𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓/ 𝟏.𝟑.
☆ RIVER MONSTER ☆
"𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽!"

☆꧁*꧂☆

"WHY SEND US down today, after ninety seven years? What changed?" Finn wondered.

"Who cares?" Octavia laughed. "I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm spinning in a forest." She gripped a tree's trunk and twirled around it, staring at Finn flirtatiously.

"Well, I can't say I'm mad that they sent us here since I was locked up my entire life and I'll gladly have some fun, but from what I recall, humanity was supposed to come home a.k.a. Earth after exactly one hundred years because of the radioactivity level, so why now?" Allaia spoke.

Everyone glanced at her with pity and Finn clenched his jaw.

"Your entire life?" Jasper asked, horrified.

"Yep, I was born in a cell as a second child." She answered like it was no big deal. "I wasn't as lucky as you were, Tavy, They knew about me from the very beginning." Alle smiled sadly.

   Octavia put her arm around Allaia's shoulder reassuringly, realizing that she and her new friend had so much more in common than she originally thought.

"Maybe they found something on a satellite?" Monty changed the subject. "You know? Like an old weather satellite, or..."

"There wasn't a satellite." Clarke said. "The Ark is dying." The rest looked at her with pure shock on their faces. "With the current population, there's three months left of life support. Maybe four now that we're gone."

"So that was the secret they locked you up to keep?" Finn asked incredulously. "Why they kept you in solitary? Floated your old man?"

A flash of sadness came across Clarke's face, but she continued. "My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had the right to know. The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public anyway when Wells..."

"What? Turned in your dad?" Monty inquired.

"Anyway, the Guard showed up before we could." Clarke finished. "That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk." She answered Finn's questions and thoughts. "Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves some more time."

"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked horrified, though Clarke didn't reply which made the answer rather obvious.

"Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all." Octavia said bluntly.

"You don't mean that." Allaia shook her head.

"We have to warn them." Finn stated.

"That's what my father said." Clarke smiled, looking Finn straight in the eyes.

  For a dozen minutes or so, they walked in absolute silence, trying in their own way to digest Clarke's words. No one realized that the safety and stability of the place they had called home their entire lives was in question. Yes, the Ark was never perfect, the restrictions introduced by the Council a hundred years ago and still prevailing today hurt thousands of people and their families, but thanks to it the human race managed to survive the terrible cataclysm of nuclear war. Allaia was horrified at the prospect of the Ark's death, which was very real and quite likely.

   And although Allaia was forced to call a cell her home her whole life, she didn't want the people of the Ark to die in agony. Allaia wasn't vindictive, and though she suffered a lot because of the Council, she only wanted justice. She only wanted the man responsible for her harm to suffer the consequences of his actions. He made her life a living hell, by hurting her all over again. He tormented her, taking his anger out on her on everyday basis; physically and mentally torturing her as if she was his toy, his little plaything. 

   The Council had their sins behind their ears, but the Ark was mostly inhabited by innocent people and small children who deserved a chance to live.

   Allaia understood that their mission was more than just an attempt to get rid of juvenile offenders, it had a higher purpose, which was to provide security for hundreds of innocent people. Since then, Allaia knew that her priority would be to try to bring the Ark to the blue planet.

   After a while, a small river appeared to the group's eyes. Octavia approached the water with a smile and started undressing. She took off her pants and stayed only in panties and a t-shirt.

"Damn, I love Earth." Jasper whistled, staring at Octavia's perfectly tanned legs.

"Octavia, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke yelled, her eyes wide with shock. She rushed after her and the rest followed.

   The girl only smirked and jumped off the small cliff, leaping into the river.

"Octavia, we can't swim." Monty shouted. 

"No, but we can stand." She replied cockily and stood up, proving her point.

   Allaia rolled her eyes with a giggle, feeling a tinge of excitement fill her body. She stripped off of her clothes immediately, desperately wanting to sense cool water nicely tease her skin. Her black jeans and jacket were carelessly thrown on a nearby rock, and Allaia was wearing only panties and a tank top. She bit her lip and smiled broadly, last time looking at the rest of the group, she jumped into the river and joined Octavia. Allaia and Octavia began to splash each other playfully while laughing loudly, enjoying themselves.

