The next morning brought with it its own abundance of issues. It seemed that there wasn't a single day that went by without some kind of problem.
The fire that ravaged the palace had been dealt with, a small part of the large building still remaining.
That's exactly where Raven and I were now, quickly making our way down the corridors toward the chamber where Emori and Murphy were staying.
The power was out all over Sanctum, meaning something had gone wrong with the reactor. Thus, Raven had requested my assistance, and our first task was getting Emori to come help as well.
"I'll stay here." I announced as we reached their door. Coming to a halt, I gave Raven a raised brow look as I leaned against the wall.
She turned to look at me. "Why?"
I shuddered as I shook my head slightly. "I do not need to see what they're doing in there."
"Oh, come on." she muttered, already throwing open the door which was immediately met with the surprised yells of Murphy and Emori.
"Six years of you walking in on us in space, and you still can't knock." Murphy groaned as Raven waltzed into the room.
I gave it a couple of seconds before finally following after her, a pointed smirk coming to my face as I entered. "What did I tell you?"
Murphy rolled off Emori. Luckily for all of us they were still partly dressed. "Oh, Collins, how nice of you to join us."
I gave him a small grin as Raven scratched at her forehead. "You think you could learn to lock a door."
Emori wore an amused expression. "What's up, guys?"
"Well, clearly not the reactor." Raven answered. "Power's out all over Sanctum. James failed me again. Get dressed." She looked between Emori and I. "Time to see how much you two were paying attention on the Ring."
The three of us made quick work getting down to the machine shop. The reactor being down meant that the shield was too. While electricity and hot water was always nice, safety and security was even nicer. That was our main motivation to get the power up and running again.
As we entered the shop, we were immediately met with the loud blaring of an alarm signalling that something had gone awry with the reactor.
"That can't be good, can it?" I questioned, giving Emori a weary look as we followed after Raven who was already rushing down the stairs to the reactor room.
Emori gave a small shake of her head as the three of us neared the tech room, Raven quickly punching in the code as I looked around for any sign of danger.
The alarm was even louder down here, causing me to wince slightly as we entered the room. There was no sign of James...something that put me on edge.
"Core temp is up, coolant pressure's down." Raven breathed, her worried eyes locked on the screen in front of us. "Where the hell is James?"
My eyes caught on a door that led toward the reactor. It was cracked slightly ajar. "The door's open." I pointed out, already making my way toward it.
Emori and Raven followed after me, the loud alarm silencing our footsteps as we approached. "Wait." Emori called, pulling Raven and I back as she picked up a dosimeter.
We all looked down at the device, noting the number that came across. "Radiation's normal." I mumbled. Something didn't seem right.
"James!" Raven yelled, searching the room as we entered.
"Look." I announced, lightly hitting her arm to grab her attention. All of our eyes shifted to one of the pipes that had clearly blown, steam billowing from it.
Emori looked down at the dosimeter. "Here, the radiation is elevated."
Raven waved her hand through the steam. "This is just water from the coolant system, but if radiation is leaking here, it must be coming from the core."
I stepped away from them, making my way slowly toward the room that contained the core of the reactor.
The other two followed after me, joining me just as I looked through the small glass window. The minute I did, I felt my heart drop into my stomach. "Oh my God."
James and his girlfriend both laid on the ground, angry radiation blisters covering their entire bodies.
The way their bodies looked...it reminded me of what had happened in Mount Weather when Clarke and Bellamy had pulled that lever.
I took a small step away as Emori reached for the door.
"Don't." Raven warned, pulling her back.
"Raven, we need to help them!"
Running a hand through my hair, I looked back toward Emori. "We can't." I answered for Raven. "They're already dead."
Raven looked uneasy, but more disappointed than anything. "He must have pulled the control rod too fast. The spike of radiation would be lethal."
Something seemed to register in her brain as she stepped toward the screen that showed the readings. "If the core reached 1,500 degrees, the whole reactor melts down."
