𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 · 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 ⁴

𝟒.𝟔

──── 「THE NEW HUNDRED」 ────

     The bunker Jaha thought could save us all had turned out to be nothing more than a huge disappointment and my mood wasn't getting any better, seeing we hadn't found Sam on our way there or back either. I couldn't stop thinking about her, what could have happened, why no one had contacted us, me, earlier. We had lost vital days and if anything had happened to Sam during that time, if she was... I clenched my jaw.

It was almost nighttime when we made it back to Arkadia, having spent one day out of there; I went straight to look for Raven, to know if something about Sam had come up, but she had no good news. But maybe no news was better than bad news. I'm coming, Sam.

I made my way to the armory, picking up a rifle and a flashlight before exiting the ship towards where we kept Selene; of course, I had been taking care of her while Sam wasn't around and I knew the mare missed her just as much as I did.

- "Hey, girl." –I pet her face, giving her a carrot that I had smuggled from the garden- "We are going out to find Sam."

I was preparing her for the trip, putting the saddle pat, the saddle, and was starting to hook the stirrups when the peaceful environment of the camp was disturbed.

- "Grounder!" –the guard on the main post screamed- "Ice Nation!"

- "Fuck!"

I cursed under my breath as I started running towards the main door, needing answers and hoping it wasn't the whole army or something worst.

- "What's happening?" –Clarke showed up as I made it to the door.

- "Grounders." –the guard posted on the door pointed outside- "Azgeda."

- "What could this mean?"

- "They better not be bringing Sam's body or else..." –I took out my gun.

- "Bellamy, you have to calm down."

The tension around us was starting to become unbearable, so I moved directly behind the door, gun on hand, ready to shoot. As the Grounder got close to the door, I realized there was, in fact, someone behind them on the horse; they stopped the horse and the person behind them got down from it, wearing head-to-toe Azgeda's clothing and a mask hiding their face too.

- "What do you want?" –I asked not moving from my place as Clarke stood next to me with a couple of guards.

- "Ban op." –the voice behind the mask spoke, face to the Grounder on the horse- "Nau." [Leave. Now] -I recognized that voice. Sam. She turned around as the Grounder left, taking off the mask and throwing it away from her with a disgusted look on her face before looking at me- "Are you gonna shoot me, Blake?" –the smirk on her face made my troubles disappear- "Or are you going to let me in? I told you I'd come back."

I put my gun away, signaling to get the door open as more people started surrounding us; it didn't take long for Jasper to show up.

- "Sam!" –he practically ran out the door as soon as there was enough space- "You're back! Finally!" –he hugged her and Sam smiled into the hug- "I was beginning to worry those assholes might have hurt you."

- "Oh, trust me, no one can hurt me now." –she pulled away to look into his eyes- "I got them under control."

- "We thought..." –Clarke was the next to speak as Sam and Jasper came inside, arm on arm- "Kane..."

- "It's okay." –it was clear Sam didn't want to talk about whatever had happened while Jasper was around- "Have you have dinner, J?"

- "For you, I can make an exception." –he let go of her, moving back deeper into the camp- "It's a date."

- "You got it." –Sam winked at him as she watched him go before turning to Clarke- "You and I can talk later..." –she looked at me- "I'm getting the feeling the boss over here wants to talk to me."

She started laughing as Clarke nodded and left, leaving us alone. I was frozen on my feet like it seemed to be the rule lately around Sam. A rule that I hated, but seemed unable to change as I simply looked at her, feeling my heart able to beat normally again, like life made sense again.

- "This is not the reception I was hoping for, Blake. Maybe I should have taken longer to come back to gain a bigger reaction from you." –she rose an eyebrow at me, crossing her arms over her chest- "Wait, unless it's awkward for a reason..." –her eyes flickered towards Clarke and a group of girls looking at us before settling on mine again- "Hey, it's cool if you've moved on, I..."

I strode towards her as I saw the hesitation in her eyes; it hurt me that she still felt that way. She uncrossed her arms just before I took her face in my hands, pulling her to me and kissing her deeply. I'd missed this, missed feeling her so close to me, her lips on mine, her taste, the familiarity of our mouths moving together as her hands moved to my neck and hair, pulling me down. I missed her. I loved her. All I wanted was to leave us both breathless, to feel like all I knew was her.

