Disclaimer
THIS CHAPTER HURTS MY SOUL.
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"They're gonna come in a lot hotter next time, you know that right?"
Grace keeps her gaze firmly on the monitor in front of her. Monty sits beside her, fiddling with some radios. "All we have to do is hold the floor until Bellamy finds a way out."
She knows he will find a way out. He has to.
"We're gonna need more than a bucket of water and four guns to do that," Miller whispers. Grace sends him a pointed look. She understood his negativity, she felt it too, but did he have to tell everyone else? Their hope was already drastically diminishing with every passing second. They couldn't afford to loose anymore.
"This is President Wallace talking to the people who just killed ten of my men," Cage's voice comes in through the radio, everyone's heads immediately turning to it. Jasper takes it in his hands, turning it up.
"Jasper," Grace calls, her eyes widening as she stared down at the camera. On the monitor below her was what appeared to be a terrified Maya Vie. Her hands are held above her head in surrender. She is wearing a hazmat suit, telling them that Cage likely hasn't offered the treatments to any of his people— besides the guards — yet. That or he just didn't care about Maya at all.
"I thought we'd try something a little different this time. There's only twenty minutes of oxygen in Maya's suit. I know she's a friend of yours. Twenty minutes, your friend will either suffocate or burn . . . but you can save her. All you have to do is surrender."
A tense silence fills the air as everyone takes this in. None of them even had to think for more than a second about this. They would never allow Maya to die for them all to live, not after everything she's ever done for them. Grace couldn't even think about killing Maya. They wold just have to find another way to get her the oxygen she needs. The others work on removing the blockade while both Grace and Jasper immediately head for the girl outside.
Jasper helps her sit down, Grace standing about a foot away with one of her hands holding her hair from her eyes. Maya looks around at the three, already panting. "Listen to me. Fox is okay. Bellamy saved her."
Grace can't help but sigh in relief. Bellamy had saved Fox, which was more than any of them had hoped for. It also meant that Bellamy was okay for now, which Grace felt an overwhelming since of relief fill her stomach because of it. She wasn't sure what she would do if he died, now.
The girl had believed he was gone for so long and now he was here. Alive. If she truly lost him now, she was going to lose her shit.
"He's gonna get some guns in here through the trash chute," she informs them. Grace tenses, as does Monty. The two share a worried look. She has watched him dismantle it, even informed him of the chute in the first place. Now Maya was going to burn because of her idiocy.
"If we can get guns in, we can get you out," Jasper whispers.
"No. We can't," Monty sighs. "I dismantled the chute. I'm sorry. I didn't think we'd be trying to open it ourselves," Monty places his hand on Maya's. "I can fix it."
"Thank you," Jasper nods at Miller. "Go help him."
Grace kneels down in front of the girl. She didn't want to ask about Isaac right now, not when Maya was like this. Instead, she only whispered out a small, "You're going to be okay. We won't let anything happen to you."
The redhead stands and turns on her heel, jogging away to go and help Monty and Miller.
✦
"She's almost out of oxygen," Harper stresses. "It's been nineteen minutes."
"You're not helping, Harper," Maya breaths out. She had started feeling the lack of oxygen at fifteen, Grace couldn't imagine how she was feeling now. The redheads hands situate them selves on either of Maya's sides in case she needs support. Grace didn't know how else to help her.
"Don't worry. We'll get it open, won't we, Monty?" Jasper asks.
"Almost there," Monty nods.
"Almost isn't good enough," Miller, once again, buts in pessimistically.
"Miller, I love you, but shut up," Grace chides, her voice tinged with panic. She didn't want Maya to die, especially not this way. She didn't deserve this.
"I just need to bypass the— oh!" Monty jumps back as sparks fly from the panel. "Screw this." Angered, Monty rips the cords from the wall.
"What the hell did you do?"
"Cut the power to the motor," Monty responds. He gestures to Miller. "Help me."
Both Miller and Monty move forward and start pulling on the hatch with all of their might. They both grunt in exhaustion after a moment. It doesn't budge. "We can't get leverage."
Pounding comes from the inside of the chute and everyones eyes widen. "There's someone in there."
"They're coming in!" Jasper shouts. Grace immediately pulls Maya backwards with her. With one more grunt, the door to the chute flies open.
"Bellamy," Grace breaths in shock and relief. She's handing Maya over to him before he even tells her too. "Here. Hurry!"
Maya, Jasper, and Bellamy all disappear down the chute as the others watch in shock and worry.
✦
Bellamy Blake stalks in front of them all with his gun held out in front of him. He currently scouted the halls for any sigh on danger. Grace can't help but stare at his ass— she means watch him to make sure he was okay. Obviously.
The two of them had barely spoken since they met up again. Maya had disappeared somewhere, now. All Grace knows is that she's okay. Neither of them could do much more then send the other lingering stares, but even those were interrupted. They had to wait for a better time. Preferably when this was all over.
