─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

AFTER WITNESSING HALF OF THE GROUNDER'S INTERROGATION THE DAY BEFORE, JUNE COULDN'T MAKE OUT WHAT CLARKE AND BELLAMY WOULD PLAN TO DO WITH HIM. There was no right decision to make. If they let him go, he could bring a mob of his friends back seeking revenge. If they killed him, what would happen to their humanity? The Ark had harsh laws that were enforced, but everything she has seen done was for survival. June didn't know if this was right, but she wanted them all to survive.

To keep the delinquents from fearing the grounder, everyone had their own jobs ranging from separating food, rebuilding the wall, making weapons, even slicing meat. Raven set up a screen recording radio so everyone would have a chance to speak to their parents or loved ones back on The Ark during their break. June avoided being outside, or anywhere near that tent, for that preferred reason, knowing the only people who cared about her were on the ground or gone.

June's boots made a reflecting thud as she strides through the dropship. A packet she had swiped from Jasper and Monty working, full of unfamiliar nuts, was clutched in her hand and she'd occasionally nibble on one or two at a time. They were so far the best plant that June had to eat, bursting with a strange flavor with each bite that she liked. As she swallowed and neared the opening, she came to a slow stop at the sight of Octavia leaning back against a seat with a deep scowl matching her sharp features.

"Everything alright?" June asked hesitantly, her gaze darting to Octavia's arm. She knew the scar from her cut was still there, yet hadn't understood what she had meant when she had done it; claiming that the grounder wouldn't let her die.

"Do you know if Bellamy is still up there?" Octavia questioned instead of answering, nodding her chin upwards to gesture to the top level where the grounder was still bound.

June shrugged. "I guess." If the grounder was still being kept prisoner up there, Bellamy most likely was still guarding him. Octavia huffed, a cross between anger and frustration crossing her face as she slumped in her seat. June winced at the cold shoulder, choosing to give Octavia space and leave her alone instead of asking more.

The sunlight and fresh air welcomed June as she exited, her boots meeting the soft ground as a few friends she walked by greeted her. She plastered on a soft smile, noticing the hard work that had come out of effort and working together. The rebuilding of the gate had improved since the storm, and at this point, the only threat they had besides the grounders, was freezing to death when winter came.

"June!" Clarke's face appeared out of the crowd of delinquents as June was lifting another nut to her mouth. Once her friend approached her, June could see the tired look on her face, but it was covered by one of relief. "I finished talking to The Ark. Do you plan on talking to your father any time soon?"

Tilting her head, swallowing the sorrow at the mention, June gave Clarke a half-smile. "My father died while you were in lock-up." Remorseful, Clarke's mouth opened, unable to find the words to say. June interrupted her with a head shake. She didn't want to talk about it, not at the moment or here of all places. "I'm fine. Really... Why do you ask?"

At the subject change, Clarke slowly nodded, shrugging off the blunt admission June had. "I need you to come with me. Actually, I wanted both you and Bellamy. Is he inside?" She questioned, pointing to the dropship June had just left. June nodded, following Clarke in the dropship afterward.

Walking back in the dropship, June sensed a different change in mood. Bellamy had left the upper level, this time hovering over Octavia, and both siblings had deep scowls on their faces as if they finished a fight, holding a stare together that Bellamy broke when noticing the pair approach. "The answer is still no," he stated sharply as he attempted to push past that. "I'm not talking to Jaha."

June's let her jaw slack, sarcastically, as Clarke stopped him from leaving. "Avoiding the man you tried to kill? Shocking," she whispered.

Sending June a warning look over her shoulder, Clarke turned to face Bellamy once more. "Relax," she said. "That's not why I'm here. The Ark found some old records that show a supply depot not too far from here." June's eyebrows lifted, knowing that she was talking to The Ark, but not suspecting that type of help. They've been on their own since the beginning.

"What kind of supplies?" Bellamy asked, sounding as if he was running low on patience.

"The kind that might give us a chance to live through winter," Clarke retorted, catching his attention more. "I'm gonna go check it out. We could use the backup."

Bellamy's dark eyes and hard expression moved from June to Clarke. "Why are you asking me?" He questioned finally.

