Survivor ; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥

002. ꕥ Self Preservation

~one hundred forty days since praimfaya~

Ethan's little hand squeezed my own slightly as he sat on one of the cots in Medical, getting examined by Jackson. A small smile was on my lips as I watched Ethan open his mouth and say 'ah' upon Jackson's request. He shined a light towards Ethan, inspecting his throat while I stood beside the bed, watching closely what Jackson was doing while he finished Ethan's exam.

After dinner, Ethan told me that his stomach was hurting, and it had my face going pale and rushing the poor boy to Medical. There was no way that I would let anything happen to Ethan — the boy had already been through too much with the loss of his parents and then Jaha, who took on a parental role for a short period of time. The two of us were always together and have become inseparable. I will admit, at first, it wasn't great, with so many changes going on in Ethan's short life, but after a few days, he warmed right up to me. It was my responsibility to take care of Ethan, and I'll be dammed if I fail at this responsibility.

"Okay." Jackson brought the light away from Ethan, turning it off and setting it on a tray full of instruments that probably looked scary to the younger boy on the cart beside him. The doctor glanced back at Ethan, not looking in my direction, and it had my stomach dropping at the notion something was wrong. "You're a tough kid, so I think you'll make it. What do you say?"

Apprehensively, Ethan nodded, receiving a warm smile from the young doctor, who then helped him off the cot before he stood up. When Ethan's feet hit the ground, he nudged himself into my side, his head only reaching my hip, wrapping his arm that wasn't holding my hand around my leg. I stroked his hair once to tell him he was okay and looked back up at Jackson, refusing to let the panic about Ethan's condition show in my voice.

"Is he going to be okay?"

With another small smile, Jackson nodded, understanding the worry going through my body. "He'll be fine. It's just a common cold."

My mind had jumped to all the worst-case scenarios, so hearing it was as simple as a cold sent relief all through my body. I would most likely have to keep even more of an eye on him and ensure he gets enough rest — that was about all anyone could do with our little resources in the bunker.

Jackson's face morphed into this stoney expression, one that was adorning more people's faces as time went on down here. "It doesn't help with the bad air quality either."

There were problems in the Second Dawn Bunker, admittedly, and that was just one of the many, but it seemed not to affect former people of the Ark as much because our bodies were already used to stale air; we were only on the ground for a couple of months so our time with fresh air was limited. But the Grounders, on the other hand, were struggling more so with the air. Even if Callan could try to hide it, I saw how his body slumped, and he was more sluggish, not as aware of his surroundings as he usually would. We had only been down here for less than a year, so I wouldn't expect the Grounders' bodies to have adjusted just yet.

Another issue that I was trying my absolute hardest to stay away from was the fighting pits. From what Niylah had told me, before Jaha opened the doors, Octavia fought an onslaught of Grounders who were ready to punish all of Skaikru in the hydrofarm, claiming that 'you are Wonkru, or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose.' But this was only the first of the situations that sprouted from that day. Octavia's way of punishing the guilty — or the enemy, I should say — no matter how small the crime was to put them in the rotunda and make them fight to the death... the last one standing gained their freedom back. Since the first, there have been four fights, and while that may not seem like a lot, the contenders in these fights ranged anywhere from four to ten. And one person always came out victorious.