UP IN FLAMES
CHAPTER ONE
Everything was white.
Pure, blinding white, and it was enough to make Olivia Ross cringe at the sight. The fluorescent lighting around her stung at her eyes, making them water, the girl blinking away the fog of sleep. Slowly she managed to prop herself up onto her shoulders, taking notice of the fact that she was warm. Not only that, but the surface beneath her is plush and comfortable.
Everything in her body ached, Liv letting out a soft groan as she realized just how sore her body was. It was then when everything that had happened rushed back to her like a movie playing inside of her brain. Vividly, she remembered the war that commenced against the grounders, the way they had to leave Bellamy and Finn to fend for themselves against the explosion, and the mysterious red gas that seemed to knock her out.
Actually, that was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.
The sky girl quickly shot up, a gasp escaping her lips as her swiveled back and forth in confusion. She was in a room, the walls painted a bright white. An IV was placed beside her, Liv's gaze following down the tube to see it connected in her wrist. Whatever inside of it pouring into her bloodstream.
Biting down on her lip harshly, blood pooling from the wound she created, she ripped the IV out of her arm, it sending a painful sting before slowly fading away. Blood slowly dotted her wrist, Liv wiping it away with her other hand before tossing the IV to her side.
Slowly, she crawled out of the pure white bed she was asleep in, glancing around her. On the wall hung a brightly colored painting of people crowding around a lake, all of it dotted so she was unable to decipher their expressions.
Where the hell was she?
In front of her, though, was a door, a small, circular window being the only thing that allowed her to peer outside. Above it hung a black, circular camera, the people on the other side watching her each and every motion.
She felt her feet begin to work before her brain, her hands curling around the metal surrounding the window as she peered out. Everything was eerily silent, causing goosebumps to run along Liv's arms.
It was then, though, when she jumped back, the room across from her revealing a face.
Harper.
Liv's eyes widened, a panicked look on Harper's face.
Liv's fist slammed against the window, her throat seeming to rip due to how dry it was as she exclaimed, "Harper? Harper!"
She watched as someone in a blue, quarantine suit walked along the sterile hallway, a set of keys jingling in their hand as they unlocked Harper's door. Harper let out a scream of panic, the person taking hold of her wrist and leading her down the hallway.
Liv felt her heart hammer violently against her rib cage, panic overwhelming her.
"Hey!" she screamed, unable to get out of the room. Her hands curled around the door knob, jiggling at it feverishly in an attempt to get out. "Harper!"
Liv's face immediately darkened, the brunette looking up to see the black camera directly above her. Without thinking over her actions, her hand curled into a fist before slamming into it, shards of glass stabbing into her skin, sticky, warm blood coating her hand and beginning to run along her arm. She didn't care about the pain searing down her arm, she just needed to get the hell out of wherever she is.
The glass rained down on her like a shower, Liv taking the fistful of glass she has and chucking it across the room in a fit of rage.
Soon enough, she was reaching for the painting hung upon the wall, letting out a scream of anger before chucking it to the ground, kicking out the canvas before slamming the frame against the wall. The metal frame didn't seem to break, the girl gritting her teeth together before tossing it back to the ground, knowing that her idea of breaking it to have something to break the window with was not working in her favor.
Liv let out a frustrated sigh due to her annoyance, darting toward the doorway once again. Sweat lined her hairline, having no idea where she was or what was happening. And she wasn't going to lie, it scared the absolute hell out of her.
Her face was placed in front of the window, staring out of it an attempt to catch sight of anyone out there. It was then, though, when a face popped up. Well, not necessarily a face, but a blue mask to a quarantine suit.
The startling sight caused Liv to let out a scream of fear, backing away slowly as she heard the lock on the door click. She had to do something, and she had to think of something fast.
Of course, Liv wasn't one to necessarily think of a through plan as well as its consequences, so she did the only thing she could - she fought.
It was a matter of seconds before Liv stuck her foot out, much like the day she was first sent down to Earth, wrapping it behind the person's ankle, making them topple onto their back. Once they were on the ground, she took action. She brought her leg back, soon allowing her foot to slam into the person's side repeatedly.
They took Harper, and they certainly weren't going to take her.
And then, just to make sure this person was unable to fight back in the slightest, Liv bent down, grabbed hold of their neck, and raised them up before slamming their head against the wall beside them. Once she heard the sound of skull smacking against the wall, she let the unconscious figure fall to the floor, Liv stepping outside of the room.
