chapter 5 - beauty to beast

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(Two Days Later...)

"Okay, tell me again," Bellamy said while sitting directly before Clarke. The blonde had recently managed to escape from Mount Weather, and when she returned to camp, she brought back a lot of helpful information.

"It's a labyrinth," Clarke replied, pointing to an area on a map of the old military base. "Anya and I got to the dam through this tunnel. It's all connected to the mine system. That's our way in."

Clarke was referring back to the day when she had finally escaped. On that day, she found Anya and other grounders being held prisoners in cages, like they were animals. After they helped each other escape, the two of them made the gruesome discovery that the grounders' blood has continuously been harvested, to use for the residents of Mount Weather.

They also found out that when the bodies of the grounders were completely drained, they would dispose of them down a sliding chute that led to the reaper tunnels, which was actually how Clarke and Anya had escaped.

"Sure," Bellamy looked at her skeptically. "If we can get past the reapers and Mountain Men." He shook his head and sighed. "I swear to god, if your mom doesn't sanction a mission soon, I'm going by myself."

"You wouldn't be by yourself." She stated, giving him an assuring look, to which he nodded lightly at.

Clarke then took notice of Finn and Murphy, who had just walked out of the ark. The duo had just recently come back from their two-day journey of searching for Clarke and the others, without knowing that they were taken by the Mountain Men.

While trying to find their friends, Finn unfortunately made the drastic decision to open fire on a village filled with many innocent grounders. Men, women, and children were all massacred by the hands of the spacewalker, as he searched hastily for the blonde. The reason for his horrific behavior, was because he had made the quick assumption that the grounders had all of the delinquents as hostages, when really, he couldn't have been more wrong. And because of his recklessness, multiple families and innocent bystanders were caught in the crossfire of his delusional and impatient actions.

"I guess the inquisition is over," Bellamy spoke, also taking notice of the two, as the boys made their way over to them. "How's Finn doing anyway?"

"I haven't talked to him since we got back," Clarke admitted, emotionlessly. "I don't know what to say." She continued to stare down at the table, deep in thought. "...He just kept shooting."

"We're at war, Clarke." Bellamy reminded her. "We've all done things."

Before the blonde could respond, the subject of their conversation finally approached them.

"Hey," Finn said, instantly getting a greeting in return from Bellamy, but an awkward silence from Clarke. He peered down at her with a questioning gaze but soon realized that it seemed like she was avoiding his eyes.

Murphy made his way over to them as well, just as Bellamy left to get another round of whatever it was that they were drinking.

"Ah, check it out," Murphy smirked, taking a seat while swirling the liquid around in his cup. "Salvaged Monty's still from the drop ship. Now, I guess, you know, if they could just salvage Monty, huh?" He chuckled.

Clarke immediately gave him a look, and he placed his hands in the air in a mock surrender.

"Easy, it was just a joke." He assured her, before turning to face Finn. "Did you tell her we're cleared?"

Finn looked at Clarke with a straight face, knowing exactly how she must view him now, after all that he had done at the village.

"No." He deadpanned.

"Well, I guess I'll tell you then." Murphy rolled his eyes as he turned back to Clarke. "Looks like our pardon for surviving includes our time on the ground. We have bigger fish to fry, I guess."

"We did what we had to do," Finn stated, boldly. Never removing his eyes from the blonde in front of him.

Clarke still couldn't find it in her to face him yet, so he decided to just get up from the table and leave. After noticing the awkward interaction between the two, Murphy raised an eyebrow in question.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked, giving her a knowing smirk.

Clarke scoffed and looked over at him. "Just because they pardoned you, doesn't mean I have."

With that, she stood up from the table and walked away, but before she could make it any farther, Raven ran over to her.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Clarke noticed the look of urgency on the mechanic's face and so she nodded her head, allowing Raven to lead her away from the crowd.

"I know why we haven't heard from any of the other Ark stations." Raven quietly spoke. "Mount Weather's jamming us."

