ii. don't test her reign
pilot

SAWYER YAWNED, stretching her arms above her head to release the soreness in her aching muscles. After she and her friends came up with a plan to overthrow the Bellamy's supposed reign, Sawyer collapsed under one of the large tents created from the fabric of the dropship's parachute. Most of the other makeshift structures were not yet finished, so most of the delinquents were forced to sleep in the ship itself, but she did end up sharing hers with a half a dozen other teens.

When her body was ready to wake, Sawyer's eyes fluttered open to find the sun had already risen and illuminated the thin cloth overhead. She pushed herself into a sitting position as she heard the bustling of everyone outside of the tent. She ran a hand through her hair to try and tame the mess of knots and tangles, before she climbed to her feet to shove her way through the entrance slit. Immediately, Sawyer was blinded by the early morning light that encased the entire landscape.

Dozens of the juvenile criminals were spread around the camp, still enjoying their news lives without the oppressive rule of their former home. Sawyer adjusted her black tank-top and made her way toward the entrance of the dropship a few yards away from the tent. As she approached, her gaze soon landed on Wells being confronted by one of the many participates in Sawyer's Lockup communication channel.

"Hey, where'd you get the clothes?" Atom questioned, gesturing to the bundle of pale and worn fabric in the boy's hands.

"Buried the two kids who died during the landing," Wells answered with a bitter edge to his voice.

Sawyer frowned at the mention of the two boys who were killed in the rough landing. She meant to assign someone to the task, or even perform it herself, but she was too preoccupied with making sure Bellamy did not ruin their lives in the first few hours of being on Earth.

"We share based on need, just like back home."

At the sound of that statement, Sawyer was brought out of her thoughts. She released a deep scoff and marched toward the two boys. Atom reached out to snatch the clothing from Wells's hands, but the Ark Prince only grabbed for them back.

Just then, Bellamy waltzed out from behind the large flapping parachute that covered the open dropship entrance. What used to be of his slicked back hair now fell over his forehead in thick dark curls. His toned, bare chest was on display, as well as the black handgun stuck out from the waistband of his jeans. Next to him was a girl Sawyer did not know (Which was a rarity in itself). She stood there in just a pair of pants and a thick bra as she leaned forward to place chaste kiss on the young man's lips.

Sawyer grimaced at the sight, which only deepened when Bellamy began to speak. "You still don't get it, do you, Chancellor? This home now. Your father's rules no longer apply."

Before he could say more, Sawyer strode forward to interrupt the conversation. "Atom," she called out, gaining all three boys' attention. "Why don't you go find Murphy and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid?" she supplied with a tilt of her head.

Atom pulled his lips into a fine line, but he nodded toward the girl and walked away from the scene.

Once he was out of earshot, Sawyer whirled in the direction of the Ark Prince. "I thought we already discussed that you don't get to decide how out world works anymore, Jaha Junior." She walked closer to him and held out her arm. "Hand them over." When he did not make a move, she ground her teeth together and stomped forward to rip the clothes from his arms.

"Hey!" Wells tried to protest, but he was halted by the deep glare set across the girl's features.

"Don't test me, Junior," Sawyer sneered, before she turned to where she spotted a girl she knew from her Earth Skills classes. "Kali," she shouted, pulling Kali away from her own conversation and over to her. "Take these to Harper and have her stash them in the dropship – third floor." The girl did as she was asked and waltzed up the hatch of the dropship without a glance toward the eldest Blake sibling, who remained rooted in place with a seemingly impressed expression.

"What do you plan on doing with those?" Wells questioned as he watched Kali disappear behind the parachute.

Sawyer crossed her arms over her chest. "I have a system that I devised years ago, which I don't have to involve you in. Or Blake over there, for that matter." She jutted her left thumb in the man's direction.

In that moment, a shrill feminine scream disrupted the calm atmosphere that surrounded their heated debate. Sawyer did not hesitate to rush away from the two boys and race toward the sound. Her boots thundered across the packed dirt of the small hill that sloped into a shallow valley. As soon as she rounded into the spacious land, Sawyer found Murphy with his arms wrapped around a struggling young girl and held her face near the burning orange flames of a fire.

Murphy lifted his head when he noticed Sawyer. "Hey, check it out. We want the Ark to think that the ground is killing us, right? Figure it'll look better if we suffer a little bit first," he said, pushing the girl toward the incredibly close flames as she screamed.

"Let her go, John," Sawyer exclaimed with an exasperated huff. "Now!"