"It's all clear," Bellamy informs them, turning around. Grace's green eyes immediately connect with his stern brown ones, them immediately softening. God, she missed him so damn much.
Grace moves to stand beside Bellamy, walking with him. She had discarded the axe the moment they left. She was way better with her fists anyways. "Won't they see us?"
Bellamy sends her a look filled with an unknown emotion. "Relax. Maya took out the cameras."
Grace was kind of ashamed to say that just his deep and familiar voice was relaxing enough to her.
"Yeah, well, we're still sitting ducks," Miller buts in. Grace can't help but roll her eyes. Must he be so negative all the damn time? The answer was yes, obviously.
"You're right," Bellamy comments. "So we're gonna split up."
Panicked, Grace immediately grabs onto his bicep. "No way. We're in this together. We survive together."
Bellamy stops in his tracks, staring down at the girl in front of him. She doesn't move her hand, only tightens it. It's the first time they've even touched each other in months. They didn't want to move away.
"Bellamy's right," Jasper nods his head. The redhead whips her head to stare at him in shock. What?
"Well, they don't trust Maya anymore," Miller mutters. Grace turns to stare at Bellamy with concerned eyes.
"Isaac?" Grace questions, her face visibly falling when he firmly shook his head.
"Haven't seen him," Bellamy frowns.
"Who the hell is gonna help us now?" Miller asks. Bellamy and Jasper share knowing looks, then walk down the hall and take a turn. Grace is still beside Bellamy, her grip on his bicep tightening as she caught sight of Maya and a bunch of the residents from Mount Weather at the end of the hall.
"They are," Bellamy informs them.
"We're going to hide you," Maya explains. "Not everyone here agrees with Cage, not by a long shot."
"Come with me. We'll divide you along the way. Let's go," an unknown man beckons them over. Grace stays firmly in her spot, even when Bellamy places a hand on the small of her back and sends her a small nod.
"It'll be okay," Bellamy mutters, more to her than anyone. She still doesn't move.
"Let's go. You're safe now," the man continues. "Quick, quick. Go this way. That way. Go."
"Hey, we're coming with you," Jasper walks over with Monty beside him. Grace nods in agreement, trying her best to ignore the way Bellamy's thumb rubbed soothing circles onto her back in an attempt to relax her. She knows he can't have her out there with him because of his cover, but wouldn't it look like he was escorting one of the forty eight to get a bone marrow extraction?
"No, you're not," Bellamy says firmly. "They still don't know I'm here, and I need to keep it that way."
"I make no sound, I can come," Grace argues. She wouldn't let this go, not now. She couldn't let him out of her sight again.
"No, Grace. You're going to go get safe, alright?" Bellamy says firmly. He places his free hand over the tight hold she has on his arm, gently pulling her away. Grace could practically hear her heart break as she realized he was going to leave her again.
"What do we do?" Monty asks, quietly.
"Stay alive. Be ready to fight," Bellamy says firmly. "War is coming."
Grace couldn't bare to watch him go, so she turned on her heel and stalked towards Maya. "Let's go."
✦
Grace could barely keep her relief inside when she caught sight of the fluffy brown hair she had grown so accustomed too. She jogged towards him, throwing her arms around the boy tightly. "Isaac, you're alive."
"Yeah," he breathes out. "Rebecca is okay too, she's with my family now. That's where I was, after I left Bellamy with Maya."
"Good," Grace nods her head in relief, pulling away and stepping back from him. Her gaze drifts towards the man beside him, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Who's this?"
"His name's Lee," Isaac gestures to the man who waves his hand at the girl. "Dante was like a father to him. He's on our side."
"Okay," Grace nods her head in acknowledgement to him. "Where to?"
"We're going to move you to a hall that's already been searched," Isaac explains.
"Isn't that a risk?" Grace asks, throwing a concerned look back at her friends.
"We don't have a choice," Lee explains. "Follow me."
✦
Grace, Jasper and Maya were moved into a room with a lovely old couple. They had given them food and tea and a place to sleep. They were incredibly nice. Grace would still feel the pit in her stomach growing, however. This had to be too good to be true. It had to be, right?
The crackling of the P.A. System proved her right.
"My fellow citizens," The eerie voice of Cage Wallace comes over the system. "This is your President speaking. I have news to share with you that will change all our lives forever."
Grace could feel her chest tightening the longer he spoke. If the residents learned that her friends are the key to their survival, would they turn on them now? Would they call for the nearest guard and hoped we didn't hurt them to get away? Grace realizes with a start that this must've been a last resort for Cage. They seemed to be getting desperate now.
