"Out of the vehicle" Bellamy demanded, yanking the door to the Rover open with some force.
Jaha remained where he was, hands gripped on the steering wheel. "I need to make a run."
"All supply runs go through me." Raven snapped, pure anger in her words. "And shouldn't you be working on the patch in Sector 5?"
He stared at all of us for a moment before turning the key that killed the engine. Pulling himself from the vehicle, he scanned his eyes over the four of us. "A patch for a ship that can only save a hundred people?"
I looked to Raven in confusion, as Bellamy and Clarke shared a similar look...how did he know?
"Why are you surprised?" Jaha questioned as if it were obvious. "I am an engineer."
I let out a small snort. "That explains the cockiness." I muttered under my breath.
Jaha either didn't hear my comment, or chose to ignore it. "We have no way to generate water, the harder number is 400. Can you really sentence 400 more of our own people to death?"
"We don't have a choice!" Clarke snapped, earning the attention of some people milling around. I turned my head slightly, watching as people stopped what they were doing to watch us momentarily.
"What if you do?" Jaha proposed. "What if I told you there might be a fallout shelter less than a day's drive from here, a fallout shelter built to sustain thousands?"
What he was suggesting, well it seemed too good to be true. Could there really be something like that out there? It didn't seem entirely likely.
"We've been through the Chancellor's files," I argued, thinking back to a few days ago when we had spent all day and night scanning the files hoping to find something, anything that could save us. "All the bunkers you listed for The Hundred were listed as 'compromised' or 'unviable', and now Mount Weather is too."
Jaha looked over to me with a small nod. "Those were government bunkers."
He then turned back toward the Rover, pulling open the door to reach for a tablet before handing it to Clarke.
We all leaned toward her, reading the article that was pulled up. It was from a newspaper called 'The Chicago Weekly Herald' and it was about some cult called The Second Dawn.
"A doomsday cult?" Bellamy asked, looking up to Jaha with suspicion.
The former Chancellor nodded. "That's right. The Second Dawn--"
"--They built a bunker?" Clarke assumed, tying together everything Jaha was trying to tell us.
"Their whole theology was based on riding out the end of the world."
Raven stood with her arms crossed firmly in front of her chest. "And why didn't you consider it?" she wondered.
"We couldn't prove it existed."
My mind wandered to what would have happened if they had have proven it existed. Is that where we would have ended up instead of trying to get to Mount Weather? Would more of The Hundred have survived? Or would we have met the same fate no matter what?
"So then why are you considering it now?" Bellamy questioned.
"Because before now, we didn't need it."
Clarke looked up from where she had been focusing on the tablet. "You found it didn't you?"
Jaha looked away for a moment before looking back to us. "We can't be sure unless we check it out." he admitted.
Slowly, all eyes turned to Raven who looked up at us in shock. "No." she asserted. "No way. We need that Rover for hauling pieces of a three ton patch we're building--"
Clarke cut her off before she could get any further. "--Yeah, but if he's right we don't need a patch."
The frustrated look didn't leave Raven's face as she lowered her voice. "Can I talk to you guys for a second?"
Bellamy, Clarke and I let out quiet sighs as we followed Raven away from Jaha, stopping where we knew he could no longer hear us.
"Can you please remind Clarke what happened the last time Jaha went looking for salvation?" Raven demanded, looking to Bellamy and I with raised brows.
I really couldn't argue with here there. Jaha had been the one that brought ALIE to us, that forced the chip on the majority of the Arkadian population and then some.
"Raven," Bellamy sighed, "If that bunker is real, then we can save a lot more than a hundred people."
"If it's not." she argued, "Then we've lost another day."
"Hey, look. If it's not, I'll make the list." Clarke bargained, knowing that was a deal good enough for Raven at this point.
Raven held her gaze for a moment before letting out a scoff. "Do what you want. Avery and I will stay here and do all the work." she muttered before taking off toward the Ark.
