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VEHEMENT REPULSION FILLED HER as he grabbed hold of her arm once more and Jinny pulled the knife she stole from her pocket. She pointed it threateningly at his neck, glaring daggers into his eyes, but his grip on her arm didn't falter in the slightest. In fact, Bellamy tightened his hold on her, fingers digging uncomfortably into her skin to leave marks.
"Touch me one more time and I'll skin you," she said menacingly. "Now let go of me."
"You need to gather people," he said through gritted teeth with an edge to his voice. "Weapons."
"Whatever the hell you want," Jinny sneered.
"Ow!"
They turned in sync when they heard Octavia's cry of pain. Whatever animosity that lied between them dissipated instantly underneath their shared protective instinct as they started worriedly towards the girl at the same time. Bellamy crouched down in front of Octavia as she rolled her right pants leg up to reveal the wounds on her thigh; they looked like jagged bite marks.
"You!" Jinny snapped her fingers at Atom. "Get me a clean cloth and some water. Now!"
The boy ran off to do as she ordered and she turned her attention back to Octavia. Bellamy was frowning as he examined the wound. It didn't seem deep and the marks had already scabbed over, but it was still causing Octavia some discomfort.
"What happened?" Bellamy asked.
"There was a lake and I jumped in," she replied simply. "Something grabbed me from under the water."
"That was reckless. I never should have let you go." He shook his head as if he was disappointed with himself.
"What—no!" Octavia protested. "Anything could have happened!"
Atom came back with a piece of cloth and tin of water, passing them over to Jinny. She crouched down next to Bellamy and started to clean the wound. He stopped her, taking the cloth from her hand instead, and she watched as he tended to his sister with gentle care.
"It was dangerous," Jinny said, turning her eyes back to Octavia. "Look at this, it could have bitten your entire leg off."
"Ugh!" The girl flinched at the mental image.
"What the hell was it anyway?" Bellamy asked as he started to tie the cloth around her thigh.
She shrugged. "I don't know. The others said it looked like a giant snake."
"You could have been killed," he told her.
"She would have been if Jasper hadn't jumped in to save her." They directed their gazes to Clarke as she returned with a bag of supplies. The blonde looked like she was ready to venture into the wilds again with Wells and Finn right behind her.
"Are you guys going after Jasper?" Octavia asked, tightening the makeshift bandage. "I'm coming too."
"No." Bellamy held her down while pushing himself to stand. "No way. Not again."
"He's right," Clarke agreed. "Your leg's just gonna slow us down. I'm here for you."
She turned her gaze to Bellamy and Wells frowned. "Clarke, are you okay?" he asked uncertainly.
"I heard you have a gun," she stated.
Bellamy lifted the hem of his shirt to expose the butt of the firearm tucked in his pants. Everyone glanced at it and Jinny frowned. Only the Commander and Major were given guns on the Ark. The law explicitly forbade unnecessary force and they used shock batons instead to keep people down. Unless there was a crisis, Guards didn't use guns. Where had Bellamy managed to get his hands on one?
"Good." Clarke nodded, then started down the path. "Follow me."
"Why would I do that?" Bellamy asked tauntingly and the girl turned around.
"Because you want them to follow you." She raised an eyebrow with a tilt of her head at the other boys standing nearby. "And right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared."
Bellamy inhaled deeply in consideration before slipping a jacket on. "Murphy, you're coming with me."
"Hey, I'll go too." Jinny stood up.
"No, I need you to stay here," Clarke said, taking a step forwards to touch her arm. "You're important too. I need you to help Monty, he's in the dropship. Talk to him."
She blinked at the girl, glancing at Wells then to Bellamy before speaking slowly. "Clarke, are you sure?"
"Positive," she replied with a nod and managed a small smile. "We'll be fine."
"Atom," Bellamy called. "My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?"
"I don't need a babysitter when I have Jin," Octavia responded coolly.
"Jin has other things to do." He gave the woman in question a significant look.
"Have fun, I hope you get eaten by the Grounders," Jinny smiled scornfully.
He ignored her and turned to Atom. "Anybody touches my sister answer to me, got it?" Turning around, he motioned to the rest. "Let's go."
Octavia made to follow after him but Atom pulled her back none too gently. She shrugged his hands off angrily. "I'm gonna make your life a living hell," she told him before stalking off.