"For ninety seven years, Mount Weather has been our home. It's kept us alive, but it has also held us captive. Most of us have made peace with what we've had to do to survive. We've done these things for one reason— so that our people could someday return to the ground. That day is today."
Grace could hardly breath now. Would the lovely couple in front of them give them up when they heard about what their people had done? But, just like them, they had done it for survival. Would it mean anything?
"Before my friend Lorelai Tsing was murdered by the outsiders still at large in this mountain, she found a cure. It was in their bone marrow. This has been the dream of our people since the bombs. But to reach it now, I need your help. The forty four criminals that irradiated level five, killing fifteen of our people, are now keeping us from that dream."
Grace turns to send the couple in front of her a sad stare but she can't find the right words to say. What could she say to them now? It would be there choice.
"Although we've repaired our home, we can never replace the lives that were so viciously taken from us, and as hard as it is to believe, there are those among us who would help the people who did this, and I am speaking to you now. If you truly want to end the blood treatments once and for all, then the forty four murderers you're now hiding are the key for that."
Grace drops her gaze to the ground. There was no way she could ever expect these people to hide them now, not after that only half-true speech. Her people aren't murderers. Her people are survivors.
What if that was the same thing now?
"You have one hour to turn them in without punishment. After that, we'll be forced to consider you enemies of the state. I'm asking you, please do what is right for your people, our people. So that we can all take our rightful place on the ground. We're almost home."
The intercom cuts out again. Grace lifts her gaze up to the people in front of her, her eyes soft and worried. "Maybe if you only gave up me, they wouldn't think Jasper and Maya are here and you could still get away with this."
"We're not giving any of you up," Mr.Johnson informs them. "Here," he stands and directs them towards a painting on the wall. He tugs it off, revealing some sort of vent. "Get in. We don't have much time."
"Thank you," Grace hugs the couple gently. "Thank you both so much."
"Anything to help," Mrs.Johnson replies, ushering the redhead inside of the vent. Maya and Jasper are soon to follow her inside. The tight feeling in Grace's chest returns and she immediately feels stupid about it. How in the hell had she forgotten she was claustrophobic?
Maybe it's because she's always running for her life. That might have something to do with it.
The painting is placed back over the vent swiftly. Grace is the farthest in so she is unable to see in, but she can hear everything that happens outside. There are two quick knocks on the door, followed by another two when the first aren't answered.
Grace can hear the creaking of door as it opens, then Mr.Johnson speaking. "Yes?"
"Step aside, please."
"Why? What's wrong?"
The sound of the guard boots hitting the floor cause Grace to tense up and grab Maya's hand tightly in her own. Maya squeezes it back. "We'll just be a moment."
There's a pause of tension filled silence before Mrs.Johnson speaks up. "If you tell us what you're looking for, maybe we can help you."
"You know what we're looking for."
"Honestly, we don't know," Mr.Johnson comments. There's a pause of silence as Grace hears another pair of heavy tipped boots walk closer to their hiding spot. There's three guards, from what Grace can tell.
"According to your neighbours, you've been bringing extra food home after meals."
"That's not true," the man mutters.
"Is it true that you've refused treatment twelve times in the past fifteen years?" The guard asks. A pause. "Or that you've refused them thirty times? Do you deny that?"
"We take the blood when we need it," the woman points out. "We don't take extra food."
"Then you've got nothing to worry about."
The sound of the tea cup coming into contact with the table sends a flurry of panic through Grace. They had tea too, would there be marks on the table? Would tea be there downfall here? The guard must've noticed it because Grace can hear the clicking of the gun cocking. "Where are they?"
The panicked man cries out. "Just hold it!"
"You have five seconds to cooperate!" The guard repeats. Grace sends both Maya and Jasper knowing looks. They couldn't let these people die for them. "One. . . two . . . three—"
"Please, don't do this!"
"Four. . . Five!"
"Wait!" Jasper shouts. He pushes the painting away from their hiding spots, revealing themselves. "Wait! Please, don't shoot."
"We're here, okay?" Grace cries out, coming out of the vent with her hands in the air. The three guards all hold their guns on the trio. "Just leave them alone."
"I'm so sorry," Mr.Johnson apologizes. Grace quickly shakes her head at him. This wasn't his fault.
"This is Tilling. Just found three more," the guard, Tilling, says into his radio. He pauses. "I have that redhead you were looking for. What do you want me to do with her?"
Grace's heart drops as her friends all send her worried expressions. Grace doesn't hear the response from the radio. One if the guards grab Jasper while the other grabs Grace, pulling her away from him. "We'll send her your way, bring the other two in."
Tilling lifts his gun up and shoots Mrs.Johnson in the head, Mr.Johnson right after.
"No!" Grace cries out.
"Rhodes, bring the redhead the opposite way to the dorms," Tilling orders. "Cage will be waiting with a surprise for her."