A playful smile appeared on Clarke's face. "Because me and June could use a third person, preferably someone I don't actually like." June had to cover her lower mouth, hiding a smile while finishing the last of her nuts.

Bellamy looked down, hiding his own amused grin before looking back up and meeting their faces. June could see the way he glanced up for a moment, staring at Octavia briefly before nodding his head. "I'll get my stuff, meet you in ten."

━━━━━━━━

The way Bellamy was shoving rations into his bag from a bucket when they met up was as if Clarke had told them they were being chased, and the amount he was grabbing looked to supply them for much longer than a day. June didn't want to question it but eyed him suspiciously. Clarke, however, pointed it out much more doubtful. "That's a lot of rations," she noted before pointing out. "You realize this is a day trip."

Bellamy shut his bag. June watched as he picked his head up, longingly staring towards the dropship. Upon following his stare, she could see it was directed towards Octavia who looked back for only a moment before disappearing past the hung up cloth and into the dropship. "A lot can happen in a day," he said before slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Looking away from Octavia, June gestured to the woods with a wave of her hand as they left, past the gate. "Yeah, like getting speared by grounders." Bellamy passed by her with the same tough facade he always had. She frowned for a second. "What, no sense of humor?"

If June was right, and there were grounders watching them walk through the woods, none of them appeared. She had already eaten a packet of nuts, but Clarke snacked on her own as they passed through the opening. The trees were much smaller and thinner in here, June noted, having to duck to avoid being poked or scratched by the branches.

Clarke hunched over, clutching her pack to avoid a branch. "You know," she spoke up. "The first dropship is gonna come down soon. Pretty sure you can't avoid Jaha forever."

"I can try," Bellamy retorted immediately, coming off as harsh. 

The dried up and dead leaves crunched beneath as June followed. "Give him some credit, Clarke. He managed to hide with a bunch of delinquents." Bellamy paused to turn his head, eyeing June wearily. June timidly smiled. "You had to use a guard's uniform, though. Definitely don't look seventeen."

"Guys," Clarke urged them to focus. "The depot is supposed to be around here somewhere. There's got to be a door."

The three came to a stop at the top of a slope. June became slightly astonished, in a daze as she stared at the view. The area looked demolished and abandoned long ago, old stone structures crumbling apart, surrounded by a lake. She tried to picture what it was like once before until the nuclear bombs destroyed it, but it was nearly impossible to imagine. "Cool," June finally mumbled.

Clarke had already looked away, staring at Bellamy almost desperately before speaking quietly about Chancellor Jaha once more. "Maybe he'll be lenient -"

Irritated, Bellamy broke into a glare and spoke much more harshly than the times before. "Look, I shot the man, Clarke. He's not just gonna forgive and forget."

At the moment, June could see how truly scared Bellamy was of what would happen to him. She softly gazed at him, dropping the old jokes and becoming more serious. "You were trying to protect someone," she began, catching his attention. "As he's been doing for years because of the population. There has to be a part of him that understands." She felt as if this was the first time she's understood Bellamy; by taking a risk and choosing to come down to Earth to protect someone they loved.

Bellamy shakes his head as if emotionally pushing June away. "Let's just split up, cover more ground," he suggested. "Stay within shouting distance."

While Bellamy went past them, moving to get to the right side of the lake as far away as he could from them. June sighed as her gaze dropped to the ground, carefully stepping through the hills grass, kicking aside yellow and green leaves to search for the door. "You don't really think Jaha would kill Bellamy?" She questioned, breaking the silence between them once Bellamy was out of earshot.

Clarke seemed surprised by June's sudden question. "I didn't think you'd care what would happen to him," she said carefully, remembering witnessing how cold June has been to Bellamy since their first day of landing.

Pausing, June looked away from the ground to turn and find Bellamy who was far away, but close enough to see. "I don't want to lose anyone else," she admitted, her mind wandering to Wells. "We could speak for him, right?" She tried suggesting, picking her pace up to catch up with Clarke who kept her eyes on the ground below them. "Jaha would trust us. He's known us since... You know..." Wells. It still hurt to say his name, June knew and Clarke caught on.