Once Raven had disappeared into the ship, I looked to Bellamy and Clarke with a nervous glance. "Be careful out there. Jaha isn't the most reliable travel buddy." I muttered, glancing over to where he stood.
Clarke gave me a small smile as she pulled me into a quick hug before taking off toward the Rover, leaving Bellamy and I standing alone.
"Why is it that it seems you're always leaving me?" I questioned, leaning into him as he pulled me toward his body.
"I'll be back." he promised, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "I always come back."
I nodded, giving him a forced smile as I pulled away. "I better get back to work, Raven's on a warpath if you haven't noticed." I laughed.
Bellamy grinned as he began toward the Rover. "You still need to rest!" he called, giving me a pointed look. "Tell Raven not to work you too hard."
I let out a small laugh as he pulled open the door to the Rover. "Yeah," I muttered, "Like she'll listen."
---
"You really just let him leave like that?" Raven questioned, looking up from her task at hand as I entered the part of the Ark that all of our rations were currently being stored in.
I let out a frustrated sigh as I flopped down into one of the chairs, my body screaming at me in exhaustion. "What did you want me to do?" I wondered, looking over to her with brows raised. "I'm not exactly in charge of Bellamy."
"I don't know!" she huffed, throwing her tools down. "Tell him that you wanted him to stay, that you needed him."
"Raven," I said calmly, looking over at her with steady eyes. "We need to explore all of our options. If we can save all of our people, we at least have to try."
"Do you think I want 400 of our people to die?" she demanded, looking over at me with accusing eyes. "That I want those doors to shut and those people to be left for dead?"
I shook my head, "Of course I don't think that, Raven. I know that you're doing everything you can, but we can't give up looking for other options."
She closed her eyes for a brief moment before nodding. "I know." she whispered. "I'm sorry, Aves. I just-I'm stressed out okay? We just lost a whole day's work without that Rover."
"We'll make up for it." I assured. "And besides, you have me. So put me to work boss."
Raven let out a breathy laugh. "Hate to break it to you Aves, but that gunshot wound kind of renders you useless when it comes to patching up the ship."
I narrowed my eyes at her as I pushed myself to my feet. "Fair enough. But there has to be something else I can do."
"You can go gather more supplies to be sorted and rationed?" she suggested, hopefulness in her tone.
"Aye aye, captain." I muttered, shooting her a quick grin as I grabbed one of the trolleys. "Be back soon."
Leaning onto the trolley, I began to make my way toward Hangar Bay where all of our supplies were being kept.
Each step caused me to wince ever so slightly, a stabbing pain coming from my abdomen. I ignored it the best I could, knowing it was probably just from the stress this day had caused.
I was so caught up in dismissing my own pain, that I barely noticed the person walking toward me. Recognition dawned on me just as he was passing me.
"Hey!" I called, quickly spinning around with surprised eyes. "You're here." I observed, not expecting to see him.
Murphy paused, slowly turning to face me. "Hey, Collins." he muttered, giving me a small smile.
I leaned on the trolley, "I hear that I may owe you a thank you." I announced, watching as his face morphed into a smirk. "You know-for saving my life and all."
"Pleasure was all mine, Collins." he shot back, the smirk growing. "My favourite part was when I got to give you mouth to mouth."
I let out a gag, rolling my eyes. "You really have to ruin everything, don't you, John?"
He let out a small laugh as he adjusted the backpack that was resting on his shoulders. Despite his laughter, something else was hidden behind his eyes.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I wondered, watching his face for any telltale signs of why he was back. "Last I heard, you and that girlfriend of yours were off to take on the big bad world."
Murphy shrugged, "Maybe I came back just to see you, Collins." he suggested, the smirk covering his face once again.
"Oh, give it up." I muttered, turning my back to him. "Let me know when you want to have an actual conversation, John!" I called, giving him a backwards wave as I started toward the Hangar Bay once again, leaving Murphy behind.
I wasn't exactly sure why he was back at Arkadia, but I had a feeling it wasn't for the right reasons.