Chapter 3: Thrive

"It was gold."

Clarke waited expectantly as she waited for the inevitable shout of dissent. It finally came up from one of the boys who hung with Murphy a lot.

"I guess the princess over here gets more special treatment, huh? Why is it always you?"

Octavia rolled her eyes and said,"Don't be daft Dax. We all got injected with powers. That means there was literally no special treatment and to be honest I'd want Clarke to have this gold injection over anyone else. She's been of the only ones that have been trying to organise us and make sure we survive. If anyone deserves it then it's her."

Nods of approval began to go around after Octavia's speech and Clarke was touched that so many of the delinquents were putting their faith in her.

That's not to say there weren't a few people who looked dissatisfied as there those who had disgusted looks on their faces and were muttering under their breath. It was mostly coming from the ones who'd removed their wristbands.

Clarke decided that it was probably time for everyone to get back to work said,"Listen guys. We're all in this together so we need to watch each other's backs. Whatever issues you've had with someone should be put on the back burner if you want us to survive down here. "

Clarke's eyes met those of Wells and she smiled and nodded at him before she shared one last piece of news as she felt it was important that everyone understood the gravity of their situation.

"The Ark is dying."

Finn turned towards Clarke and was so surprised he phased through the part of the dropship he was leaning against, but he regained control and said ,"What did you just say?"

Clarke nodded and said," It's an extremely large part of the reason we were sent down. My dad got floated and I got arrested for wanting to tell the truth to the citizens of the Ark. I think that the Ark has maybe three weeks left maybe less if things are worse than I thought. We need to survive so our people can join us."

Bellamy scoffed and said,"Do you really want the Ark to come down here? It'd just be you guys getting the scraps while the upper class like princess over there would be living lavishly. The second they come down here it'll be back to rationing and executions. I say screw the Ark because as far as I'm concerned you guys are my people!"

Murphy's posse cheered and hollered at Bellamy's speech and there were a few more who seemed to have been swayed by the passionate speech.

Clarke interrupted the cheers and hollers and said,"If you take this wristbands off you're no better than Jaha because you'd be signing the death warrants of thousands of people. There are those who didn't ask to be born in the Ark and are also frowned upon by the upper echelons of the Ark. There are people who like all of us have lost someone thanks to the Capital Crime rule. Finally, there are kids on the Ark some barely out their mother's womb and you're willing to let all those people die?"

At the end of Clarke's speech she had turned towards Bellamy and she walked right up to him. The entire camp was silent which was why it was easy for everyone to hear the words uttered by Clarke in a low voice.

"You disgust me, Bellamy."

Clarke then stormed off and Finn seeing an opportunity to end this said,"Show's over folks. Get back to work. That wall ain't going to build itself."

The crowd scattered except and went to their various stations except for Octavia. She was shocked that her brother was capable of so easily deciding to forsake the rest of the Ark like it was nothing.

Octavia walked up to her brother who still stood at the ramp and said,"What's gotten into you? Bel, I know we owe the people of the Ark nothing, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to live!"

Bellamy sighed and said"O, if the Ark comes down here and they find out I'm alive then I'm dead. Mom made me swear to always protect you and that's why I did what I had to do so I could protect you down here as well."

Octavia sighed and said,"I can take care of myself, Bel! I don't need you shadowing me and sending Murphy and his goons to follow me around. When are you going to let me live? "

Bellamy sighed and said,"You think I don't want to let you run loose. I don't want to run after you like a lost puppy, but I have to because it's what Mom would've wanted. So you can curse me and rage all you want, but we're both stuck in this as long as I have any say."

Octavia raised an eyebrow and said,"Stuck? Is that how you really feel about me? You're the only family I have left and you feel like you're stuck with me! "

Bellamy sighed and said,"You know what I meant... I didn't mean it that way. Why do you always have to overreact like this?"

Octavia sighed and said,"You know what Bellamy? Screw you. You can go play boss with your little gang of followers or try catching Clarke's shadow, but please don't involve me in the mess you call your life."

Octavia began to walk away, but her heart broke as she heard the words her brother said to her.

"You know what, O? It's fine you can run away and go do whatever the hell you want now. I. Don't. Care. Oh yeah and by the way my life only became a mess when you were born."

Octavia's head dropped lower before she ran towards the gate and slipped into the woods.

Bellamy sighed before punching the side of dropship. He let out a scream of pure frustration before walking to the meat station and he began to skin the deer in a bid to take his mind off the argument. He'd just had it didn't work.

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Clarke was back in her tent and she was just about to stand up and leave before a person's voice came from the other side of the veil.

"Hey Clarke. It's Wells can I come in?"

Clarke was a little surprised, but she said,"Yeah, come on in."

