WE'RE ALL MURDERERS
Cassie let out a huge breath, leaning her head back against the chair. It dug into her scalp but she didn't care; it reminded her that she was still alive. Jay was moaning, clutching at his head. She tried to block it out; he was becoming so loud that she couldn't drown it out. She felt obliged to ask him if he was okay.
"Hey Jay, you dead?"
His chest shook, and he released a shaky chuckle. "Not yet."
It was the shortest sentence she'd ever heard him speak. She was grateful in a way - she wasn't sure if she could deal with his voice droning on and on. She didn't want that to be the last thing she heard before she died.
Allowing herself some time to calm her beating heart, she remained sat down. Jay seemed to have the same idea, mumbling under his breath. She couldn't pick up what he was saying, but she could only imagine it was about the rocky landing.
Licking her lips she unbuckled her belt. It clicked, the sound being lost in the collective sound of belts being undone all over the drop ship. Shakily she got to her feet, teetering on the spot. She felt lighter than she did on the Ark, her feet more securely on the ground. She took a hesitant step, a closed mouth smile gracing her face.
They were on Earth.
She went to take another step when she heard Jay groan again. He hadn't even undone his belt yet. Daring a glance out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he was a sickly shade of green, his eyes unfocused. Pity overcame her, encouraging her to turn back to Jay.
His eyes were drooping as they faintly saw her coming back. He had to rein in the gasp he wanted to release as she reached across him and unclasped the buckle of his belt, freeing him. He remained silent as she helped pull him out of the chair, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"If you vomit on my shoulder I'll drop you, got it?" She warned darkly, taking the majority of his weight. Cassie led them closer to the door where a crowd was gathering, waiting impatiently. They needed to get outside as soon as possible so Jay wouldn't throw up on her. She'd rather risk radiation poisoning than get spewed on.
Cassie shuffled on her feet, readjusting Jay's weight on her. Her voice shouted over all of the others, the people around them spinning around. "Are we just going to stare at the door and hope it magically opens?"
"No!" A female voice screeched out. Cassie faintly recognised the voice, but it wasn't until they had climbed down the ladder and had battled their way to the front that she realised who it was. Clarke Griffin. Princess of the Ark. Arrested for unknown reasons, but the rumours provided many explanations, ranging from her setting up her father to get floated to stealing medical supplies to feed her drug addiction. "We can't just open the doors!"
A olive skinned man wearing a guards uniform stood in front of the door, his hands up as if to persuade people not to go any further. His voice was deep, rumbling through the shushed chatter. It struck Cassie with a sense of deja vu; she just brushed it off. "Hey, just back it up guys."
Jay leaned a little more on her, and Cassie cursed him outwardly. He kept that weight on her, watching the situation rapt attention.
"Stop, the air could be toxic!" Clarke's voice rose in volume, oozing authority. Many of the teenagers turned to her - Cassie kept her gaze on the door.
Cassie couldn't contain the eye roll that took over her, speaking up with a surprising calm that didn't represent her rapid heart beat. "We're screwed either way."
If it had been any other situation, her fellow prisoners would have either laughed or told her to shut up, followed with a few colourful insults. Now, it was silent.
The guard nodded along with Cassie's statement, his hands landing on the gun at his hip. No one questioned his authority after seeing that. "I agree with the girl. If the air's toxic, we're all dead anyway."
Clarke appeared to want to argue again, her mouth open. Another female voice cut her off. It was quite sweet and mesmerising, the type of voice that belonged to a goddess. "Bellamy?"
Cassie's eyes nearly bulged out of her head - no wonder she recognised the voice. He'd changed a lot since she'd gone into lock up. She shook her head; she was sure he wouldn't remember someone as insignificant as herself. Instead, she focused on the girl cutting her way through the crowd, not wasting a second throwing herself in his arms. Bellamy squeezed her back, burying his head in her shoulder. "My god, look at how big you are."
She pulled away for a moment, looking at him from an arms length. "What the hell are you wearing, a guards uniform?"
His eyes averted from her for a second. It was a minuscule movement, something most people wouldn't have picked up. She knew that the words out of his mouth were a lie. "I borrowed it from to get on the drop ship. Someone had to keep an eye on you."
He pulled her into a hug again, and the girl had no qualms about it, breathing a sigh of relief while in his embrace. Cassie couldn't help but think about how she held onto her dad like that, holding onto him extra tight as though she was afraid that he would disappear if she didn't keep a tight grip. A lump formed in her throat at just the thought - it had been a while since she'd been able to her parents.
