sozza for the delay, I was literally dying of an abscess and then I idk what happened tbh.
please upload this time, kmn.
bold= Swedishhh
E I G H T E E N | BLACKMAIL
In all of her life, among every hurdle she had ever encountered, even her brief moments of happiness, Carter had always felt at least a sliver of control of her life, even if it may have been just an illusion. But as she sat on the cold, metallic floor in the confines of her new home, she had never felt so useless, like an extra in her own story.
Everyone seemed to be doing something to help her father revolt, all except for her. Her head rested tiredly against the wall, her feet tucked up as she hugged her knees. Inside the cell she was put in, morale was virtually non-existent, the Grounders barely spoke, and if they did in was in their own language to each other, their voices hushed with defeat. Even Rae barely had the motivation to move from the corner she had tucked herself into. At first, the silence unnerved Carter and she almost any excuse to speak to her peers, but eventually, she grew used to it, spending more time in her thoughts than out of them.
Running a hand over the mass of tangles that was her hair, her head lolled to the side, glancing at Lincoln with a perplexed frown, "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?"
He was silent for a long time, and just as Carter thought he wasn't going to reply, he sighed deeply. "I don't know."
"You know, now that I've been outside and breathed real air, I have absolutely no idea how I spent most of my life staring at the same walls," Carter snorted humorlessly, looking around the very walls, the very place she grew up. "It's actually kind of sad, really."
"It is." Lincoln agreed, nodding his head.
Carter narrowed her eyes into a mock glare as she turned to look at her new friend, "You're not supposed to agree, you know."
Despite his obvious ashen mood, he managed to smile though it didn't quite reach his eyes, "I'm only telling the truth, isn't that what girls usually want?"
"Octavia might," Carter pointed out, "But I prefer to be shrouded in lies if it's for the sake of my ego, thank you." Lincoln laughed at that, it was airy and somewhat forced but it still lifted the atmosphere if not a little. Just as Carter went to correct herself, to tell Lincoln she was actually joking, the sound of heavy footsteps and bated breath caught her attention and she snapped her head towards the cell just in time to Ren gripping onto the bars for support as he gasped for breath.
"Oh my god I shouldn't have ran..." He rushed out, lifting himself up properly to face all of the eyes which were suddenly focused on him. He quickly found the dull green eyes he was looking for and tried his best to catch his breath before he spoke again. "Carter, the Farm Squad are coming for you," He all but blurted, looking uncharacteristically panicked. "Your dad is still planning, but they're coming for you now and I don't know what for, I only heard that they were getting you."
"Wait, what?" She was stood up now, walking towards Ren with a frown. "Why?"
"I literally just said I don't know why," Ren spoke with a hint of annoyance, "Just go along with it, okay? Do what they ask you and I'll find you the moment I know whats happening." Despite being confused beyond all means, Carter nodded regardless and Ren pushed himself away from the bars. "I have to go before they catch me, please don't do anything stupid." Without another word, Ren was off again, gone before Carter had a chance to reply. With furrowed brows, she turned around to see both Rae and Lincoln were looking at her with cocked eyebrows and in return, she simply shrugged. Not even a moment later two guards were in the room, unlocking the door and pulling her out before anyone else had a chance to take advantage of the unlocked door.
Carter pulled at her arms, trying to shake the grip of one of the guards but it was to no avail. "Hey look at me, do I look like a pack a lot of muscle in these sticks I have for arms?" She snapped as they dragged her out into the corridor, she didn't give them time to respond. "No, the answer is no so you don't have to hold me so damn hard."
Neither guards loosened their grips.
Begrudgingly, Carter obeyed what Ren had said and she didn't fight, even though she had no idea what was happening or why they decided they wanted her. However, just because she agreed to comply didn't mean she was going to make it easy for them, and without warning she suddenly turned into a dead weight, her boots dragging along the floor, squeaking every so often.
"You either walk, or I'll give you a reason to not use your legs." The guard on her right growled, his face contorted with concentrated anger.
Carter resisted the urge to snort and instead just rolled her eyes, "There is literally nothing you can do to my legs that I haven't already done myself."
She was just lucky enough that her arm was still in a cast and somewhat hidden beneath Bellamy's jacket that the guard couldn't see it. She shuddered at the thought of him applying any sort of pain to it. Carter was lucky enough that it didn't prove to be as much of a hindrance as she initially thought and she could still land a sweet punch on Pike and not suffer the consequences.
