The Ground

Shadow POV

I sit on the cold floor, humming a tune out loud that my mother always used to sing to me when I was afraid to sleep at night. I picture that I'm in the middle of a green field. I can feel the sun on my face, I can see the trees all around me. The scent of wildflowers in the breeze. It's so beautiful, and at this moment I'm not stranded in space. It's been 97 years since the nuclear apocalypse killed everyone on earth. Leaving the planet simmering in radiation. Fortunately, there were survivors. Twelve nations had operational space stations at the time of the bombs. There is now only the Ark. One station forged from the many. We're told the earth needs another 100 years to become survivable again. Four more space-locked generations and mankind can go home back to the ground... Now that's a dream but this is reality and reality sucks. Buzzz! I jump when my lights come on. Three guards quickly enter my cell "Prisoner 419 face the wall" The male guard with blonde hair orders me. I scrambled to my face, turning to the wall. "What is this?" I questioned, my breath sounding uneven. "Quiet, hold out your right arm" He demanded. I turned my head to see him taking a metal bracelet out of a small box. Fear strikes me as I think about what's going on. "N-no, it's not my time...I don't turn 18 for another three months" I informed him. "I said hold out your arm," He says, opening the metal bracelet up and stepping towards me. On the Ark no matter how small the crime it's publishable by death. Unless you're under 18. I stepped away from him "Give me that necklace" He ordered, reaching out to take it off me. "No! My mother and father gave it to me" I stepped away further from him. He suddenly grabbed my wrist "No!" I screamed, giving him a kick to the balls. I turned around to see the other male guard coming at me. so I ducked and punched him in the h\jaw before quickly running at the female guard and knocking her head against the wall. I spun around to see my cell door is still opened so I didn't think twice about rushing out the door and closing it behind me. My ears quickly catch all the commutations. The yelling and screaming from kids and adults. What was going on? What was happening right now? "Prisoner 419! Stop right there!" I hear a guard called out. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain enter my back, knocking the wind out of me as I hit the hard floor. I take in a sharp breath as I'm turned over. "Always giving us trouble..." I see Marcus Kane above me, his words echoing as I begin to see three of him, I try to move but my body feels like a ton of bricks. "I will...kill you" I threaten him. "Get her in the dropship before she wakes...You don't want her fighting you all" I hear him say before everything went black.

My body jerks up as my eyes shoot open. I hiss at the stinging pain in my wrist before realizing I'm buckled into a seat. "You're awake good." "What the hell is going on?" I asked the girl next to me. "We're being sent to the ground," She tells me. "What?! Like the ground?" I asked her. "Prisoners of the Ark here me now" The chancellor Jaha spoke as a TV screen suddenly flashed on. "You've been given a second chance and as your chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you but a chance for all of us indeed for mankind itself." My head was killing me and the drop ship was shaking as I felt it traveling down. "We have no idea what is waiting for you down there" the chancellor went on. "If the odds of survival were better we would have sent others. Frankly, we're sending you, because your crimes have made you expendable" He explained. "If, however, you do survive--" "Your dad's a dick, Wells!" I hear a guy call out from the top of his lungs, causing me to look over at Wells. "Then those crimes will be forgiven. Your records wiped clean" Chancellor Jaha went on. I felt anger build though, I never did anything to be locked up for, my mother and father decided to have my sister and me. "The drop site has been chosen carefully. Before the last war, Mount weather was a military base built within a mountain" Chancellor Jaha explained. "It was said to be stocked with enough non-perishables to sustain 300 people--" "Check it out! Space bandit strikes again!" Another guy called out, causing me to knit my brows together. I looked over to see a guy out of his seat, floating in the air before floating over to us. "Check that out" he smirked at Wells. "Your dad floated me after all" He