Clarke's eyes widened a bit at the information before a serious expression adorned her face.

"Show me." She replied.

_____

"I tweaked the resonator and got this," Raven stated, turning on the staticky radio and letting Clarke hear the jumbled noise coming from it. "It's on every frequency. Long-range communication is totally screwed. It's the same reason the range for our walkies sucks. It's the same signal that Monty heard in the black box of the Exodus ship."

"Mount Weather crashed the Exodus ship," Clarke spoke in sudden realization. "Can you get around the signal?"

"Around it? No." Raven shook her head. "But if I can get to the tower that broadcasts it, I can make it go boom."

"No one is going anywhere." Abby's voice was suddenly heard, as she entered the engineering room with Major Byrne.

"Mom, listen to me—" Clarke tried to explain but Abby cut her off.

"What do I have to do to get through to you?" The newly designated chancellor questioned. "You and your friends are not soldiers, and continuing to act like you are putting lives at risk."

"You don't understand." Clarke tried again. "Raven found something. Mount Weather is jamming our communications."

This new information seemed to pique Abby's interest because she raised her eyebrow in question.

"It's true," Raven said. "There could be other stations on the ground."

"And more guards," Clarke added. "You said we don't have enough people to fight a two-front war, but Mom, we're already fighting one."

"Ma'am, the grounder retaliation for the massacre could happen at any time." Major Byrne cut in. "And when it does, we need every available man to defend this camp."

"So let us go!" Clarke said, referring to Raven, Bellamy, and the others.

Abby looked over to her daughter and sighed. "You're not going to stop, are you?"

The blonde shook her head at the question. "Not until my friends are safe."

"Okay." Abby finally gave in. "But I'm coming with you."

This made Major Byrne look over at her in disbelief. "Ma'am, I just said—"

"It's been quiet for two days." Abby raised her hand to stop her. "Maybe Kane is making headway with the grounders' commander."

"Or maybe he's dead, and they're massing against us as we speak," Byrne stated.

"Maybe," Abby said, nodding in acknowledgment. "Which is why we need more guards."

"Then it's settled," Clarke concluded, looking at her mother. "We're going back to Mount Weather."

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The next day, Clarke and her friends left camp to find Mount Weather's broadcasting tower. Abby and a group of guards tagged along to assist them with their search, although they were unaware of the fact that Clarke had already devised a secret plan of her own, that included Bellamy and Octavia.

The sibling duo had planned to discreetly split apart from the group, and instead, try and look for a new entrance into Mount Weather. They were supposed to meet up with Lincoln somewhere in the woods so that he could join them and find his sister. After hearing what Clarke said about the grounders supposedly being harvested, he and Octavia made it their goal to retrieve Dakota as quickly as possible, before anything bad happened to her as well.

Everything had seemed to be going according to plan at first, and slowly as the day drew to a close, Raven finally spotted the tower perched on the top of a nearby mountain.

"There! I see it!" The mechanic called out, informing the others.

They all took turns looking through their binoculars to view the tower, but there was no denying the fact that it was still a great distance away, and the sun was already going down.

"It'll be dark soon." Clarke sighed. "We'll never spot the traps. We should set up camp here, and leave at first sight." She turned to her mother to hear her input on the matter, but the chancellor was glancing around the group skeptically.

"We're missing two." Abby notified the group. She turned to her daughter with a raised eyebrow. "Where the hell are Bellamy and Octavia?"

When Clarke didn't respond, Abby's expression turned serious as she gritted through her teeth. "Clarke, we're in enemy territory, and their lives are my responsibility."

"They went to find a way in." The blonde finally responded.

"A way in?" Her mother questioned her. "That's not what this mission is about—"

"—It is for them."

Abby shook her head at her daughter and turned around to order some of the guards to go and search for the Blake siblings and bring them back.

As the guards prepared to leave, Finn also picked up a gun and was prepared to go with them, which quickly caught the attention of the others.

