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WHITE HAND
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THERE WAS A REASON WHY Jinny was feared on the Ark, and that was her ruthlessness. She was efficient and deadly, using people and condemning friend or foe alike. There was nothing that could stand in her way; she took them all out with gleeful malice. The Chancellor himself sanctioned all her security protocols and raids, because even he knew that her methods would ameliorate. Jinny had floated and arrested numerous people in her days as an Ark Guard, and that was the reason behind her easy promotions. Not because her father was the Commander or that her mother had been a Councilwoman. She was just that good.
The only people who had been exempted from her wrath were the Blakes. Aurora took her in and became the mother she lost, Octavia was the sister she never had, and Bellamy... was everything she ever needed and more. But in the end, she had still failed them.
"Hey, Jin. Jin, are you okay?"
Jinny opened her eyes tentatively, feeling the skin exposed to the acid fog tingle as she rubbed her face. It had only been a couple of seconds, compared to the last time she had doused her hand with the deadly cocktail. She groaned in reply and pushed herself up onto her elbows, looking around to find Octavia and Scott shining their flashlights around the dark interior they had escaped into. Bellamy offered her a hand, which she took to pull herself up to a stand. He helped dust the cobwebs and dust from her jacket.
She could feel something crawling up her hand and she looked down to find a spindly long-legged spider sitting there from the scant light. She whimpered loudly, quickly flinging the arachnid away from her and shuffling closer to Bellamy. The Ark never had things like these.
Scott chuckled at her and she glared at him indignantly as Bellamy rummaged around in the pack on her back. "Are you laughing at your commanding officer, Sergeant?"
"You're not reinstated yet so you're still not my commanding officer anymore," he replied. "And yes, I was. Earth's softened you up, Jinny."
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks. I'll remember that."
"In a good way though," he insisted. "Makes you more human."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she responded dryly as she switched on the search light on her rifle. "Where the hell are we anyway?"
"It's like a garage," Bellamy answered, flicking the beam from his flashlight in every direction. It illuminated a few cars that were parked in neat rows, a collection of dust resting heavily on top of their once glossy surfaces. The entire room was made of concrete, which would explain why it had survived almost a century sequestered away. From deep within its bowels, the sounds of squeaking rats and flapping bat wings resonated loudly around them.
"More like a tomb," Octavia said, sniffing the air and scrunching her face up in disgust. The air was mouldy and stale, with the unmistakeable added stench of death. She immediately traded her sword to her dominant hand.
"Hey, Jinny. Thanks for having my back out there," Scanlan told her quietly.
"No problem," she replied with a hint of a smile.
"Look, I'm sorry for getting you stuck in here," Bellamy said to the guards. "But we need to find an access door to Mount Weather."
"Hey, not so fast," Scott called to him sharply as he turned to venture down the garage.
"Sir, that fog will keep us pinned down for another—" Bellamy stopped short in surprise when he saw Scott unholstering his handgun and offering it to him. He had dropped his rifle outside during the acid fog attack. The thought prompted Jinny to re-adjust the strap of her rifle around her shoulder. Failing that, she still had her knife hidden in her boot.
"We'll split up," Scott told them. "Meet back here in fifteen." He nodded towards the gun and Bellamy took it. "Be safe."
"You too, Scott," Jinny said.
He gave a brief smile before turning around to the right side of the garage entrance with Scanlan and Barker on his heels.
"Come on, let's go," Bellamy urged, taking the opposite direction with his gun and flashlight held high, crossed at the wrists.
They started down the row of vehicles, carefully inspecting the deep shadows that held the possibility of lurking dangers. Jinny could hear the dripping of water from further inside the garage, and the faint acrid scent of the acid fog stole through cracks in the grim building. They peered curiously into several cars, finding nothing but old leftover possessions. Jinny saw a fluffy white teddy bear with a pink heart on its foot inside a small red car and she looked around furtively before slowly lifting the handle of the door.
There was a soft click before she pulled it open wide enough for her to climb onto the back seat. She reached forwards to grab the toy's arm when the glove compartment suddenly fell open with a loud snap. The sound was like an explosion through the buzzing silence that permeated the garage, almost sending her into a cardiac arrest. Jinny quickly grabbed the bear and got out of the car with her heart racing in her ears. Bellamy and Octavia looked over at her, and she attempted to hide the bear behind her back.