joked. "Are you insane? Get back into your seat!" I hissed at him. "The parachutes will deploy and you'll die" I stated. "Hey, you two! Stay put if you want to live" The blonde girl shouted at the two guys trying to follow him out of their seats. "Mount Weather is life. You must locate those supplies immediately" The Chancellor tells us. "You're the traitor who's been in solitary for a year" The guy stated. "You're the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen on an illegal spacewalk" The blonde girl hissed out. "But it was fun" he smirked. I rolled my eyes, scoffing at his comment. "And who are you?" He asked, arching his brow. "None ya" I groaned. He looked back over to the blonde girl "I'm Finn" He smirked. "You have one responsibility, to stay alive" I hear the Chancellor state. "Finally...I'm sure you're wondering about those wristbands..." I'm side-tracked once again when the blonde girl shouted. "Stay in your seats!" I looked over to see two more guys following Finn out of their seats. Suddenly Finn and the two guys go flying across the dropship, crashing into pipes and tubes. Smoke begins to cover the dropship "Finn are you okay?" The blonde girl shouted. Sparks flew into the air "Ah!" I heard someone scream loudly as my heart pounded in my chest. I shut my eyes tightly "The retrorockets should have fired by now!" I called out of the loud noises. "Okay..." The blonde woman takes a breath. "Everything on this ship is a hundred years old right?" She asked. "Just give it a second" She stated, the lights flickering insanely. "Clarke! there's something I have to tell you" Wells spoke. "I'm sorry I got your father arrested" He blurted out. "Don't you talk about my father!" She screamed at him. "Please, I can't die knowing that you hate me!" Wells shouted back. "They didn't arrest my father, Wells! They executed him!" She shouted. "I do hate you!" She added. "Ah!" I hear more screams as the lights suddenly go out before a hard thud, causing my ears to pop. I hear the engine winding down before the lights flickered back on. Everyone is quiet, nobody makes a sound yet. All you could hear was everyone else breathing, everyone else shock. "Listen..." An Asian guy stated, breaking the silence. "No machine hum" he pointed out. I knit my brows together, he was right. It was really quiet and even though we almost died it was nice that it was quiet. "Whoa.." The guy with goggles on top of his head says next to him. "That's a first" he added. The seat belts finally come undone and I shoot up, rushing over to one of the guys that had followed Finn out of their seats. I kneeled down and reached out, touching the side of his neck. I sighed, not feeling a pulse. "Finn, is he breathing?" Clarke asked. I lifted my head to see her checking on the other guy, shaking my head. "The outer doors are on the lower level. Let's go!" I heard a guy call out to everyone. "No! We can't just open the doors!" Clarke shouted, getting up and walking to the hatch. "This...." I pointed to the two dead guys as I turned to Finn. "This is your fault" I hissed at him, getting up and following Clarke over to the hatch, climbing down the latter. "Hey, just back it up guys" A guy's voice called out. "Stop!" Clarke shouted, getting everyone's attention. I followed her towards the front of the crowd to see a tall tan guy with dark black hair. He's wearing all black. "The air could be toxic" Clarke pointed out. The guy turned around "If the air's toxic we're dead anyway" He stated back. He turned back around and went to reach up but a voice stopped him. "Bellamy?" A girl my age walked forward. She looks a lot like him. She has dark black long hair and tan skin. He turned around as she walked closer to the front before colliding with him in a hug. "My god" he breathed out. "Look how big you are" he added, displaying a huge smile. She looked at his clothes "What the hell are you wearing a guard's uniform for?" She hissed. "I borrowed it to get on the dropship" he informed her. "Someone's got to keep an eye on you" He smirked. I knit my brows together "Where's your wristband?" Clarke asked him. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year" the girl hissed at Clarke. "No one has a brother" A guy shouted. "That's Octavia Blake! The girl they found hidden under the floor!" A girl shouted louder. Octavia goes to charge at her but Bellamy grabbed her. "Octavia, Octavia! No" Bellamy shouts. "Let's give them something else to remember you by?" He suggested. Octavia shoved Bellamy a little "yeah? Like what?" She asked him. "Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years" He smirked at her. She smirked back before they both turned to the door. Bellamy reached up and grabbed onto the handle before pulling it back down. The bright white light blinds me for a moment, causing me to quint as the warmth hits my face. I gasp when everything comes clearer into view. Beautiful green leaves on the dark brown trees. The cool breeze picked up just a little and I closed my eyes for a moment, smelling the air. This is exactly what I pictured it to smell like. Octavia walks towards the end of the ramp before jumping down on the ground. She takes a huge breath in and throws her fist in the air. "We're back bitches!!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs causing everyone to pile out of the dropship. Whooping and howling through the forest. I jumped off the dropship ramp and looked around to see where we landed is literally in the forest. I spot Clarke and walk over to her, throwing my hair into a ponytail. "Hey," I say to her. "Can I walk with you?" I asked. She didn't respond but I didn't take it as a no so we walked together. "You're name is Clarke right?" I asked, causing her to arch her brow. "I heard Wells shout it as we were all plumping to our death" I joked, causing her to laugh a bit. I extended my hand "I'm Arabella Black" I introduced myself. She shakes my hand "Clarke Griffin" She says. She pulled out a map before we reached a cliff, holding it out I looked over her shoulder at it. Then, I looked over at the huge mountain in the distance. "Please tell me...that's not Mount Weather" I sighed. "What's the matter, princess?" I hear Finn ask, walking to the other side of Clarke. "It's not like we died in a fiery explosion's" He joked. "Yeah? Tell that to the two guys who followed you out of their seats" I hissed. "That wasn't supposed to happen" He sighed, guilt on his face. Good, their deaths are in his hands. Clarke huffed "Do you see that peak over there?" She asked Finn. He glanced at it for a moment "Yeah. So?" he shrugged. "Mount Weather," Clarke says to him. "There's a radiation-soaked forest between us and our next meal" She explained to him. Anger built more in the pit of my stomach "They dropped us off on the wrong damn mountain" I huffed, gritting my teeth a little.

I leaned over, watching Clarke as she teaches me how to track how long it would take us to get to Mount Weather. "Huh..." I smiled. She knit her brows together "You didn't learn this in earth skills?" She asked. I grunted out a laugh "No, my father never got around to teaching me that" I pointed out. Clarke knit her brows together, opening her mouth. "We got problems," Wells says, cutting her off. She looked over her shoulder at him before glancing at me. "The communication system is dead" He informed us. "I went to the roof and a dozen panels are missing. Heat must have fried the wires" He explained. "All that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather" Clarke pointed out. "Look..." I pointed to the map Clarke has laid in front of us on the dropship ramp. "This us" She stated pointing where we're on the map. "This is where we need to get to if we want to survive" Clarke explained, drawing on the map. Wells furrowed his brows together "Where did you learn to do that?" He questioned. Clarke glanced over to me before letting out a sigh. Clarke didn't say anything though "Your father" Wells stated. "Cool, a map" The guy with goggles on his head chuckled. "Can I get a bar in this town? I'll buy you a drink" He joked, causing me to giggle. "You mind?" Wells shoved him back a little. "Wells! Knock it off" I hissed, standing between the guy and him. "Hey!" Another guy's voice called out, causing Wells to turn around to see a group of guys walking up. "Hands off him, He's with us" The guy with brown hair stated. Wells raised his hands a little "Relax. We're just trying to figure out where we are" he tells them. "We're on the ground. Is that not good enough for you?" Bellamy butted in. causing me to roll my eyes. "We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father's message" Wells stated, getting closer to Bellamy and Octavia. "That has to be our first priority" He added. "Screw your father" Octavia hissed. I knit my brows together "What? You think you're in charge here?" She laughed before tilting her head to the side. "You and your little princess" She added. "Oh shut up