My heart fell once again. The reading for the core was currently 1,392 degrees. "Why does it feel like we've been here before." I whispered. Nuclear reactors had almost caused our deaths on numerous occasions at this point.
Emori looked between the two of us. "What happens if it melts down?"
A shuddered sigh came from Raven's lips. "We'll all die."
---
Thirty minutes later, Raven and I stood bent over plans of the reactor as Raven mapped out the ways in which we could avoid imminent death.
Meanwhile, Emori had been sent to recruit the rest of our group so we could make them aware of the problem, and hopefully the solution.
"Here." Raven muttered to herself as she scribbled something on one of the diagrams.
Anxiously, I played with the ends of my hair, awaiting further instruction from Raven. I didn't want to die here...especially without Bellamy.
The sound of people rushing into the shop caused both Raven and I to look toward the entrance. "Good. You're here." Raven breathed, standing up to her full height.
"Shouldn't we be wearing hazmat suits or something?" Murphy wondered as he followed behind Emori.
Raven rolled her eyes. "You really are adorable. Those literally do nothing against gamma rays."
I shot Murphy a sarcastic glance. "Yeah, come on, John."
"Eligius III knew that, which is why they didn't have any." Raven continued, ignoring my comment. "What they did have is Nightblood, and so do you. You're a Nightblood now, Murphy. Act like it."
Murphy gave her a quick look as he clucked his tongue, seemingly affected by Raven's assertiveness.
"Get to the point." Indra encouraged.
Raven looked over to me for a moment, and upon me giving her a small nod, she began explaining. "Here's the deal. The core is overheating. One of the control rods that slows the nuclear reaction is jammed in the up position and won't drop into the core. Because of that, it's getting too hot, and because of that, the coolant pipe has burst in two places."
She glanced down at her plans for a moment. "If the core reaches 1,500 degrees, the reactor will melt down, and it's bye-bye Sanctum."
"So how do we stop it?" Clarke wondered, highlighting the part that Raven had failed to include.
"We push in the control rods, we plug in the cracks and we're good."
Indra didn't look convinced. "Just that simple?"
Raven turned to her with an approving smile. "I like you." She appraised before addressing the rest of the group once more. "Someone has to go into the primary containment to get the control rods in place. It's a high radiation environment though. Nightblood's not a guarantee but it will help."
Well, that took a majority of us off the table.
"She'll do it."
"I'll do it."
Murphy and Clarke spoke in synchronicity, Murphy even pointing at Clarke to send home his point that it would not be him doing it.
When we all gave Murphy an exasperated look, he glared back at us. "What? Like it was even a question?"
"Clarke, you have your hands full with Russell's execution." Indra argued.
Raven's eyes flickered to the other two Nightbloods. "Okay. Murphy, you're B-team. Emori will handle the control rods...though she only has 60 seconds. If she doesn't get it done, you take over."
Murphy and Emori gave small nods of approval which caused Raven to focus on Indra once again. "Wonkru will handle the pipes."
Indra was quick to show hesitation. "Emori said radiation was leaking. What kind of danger am I sending my people into?"
"It's the puking for a few days kind. If they're exposed, they'll recover. If the core melts down...we won't."
"Why don't we ask the Eligius crew?" Clarke suggested. "They were miners. They have the skill."
Raven shook her head. "No offence, but I'm not willing to put the lives of what's left of the human race in the hands of a bunch of murderers and thieves who were torturing me and Shaw and willing to kill the rest of us before destroying the Earth."
No one had any immediate arguments, so Raven continued. "I need a team of four from the bunker's maintenance crew."
Indra gave a small nod. "You'll have them. Four of Wonkru's welders coming right up."
---
Raven's plan quickly fell to shambles.
The fact that Madi no longer had the Flame had been a high point of contention between Gaia and Indra, the pot finally boiling over.
When Clarke refused to have Madi stand up and order Wonkru into the reactor, Gaia finally revealed the truth which sent a majority of Wonkru fleeing, no longer under one rule.