As we broke apart, I hugged her tightly as I caught my breath; she hid her face on my neck as I felt her hot breath on my skin, resting my hands on her back and neck, softly running my fingers over her jacket. I didn't care about anything else at that moment; with Sam in my arms, doomsday didn't seem so bad after all as long as we were together.

- "So..." –she whispered in my ear, not letting go- "...did you miss me?"

- "Did I miss you?" –I scoffed, tightening my arms around her, forcing her to stand on her toes for a moment- "Does Hades rule the Underworld?"

- "With Persephone, yes." –she moved back slightly, my eyes finding her entertained ones- "We're back to Mythology, huh? I like that."

- "I don't have precisely many opportunities to talk about that."

- "We can do that while I'm here."

- "While?" –I forced her to keep her eyes on mine, taking her chin in my hand- "I'm not letting you leave Arkadia without me ever again."

- "You know very well you can't stop me." –she moved away from me, starting to walk and looking around- "Update me, what's been going on here?"

- "Sam..." –I caught her arm and pulled her back to me- "Kane radioed saying you had disappeared for four days." –I saw in her eyes I wasn't supposed to know that- "I was getting ready to leave with Selene to look for you. What happened? Where were you?"

- "Trying not to die." –the honest tone hit me harder than it was supposed to as she walked to where Selene was.

- "Care to elaborate?" –I followed her.

- "Are you going to freak out?"

- "About you and your safety? Obviously. I'm in a constant state of worry since I met you."

- "Well, I'm sorry about that." -she scoffed, clearly getting it wrong.

- "I mean I worry about you because I care about you. You're not a burden, you're my family."

- "You need to relax, I'm perfectly fine." –she moved her hands pointing from her head to her legs- "See? Perfect condition."

- "Sam..."

- "Fine, I'll tell you, but let's go somewhere else." –she looked around- "This is no one's business but mine and I don't want everyone whispering about my life; that's something I don't miss from this place."

- "Sam, did Ulger hurt you?" –I took her hands in mine- "Did he do anything to you?" –I pulled her closer, my tone more serious and concerned by the second- "Did he touch you?"

- "No, he didn't touch me. Well, aside from every hit I got during training and my broken nose, but not in the way you're implying; I'm sure he'd like to try, but I think he needs both his hands in their places... he wouldn't appreciate me cutting them." –she squeezed my hands- "I'm okay, I promise."

- "Come with me."

- "Let me see my horse first, she should know I'm still around before she forgets about me and decides you're her new favorite person." –she smiled, facing me; I was certain she was ready to give me the innocent look she used to put on when I was about to say no at one of her reckless ideas- "Please."

- "You don't need the puppy eyes to convince me, you know that."

- "Just in case." –she smiled before turning around to resume walking.

After she saw Selene and we took the saddle and everything from her so that she'd be comfortable and made sure she had food and water, I took Sam's hand in mine, looking at her over my shoulder to see the smile on her face as she looked at our hands, my eyes on her going unnoticed as we walked down the hallways. I smiled to myself before looking forward again. I had so many questions, starting with Ulger and her disappearing to the bruise around her nose, pulling her with me inside our room.

- "I have a date with Jasper so this can't take long. I need to know he's doing alright."

- "A date..." –I couldn't help my mocking tone as she sat on the bed, our bed, resting her upper body back on her hands.

- "Jealous much?" –she raised an eyebrow at me.

- "Jasper loves you and you love him, but you aren't in love."

- "How should you know?"

- "Well...." –smirk on my face as I looked at her- "You kissed me back; that has to mean something coming from you, right?"

- "It'd have been rude otherwise..." –she chuckled, raising a flirtatious eyebrow at me, it felt nostalgic- "Won't you agree?"

- "I miss this, Sam, I miss us."

- "I do too, but we haven't figured our shit out and I honestly cannot think about my feelings right now, things are too insane... We're at war, we have to think about surviving first."

- "Hold up." –I squatted in front of her- "What are you saying?"

- "Well... you have a lot of work around here and I have to go back to Polis."

- "I don't care about any of that; of course, I'd rather for us to be at the same place for longer than 5 minutes, to have time alone with you... my feelings for you haven't changed, I know they never will, I can wait..."

