CHAPTER FIFTY SIX
( to those we shall soon find )
OCT 24 & 25, 2149
DAYS FORTY TWO & FORTY THREE ON THE GROUND
BLEEDING OUT ━━━
IMAGINE DRAGONS
" i'll bleed out for you, so i bare
my skin and i count my sins and
i close my eyes and take it in. "
THE ROAD TO TONDC WAS BUMPY SITTING ON THE WOODEN CART TRANSPORTING FINN'S BODY, Fallon's legs dangling freely off of the side as she bobbed lightly around against the sticks and rocks the big wheels rolled over. Two towering clydesdales pulled them through the uneven terrain, the magnificent creatures walking perfectly in sync; a masked grounder sitting in control at the front of the trolley.
After Clarke killed Finn, the Commander declared they must take his corpse back to the village he had massacred— TonDC— and burn him to ashes as part of their customs and rituals. Only then could an alliance be formed, and only then could they focus on their people's liberation from Mount Weather— Trikru and Skaikru alike.
Fallon's chestnut irises flickered to the duo ambling along the path behind them, Bellamy and Clarke side by side; guns in their arms. Although their attention was supposed to be on the upcoming ceremony, all the boy could talk about was how they were wasting time with politics while their friends were in trouble. He was in the middle of unsuccessfully convincing Clarke to let him be an inside man, clearly unable to stomach the idea of being apart from Dakota much longer. Fallon agreed. Traveling to TonDC just to burn a body was an utter waste of their time and resources.
She turned her head back to the girl she was sitting shoulder to shoulder with, only having seen the back of Raven's matted ponytail for the entirety of their trip so far. The mechanic's tired eyes were glued to the body beside them of the boy she once knew, all wrapped up in a burial shroud. Originally, she had screamed at Clarke with tears running down her cheeks in the cold night; but since the sun had dawned on a new day, she'd been nothing but silent.
Fallon stared at her in a mixture of forlorn and thought, scheming on how to get the brunette to look away from the atrocity she'd been so laser-focused on; she needed a break. Hesitation filled her body and her face scrunched automatically into a grimace— every part of her begging her no when she finally thought of something. It was so far out of her comfort zone. But, she sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. It was all she knew to do, and she had to do something.
Reaching out, she placed her hand on the side of Raven's head, pulling her into her shoulder and forcing her to look away from Finn. Cringing silently to herself, she tensely twirled her fingers through her chocolate locks; starting at the top of her ponytail and working her way down. The Reyes girl's face was contorted in utter confusion, her befuddled eyes watching the trees slowly pass them by.
It was the most un-Fallon thing she could do.
"What are you doing?" Raven muttered after a moment, not moving a muscle; body frozen in shock.
Fallon suppressed the urge to vomit before she spoke, envying Finn in the moment. The only quiet response she gave was what Dakota had taught her. "Listening."
That only confused Raven more— listening to what?
But the longer she realized Fallon wasn't backing away, the more it began to affect her. Emotion rose in her chest, her eyes glossing over as her body gradually relaxed against the blonde's; soon allowing the full weight of her head rest against her shoulder. They stayed like this until they arrived at TonDC.
Upon entry to the village, they were unhappily disarmed of all their weapons, and welcomed in by the violent shouts and demands for the spilling of their blood. All of their blood, not just Finn's. Safe to say Lexa, the Commander, had some opposing opinions on her decision in favor of the new alliance. The ceremony was short, and before they knew it, Finn's body had become ashes and they were standing around a gigantic table; a magnificent feast draped before them.
Fallon licked her lips as she waited impatiently at the dining table just as everyone else did in the dingy, candle-lit building; eyes glued to the plates of mashed berries and roasted hog heads in anticipation. She couldn't remember the last time any of them had paused to eat during the chaos of trying to rescue Finn. But based on Bellamy, Clarke and Raven's expressions beside her, she seemed to be the only one with an appetite. Skaikru stood on one side of the table, Trikru surrounding the other; their first meal together a huge step towards unity.
"Please accept this gift, Commander. We drink this at special occasions. I believe this qualifies." Kane meekly offered a glass bottle of some of the Ark's finest alcohol, Fallon rolling her eyes at him despite how genuine he was with his token of harmony.
The Commander nodded to the gigantic, bearded man beside her, Gustus; his chest puffed out and his sleeves nearly ripping at the seams from the magnitude of his muscular arms. His eyes were dark, a permeant-seeming scowl controlling his lips hidden in his long beard.
Fallon leaned closer to Bellamy, muttering under her breath to him. "Well he's a real teddy bear."
