viii. wishing on flares
twilight's last gleaming

SAWYER STORMED through the forest in search of Bellamy Blake. She almost had to physically restrain herself from sprinting full out to find the man. Once Raven revealed that the Ark was about to kill three hundred of their own people, all Sawyer saw was red. If the Council knew that they were alive, they would hold off. They would know that Earth was survivable, and they could come down at any time. But with the radio gone and the bracelet's fried, everyone left on the Ark was in danger.

     When Sawyer caught movement through the tress, she took off running without a second thought. The thought that it may have been a Grounder never even crossed her mind as she shoved through branches to find Bellamy striding through the forest. "Hey!" she called after him. "Where is it?"

     Bellamy turned when the girl appeared next to him. "Hey, Queen Sawyer, you talking a walk in the woods?" he questioned in a nonchalant manner.

     Sawyer snarled, reaching out to grab ahold of the man's arm. She yanked on his jacket to force him to face her. "The Ark is getting read to kill three hundred people to save oxygen. And it won't be Council members or Jaha, no, they'll kill everyone who has been risking their lives up there just to stay alive. Just like you, and just like me!" she exclaimed, shoving him in the chest as the last word left her lips.

     A blur of dark hair blew passed Sawyer and barreled right into Bellamy. Finn shoved harshly at the man's chest with a lot more force that Sawyer. "Bellamy, where's the radio?"

     Bellamy's morphed into a heated glare as he shoved the boy back. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

     "Bellamy Blake?" Raven questioned, her and Clarke brining up the rear. "They're looking everywhere for you."

     Bellamy turned to the girl and sneered, "shut up."

     Clarke's eyes narrowed. "Looking for him, why?"

     "He shot Chancellor Jaha."

     Sawyer could not stop the strained laugh that slipped through her lips. "Oh, wow. Who knew you had actually had the guts, Blake?" she quipped, bringing a tight expression to the young man's features.

     "That's why you took the wristbands," Clarke voiced in realization. "You needed everyone to think we're dead."

     "All that 'whatever the hell we want'? You just care about saving your own skin," Finn scoffed.

     Bellamy shook his head and began to walk away. Before he could get far, Raven went after him. "Hey! Shooter! Where's my radio?" she asked, stepping forward to intercept his path.

     "Get out of my way," Bellamy demanded.

     "Where is it?" Raven persisted.

     Bellamy practically growled toward the girl. "I should've killed you when I had the chance."

     "Really?" Raven pursed her lips as she stepped closer to the man. "Well, I'm right here."

     At a rapid speed, Bellamy lunged forward and grabbed ahold of Raven. He shoved her back until she slammed against the nearest tree with his hand around her throat. A second later, Raven had a pocket knife ripped from the pocket of her jacket with the blade aimed up at Bellamy's chin.

     "Where's my radio?" Raven questioned in a more pointed tone.

     Sawyer rolled her eyes and stepped toward them. "Alright, alright, stop. You're acting like children," she said, her stare set on the eldest Blake. "Let her go, Bellamy."

     Bellamy seemed reluctant, but after a moment, he released his hold on Raven and back away. His jaw clenched as he turned to the others. "Jaha deserved to die! You all know that."

     Raven pushed off the tree, dropping her arm to her side. "Yeah, he's not my favorite person either, but he isn't dead," she stated.

     Bellamy's eyes went wide. "What?"

     "You're a lousy shot."

     "Bellamy, don't you see what this means?" Clarke voiced and stepped toward the young man. "You're not a murderer. You always did what you had to to protect your sister. That's you you are. And you can do it again by protecting three hundred of your people," she said calmly.

     Sawyer could still see the apprehension on his face so she added, "you're the only one who can stop this, Bellamy. Where's the radio?"

     Bellamy turned to the Wesley girl. He shook his head with a fallen expression. "It's too late."

     _______

     Sawyer fumed after Bellamy revealed what he did to the pod's radio. He threw the damn thing in a river. A river! Sawyer could have strangled the man right then and there. They had a day before the Ark killed three hundred people to save air, and now they had no way of reaching them.