"No," Jasper whispers, struggling against the guard. Rhodes exits the room with Grace in tow, her arms pulled awkwardly behind her. "No! Grace!"
"Jasper!" Grace screams. Rhodes shoves her forward roughly. Grace quiets immediately, the panic finally seizing in her chest. What was her surprise? What was Cage going to do to her? What the hell was going on? A flare of fear flickers through her body and her knees buckle under her. What if they had caught Bellamy or Isaac?
"On your knees," Rhodes orders. Grace hesitates, but then she feels the cold metal being placed against the burning skin of her side where her tank top had lifted up. She drops to her knees. "Be quiet."
Almost twenty minutes pass before Grace hears the big boots coming down the hall. Cage Wallace steps into view first, followed by a man with the name Emerson etched into his guards uniform. Behind them is another guard, this time with a gun pressed to the side of his head.
Isaac.
Grace didn't know what to do. Isaac Byrne, an allie and a friend, stood in front of her with his hands in the air and gun pressed to his temple. There was no way she would make it to him in time without getting one of them shot.
Grace straightens her back. "What's your plan here, Cage? Kill one of your people, for what? To hurt me? What good would that do?"
Cage Wallace sends her a malicious smile. "I know you're friends with the stowaway in this mountain."
Grace freezes. Had they caught him? No. They wouldn't have taken Isaac hostage. How did they even—
"I'm sorry," Isaac whispers. Oh. "They killed my parents. They were going to kill Rebecca. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Grace nods her head. It was only a tiny bit of information from the thousands he could have given out. He knew where Bellamy was, didn't he? But he hadn't given up his location, only told Cage where he could find it. Bellamy was safe and that was all that mattered. Of course, Grace didn't even know his location right now but even is she did, there was no way she would ever give it up. "I understand."
"You seem like a simple girl so I'm just going to say it," Cage sends Grace a smirk. "Tell me where the stowaway is or I'll blow his brains out."
Grace tries not to tense up. She keeps her eyes off of Isaac's terrified brown eyes and directly on Cage's determined ones. She couldn't kill Isaac, but she couldn't give up Bellamy. Isaac shut his eyes tightly, then opens them again to send Grace a pained look. One, slow tear drips down his face. "Don't tell them, Grace. Just focus on getting your friends out of here."
"I don't know where he is," Grace growls out, beginning to struggle in Rhodes grip. She couldn't let Isaac die because of her, she couldn't. The Johnson's were already dead because of her, not to mention the other three lives she had taken in the fight to keep level five. "I don't. I swear."
"Liar," Cage snarls, stepping closer. Grace pushes herself to her feet, ignoring the way her back bent at an awkward angle due to Rhodes tight grips on her hands. "Tell us where he is. Now."
"I . . . don't. . . know," Grace emphasizes. "Please, just let him go. You can take my blood marrow, I don't care! Just let him go."
"Tell me where he is!" Cage screams, moving closer to the redhead.
"Sir," Emerson warns him. "Watch her. She's a fighter, that one."
Grace turns her head to glare at the two men in front of her. "Damn right I am. Which is why I won't tell you."
Cage raises a brow at the girl. "Put one in his leg."
One shot rings out, the bullet successfully lodging itself into Isaac's thigh. Isaac cries out, his knees buckling in shock. Emerson holds him up by the collar of his uniform. Isaac grunts in pain, his watery brown eyes moving up to connect with Grace's. "Don't tell them anything, Grace."
It comes out forced. Grace can feel herself starting to panic.
"The next one goes in his head," Cage informs her, his hands moving to fold neatly behind him. Grace lunges from her spot, crying out at Cage. Rhodes grabs her long hair, tugging her back and flat against him. She struggles in his grip, low grunts escaping her as she took in Isaac's bleeding thigh.
Grace didn't know what to do. He was bleeding out right in front of her, but Grace really didn't know where Bellamy was at that moment in time. He could've been anywhere in this mountain, and she could lie and send them somewhere random, but what if he killed Isaac anyways?
"Fine," she breaths out. "I'll tell you."
"No!" Isaac yells, beginning to struggle. Grace sends him a pained look. She had a plan. She could do this.
Grace rears her foot back and into the knee cap of Rhodes, who is unsuspecting and cries out. His grip loosens and she pulls herself from his grasp. Grace sends a fist to the side of his face, knocking him out cold on the floor. Grace whips around to attack Cage, too, but is shocked when he has already found his safety behind Emerson and Isaac.
The next few moments happen in a blur, one Grace can barely make out.
And then a shot rings out.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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FUCK.
HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS HEART WRENCHING CHAPTER. THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST ONE. AHHH.
QOTD: who do you think was shot in Emerson's moment of panic? It could be anyone!
Vote, comment, and may we meet again.
Gif | Grace fighting with Rhodes, then turning to see Cage and the others