Shards of glass now littered the hallway, Liv bending down and reaching for one of them, her hand curling around it. She didn't care that it was ripping her skin apart, the pain almost unbearable, all she cared about was finding her friends.
And it was then when everything seemed to crash upon her, the seriousness of the situation at hand as of now. She had no idea where her brother was, the Arc was already done for, no one to save them, she was unable to find her friends, and Bellamy and Finn are dead. Bellamy is dead.
She felt a lump rise up in her throat, feeling whatever the contents in her stomach were, more than likely nonexistent, fight to be thrown up, but she refused to let herself show any weakness. Harper was still here, and more than likely the rest of her people, and she was going to do everything in her power to find them.
It was then when a feminine voice pierced the air. "Clarke, you don't understand!"
Clarke.
Liv turned around, taking notice of the blonde haired girl coated in her own blood behind her, down the hallway with a girl in a quarantine suit in front of her. Her mask was ripped off, revealing her frizzy, black hair. The only part that was really alarming, though, was the piece of glass pressed up against her neck.
"Clarke," Liv breathed out, a sense of relief flooding through her at the sight of Clarke.
"Come on, Liv," Clarke spoke, nodding down the hall. "We're getting the hell out of here."
Liv nodded, jogging down the hallway. All of the other rooms around them were empty, Liv wondering if the rest of her friends were once residing in them.
"Do you know where anyone is?" Liv inquired to the blonde beside her, the two girls set on a mission while the other is whimpering in fear, knowing that the people from the ground tend to be savages. That's what she's heard about the grounders, who knows how the sky people are. Especially after how they burned three hundred grounders to death without a second thought.
"I saw Monty," Clarke explained, Liv continuing to be fearful of her brother's safety.
Liv nodded, speaking up, "I just watched someone take Harper. I just - I need to find Ashton."
"We're going to find them," Clarke assured, nodding her head as if she was reassuring herself. "All of them."
Finally, they were out of the quarantine unit, making their way down a hallway, an elevator in sight. The girl whom Clarke was holding a shard of glass against reached for her pocket, Clarke quick to slam her up against the wall and push the glass even harder.
"We're not doing this," she snapped, the girl raising up a small, red card.
"I need my key - my key card," she stammered, Clarke not loosening her grip as the brunette stuck her arm out, swiping the card against the elevator's key pad.
And then the three girls were inside. Liv was on the verge of a mental break down, trying to figure out where the hell her brother was. Not only that, but she was still trying to process the fact that Bellamy was dead, meaning the one guy she had ever grown to like, maybe even more than that, was dead. One of the few people she would give anything up to protect.
"Which floor," Clarke gritted out. "Which one?"
Trembling, the girl reached for the button that read 5 on it, the elevator slowly kicking into gear. The sound of machinery whirled around them, Liv feeling them rise up farther into whatever building they happen to be in as of right now.
In a matter of seconds, Clarke had slammed the black haired girl against the metal wall of the elevator, hand wrapped around her neck as she let out choked sobs of fear. Clarke's teeth gritted against one another, snarling out, "Who are you people? How many of us are here? Say something!"
"Now approaching level five."
And with that, the doors opened up, Clarke shoving the girl forward. The two bloodied girls make their way through the mysterious and foreign hallway, chatter erupting and voices flooding around them. Liv's eyebrows were crinkled together in confusion, both of them turning with their prisoner in arms reach only to see people of all different ages, sizes, and ethnicity's sitting in a dining hall, eating away.
Liv glanced around in confusion, a bit taken aback by the sight. She pictured this more of being a fight to the death kind of situation, but instead it's almost like daily life being carried out.
Well, it was until one woman happened to take notice of the two bloodied girls who originated from the outside.
"Containment breach!"
And with that, chaos erupted, Clarke letting go of the girl in a daze of confusion. Liv watched as people shot up from their seats, some screaming, others grabbing a napkin and holding it up to their nose, flooding out of the dining hall.
Soon enough, footsteps sounded, Liv and Clarke turning to see men with guns charging toward the duo, Liv glancing around in confusion.
And as the soldiers armed and ready approached them, Liv muttered to herself, "Where the hell are we?"
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A line of stitches ran along Liv's palm and wrist, the girl seated on the edge of a bed in what seemed to be a hospital room rather than a quarantine. Clarke was seated beside her, Liv's leg bouncing up and down as she gradually grew restless. She wanted to know where she was and what the hell she was doing there. She wanted to be back out on Earth in search of her friends. Bellamy and Finn may have been dead, but there were still Octavia and Lincoln. She couldn't simply leave them behind.
