Everything was white.

My eyelids felt heavy as I lifted them open, the blinding light causing me to squint.

I had to blink quickly, trying to come round from the heavy sleep I'd been in. I rubbed my eyes trying to adjust to everything around me. My head pounded.

Aside from the blinding light, the room was fairly spacious and incredibly sterile. Looking down at my hands, I also noticed that I was very clean. Which was odd considering the last thing I remembered was stepping out of the dropship into death valley, holding on to Clarke, a smell that didn't sit right in my stomach...

Smoke.

I pushed myself up properly, wincing at the dull ache in my muscles. My eyes scanned the room, finding an IV with a tube connecting to my arm. More awake and vigilant now, I pulled at it, eventually yanking it out of my arm. There was a sharp sting, but it eventually subsided.

Panicked, I swung my legs over to the edge of the bed, planting my feet on the cold floor. I set my sights on the door, trying the handle. It didn't budge.

I stepped back, glancing around the room for something - an escape, a weapon. My eyes landed on something above the door; a camera.

Shit.

With a stronger urgency, I threw my body weight against the door, begging it to open. I let out a frustrated groan, leaning my hand against the wall. I noticed trickles of blood running down my arm from the IV and pressed my hand over the wound, trying to rethink my next moves.

All of a sudden, a face appeared in the opposite window. I breathed out in shock, my throat dry and my voice hoarse. I slammed my fist against the window in a pathetic attempt to grab his attention. "Hey! Hey!"

My hand fell back to my side again as somebody in a blue quarantine suit stopped outside her door, appearing to unlock it. I saw the boy's eyes widen in shock and he let out a yell as the person in the suit took his arm, dragging him down the hallway.

"Hey!" I shouted, my heart pounding furiously, fear flaring up inside me. "Hey wait! Wait!"

I threw myself against the door again, jiggling the handle desperately. I was beginning to feel like I was suffocating. I had to get out of the room. I had to breathe.

I stepped back again, glancing up at the camera. Panic overwhelming me, I curled my hand into a fist again, slamming it into the screen. Warm blood began to coat my hand as shards of glass pierced at my skin - but that was the least of my worries.

My fingers painfully curled around a piece of glass, as I pounded on the door again with my other hand. I pressed my face against the glass to look around, but ended up jumping back in shock when a person with a blue mask and quarantine suit appeared.

I took a quick glance around the room again, trying to figure out what to do. I was running out of time.

I heard the lock on the door click and moved out of sight. I remembered that I still had the shard of glass in my hand and as they came through the door, I held it up, silently threatening to use it.

The person in the suit backed away slightly as I tried to move past. I watched as they went to reach out for me and quickly threw my arms out, grabbing their collar and slamming them against the wall. I took advantage of their daze and smacked their head back again. I let go, watching as they toppled to the floor.

That was easier than expected.

I stepped out into the hallway, which was just as blindingly white and clean as the room I'd been in. I presumed most of my friends were here. Somehow I had to find them. I had to come up with a plan-

Suddenly, someone grabbed me, restraining me from doing anything more. From the corner of my eye, I could see the blue suit. My heart raced.

I didn't even get the chance to put up a fight.

~

"How many of us did you capture?"

Clarke, who had apparently tried to come up with a great escape plan like I had, was sat closely beside me. Seeing her face first when I woke up in the medical room was definitely the most comforted I'd felt for a while.

I watched the man with white hair, Dante, with apprehension as he answered her question. "Forty eight, including you both. But you've got it wrong. You're not prisoners. We saved you."

"Well, in that case, you won't mind if we leave," Clarke said back, the urge to leave obviously itching at her as well. "If there are forty eight of us here, we still have people out there."

He shook his head. "The patrol brought in everyone they could find."

"What about the Ark?" I blurted out. "It came down last..."

"We saw it," he replied. "There were multiple crash sites over one hundred square miles. If there were survivors, we will bring them in, too. You have my word."

"I want to see my people," Clarke demanded, looking towards me. "We both do."

