never ; b blake

chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE: GOD, I LOVE EARTH

"No animals, huh?"

We'd all been gathered near a bush, watching into a field where a single deer stood.

It was amazing.

Earth was amazing. So much air and space — way different from the Skybox. I'd researched a shit ton in my eighteen years of life, so I learned that deer were pretty common in woods. Or, they were.

They weren't that interesting to watch, simply bending its neck and chewing on grass. I didn't really understand how they could just eat the ground. I guess I don't fully understand animals yet.

Finn tried to take a step closer, snapping a twig. The deer made a noise and it's head shot towards us.

It was totally deformed. There were two heads, and where they met, it was bloody and rotten.

A look of horror was etched on my face.

"Come on, lets go," I said, standing up and prying my eyes away from the moving deer. I grabbed Jaspers arm because he looked absolutely horrified, not that I wasn't, too, but he looked frozen. So, I linked my arms with his and gave him a smile as we walked away.

"Little Ms. Fearless, huh?" Jasper laughed airily to me.

I laughed. "No way. Its just that... I don't know what I expected, but this place has proven to be one hundred percent better than the Skybox."

He shrugged.

As we hopped down the trail, Finn spoke up. "You know what I'd like to know? Why send us down today after ninety seven years? What changed?"

"Who cares? I'm just glad they did," Octavia smirked. "I woke up rotting in a cell, and now, I'm spinning in a forest," she said, twirling around a tree in obvious hopes of capturing Finns attention. When he walked straight by her and her smile dropped, I held in a laugh and walked by her, patting her shoulder.

"A for Effort," I told her.

She playfully hit my shoulder.

"Maybe they found something on a satellite," Monty suggested. "You know, like an old weather satellite or—"

"It wasn't a satellite. The Ark is dying."

All heads whipped behind us to Clarke, letting her make her way in front of us. "At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support. Maybe four now that we're gone."

"So That was the secret they locked you up to keep, kept you in solitary, floated your old man?" Finn asked, catching up to the girl.

That must suck ass.

After hearing the story of Clarke and Wells, Monty asked, "They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?"

"Good," Octavia hopped down from a tree stump. "After what they did to me, I say, float them all."

I stopped in my tracks. "Pause. I never even met my mother, let alone my sister. You don't see me acting bitter towards them," I said,

She ignored me and walked away, all of us following behind. I managed to scoff and continue.

As I walked, I suddenly bumped right into Jasper's back, causing me to look up at him with a questioning look. When I saw he was only looking ahead with a distracted smile, I looked too.

"God, I love Earth," he said.

Octavia slowly took her pants off, causing me to raise an amused brow and cross my arms. She took a step closer to the edge of the rock. "Octavia, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke stepped forwards.

Octavia only answered with a smug look back before turning and jumping in the water. After hearing a splash, we all looked around and hurried to the edge of the rock. There, Octavia was under the water, only her nose and eyes above for us to see.

"Octavia, I can't swim," Monty yelled.

"No, but we can stand," she giggled, revealing her body and straightening in the water.

"Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here," Clarke noticed.

"Well, there is," Finn said. He smiled, "So take off your damn clothes."

I giggled and whipped my shirt off above my head, then going to take off my pants, before Jasper yelled, "Octavia, get out of the water."

We all looked up, my eyebrows furrowing and looking at what Jasper was talking about. Octavia slowly twisted her body to look behind her.

A ripple of a wave was coming right towards her, a small shadow underneath. "Get out of the freaking water!" I shrieked to the girl.

By the time she reacted, the creature had pummeled into her, causing a short scream to escape her lips. It dragged her throughout the water, causing my jaw to drop.

"What the hell do we do?" I yelled in a panic.

We all got silent as there was no sign of movement, then all rushed to the edge when she came above the water, screaming once again.

"What the hell is that?" Monty said.

"What should we fucking do?" I asked frantically.

"Try not to get eaten," Finn said, causing Clarke to immediately stop him.

"No, wait. We can distract it—"

That was all I needed.

I quickly whipped my pants off from my ankles and jumped right into the water, the cold rushing through me.

Holy shit, did it feel nice against my skin.

But no time for that.

As soon as I was in, it was over. I clambered onto the rocks, my body dripping in water and everyone quickly grabbing my arms and pulling me out. "Get Octavia!" I instructed them.

Jasper dove into the water, grabbing her and eventually pulling her out onto the rocks.

We all rushed over to them, seeing them lay next to each other as Clarke ripped off fabric from Jaspers shirt and tying it around Octavia's bloody thigh.

Octavia mumbled thanks and hugged Jasper.

I smirked as I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. "You're gonna be okay," Clarke told her.

"Note to self—" Monty said, parting Jaspers shoulders. "Next time, save the girl."

We all laughed.