Murphy had no chance to react before another large body slammed into his side and knocked him to the ground. Sawyer's eyes widened when she recognized the figure as Wells. The Ark Prince stood and shot a look toward the dark haired girl. "You can stop this."

"What the hell do you think I was trying to do?" Sawyer spat as another individual decided to make their presence known.

"Stop this?" A now clothed Bellamy scoffed at the mere prospect, before a devilish smirk formed on his lips. "We're just getting started."

Sawyer snapped toward the young man at her side. "We're?"

Not a second later, Murphy scrambled up from the ground with a near murderous expression on his features. He stormed forward and sent his clasped fist into the side of Well's face. A fight proceeded to break out between the two boys as the rest of the delinquents gathered around to witness the scene unfold. Murphy landed hit after hit against the Ark Prince, while Wells attempted to defend himself.

With a deep sigh, Sawyer shook her head and made a move to stop them, but a hand reached out to stop just before her chest. She looked down at the bronzed limb until she trailed her gaze up to find it belonged to the young man who stood next to her. "What are you doing?"

"It's fine. They just need to blow off a little steam," Bellamy said and watched the boys slam each other onto the hard ground.

Sawyer shook her head at his blatant disregard for the health of his fellow people. "You're unbelievable. They're going to hurt themselves, and then where will we be? I don't see you playing doctor around here." She pushed his arm aside and stepped forward, but she came to a halt by the sight before her.

Wells had taken the upper hand in the fight and pinned Murphy beneath him. He raised his arm to wind up a punch and sent it directly into the side of the boy's nose. Stunned by the action, Murphy blinked rapidly as Wells climbed to his feet, breathless and bleeding from the side of his mouth.

"Don't you see –you can't control this?" Wells voiced toward the two self-proclaimed leaders.

Sawyer opened her mouth to speak until her gaze landed on Murphy, pushing himself from the ground with a knife made from the dropship's broken panels in his hand.

"You're dead," Murphy growled, blood dripping down the side of his face from his right temple. He readied himself with the intent to lunge, but he was stopped by the eldest Blake.

"Wait," Bellamy voiced causing everyone to stop. Bellamy swiftly reached into his jean's pocket and pulled out his own blade, before he tossed it in front of him to land at Wells's feet. "Fair fight."

As soon as the Ark Prince swiped the knife from the ground, Murphy lunged forward and slashed with his own weapon. Wells jumped away, but not before the sharp tip ripped through his left shoulder. Blood blossomed through the dark fabric of his shirt as he winced at the pain.

"This is for my father!" Murphy screamed out and raced forward with his blade raised.

Despite being wounded, Wells sidestepped away from the furious boy and wrapped his arm around Murphy's throat. The Ark Prince tightened his hold around him as Murphy thrashed in his grasp. "Drop it!" Wells demanded lowly.

Sawyer was about to break up the childish squabble between the two teenage boys, but the familiar voice of Clarke Griffin sounded from the opposite side of the shallow valley.

"Wells!" Clarke rushed down the side of the hill with her narrowed gaze set on the boys. "Let him go!"

Wells immediately released Murphy and pushed him to the ground with a thud. But, the slick haired boy was not about to give up so easily.

Sawyer caught his movement before he could lunge back toward the Ark Prince. She raced forward and held up her hands to intercept the boy's path. "Enough, Murphy! No more," she shouted and forced him to stop in place. Once she was sure Murphy would not attack with anyone's back turned, Sawyer shifted her gaze to see the group that left the day before to find Mount Weather had returned.

Clarke led the way, while Finn Collins followed closely on her heels. Monty Green, a former resident of Farm Station, brought up the rear and helped a limping Octavia Blake across the rough terrain. Sawyer narrowed her eyes to find the source of the girl's wounded state and saw a blood soaked bandage around her right thigh.

Bellamy ran to his sister's side when he spotted her. "Octavia. Are you alright?" he inquired as he took the girl away from Monty and lowered her to sit on a nearby log.

Octavia grimaced at the movement, but she nodded. "Yeah."

Sawyer scanned the small group and noticed they were one individual short. "What happened out there?" she questioned, stepping forward to address them.

"Where's the food?" Bellamy's inquiry overshadowed her own and brought the Wesley girl to roll her eyes.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn retorted, after he plopped down on a leveled stump.

Sawyer huffed. "I'll reiterate. What the hell happened out there?"

"We were attacked," Clarke spoke, which caused an unease to fall over the grouping of delinquents.

Wells's brows furrowed. "Attacked? By what?"

"Not what. Who," Finn called out, addressing everyone in his vicinity. "It turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark – he wasn't the last Grounder."