"Seriously?" Octavia reproached and Jinny shrugged, quickly stuffing the toy into her pack.
She caught up to them and resumed their search for some kind of entryway into Mount Weather. The chill and damp inside the garage reached deep into her bones. Bellamy signalled for them as he darted towards a corner where there was a light switch next to a door. Just as they were about to pull it open, they heard music start to play on the other side of the garage—a childish tune.
"That is super creepy!" Jinny hissed, pointing her gun in its direction. "I hate this place!"
"Could just be the others messing around," Bellamy said, before a strangled yell echoed around the garage. He exchanged a concerned glance with Octavia and they started back from where they came from.
"You're going to the creepy music?" Jinny asked in disbelief. "Do you wanna be killed?!"
"You wanna hold my hand?" Octavia snickered, turning around to her with an outstretched palm.
"I would but I wouldn't be able to shoot if I did," she replied, hurriedly catching up to them. "And I am going to shoot the first thing that jumps out, I swear to God."
"I can't believe the almighty Commander is afraid of the dark and creepy crawlies," Octavia muttered in amusement.
Bellamy shushed them with a finger over his lips. The music grew louder with each step they took but there was the unmistakeable sound of something ripping apart. "Do you hear that?"
"Scott? Scanlan?" Jinny called. They took cover behind an old SUV, peering around its headlights to the source of the music. There was no reply so they moved forwards, back hunched low with their knees bent. Bellamy stopped and knelt down when he spotted a discarded rifle, stuffing his torchlight and handgun into the pockets of his jacket. Jinny picked up the shock baton lying next to it and clipped it onto her belt.
"Bell, what's that?!" Octavia whispered as he picked up the rifle. There was a sound, like something wet being shifted around, and her expression grew wary. Jinny swung her rifle to where she thought the noise was coming from, illuminating the hunched figures of two ragged men with grotesque faces and hands dug into the flesh of Barker's stomach. "Reapers!" Octavia exclaimed in recognition.
They immediately started to sprint towards them with harsh, gargled voices crying from their throats. Jinny and Bellamy opened fire immediately, sending bullets tearing through their chests, ending their existences in mere seconds. Jinny panted slightly, the chill from before already melting into a clammy warmth from their exertions. She felt her gag reflex threaten to send bile up her throat when she looked towards Barker's mutilated body. They'd been eating him, she realised in horror.
"O," Bellamy murmured lowly. "Take this." He handed her the handgun from his pocket and she took it with some distaste.
She held it up high with one hand, the other still gripping on tightly to the hilt of her sword. The children's carol continued to blare incessantly as they took careful steps forward again. Soon, they could hear grunts and the squelching of flesh in front of them. Bellamy shone the beam from his rifle onto another Reaper bent over Scott's body. His arm was bent in an abnormal angle and there was a gaping hole in his chest. Bellamy cocked his rifle ready to fire but Octavia grabbed his jacket. "Don't!" she said quickly.
Jinny frowned as the Reaper turned his head towards them and she saw his face. It was Lincoln, blood smeared across his lips, staining the front of his thick tattered clothing, with white finger-painted lines running down the side of his face. Judging from his unmarred skin, he hadn't been a Reaper for long, but the sight of him holding Scott's shriveled heart to his lips was enough to give her nightmares for a while.
"Lincoln!" Octavia called, the relief in her voice drowned by fear. The man started to stand on his feet, feral snarls falling from bared teeth. His eyes were wild and fully dilated as he glared at them, but they held no ounce of recognition. "Lincoln, it's me! It's Octavia!"
He continued to advance. "O..." Bellamy started.
In a heartbeat, Lincoln had dashed forwards and grabbed hold of Octavia. She let out a short scream as he threw her to the side, her body slamming against the hood of a car. The unsettled dust soared into the air around them and Jinny sputtered from inhaling the broom.
"Octavia!" Bellamy shouted, his gun still trained uncertainly on Lincoln.
Jinny recovered herself and immediately dropped to the ground before the man could lunge at her next, kicking her leg out in a sweeping arch to trip him over. Lincoln landed heavily onto his back and Jinny was just grabbing her rifle when he roared furiously. Before she could even process what had happened, he had jumped and pinned her down beneath him. Her eyes widened in terror at the savage ferocity imprinted on his once amiable face, his hands wrapped tightly around her throat. She remembered the knife cutting through the thin layer of skin above her eye, the thin scar that she would carry for the rest of her life.