She had expected some sort of reaction out of him, but his eyes didn't even flicker in her direction; his jaw remaining stressfully clenched. The girl straightened her spine and made her face fall flat, recalling of their most recent argument and the seriousness that apparently accompanied it. With austere miens, the two silently watched as the burly man took the bottle from Kane instead, just to hand it to Lexa.
She observed it with a pleasant air on her features, looking back up with a sincere, tiny smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Marcus of the Sky People."
"You're welcome, Lexa. Just, uh, don't drink too much of it." he advised.
The young Commander turned to the Griffin girl. "Clarke. Let us drink together."
"It would be my pleasure." the blonde nodded, and promptly, the drinks were poured.
"Heda, allow me." Gustus volunteered to test the drink's safety before their beloved leader dare consume a single drop; the man taking a long sip before handing the cup back to her.
She raised it. "Tonight, we celebrate our newfound peace. Tomorrow, we plan our war. To those we've lost, and to those we shall soon find."
Despite their current estrangement— one more strong than their usual aggravation towards each other— Bellamy and Fallon exchanged a fleeting glance at the words 'to those we shall soon find.' After everything that had happened, they had finally gained the manpower and skill to get Dakota back— they were going to get her back.
Before the two girls could bring the drinks to their lips, their 'newfound peace' came crashing down when Gustus lurched violently forward. He slammed into the table of delicious food they'd no longer have the chance to eat, hacking loudly and frothing at the mouth.
"It's poison." he choked out as he stumbled backwards and collapsed on the floor, Bellamy having already knocked the chalice of deadly liquid out of Clarke's hand before he could finish his sentence.
"It was the Sky People!" Indra— the war chief of TonDc and a steadfast opposer of the new alliance— furiously unsheathed her sword.
Within seconds, the room had erupted into utter chaos; shouts filling the atmosphere as the magnificent dining table was shoved out of the way to make room for bloodshed. Unlike Skaikru, the grounders were all still in possession of their weapons; which was bound to make this a short fight.
"This wasn't us! You have to know this wasn't us! No! No! We didn't do this!" Clarke declared desperately over the clamor, Bellamy quick to jump in front of her at approaching danger.
"Everybody au! Search em!" Indra demanded, everything moving faster than they could comprehend.
"Gustus warned me about you, but I didn't listen." The Commander growled, moving to be face to face with the 18 year old.
"Lexa, Please." the Griffin girl tried to reason.
"Tell me something, Clarke. When you plunged the knife into the heart of the boy you loved... did you not wish it was mine?"
Fallon scoffed incredulously, the worthless inquiry filling her with even more outrage. "What kind of stupid fricken question is that?! Of course she would've rather killed you, but that doesn't mean she would take the time to deliberately kill you now! There's a difference!"
"Heda! Disha was raun em coat." a grounder man suddenly announced, handing Lexa a tiny vial he had just snagged off of Raven; whose eyes were bulging in bewilderment.
"That's not mine! I'm telling you that's not mine! He put it there when he searched me!" she truthfully and confidently denied, both Bellamy and Fallon taking a protective step towards her; sending glares towards surrounding grounders.
"NO SKY PERSON LEAVES THIS ROOM!" Lexa bellowed in fury, marching off as the rest of Trikru followed her.
"Do something!" Octavia urged Lincoln.
"Indra!" he shouted. "Indra, hod op! Let ai speak gon em."
The dark-skinned woman in a coat of armor glared down at him in hatred from where she stood on the top step; sword held tightly in her clutch. "Yu laik em." she growled, slamming the rusty gate behind her as she departed.
Silence settled momentarily over the defenseless group, struck dumb by everything that had just abruptly occurred. Had peace really slipped through their fingers again? Were their friends in Mount Weather abandoned once more?
Clarke eventually became the the first to break the quietude, tentatively walking over to Raven, who was bent over adjusting her leg brace. "Raven... I have to know the truth."
"I'd step back if I was you." the mechanic warned, level-headed with an even tone.
"You wanted me to kill Lexa yesterday. If you tried to poison her, I need to know."
It wasn't a surprise when Raven snapped back up and sent her fist flying into Clarke's face; the 18 year old quickly clutching onto her cheek and stumbling backwards. Everyone's attention was instantly stolen in the room, Abby rushing over to cradle her daughter's throbbing face.
"You're the only murderer here!" the brunette screamed in ire, tears thronging her eyes.