"Wait. There's not supposed to be a river here." Clarke stated.

"Well, there is, so take off your damn clothes." Finn said teasingly to her.

   Everyone started undressing, but then Jasper saw a slight movement in the water from afar approaching unaware girls giggling with joy.

"Allaia, Octavia, get out of the water." Jasper screamed. "Now!"

   Finn's eyes snapped in his sister's direction rapidly. Allaia and Octavia turned around abruptly and saw an animal emerging from under the water, resembling a mutant snake with razor-sharp teeth and terribly angry eyes. Allaia suppressed a scream and Octavia shrieked, desperately grasping her hand. The rest stood by the shore, chasing them in panic, pure horror on their faces, and stretching their hands out to help. Octavia let out a piercing scream when the animal latched onto her, pulling her underwater.

"Octavia!" Allaia yelled desperately. She searched blindly for her friend, swinging her trembling hands in the water in despair. Her heart was pounding erratically.

"Allaia, get out of there!" Finn shouted, his eyes filled with fear for his sister.

   The girl chose to ignore his protests and without hesitation submerged into the water, determined to save Octavia. Finn was screaming at her, but she headed straight towards brunette who was fighting against the creature. Octavia was gasping for air and trashing around, trying to save her life. Allaia managed to grasp Octavia's shaking hand. She pulled her along, thereby exposing herself to a possible attack by a wild animal. Octavia luckily was able to get to the shore and Jasper quickly pulled her up, laying her on the rock. She had a few bites on her thigh which was covered in blood.

   Allaia's terrifying scream resonated into the woods as the creature lunged at her with extreme speed. Suddenly she was underwater, struggling with animal's strong hold against her right leg. Allaia could barely breathe as the monster was ducking her deeper into the river.

"We have to help her!" Allaia heard Finn's desperate yell.

"If we distract it, it might let her go! Help me!" Clarke suggested, panicking.

   Then the animal let go of Allaia as Finn, Clarke and Monty threw a large rock into the water. Allaia felt a piercing pain in her right leg and she yelped achingly. Tears were gathering in her eyes. She was looking around frantically as if she expected the creature to lunge at her again any second and possibly kill her.

"Allaia, you have to get to the shore, now!" Finn shouted.

Finn jumped into the river without hesitation and put his arms around her.

"I got you." He cooed, pulling Allaia tightly to his chest. Her breathing was extremely shallow. She was on the verge of having a panic attack, but with Finn's help she managed to calm down a bit.

"Come on, come on, keep moving! It's getting back!" Jasper yelled.

Finn pulled Allaia out of the water and laid her on the stone.

   Allaia gasped with relief, seeing that she was no longer in any danger. She looked at the two, not very deep, but rather profusely bleeding wounds on her right thigh. They were both about seven centimeters long. Alle quietly hissed out of pain. However, she affirmed that the gashes fortunately didn't require stitches. Jasper ripped off a piece of his shirt so Allaia could make a temporary dressing and stop the bleeding. She sent him a grateful smile and gently, but tightly, tied the fabric around her leg with a slit, biting her lip to ease the urge of screaming out of pain.

"Thank you." She breathed, hugging Finn.

Allaia lifted her head and realized everyone was looking at her with worry.

"Don't you ever do that again." Finn whispered and put his arms around her.

"Octavia, how's your leg?" She glanced at her friend. "Let me see it." Allaia stood up and groaned.

"Hey, hey, take it easy." Finn said, steadying her.

   Allaia kneeled near Octavia and examined her wound. Jasper made a sacrifice again and ripped off a piece of his shirt. Allaia smoothly put a bandage on Octavia's thigh to stop the bleeding and secure the gash.

"Lai, thank you." Octavia hugged Allaia with all her strength. Alle could feel her uneven breath on her neck due to Octavia's fear for her life. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. You could have been killed."

"Don't worry. Even though you jumped first, I was dumb enough to follow." Allaia joked.