That left us without anyone to patch the holes in the coolant pipes...which then resulted in Raven doing exactly what she had been so adamant about not doing.
So, here we now stood. A group of us consisting of Murphy, Emori, Raven, myself and a group of four Eligius prisoners.
"We can't wait any longer." Raven announced as she turned away from the monitor. "50 more degrees and we're toast. Everybody clear on what they're doing."
Hatch, one of the prisoners, gave a small nod as he zipped up his jumpsuit. "Crystal."
Emori looked to Murphy briefly. "We get the control rods in place, then head to decontamination."
"And we weld the cracks in the pipes." Hatch added.
I looked down at the monitor for a moment. "And I make sure we don't lose track on the status of the core."
Raven let out a shaky sigh as she looked around at the group of us, giving a small nod. "Good."
"That radiation still clear?" Hatch confirmed.
"Yeah." Raven answered quickly. "All clear. Good luck."
Emori and I shared an uneasy look. We both knew that Raven was lying about the radiation being "clear." No one said anything until after the Eligius prisoners had made their way into containment.
"You lied to them?" Murphy wondered.
Raven didn't look up from what she was doing. "I told them what they needed to know. It's an easy job. I could do it in my sleep."
"Then why don't you?"
"Shut up, Murphy." She snapped, turning to him with ferocity. "Either they're sick for a couple of days or we're all dead forever. Now go do your job being Emori's moral anchor."
My eyes flickered between the two as I watched the tension rise. Emori slammed her hands down on the desk as she turned to look at the two of them. "Can we not fight now?"
Murphy and Raven shared a final heavy glance as Emori marched out of the room. Murphy followed closely behind her, leaving Raven and I alone.
"They are going to be okay, right?" I confirmed, slightly on edge that she was hiding something from all of us.
"Yes!" she snapped, causing me to startle slightly. "How many times do I have to tell you all. God, you think you guys would listen to me once in your damn lives!"
I kept my gaze locked on her as she leaned over the computer in a huff. "I was just making sure." I muttered, shooting her a sideways glance as I looked down at the monitor. "No need to get all heated."
"Just be quiet, Avery." Raven muttered, focusing on the task in front of her.
Rolling my eyes, I focused on the temperature gage which currently read 1, 464 degrees. Only 36 degrees separated us from certain death.
"Let's go!" Raven called into the intercom, prodding Emori and Murphy to hurry up. The two of them stood outside the door to the reactor, Emori with a look of worry on her face.
"You've got this, Emori." I assured, feeling my heart in my throat as I watched her pull open the door and rush in.
60 seconds. That's all she had to get the job done.
Despite our previous spat, Raven reached out and grabbed onto my hand in anticipation as Emori hurried over to the reactor.
"55 seconds!" Murphy called, his voice carrying through the PA system.
Raven and I watched on the small surveillance screens as Emori reached the first control rod, struggling to push it down.
"1,465." I announced, my eyes flickering between the gage and screens.
"40 seconds!" Murphy's voice called.
Raven leaned forward and pressed the intercom button that allowed our voices to reach them. "Forget that one for now." she advised. "Move on to the next one."
Anxiously pulling at my fingers, I watched the Emori do as Raven instructed. "Come on." I whispered, a small flicker of hope igniting in me as she managed to push two of them down.
"30 seconds!" Murphy yelled, panic rising in his tone.
Emori managed to get all of them down aside from the one that had given her trouble in the first place.
"20 seconds, Emori! Come on. Last one!"
I watched in horror as the rod would still not budge no matter how hard Emori tried. "She has to get out of there." I whispered, my eyes now on the clock that was still counting down.
"We're 10 seconds. You've got to get out of there!"
I leaned forward, slamming my hand down on the intercom button. "Emori, get out of there. Now!"
She ignored both Murphy and I, still attempting to put down the final rod. I looked to Raven, shaking my head as a wave of nausea washed over me as a result of anxiety.
Somehow, Emori finally managed to push down the rod just as her time ran out.