"Where's your wristband?" Clarke interrupted, crossing her arms. She looked at Bellamy with distrust. Cassie was glad for the distraction, the lump in her throat becoming smaller. Jay, as if he'd picked up on her concealed emotion, bent his head onto her shoulder.
The girl removed herself from the embrace, spinning around to glare at the blonde. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."
It all made sense to Cassie now. The girl seemed too innocent to have committed a crime, and being born wasn't something she had control of. Pity built up within her for the girl. It must have been difficult.
"No one has a brother," yelled the boy close to her. Both Cassie and Jay sent him a look of distaste.
Someone else in the crowd answered the boys confusion. "That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor."
Jay's weight on her lessened slightly. Cassie frowned, having become accustomed to the heat of another body attacking hers. She turned around to him to question it when she saw how much paler he'd gotten. He didn't want to puke on her. Thinking quickly, she snatched the hat from off of his head and thrust it in his hands, ushering him to the edge of the crowd. It was like he had been putting the vomit at bay, and seeing the hat in his hands the flood gates opened. A rush of sick projected from his mouth, most of it landing in his hat. The sour, rotten smell hit her instantly. She regretted standing so close.
The delinquents around her had the same idea, edging away from the vomiting boy. Cassie stood by, hand twitching, like it wanted to go to comfort him. The scene had distracted them from what was happening at the front of the drop ship, so when the hissing of the door met their ears they both stopped. They watched, along with the rest of the hundred, as Octavia tentatively stepped out on the grass. A dazzling smile lit up her face, and she threw her hands up into the air.
"We're back bitches!"
The happiness was infectious. Cassie found herself grinning, smacking Jay on the back. His face slackened when her hand made contact, surprise taking it's place. "Come on, time for you to find a radiation soaked tree to climb."
He exhaled deeply, collapsing to the ground of the ship with a flop. He wasn't even heavy enough to create much sound when he fell down. He crossed his legs, staring at the greenery beyond the ship. It was the largest array of colours they'd ever seen, Jay drinking in all of the plants curling up from the ground and trees standing tall. His voice was distant. "I don't know if I can."
Cassie blanched, finally tearing her eyes away from the breath taking scene to the conflicted child. He looked even smaller than he was. "Why? You were so excited to see it all on the way down."
"I've been waiting for this my entire life, it's just so" he sighed, nestling his head in his hands. His voice took on a breathy, dreamy tone. "Surreal."
She tried not to roll her eyes, but she couldn't help it. Cassie lightly snickered, offering him a hand to help him up. "Stop whining and get up."
It was the push he needed. He reached up for her hand, allowing her to pull him up with ease. Her toned arms flexed under the sudden weight change. He stared at her biceps in awe. "Stop ogling my muscles and ogle the trees."
He nodded, taking small steps out of the ship. The moment his feet sunk into the dirt he cheered, jumping up and down in a way that reminded her of a young child. He disappeared before she could even process it, him rushing to awe at the nature. She allowed herself a moment to breathe it in. Fresh, crisp air greeted her lungs, cleansing her from the inside out. Dirt squished under her feet, different from the usual thud her feet made on the drop ship. Colours she didn't even know existed exploded in front of her very eyes.
It was like Heaven.
Shouting broke the serene scene, capturing Cassie's attention. Without even realising she wandered over in the direction of the noises, it getting louder the closer she got. A thick crowd of people surrounded her, their chants nearly deafening her. Yet over this she could hear a cruel male voice above it all. "Look at this, everybody. The Chancellor of Earth."
Confusion clouded her thoughts. She fought her way past the people, oblivious to the insults being thrown at her back for it. She managed to force her way to the front. What she saw before her eyes shocked her to the core. Wells Jaha, the Chancellors son, was on the ground. And he was intimidated by John Murphy, one of the biggest ass holes she knew.
"You think that's funny?" Murphy pushed Wells back, him letting out an ompf in surprise. The kid was a loose canon. Murphy's face twisted into one of fury, him advancing on Wells. He wasted no time pushing him over. Hard.
An idea bloomed in her head. This motivated her feet to move closer, her getting in the middle of the fight. They both don't notice her getting closer, too involved in throwing insults at each other. Cracking her knuckles, she cleared her throat. Murphy and Wells halt in their actions, stopping to look at Cassie.
"Murphy, take a step back." She demanded, taking a step closer to him. He smirked, crossing his arms.