- "I know, I know..." –she quickly cut me off, massaging her temples as she straightened her back- "I honestly thought I could fight my feelings for you but I can't... I miss being together too, I miss you being by my side every day and I fear you'll finally move on while I'm gone, but I don't want to get back together in a hurry; I need to know we won't destroy each other. I know we both still feel the same way so let's hope we can solve this radiation mess soon, figure ourselves out, and then we can work through us. I'm not making more mistakes with you."

- "I'll always be here." –I kissed her forehead before sitting down next to her- "Now, tell me about what happened." –I moved a strand of her hair behind her ear, revealing a couple of pieces of braided hair that weren't hers- "Are these...?"

- "Yeah..." –she moved my hand to take the locks on her hands- "This is Ion's, obviously, but you already knew that." –I nodded- "This is Sheda's."

- "I'm so sorry, Sam." –I took one of her hands in mine, rubbing its back with my thumb softly, lovingly...- "I know you loved... you will always love him."

I knew Sam, it'd be stupid of anyone to think she hadn't and wouldn't always love Sheda. He had been part of her life for a long time and I had seen it in her eyes whenever she spoke about him just how much he meant to her. I didn't know how she was still standing after everything that had happened, but that was Sam: always ready to fight a war. Even if it meant shoving her sanity down the drain. I wished she had had more time with him. I truly did. Whatever that'd had meant for them.

- "I'll survive." –she sniffled before showing me the last braid- "This is Oreth's; you never met her, but I think I told you about her..." -I nodded- "When she died, I didn't cut a piece of her hair for me, I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to kill everyone inside that Mountain... so, when I cut Sheda's, I took half of the braid he had from Oreth, which is why this one's smaller; I didn't want to take it all because he knew her for longer than I did, but she was so good to me..." –a tear fell down her cheek- "I'm sorry." –she quickly wiped it away- "We have more important matters on our hands now."

- "You can talk to me."

- "I know, I will once we have time, but not now." –she rose her face to look at me again, moving her hair behind her back- "You tell me first what's been going on here, then I'll tell you about Ulger."

- "Fine." –I wasn't sold on this idea, but I knew forcing Sam to talk never worked, so I let it go for now- "Clarke, Jaha, and I left yesterday to find a bunker Jaha thought could be our way out of this one, but it was a dead end."

- "So, what now?"

- "We only got this ship. Monty realized it's our best shot since it dealt with the radiation in space."

- "But that's great." –the smile on her face quickly disappeared as she eyed me- "Isn't it?"

- "The ship can only hold 100 people during the 5 years in which the radiation will be too hard for us to survive outside."

- "Fuck." –she rose her feet on the bed, resting her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands- "So... what's the plan?"

- "Raven asked Clarke to make a list of the people who should survive Praimfaya."

- "She wrote it already?"

- "She's probably doing that now."

- "I'm not sure how I feel about Clarke choosing for all of us. I understand if the people find out, they would freak out, but we all should have a saying in it. Why does one person get to choose all of our fates? It's like the Ark all over again." –I nodded because I understood and because she was right as she faced me- "But we still have time to find another solution."

- "Yeah, the list is just our final option, not the one we are aiming at." –I reassured her- "Now, you tell me what happened while you disappeared."

- "Ulger asked me to meet him at night for another training session, nothing out of the ordinary if you know the guy, honestly, so I didn't bother thinking through it. I got to the training grounds and he told me we were doing something different, put a blindfold on me so I assumed it had to do with practicing fighting in the dark; he said he was not going to hurt me, which should have been the first clue as to how everything was going to go wrong, but I was too relieved to hear he wouldn't break my nose again to think about it."

- "So that's what that bruise is."

- "Oh, you should've seen me the day he broke it. I couldn't laugh, it was terrible."

- "Ulger breaks your nose and your biggest worry is not being able to laugh?"

- "Do you not know me by now?" -she smiled, raising her eyebrows at me so I simply shook my head, patting her thigh, asking her to continue. "So, next thing I know, he has me tied up on his horse and we are leaving Polis."

- "What?" –I felt my pulse racing up as I clenched my jaw, "Sam..."

