CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
( jobi nuts )
SEPT 27, 2149
DAY FIFTEEN ON THE GROUND
IN THE GLEAMS OF THEIR BRIGHTLY
SHINING FLASHLIGHTS AND LANTERNS, WHAT WAS ONCE NOTHING more than a wide space of darkness and charcoal shadows became a whole world waiting to be discovered; the trio advancing further into the large cache.
"Really think this place hasn't been touched since the war?" Bellamy queried, crouching as he descended down the steps to keep his head from hitting the ceilings.
"A girl can dream. Come on." Clarke responded.
Dakota followed behind Bellamy, who followed behind Clarke; a few steps after them as she looked around in interest. She did her best to illuminate every nook and cranny of the place with her lantern, wanting to take it all in. She coughed suddenly as she accidentally entered directly into a sticky spiderweb, spluttering dramatically as she squeezed her eyes shut and vigorously swiped at the substance on her face.
"Are you dying up there?" Clarke called, half-joking and half-genuinely nervous; the two in the front turning around to see her swatting at her skin frenetically.
"All good, just being mauled by a cobweb." she choked, spitting onto the already dirty floors and violently rubbing her lips with the sleeve of her coat before carrying on. A rush of embarrassment briefly washed over her as two stared blankly at her a moment longer, soon resuming back down the steps.
"Did you guys know that spider silk goes from liquid protein to solid thread as it leaves their bodies? And that they can have like seven different kind of silk?"
"I did not know that." the Blake boy replied, the three pausing as they rounded a corner.
Dakota gulped, a skeleton lying against the staircase able to be seen as she peeked past Bellamy's arm. It of course automatically made their dim environment more eerie and less innocent, but the Thompson girl felt sadness above all else; not being able to stop herself from wondering distraughtly who the person was. How they had died, what dreams they had possessed, whom they had gotten to love. Whom had loved them.
"Hell of a place to die." Bellamy stated, everyone moving briskly past the unsettling scene as they made it to the main level.
The wretchedly unventilated depot was dank and utterly defiled; dreary and very evidently uninhabitable. The moisture-laden air was so soiled with the profound odor of mold you could practically taste it, the place miserably trashed with mucky water leaking from several spots above; dripping quickly down like a broken shower nozzle.
"So much for living down here, this place is disgusting. Damn it." Clarke voiced, wandering around with her lantern.
"I'm sure we can still find some good supplies, though." Dakota suggested hopefully, glancing around as she followed along with the leaders.
"Anything left down here is ruined." Bellamy declared in a grumble.
"They must've distributed most of the supplies before the last bombs went off." the blonde observed, the three getting their hands on a few glow-sticks lying around; snapping them to help brighten things.
"Ahh, the beauty of hydrogen peroxide, tert butyl alcohol, and fluorescent dye." Dakota happily inhaled the musty air, gracefully waving her neon orange object around for a moment as if it were a wand able to cast spells.
"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, I wish for usable materials to be in you!" she playfully tapped it against a large crate she stumbled upon, soon opening the hefty container alongside Clarke; revealing a large stack of wooly blankets, neatly folded and untouched.
"I think this thing is magical." Dakota brought the bright glow-stick up to her face, jokingly widening her eyes at it.
"Hey! We found blankets." Clarke informed.
"Excited about a couple of blankets?" he huffed, tossing one of the chem-lights onto the grimy floors; his mind seeming to be able to only generate negative thoughts and feelings right now.
Dakota frowned. Bellamy had been particularly shut off since they had made contact with the Ark, but today was different. It felt as if he were working ten times harder to mask the fear and insecurity she knew was in him; something else bothering him had been added to the mix. She could tell Clarke saw it too, and both of them were tiptoeing around eggshells as if he would break at a moment's notice.
"Well... it's something." the Griffin girl professed, Bellamy storming past the two with a greatly annoyed shout; anger increasing with each vehemently exclaimed word.
"Well how about a canteen, or a med kit, or a decent fricken tent!"
Dakota glanced uneasily over at Clarke before setting down her make-pretend-wand-glow-stick and carefully approaching him; the boy staring into a gigantic vat filled with turbid liquid.
