Silent Moments: Book One (The 100)

Chapter 31

"Raven? I'd pick you first," I reassured her, my voice sincere and filled with support.

"Of course, you would, I'm awesome," she chuckled softly, a brief moment of levity in the midst of the crisis.

My heart leaped with relief as I finally spotted the orange wire and exclaimed, "Hey, I found it. Orange Wire!" The sense of accomplishment was short-lived, however, as a closer examination revealed the wire's fried and useless state. Dread crept in as I relayed the grim news, "Raven? It's fried, and totally useless. Please don't tell me it's as bad as I think it is."

Raven's question revealed the dire situation: "You know how to splice a wire?"

"No," I admitted, my voice tinged with frustration at my lack of knowledge.

"Then it's worse. Uhhh!" Raven grunted, the weight of the situation bearing down on her.

"Hey, Raven, stop. Just talk me through it," I called out, determined to find a way to salvage our mission.

As we struggled with the damaged wire, chaos unfolded above us. Jasper's voice crackled through the radio, his urgent plea for assistance indicating that the situation on the surface was deteriorating rapidly. The Grounders were relentless in their attacks.

"They're everywhere! Harper, get down! Raven, our mines actually worked!" Jasper's voice conveyed a mixture of awe and urgency.

"Jasper can splice!" Raven yelled, her voice filled with hope.

I swiftly exited the crawl space and rushed to the radio, joining the conversation. "Jasper, we need you in the drop ship right now!" My tone was firm and resolute.

"Negative. We can't give up the West Woods," Bellamy's voice interjected, underscoring the dilemma of holding the vital position versus aiding our desperate situation.

"The West Woods are mined, Bellamy. The Grounders just figured that out. Jasper, get in here!" I insisted, urgency punctuating each word.

"I see one! There! There!" Harper's voice carried panic as she reported sightings of the enemy.

"They're drawing our fire!" Jasper realized, the pieces falling into place.

"Dammit, I'm all out," Harper groaned, her voice filled with frustration.

"They want us to run out of ammo. All gunners, listen up. The Grounders are not attacking, they're making us waste bullets. Don't shoot when they're running laterally," Jasper urgently warned, his tactical insight crucial in this dire moment.

"Jasper's right. Don't fire unless you're sure they're attacking. Repeat, do not fire unless you're sure they're attacking," Bellamy's voice confirmed, his leadership unwavering even in the face of impending danger.

The radio was flooded with more cries for help and distress calls as the Grounders intensified their assault. Panic and chaos reigned, and I couldn't help but wonder where Jasper was in this critical moment. We needed him now more than ever. More time passed, and Jasper finally arrived at the drop ship. Now, both of us were huddled beneath the rocket, our determined focus fixed on following Raven's instructions as we desperately worked to salvage the dire situation and ensure the rocket's ignition for our survival.

As the chaos raged around us, I called out to Raven, my voice strained but determined. "Hey Raven, tell us how this is going to work."

Raven's response came in a mumbled, exhausted tone, a stark contrast to her usual confident demeanor. "I've told you five times. The current flows into the electromagnet. That opens the poppet valve. Rockets fire."

Jasper, who had taken up the critical task of wiring, chimed in, his voice filled with urgency. "Okay, I got the good wire ready to graft on. What's next, Raven? Raven!"

But there was no immediate response from Raven, and a sense of worry began to creep in. "Is she..." I called out to Clarke, my concern deepening.

Clarke's response was tinged with resignation. "Not yet, but soon," she sighed, her eyes scanning the chaotic scene for any sign of our engineer.

Amidst the chaos, a voice pierced through the mayhem, declaring a grim revelation. "They've broken through! There are hundreds of them! Game over, man!"

"Finish it," I urged Jasper, knowing that time was running out and that our survival depended on the success of this mission.

Jasper muttered to himself as he continued working, the gravity of the situation weighing heavily on his shoulders. "Current to the valve to barbecue. Current to the valve to barbecue."

Outside the drop ship, the world seemed to have descended into madness, and our desperate mission to get the rockets ready felt like our last hope in the face of overwhelming odds.

"Is that from the Ark?" Fox's voice broke through the chaos.

"That is the Ark," I confirmed, realizing the scale of destruction that had befallen our people in space.