Octavia, Nobody asked you" I hissed at her. She glared at me and when I think she was gonna go at me Bellamy grabbed her wrist. "You think we really care who's in charge?" I asked her. "We need to get to Mount Weather and not because Chancellor said so. because the longer we wait the hungrier we will get and the harder this will be" I explained to them. "She's right, I mean how long do you all think we'll last without those supplies?" Clarke asked. "We're looking at a 20-mile trek okay?" She asked. "If we wanna get there before dark, we need to leave now" I added in. "I got a better idea" Bellamy smirked. "You three go find it for us?" He suggested. "Let the privileged do the hard work for a change" Bellamy added. I scoffed, rolling my eyes. They all knew damn well I wasn't privileged. "Yeah!" The rest of them agreed. "You're listening, We all need to go," Wells said. Suddenly the brown-haired guy shoved past me, pushing Wells. "Look at this, everybody. Chancellor of the earth" He taunted Wells. "You think that's funny?" Wells asked. Suddenly the brown-haired guy tripped Wells. "Wells!" Clarke and I shouted. Two guys grabbed her and one guy went to grab me, causing me to stomp on his foot and elbow him in the nose. "Bitch!" He shouted and I turned around to see his bleeding nose. "No, but that was" The brown hair guy answered Wells. I got in between them, shoving the guy back. "Leave" I ordered him, glaring hard. "What are you gonna do?" He smirked at me. "You don't wanna fight me, You'll lose and in front of all your new buddies" I hissed in a low tone. "Shadow...stop," Wells tells me. limping as he got up. I turned around and shake my head "Shut up and go over there" I ordered Wells. I turned back to the guy "now you, Walk away" I ordered him. He smirked "You think you're so tough?" He asked me. "Try me..." I say. "That's enough!" Finn suddenly dropped down in between the guy and me. "Kid's got one leg and besides...You're going to hit a girl?" Finn tilted his head to the side. I huffed as the brown-haired guy walked away. Clarke rushed over to Wells, helping him up. "Hey, spacewalker!" Octavia called out. "Rescue me next" She flirted, making me want to vomit. Bellamy grabbed Octavia and pulled her aside. "You're welcome" Finn smirked. "I didn't need your help" I pointed out. He chuckled "So you were just going to take a beating for the Chancellors son?" He questioned. "I'm pretty sure if I can take down a shit ton of guards I can take down one loser guy" I pointed out. He knit his brows together before I started walking towards Wells and Clarke. "Is he gonna live?" I asked, kneeling down to Wells and Clarke. "It's a bad sprain, you'll have to stay off it for two days," Clarke tells Wells. "So, Mount Weather. When do we leave?" Finn asked as he walked over to us. Clarke stands to her feet "Right now" She stated, I turned to Wells again "We'll be back tomorrow with the food" I informed him. "How the three of you gonna carry enough food for a hundred?" Well asked, knitting his brows together. Finn turned around, grabbing the Asian guy and his friend with the goggles. "Five of us, can we go now?" Finn asked. "Sounds like a party, Make it six" Octavia clapped her hands together. I rolled my eyes, biting the inside of my cheek. "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Bellamy asked his sister, grabbing her arm. She jerked away from him "Going for a walk" She stated. "hey" Clarke says, walking up to Finn and grabbing his wrist. "Were you trying to take this off?" She asked him. "Yeah. So?" He shrugged. "So this wristband transmits your vital signs to The Ark. Take it off and they'll think you're dead" She explained. "Should I care?" He asked her. "I don't know...do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months?" She asked him. "Because they won't if they think we're dying" She informed us. I looked down at my wristbands, knitting my brows together. I didn't want the people who killed my entire family to come down here but I know we need them. Finn lowered his head for a moment, before nodding. There's a moment of silence "Alright...Let's go?" I suggested. I turned to Wells as Clarke approached him. "You shouldn't have come here, Wells" She stated before walking off. "I'll watch out for her, promise" I winked, catching up with Clarke. Octavia caught up with Clarke and me "Before you get any ideas, Finn is mine" She says. "Before you get any ideas, I don't care" Clarke retorted, causing me to snort out a laugh.