- "He then left me in the forest, still blindfolded and tied up."

- "I'm going to end him." –I attempted to raise from the bed but her hand on my thigh stopped me.

- "I got that covered." –the smile on her face felt out of place.

- "You killed him?"

- "No, but I'm going to."

- "Sam, he's the War Chief."

- "Do you really think I care? The only reason he isn't dead yet is that I have to find a way to do so without bringing the Ice Nation's army to our doors." –she rose from the bed- "You know very well I don't need saving, but what you can do for me right now is make sure no one else gets hurt while I fight my battles." –she stood in front of me, so I pulled her to me, resting my head on her abdomen, closing my eyes as she ran her fingers through my hair- "I don't want anyone else to know, alright? This is not of their concern, not even Clarke, alright?" –I hummed in agreement- "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe someone is waiting for me somewhere around here." –she moved my head so that I had to look up at her- "I don't want to be late." –she smiled- "Please."

- "Fine." –I grunted, annoyed I couldn't spend more time with her.

- "I'll see you around, Blake. Now go check on Clarke, that list won't be easy to write, she's going to need your support. And intel. I don't love the idea of one person choosing for all of us. It's wrong."

She left me there, sat on our bed, staring into oblivion, going over our conversation. Maybe I need to stop pushing the topic of getting back together on her, I know we both still feel the same so why does a technicality have to ruin it? We may not be officially together again but she's still the one who owns my heart... and everything else is she asks for it. I chuckled at where my thoughts were going. Who'd have guessed I'd ever feel this way.

I rose from the bed and started walking around, trying to find Clarke. I'm sure Clarke will write her name. I just hope we'll be able to find another way to survive Praimfaya; we can't let 400 of our people die. We'll find another way. Together.

     After talking with Bellamy, I made my way to Jasper's room, soon finding he wasn't there and deciding outside was the safest bet. That's where I was going when I bumped into a group of people eager to see me.

- "Sam!" –Raven hugged me so tight I thought I'd stop breathing- "You're back!"

- "And if you don't relax your grip I may leave for good this time." –I chuckled, hugging her back- "How are you?"

- "Overboard with work, as usual around here."

- "Aren't we all lately?" –I looked behind Raven as I let go of her, finding Harper with a smile on her face and Monty shaking his head next to her.

- "Guys!" –I smiled, glad to see they were alright.

- "You look..." –Harper eyed me up and down.

- "Unharmed?" –I laughed hugging her- "Surprised?"

- "It's a good look on you." –Harper pulled away just before Monty hugged me.

- "I'm glad you're back." –Monty moved back next to Harper- "Jasper has had a change of heart."

- "A good one?" –I questioned looking at him before eyeing the girls.

- "I'd hope so."

- "I'm going to have dinner with him."

- "Trust me, the whole camp knows." –Harper busted out laughing.

- "What? Why?"

- "He's been very... joyful lately, more talkative... he's been singing a lot."

- "Well, that's good, I think." –I moved past them- "I'll see you around, guys, don't wanna be late!"

- "We heard about your Trikru friends..." –Raven spoke loud enough for only us to hear it.

- "We're sorry about it."

- "It's okay." –I tried to sound as convincing as possible- "Let's deal with Praimfaya now, then we'll all have time to mourn."

They nodded, buying my façade which was exactly what I wanted, before we were on our respective ways again. It was peaceful outside, I missed the calmness of being safe, of knowing people were looking out for all of us; in Polis it was different, there it was me the one looking out for everyone. It's a nice change.

- "Sam! Over here!" –Jasper's melodious tone surprised me as I looked around to see where he was, finding him at one of the tables.

- "You look good, J." –I hugged him again, seeing the change in his body language from the last time I saw him- "What's been going on."

- "I've realized something."

- "Do enlighten me, please." –I smiled, resting my head on my hand as I sat in front of him.

- "Well, since we only have six months to live, I've decided to enjoy my time fully."

- "We're looking for a way to survive."

- "Sam, I don't want to survive, I want to live."

- "How does one thing cancel the other?" –I took a ship off the cup in front of me, realizing Jasper had put booze on it instead of water too late- "This is strong." –I crinkled my nose almost involuntarily- "Love it. But I'm serious, explain, please."