"You literally pushed me away and because of that the monster nearly killed you." Octavia stated, tears falling down her cheek.

"Details." Allaia waved her hand carelessly like it was no big deal. "I would do it again." She winked at her and everyone but Finn rolled their eyes at her recklessness. He was rather pissed off that his sister had put herself in such a dangerous position, but at least she was safe now.

☆꧁*꧂☆

   IT WAS NIGHTFALL in the camp. Stars shining in the sky illuminated the Earth, making the climate extremely unique. Until now, criminals looked at the stars from a cosmic perspective and yes, the view was wonderful, but it was breathtaking to look at them from Earth itself.

   Wells Jaha heard people cheering loudly. He headed to the direction where it was coming from. He pushed himself through the crowd, determined to find out what was happening. A bonfire appeared to his eyes, with Bellamy and Murphy who were removing the metal bracelets from delinquents' wrists and throwing them into the flames.

"Who's next?" Bellamy yelled with his strong, masculine voice; confidence evident in his tone.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wells inquired angrily, approaching Bellamy.

   One of Bellamy's allies wanted to stop Wells, but Bellamy gave him a sign to let the Chancellor's son through the crowd. 

"We're liberating ourselves." He stated. "What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed." Wells responded furiously. "The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we've got. Take them off and the Ark will think we're dying, that it's not safe for them to follow." He tried to explain.

"That's the point, Chancellor." Bellamy replied sarcastically. "We can take care of ourselves. Can't we?!" Bellamy shouted with hoarse voice.

"Yeah!" The crowd cheered.

"Think this is a game? Those aren't just are friends and our parents up there! They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers." Wells yelled. "I don't care what he tells you." He motioned at Bellamy who rolled his eyes. "We won't survive here on our own. And besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?" He asked Bellamy with incomprehension. 

"My people already are down." Bellamy stated. "Those people locked my people up." He pointed at the sky. "Those people..." Bellamy started approaching Wells with dark glint in his eyes. "Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that." He growled, pushing Wells.

"My father didn't write the laws." Wells tried to defend his dad.

"No, he enforced them." Bellamy snapped. "But not anymore. Not here. Here, there are no laws." He announced. "Here... We do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want." Bellamy pressed. "Now, you don't have to like it, Wells. You can even try to stop it, change it, kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want." He smirked darkly.

"Whatever the hell we want!" Murphy screamed.

"Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want!" The crowd was chanting rebelliously.

   Thunder interrupted the screams of criminals. Raindrops began to fall to the ground. Everyone looked to the sky with admiration as rain was completely soaking up their hair and clothes. Cool water was splashing against their faces. It was their first encounter with rainfall ever, so loud yells and cheers sounded around the camp and people started dancing in the rain, feeling excitement taking over their bodies.

"We need to collect this." Wells stated.

"Whatever the hell you want." Bellamy replied with a smirk.

☆꧁*꧂☆

   IT'S BEEN A while since the rain has fallen. It ceased eventually, leaving the ground soggy and wet. Wells Jaha was sleeping peacefully, resting against the tree. His sleep was interrupted abruptly when someone put their hand on his mouth, preventing him from making any sound. Wells opened his eyes rapidly, blinking multiple times, and saw Bellamy who was holding a gun pointed at his head in a threatening manner.

"Shh." Bellamy cooed almost soundlessly. He slowly took his hand off of his lips and motioned him to get up and start walking.

   Wells had no choice but to obey Bellamy. After a few minutes, when they were near the hill and away from the camp, Bellamy stopped.

"That's far enough. I don't wanna shoot you, Wells." He admitted. "Hell, I like you. But I do need them to think you're dead." Bellamy pointed the gun at the sky.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Wells demanded. "For real, not some crap about getting to do what you wanna do."

"I have my reasons." Bellamy responded. "I also have a gun, so I ask the questions." He growled, clearly annoyed. "And the question is, why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you, Wells, and yet, here you are, still doing his bidding. Following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you?" Bellamy reasoned. "Stand up to him. Take off that wristband and you will be amazed at how good it feels."

"No." Wells replied bluntly. "Never. Not gonna happen. Is that clear enough for you." He hissed.

