DISCORDIA

[ 29 ] red royals

       "Or why not me? Hm?" Jinny smiled.

       "Stop it!" Bellamy hissed at her.

       Octavia came running back, managing to overhear their conversation. "Bell, no!" she protested in a loud whisper.

       He ignored her and continued to speak into the walkie. "All you have to do is let him go, and I'll take his place."

       "How?" Murphy asked sharply.

       "I can't believe he's falling for it," Jinny whispered.

       "Bellamy, if you do this, he'll kill you," Octavia said.

       "If I don't, he'll kill Jasper," Bellamy replied before pressing the PTT button again. "Simple. You open the door, I walk in, he walks out."

       There was a long moment of deliberation as they waited for a response. Then finally, the dropship door began to creak open with the heavy weight of metal against rusted hinges. The gunners behind them clicked their weapons as they stood at the ready for orders. Jinny held her arm up at the side, fist clenched to signal them to hold.

       "Just you, Bellamy, unarmed!" Murphy shouted from beyond the canvas. "If Jinny tries anything, I'll shoot Jasper! You've been warned! You've got ten seconds! One!"

       Bellamy motioned for Miller to take his gun, before he turned to Jinny and grasped her hand imperatively. "Just like we planned, okay? Be careful." He quickly turned back to Octavia. "Get everyone back to work. The Grounders are still coming."

       "Wait, what are you doing?" Octavia asked in a whisper as Bellamy strode inside.

       "I'm gonna scale the dropship and enter through the top," Jinny whispered back.

       Jasper was shoved through the parachute flap, tripping clumsily to the ground with his hands bound behind his back. Octavia fell to her knees and quickly tended to him, pulling off the gag from his mouth. "Take care of things," Jinny told her with a hand on the girl's shoulder before running towards the back of the ship. Raven caught her eye as she was unscrewing the hatch and they gave each other a thumbs up.

       Jinny searched for any kind of handhold that she could use to scale the side with but there were none. Instead, she had to climb up a nearby tree and jump towards a narrow ledge that lined the middle section of the dropship. Her fingers barely caught hold of it and she winced at the sound her feet made from the impact against the metal, hoping that Murphy hadn't noticed it. She then shimmied her way towards the right side where a set of rungs led up to the top of the ship. It was meant to be used as an emergency exit for passengers on the upper level if the hatch sealed itself shut. Jinny quickly climbed up to the top and carefully set foot on the roof, breathing out unevenly.

       Quickly, she located the hatch and thanked her stars that it sealed two ways. She grasped hold of the wheel and turned, only to find it stuck fast with rust. A shot resounded from deep inside the dropship underneath her and she swore under her breath. Jinny made her way to the front edge of the ship and peered down as Octavia called Bellamy's name through the walkie. She could feel her heart beat nervously inside her chest as everyone waited for a reply.

       "Bellamy! Do you copy?!" Octavia shouted.

       "I'm fine. Just a misfire." Jinny let out a relieved sound from hearing his resonant voice. "Now stop worrying about me and get back to work, all of you. Tell Jin and Raven to hurry their asses up." She couldn't help the smirk that made its way to her lips

       Jinny went back to the hatch and tried to turn it again, grunting from the effort as she exerted the majority of her strength. Letting out an exhausted breath, she leaned over the wheel lock and panted briefly before scanning her immediate vicinity. Sometimes the gunners would come up here to keep a look out, since it was the highest vantage point that they had. There were a few odd things that they left behind, particularly a box of tools. Jinny scrambled forwards and rummaged through the assortment inside, finding a sturdy metal rod to pry things with.