We've been walking through the forest for a few hours now, I found out that the Asian guy is Monty and his friend with the goggles is Jasper. "Why have I never heard of you before?" Clarke asked me. I shrugged my shoulders "Because my family never got to make a fuss about anything, Chancellor floated them all...including my twin sister" I lowered my head, sighing. Clarke gasped "You had a twin sister?" She asked me. I nodded "Yeah, for the longest time...Anyway, enough about me" I stated. "What's going on with you and Wells?" I asked her. She shakes her head "A long story I rather not talk about anytime soon" She stated. I nodded "I understand," I say, giving her a slight smile. Clarke turned around "Hey guys! Would you try and keep up?" She asked them. "Come on, Clarke. How do you block all this out?" Finn asked her as we stopped to talk. "Well, it's simple. I wonder, why haven't we seen any animals?" She questioned. "Maybe because there are none. Maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us...Sure is pretty though" She nodded before walking off again. "Someone should slip her some poison sumac" Octavia groaned, causing me to glare at her as the others snickered. I walked next to Finn "I gotta know what you two did to get busted" Finn stated to Jasper and Monty. "Sumac's not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean" Monty explained. "Someone forgot to replace what we took" Jasper blurted out. "Someone's apologized like a thousand times" Monty then said. "How about you Octavia? What did they get you for?" Jasper asked her. Her expression went like a stone "Being born" she grumbled, walking off and towards where Clarke was waving us over. "That was so not game" I joked with Jasper, causing Monty to laugh. "Uh...wait" Finn grabbed me when I went to follow Jasper and Monty over to Clarke. "What?" I huffed. "Why were you arrested?" He questioned. I shake my head "When are you gonna give up? I'm not telling anyone..." I say to him. "What? Did you murder someone?" He asked me. I snorted out a laugh "Really? Jump right to murder?" I asked him. "There are people on that drop ship that have" He pointed out. I knit my brows together "Oh wow...Guess I never thought that someone on the Ark could kill their own kind" I say sarcastically. "Then answer this, why did they keep you hidden away?" He asked me. "Because the Ark keeps secrets, they lie and they kill innocent people..." I hissed out, rolling my eyes before walking over to where Clarke is at with the rest of the group. I kneel with the rest of the group as Clarke tells us to keep quiet. She then points out in the clearing to what looks like a deer grazing in the field. "No animals, huh?" Finn rubbed in Clarke's face. Finn began to sneak forward when. Snap! The deer lets out a low growling noise before its head snapped up. My heart pounded so fast as I jumped back to see the two faces on the deer. I stared at us for a moment before taking off. "What in the hell was that?" I whispered. looking around at our group.

We're walking further into the forest, the sun is beginning to set behind the trees. Everyone is telling us about their time on the Ark when all I wanted to do was forget. As we walked down a hill Finn spoke up. "You know what I'd like to know?" He asked. He didn't give time for anyone to respond before he spoke again. "Why send us down today. after 97 years?" He wondered. I knit my brows together, now wondering the something. "What changed?" He added. "Who cares,I'm just glad they did" Octavia giggled. "I woke up rotting in a cell and now" She paused for a moment as she grabbed a tree. "I'm spinning in a forest" She smiled at Finn. He paid no attention to her as we kept walking "Maybe they found something on a satellite. You know?" Monty suggested. "Like an old weather satellite or--" Clarke cut me off. "It wasn't a satellite," She says. "The Ark is dying" She blurted out, causing us all to stop and look at her as she kept walking. "What?" I asked. "At the current population level, there are roughly three months left of life support. Maybe four, now that we're gone" She explained as we began following her. "So that's the secret they locked you up to keep?" Finn asked. "Why they kept you in solitary? Floated your old man?" He asked her. Clarke looked to be struggling with this, only making my heart sink a little. "My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw." "He thought people had a right to know. The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed" She explained. "They were afraid it would cause panic" she stated. "We were gonna go public anyway when Wells..." she paused for a moment, not able to say the words. "What? Turned in your dad?" Finn asked. "Anyway, the guards showed up before we could." She went on. "That's why today, that's why it was worth the risk because even if we all died at least they've bought themselves some more time" Clarke stated. "They're going to kill more people? Aren't they?" I asked. I mean they have to if they think they'll survive for it. Clarke didn't answer me, the group fell quiet. "Good! After what they did to me. I say float them all" Octavia