"Yeah, it is." Bellamy said, not surprised by his outburst and reluctance. "I'm sorry it had to be this way." He shoved the gun back into his waistband.

   Murphy and the rest of Bellamy's gang suddenly surrounded Wells' from behind. They were hidden in the bushes the entire time, waiting for Bellamy's signal to intervene. Evil smirks appeared on their faces as they started approaching the Chancellor's son. Wells, seeing what was happening, attempted to escape them. But within a second Murphy and another guy grabbed him aggressively by the shoulders, dragging him towards Bellamy. Wells was trashing around, trying to release himself from their grip.

"Get off of me!" Wells growled. "No, no!" He screamed.

"Put it down, put it down." The boy said.

   Wells was forced to the ground as Murphy's friends held his arms against a stone. His wristband, now completely available, was on display. Murphy stood over Wells with a dark grin.

"Let go of me! No, don't do this!" Wells yelled desperately.

Bellamy looked at Wells with no signs of emotion in his eyes. He walked away ruthlessly, ignoring his screams and headed straight to the camp.

☆꧁*꧂☆

   ALLAIA, CLARKE, OCTAVIA, Monty, Finn and Jasper were wandering in the woods for a few hours. Allaia could barely feel her legs, they were aching terribly. Her physical condition was practically nonexistent. Alle had a tiny figure and didn't have much strength. It never bothered her before, but now she wished she worked out more on the Ark. Sport was never her thing, she preferred to read books or draw.

   Suddenly they realized they reached the cliff and there was nowhere else they could cross the abyss. Allaia looked around, and her eyes found a rather long liana, which could help them overcome the divide. She smiled a little and grabbed it, then pulled hard, testing its strength. The creeper turned out to be quite solid, so Allaia proposed without hesitation:

"How about a liana flight? Like Tarzan?" She grinned.

   Finn made sure the ivy was strong enough to guarantee them a safe crossing to the other side, pulling it strongly dozens of times.

"You wanted to go first. Now quit stalling." Clarke mumbled. "Mount Weather awaits."

"Just hang on until the apogee and you'll be fine." Jasper assured Finn.

"The apogee, like the Indians, right?" Finn joked.

"Apogee, not Apache." Jasper corrected him with a frown.

"He knows." Clarke rolled her eyes. "Today, Finn."

"Aye, aye, captain." Finn saluted. "See you on the other side." He told Jasper.

   Then he grabbed the liana firmly. When he was about to break away from the ground, Jasper said he wanted to go first, obviously wishing to impress Octavia, and Finn handed the ivy over to him.

"I knew there was a badass in there somewhere." Finn laughed.

Jasper glanced at the divide with uncertainty.

"Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper." Finn reasoned. "The trick is not fighting it."

"See you on the other side." Jasper smiled.

   He grabbed the creeper with all his strength, took a run-up and jumped. Allaia was keeping her fingers crossed the whole time. With her breath held back, she watched him fly over the abyss. Fortunately, Jasper reached the other side safely and Allaia sighed with relief. He let go of the liana and screamed, proud of himself:

"We are Apogee!"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered loudly.

"You did it, Jasper!" Allaia yelled happily. Jasper was jumping around joyfully.

Finn caught the liana and gave it to Clarke.

"Let's go, princess. You're up." Finn stated.

Clarke hesitantly smiled at Finn and grabbed the ivy, preparing herself for the jump.

"Come on, Clarke. You got this!" Jasper assured her. "Whoa! Apogee!"

   Then, Jasper spotted a desolated slate with his eyes. He picked it up and read the inscription.

"We did it!" He announced. "Mount Weather! Whoa!" Jasper raised the plate over his head.

  Before Clarke could jump, Jasper's chest was pierced by a spear. He flew backwards, becoming impaled to the tree behind him. Allaia barely managed to suppress the screaming. She was breathing heavily with wide eyes. Fear was starting to take over every single cell in her body as she stared at the spear poking out of his chest. Jasper's shirt was now soaking in blood. Finn grabbed Clarke's waist, preventing her from