     Sawyer stomped through the freezing stream where Bellamy tossed the radio. The water seeped in through her boots, soaking the remnants of her socks and successfully numbing her feet. She scanned the low waves for any sign of the radio, but so far she came up empty handed. And even though she near nothing about electronics, Sawyer knew that was definitely not good for them.

     "Hey! I found it!"

     Sawyer whirled around to find Jones with a black box in his hands. She treaded through the river and met Clarke, Finn, Raven, and Bellamy to observe the device. The girl who recently fell from the sky took the radio and looked it over.

     "Can you fix it?" Clarke questioned when she noticed the girl's furrowed brows.

     "Maybe, but it'll take half the day just to dry out the components to see what's broken," Raven stated.

     Sawyer sighed, raising her hands to slap against her thighs. "So, we're hosed?"

     "Like I said, it's too late," Bellamy voiced, drawing everyone's attention toward him.

     A glare formed on Clarke's features as she marched over to the eldest Blake. "Do you have any idea what you did? Do you even care?" she exclaimed.

     Bellamy's expression hardened. "You asked me to help. I helped."

     "Yeah, after you killed the radio and three hundred other people," Sawyer stated with her narrowed stare set on the young man. "They're all gonna die today because we can't tell them we're alive because you threw the damn radio in the river!"

     "Hold up," Raven raised a hand to interrupt the argument. "We don't have to talk to the Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?"

     Finn nodded. "Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?"

     Raven just grinned in response.

     _______

     Raven came up with a plan. Flares. Bright, burning objects that would be shot into the sky for the Ark to see. Sawyer had no idea how it would work. How could an orbiting space station see something from the ground that rotated underneath them? But, Sawyer decided not to question it. Raven seemed confident in the flares, and they had no other option.

     Everyone in camp convened at the fallen pod to scrounge up parts for the flares. Sawyer helped take apart the metal structure, while Raven called out orders for them all.

     "We need to launch those flares ASAP if we have any hope of saving those people," Raven stated from where she stood at the back of the pod. "Finn, get that control panel to camp." She urged the Collins boy on, after she handed the device she just tore from inside the pod. "You, pull out those fire circuits in one piece or they won't work," she instructed a passerby, before she turned to the female leaders. "Sawyer, Clarke, can I have a hand?"

    Sawyer moved over to the new girl's side, holding out her hand to take the tool offered to her. "Ooh, I can definitely wield a mean wrench."

     Clarke gave the brunette a curious look. "Really?"

     Sawyer appeared a bit offended by the question. "Well, yeah. How do you think I managed to create an entire thieving ring on the Ark? I had to get things, and people, from place-to-place without being detected. Air ducts were a must," she said and turned to the pod.

     Raven grinned, pointing to where she needed the Wesley girl's help. "Work these bolts here, gently. Rocket fuel likes to go boom. We're gonna need power to fire."

     "Got it," Sawyer gave her a quick salute and then began to pry the bolts from the pod's siding.

     "They're tying in the batteries on the dropship," Clarke said as she stood by, waiting for Raven to give her something to do. "Should be ready when we get there."

     "Great," Raven said, until she took in the blonde's fallen demeanor. "So, what's the problem?"

     Sawyer almost snorted, but she kept the action to herself. She knew exactly what the problem was, or at least, what had gotten under Clarke's skin. Finn and Raven. The boy had a secret girlfriend and did not even tell her. If Sawyer were Clarke, she would be livid. She certainly would not have been quiet about it like the Ark Princess. Finn most likely would have found himself on his knees after a swift kick to the groin.

     Clarke shook her head. "Nothing. I just, uh," she paused, searching for a way to change the subject. "Well, if we get the rockets to launch, will they see them from the Ark?"

     Sawyer stopped the circular motion of her wrench and glanced toward the new girl. "She has a good point. Are we even sure the Ark will be in the right position? It could be over a different continent right now."

     "Well, it should still be in position. I made it here, right?" Raven voiced, looking away from where she began working on the other side of the pod. "And, like the good book says, it's all about burn time and cloud cover. But I know your mom will be watching," she said the last part to Clarke. "I've never seen anyone love someone the way she loves you. You know that, right?"