"Hey, take a breather for a minute." she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, Bellamy sighing as he glanced down at her concerned features.
Her innocent doe eyes made him start to crumble, his heart longing to simply tell the two girls of all his troubles and horrid plans; allow them to actually help him the way they'd been trying so desperately to do. His hard, ire mien faltered beneath her warm gaze; feeling himself relax for a blissful moment in time as he kept his eyes trained on her. But then he accidentally let his fingers fall into the metal barrel, tearing his eyes from her as he lifted his hand back up; sniffing the oil in disgust and growing angry all over again.
With an irritable roar, and a flinch from Dakota as she jumped back to avoid being splashed with the filthy grease, he kicked the large tub over in a rage; the fuel gushing out onto the floor. Everyone's attention was immediately stolen with the unexpected sound of clattering objects on the cold floor that followed his impulsive action. Bellamy squatted down by the fallen container, Dakota right behind him to closely observe; the two having vastly different reactions to their discovery.
"Oh my God." he breathed, blinking in admiration at the pile of guns that were splayed across the ground.
"What?" Clarke inquired with a pressing curiosity, scurrying over to the pair.
Bellamy excitedly held up one of the automatics with an enormous, childlike grin taking up half of his freckled face; pointing his lantern on it as he glanced up at them over his shoulder. A hefty streak of nerves came cascading down Dakota's spine as unease spiked in her chest. She hated the discovered weapons, but she liked that his mood had become immediately giddy, so she gulped and tried to move past her discomfort.
"This changes everything!" he declared, hopping quickly to his feet. He grabbed one of the tangerine-colored blankets from the crate they'd uncovered, snatching an old marker littered on the utterly trashed floor and speedily drawing a large X on its fluffy fabric. Soon, he hung it up on the wall; a target ready to be practiced on.
"No more running from spears. Ready to be badasses?" the curly-haired boy winked, advancing back over to them as he happily popped a nut into his mouth from the ration pack in his hand. He held it out to Dakota standing beside him without ever glancing her way, the girl digging her fingers into the tiny bag still in his grip and sharing the snack with him.
"Look, I'm not gonna fight you on bringing guns back to camp. I know we need them, but... don't expect me to like it." the blonde told him, eyes trained onto the large firearm she was loading.
"I'm not touching them." Dakota intransigently shook her head.
"We're lucky the rifles were packed in grease. The fact that they survived means we're not sitting ducks anymore. You need to learn how to do this." he stated, looking back and forth between the two girls.
"Listen, you got me to carry my little knife around, but I'm not using an M4A1. That's as good as it'll get." the Thompson girl patted the dinky blade in her waistband, Bellamy blinking at her.
"You uhh... you recognize what kind of gun that is?" he questioned.
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna use it." she said, taking another kernel from the pouch in his hand; the Blake boy staring at her. Clarke's snort was the only thing that brought him out of his strange daze, his eyes darting in her direction; she knew he thought it was hot Dakota was aware of the gun's specific name.
"What?" he asked meanly, an annoyed scowl on his lips.
"Nothing." she shrugged with a knowing look as she brought her gun upwards, soon zeroing in on what she was doing; doing her best to position the weapon how she thought it was supposed to be properly held.
"So I just... hold it on my shoulder?"
"Yeah, a little higher-" Bellamy moved to help her, stopping himself before he could; brushing past her and seizing a shooter of his own instead.
"Watch and learn."
They both took a step away from him, a flash of apprehension crossing Dakota's features as she brought her hands over her ears; cringing slightly in anticipation for the explosively loud bang that was bound to ricochet against the bunker's metal walls. But it never came. He aimed his heavy weapon at the messily sketched X, squinting in focus and pressing his finger fearlessly against the trigger; no sound or shot emitting. Only a mere click. He glimpsed over at Clarke and Dakota, quickly reloading his chamber and letting the defective slug clatter to the ground, only for the same thing to happen.
"Still watching." the blonde raised her brows teasingly, Dakota chuckling softly as she slowly removed her hands from her ears.