Octavia was quick to step between them, but Clarke didn't seem concerned about fighting back in the slightest. Her wide and troubled gaze was focused on something beyond Raven's shoulder.
"Leave me alone." the blonde panted, all of them turning their heads confusedly to the wall she was staring so intensely at— nothing there."You gave me no choice. Why did you turn yourself in?"
Everyone's expressions crumbled, their stomachs dropping. She was talking to Finn. She was seeing Finn.
"Baby." Abby whispered forlornly, eyes shimmering in sympathy.
Clarke flinched when she reached out to touch her, the girl spinning on her heel and taking a stressed seat across the room; her mom following closely after her. Fallon cleared her throat uncomfortably, all of them eventually diverting their eyes from their friend falling apart at the seams.
"You okay?" the Walsh girl gruffly turned her attention to Raven, who looked awfully regretful now as she shook out the hand she'd just used to punch the breaking girl. The 19 year old swallowed with a guilty nod.
It felt like hours had passed since Gustus had been poisoned and Trikru had stormed out, all of them lounging about their new dungeon and theorizing unendingly about who might've attempted to kill Lexa. Eventually, though, the sound of the rusty gate being pushed open once more filled the atmosphere; all of them alert and on their feet within seconds. Three people entered the room, Indra among them, who looked just as mad as she did when she left.
"How's Gustus?" Lincoln asked, sincerely.
"Gustus will live." the man answered curtly.
"Teik her away." Indra commanded, immediate rejections and pleads from Skaikru arising; all of them wedging themselves between Raven and the grounders.
"Wait, wait! What are you doing?"
"She didn't poison anyone!"
"I argued for all of you to die, but the Commander is merciful. She wants only one." Indra expressed darkly.
"She's innocent." Lincoln pressed.
"I don't care." the woman hissed through gritted teeth.
A deep sense of dread was bubbling in Fallon's stomach, soon manifesting as a racing heart as her feet stayed glued to the floor. She didn't fight them as they advanced towards Raven— she didn't shout, or protest, or violently damn them all to hell like she normally would. Instead, she just stood still.
She had two things on her mind prohibiting her from letting her fists furiously fly.
Her first thought was the cause of the dread in the pit of her belly, the girl thinking about what Lincoln had once told them was the grounders' way of execution. They called it death by a thousand cuts. It started with every single member of the clan— not even young children being spared— taking an individual turn cutting the guilty criminal with their weapon of choice. It ended with the bloody convict being fed to the bugs.
The second thought was the cause of her tight chest and viciously thudding heart. It was the wretched thought of Raven being the one on the receiving end of this ruthless practice.
Death by a thousand cuts sounded humiliating and painful and nearly unbearable to Fallon, but letting it happen to Raven Reyes sounded much, much worse. Which is why she didn't hesitate for very long before she found herself urgently taking the fall.
"It was me! It was me, not her, I did it!" she frantically shouted, causing everyone to freeze at once.
With a bitter scowl, she took in all the bewildered faces across the room; knowing good and well this would be the last time she ever spoke to most of these people.
"What are you talking about?" Clarke questioned slowly and seriously, voice threatening to tremble as she pressed for an answer.
"I've always hated the idea of the alliance." the girl seethed, letting every ounce of hatred she'd ever felt pour out in what was shaping up to be the final moments of her short, pathetic, sad life; tears of sheer anger and frustration pooling in her eyes. She hadn't done it, but what she said next wasn't a lie.
"This is the same Commander that ordered innocent kids to die! I've watched 14 year old's have their throats slit. Watched them be speared through the chest, be driven to suicide, drown on their own fricken blood from a virus you all purposefully gave us! How are we supposed to sit around a table like one big happy family with the woman who made all that happen?! I can't do it. I won't." her booming voice cracked at the end as she gave a final shrug, chest heaving up and down as fiery red painted her heart.
"Why did she have the poison then?" Indra interrogated, sickened by the both of them as she gestured to the mechanic.
"Fallon—" Raven choked out.
"We traveled here together. The vial must've ended up on her somehow." the blonde answered shortly.
"It's true. Em were raun trolley ai don ste leading." one of the grounder men spoke, the one who'd been in command of the horses that had delivered them there, making him a reliable witness to her explanation.
"Fallon."
She turned at the sound of Bellamy's voice, an aching and desperate look in his eyes. He didn't want it to be true— he wanted her to be good.
"Did you really do it?"
The corners of her lips twitched up into the ghost of a sad, wistful smile. "Give her a hug for me."
Both of the men roughly seized her, one harsh slam from the butt of Indra's sword in the center of her stomach incapacitating her to fight back; feet dragging on the dirt as they lugged her away.