"Of course you do," he said. "I would, too." There were two men in the background that he nodded to, and they began to roll in a case. When it was opened, it revealed numerous clothing items to choose from. "Change and meet me in the hall."

Dante and the two guards left the room, leaving Clarke and I staring down at the clothes. "I don't like it here," I stated as my best friend picked up a pair of heels.

I frowned, wondering why of all the shoes she'd pick those, until she curled her hand around the heel and snapped it off, doing the same with the other and handing it to me. "Me either."

I smiled slightly, picking out a pair of jeans, a sweater and sneakers and changing into them. I shoved the heel of the shoe in my pocket and once Clarke was changed, we made our way back outside, where we were met with the whirring of a machine.

"Sorry about the noise," Dante apologised as he began to lead us down the hallway. I shared a look with Clarke. "Hydroelectric power from philpott dam. Fresh water from our own underground reservoir. Fresh food from our hydroponic farm."

"I don't understand," Clarke started in confusion, also speaking my curiosities out loud. "You're on the ground. You know it's survivable. Why would you stay here?"

"It's not survivable for us," he said, causing me to frown. If we could survive on the ground, surely they could too?

"The Grounders seem to have managed," I pointed out.

"That's how natural selection works. The Grounders who couldn't survive in the radiation didn't. Those who could passed on their DNA. For better or for worse here, we never went through that process."

"Well, neither did we," Clarke added. "We've been on the ground now for-" she cut off, realisation seeming to hit her and also me. "Solar radiation."

"Very good. Your DNA ran the same gauntlet as the Grounders," he informed. "Only because radiation levels in space are even higher, your ability to metabolize that radiation is even stronger. Truth be told, our scientists were blown away by the efficiency of your systems. If not for that, your friends would still be upstairs in quarantine."

The elevator doors opened and Dante held his arm out. "Please."
After some reluctance, Clarke stepped in first. Hesitantly, I followed. The doors began to close but Dante held out his hand again.  "First give me the heels."

Wondering how the hell he figured out we had the pathetic weapons, I slipped it from my pocket and handed it to him, Clarke doing the same.

"You're not fighting for your lives anymore. You've made it. Welcome to Mount Weather."

The doors finally closed shut and I swallowed thickly, the man's words not sitting right with me. I tore my eyes away from the blank spot I was staring at, finding Clarke's eyes instead.

And I knew, I just knew, that I wasn't the only one whose urge to leave the mountain was growing.

My heart thudded in my chest when the elevator dinged and Clarke and I stepped out into the hallway. I glanced at her and she nodded, taking the lead slightly as we turned the corner.

I noticed a familiar face, then another, and then another. It was our friends. Our people. "Clarke! Billie!"

I breathed out in relief, my lips beginning to curl into a smile as Monty pushed his way through the crowd. He practically crashed into us, wrapping his arms tightly around us both. Happy tears began to form in my eyes, as he pulled away and was replaced by Jasper.

"You're okay," Clarke breathed out, her eyes sweeping over the group. "Finn and Bellamy?"

I immediately felt my chest tighten at the names, and the smile dropped from my face.

"They...they didn't make it," Jasper answered nervously. I glanced down at the floor, feeling hot tears welling in my eyes. They were gone. They were really gone. He was really gone.

"We don't know that," Clarke said firmly, shaking her head. I wanted to have hope like her, I really did. But I feared I was only setting myself up for crushing pain and disappointment.

"What about Raven?" I questioned, failing to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

Instead of getting a response, a woman holding two folders spoke up. "Welcome, Clarke. Welcome, Billie." She handed a folder to me which I presumed contained information about Mount Weather. "If you have any questions, I'm Keenan."

She smiled at us both before heading back into the crowd. I looked over at Clarke who had already opened her folder and was looking down at the map. I frowned at her for a moment, opening my own pack up and looking down at the drawing.

And then I realised.

I leaned closer to her, my voice a whisper. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The look on her face told me she knew exactly what I was thinking about.

An escape route.

↠

A/N

I'm back.