swears he's trying. He squeezes his eyes shut until vague shapes take place behind his lids. Distracts himself with the fiery pain of digging jagged nails into his palm.

His limbs are forced together like the wood closing him into a square the same size as him.

He can feel the eyes on him, even in the darkness. Humiliation churns in his gut.

It's when they hear the door slam open above that Ethan realizes he'd given up on trying to breathe through his nose and started shuddering breaths past his lips.

Someone's hand jumps over the other bodies to clamp against his mouth, forcing his jaw shut. Ethan's eyes snap open, fingers catching Lincoln's wrist and holding on tight.

He doesn't try to remove it.

Pike's furious yells are muffled, but they know he's fallen for Octavia's smart thinking. He and his men leave the room.

Ethan gasps for air as soon as Lincoln lets him go.

"Sorry." The man whispers, patting him on the knee.

Shaking his head, he says back, "Don't be. I would've done the same." He sucks in another breath and pushes at the panels above him, "Can we get out of here?"

Octavia nods, sliding the floor open and climbing out first, ushering Ethan to follow. He basically slumps against the floor when he gets the chance to, catching his breath.

He waits for the rest to follow before pulling himself up and mumbling an apology.

"Don't be." Lincoln echoes in response.

"Claustrophobic?" Sinclair asks, leaning against the wall to take a deep breath.

Octavia throws over her shoulder with a distant glare, not aimed at any of them, "Blame Pike for that one."

With the door now open, Ethan spots Abby and Miller coming through, and then Bryan. He was on their side since the start? It explains why he suggested leaving them in the room while the rest scouted ahead.

"Ethan," Safe to say he's surprised when Abby kneels by him first, checking him over quickly. "Are you okay?"

"As much as I can be after almost dying, yeah."

She pats his cheek softly, and then stands to check on Kane.

"Miller, my man," Ethan quickly accepts the hand held out to him and claps Miller on the shoulder, sharing a smile.

"Couldn't let you die after coming back just to help us. We'd miss your smart-ass." Miller huffs, patting him on the back.

Ethan tuts, shaking his head playfully, "You only want me for my ass." He sends a thankful nod toward Bryan when the boy finally saunters over, and ignores Miller's scoff.

"S, come in." The radio crackles. It's Harper.

Everyone pauses what they're doing when Octavia's face drops, and she whispers, "This wasn't the plan." She glances at them, "We used their frequencies so they could hear us."

Ethan frowns, shifting his weight to his good foot.

"Go ahead!" Octavia orders through the radio, clenching and unclenching her fist.

Harper's voice is even quieter than before, "Stay where you are. I repeat, stay where you are. The exit is not clear."

Ethan prods his tongue against his teeth, "Shit."

Nervously shuffling from foot to foot, Octavia brings the radio back up, "How many guards?"

"Too many. I said stay put."

The silence is tense, sharing multiple glances in the small space of a room.

Then, through the speakers that bounce off the walls of the Ark, they hear Monty. "The prisoners are headed for the main gate! I repeat, headed for the main gate-!"

It cuts off abruptly.

"Knew he had to change his mind at some point." Ethan blows a breath out, meeting Octavia's wide eyes.

"That was Monty?" She asks.

Ethan nods, and Miller adds, "Guess he's with us after all."

"Pike will find out." Kane cuts in, a worried dip between his brows.

Abby disagrees, "We don't know that." She looks at Octavia, "What we do know is that we have to move."

Following Octavia's lead, they make it back to where Ethan started, at the panel in the wall. It opens quickly with their collected effort, and they climb in one by one.

Ethan lands outside, wincing against the jolt of weight to his ankle, and waits patiently for the others to come through. Immediately, his eyes land on an unconscious Octavia in Kane's arms. 

"What the hell?" He ducks forward to check on her, "What-" He pauses, counting heads.

Two of them are missing. Abby, which he understood, and. . .

"Where's Lincoln?"

Kane lowers his eyes, refusing to answer with words.

Ethan's breath catches in his throat. He shoves through them to go for the door, tugging at the hinges, but doesn't get very far.

Harley yanks him away, "You're not doing that."

"Lincoln needs to be out here. With us."

Kane turns towards him, "It was his choice, Ethan."

Ethan fights against Harley, nearly elbowing him in the face, "That's exactly it! It was always his choice to help us, and now he's going to die for it? We sit back and do nothing? Fuck no!"

Harley grunts, throwing him towards Kane, "You go in there now and you won't be coming back out!" He jabs a jerky finger at him. "I'm not letting that happen."

His face is tense, teeth bared and brows furrowed together in various creases of his forehead.

He's angry.

He's. . . worried.

But the kid's too preoccupied with the threat of death against one of his friends. Harley can't do anything about that, but he can make sure Ethan doesn't follow.

"Lincoln's the only reason this place is still standing." Ethan forces out, quietly, too afraid his voice will crack the moment he raises it. He fists his hands by his sides to keep them from shaking. "We can't let him die."

"If we don't leave now, we'll all be dead. Octavia too." Kane says, grabbing his shoulder. "Ethan, we'll go back for him." 

Using her against him was a low blow. But it was effective.

0o0

Sorry fellas for how long it took to post! I told people there'd be an update soon but then I got hella sick ;-;

I ended up stuck in bed and playing Detroit Become Human to pass the time haha

- Timothy