"NO! NO, STOP IT! LEAVE HER ALONE! NO!" Raven screamed, thrashing against Octavia and Lincoln's grasps as they held her back; the girl soon vanishing up the steps.
"The rest of you are free. Once she's dead, so is the alliance. You should run." Indra warned chillingly, soon racing up the steps after them. There was a long, stunned beat as the room fell quiet once more.
"I can't believe she would do this." Abby shook her head, utterly dumbfounded and disgusted with the hotheaded blonde. "After everything—"
"She didn't do it." Bellamy austerely cut her off, jaw so tense it looked like it might shatter.
"Son—" Kane sighed.
The boy whirled around to proclaim the same thing to him. "She didn't do it! Fallon might be nuts, but she would never do anything to jeopardize Dakota getting out of Mount Weather."
"She's just taking the fall for me! We have to help her." Raven frantically declared.
Clarke took a few slow steps towards Bellamy, lowering her voice as she looked him deep in the eyes; leader to leader. "How sure are you she didn't do this?"
"Sure enough to bet my life on it. She didn't do it." he firmly, unhesitatingly answered.
༻✧༺
FALLON'S ARMS WERE RAISED AND HER HANDS WERE BOUND HIGH ABOVE HER HEAD WITH JAGGED ROPE; tied to the big, blood-stained post for the whole village to watch her demise. Though she felt no fear, she still made sure to not let even a morsel of anything that resembled it flicker across her level features. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of thinking she was scared or in pain.
Lexa stood before her, knife in hand; having the honor of making the first cut. Slowly, she began to take steps towards the outwardly unbothered blonde until they were face to face. "I take no joy in this, Fallon. But this time, justice will be done."
"She didn't do it! How is that justice?!" Raven cried out from somewhere among the crowd, making the Walsh girl grit her teeth. She had confessed to the crime, and the rest of her people were still stupid enough to claim her innocence.
"Do your worst, Heda." she stated flatly, adding a twinge of disgust on the last word— a sacred word at that.
"We have to do something." Bellamy rushed towards them when the girl lifted the blade of the knife to Fallon's bare arm; Kane stopping him quickly with a hand on his chest.
"Lincoln, talk to them." Octavia urged her boyfriend.
After the first cut was made, Fallon tuned them out.
She didn't so much as flinch when Lexa dragged the sharp edge of the knife across her skin; dark red blood immediately oozing from the deep gash and staining the short sleeve of her t-shirt. The Commander blinked at her astounding, almost bewildering lack of reaction; sizing her up once in mild confusion before moving away to let Indra have the next turn.
The war chief they knew, unlike Lexa, would be taking joy in her cut— savoring it.
"Just so you know," Fallon told her as she approached the pillar, a large amount of blood still leaving in a steady stream from the first affliction. "I'm not gonna scream. I'm not gonna cry, anything like that."
"We'll see about that." Indra grimly quirked a brow, as if the statement were a challenge.
Maintaining a darkened eye contact, she brutally tore the bottom of Fallon's flimsy shirt. With a small grunt, she ripped it entirely into two; letting the lousy material fall open and expose the 17 year old's full chest and stomach. The only thing covering her upper body was her bra. Her monstrous gaze only strayed when she noticed the odd way her rib cage seemed to bulge slightly beneath her skin on both sides of her body.
Fallon recognized the flicker of confusion that passed briefly through Indra's eyes. "Broke my ribs a few times as a kid. Roughhousing." she explained tonelessly.
Barbarically, and with pleasure, Indra dug the knife's edge into the exact place where Fallon's improperly healed ribs formed the disturbing protuberance; using this as her starting point. The blonde bit down on the inside of her cheeks so hard it took mere seconds for the metallic taste of blood to fill her mouth. But still, on the outside, she showed no reaction. Slowly, Indra trailed the knife all the way up her stomach and to her chest; clearly wanting to make the largest cut of the day.
"STOP IT!" Raven's horrified scream rang out in desperation, voice flooded with emotion and strained from the knot in her throat.
"Indra! em pleni!" Lexa sternly commanded once she'd reached the bottom of her neck, the woman yanking her knife away with a hiss as the next person stepped up to the post.
The Walsh girl was already seeing stars from the amount of blood she'd lost and was continuing to lose, but determinedly, her head stayed high. Cut after cut after cut, her head stayed high.
"Kot op, nou stab." the commander calmly reminded one of TonDC's residents when the tip of his knife went digging a little too far into Fallon's skin— who still refused to make a peep.
