XX
[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia and Abby return to the Ark, each with their own personal reasons. Octavia comforts Raven after Finn's death and confronts Aidan about Lincoln. Then, the Skikru forces are ordered to meet up in Polis. Raven, Aidan and Octavia go ahead of the army only to run into a horrifying situation].
"L-Lincoln?" I sputtered in shock, my gaze trailing over his ragged, dishevelled figure. "What the hell happened to you?"
The only reply out of Lincoln's mouth was a fierce growl. I watched, in horror, as his blood-shot eyes bounced hungrily from me to Aidan and then to Raven. A spatter of white war-paint covered his left eye and a trail of blood lingered across his neck and cheek-bones.
He looked scary. He looked savage. He looked like a...
"Reaper!" Aidan breathed.
"A what?" Raven hissed, confused and frightened by the turn of events.
I shook my head and stumbled backwards. "Oh no. Oh no. Lincoln...what did they do to you?"
"What the hell is a Reaper?" Raven whisper-shouted, her tone one of urgency and irritation.
As Aidan started to back away from Lincoln, he returned in a low tone, "There's a tunnel that winds it way deep into the mountains. They are crawling with monstrous beasts, ones of legend, ones that we call Reapers. They were named after the Grim Reapers of Death, mostly because if you encounter one, you never get out alive."
"When Trikru was attacking Skikru's base a few weeks ago, Lincoln saved me," I further explained. "He led Finn and I right into those tunnels to get away from Anya..." my voice trailed off. "But I had no idea he would become one of them."
"Unfortunately, it happens all the time," Aidan let out a lengthy sigh as he held his hands out in front of him. "Lincoln! Lincoln! It's me. It's Aidan, your friend. Just calm down, alright? We're not going to hurt you."
For a moment, Lincoln stared at him before suddenly springing into action. Screaming and yelling like a deranged maniac being slaughtered, he hurled himself towards us.
"Run!" Raven screeched.
And run we did.
As the three of us wound our way around bushes, trees and ferns, desperate to get away from the monster chasing us, a pang of pain shot through my chest.
I had lost Charlotte. I had lost Finn. I had lost all of my friends.
And now, I had lost Lincoln.
"Urgh!"
Upon hearing Raven's scream of pain, both Aidan and I skidded to a halt and whirled around, only to see her lying on the floor, writhing in agony.
"Raven!" I cried as I scuttled to her side. "Raven, are you okay? What happened?"
Unable to answer, all Raven did was motion to a large log lying by her feet. Swallowing hard upon realising what had happened, my eyes fell on her disfigured limb.
Raven had tripped and broken her leg!
A yell of fury erupted from right above our huddled forms.
Terrified, I spun around and looked up, straight into the furious face of Lincoln! Letting out a started yelp, I backed away from him across the ground. "Aidan," I heaved. "W-we need to get Raven out of here. You carry her away. I'll distract him."
Aidan's eyes widened and he shook his head vigourously. "No!"
"Do you have any other ideas?" I yelled. "We're about to be eaten by a Reaper!"
"That's not just a Reaper!" he shouted back. "That's Lincoln!"
I paused.
He's right. That is Lincoln. Crap. What do we do?
Before any of us could make another move, however, a loud, disgruntled shout echoed throughout the forest.
DONG.
The loud crunching sound of metal hitting bone pierced my ears.
Lincoln staggered forward, blood spurting from his mouth. With a muffled groan, his crazed eyes rolled back in their sockets and he slumped, unconscious, to the ground.
My mouth fell open in astonishment and I looked up to see a vaguely familiar face.
A grounder, dressed in furs, covered in tattoos and sporting a long, scraggly beard, was standing over Lincoln's body. In one hand, he held a sharp, jagged-edged spear and in the other, a pointed rock, spattered with dots of the Reaper's blood.
"Niyko!" Aidan exclaimed. "H-how...?"
"I heard the commotion and figured that something was up," Niyko returned simply. "You kids okay?"