Jinny sighed as she watched the group leave before making her way towards the dropship to find Monty. Whoever he was. She realised she had no idea who Clarke was referring to and scratched the back of her head in exasperation. The woman stomped up the ramp, pushing the parachute out of her way and bumped into someone standing by the entrance. Miller started and looked at her. "Oh, hey, Jinny," he greeted.
"Who the hell is Monty?" she demanded.
"I'm Monty!" The Asian boy on the other side of the ship waved. She recognised his face as the kid with Goggles that Finn had dragged along to Mount Weather.
"Oh," she intoned. "So... what did Clarke ask you to do?"
"She said food and communications." He gave a small shrug. "I was telling Miller that there was a blueberry patch nearby to scavenge but I'm still not sure on comms."
Jinny's lips curved into a beam. "I might have a solution."
"What's that?" The boy went over to her eagerly. "Did you manage to salvage something?"
"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "C'mon, I'll show ya!"
They left Miller and climbed up to the top level where she left her bag of miscellaneous components. Monty brought along a lamp and they sat underneath the window as Jinny upended her bag onto the floor. Metal bits and bobs fell out, along with the motherboard that she had been rebuilding, and a few wristbands that seemed intact but were still dead.
"So I've been thinking of making a telegraph, yeah?" She glanced at him, moving parts around to show him what she had collected. "I'm almost done with the circuit board, I just need to find a way to solder the microprocessor in. I got some stuff to make the switching device and there's some wires to connect 'em all but... the problem is that I can't get a working wristband to transmit back to the Ark."
She looked at him hopefully. "Think you could fix one maybe?"
Monty picked up a metal band and examined it closely. He hummed out loud in thought, checking the sensory needles before turning it around to look at the blank screen that housed the transmitter chip.
"I don't know..." he started slowly. "Looks like it activates when it comes in contact with electrons. Maybe the blood flow keeps it magnetised and working."
Jinny sighed and leaned back against the wall, throwing a piece of screw down to the floor with a small clatter. There was no way that they'd be able to get a functioning wristband to hook up to. She groaned in dismay, then started in surprise when someone climbed through the hatch. Octavia turned around just when there was a yelp from below and a heavy thud as someone fell down. Atom came through the opening, taking a seat on the ledge.
"Nobody's bitch, huh?" Octavia asked him. "Maybe one of these days you'll realise, you can't control me."
"You know that guy you were with..." He looked down briefly before turning his eyes back to her. "Did you know he was in for murder? Know something funny? I'm actually protecting him from you."
He paused before starting back down the ladder, grabbing the hatch and closing it after him. Octavia cried out and rushed forwards, slamming her hands against the seal. There was an audible click as the exterior lock engaged.
"What are you doing?!" she yelled.
"Consider yourself controlled!" Atom's voice called back, slightly muffled through the metal.
"Is this all you got?!" She banged her fists against the hatch again. "They locked me under the floor for sixteen years just for being born! This is nothing!"
Monty cleared his throat loudly and Octavia turned sharply to look at them. The boy pointed at the wristband in his hand and Jinny grinned in amusement. "You wanna keep it down?" he asked. "We're trying to concentrate here."
Octavia sighed and trudged over to them. She took a seat on the floor next to Jinny and pulled her knees up to her chest. The older woman reached forwards and ruffled her hair affectionately as she pouted slightly. Jinny had always treated the girl like her own sister, and the attachment remained to that day.
"What are you guys doing?" Octavia asked, looking at the assortment of technical equipment littering the floor.
"Tryin' to reach the Ark with what we got." Jinny gestured. "And as you can see, what we got sucks."
The girl breathed out a small laugh before looking at her with curious eyes. Jinny leaned back against the wall, expecting the onslaught of questions that Octavia no doubt had. She'd been trying to avoid the conversation for as long as she could. Despite the fact that the girl was the closest person she currently had, the inevitable topic remained off limits.
"Do you hate Bell that much for getting you arrested?" she asked. "You guys were so close."
"I'm not mad at getting arrested," Jinny replied. "I probably had it coming anyway."
"Why didn't they float you?" Octavia continued to ask. "Why'd they send you to solitary instead?"
