Fallout [The 100]

60

✵ C A L ✵

By the time Charmaine and Raven freed us from the mess, everyone had calmed down. The hostage they'd taken had warned them of a toxin which turned friends against friends. Our people were down there in it. When Raven took the Gagarin down to the Alpha, Gav and I were on it. Abby had protested that I needed more rest, but it was hard to argue when all our families were in danger.

The door opened before us, and we fanned out looking for signs of our friends. "It's nice here," Gav said quietly. I was too focused to pay much attention to pretty. Kenna, Maia, and Alex were out here somewhere. Maybe injured. Then Gav added, "Peter would have loved it."

I felt a tightness in my chest. It was hard to forget the mess that was Ella, Peter, and Alexander. They were inseparable and had been as long as I'd known them. And of course, Gav was Ella's baby brother, she would've done anything for him. But Gav had spent years with Peter and Alex as well. They were like brothers.

We'd all been so focused on Gav losing Ella, on Ella losing Peter, on Alex losing both of them. The thought of Gav missing Peter just as much as his sister had never even crossed my mind. I patted Gav on the shoulder. "Yeah, he would have."

Octavia blew past me, heading toward the trees. "They went this way."

Gav looked after her for a long moment before shaking his head. "She's going to be trouble."

I smirked. "Reminds me of a few people I know."

✵✵✵✵

The top of the mountain was a technicolor wonderland. But it wasn't the colors that got our attention, it was the bodies on the ground. Clarke, Bellamy, and Murphy were sprawled out. Abby ran to her daughter's side to check for a pulse. "They're alive."

"Where's everyone else?" Gavril asked. The two of us scanned the houses, looking for signs of life. But before we could search, children appeared on the steps. They walked hesitantly toward us until the adults following behind called them back.

"His pulse is too weak," Abby was muttering. I looked down to see that Abby had pulled Murphy's shirt back. Black veins covered him like a spider web. "He's dying." She turned toward the crowd. "Help us, please!"

"Let me through." As the man walked forward, the crowd parted before him. He took one look at Murphy and motioned a younger man forward.

A dark-skinned woman approached the one-time intruder at my side. "Kaylee? Where have you been. Where's your family."

The woman beside me looked over our group. "They killed them." Shit.

On the ground, Murphy was breathing more evenly as the poison in his system was dealt with. Then the commanding man looked toward the rest of us. "Lock them up."

"Wait," Clarke protested. But there were far more of them than there were of us. Two men grabbed my arms and pulled me toward one of the buildings. My only choice was to follow or be dragged. "Our friends are still restrained."

No one spoke to us as we were pushed inside the building. The door closed in our faces. "Well, they seem friendly."

I turned to survey the room. It wasn't a prison; it was a bar. Everyone fanned out claiming their own corners, much as they had in the Gagarin's mess. A few minutes later, the doors creaked open again and the rest of our friends were ushered inside.

Bellamy lifted Maia up and whispered something in her ear. Kenna hugged Gavril, and Alex joined me at the bar. "They got any good booze?" Alex didn't wait for my answer, just walked behind the bar to see for himself.