"Emori, that's time! Get out!"
Raven put her hand over top of mine, pressing down on the button as she leaned forward. "Emori, get out!"
Murphy turned to look at us through the glass, giving us a disbelieving shake of his head before focusing back on Emori who was rushing toward the exit.
But Emori being safe wasn't the end of the terror. Once I was ensured that she was safe, I refocused on the gage in front of me. "1,471! Why is it still climbing?"
"The coolant line needs fixed." Raven answered, her jaw set as her eyes drifted toward where Hatch and his men were.
She pressed the intercom button once again. "Emori, get to decontamination right now!"
Emori ignored Raven's demands, instead starting toward Hatch who seemed to be brushing off the urgency of getting the coolant lines fixed.
Murphy caught her before she could get very far, dragging her off to the decon showers.
"What do we do?" I wondered nervously, pacing in small circles as the number on the gage continued to rise.
"Just wait." Raven assured, doing her best to keep her voice calm.
As if on cue, a loud bang from within caused the two of us to turn toward where Hatch and the others were.
"The pressure's too high!" Hatch called through the glass. "You need to reroute it."
"I can't." Raven argued. "We need it to control the core temp. We're 20 degrees from finding out what comes after death and I'd rather not know!"
Hatch gave her a steady look before nodding. "Me neither."
"How are they going to get the job done if the patches won't hold?" I questioned as Emori and Murphy reentered the room, Emori now soaked head to toe.
"They'll get it done." Raven assured, barely throwing me a second glance.
"Any change?" Emori wondered.
I looked down at the gage. "The rate has slowed but the core temp is still rising."
Emori didn't answer me in words, but instead leaned forward and let out a retching noise, vomit spilling from her mouth.
I stepped out from behind the desk, worry covering my features as Murphy grabbed onto her, steadying her as she swayed.
"You wanted forever." Emori slurred, looking to Murphy with tired eyes.
"Still do. Sit down."
Arriving next to them, I bent down in front of Emori as she took a seat. Silently, I reached out and checked her vitals, ensuring that she wasn't worse off than she was letting on.
She let me check over her as she spoke. "How long do we have?"
"At this rate of increase, not long enough." Raven answered.
Murphy wore an impassive look. "Then get in there and help. Raven, you're the queen of impossible, right? Collins can spin the dials."
"I'm not just spinning dials. I'm controlling the flow of coolant. One mistake and--"
Raven's words fell silent as Murphy let out a pained scream, collapsing to the ground next to me. I instantly pulled away from Emori, rushing to his aide. "John, what's wrong?"
"Oh, crap." Raven whispered.
Murphy looked up at her through pained eyes. "Yeah, that makes me feel better.
Emori pushed herself up from where she was seated. "Raven...what's going on?"
I helped Murphy to his feet as Raven turned to us, her face since paled. "Murphy never went into primary containment. If he's getting sick...then that means that more radiation's leaking than I thought."
As if on cue, one of Hatch's men collapsed in secondary containment, a yell of pain pursuing. I looked to Raven with wide eyes as I reached for the intercom. "We have to get them out of there!"
"No." Raven argued sternly as she pulled my hand away.
"Hey, what the hell is going on?" Hatch demanded. "My guys are getting sick."
I looked up at Raven who was still gripping onto my hand, her face hardened as it appeared like she was holding back tears. "They're almost done." she whispered, dropping my hand and pressing her own finger against the button.
"It's just the xenon gas making you dizzy." She explained to Hatch. "Don't worry about it. It's a byproduct of nuclear fission."
Emori, Murphy and I shared looks of disbelief...Raven was letting them die.
"Raven, you can't just leave them in there to die." Emori challenged.
Raven almost looked like a different person. "They're already dead."
Murphy stepped forward. "Raven, you really need to think about--"
"Enough. If we pull them out, we're all dead. They can do it."
My eyes flickered between secondary containment and Raven. "We need to at least tell them." I begged. "They deserve to know!"
