003. unknown territory
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO MOUNT WEATHER, THE TEENAGERS GREW MORE TIRED. It had been hours of constant hiking, with only a few occasional stops to take in the scenery splayed around them, and without any water or food, their bodies weren't accustomed to this amount of exercise. As they trekked down a hill, Finn called out. "Hey, you know what I like to know. Why send us down today after ninety-seven years? What changed?"
Octavia, being the one in front, spoke up. "Who cares? I'm just glad they did." She asked, grabbing onto a tree and swinging herself so that she spun. "I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest." Kinsley whistled in agreement, playfully banging onto Octavia's shoulder. Seemingly, they had gotten close over the time it was taking to get to Mount Weather. Having similar characteristics in their personalities made them drawn to each other as friends.
Monty shrugged, suggesting ideas to answer Finn's question, coming up with how the Ark could have possibly found an old satellite. Yet, Clarke was quick to shut the idea down, speaking confidently. "It wasn't a satellite. The Ark is dying." A frown contorted on everyone's face as they stopped in their tracks whilst Clarke took the lead, beginning to explain. "With the current population, there are roughly three months left of life support. Maybe four now that we're gone."
Finn was the first to snap out of his shock, bombarding the blonde with questions. "So that was the secret they locked you up to keep?" Quinn raised her brows at how blunt Finn was with his questions. "Why they kept you in solidarity? Floated your old man?" Kinsley also noticed how straightforward Finn was being, slapping him harshly on the back, directing a glare his way.
If Clarke cared about the questions being thrown her way, she made sure to keep it hidden. "My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were going to go public anyways when Wells ..." Clarke drifted off, whilst Monty frowned, adding how he turned in Clarke's father, causing him to get floated.
Quinn's mind pondered on one thought though. "So, those patients," she started, glancing at Clarke, "they were suffering from hypoxia?" Whilst Clarke nodded her head knowingly, the others didn't know what hypoxia was, never having studied in the medical department. "Hypoxia is when your body doesn't get enough oxygen, having low levels in your body tissue. So many people would come to my mom or Clarke's with it, but I didn't know what it was. Their symptoms would be shortness of breath, headaches, confusion—sometimes they forget where they were, or who they are—they could also be losing their abilities in a sense like sight, slowly going blind."
Clarke nodded her head along with Quinn. The McKenna girl hadn't noticed the stares of admiration when she spoke, truly speaking about things that she knew well of and was passionate about. Quinn was definitely made to be a medic, not fitting in any other department. "Anyways," Clarke continued, "the guard showed up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves some more time."
"They're going to kill more people," Monty inquired, "aren't they?"
Clarke didn't reply, giving them all the answers that they dreaded. All but Octavia seemingly as she jumped forward. "Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all." As the Blake girl rushed forward, Jasper followed after her, stating how she didn't mean it. Not even Kinsley could agree. Despite the council and their malicious acts of executing people for the smallest of reasons, there were people on the Ark who didn't deserve to die. A certain brunette popped into her mind, causing the girl to shake herself out of her thoughts and run to catch up with Jasper and Octavia.
Monty and Quinn stayed together whilst Finn gently grasped onto Clarke's arm, the blonde spinning to face him as they lightly spoke amongst themselves. Monty and Quinn absentmindedly glanced at each other knowingly when the two walked off, quietly laughing between the two. It felt good to Quinn as she started to grow more comfortable with the people she undertook this journey with. Now knowing she had people she could rely on whilst being on the ground, Quinn didn't feel as fearful as she did when they first landed.
"Damn," Jasper boasted, "I love Earth." Quinn raised her brows, following Jasper's line of sight to where Octavia was pulling off her pants over the edge of a cliff. Kinsley stood next to her, cheering her on. As Clarke called out, asking what she was doing, Octavia only glanced back, smirking at the others watching the scene beyond them. Without any verbal reply, Octavia leapt off the ledge. Kinsley only smiled at the action, whereas the others rushed forward worriedly.
Similar expressions laced their faces like Kinsley when they saw Octavia with her head poking out of the water, her eyes holding a humorous glint. "Octavia. We can't swim," Monty informed.