"Are you going to make me?"
Cassie shrugged, a laugh over taking her body for a second. As her and Murphy's eyes connected, she threw her scarred fist into his face, adapted to the burning that erupted in her fist. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his jaw. "You even think about touching him, and I'll give you plenty of bruises to match."
The shock dissolved from his face. He turned towards her, lifting himself off of the ground, fists clenched. She raised hers in front of her face, grinning. Delinquents all around them were egging them on, eager to see blood shed.
Someone jumped down between them. They landed perfectly, not even losing their footing. "Kids got one leg. I think she's proved the point - I don't think you'd want to try fighting her. She's an expert in this thing."
Reluctantly she let her fists slide down to her sides. Cassie sighed, giving the man a thank you smile, sent a glower at Murphy, and moved towards Wells. He cradled his leg, Clarke by his side checking the injury. His eyes lifted to see her as her boots came into view. "Thank you," he gushed.
She waved it off, staring at him with cold eyes. "Don't think I did that because I have a heart of gold. The reality is that we can survive down here, so the Ark are probably joining the party soon enough. You're Jaha's son, if I'm on your good side he's less likely to lock me up."
"But he promised that we'd all be excused?" His brows pulled together as hers did. She didn't know that Jaha would excuse them for their crimes. It most likely wasn't true anyway, just another way to get them to cooperate. They lied a lot on the Ark for that.
Cassie let a giggle consume her body. "Do you seriously believe that he'll let murderers free?"
"Why are you worried? You didn't kill anyone." Cassie was tempted to correct him. She may not have killed someone, but she had nearly killed someone. That was close enough.
She sighed, dragging a hand over her scalp dotted with tufts of bleached blonde hair. "Here's something to make note of Wells. We're all murderers. We kill other animals unknowingly just by breathing. So I don't put it past your father to back out of his deal and toss us all in a cell. Except maybe you. By protecting you, I'm more likely to avoid that cell."
Clarke stayed silent during the whole interaction, giving some commands to Wells before spinning around to Cassie. She grabbed a hold of her forearm, and Cassie's jaw instantly clenched. She shrugged herself out of her grip, Clarke remaining unfazed. "You're coming with us."
"What do you need me for?" Cassie's curiosity piqued.
Clarke was all business, walking towards Finn as she explained. "To survive, we need supplies. Those supplies are in Mount Weather. They dropped us on the wrong mountain. We need as much help as we can get."
"All you had to do was ask sweet heart." Cassie smirked, falling in step beside the blonde, feisty girl. "So let me guess. You wanted me to come with because my rep isn't exactly crystal clean."
"You guessed correct," Clarke marched on, standing next to Finn.
Cassie didn't like what she said, but she tried to hide it behind a laugh. "I don't blame you really. I'm a bad ass."
Finn raised his brows at Cassie, looking at Clarke. "Is it the best idea to bring her along?"
"Is it the best idea to say that out loud?" Cassie asked, cracking her knuckles with her gaze set on him. "Anyway, every hand helps. Carrying enough for a hundred people is going to be quite difficult if only you two planned going."
Finn mulled this over, turning around and grabbing the two people closest to him. One of them was very tall, with dark hair, a smile planted on his face always and goggles sitting a top of his head. The other had olive skin, a mischievous glint in his eyes and onyx shaggy hair. "Now there's five of us."
"Sounds like a party. Make it six." Cassie rolled her eyes at Octavia's eagerness, seeing the way her eyes lingered on Finn. It caused a dispute between the siblings, but Cassie blocked it out, focusing on Jay running towards her with a stick in his hand.
"Look at this! It's a stick! A real stick!" His blue eyes sparkled and his grin got bigger the longer she looked at it. "It's so much cooler than I thought it would be." He cast a glance at the group of people around her waiting on her. "What's going on?"
"We're going to Mount Weather. We'll be back tomorrow." Cassie plucked the stick from his hands, inspecting it. "You're right, this is a good stick."
"Can I join?"
Clarke went to input something when Cassie cut her off. "No! You threw up earlier, you could be sick. We can't take someone who might puke when we least need it."
Jay took the stick away from her, mood dampened. Cassie began walking away, not waiting for the others to hesitantly follow. She walked with a confidence she didn't have - she had no clue where she was going. She just needed to get far enough away from Jay so he wouldn't insist further. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she could handle him for an entire day.
"I'm feeling better now though!"Jay yelled, frowning at her disappearing figure. "And I know you were lying about what you thought about the stick!"