She looked over at me with a blank expression. "Do you really think we can rely on these guys to do the right thing when they know they're gonna die?"
Another one of Hatch's men fell from within secondary containment, causing my heart to clench even more. "We should at least give them the chance." I whispered.
"Hey." Hatch called. "My team's almost out of nitrogen."
Raven was instant in her response, speaking before any of the rest of us could. "I'll get you another tank. How close are you?"
"We're almost there on one, but I can't get my patch to hold. You need to lower the pressure more."
"I told you I can't. The temperature will spike."
I pulled my hands through my hair as I listened to the exchange...these would be some of the last words Hatch would ever say and I was just sitting here and letting it happen.
"Damnit!" Hatch snapped. "Just-just get me the nitro."
Raven tore away from the control panel. "Avery, stop pacing. You're making it obvious."
"Making what obvious?" I snapped. "That we're letting them die."
She shot me a look as Emori let out a moan, swaying forward slightly. "She'll be fine." Raven instantly dismissed as Murphy and I rushed to Emori's side. "We don't have time for this. Nightblood metabolizes radiation. We'll get her to Jackson as soon as you take this to Hatch."
"If you don't." she continued as she rejoined us with another canister of nitrogen. "The core melts down and not even Nightblood will save you."
I supported Emori's limp body as I gave Murphy a reassuring nod. "I've got her."
With one more hesitant look, her stood and took the canister from Raven. Slowly, he turned and entered the code into the keypad, opening the door to secondary containment where Hatch and his men were currently dying.
The minute Murphy was through the door, Raven closed and locked it with the code. "I may not be able to rely on them, but you'd do anything to save your own ass."
My heart dropped as I stood up from where I had been positioned next to Emori, my eyes widening as Murphy turned to face us through the glass, a look of realization on his face.
"What are you doing?" I almost shrieked, completely shocked that Raven had just sent one of our own in there.
She ignored me, her eyes locked on Murphy. "Go be a cockroach."
"Have you lost your mind?" I demanded, following after her as she made her way back toward the control panel. "He's our friend."
"He's Murphy." She shot back, and I could tell that she was desperately trying to push down her emotions. "And he's a Nightblood. He'll be fine."
When I couldn't find the words to argue, Raven pressed the intercom button. "Here's the situation; the core temperature is 1,490 degrees, 10 degrees from meltdown."
Murphy and Hatch quickly began welding once again, attempting to get the job done once and for all.
I felt like I was going to throw up, pass out and cry all at once. My conscious was quickly overtaking me, telling me how horrible I was for sitting in here while Hatch and his men died.
A desperate sigh fell from my lips as I pressed down on the intercom button. "1,492!"
Hatch's voice came back in a sing-song tone. "Columbus sailed the ocean blue!"
I looked at Raven, my face taut in stress. "What does that even mean?"
She shook her head at me. "1,494!" she announced.
My heart was hammering against my ribcage as the two of us watch the gage climb...and climb...and climb.
Raven reached out, gripping onto my arm with ferocious strength as the gage got closer and closer to 1,500 degree. "Come on." she whispered, her tone sounding more like a plea.
Just as it was about to hit 1,500, the gage slowly began to go the other way, causing relieved sighs to fall from both mine and Raven's mouths.
"It worked! We're going to be okay!" Raven yelled. "Now get out of there!"
We weren't going to be okay. As within seconds after the words had left Raven's mouth, Hatch came stumbling toward the glass. He fell into it, and it was then that we could see the angry blisters that had covered his entire body.
I my eyes grow wide as I took a small step back, Raven doing the same as her face fell in terror.
"You're welcome." Hatch rasped out seconds before her collapsed.
He was dead...another life lost for the survival of the thousands.
It seemed to me that that was becoming our signature.
-an-
wowee this was a long chapter, but i didn't want to break it up
i didn't love this chapter, but this is all just filler until we get to the good (quotation marks around "good") stuff that happens this season
hope you are all doing well!
-maddy xoxo