     Sawyer turned back to her work, staying out of that discussion. Raven did not know the half of what went down between Clarke and her mother. And if she were honest, she did not want to know either. One parent indirectly killed the other. Yeah, that failed to translate into causal conversation.

     Clarke pulled her lips together and nodded. "I did," she said, not failing to notice the other girl's look. "It's complicated."

     _______

     With the needed parts scavenged from the pod, everyone moved back into the camp to finish up the flares. Sawyer helped oversee the process, not much use when it came to the technical side of the plan. Raven had completely taken over, shouting out more orders to make sure the launch went off without a hitch. If they failed, three hundred people would die.

     Sawyer hated to even think it, but she knew that even if the flares were launched high enough and the clouds permitted, they could still be too late. The Ark had a habit of going off schedule. They could have sped up the process to give the survivors more time, or to get rid of troublesome residents that put a strain on their lifestyle. Sawyer would not put anything past the Council. After all, they did send a hundred kids to a radiation soaked planet without so much as a warning.

     Despite the chaos that encompassed the camp, Sawyer found a bit of peace in the few moments before the flares were set to launch into the sky. She scanned her surroundings and found Clarke stood by herself behind the structures that were meant to help the flares shoot up through the clouds. Sawyer made her way over to the girl, watching out for delinquents racing around the area with various items in their arms. "Hey," she voiced when she reached the blonde's side.

     Clarke looked toward the Wesley girl and nodded. "Hey."

     Sawyer gave her a flat look when she noticed her fallen demeanor. "Alright, I knew you and Finn were close, but this is getting ridiculous," she exclaimed.

     Clarke blinked. A bit stunned by the girl's words. "What?"

     Sawyer rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me like that. You're the one moping around here like someone snatched the last Jell-O on the Ark. I get that you just found out he has a secret girlfriend, but no boy is worth the time and energy you're putting into beating yourself up. I'd rather you be angry than sulky."

     Clarke stared at her for a long moment, before a scowled spread across her lips. "I am angry. He lied to me. To Raven. But she's down here now. It's not like I can say anything."

     "Then don't," Sawyer said with a shrug. "Drop him like the Ark dropped us. We have more important things to deal with than boy drama. Get a grip, Princess."

     Clarke looked as though she wanted to say more, but she decided against it. The only thing she managed out was a strained, "don't call me that."

     Sawyer grinned. "Only if you stop acting like one."

     _______

     As soon as the sun dropped below the horizon, the juveniles rushed around the camp to ready the launch. Raven finished the set up for the flares with only seconds to spare. At least, they hoped. There was no way to tell if the Ark had gone ahead with the culling, the killing of over three hundred people, before that moment.

     Sawyer bounced on her heels as she stared at the flares. Wooden braces made from left over sections of the completed barrier wall held the volatile contraptions in place. Raven stood next to the control panel she salvaged from her pod and slammed her hand onto the switches. In a blast of purple and red sparks, the flares shot up from the braces and toward the sky. Sawyer watched the bright streams climb higher and higher into the starlit atmosphere.

     "You think they can see it from up there?"

     Sawyer turned to find Bellamy next to her. "We can hope, right?"

     Clarke nodded from her other side. "Yeah," she breathed and continued to stare up at the flares as they grew smaller in the darkness. "Can you wish on this kind of shooting star?" She then looked over to find two strange stares aimed toward her. She shook her head. "Forget it."

     "I wouldn't even know what to wish for," Bellamy voiced after a moment. "What about you?"

     Clarke remained silent and shifted her gaze to behind her.

     Sawyer followed the blonde's gaze to see Finn and Raven together. The boy had his arm wrapped around the girl. Raven looked over just in time to see them and smiled. Sawyer returned it, while Clarke gave her a hesitate one.

     "I'm gonna go with what Roma said this morning," Sawyer voiced, drawing both Clarke and Bellamy's attention. "I could really go for some shampoo."

<August 7, 2019>

This is the last prewritten chapter. From here on out, I will be updating new material. So, get ready!

Don't forget to vote and comment.

-Jordan

P.S. Unedited chapter.