"Who are you?" I spoke up, my tone laced with suspicion.
"My name is Niyko. I'm a Healer," he replied as he shifted his head to look at me.
"The Head Healer of Trikru," Aidan put in. "It's a good thing you're here too because we need your help."
Fortunately, Niyko had been carrying his Healer's pouch with him which contained numerous vials of herbs and rows of tiny tools. While he went about examining Raven's leg and attending to Aidan's injuries, which hadn't completely healed as of yet, I raced back to the Ark and informed Doctor Abby of the situation.
Quickly, Abby, Sinclair and a group of guards carrying stretchers rushed down to the woods to collect Raven and Lincoln.
During Raven's surgery, which was conducted in the ward's sterilised compartment, I paced back and forth in the passage out front, deep in thought.
Please. Not Raven too. Please, god. Let her live.
"Octavia?" Sinclair poked his head out of the control room that was just down the corridor. "Bellamy's on the radio. He wants to speak with you."
Trying to distract myself from the situation at hand, I slipped into the room that was filled with clacking keyboards, flashing computer screens and wads of wire. I spotted the radio sitting on a nearby bench and picked it up.
"Bell?"
"O, are you okay? Sinclair told me what happened. I just wanted to check in."
"Yeah. I'm good ... I think. But Raven's in a pretty bad state and Lincoln's even worse. Bell, he nearly killed us."
"Yes, I know, and I'm so sorry I wasn't there. It must've been awful. Can Abby fix him?"
"I don't know. The doctors are keeping him asleep so he doesn't try to attack anyone again but from what Abby's seen, she thinks he's been injected with some kind of poisonous drug that's messed with his brain. By the way, how's Clarke and Kane?"
"They're fine. We're nearly at Polis now. I'll see you in a few days."
"Let's just hope all these complications that keep popping up smooth over once we attack Mount Weather."
Bellamy hesitated. "Uh. That's just the thing, O."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"We can't attack Mount Weather ... not without a man on the inside."
~~~~
"Not without a man on the inside? Are they freakin serious? That's their plan? Sending one of our own people right into the fray? I'm sorry but that's not happening."
I crossed my arms over my chest, watching as Abby ranted to the council. Nate was standing with me along the back wall and we exchanged looks of annoyance and disbelief.
At first, I had to admit that I was surprised by the turn of events. But, when Bellamy explained to me that it was near-nigh impossible to penetrate the walls of Mount Weather from the outside, I realised that we had no other alternative.
The troops of Trikru had already assembled in Polis. Every single hour since then, Clarke, Kane and Bellamy had been with Lexa, Indra and the rest of the Trikru council members, organising last minute details and drawing up lists of possible volunteers to go into Mount Weather's stronghold.
As I stood there, my guilty conscience searing through my brain, I couldn't help but remember that the only reason Trikru was helping us was because of Anya.
And she was dead.
Unable to bear the tension any more, I pushed myself off the wall and walked outside. Salty drops cascaded down my cheeks. Pangs of sorrow and deep regret filled my inner being. Sadness and anger washed over me like a flood.
For the first time since I had landed on Earth, I felt a deep longing for a comforting hug ... from my mother.
But she, too, was gone.
When the morning of our departure dawned across the land, the camp was astir with anticipation and excitement. New hope seeped through the crisp air and the sun flittered rays of light across the hard-packed ground. The adults, knowing that they would be seeing their children very soon, walked around with a joyous gait and beamed cheerful smiles at everyone.
As Raven recovered from her surgery, Abby decided to stay with her, a sleeping Lincoln and a watchful Niyko in the Ark. In the meanwhile, she appointed Nate's father as head of the army and told me to lead him and the rest to Polis.
As everyone conjured around the front gates, I went in search of Aidan. I found him brushing down Zenia in his stall.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked, resting my arms on the stall-gate and peering intently at him.
Aidan glanced up at me, his deep, hazel eyes reflecting much sadness and pain. "Not to Polis," he said shortly before turning away from me.