Monty blinked and narrowed his eyes at Jinny. "Wait, you're older than eighteen?"
"Hmm?" She averted her gaze to the ceiling.
"C'mon, how'd you get off the hook?" Octavia pushed her knee.
"Alright, alright!" Jinny sat up straight and sighed, considering them with a serious gaze. "Don't tell anyone else about this, okay?"
She waited for the teens to nod their heads and they leaned forwards to listen attentively. The woman paused for a moment as if she was internally debating with herself, brows pulled together in a display of deliberation. Her eyes flickered between the two of them as they waited with bated breath for what she had to say.
"I promised I'd teach the Chancellor how to brew his own moonshine."
"Jinny!" Octavia exclaimed in disbelief and Monty started laughing. "Stop joking around!"
"I make really good moonshine though!" she protested.
"Really? I can never get the alcohol content the right way I want," Monty started.
"Monty!" Octavia looked at him, scandalised. "Don't distract her, I'm trying to get her to spill!"
"It's all about the temperature, Monty boy," Jinny grinned and the girl beside her groaned in frustration. "Hey... temperature..."
"What?" Monty frowned at the reflective expression on her face.
"I've been ripping those bands off in front of a fire each time," she pointed. "Maybe the exposure to heat makes them malfunction."
"The needles are definitely temperature sensitive." He nodded thoughtfully. "That could be the case."
"I need to find myself a little lamb to—wait..." Jinny paused halfway from getting up and her lip twisted at the side. "Atom locked the hatch. I guess I have to go through the window."
"Wait, you can use mine!" Octavia said, raising her hand in the air.
They looked at her in surprise. "You sure?" Monty asked.
"Yeah, go ahead." She held her arm out towards him.
"You do it, Monty." Jinny waved and leaned back against the wall again. The boy took hold of Octavia's wrist and started to fiddle around with the device using a screwdriver. He was trying to find a way to get it off without severely damaging the sensitive transmitters.
"It must be hard for you to stay behind when Jasper's out there," Octavia suddenly said.
"He may not be my real brother," Monty told her. "But he's always been there. Every memory I have, there's Jasper." He paused in loosening the bolts on the band and looked at her. "I should be out there."
"You're not gonna cry, are you?" she asked with a teasing pout.
"Shut up," he told her with a small smile and Octavia giggled. "You really sure about this? Your brother won't approve of you helping us contact the Ark."
The girl sighed. "He's not my keeper. Let's just do this. Let's do it."
She nodded at him in confirmation and Monty dropped the screwdriver to pick up a flat piece of metal. He turned her hand around and fitted the bar between her wrist and the band. Octavia started crying out in pain, fist clenched tightly as Monty forced the device to snap open.
"Ow!" she yelled, cradling her forearm. "Son of a—"
"I'm sorry," Monty apologised before quickly picking up the wristband to examine it under the lamp light. Each of them leaned in to take a closer look as the sensory needles continued to emit a bright blue glow before fizzing out. They let out a collective sigh of disappointment.
"Dead," he muttered. "Damn it."
"This is ridiculous!" Jinny messed her dark hair up in frustration. "Who built these things anyway?! Ugh!"
"If you can't even take it off, how are you supposed to turn it into a radio?" Octavia asked.
Monty bit his lip then looked up at the sound of the hatch opening. Atom climbed up the ladder and looked at them before heading back down. Jinny jumped to her feet and stretched her arms high above her head while groaning loudly. She could never sit in one place for too long, it made her restless and want to do something highly unhealthy. Jinny contemplated on going for a walk through the woods to clear her mind, and hopefully come across something to stab her knife into.
"Finally. I'm gonna get some fresh air," she announced. "I'll see you guys later."
Octavia sprang up and caught the hem of her jacket in time as she walked past. "Jin, wait!" she called and the woman turned around inquisitively. Octavia peered up at her in earnest, eyes wide and probing. "Tell me why you hate my brother so much."
Jinny exhaled softly and dropped her gaze to the floor. Octavia waited impatiently as she debated with herself with an unreadable guise, before finally returning her attention back to her. There was something resembling regret in Jinny's eyes as she spoke.
"He broke my heart."
Octavia's fingers slipped from her jacket and Jinny made her way to the hatch, leaving both teenagers staring after her with their lips parted in shock.
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