"My bullets are duds. Try yours." he stated, emptying the chamber as Clarke stepped up to the plate. She fired, piercing a small hole into the bottom corner of the draped quilt; the hefty kick of the weapon jolting her shoulder back slightly. Dakota still flinched, despite knowing it was coming.
"That was amazing. Ha!" she let out an amazed, breathy laugh; a genuine smile spreading across her face as her eyes sparkled.
"Am I horrible for feeling that?"
"Try again." Bellamy shook his head with a happy grin.
"No, we shouldn't waist the ammunition." she opposed.
"You need to practice." he insisted.
"No, we need to talk about how we're gonna keep guns around camp. Where are we gonna keep them? Who has access?"
The Griffin girl was making all good points, but Dakota was gradually paying less and less attention; hardly even jumping when Bellamy triggered another loud shot. Her skin had grown clammy and her vision had begun to slightly blur; feeling as if some sort of strange haze was cast over her. She brought her hand in front of her face, knitting her brows in utter confusion as she observed it's suddenly greenish tint; only being pulled out of the strange trance when three specific words from Clarke grabbed her attention.
"You're gonna run."
Dakota's head snapped over to the pair, eyes widening at the statement.
"Wait, what?" she shook her head in befuddlement, not having been listening at all.
"That's why you agreed to come with me. You were gonna load up on supplies and just disappear!" the blonde continued to accuse.
"I don't have a choice. The Ark will be here soon." he proclaimed, evidently trying to remain strong and unwavering in his decision; uncomfortably avoiding eye contact with both of them.
"So you're just gonna leave Octavia?" Clarke scoffed lightly.
"Octavia hates me and she has you, Dakota. She'll be fine."
"Octavia doesn't hate you!" the Thompson girl denied with a perfervid shake of her head, her face furrowed in disbelief.
"You don't know what-"
"I shot the Chancellor!" he raised his voice, cutting off Clarke as he finally looked over at their equally distraught features.
"They're gonna kill me."
"No, I won't let that happen." Dakota adamantly declared, staring him seriously in the eyes; Bellamy not shaken or convinced by her proclamation.
"Best case-scenario they lock me up with the grounder for the rest of my life, and there's no way in hell I'm giving Jaha the satisfaction. Keep practicing, I need some air." he tossed his gun heedlessly onto the table beside him, Dakota noticing the same sweaty, mildly disoriented look on his features that she was experiencing.
"Bella-" he didn't stop at her desperate phrase, marching swiftly past them and exiting the depot without another word.
She gazed sadly in the direction he'd left, brows pulled together in disconcert. Her surroundings were being oddly warped, her legs feeling suddenly heavy as she wordlessly tried following after him; her fading mind not bothering to address Clarke. She kept squeezing her eyes tightly shut and reopening them, as if trying to blink away the fuzziness and all its accompanying peculiarities. The girl was panting as she practically drug her feet up the metal steps, nearly doubling over as she struggled to reach above the earth again and flee the depot which had begun to scare her.
Finally reaching the top, she took a deep gulp of air and closed her eyes for momentary rest; tilting her head skyward as she prepared to feel renewed by the sweet, fresh oxygen provided by her lively and verdant surroundings. However, that's not what she received; the girl frowning when she found her lungs expanding with a sorely familiar withered and stale version of the element instead. The version she had survived on for almost 18 years. Her eyes shot open, her blood running cold as her impossible suspicions were confirmed by her sudden change of scenery.
She was back on the Ark.
༻✧༺
FALLON THANKED HER LUCKY STARS THAT SHE HAD STUCK TO A MEAT AND MOONSHINE DIET for the day as she sat slumped against the wall outside of the drop ship watching everyone else around her lose their minds. The few sober delinquents had quickly deduced that the source of the madness spreading throughout camp like wildfire had been caused by the plentiful gatherings of nuts people had been scarfing down since early this morning.
She was watching from where she sat in utter amusement, a light smile partially hidden behind the small tin cup of alcohol she kept raised to her lips in order to take gradual sips as she pleased; burrowing her head away into her coat as best as she could, its collar covering her chin. Observing the absolute insanity for the past couple hours had been vastly entertaining, the girl's quiet chuckles echoing into her canister as she studied Monty in a heated conversation with a pinecone in the distance; cackling unattractively when he suddenly began attempting to stuff it into his mouth.