She was pulled from her thoughts when they approached a door. The second guard put in a code, one Carter didn't get the chance to see and the door opened, the first guard taking the opportunity to roughly push her past the threshold. The engineer didn't take any notice at the people who were already in the room and instead turned to look at the male guard with a sneer.
"I'm precious cargo, you dick, unless your moody ass can replace me, I suggest you play nice."
The guard scoffed and closed the door, not even bothering to entertain the blonde. Muttering curse words under her breath, she turned around and froze as three pairs of eyes were looking at her, bemused.
"Carter, it's nice to see you." Pike smiled cheerfully. It was enough to send a chill down her spine, but she jutted her jaw up in a meek attempt to come across confident.
"You could have visited me anytime Pike, it wasn't like I was going anywhere." Carter retorted, taking the time to look at the other two faces. One, of course, being Bellamy, and the other belonging to Monty's mother, whose name Carter had long since forgotten. "Okay, what gives? Why am I here?"
"Yeah Pike," Bellamy turned fully to his new leader, his expression stony. "Why is she here?"
Pike chuckled, brushing off Bellamy's clipped tone as though the pair were just jesting and stepped towards Carter. "Well, our ammunition is down to a third of what it should be," He explained, his voice traveling to all corners of the room but his eyes stayed fixed on the young engineer. "We can't protect ourselves without weapons, as you should know. Bellamy mentioned that you and Raven were the ones to make bullets the last time you encountered the Grounders, and since you weren't doing anything of importance, I figured you could make use of yourself."
"Pike, that's not what-" Bellamy started, though he was immediately cut off by Monty's mother.
"-You could sit with Monty as you work," She suggested, a sweet smile on her lips as she did though Carter couldn't help but think it looked more like a grimace, "I'm sure you miss him as much as he misses you."
"Don't get me wrong, Monty's mom, I do miss him but he made his choice," Carter turned to face Pike, her eyes hardened beneath his scrutiny. "And I made mine."
Pike's lips fell into a thin line and he nodded his head almost expectantly. "You stick to your guns, I admire that - loyalty is something that's hard to find in young people these days, they often just seem to follow the winning team," He tilted his head slightly, "But you, you're still happy defending the losing team, it's definitely an admirable trait." He paused for a moment, any mock friendliness he had dissolved. "But that is the thing, Carter, you are on the losing side. You should know that from the way you've spent most of your time in a cell, only to be released on my say so. I'm giving an opportunity here, one that not many get the privilege of having. I'm giving you the chance to swap sides."
"And call myself part of the Farm Squad?" Carter raised an eyebrow. "Absolutely not. I'm not being an accessory to murder, I'd much rather dig my own grave and have you shoot me at the foot of it like you did all those innocent Grounders." She scoffed shaking her head, "You know, a lot of things can be said about the guy, but I used to think Murphy was the lowest of the low... you, however, make the boy look like a freaking saint."
"Carter..." Bellamy trailed off, his eyes wide, silently pleading with her. Just seeing him look so desperate had Carter fighting an inner turmoil. She hated that they were so divided, she hated how he blindly supported a megalomaniac, but she couldn't hate him.
"I'm sorry Bell, I can't do it." She sighed, eyebrows drawn upwards. "I can't help. You'll have to kill me first."
"Well, that's a shame," Pike sighed, his voice gaining in octave as he looked towards the door Carter was pushed through. "Bring him in."
The door opened, and Carter's breath hitched as they brought in Ren in, a gun pressed to his temple. She felt the color drain from her face as her eyes widened, snapping between her friend and Pike, "You... You can't do this,"
"I can and I am," Pike replied simply. "You didn't really think I believed he was part of the Ark, did you?" A wry smile tugged at his lips, "Oh come on, give me some credit Carter! I was a teacher on the Ark, I wasn't some politician that cared not for who was on the Ark," He glanced over at Ren, coldness seeping into his dark eyes. "He may dress like us, speak like us, but he'll always be a Grounder. He'll always be the enemy."
"Are you always this dramatic?" Ren asked, though clamped his mouth shut when the barrel of the gun was pressed further into his skin.
"He-He's not a Grounder," Carter stammered. In any other given case, she wouldn't have been taking Pike so seriously, but after he gave the word to kill hundreds of innocent people, she knew he was unhinged enough to shoot Ren without reason. "I swear to you."