Wells took the invitation to enter and he simply stood across from Clarke who was sitting atop her sleeping bag. Wells knew he was pushing it as is, but he felt like he had to bring it up.

"Look Clarke–"

"I know Wells. I know that my mom got my dad floated."

Wells was surprised and said,"Did you get some freaky mind reader powers or something?"

Clarke laughed and dimly she realised it was the first time she'd laughed with Wells in at least a year. She'd always been so antagonistic towards him after her father got floated and even when in the Sky Box she'd never go down to any of his visits which were literally everyday.

It was, thus, with more than a little guilt and shame that she said,"Roma and Finn helped me see the real picture. They told me how they'd asked you about what happened and you'd been extremely evasive about it. It was Roma, though, that said I should give you a chance to explain because like I said we all need to be able to work together so we can survive."

Wells was silent for a while. He knew that Abby was the one who'd spoken to his father about the Ark's impending doom. However, he knew it would hurt Clarke less if she thought he was that got her father killed instead of her mother. Wells knew that he'd essentially been given a second chance at a friendship with Clarke and he decided being honest would be the best course of action. With that in mind, Wells told her everything.

Clarke was in turmoil as she heard the confirmation of her suspicions. She'd used the closest thing she had to a brother as a scapegoat for the death of her father.

On some level, she supposed she knew her mother was responsible. Her mother had often looked extremely uncomfortable whenever Clarke would bring up her anger for Wells during her mother's visits when Clarke was in the Sky Box.

There were times where her mother would try to convince her that Wells only did what he thought was best and that he didn't plan on getting her father floated .

It was only now that Clarke realised that her mother was essentially replacing Wells whenever the subject was brought up.

Wells smiled and said,"I'm really sorry for lying to you about this Clarke. It's just–"

"Don't apologise Wells,"said Clarke as she pulled him into a hug and said,"You've stood by me for all these years even though I've acted like such a bitch. I'm really sorry I was too caught up in everything that happened."

Wells pulled out of the hug and said,"Look Clarke. I've already forgiven you. I know that you were hurting and when people are hurt they oftentimes do things they'll regret. It's all in the past now okay?"

Clarke nodded and wiped the tears that she felt gathering at her eyes and said,"Thanks Wells."

Wells nodded and he gave Clarke one last hug and made to leave. As he was at the exit of her he said,"You know Monroe is pretty good at wood carving. Shee made a pretty decent gnome today from a log. We should ask her to make us some chess pieces and we can play a few games."

Clarke smiled and said,"You're on. I'll ask her as soon as I can. I hope you're ready to lose."

Wells rolled his eyes and said,"Clarke, you might be able to move things with your mind now, but I could still beat you easily."

Wells dodged the pillow Clarke threw at him and left while laughing. His good mood didn't last though as he saw Bellamy come up to him.

"Hey Chancellor,"said Bellamy as he reached Wells,"We'll need to set up a guard system and I've been rounding up volunteers. Do you wanna help?"

Wells was a bit irritated at the nickname, but he brushed it off and said,"Yeah. I guess I'll help. We should probably ask Clarke, Finn and Roma to help out as well. Their powers would probably come in handy."

Bellamy nodded and said,"Good idea. I'll ask them myself. We'll begin the rounds in the woods at sundown so until then you can do what you want. We'll be camping out so you might want to prepare for a rough night."

Wells nodded and left. Bellamy sighed and was about to leave when he heard someone call his name. He turned and was surprised to see Finn walking to him.

"You didn't happen to send your sister out on a hunt right?" said Finn as he approached Bellamy,"Cyrus just told me she ran right out the gate looking like she wanted to kill something."

Bellamy scoffed and said,"I wouldn't worry about Octavia. She's perfectly capable of handling herself so I don't need to follow up on every single thing she does."

Finn sighed and said,"Look Bellamy. You and I don't really agree on a lot of things, but trust me when I say this. You and Octavia are some of the luckiest people down here. None of us know what's it like to have siblings, but trust me when I say a lot of us would love nothing more than to have a sibling. I know that you must have done something pretty shady to get down here, but that doesn't matter right now. The fact you were willing to follow Octavia to what could have been a deathtrap shows me how much you must care for her."

Bellamy closed his eyes as he processed the words Finn was saying.

"Look I won't act like I've know you guys particularly well, but I do think the last thing either of you would want is to let a little argument ruin your bond. She probably hasn't had some speak to her about it yet so I'd suggest letting her cool off for a bit and then we can go look for her."

Bellamy nodded and said,"You're right. I probably shouldn't have reacted the way I did. You're just a bag full of surprises aren't you Spacewalker?"

Finn smiled and said,"What can I say? I'm wiser than I look."