"What! Why? I thought you wanted to see Lexa?" I argued.
Aidan straightened up to face me fully as he explained, "These last few days have given me time to think and I've come to the conclusion that confrontation isn't the answer. Seeing Raven crying over Finn just dug up some buried memories from my past and I'm not in the best state-of-mind right now. I - I need to be alone. To think. Don't worry, I'll meet you in the capitol before the war starts."
I let out a lengthy sigh of disappointment. I had been counting on him being there for me on the hard and dusty path ... but he was leaving me ... again.
I nodded. "I understand. I - I hope you find your consolation."
Aidan smiled sadly, his fingers lingering on Zenia's broad, silky neck. "I don't think I will but I can try."
Holding back tears and forcing down my spent emotions, I turned my back on Aidan and set my face towards the mountains.
We arrived at Polis at the dusky hour of midnight. The warriors, who had been fiercely guarding the gates, had been informed of our coming and admitted us to our quarters that were situated out back of the royal tower.
Eager to see my brother again, I walked around to the front doors of the palace only to find Indra and Clarke there in deep discussion.
"Hey guys," I ventured as I came up to them.
"Octavia!" Clarke threw her arms around me and held me tightly for a moment before pulling away. "I'm glad to see that you made it here safely." Looking over my shoulder, she frowned, "Where's Raven?"
I sighed. "Raven - er - had an accident. She's back at the Ark with your mum."
Clarke's big, blue eyes widened in horror. "Oh no. Is she going to be okay?"
"I think she's out of the red," I nodded at her in assurance. "But there's something else."
"What?"
"We saw Lincoln. He - he looked inhumane, Clarke, crazed, insane. It was ... terrifying. He tried to kill me."
Clarke's mouth dropped open and she turned disbelieving eyes on Indra. "Can you explain?"
"A Reaper?" Indra directed the question at me.
I nodded. "That's what Aidan said. He's sedated and not a danger to anyone as of yet ... but Indra, do you know what happened? Abby said he may have been poisoned."
Indra shook her head. "He wasn't poisoned. He was turned."
"What do you mean?" Clarke pressed.
Indra grunted in annoyance before continuing, "Not many people know this but the Reaper Tunnels lead directly to the back doors of Mount Weather. They control the Reapers. They force them to capture easy victims and drop them at their doors in exchange for the temporary pleasure of drugs. I don't know what Mount Weather does to the captives or why they even want them but what I do know is this: no one gets out of there alive. Bellamy better be careful."
"Bellamy? Wha...?" I paused, a wave of anguish suddenly hitting me full-force in the chest. "No. No. He didn't. Kane didn't. Clarke tell me that's not true!"
"I - I'm sorry, Octavia, but Bellamy volunteered to go in and his name was drawn in the lots."
I backed away from her, shaking my head. "No. No. I've already lost everyone I care about. But not him. Not him."
"Octavia," Clarke reached out to steady my swaying figure but I swatted her hand away.
"Don't you touch me!" I seethed before whirling around and storming away.
Hot, angry tears slid down my cheeks. My teeth ground together in fury and my jaw clenched and unclenched in disgust and anger.
How dare they do this! How dare they go behind my back and betray me! How dare Kane and Clarke consent to this prosperous plan!
If what Indra said was true, I would never see my brother again.
I couldn't let him go.
Suddenly, I was stopped mid-stride by the scuffling sounds of a struggle. Quickly, I withdrew behind a nearby stone wall bordering the edge of the market-place. Slowly, so as not to make any unnecessary sounds, I withdrew my sword, sticking my head out into the open as I did so.
To my horror, I saw three jeering men, arranged in a small circle, kicking and punching at the bleeding figure of a peasant who was sprawled across the ground!
A righteous anger boiled up within me. Now, on top of everything else, I had to see a brutal act of cruelty such as this?
I had had enough. It was time to teach these filthy imbeciles a lesson about fairness!
Gif: Octavia as she sees the fight in the street.
XX