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BONES BREAK
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SHE WAS SENT TO DESTROY, the rain drops trailed down her skin and stung her eyes as if they were reprimanding her. Her body was a weapon crafted from the foundations of molten metal and cracked earth. Fear was a product in the eyes of her victims, a specialty that had been honed for the past seven years.
"Talk, you son of a bitch," she said icily as she pressed the needle deeper into the base of the man's skull. The muscles in his back and arms were stretched taut as he gritted his teeth with unwavering silence.
"Jin, maybe-" Bellamy started but she threw him a heated glare that made him stop. Miller watched with trepidation, fidgeting uneasily in the corner of the room.
"I like silent types, you know?" she went on. "So much more satisfying to hear them scream."
She jabbed the tips of her fingers into the man's side, a move aimed to bruise the internal organs, and the man cried out sharply. A newfound understanding broke through the surface of his previous tranquility; she was no stranger to pain.
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"How long are we supposed to wait?" Jasper whispered.
"We'll find out," Finn replied.
"Jasper, stop sweating so much, it's gross!" Jinny hissed next to the boy.
"Excuse me, I never asked you to touch me," he turned his head in her direction.
"Why are you lying so close to me?" she grumbled again.
"Will you two be quiet?" Finn snapped.
"Is this even going to work?" Monroe asked.
"No, it won't," Bellamy lifted the top of the parachute and looked around. "There's no fog."
One by one, they popped their heads out of the makeshift shelter that would have been a poor attempt at safety. Jinny sighed in relief, not wanting to find out whether Finn's idea would have actually worked or not. They stood up, quickly taking a glance around the woods to find that they were in the clear.
"Maybe it was a false alarm?" Finn suggested.
Their heads snapped to the side instantly when they saw movement from between the tree lines. The unmistakable shape of a man covered in thick furs darted away from them.
"They're coming back," Bellamy said.
"I think he's alone," Jasper whispered.
"He doesn't seem to be concerned about us," Jinny took a step forward.
"Now can we run?" Monroe asked hopefully.
"I don't think he sees us." Bellamy had his eyes trained on the Grounder and the look on his face matched Jinny's. "I'm going after him."
"Then what?" Finn asked. "Kill him?"
"No," the man replied. "Catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is, then kill him."
"How do we know he's not leading us into another trap?" Jasper asked nervously.
"Because we'll be the ones trapping him," Jinny responded.
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The storm continued to beat down on them in a merciless deluge, banging and howling against the side of the dropship. Static could be heard from downstairs as Abby's crackling voice continued to guide Clarke on treating Finn. On a different day, she would have been ecstatic at the fact that they had finally contacted the Ark. Now only dried sweat and blood stained Jinny's hands as she sat down by the side, looking through an old leather bound book.
Sprawling charcoal decorated its yellowing pages, illustrating various landscapes and objects. She stopped at a portrait of Octavia, impressed by its likeness. The Grounder strained against his restraints with a grunt of disapproval, earning a glance from the girl.
"He likes to draw," she said, looking up at the others. "It'd be a shame if he lost a finger or two."
"We're trying to get information, not mutilate him," Bellamy told her, pausing from his interrogation.
"He didn't seem to mind when he almost gouged my eye out and stabbed Finn with a knife," her voice raised angrily with each word she spat out.
"Okay, Jin, calm down." He held a hand out to her as if that would do the trick.
"Hey, check this out," Miller called as he picked up a small rectangular tin in his hand. Bellamy went over to him and crouched down to examine the various vials wedged inside. "What is all this stuff?"
Jinny joined them and bent down to pick a small glass bottle the length of her thumb and held it up to the light. The contents of crushed herbs shifted from side to side as she shook it.
"Medicine," she answered. "Maybe even poison. We wouldn't know which."
Bellamy turned his attention to the book instead, opening it to the page Jinny had left off. He stared at the drawing of his sister before his eyes flicked up with a withering glare at the captured man. He thumbed through the pages, complimenting on the quality of the drawings, before stopping on a page filled with rows of lines. An illustration of the dropship surrounded by their crude walls was next to it.