- "I don't want to expend my last days working for Clarke."

- "I see..." –I realized what he meant, I didn't need him going deeper into it- "Would you hate me if I look out for a way to survive Praimfaya."

- "I'd rather if you stayed here, living."

- "I would too." –I smiled, but it was a sad smile, I really wished I could stay with him- "Can you keep a secret?"

- "You know I can."

- "Promise me. No one can know what I'm about to tell you."

- "Pinky promise." –I laughed whole-heartedly as I intertwined my pinky finger with his, a major contrast with his serious face- "I won't tell a soul, I'll take this to my death bed."

- "Don't go all dark on me now. I'm going to tell you the real reason I have to be at Polis." –he nodded, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration- "Remember Sheda?"

- "Your Grounder friend, yes." –he rose his head as if he had just remembered something- "I heard he died when Clarke was in the City of Light."

- "Yeah."

- "As I told Octavia, it's okay to fall apart a little. I know he was important to you, it'll take a while and the pain will always be there... booze will help."

- "I can't fall apart yet, J." –I looked around to make sure no one could hear me- "He has a little sister."

- "Oh." –he whispered and then, his eyes widened- "Oh!"

- "She's an orphan, she has no one... it's on me to take care of her, I can't leave her alone."

- "Sam..." –Jasper moved his hands to catch mines- "It's okay, I understand."

- "That doesn't mean I don't care about you." –I focused my eyes on him- "I love you, but I know you can take care of yourself, she can't, she's a kid..."

- "It's alright, Sam, seriously."

- "I'm staying a couple of days so we might as well make the best out of them... until my next visit."

- "Uh, I have a couple of ideas." –he smiled mischievously.

- "And I'm in for all of them."

I adored Jasper. I knew he wouldn't tell a soul about Lila so, for the next hour, we kept talking about these plans of his and I answered all his questions concerning Lila and Polis, avoiding, of course, my last four days in the wild and Ulger's deal. Once he started to get tired, I walked him to his room, promising to have breakfast with him the following day. I walked on my own around the ship for a couple of minutes, not wanting to sleep. I should go check that list of Clarke's... check who's on it and who's not. Discuss our next move... There has to be something else we can do.

     Samantha enters the room as Clarke is writing the list; she rests her side on the door's frame and her eyes land on Bellamy's sleeping figure, a small smile making way to her lips before she looks at Clarke.

- "How are you?"

- "I'm tired." –Clarke looks up at her from the paper in front of her- "Tired of making decisions."

- "I know."

- "I was wondering when you'd show up."

- "Bellamy told me what happened, I decided you might want company." –Samantha eyes Bellamy, chuckling softly- "Awake company I mean."

- "Thank you, Sam. Really."

- "I'm not doing much, honestly."

- "What you did back in Polis..."

- "You'd have done the same; we aren't that different in that aspect. Well, more or less."

- "What happened?"

- "I'm not sure if Ulger was trying to get rid of me or teaching me a lesson, but I handled it; don't worry about it."

- "He wants something from you, that much is obvious."

- "I know..."

- "And you are aware of what it is?"

- "I have my theories." –Clarke motions Samantha to move closer and sit down with her to keep talking- "I think he wants to get rid of Roan." –Samantha answers calmly, sitting on the table.

- "That can't happen! If Roan falls then so does the coalition and Skaikru with it... How you know?"

- "Well, he confessed his training is directed to shaping me into an assassin more so than into a warrior; he also doesn't like Roan one bit. I'm just putting the pieces together and that's the most coherent result."

- "But one of his conditions was for you to pay loyalty to the King."

- "I know, which is why nothing made sense until I went to see him this morning to let him know I was coming here with or without his blessing; he asked me about that again so I told him I had no intentions of pleading loyalty to Roan, to anyone for that matter..."

- "But Sam!" –Clarke protests, angered her friend would do such a thing, putting all their lives at risk.

- "Listen to me, maybe I shouldn't have said that, but if I hadn't, we wouldn't have confirmation of his plan."

- "I don't get it."

- "When I announced my intentions, he was pleased, allowing me to come and saying that that part of our deal had been withdrawn; I obviously asked him what that meant and why he was doing so now for it didn't make any sense... his answer? 'I have better plans for us'."