A gunshot rang from Octavia's handgun and Lincoln released his grip as he doubled over in pain, then Bellamy swung his rifle into the back of the man's head. He fell heavily onto the side and Jinny quickly pushed herself up. Bellamy helped her to her feet once again, making sure that she was fine, before grabbing Octavia's arm next. The girl stumbled, her weak knees causing her to sink to the ground if it weren't for Bellamy holding her up. "Come on, get up," he said, voice straining. "We need to go somewhere safe!"
They ran away, deeper into the parking garage, until Bellamy gestured to an old station wagon. He pulled open the back door and frantically waved for them to get in. Octavia climbed onto the back seat first, followed by Jinny, and Bellamy closed the door with a loud snap behind him in his haste. They clambered into the spacious boot of the vehicle and panted heavily with a thin sheen of sweat slicking their skin.
"He's a Reaper!" Octavia gasped, her breaths hitching in her throat as she threw her hands in the air in disbelief. "How is it even possible?! He just looked right through me—"
Jinny placed a comforting hand on her knee when there was the sound of glass breaking nearby. Bellamy shushed her just as Lincoln's figure ambled up beside the car. He grunted loudly, jerking to the side and looking into their window.
Octavia pulled away from the glass, drawing closer to Jinny as they watched blood and drool drip down Lincoln's unkempt face. Bellamy curled his arms around them protectively. "Did he see us?" Octavia whispered.
"I don't know," he replied.
Lincoln made a whooping bark-like sound, head twitching to the side, before he slapped a wet blood soaked hand against the car window and left. Octavia craned her neck, her eyes following him as he walked away with a heartbreakingly anxious expression on her face.
"Hey, ssh." Bellamy rubbed her arm soothingly. "We'll get him back, I promise."
Jinny leaned her head against the side, inhaling and exhaling a deep weary breath. She hoped that Raven and Clarke were having an easier time with the radio tower than they were. Soon, Lincoln's low growls and footsteps disappeared into the darkness and they re-positioned themselves more comfortably.
"What are we gonna do?" Octavia asked, sitting cross-legged, and suddenly Jinny was hit by an image of a younger Octavia sitting on the floor of her cabin as her older sibling and friend arranged a game of chess for her to play. Even back then to that moment, she would do anything for the girl.
"We shock and awe him," Jinny said, exchanging glances with Bellamy as her fingertips touched the handle of her baton.
He nodded. "Don't worry, we got a plan."
Octavia looked between them, her eyes drifting to Jinny's belt before realisation dawned on her. Once they were certain that the coast was clear, and there were no other Reapers lurking about, Jinny climbed over the backseats and slowly opened the door. They silently hopped out one by one, weapons ready by their sides.
"Sure you're ready for this?" Bellamy asked his sister and Octavia nodded stiffly. "Okay, draw him near, we'll do the rest."
She drew a sharp breath before stepping out into the open, handgun raised cautiously. Jinny and Bellamy crept towards the back of the parking space, hiding behind the headlights of the station wagon in the shadows. She handed Bellamy her shock baton as she drew the knife from her boot.
"Lincoln!" Octavia called loudly. Indistinguishable clamouring erupted from nearby as she continued to shout his name. "Can you hear me?!"
A moan resonated from the space opposite them, and they could see Lincoln shambling forwards. He picked up his pace once he caught sight of Octavia, quickly trotting in her direction. Bellamy darted down the other side of the wagon just as Octavia backed into the wall. "I'm sorry," she whispered to Lincoln.
Jinny sprung from her hiding spot, slashing her knife in front of Lincoln and forcing him to take a step back. Bellamy rounded the front of the car, yelling loudly to gain the man's attention as the electric blue charge of the baton danced and crackled in the dark. Lincoln turned around just as Bellamy jabbed the rod into his neck, resulting in his agonised screams. Octavia covered her mouth with the back of her hand to stop herself from crying out. Lincoln crashed against the wall before falling to his knees, then thrashed against the ground as his body convulsed, and it took a full thirty seconds to finally render him unconscious.
Octavia exhaled sharply. "Now what?"
"Now we take him home," Bellamy replied.
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © KAYE CEE
DO NOT STEAL, COPY OR TAKE ANY PART OF THIS WORK.
[ author's note ]
poor lincoln why must you suffer like this.
btw no spoilers but i have so much feels for bellamy right now (tbh when do i not) [plays jim james on repeat]