"Hey, Goldilocks!" Raven shouted authoritatively from across the camp yard, Fallon's smile disappearing as she rolled her eyes with a groan; the brunette jogging over to her.
"What do you want, Space Girl?" she sighed heavily, scooting herself from her slouched posture to sit more upright against the metal wall; looking up at the mechanic in boredom against the pitch black ether.
"For you to stop being a bitch, but we can't always get what we want, can we?" she derided with a purposefully obnoxious tone; not missing a beat.
To say the two had gotten off on the wrong foot would be incorrect; they just simply despised each other. Fallon had stolen Raven's most prized possession before ever uttering a word to her, a small fight occurring in the woods when that had happened, and then silence for days. Their anger over their original squabble had died down for now, their dislike for one another hadn't.
Fallon's features darkened in ire at her insult, a scowl automatically taking shape on her face as she roughly shot her leg out against the ground to kick her; Raven jumping backwards before her ankle could be damaged or bruised.
"You really thought you'd get me that easily?" Raven mocked with a humored smile, placing her hands on her hips.
"I don't know. I thought I might if you were anything like your boyfriend, since all Clarke had to do was breathe to get him."
Raven's taunting demeanor instantly shifted, her mocking grin vanishing as her face grew cold at once; deciding not to engage in this right now.
"Are you gonna help or not?" she spat with a tight jaw; anger clear in her smoldering eyes and short tone.
"Kids are trying to wander off into the woods every five seconds and there's only two of us and almost a hundred of them. Finn and I can't do it by ourselves and everyone else is hammered."
Fallon tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes at Raven in thought for a moment before taking a deep breath and clambering up to her feet with a nod.
"Yeah, I'll help." she sighed, pausing once they were face to face.
"I'll help myself to some more moonshine." she smiled abhorrently to her, Raven glowering at her with gritted teeth; Fallon holding her expression as she turned gracefully on her heel and trotted obnoxiously off into the drop ship.
She silently ascended the ladder, holding her metal cup in her teeth as she used both hands to climb; distant chatter still able to be heard from outside. A subdued noise above caused her to pause, however, stopping to eavesdrop.
"Why are you doing this?" an unfamiliar, masculine voice asked.
"Just get dressed." Octavia hurriedly instructed, the sound of light footsteps scurrying about upstairs able to be heard. It didn't take long for her to connect the dots. The man speaking perfect English was their captured grounder, and all the quiet shuffling was the youngest Blake helping him escape. She quickly continued further up the ladder.
"They'll know you helped me." he stated, followed by a pained groan; panting and out of breath from his bad shape.
"You said it. You stay here, you'll die. I'm not gonna let that happen."
"I'm not gonna put you in danger."
"Hey Baby Blake, hey Grounder Stud." Fallon smiled smugly, an impish glimmer in her chestnut eyes as she popped her head up past the hatch; entering the third floor.
They both froze, Octavia's instantaneously wide eyes snapping over to the blonde in utter alarm; caught red handed as her body went rigid. It took a moment to compute that they had been discovered before the tall- significantly weakened- man tried to position himself in front of the brunette, sending Fallon a fatal glare. She merely snorted at his immediate stance of minacious defense and the overwhelmingly forbidding air that took shape on his features, crossing her arms casually and shifting her weight to her opposite leg; entirely unthreatened.
"Relax, I'm not gonna turn you in. I just came up for some more moonshine, but this is much more interesting."
The grounder man was unyielding in his austere and hostile countenance, but Octavia's lips parted in surprise at her words; the girl blinking.
"You're not gonna turn me in?" she queried in disbelief, still standing motionless with her hands on the sleeve of a coat she'd been aiding in pulling onto his muscular arms.
"No." Fallon scoffed as if it were a dumb question to ask, Octavia's baffled gaze and the man's hard one following her as she nonchalantly walked over to the mothership of Monty's moonshine; unconcernedly squatting down as she poured some of it into her tiny cup. She took a big sip with a content sigh before licking her lips and standing back up.