butted in, causing me to roll my eyes. "You don't mean that!" Jasper called out after her. "We have to warn them," Finn tells Clarke. She knit her brows together "That's what my father said" Clarke whispered before turning and colliding with Jasper. "Oh damn. I love the earth" he says in awed, causing me to knit my brows together. I looked over to where he is looking and my eyes go wide to see Octavia stripping down into her underwear. All of our mouths dropped open. We've never swum before "Octavia! What the hell are you doing?" I shouted at her. She only glanced over her shoulder at me before jumping off the huge rock. My heart sank in my chest as I quickly ran over to the ledge. I let out a sigh when I see her come up from the water. "Octavia!" Jasper called out to her. "We can't swim!" Monty says. "No, but we can stand" She smirked, before standing all the way up to reveal the water is only waist-high. "Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here" Clarke pointed out. A light breeze picks up, causing my ponytail to sway a little. "Well, there is, so sake off your damn clothes" Finn ordered her. Octavia laughed, splashing the water up at us as everyone begins to take off their clothes. I thought I was seeing things as I stared out in the distance, the water moving weirdly. I knit my brows together, squinting more to see something in the water. My heart pounds in my chest "Octavia...get out of the water" I hissed at her, causing everyone to stop. "What? no" She giggled. "Get out of the water now!" I screamed at her as the thing gets closer to her. She only turned around when she's suddenly ripped under the water. "Oh my god!" I screamed, covering my mouth. "Octavia!" Jasper shouted. I see the thing more clearly to see it looks like a giant snake. Suddenly the giant snake lets her go and she popped out of the water, flailing her arms rapidly as she screams loudly. "What the hell is that?" Monty asked. "A giant snake" I answered him. "Come on! We have to help her!" I shouted at them. "Over here..." I jumped to the other rock a little further down. "Help me push this into the water, it will distract the thing," I say. Monty, Finn, and Clarke helped me push the huge rock into the water. Splash! It dropped, causing the thing to let go of Octavia. "It worked!" Clarke nervously laughed. "Octavia! Get to the shore now!" Jasper yelled before jumping into the water and grabbing her. "I got you," He says, swimming with her. "It's coming back!" Monty yelled. "Come on," I say, rushing over to where the shore is, helping Jasper grab a hold of Octavia and pulling her into the sand. Clarke comes over with everyone else, touching Octavia let\g to see the teeth mark. She then grabbed a hold of Jasper's shirt and ripped the end off it before tying it around Octavia's leg. Octavia hugged Jasper tightly "Thank you" She whispered. "You're gonna be okay," Clarke tells her. "Note to self. Next time, save the girl" Monty joked, causing us all to laugh.

At night time and we decided to take a break, begin our travel tomorrow it had just stopped raining. I let out a much-needed sigh when I see Octavia sleeping. Jasper walked over to me, sitting down next to me. "You alright?" He asked in a whisper. "Me? I'm fine" I forced a smile on my face. He kept staring at me "You know, I might have only known you for a few hours but I can tell somethings bothering you" he informed me. I sighed "If I tell you something, swear you'll keep it to yourself?" I asked. He drew an invisible X across his chest. "Cross my heart" he stated. "Octavia wasn't the only one with sibling" I informed him. "You had an older brother too?" He asked. I shake my head "No...I had a twin sister" I confessed to him. He knit his brows together "That's impossible, they made all the women not have kids that have the twin gene" He explained. I nodded "I know, apparently they missed one" I stated. "Anyway, we were hidden for so long. When the guards came we'd hid inside a vent" I explained. "It was a little after we turned 14 when my mother got arrested at work, my father came home in a panic and told us our mother and older sister were floated...That they would come for him as well" I went on. "But it was too late. the guards came into our house and they took one look at us and hauled my father away, then split my twin sister and me up" I feel a tear slip down my cheek "I haven't seen her down here so the only other option is because I was born first, they floated her too" I informed Jasper. "Why didn't anyone hear about this?" Jasper asked. "Can you imagine if it got out that they missed someone that has the twin gene? The panic would cause?" I asked, scoffing a little. "Panic would have spread through the whole Ark," I say. "So they locked you away and floated your whole family? Man, that sucks" He says. I feel a tear slip down my cheek "Shadow?" Jasper asked, trying to look into my eyes. I quickly wiped my eyes and cleared my throat before standing to her feet. "I'm gonna get some sleep" I stated before walking away, finding a place to lie down. I closed my eyes, pulling my jacket over my upper body and drifting to sleep.