"It's our camp," he said. "Guessing if I counted all those marks, it'll add up to 103. Ten are crossed out; that's how many people we've lost."
He snapped the book shut and threw it back to the floor before getting up to approach the Grounder. Miller and Drew stood up as well, their eyes trained on Bellamy expectantly.
"You've been watching us ever since we got here," he said. The beat up man continued to remain reticent, eyes stubbornly downcast to avoid their gazes.
"He's not the only one." Jinny stomped her feet on the ground and jumped upright. "There was another kid, he had markings on his face like a wolf. I think he usually spies from the trees, reckon he'll try to save his sorry ass?"
"We'll keep a look out for him too," Bellamy stated. That finally earned the Grounder's attention.
"C'mon," Jinny smiled sweetly as she took a step forward. She placed a hand over the man's jaw, tracing her fingers along it to a point halfway between the chin and ear. She felt the small nodule of cartilage that housed the hypoglossal nerve bundle and squeezed it tightly.
The Grounder gave out a sharp yell of pain.
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"Octavia!" Bellamy rushed forwards to his sister who was kneeling on the ground. A thick set of chains were wound around her wrists as Bellamy picked up the key she had dropped to unlock her. Jinny stepped around the Grounder that was lying on the floor of the cave, looking around for any other signs of trouble.
"Monroe, watch the entrance!" Bellamy said before Octavia launched herself into his arms once she was freed. "Hey, it's okay. You're okay..."
The younger girl pulled away and turned to Jinny, practically attacking her with a bone crushing embrace. She had to chuckle at Octavia's relief as she let go and stumbled towards Jasper for another hug.
"How did you guys find me?" she asked.
"Followed him." Jasper pointed at the Grounder.
"We should go. Now. Before he wakes up," Octavia told them.
"He's not gonna wake up," Bellamy said, walking to the side and picking up a spear.
"Bellamy, stop!" the girl grabbed his sleeve. "He didn't hurt me, let's just go!"
"They started this," he insisted. "Finn, move."
The boy was crouched over the unconscious man, looking at the horn that was attached to the Grounder's belt. Its tip was wrapped in what looked like snake leather with engravings around the top that were completely foreign to them.
"Fog horn," Finn said.
Suddenly, the Grounder shot up and there was the sharp sound of a blade being drawn. Finn grunted loudly in shock and pain as the man stabbed a dagger into his side before quickly tripping Bellamy over. Jinny instantly tackled the Grounder back down, but his hand managed to grab hold of another knife which he swiped at her face. She felt a deep cut on the skin of her right eye, and cried out at the sting. The Grounder took advantage of her momentary weakness and pinned her down instead, driving the knife dangerously close to her eye again.
Bellamy knocked him to the side and into the wall, the both of them scuffling before the Grounder overpowered him. He grabbed the spear and held the point above Bellamy's throat who was straining to stop it from piercing him.
"Stop! That's my brother!" Octavia shouted as she held a hand to Finn's wound.
Jinny struggled to get up with a hand over her eye, feeling sticky warm blood running down the side of her face. Then Jasper swung his metal rod into the back of the Grounder's head and the large man finally went down.
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"Enough!" Octavia yelled over the grunts that filled the top level.
Jinny paced around them as she watched Bellamy beat the Grounder with the metal buckle of a chair strap over and over again for the past ten minutes or so. It was obvious that things had gotten desperate as Finn laid dying from a poisoned dagger downstairs.
"He outlasted my methods and not even brute force will get him to talk," she scoffed. "I don't know whether to be impressed by his tenacity or stupidity."
"Please just stop!" Octavia begged again.
"Clarke! He's getting worse!" Raven shouted from the bottom.
"We're running out of time," Clarke went over and crouched down in front of the Grounder, her fingers touching the assortment of vials scattered before them. "Which one? Which one is it?!"