"We can hope," Clarke softly said. As she took another step, her boot hit something solid but echoed as if it was empty. The friends shared a stare before Clarke was calling out to Bellamy. "Bellamy, over here! We found a door!"

Crouching, Clarke pushed aside the remaining leaves, revealing a very old door. June's eyes lit up and she knelt beside her, tossing aside the remaining dead grass as Clarke gripped the handle and tugged with a grimace. Bellamy peered over the top of the hill for a moment, before rushing to approach them. With one last grunt, Clarke's head turned. "I think it's rusted shut."

"Here," Bellamy offered, crouching behind them and pulling his tomahawk out of his belt. "Watch your foot, Clarke." Clarke moved her limb out of the way as he started hacking at the bolts, the hinges squeaking as it became loose. "Okay, give me a hand."

June gripped the same handle with Clarke and gritted her teeth as she used her strength to jerk the door open. As it suddenly opened, Bellamy grasped the end, swinging the door to the other side. She sighed in relief, wiping her grimy hands on her jacket. The light poured in as a source to see, and a faint staircase leading them downwards.

Being the first to take the brave steps, Clarke took the lead and trotting down the steps. June held her hand out, motioning for Bellamy to go next. "Age before beauty," she joked, referring to their earlier banter. Bellamy rolled his eyes, amused, before walking down the stairs. June kept her grin as she followed, it dropping when noticing how many webs were surrounding them.

"Really think this place hasn't been touched since the war?" Bellamy asked, taking the makeshift flashlight that Clarke offered him. Humming in acknowledgment, June pulled her own light from the bag hanging on her shoulder and flicked it on as her feet hit the stone ground.

"A girl can dream," Clarke replied as she circled around the staircase to only meet more stairs. "Come on." 

As the three went deeper into the bunker, June could see how foul it was. She shivered at the mixture of the coldness and dampness, figuring quickly that this wasn't a safe place to be when winter hit. A much weirder smell hit June and she had to cover her nose with the palm of her hand to block it out. "Ew, what is that?"

Neither Bellamy or Clarke had a chance to answer, as they finished walking down the final steps, they came close to a rotting skeleton propped upwards. June winced at the sight, immediately feeling bad at the remark she made. "Hell of a place to die," Bellamy commented, his light shining on it.

June followed them past the railing, holding her light up to glance around. It's much colder now, with many webs and a mildew type of scent that made her want to gag. She didn't want to know what else was down here but tried to shrug off the creepy shiver. "So much for living down here," Clarke muttered. "This place is disgusting. Damn it!"

"Anything left down here is ruined," Bellamy added in disgust.

"If there is anything down here," June mentioned, taking note of the situation around her.

Clarke nodded. "They must have distributed most of the supplies before the last bombs went off." She leaned over a crate, brushing away some of the webs before cracking it open. June peered over her shoulder, turning her light to catch a view. "Hey, I found blankets!" She announced.

"Neat," June commented, reaching her hand out to brush over them. They're orange and soft at the touch. "These could help us during winter!"

Scoffing from the other side of the damp bunker, Bellamy became frustrated. "Neat?" He repeated, quoting June. "Excited about a couple blankets?"

Clarke shut the crate after June pulled her hand out. "Well, at least it's something!" She defended.

"How about a canteen, or a medkit, or a decent fricking tent?!" Bellamy shouted angrily, his hand hitting the top of a barrel that made no hollow sound at the action. He pried open the lid, tossing it aside, and dipping his hand in. June turned, watching him become more furious at whatever was inside. Bellamy suddenly let out an irritated shout, swinging his leg forward and kicking the metal barrel. 

June practically jumped at the loud clanging noise, her eyes becoming wide as they watched oil spill while a clattering bounced off the walls. Bellamy followed the sound, squatting before speaking in what had to be amazement. "Oh my God."

"What?" Clarke questioned, alarmed, as she raced to be by his side.

"What could have changed his mood like that?" June mumbled, keeping steady as she carefully walked over the oil. She found out soon enough when arriving beside Clarke, squinting to see through the darkness.

Bellamy was holding a scarily large grin while holding an equally scary long gun. "Ready to learn how to shoot?"