"Finn, wait," Clarke ordered him, as Raven placed a hand on his arm. "We, um, we need you here."

"Why? So you can keep an eye on me?" He asked, clearly irritated. He then set his gaze on the blonde. "You'd have to be able to look at me to do that."

When silence and guilty expressions fell amongst the group, it seemed to anger Finn even more.

"What do you think I'm gonna do?!" He shouted, but he didn't get an immediate answer. So, he shoved Raven's hand off and threw the gun back down to the ground. He then stormed away, leaving Clarke to abruptly chase after him.

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"According to Clarke," Bellamy spoke to Octavia and Lincoln, as they made their way through the woods. "Before the bombs, there were buildings everywhere here. I'm guessing some of them had to have access to the bunker. So, we're looking for ruins, or anything that's man-made, okay?"

Lincoln and the brunette nodded, just before Sergeant Scott and two other guards emerged from the bushes and called out their names, as they made their way over to them.

"Bellamy! Octavia! Let's go!" Scott demanded. "Right now!" He stepped forward to grab them, but immediately raised his gun upon seeing the broad grounder standing beside the siblings.

"In case you've forgotten, we're not under your command." Bellamy reminded him while stepping protectively in front of Lincoln.

"I have no idea what you're up to, or why you've decided to team up with a grounder, but don't make us do this the hard way." He replied with a warning evident in his tone. "If you come with us now, without a fight, we'll promise to let your friend here go unharmed."

"Come on Scott," Bellamy tried to reason. "Forty-seven of our people are prisoners in this mountain."

"That's why we're here—"

"—Wrong." Bellamy continued. "You're out here to find other stations of the Ark. We're out here to find our friends. And that includes this grounder's sister."

As the two argued back and forth with one another, Octavia stood to the side with her hair in a braided updo, and Dakota's sword strapped to her back. As she looked down to the ground, apparently she was the first one to notice several different insects running beneath their feet. Soon enough, Lincoln noticed them too.

"Um, Bell..." Octavia uttered nervously, instantly getting her brother's attention. The two finally stopped their bickering, and glanced down as well, taking notice of how all of the insects ran in the same direction.

"What are they doing?" Scott questioned, secretly grossed out by the multitude of bugs.

"They're running," Bellamy stated the obvious, making the Sergeant scoff.

"Yeah, I can see that. But from what?"

This unusual sight wasn't at all new to Lincoln, and from experience, he knew exactly what they were running from. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked back up and examined the area behind the guards, taking notice of the green smoke quickly approaching them.

"Acid fog!" He shouted, notifying the group. "We need to take cover now!"

At the sudden information, Bellamy wasted no time in ordering the guards to unravel the tents so that they could use them for protection. Meanwhile, Octavia decided to follow the direction of where the insects were going, which ultimately led her to a wall that was covered naturally by wild vines and moss.

"Bell, there's something in here! Maybe there's some ruins!" She called out, making Bellamy and Lincoln rush over to where she was.

"It's a door." Bellamy realized. "Hey, hey, over here!" He shouted to the guards.

Two of the three guards hurried over to the entrance, as the acid fog came closer and closer to reaching them.

"Come on, pull!" Scott demanded. And they all tugged on the door as hard as they could.

Finally, they were able to pry open the door and run safely inside just, as the green smoke approached them. Unfortunately, one of the guards was still busy working on the tents when it reached him and was instantly engulfed by the acid fog.

"NO!!!" The Sergeant yelled, prepared to run after him. But Bellamy stopped him and pulled him back in the door, before shutting it completely.

It was too late to save him, and the guard's loud cries of pain were no longer existent, meaning he didn't make it.

➳ ➳ ➳

"Where are we?" Scott asked, feeling uneasy as he turned on his flashlight.

The light brightened up the darkened and eerie atmosphere, allowing the small group to take notice of several dust-covered cars, parked in every direction. 

"It seems like some sort of garage," Bellamy answered him, as they all began looking about the area.