Octavia shrugged her shoulder. "No, but we can stand." As she said the words, Octavia stood where she was perfectly levelled with the water. Growing up in the Ark with no source of water to learn how to swim, none of them knew how. But now landing on the ground, allowed them to learn. Just as always, Clarke was concerned, noting how a river wasn't supposed to be here, which Finn only lightened the mood, telling the girl to start taking her clothes off.
Quinn didn't make any movements on taking off her clothes, not being interested in dipping in the water just yet, no matter how exciting it was. The others were quick to pull off their clothes, having difficulty containing the eagerness on getting to feel the water against their skin, have the waves run through their hair and clean off the dirt ridding their bodies. Jasper suddenly stopped his movements, squinting his eyes as he peered deeper into the body of water. "Octavia, get out of the water," the boy warned, catching everyone's attention.
They gazed at where he was staring, with fear laced in his eyes, seeing how the water was manipulated into waves as a large figure began hurdling towards Octavia. The Blake girl turned, her breath hitching at the sight of the creature fastly swimming towards her, and a scream ripped from her lungs as she was pulled underneath.
Quinn couldn't help the startled sound leaving her lips at the sight, a hand rushing to cover her mouth in surprise. Everyone's eyes were wide, holding onto their breaths as Octavia was nowhere to be seen. None of them moved, feeling paralysed with fear, being clueless about what to do in a situation like this. They didn't know what had grabbed Octavia, nor did they know how the creatures worked from Earth. They did not know how to help Octavia, who hadn't come out of the water since being pulled under.
To their fortune, Octavia suddenly burst to the surface, her yells deafening. They rushed to where she was dragged more to the right than where she had been taken, hurrying their movements. As they tried to form a plan, Finn ripped his jacket off his body until Clarke stopped his, gesturing to the rock of the ledge below them. "If we distract it, it might let her go. Help me." Finn, Monty, Kinsley and Clarke all aided in pulling the largest rock they could find, plummeting it down into the water.
As soon as it splashed, Clarke's plan had been set into motion. The creature didn't hesitate in releasing its jaw from Octavia's leg, swarming to where the rock had been dropped. Jasper called out to Octavia, ordering the girl to get to the shore, rushing over to her. Quinn and the others watched from where they stood, keeping their eyes diligently on the creature. As it turned around, its actions headed towards the two, everyone called out for them to hurry, warning them that it wasn't coming their way.
With Jasper's help, Octavia had been safely dragged to the shore, gasping and puffing out water that she must have swallowed when being pulled under. The others made it towards them, and Quinn caught sight of the injury, shaped like teeth marks, on Octavia's leg. Clarke was crouched by Octavia's side. "Clarke, rip some of Jasper's shirt and make it into a tourniquet. It'll stop the bleeding. At least until we get to Mount Weather and head back to the dropship."
Clarke nodded, following Quinn's words. Despite both being in the medical department, it was known that Quinn was a better healer than she was. Tightening the fabric around Octavia's leg, the girl pulled her saviour in a hug as they lay against the shore, panting as she thanked him from exhaustion. Monty clasped an arm against Jasper's shoulder. "Note to self: next time, save the girl."
Despite the dangerous situation they had just pulled themselves out of, the juveniles chuckled at Monty's comment, finding the good in bad circumstances.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
After the night passed, the teenagers were up and at again, being determined to get to Mount Weather. Octavia was moving slower than yesterday with the injury to her leg. Before they slept, Quinn made sure she had cleaned the wound to prevent any infection from occurring, hoping to stop the problem from getting worse.
Having gone back to the river where Octavia was almost mutilated, Finn had found a way to get across the form of water. He pulled on the vine he had fixed, his intentions on using it as a rope to swing themselves across the river, avoiding the horrid sea creature inside. Clarke, Monty, Octavia and Quinn glanced up from the bottom of the ledge at the other three as they continued to pull on the vine, testing its strength. "You wanted to go first," Clarke called out, her eyes pointing to Finn. "Now quit stalling. Mount Weather awaits."