Sawyer knew all about the last survivor of the nuclear war that decimated the planet. The story was told to every generation as a reminder that Earth was uninhabitable and always would be. But apparently, that was not the truth. As was almost everything that they were told by the Council.

As multiple gasps and skeptical looks were tossed about the crowd of delinquents, Clarke stepped forward in the center of the clearing and raised her voice. "It's true. Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here – survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

Finn released a breath. "Yeah, the bad news is – the Grounders will."

"And Jasper?" Sawyer turned her gaze to the Ark Princess. "What happened to him? Where is he?"

Clarke met the Wesley girl's gaze and pulled her lips into a fine line. "Jasper was hit. They took him," she said until her eyes dropped to Sawyer's exposed left wrist. Her now bare wrist. "Where is your wristband?" Clarke questioned in an accusing manner, storming forward and to take ahold of the girl's forearm.

Sawyer scrunched her nose and yanked her arm away from the blonde's grasp. "Hey. Don't touch me."

Wells scoffed with a glare set between Sawyer and Bellamy. "Ask them." He gestured in their direction.

Clarke's lips parted in shock, before she aimed her anger toward the girl in front of her. "How many?"

Sawyer remained silent. Her expression hardened with the question.

Instead of speaking about her and Bellamy's actions, Murphy spoke for them. "Twenty-four and counting."

Clarke's jaw clenched at the declaration. "You idiots," she exclaimed loud enough for the entire population of delinquents to hear. "Life support on the Ark is failing." Sawyer's face fell at her words. "That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there." She pointed in the direction the small group just came from. "If you take off your wristband, you're not just killing them. You're killing us!"

Everyone fell silent at the news that their former home was on the verge of certain demise. Sawyer now knew why Clarke was arrested and forced to live in solitary confinement in Lockup. The Griffin girl knew that the Ark was dying long before they were sent to the ground. She knew that they were all going to die.

Sawyer gaped at the blonde. "Now you decide to bring this up?" she shouted in the girl's direction.

Clarke whirled toward her with a look of pure frustration and anger. "How was I supposed to know you were going to destroy our all shot at communicating with our people?"

"We're stronger than you think," Bellamy voiced, interrupting the girls' heated exchange. He then turned to address the crowed of delinquents that convened around them. "Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore!" he all but screamed. "They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say you're not criminals! You're fighters, survivors! The Grounders should worry about us!"

The juvenile offenders shouted in a chorus of agreement with the young man's long winded speech. Sawyer's hands clasped into tight fists at her sides as she saw a proud smirk spread across Bellamy's lips. She ground her teeth together to stop herself from snapping. The sudden bombardment of information and the threat to her leadership began to take a toll on her self-restraint. But this time, Sawyer Wesley was not going to hold back.

She released a humorless laugh that brought most of the cheerful chatter to a grinding halt. The individuals in her immediate vicinity glanced at the girl with varying expressions. Some obviously thought that she had begun to loose her mind, while others knew exactly what was about to happen next.

One of whom being Murphy, who had seen the same erratic behavior only once before. The same day he witnessed Sawyer being brought into Skybox with her wrists bound behind her back and a blossoming bruise across her left cheek. She was about to let the man have it.

"You know, Blake, I love how you talk about this webusiness like you're one of us," Sawyer said for everyone to hear. "You never were, nor will ever be, one of us." She shook her head with a bitter smile and turned to away to speak to her people. "Blake was a cadet in training. A runner-up guard that patrolled the Ark with an iron-fist and probably sent a few of us to lockup." She set her gaze on the young man and found a deep glare on his face. "If you want himto be your leader, if you want to listen to what he was to say, I'm certainly not going to stop you. But remember what he was before you follow any command he gives."

Sawyer looked around at the crowd of delinquents that began to ponder her words. Many scowled toward Bellamy after her announcement, while others seemed conflicted about the entire situation. With a glance toward Clarke, Sawyer could see a faint look of approval on her face. At least, from what she could tell was approval.

Sawyer shifted her gaze to the man she just slandered in front of the entire crowd of delinquents. The murderous glare that covered his features would have been enough to unsettle the average person, but Sawyer was anything but average.

As the mass of people around them began to trickle off to do their own thing, the Wesley girl walked up to Bellamy with a slight smirk on her lips. "Nice try, Blake. Don't try to manipulate my people into doing your dirty work again or Grounders won't be the only thing you have to worry about." She hissed under her breath, before she spun on her heel and followed after Clarke and Finn in the direction of the dropship.

<August 7, 2019>

Sorry this chapter is so short, but the next one is really long and will make up for it. Promise.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.