Octavia scoffed as she retrieved her sword from her back. "More like some sort of tomb."

They carefully examined the place further, before the Blake siblings, along with Lincoln, decided to continue with their original plan.

"Hey," Bellamy spoke, getting Sergeant Scott's attention. "I'm sorry about your man, but we need to find an access door to Mount Weather."

With that, the three of them turned away to begin their search, however, Scott stopped them and gave Bellamy two loaded guns.

"We'll split up." He stated. "Meet back here in fifteen." Everyone nodded and dispersed accordingly. Lincoln, Bellamy, and Octavia went one way, while the sergeant and the guard went another way.

The parking garage was like something straight out of a horror film. It was dark, except for the random beams of visibility caused by the team's flashlights. The air was surprisingly wet and muggy, almost like stepping outside in the humidity right after a thunderstorm, on a hot summer's night. Abandoned cars were scattered about left and right, and all of them had a thick coat of dust and debris covering them, that made it hard to even identify what color the cars were.

"Man, I hate that sound." Scott sighed, referring to the creepy noises coming from roaches scattering about, and bats flying around aimlessly while screeching now and then.

The sergeant then approached an abandoned truck in curiosity. He ended up breaking the back window with his elbow, allowing the sound of shattered glass to bounce off the walls and echo throughout the area. It was loud compared to the small amount of silence, and it most likely would've caught the attention of anybody or anything within the perimeter.

"Hey, check this out," Scott spoke, grabbing an old radio from the back seat. He decided to ignore the dusty teddy bears and Chinese take-out containers that were sitting there as well, no doubt left behind by children and families who were trying to escape the bombs from many decades ago.

Wondering if the recording device still worked or not, the sergeant decided to wind it up with three quick and easy twists, to the silver knob on the back of it. He was quickly met with a staticky recording of a choir singing to the tune of "Carol of the Bells", which was an old song that used to be played during Christmas holidays.

The two guards looked up at each other with a smile, proud of their small discovery. They were also happy that the eerie noises surrounding them were now blocked out by the muffled song on the radio, even though it seemed to only cause the area to become more bone-chilling.

What the guards had failed to realize, was the fact that this music was actually catching the attention of nearby enemies and slowly drawing them closer. And since the men were too busy being distracted by the radio, they didn't see the shadows on the wall or the silhouettes dancing in the flashlight beam, and unfortunately, they were caught off guard when a group of reapers suddenly ambushed them...

_____

Just as Lincoln, Bellamy, and Octavia reached what looked like a possible entrance into the mountain, they suddenly stopped in their tracks upon hearing the frightening sounds of yelling coming from the opposite direction.

They didn't hesitate to quickly, yet cautiously, rush over to where the noise had come from.

"Scott? Are you there?" Bellamy called out for the guards. However, he was only met with silence, aside from the Christmas music that was still left playing on the radio like a broken record.

The three of them shined their flashlights aimlessly, looking for anything suspicious, and in the meantime, Bellamy drew out his gun while the other two unsheathed their swords.

As they carefully took a few steps forward, they suddenly heard mumbled grunts and rustling noises, coming from ahead of them.

"Bell, what is that?" Octavia questioned him in a hushed tone, as he cocked his gun.

Lincoln, on the other hand, furrowed his eyebrows as he aimed the flashlight over to a nearby corner. His eyes widened at the sight of two Reapers indulging in the body of one of the fallen guards they had come here with.

"Reapers!" He shouted, warning the siblings just as the two Reapers whipped their heads around in their direction.

The Reapers immediately rushed over to them with fresh blood dripping down from their chins in an attempt to reach the trio, however, Bellamy was too fast. He pulled the trigger on both of them, causing them to instantly drop to the ground.

After realizing the heavy danger of their current situation, Bellamy suggested that Octavia carry the other gun since she was still considered to be a beginner with the sword. Thankfully, she didn't argue with him and wasted no time in accepting the loaded weapon, which would soon come in handy.

They