When hearing Clarke's words, the spacewalked gazed at Kinsley. She raised her brows when she caught him staring at her, flaying her hands out in a surrendering motion. She breathlessly snickered as she spoke. "Don't look at me. I'm not going to defend you, Finn. Clarke's right." She pushed the vine closer to his figure. "Now go!" The West girl urged.
Jasper chuckled, peering at Finn and lowered his voice so only the other two could hear him. "Just hold on to the apogee, and you'll be fine," he reassured.
Finn puckered his brows, meeting Jasper's eyes. "The apogee, like the Indians, right?" Kinsley rolled her eyes at her friend's comment, waiting impatiently for when he was to go. Yet, Jasper planting a hand on the boy caused him to pause, his furrowed brows gesturing to the boy with goggles after they had fixed his mistake on the comment he made, continuing to be rushed by Clarke. "What?"
Finn and Kinsley glanced at where Jasper's eyes were set on, and Kinsley wasn't surprised when she met with the glowing face of Octavia Blake. "Trying to impress your future girlfriend?" She asked slyly, seeing the blush that slightly coated Jasper's face from her question. Finn nodded his head, passing the vine over at Jasper, seeing how the boy pulled before getting ready to swing.
"I knew there was a badass in there somewhere," Finn said after Jasper held the vine in his hands. He only nervously sniggered before taking a deep breath, his eyes switching from the top of the apogee to Octavia, who smiled brightly up at him. Supposedly, his tactics for impressing the girl were working. "Hey," Finn called out, seeing the hesitance splayed in Jasper's eyes, "it's okay to be afraid, Jasper."
The Jordan boy first peered at Finn and caught sight of Kinsley, who nodded reassuringly. She patted his shoulder, tilting her head calmly and narrowing her eyes. "Just don't fight it, and you got this." She dipped her eyes slightly towards Octavia, and Jasper followed her line of sight. "She knows you got this also. Don't want to let her down now, do you?" Jasper only shook his head, taking another deep breath, getting ready to jump.
"See you on the other side!" Finn and Kinsley chuckled at Jasper's comment, noticing his voice was filled with nerves. But to be brave, you had to be scared—you have to face your fears, and what other place to do that than Earth? Jasper took one last breath before he pounced, his legs lifting off the ground and swinging mid-air.
Everyone watched with amazement as Jasper swung, his cheers echoing as he continued to fly. Quinn held a hand over her mouth when she watched Jasper let go of the apogee, his body flying through the air and coming to a harsh landing on the other side. The others came together, seeing how Jasper appeared to be fine and stood with a massive smile plastered on his face. His hands reached up, screaming in celebration. "We are apogee!"
As soon as the words left Jasper, the others cheered alongside him, genuine beams lifting on their faces at their success in getting across the river. Getting one more step forward to Mount Weather. Jasper continued to jump up and down in celebration as Finn peered at Clarke, having a secure grip on the vine Jasper jumped off prior. "Let's go, Princess. You're up."
Jasper yelled encouragement on the other side, providing confidence for the blonde and everyone else. "We did it!" Jasper yelled, holding out a sign that was quite hard to read from the other's distance between them. "Mount Weather. Whoo!" Everyone took a breath and celebrated in accomplishment. Finally, after a day and a half of travel, they had made it to their destination.
Yet, all the happiness and joy going on between the group had come to an abrupt halt when a spear flew through the air, landing precisely in Jasper's chest. The boy flew back from the impact, and everyone's breath hitched, remaining silent. Clarke was the first to break, calling out the boy's name, followed by everyone else. Only Finn and Kinsley had the strength to pull the others away from the ledge, pulling them down of the ledge.
Quinn had bitter tears building as she glanced behind them, finding Jasper's weak composure. Yet, the rustling of the bushes and trees surrounding them cut her off. Clarke gulped. "We're not alone."
authors note.
this book is the first where i'm keeping track of how many words i've written altogether. just for three chapters, i've written 9564 words. i'm so proud of that number ‼️
besides that, the first interaction between quinn and bellamy is going to happen next chapter, and im very excited to get into their dynamic. they're going to be so confusing at first, oh my days.
anyways, thank you for reading, my lovelies ! don't forget to vote and comment if you do enjoy the story, mwah