T W O

Lilla Hartley holds the gun firmly in her hands, never for a second letting her guard down as she stalks between the trees, keeping in line with her squad.

They'd barely had any time to take in the sights and smells of the ground, but they had a duty. They would find and aid any survivors from the hundred, kill any hostiles, kill any grounders. They would not lose any more of their number today and Lilla wasn't going to be the one to blame if everything fell apart again.

But the breath rests fresh in her lungs. Nothing like the stale air of The Ark. The rippling and rustling of the leaves in the breeze would've been unnoticeable to a native, but for those who fell from the sky, it was as if they'd been deaf their entire lives.

Before the Ground, Lilla was sure none of them truly knew that sound could have beauty. Alas, there they were with weapons in their hands, beauty folding them into the world as if they'd never left.

She wants to keep her focus, but can't help but think back to the way she'd gripped her mother's hand incredibly tightly in their fall from space. The terror she felt, she knew she'd never feel again. Nothing could compare to free-falling like that, not knowing if they were going to land or if they were going to crash in a ball of fire.

"We will live," Her mother had whispered, eyes squeezed shut and head back against the metal wall. "We will live. I believe, I have faith."

"Faith," Lilla had breathed out, squeezing the aging hand of her mother, feeling every line and wrinkle beneath her palm. "We will survive."

And they did, but Lilla wondered for how much longer. How much longer would they be fighting for their lives? Their entire life? She prays that this was not the truth as she knows it. Prays for a cease in disaster so that they may just live, not survive, just live. 

Lilla's eyes scan the treeline, looking for any potential threat, as Kane leads them at the head of the pack.

Then, coming into view, was a single grounder.

Lilla didn't quite have a visual on what he was doing, but it looked as if he had two hostages, tied up. She flexed her finger around the trigger, wondering if it was going to be her to fire the shot this time. Part of her wanted the victory, the glory, but there was still a bite in her that didn't want to be the cause of death.

That bite of the lingering child.

The little girl who played with dolls and ratty, old teddy bears. The little girl who cried when mummy told her she couldn't have an extra portion of food.

The little girl who was ignorant.

She was not that little girl anymore. She was a member of the guard and she could kill on command, without hesitation.

Kane fired the shots, walking as he went.

And it was all over before Lilla knew it, disappointed at her lapse in concentration and lack of participation. She lowers her gun and takes in the sight of the two before her.

She knew them. Knew one of their faces well, the other for his nickname.

Bellamy Blake and Finn Collins.

Lilla had been there when they locked his sister away and floated his mum. She knew he remembered her face and wished he didn't. As if it would make everything alright again.

If only wishes would come true. That would make life a whole lot easier to handle, that's for sure.

-

-

Jaya took off after Althea, cursing her larger frame as the sky girl ducks between bushes and under branches with ease. Following someone so driven by loss wasn't an easy task, but Jaya was familiar enough with loss that she knew what made her tick.

A desperation unknown to sheltered beings who'd never felt a shred of dread their entire lives. Once you lose what you hold dear, the next beautiful thing that comes into your life that you find yourself inevitably falling in love with, caring for with all of the broken shards of your heart. Willing to kill for them, willing to die for them.

Althea was no different. Octavia was all she had left.

Her muscles ache and her lungs burning as if they were going to collapse with every step she took, forcing herself to keep running. She dreads what she might see, but is washed over with a wave of relief at the sight of Lincoln hovering over Octavia.

Jaya almost runs into the back of her, but she barely noticed. All that matters is that Octavia is alive.

The pebbles shift beneath their feet as they jog over, meeting Lincoln halfway as he carries Octavia on his shoulders, her face pale and sickly as the poison overwhelms her system bit by bit. Rushed through her bloodstream, infecting the very fight within her as if it were nothing but child's play.

"Where are you taking her?" Althea breathes out, chest rising and falling, cheeks red.

"To get a cure," Lincoln replies, determination strengthening his voice. "You two stay around this area. I'll be back soon."

Althea nods, knowing letting him take her was for the best. If anyone knew how to cure her, it would be Lincoln. As hard as it was to let her go without following, she knew that her presence would only be a hindrance.

Lincoln hurries away, his strong arms holding Octavia up. Althea could hear him talking to her as they went, getting her to repeat something over and over again to keep her busy, to keep her awake.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her wrist and pulled her back around roughly. "You can't just run off like that, Barnes. What if you'd alerted someone to our presence or a predator? You say you're trying, but you need to focus."

"Stop telling me to focus," Althea mutters, kicking a pebble. She pulls her arm away from Jaya and stuffs her hands deep into the pockets of the red jacket, far too big for her tiny frame, made from bones and ash and grief.

"I'll stop telling you to focus when you learn to focus," Jaya hisses, unsheathing her blade. "Stay here. I'm going to get some food."

"You don't want me to come too?" She asks, dejected. The wishful tone in her voice wasn't enough to sway Jaya.

"No," Jaya tells her firmly, clenching her fingers around the handle of her sword, feeling the bumps and grooves pressing into her palm. Years of practice had served her well. "Stay here. I'm not going far."

"Okay," Althea says, taking a seat where Octavia had lay only moments ago. She picks up a pebble and toys with it between her hands, turning away from Jaya.

Jaya looks at her with narrowed eyes before she turns and disappears back into the treeline, blending in with the foliage. Left to wonder just how the girl she'd left by the river worked beyond her need to protect those she cared for.

But she was from the sky and impossible to comprehend, so she focuses herself on the mission for food and, in turn, pushes Althea from her thoughts.

-

It didn't take long for Althea to fall into a state of meditation as she stares out at the calmly flowing river. Unaware of the tragedies of its lands, it flows on. Bubbling and giving life, even to those who brought death into the world.

Indiscriminate.

How wonderful it would to be that ignorant to the turmoil of the Earth. Althea sometimes wishes she had been floated with her mother. Wonders if that would've been better than returning to the Ground to endure all this pain and suffering. To continue to cave under the pressures of her curse, her burden. All that death around them, closing in and in.

She's been seeing it for days now.

Felt the pain in her back as she saw the flashing visions of Raven Reyes' sweat-laden face, tears in her eyes as she screamed out in pain.

Then there were the moments the vision would flicker to Finn, his expression moulded into one of worry that no boy that age should ever have to wear. Alas, there he was, creased into fear by the Ground they'd all chased for so long.

Finally, almost torturing, the vision wold cut away to Abby Griffin as she operated on Raven, concentrating hard as she pulled the bullet from its current location.

Althea can feel the way death plays with Raven. Flipping her over and over, pulling her hair, laughing in her face. Never quite granting her the relief, but never letting her truly live either. Enjoying the turmoil of the life it was destroying in the palm of its hand.

As much as Althea didn't enjoy Raven's company, she was a survivor. Never completely believing the visions, Althea lets herself lie back on the stones, using Murphy's old jacket as a pillow as she stares at the sky, watching the clouds pass her by as if she was exactly the tiny, insignificant spec in the universe she knows herself to be, waiting for Jaya to come back with food.

It still smells like him.

She knows more of her people had made it to the ground and they were out there, surviving just like she was. A flicker of hope in the dark, to say the least. It was a start. A start on the path to something either great, or completely and utterly disastrous.

No one but fate would decide that, she supposes as she rolls over and closes her eyes.

-

1654 words
republished: 27.8.18

lilla hartley is another oc of mine, please be kind to her