"Carter, don't," Ren warned, his tone low. "I told you no one can know."
"He's not Grounder yet he speaks their language? Lying doesn't suit you, Carter." Pike glared harder at Ren.
Before Carter had a chance to speak, Bellamy had already beaten her to it, "That's not trigedasleng, sir," His curious gaze suddenly turned to Carter, narrowing slightly. "How does he know Swedish?"
Carter gnawed at her lip, words fizzing out before they could form on her tongue. She turned to look at Ren who subtly shook his head. She closed her eyes, shoulders slumping dejectedly, "I can't tell you."
"Does it matter?" Monty's mom interfered, her tone dripping with impatience. "Grounder or not, he's not one of us."
"Rude," Ren mumbled under his breath.
"We're getting off topic," Pike spoke with a sigh, his hands linking behind his back, "Wherever he's from, whatever he is-"
"-Uh, can we not speak about me like I'm not here and not human?"
"-It's obvious you care for him, and since he's not one of us, I have no qualm killing him," Pike gave a small nod and the guard cocked the gun that was against Ren's temple. The former turned to look at Carter with a twisted smile, "Consider his life incentive to work for us."
Carter remained quiet, her face unreadable, but deep down she wanted to do nothing as much as she wanted to scream. Blackmail was the lowest form of bargaining, but it worked. And it was working on her. She didn't want to be an accessory to murder, but now whatever choice she made, someone had to die. She looked over at Bellamy, his expression hard as he also seemed to be in deep thought. She briefly wondered if he was thinking about his decisions, whether or not he agreed with Pike's way of forcing her to their side. It was no secret that Bellamy wasn't a fan of Ren and it probably didn't help that Carter couldn't tell him the real origins behind her friend, but surely he wouldn't want Ren to die?
"I don't want to pressure you or anything, Carter, but time is ticking and I sort of like my life," Ren laughed nervously.
The engineer looked up at Pike, her jaw tense, "Can I sleep in my own bed?" She asked hesitantly, it seemed so stupid, but after so long on the hard, cold floor, she would sell her liver just to sleep in her bed one last time. "And can I have some freedom when I'm not working? As in, can I go outside?"
A triumphant smile was already tugging at Pike's lips. "You can sleep in your own bed and you can go out in the courtyard as long as you're supervised."
"Can I see my dad?"
"No, I'm sorry but not with how things are at the moment."
"What about Ren? Can he stay?"
Pike pursed his lips. "In lock-up, yes. As far as I'm concerned, he's committed treason by impersonating someone from the Ark... but since he's your friend and you'll be on our side, I'll spare his life."
"How noble," Carter mumbled sarcastically before sighing. She hated herself for dropping her beliefs, but Ren's life was on the line. It was either lose her friend now or make bullets to take the Grounder's lives, but at least she had the power to delay the latter. And her bed, of course, her bed was a good of an incentive as anything. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll make bullets."
A large grin broke out on Pike's face and he stepped towards Carter once more, "You've made the right decision. Once you're ready, Bellamy will take you done to engineering so you can get your tools," He turned towards the same guard who had now lowered the gun from Ren's temple, the latter now relaxed his life wasn't out of his control. "Take him down to lock-up."
"Wait," Ren wiggled out the grip of the guard and enveloped Carter in a tight hug, resting his chin on her shoulder. She was taken back at first, especially since Ren was very reserved when it came to things like hugs, but then she left his hand disappear into her pocket, dropping something. "When you can, speak to your father, he misses you. Be safe, okay?" His voice was barely a whisper and he held Carter at arms length as she nodded. She could see in her peripheral vision that Bellamy was tense during that whole encounter, his jaw tense. Ren stepped back from Carter, his blue eyes shone with the same mischief as they always did as he allowed the guards to escort him out the room.
The blonde stuffed her hands into her pockets, resigned. Her fingertips brushed against something small and hard with a rubber side, an earpiece maybe? It took a lot for Carter to not smirk. Just when it seemed as though all hope was lost...
They had a plan.
highkey so angry with wattpad atm. I can't delete chapters that I want to delete, but it'll delete my chapters I'm trying to upload and it'll add about five untitled documents as a replacement.
anyway, I hope you liked it, thank you for reading as always, stay happy.