Bellamy bent over and leaned against his knees, breathing heavily from his exertions. Jinny stopped pacing but continued to glare hard at the chained man. She could still feel the fresh cut throbbing against her eye, the skin swollen and torn.
"For God's sake," she stomped over and delivered another kidney jab to the man, who bent over and spat out a glob of blood. "Answer the question before I break every bone in your body!"
"Jinny, no!" Octavia protested and Bellamy had to pull her away.
"If you tell us, they'll stop," Clarke tried to reason. "Please, just tell us which is the antidote and they'll stop this."
There was a moment where the Grounder continued to keep his silence, eyes flickering towards Octavia every so often. Bellamy threw the belt strap onto the floor in a rage and picked up a makeshift knife made up from a large sharpened bolt.
"If this doesn't work, then maybe this will," he said. "Clarke, you don't have to be here for this."
"I'm not leaving until I get that antidote," the blonde told him.
Bellamy took a breath before taking a step to the Grounder. "Last chance," he warned, pausing for a beat before plunging the knife into the palm of the man's hand. There was a strangled whimper as he tried to withstand the pain, every single muscle in his body tensed, but tremors still managed to break through to ravage his arm.
"What's taking so long?!" Raven demanded as she climbed up the ladder to join them. "He stopped breathing."
"What?!" Clarke cried but Raven stopped her from heading back down.
"He started again but the next time he might not," she said.
"He won't tell us anything!" Clarke exclaimed in frustration.
The brunette looked at the Grounder before glancing around. "Wanna bet?" she asked before heading towards the electrical wires that lined the sides of the dropship.
"What are you doing?" Bellamy asked as she yanked the cables out of their sockets.
"Showing him something new," the girl said as she rubbed the exposed ends to hot-wire them. The Grounder started in surprise and tried to back away from her. Then she pressed the wires into the man's torso, causing him to scream out in pain as his body convulsed violently.
"Which one is it? Come on!"
The Grounder looked around the room in panic, his fear now heightened to a whole new level. Octavia pressed a hand against her mouth in horror as Raven electrocuted the man once more. His cries of pain echoed all around them, taking deep shuddering breaths from the agonising current that seared through his cells. Jinny had never known that Raven would be capable of doing something like this; her love for Finn must run deeper than the Earth's core.
"He's all I have!"
"No more!!" Octavia suddenly yelled, holding up the dagger in her hand.
"He's letting Finn die!" Raven shouted at her.
Jinny gasped out loud as she saw Octavia bring the blade to her arm and cut a deep line into her skin. Blood immediately pooled out and ran down her arm in a thick rivulet.
"Octavia, no!" Bellamy cried in dismay.
"What the hell did you do?!" Jinny sprung forwards to grab her but the girl pushed her away angrily.
"He won't let me die," she said as tears dripped down her chin. She went forwards, pulling sharply away from Bellamy's outstretched hands and sinking to the floor. The Grounder looked down at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
Octavia rapped the tip of the dagger on the metal floor in front of a vial. "This one?" she looked up. When there was no reply, she went on to the next one. "Come on."
To their astonishment, the Grounder nodded his head to the side at the furthest vial on his left. Octavia picked it up, its contents a clear yellowish liquid, and showed it to him. "This one?" she asked breathlessly and he gave a nod.
"Here." She quickly passed the vial to Clarke who thanked her hastily, before darting back down to the lower level to treat Finn.
Bellamy slowly made his way forwards and touched Octavia's shoulders. She jerked away from him. "Don't touch me!" she growled.
He stepped back and glanced at Jinny who looked back with utter bafflement written on her face. His hand reached out for hers and grasped hold of it, more for his comfort than her own. She couldn't believe how low they were all willing to fall.
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[ author's note ]
Lincoln is a champ and I need to purge my internet history now before people think I'm a psychotic murderer. I'm kinda impressed with myself for squeezing an entire episode into one chapter lmao but it was literally all about Lincoln's "interrogation" anyway. And yup, Jinny is gonna sport a badass scar on her face. Is she intimidating enough now??