Liv felt an aching hole grow in her chest, the need to vomit taking hold of her. Her heart felt as though it had plummeted down into her stomach, knowing that Bellamy and Finn were dead. They were dead and now she was stuck here in whatever hell this was. Not only that, but at this point everyone up on the Ark must have lost oxygen supply, meaning that her father who she never even had the chance to meet was dead as well. She didn't know where Ashton was either, meaning that he could be considered as good as dead at this point, too.
And now she wanted to be just another casualty added to the list.
Liv would have been up and onto her feet by now, but whoever ran this form of sick torture felt the need to strap her damn wrists down against the bed, along with Clarke's, meaning that they couldn't move even if they wanted to.
Liv struggled to pull her wrists up, sneering, "I'm sick of this!" Clarke glanced over, struggling against the restrains as well, taking notice of Liv who was trembling with pure rage. "Where the fuck are we?"
At this, the door at the end of the room opened, Liv's head whipping to the side to see an older man walk in, white hair atop of his head. She would have been able to kill him dead on the spot if she weren't restrained like some sort of animal. Guards followed in behind him, almost with a doctor in a long lab coat.
A warm grin grew upon her face, greeting, "Hello, Clarke and Olivia. How are you two girls feeling?"
Liv's eyes narrowed into slits, spitting out with venom, "I'd feel a hell of a lot better if you'd let me leave. Or maybe tell me where in Gods name my brother is."
"You've got a bit of a sharp tongue there," she commented, then her eyes lingered on Clarke. "This one isn't much of a talker."
"A skill picked up by the savages, no doubt," the man beside her commented.
Liv shot forward, the restraints holding her back. "Who are you calling a savage?"
He glanced over toward Liv, adding on, "I'm guessing you're one to cut straight to the point, aren't you, Olivia?"
Liv glanced down at the ground, muttering, "It's Liv."
He nodded, soon gesturing to the girl that Clarke and Liv practically terrorized in the elevator. She was now no longer in a quarantine suit, the man speaking, "Maya has something to say first."
With a dark look in her eyes, she snapped lowly, "You two were the next ones to be out of the quarantine. Another ten minutes and you would've - " He cleared his throat, making her words fall short. "I'm not pressing charges."
Liv cocked her head to the side, shooting the girl a smile which was both equally sweet and malicious. "Sorry, sweetheart, next time I wake up in a place after watching my friends die and having no idea where I am, I'll be sure to be on my best behavior. Wouldn't want to scare anyone now, would I?"
"Thank you, Maya. You may get your treatment now," he spoke, shooting Liv a look. "Olivia - I mean Liv - please give us a moment to explain." After he finished speaking, the doctor began to lead the girl to the end of the room, leaving the two guards, Clarke, the man, and Liv by themselves.
"Where's my brother?" she demanded, a vicious glare still prominent on her face.
"All in due time," he assured, looking toward the guard. "Restraints aren't necessary."
With that, each one made their way up to Clarke and Liv, Liv watching as the man began to unbuckle the straps. She felt herself slowly begin to relax, feeling less like she was being trapped here.
Liv glanced out the corner of her eye, watching as rather than leaving the room, she layed Maya down on a bed to start her treatment.
The man stepped in front of Liv, holding his hand out. "Dante Wallace."
Liv hesitantly held her hand out, clasping it before uneasily shaking it. He then made his way over to Clarke in greeting. Rather than shaking it, she grasped his hand and examined it, taking notice of the dark blue color around it.
"Oil paint," he explained. He smiled, chuckling to himself. "That's right, you're an artist, too."
Clarke was now rising to her feet, demanding, "Who told you that?"
He smiled warmly. "Your people did. They also said that you were their leader. They mentioned that Liv was almost like your second in command, always at your side. Is that right?"
Liv slowly stood up rather than answering, arms crossed over her chest, a glare still secure on her features.
A pleading look then crossed Clarke's face, questioning, "Where's my watch?" Her father's watch.
"I'm sorry, but we can't let contaminated items inside Mount Weather," he explained, Liv's brows creasing in realization. They were in the very mountain they were determined to get to the first day they arrived on Earth. "We couldn't risk it, our protocol is very strict. We prioritize safety over sentimentality."