I couldn't sleep any longer so I decided while everyone slept in I would make a vine to get across the river. I worked all morning on it, twisting it tightly as my father had taught me. "Tighter than that, if you plan on doing anything with it" I could hear his voice say, I finished, letting out a sigh "What are you doing?" I looked over my shoulder to see Finn standing near a tree. "I made this vine, thinking we could tie it to that tree over the river and swing across it?" I suggested. He knit his brows together "That's actually really smart" He chuckled. "How on earth did you think of this?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders "My father taught me things, just because I didn't go to school doesn't mean I'm useless" I pointed out. "That's not wh--" I cut him off. "It's alright Finn, let's go tell everyone" I smiled, walking away. We walked back to the river after I had told them about the vine. "How are we gonna get it up there?" Clarke wondered. "Easy, I'll climb the tree" I take the vine."You've never climbed a tree before" Jasper pointed out. "I've climbed up around the nearest branch and using it to help me climb the tree. I get up higher and looked down. "S-S-Shit" I stuttered out. "What's wrong?!" Clarke called out. "Being up this high...I just realized something" I gulped down. "What?" Monty asked. "I'm scared of heights" I confessed. "We lived in space" Clarke mentioned. "Yeah..." I breathed out as my hands begin to shake. I unwrapped the vine from the branch after I steady myself and grabbed a hold of another one, standing on the thick wood as I begin to walk across it. "Careful Shadow" Clarke called out. I giggled, not looking down before reaching up to a thick branch and throwing the vine over it, using it to get myself up and onto the branch. I tied it tightly and a few times before giving them a thumbs up. I then realize, how the hell do I get down. "Coming down now?" Finn asked. "Yeah, move over," I say, grabbing a hold of the vine. "One person stands by the vine in case it decides to sway" I suggested. Monty stands close to the vine as everyone else backed away "Like this?" he asked. "Y-Yeah" I stuttered out before closing my eyes and hoping off the branch. I slide all the way down, my hands burning a little before Monty grabbed a hold of me. "Whew! Thanks" I smiled as my feet touched the ground. "Alright" I clapped, stepping away from the vine. "Who's first?" I asked. "I so am" Finn smirked, handing his stuff to Clarke. Jasper stands next to him as Finn grabbed the vine, pulling down on it a few times. "Don't worry, I made sure it was tightly tied down" I smiled at Finn. He pulled on it again "You sure?" He asked, causing me to giggle. "Come on Finn, you wanted to go first. Now quit stalling" Clarke says. "Mount Weather awaits" I chimed in. "Just hang on until the apogee and you'll be fine" Jasper explained to him. "The Apache? Like the Indians right?" Finn asked, obviously acting dumb. "Apogee, not Apache" Jasper corrected him. "He knows. Today Finn" Clarke called out. "Aye aye, Captain" Finn saluted her before turning to Jasper. "See you on the other side" Finn smiled before taking a step back, preparing himself as he was about to swing Jasper had stopped him. "Wait." "What?" Finn asked. "Let me" Jasper suggested almost jumping out of his clothes. "I can do it" Jasper added. Finn handed him the vine, patting him on the back. "I knew there was a badass in there somewhere" Finn smiled. We all watch as Jasper exhaled deeply but when I think he's gonna do it, he just stands there. "Hey, it's okay to be afraid Jasper. The trick is not fighting it" Finn advised him. He sighs before stepping back "See you on the other side" Jasper winked before chuckling. He ran forward, pulling his legs to his chest and swinging. "Whoo! Whooooo!" Jasper called out, reaching the high point and letting go. The vine came back and Finn is fast to grab it as we all waited for Jasper. He stood up. throwing his fist into the air. "We are Apogees!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. We all cheered "WHOOOOO! Yeah, Jasper!" I cheered with everyone. "You did it, Jasper!" I screamed loudly. He begins to dance, causing me to throw my head back and laugh at him. "Let's go princess, you're up next," Finn tells Clarke. He hands her the vine and she smiled "Come on Clarke" I nudged her. "You've got this" I encouraged her. "WHOOOOO! We are Apogee!" I hear Jasper cheer loudly, causing me to giggle at him again. I watched as Jasper walked towards something, bending down and reaching out before picking something up. "We did it!" He called out, holding the sign up. "Mount Weather!" He informed us. "Whooo!" he cheered as I felt the relief. Suddenly, something flew across the river and right into Jasper, knocking him back a few feet. I see the spear in his chest. Panic hits "J-J-Jasper!" I stuttered out, calling to him. "Jasper!" I called out again when he doesn't answer. Clarke begins to yell with him as Finn pulled her away. "Jasper!" I tried to run to him but Monty grabbed a hold of me. "No! Shadow! Get down!" Finn hissed at me. I hear the rustling in the trees and I begin to panic more. "We're not alone" Clarke announced to us.