─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

RILEY WAS HORRIFIED. She has known the truth for so long, but she was always able to run from it. The burns weren't bad. The blood would help. The blood from the outsiders, that is. It cured them. It would help, sometimes, when it could. But Dr. Tsing was blossoming an idea. And Riley couldn't let it happen, not ever. She had informed Maya of what she thought was bound to happen, everything about the idea, in hushed whispers so no one could hear, and she agreed that they had to be warned. Not only were they people, but Jasper who was one of them had saved Maya's life giving his blood.

They made their way, as a pair, to the room the forty-nine had been given. They tried to act normal, not wanting anyone they passed to suspect them. When they entered the room, no one was there, except Monty and Jasper who seemed to be having a discussion. No matter what it was about, Riley was sure it wasn't as important as this. "Hey guys!" Maya exclaimed, a little to happy that it sounded fake, with a nervous smile on her face. "Jasper, I'm so glad to see you're feeling better."

With hands not functioning so well, Riley slowly lifted a notebook. Before arriving, she had written on it; "Act normal, they're listening!" And hoped they'd follow. "Thanks.." Jasper replied hesitantly. "I am." She could see the questionable looks from both boys, and shook her head with wide eyes, telling them to keep quiet about the notebook's words. She flipped the page so another was showing that had read; "The breach wasn't an accident. Follow us!" Trying to remain calm, he spoke again. "You look well rested too."

"Yeah, she's just a bit tired still," Riley cut in. She sounded uptight, but cleared her throat. "But, it's pizza day. You guys hungry?" Maya waved for them to follow the two girls out of the room. They complied and they left, feet moving quickly, but still chose to keep quiet. It was quiet until Maya used her keycard to open a door and they wandered inside, into a smaller room. "We don't have much time, but we can talk freely here," Riley told the two, still keeping her voice quiet.

"What the hell is going on?!" Jasper demanded to know, but his voice as quiet still as Riley's own.

Riley was able to hold herself together, but Maya wasn't doing so well herself. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracking as tears formed in her eyes.

"About what?" Jasper asked, looking back and forth between the two. "What did you mean by "It wasn't an accident"?"

Monty, using his head, finally caught on. "She means they exposed her to radiation on purpose," he stated in a sudden realization. "And I'm betting it was to get you to agree to be her blood brother," he added, completely disgusted. Upset, Maya nodded in agreement to show he was right. "I knew it," he said with a scoff. "Clarke was right."

Jasper had seemed to believe Monty, but was willing to give both Riley and Maya the benefit of the doubt. "Did you know about this?" He asked them. Maya shook her head. "Why would they do that to you, then?"

"The standard treatment sucks," Riley explained, quivering. "Compared to you, it's almost nothing."

Silence filled the air. It was heavy, and hit them hard. Jasper and Monty both exchanged confused looks before Monty spoke up and asked the question that was lingering in the room. "What's the standard treatment?"

It'd be a hard thing to explain. How could Riley just tell them that they were bringing outsiders in, stringing them up, and forcing them to give their blood? She pointed forward, to a grate behind them that would show into the Harvest Chamber. "It's through there," she told them.

Complying, Monty and Jasper peered through the grate. At the sight, their mouth's dropped. A blue, glowing light shone in a room. From what they could see, was people, hanging by their feet with different medical tubes hooked up to them. There was a long line of cages as well, and they couldn't see what was inside, but assumed it was just more of them. "Oh my god," Jasper breathed out at the sight. ".. Grounders.."

Without taking his eyes off, and his hand lingering on the blinds, Monty asked them something. "Why are you telling us this?"

"Because I'm afraid," Maya responded, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to clear her throat well enough to talk, completely shattered in front of everyone. "That you're next."

"Everyone knows," Riley interrupted, wrapping her arms around herself. She suddenly felt chilling, like she could feel the blood of the outsiders pumping through her veins. "But nobody talks about it." The Harvest Chamber was like a hushed secret between everyone in Mount Weather. No one spoke about it, no one knew how to even bring it up because of how inhuman it was.

Maya could see how shocked, yet completely disgusted the pair of boys were by them, they didn't have to say it or even look at them. "Look, without the treatments we'd die," she told them, wiping her eyes. "What were we supposed to do?"

Without looking at the girl's, eyes still trained into the chamber, Monty answered her. He sounded so cold, it had hurt Riley, even though he was right.

"Die."

He cleared his throat, finally tearing his eyes away to look at them both again. "We need to leave, now," he stated to Jasper. "If Clarke had gotten out, we can too, right?" He asked him desperately.

"You'll never make it," Riley told them honestly. She hated the truth, but it was there. "Ever since she disappeared somehow, security all around the mountain has been increased... And the others, they'll end up..." Her sentence trailed off, her hand moving in the direction towards the chamber in a wave. She didn't have to finish it. They caught on quickly.

"What choice do we have, then?!" Monty exclaimed, desperate for an answer.

Jasper looked from Monty, to Riley, then to Maya before answering like a light bulb went off above his head. "We volunteer."

-

MOUNT WEATHER. THREE YEARS AGO.

Riley felt like her head had been in between her knees forever. She was shaking all over, yet still hasn't cried. At the sound of her name, she slowly looked up and saw her best friend, Maya. The pity in Maya's expression affected her, and suddenly, Riley really was crying this time. The choked sobs made their way out of her throat, and Maya was next to her in seconds, embracing her. "S-She - H-He, and - " Her words were cut off with another sob, as her best friend rubbed her shoulder.

Both of Riley's parents were dead. They had both died burning from the inside out, and refusing a treatment. She didn't understand why. But the grief she was feeling was over took any questions she had. It's not like anyone would answer her anyways.

"Hey," Maya tried soothing her best friend. "We can pull through, okay?" She watched sadly as Riley begun shaking her head, sobbing uncontrollably, and dropping her head on Maya's shoulder. "We can," she repeated more firmly, trying to assure her. It was silent between the two for a bit, word wise, the only sound heard being Riley's sorrowful cries. She hugged her tighter, desperately trying to comfort her. It had broken her heart seeing the other like this, so hurt, and unable to be fixed. No one could get over the pain of losing a parent, let alone two.

"Do you remember when we were kids?" Maya spoke up softly, beginning to stroke Riley's blonde hair. "And we talked about what it'd be like to go outside?" Riley remembered. Since then, their attachment to breathing fresh air slowly went away. They were sure it'd never happen. The thought was nothing more than a childhood dream. She wasn't sure what Maya was trying to do, though. Riley slowly nodded back, her chest still heaving with heavy breaths she desperately tried to take.

Maya looked into Riley's gaze. She tried to smile, it only coming out sad, when seeing her best friends red tear stained cheeks and eyes glossy with more wet tears. "You said you'd make it happen, one day. Remember that?" She asked.

Confused, Riley blinked a few times and slowly lifted one hand to rub at her eyes. She felt empty, and didn't want to play a question game, but Maya wasn't one that would mess with how Riley felt. Especially not as of now, in a moment like this one. "Yeah," she responded weakly. Remembering a time like that didn't hurt her, even though it possibly should have. "W-What about it?"

"I believe you will," Maya told her, honestly. "And even if you don't - both of your parents will be looking down on you, so proud. No matter what you do."

Riley breathed through her nose, sniffling, as her heart dropped at Maya's words. She believed her, she did. It was the only moment that hurt to hear. "Thank you," she replied softly. Fortunately, she was starting to calm down more. She was still crying, obviously, but it wasn't the heavy and broken sobs it once was. To hear a statement like that somehow brought Riley a sense of peace despite the unfortunate event.

"And you'll always have me," Maya promised her. "No matter what."