- "Us?"

- "Him and I." –Samantha simply shrugs her shoulders, as if what she has just confessed was nothing.

- "That can't be good... we need to know what he's planning; we can't allow him to get rid of Roan, Azgeda would be on our doors in no time..."

- "Hey, Clarke, relax; leave Ulger to me, you save our people." –Samantha pats Clarke's back reassuringly- "So, how's that list of yours going?"

- "I don't want to do this."

- "No one does, but the reality is not all of us are getting to survive Praimfaya." -Samantha raises from the table- "Imagine how easy this would have been if we were only the 100."

- "We were 101. Bellamy..."

- "Two died in the landing, we'd even have a place for one Grounder." –Samantha's tone is harsh as she quickly brushes her off- "Can I see?"

- "I'm almost done, I'm considering all options..."

- "You don't have to explain to me Clarke; I assume you're taking everything into account: from health data to fighting skills, to knowledge of maths, physics, and all the jazz you could need in the new world." –she enumerates as Clarke offers her the list- "That's why they've made you make the list: because you know who needs to survive and you're not going to put just the people you love. Or I wanna think you won't."

Samantha takes the list in her hands and quickly runs her eyes over the names, clearly looking for someone.

- "You're number 50."

- "Why exactly am I on the list?" –Samantha glances up from the paper at Clarke, clearly surprised.

- "You're a woman, you're healthy..."

- "I don't know if I'd define myself as 'healthy' per se, but sure."

- "You have the best fighting skills in camp, not only Grounder-style but also with fire weapons like the guard." –Clarke keeps explaining the reasons behind her choice- "You're also capable of leading people and..."

- "Why haven't you written O's name yet?" –Samantha interrupts her, raising her eyes from the papers as she finishes reading the names- "We are the same."

- "Your training skills are better than hers and... well..." –the hesitation in Clarke's voice raises all alerts on her friend.

- "You're not going to write her name." –Samantha breathes out, half annoyed, half surprised- "Why? Are you afraid she'll go rogue?"

- "Yeah..."

- "I can assure you I'll be the one going rogue if you don't change that."

- "Sam, there are only so many places left. I can't just..."

- "Take my name out, write hers." –she firmly states handing her the paper back- "I'm not getting in the ship."

- "But..."

- "No buts, just do it; you can't force me to go inside." –a small smile on Samantha's lips as she rests on the table- "Besides, it'd be a waste of space if you ask me; you don't seriously expect me to stay still for years inside that little ship, right? I'm more of a Grounder than a Sky-Person right now and I don't intend on going into lockup again, thanks." –Clarke looks up at her, following her dramatic hand-gestures with her eyes thinking of a way to convince her- "I'm not afraid of dying, Clarke; I really don't care as long as my place is taken by O."

- "Sam, we need you."

- "No, you don't, Clarke. The new world is going to be peaceful considering only this new 100 will survive; you are not going to need me to fight or, for that matter, to fuck shit up..." –she chuckles, clearly entertained by her own story- "You need the brains for the new world, not the brute force."

- "You know Bellamy..." –Clarke plays her last card, glancing at her sleeping co-leader on the sofa, hoping her friend will yield.

- "Quit using him against me." –Samantha moves away towards the door- "It hasn't worked since we landed, it's not going to start working now." –she sighs- "They might not be on the best of terms right now, but you can't seriously expect him to survive the end of the world without his little sister, right?" –she glances at Bellamy longingly, but she can't afford to feel right now; she knows this is what she has to do, she has to save their sister- "I don't care how you do it but change those names or I'll do it myself." –she turns to leave- "And make sure Bellamy doesn't notice, I don't need to have this conversation with him."

- "Sam, please..."

- "Clarke, please, I need you to trick him, I won't watch him or Octavia die." –Samantha gulps, taking a deep breath before the tears have time to form in her eyes- "I was never meant to survive this long and that is okay with me. Change those names, trick him with a different list or change the numbers, but don't let him know." –she glances at her one last time over her shoulder, a soft and sincere smile on her lips- "I'm sure you know this by now, princess, but you both ought to be on that list; the new world will be a better place with you both to lead it, I know it. Keep each other in line."