"Okay." she exhaled with a single nod, clapping her hands together once.
"What's the plan?"
They stared at her, Fallon dropping her shoulders and rolling her eyes.
"I'm helping, try and keep up bozos."
"We need to do this now." Octavia stated, resuming in speedily yanking the thick jacket over his shoulder; not having time to be confused by the blonde's uncharacteristic actions. Fallon set down her beverage as she moved behind the man, attempting to pull the hood of his recently acquired Ark-fashioned clothing over his head; only for him to jerk away.
"Hey! Do you want my help or not!?" she huffed aggravatedly, throwing her arms out to the side.
"If you'll remember, I'm not one of the ones who actually tortured you. Sure, I got a few punches in back in your gross cave, but that was just for fun. I never did any real damage."
"Even in these clothes, I'll be seen." he told them through his heavy breaths and winces of discomfort, not having much of a choice but to openly allow Fallon to aid Octavia in hastily dressing him.
"People are seeing plenty of things right now." the Blake girl assured.
"Up you get."
He groaned in pain as the two girls forced him onto his feet and positioned themselves on either side of him, the stranger tossing a heavy arm around each of their shoulders as he staggered on his legs; the former-Arcadians holding him up as best as they could.
"Okay, let's go." Octavia directed in a whisper, the man responding breathlessly with an 'okay'.
"Why are you helping us?" she then looked across him to Fallon as they all stumbled roughly over to the ladder.
"Since when do I have to explain myself to you, Blake?" she grunted, Octavia not asking again; not wanting to mess this up. She knew it was possible for Fallon to change her mind and go rogue in the blink of an eye, and at this point, they couldn't afford that.
"What'd you do?" the grounder questioned with a grimace as he unsteadily limped across the floor; unintentionally jostling around the two girls he was wedged between.
"Set out some of our winter rations a little early." the Blake answered, a hand on his chest to help keep him upright.
"Jobi nuts." he voiced in realization, the three of them halting at the top of the ladder.
"The food you gave my guard. They go bad, they cause visions, but it wears off."
"Just try to get as far away as you can, okay? And try not to get yourself killed." Octavia pleaded, he nodded, turning to descend downstairs. Something intangible caused him to abruptly pause, staying still for a moment before whirling back around; grabbing Octavia's face in his large, calloused hands and pressing his lips against hers.
"Well damn, don't mind me I guess." Fallon commented with pursed lips, not amused as she stood watching them kiss with a front row seat.
Octavia was evidently shocked, entirely taken aback as she stood frozen, waiting a few seconds before placing her hands on his arm and slowly pulling him away; their breaths still mingling as they stared at one another.
"Mmmm... C plus. I've seen better." the hotheaded blonde decided with a shrug; rudely rating their kiss.
The man shot her a hard look that wasn't quite legible enough to know exactly what he meant by it, but Fallon didn't miss the way he sent her a subtle nod even with inhospitable features. He sent Octavia a final soft and affectionate glimpse before rapidly disappearing downstairs; leaving the brunette utterly dumbfounded.
Fallon strolled back across the room as if absolutely nothing had just happened, retrieving her beloved cup of moonshine off the floor and beginning to head back down the ladder; Octavia throwing a hand out to stop her.
"Why did you do that?" she questioned again earnestly, Fallon biting the inside of her cheek in thought for a moment before answering indelicately.
"Your brother's a dick. I don't want him getting the idea that he can boss me around, and that includes keeping his little pet prisoner just because he says so. I did this for me. Not for you, or him, or your twisted little connection."
It wasn't entirely a lie, most of it was true. She hated Bellamy's guts and anything she could do to piss him off was well worth her while; hence the main reason she had joined forces with the pair tonight. But Octavia knew when she felt the need to confirm she'd aided in his escape only for herself that somewhere deep down inside she felt a minuscule amount of sympathy for him, wether she believed that or not.
Somewhere, Fallon felt bad and had wanted to do the right thing.
A/N!
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Fallon?? The right thing??? Are we all high on jobi nuts too?? Is this even real??
Ps the next two chapters are H E A V Y so prepare yourselves
word count 4,125