Ignoring Abby's pleas for Clarke to join them and flee, the Griffin girl came storming out of the basement of one of the nearby buildings; marching directly past Skaikru and into the circle the village had formed around Fallon.
"Stop! What are you doing?!" Bellamy yelled angrily, chasing quickly after her. "You'll get yourself killed!"
"I need that bottle! Now!" the blonde girl was blocked by two brawny warriors, the clear container of the fatally tainted alcohol now in her possession. "STOP!"
"Let her pass." Lexa announced, bringing a momentary halt to the torturous ritual.
Along with the rest of their group, Clarke strode straight up to her; confidence encompassing her next, rather bold statement. "One of your people tried to kill you Lexa, not one of mine. Fallon only said she did it to protect Raven."
"You should have run." Indra growled threateningly.
"I can prove it." the 18 year old persisted, Fallon watching in confusion through her blurry vision as she yanked the cork from the top of the bottle and lifted it to her lips; tilting her head back and downing it.
Everyone's faces either fell or lifted in shock, watching in anticipation of her inevitable poisoning; expecting her knees to buckle and for her to become overcome with breathless coughs. But the coughing never came, and she stayed upright and certain.
"Explain." the commander demanded in a deep, serious tone; one with suppressed rage.
"The poison wasn't in the bottle. It was in the cup."
"A trick, Heda. Dula op nou na fooled." Gustus warned from where he stood protectively behind her.
Bellamy surveyed him closely before letting an accusation angrily tumble from his lips. "It was you. He tested the cup, he searched Raven!"
"Gustus would never harm me." Lexa argued.
"You weren't the target. The alliance was." the Blake boy declared.
"We didn't do this, and you know it." Clarke added.
"You've dung geda ow, Gustus. Run ei ada op." the Commander turned to him.
"This alliance would cost you your life, Heda. I could not let that happen." he admitted shamelessly, and though she was quick to cover it, grief and shock had flickered across her face— emotion something the Commander prided herself in not indulging in.
"This treachery will cost you yours." she growled darkly. "Take him sen roun on en tree!"
Immediately, Bellamy had yanked the knife out of a stranger's hand and raced over to Fallon; Raven jogging to catch up with him with her battered leg, Abby joining too.
"Hang in there, Fallon." the boy huffed, grunting as he frantically sawed away at the stiff rope; the girl's head hanging limp now as strained to get any air in with her arms above her head.
"Go to hell, Blake." she wheezed in the same tone and pace in which he had just spoken to her, purely joking.
By the time he was able to unleash her, Raven and Abby had reached them; the mechanic's eyes wide and panicked. The three aided in gently lowering her back to her feet, the Bellamy swiftly tearing off his heavy coat and slipping it onto her mostly bare upper body; wincing as he inevitably pulled it against her raw cuts.
"Can you stand?" Abby asked, the girl's eyelids fluttering and half-closed as she gave a weak nod; knees buckling when she tried to take even one tiny step forward.
"Woah! Crap!" Raven exclaimed as they all hurriedly steadied her.
"I'm fine, just a little light-headed." her puny voice was barely audible as the world spun in nauseating circles through her blurry irises.
"She's lost too much blood, she shouldn't be walking." Abby firmly shook her head.
Bellamy hastily knelt on the ground before her, looking up so they could meet eyes; the girl too weak keep her head raised any longer. "Will you please swallow your damn pride and let me help you? Just once?" he begged in desperation, his heart swelling with sympathy for her. It was the very first time he'd ever felt such a way towards the girl.
She considered it, and then to their surprise, she gave him a small nod. The boy didn't miss a beat in hooking one arm beneath her knees and looping one around her back; pulling her feeble frame from the ground as the inside of his jacket slowly turned red.
"We've got you, you're good." Raven whispered soothingly, stepping repeatedly on Bellamy's feet as they strode hurriedly off; refusing to give him enough space to even walk. The three rushed towards one of the tents they'd pitched before the poisoning catastrophe ever took place.
"That was pretty badass of me, huh?" Fallon smirked infirmly, head bobbing against Bellamy's chest as they ushered her to safety; her tired eyes now closed.
"So badass. We knew you didn't do it." Raven shook her head with a weary, emotional chuckle.
"So badass." Bellamy echoed quietly, the girl opening her eyes one final time to see him give her a nod before she allowed herself to slip into a slumber.
A/N!
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HOW IS EVERYONE?!?
I LOVE U ALL!!
MWAH!!
<3 CAM
word count 4,460