From behind him, Liv demanded, "Where's my brother? How many of us are here, anyway?"
He turned so that he was facing both girls, speaking, "Forty - eight, including you two. But girls, you've got it wrong, you're not prisoners, we saved you."
"Well, in that case you won't mind if we leave," Clarke counted, Liv itching to get out of there. She knew that Octavia was still out there, as was Lincoln. "If there were forty - eight of us here, we still have people out there."
He shook his head. "The patrol brought in everyone they could find."
Liv shook her head then, cutting, "Yeah, but Octavia and Lincoln left before the explosion, they're still out there. Which means that I have to go find them."
"And what about the Ark?" Clarke added on, gulping nervously. "It came down last night."
"We saw its crash site of a thousand square yards, there were survivors," he explained. "We will bring them in, too."
"Bring them in now," Liv blurted out, feeling a bit of hope rising in her chest. What if her father was one of the people on the Ark when it crashed?
"We will," he assured. "You have my word."
"We want to see our people," Clarke quickly demanded, wanting to be reunited with their friends once again, and then to get the hell out of this place. "I would, too." He then glanced toward men in the background, nodding at them. They began to roll a case of some sort, opening it to reveal an array of clothing for the girls to pick from. "Change and meet me in the hall."
With that, he left, bringing the guards along with him as well. Liv glanced down toward her clothes, seeing that she was in nothing but a white tank top and pants. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she looked into the wardrobe and clutched a pair of jeans, a black, loose sweater, and a pair of sneakers. She didn't care if the shoes didn't match, she cared if she was actually able to run in them.
Clarke, on the other hand, grabbed a heel, Liv watching as she curled her hand around the stilt before snapping it off, a weapon in hand.
Their only weapon in this mountain full of potential enemies.
Once finished getting changed, both girls holding the heel of a shoe in their pockets, they made their way out of the room and into the hallway, a loud rumble of a machine filling the air.
Dante looked toward the two defensive girls, speaking, "Sorry about the noise." Beginning to lead them down the hallway, he explained, "Hydro electric power from the dam. Fresh water from our own underground reservoir. Fresh food from our hydro power farm."
In confusion, Clarke began, "I don't understand. You're on the ground, you know it's survivable, why would you stay here?"
"It's not survivable for us," he spoke, Liv's brows furrowing together. They were all human, yet she, Clarke, the others, and the grounders were all able to live on the ground, out of the mountain. Why couldn't they?
"The grounders have seemed to be doing okay," Liv pointed out, raising a brow at Dante.
"It's how natural selection works." He shrugged. "The grounders who couldn't survive out in the radiation didn't. Those who could passed on their DNA. And for better or for worse, here we never went through that process."
"Neither did we," Clarke informed, still confused. "We've been on the ground now for - solar radiation."
"Very good," Dante complimented, Clarke and Liv now coming into realization. "Your DNA ran the same gauntlet as the grounders. Only because radiation levels in space are even higher, you have a higher ability to metabolize that radiation is even stronger. Truth be told, our scientists were blown away by the efficiency of your system. If not for that, your friends would still be up there in quarantine."
From beside the three of them, the elevator doors opened once again, Dante holding his arm out.
"Please."
And with that, Clarke and Liv hesitantly entered the elevator. The doors slowly began to close, but Dante held his hand out to hold them open. Liv's eyes widened in confusion, his face darkening ever so slightly.
"First, give me the heels."
Confused as to how she knew he had it, Liv reluctantly slipped it down the sleeve of her sweater, Clarke doing the same with her jacket, both girls handing their pathetic weapons to him.
"You're not fighting for your life here anymore. You've made it. Welcome to Mount Weather.
And with that, the door finally shut once again.
That was the problem, though.
Liv didn't want to be welcomed to Mount Weather. No, she would rather be down on the ground fighting for her life every single day if that meant finding Octavia and having the sliver of a chance to find Bellamy and Finn in once piece.
But she wasn't sure she'd ever be lucky enough to get out of the damned mountain.
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not edited.
and welcome to season two of liv's story. basically liv is gonna be one sassy mofo during this and i'm really excited for how this season is going to play out. especially for ashton, too. he's going ot be in it a lot more than before which will be fun to write! anyway, let me know what you thought! i love hearing your feedback! :)
also, i'm so so sorry this took so long. it took me forever to find decent links without viruses (and i'm pretty sure the ones i'm using now have them anyway so we'll see how this goes lol)