Ethan Beckett craves fun and chaos over the nuisance of rules and demands. But when disagreements begin on the ground, he's surprised to say he sides with the people who don't want chaos to be all they are.
Chaos is a drug. But death is something y...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ethan doesn't like the Rover, it's clear.
After an especially hard turn, he attaches himself to the handlebar and doesn't let go. Harley side-eyes him with a hint of a snort.
He can't blame him. Before the last few days, the kid had only ever seen a Rover from afar.
On foot, Ethan trusts himself more. He's glad when they hit the halfway point and leave the Rover behind, sending the vehicle a flick of a rude finger just as they turn into the depths of the forest.
He keeps surprising himself every time he glances over his shoulder to see Harley following in his footsteps. It's weird to have someone there, but he's comforted to know he's not alone.
Two days after leaving the Ark, they push through the tree line and overlook the city they call Polis.
It's one hell of a sight.
Ethan can't recall many of the cities they learned about on the Ark, or what Polis used to be before ALIE decided to nuke it, but its primary feature is the continuously reaching tower in the center, still standing and high enough to reach for the clouds.
It leaves him slack-jawed for a moment too long.
Harley shakes him back into focus, but Ethan knows he wasn't the only one in awe.
He swings his bag to the ground and rummages through it, taking items out and putting other things in.
There's a flaw to his plan.
When he traded gear with Niylah, he wasn't exactly planning on having Harley accompany him.
He adapts, though. Keeps his vest and his bone mask, but tosses the hooded cloak over Harley's head, and blissfully ignores his disapproving stare.
Wisely, the older man keeps his rifle tucked at his back, hidden by the cloak, and he doesn't ask many questions. Pretty rare in Ethan's books.
He doesn't understand how Harley is the only soldier that tries in amongst the many they have at Arkadia.
When Lexa accepted their attempt at a peace treaty, Harley treated them as his own almost immediately.
Some of the guards were only waiting to shoot on sight.
Ethan wonders what Harley's been through to make him so. . . Harley.
Getting inside Polis isn't hard, not with Seria's guided tips and tricks drilled into his head.
At least, at first.
He wasn't wrong about ALIE coming to Polis. It's a fucking slaughterhouse, and they make sure to steer clear of the congregations of meditating grounders after breaching the city.
The most difficult part is making sure ALIE doesn't notice they're not chipped. This means staying out ofline of sight, no matter who it is or how harmless they look, because ALIE sees everything.
