XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia returns to the drop ship with bad news: Trikru has declared war against Skikru. As she relays her message to her friends, Raven comes up with an idea to blow up the pathway that the grounders are sure to take on the way to their camp: the one hundred year old bridge].

My body leaned lazily back against a roughly-hewn oak table gracing the back wall of the drop-ship. My mind swirled with panicked thoughts and my brain sizzled back and forth with theories, ideas and plans.

I uttered a low groan as I drummed my fingers impatiently against the table. I slumped forward, resting my chin on my propped up hand.

C'mon, Raven, c'mon.

"Hey Princess," a soothing masculine voice reached my ears.

I stiffened.

Finn.

Slowly, I turned around to face him. "Finn? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Raven collect her - er - rocket fuel?"

"It's hydrazine to be exact!" Raven called out merrily in response as she stomped her way into the drop-ship. Glancing up, she paused when she saw Finn and I. "Uh ... you two discussing plans? Cos we need someone to take the shot."

"T-the shot?" I queried, confused.

"Y-yeah," she confirmed, her eyes darting between the figures of Finn and I.

"Okay, we ready?" Clarke demanded as she hurried inside, Bellamy at her heels.

Raven nodded glumly, her eyes glued to Finn.

Bellamy huffed in response and reached up to pull the lever that would shut the drop-ship door.

"Wait!" I held out a restraining hand. "Shouldn't Jasper and Monty be involved in this? Their expertise could be helpful."

Bellamy hesitated as he turned questioning eyes towards Clarke.

She nodded. "Octavia's right. We need all the help we can get."

"I'll be back in a minute," Bellamy said as he quickly ducked out of the doorway and strode across the camp in search of the two.

Heaving a deep breath, I leaned back against the table behind me and crossed my arms over my chest. "How's Murphy getting on?" I inquired, trying to avert my mind from the subject at hand.

Clarke shrugged. "Alright, I guess. He woke up coughing up blood yesterday. It's not a good sign, but at least he's alive. I'm keeping him isolated from the others in case what he has is contagious ..."

"That's probably a good idea," I cut in, interrupting Clarke mid-sentence. Anya's words of warning, as she released Murphy and I from the dungeons, replayed in my ears, "Octavia kom Skikru, we are letting you live, but for one purpose only: You are to tell your people a message for me ... "

I shuddered, hating to think of what might have occurred had Murphy spread his sickness.

"Earth to Octavia! Hello!" Clarke clicked her fingers in front of my face, startling me out of my reverie. "Where do you wonder off too these days? Geez. Bell's coming back. Let's start."

As Bellamy, Jasper and Monty in tow, walked into the drop-ship, the rest of us gathered around the oak table. Clarke spread out a large map that had been doodled on with streaks of charcoal and Raven heaved a small wooden crate onto the flat, hard surface.

"What is that?" Jasper chuckled as he set curious eyes on Raven's crate.

"It's hydrazine," she returned shortly. "I managed to scavenge it from the rocket blazers left at the site of the exodus ship crash."

"Ohhhh," Jasper nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Finn inquired as he looked up, his eyes meeting mine in a brief glance.

"This is the plan," Raven answered as she reached into the crate. She withdrew a large glass jar, capped with a tin lid and filled with a light reddish pink liquid.

I peered over Raven's arm and stared wonderingly at the chemical formula. I had never seen anything like it.

"Whoa!" Monty whistled under his breath. "That's a lot of hydrazine!"

Bellamy, his eyes wide with amazement, careened forward, peering intently at the brightly coloured substance.

"Boom!" Raven yelled, right in his ear.

Bellamy jerked back and glared at her as he lifted his hand to massage his sore ear. "That's cute."

Raven smirked and rolled her eyes. "Relax. It needs an accelerant - gunpowder." Reaching back inside the crate, Raven pulled out another jar. This one was filled with gritty, grey chunks that looked very similar to gravel.

"The container of hydrazine," Raven explained as she tugged the crate towards her and placed the red liquid back inside it. "Put the gunpowder around the hydrazine," she picked up the other jar containing the substance and made a pouring motion with her hand. "Hit the bull's eye." She flipped a stick of charcoal from her pocket and drew a large black X on the side of the crate. Setting the charcoal aside, she moved the crate further into the middle of the table and stepped back triumphantly. "Win a prize."

"It's the rest of our gunpowder," Bellamy stated dryly. "We won't be able to make any more bullets."

"Today, we need a bomb," Finn returned. "We can worry about the bullets tomorrow."

"If we do this and it doesn't work ... we'll all be dead tomorrow," Bellamy retorted with an annoyed grunt.

"Then ... let's make sure it works, hmm?" Raven raised her eyebrows as she gazed pointedly at Bellamy. Placing her hands on top of the table, she continued, "To be safe, you need to be at least 200 metres away to make the shot."

Bellamy hummed in agreement as he hefted the strap of his rifle across his shoulder. "No problem. Who plants the bomb?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, Finn spoke up, "I will."

"You don't like the idea of using guns but blowing people up? That you're okay with?" Bellamy scoffed.

Finn rolled his eyes. "We're blowing up a bridge, Bellamy, there's not going to be any people on it."

Bellamy gritted his teeth. "Finn ... we have one bomb. We need to use it to kill as many of those bastards as possible."

"But they don't know we only have one bomb," I cut in abruptly.

"Yeah, I mean, if we did, why would we waste it on the bridge?" Finn emphasised as he glared at Bellamy.

"We're talking about deterrents here," Clarke stated. "Peace through strength."

"The 'appearance' of strength, you mean?" Raven corrected her.

"Yeah," Clarke sighed.

For a moment, no one spoke, then the unthinkable happened.

Suddenly, a spluttering sound occurred from right next to me. Surprised, I turned my head and gasped. "B-Bellamy!"

Blood was pouring out of Bellamy's nose and mouth. He had the back of his hand pressed against his lips, trying to stop the blood from escaping. His skin was as white as snow and his eyes were watery and bloodshot.

"Oh god," Clarke breathed. "Don't ... touch ... anything!"

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Finn demanded, confused and concerned.

"He - he's got it," Clarke furrowed her brow as she stared, horrified, at Bellamy. "He's caught the virus. He has the same thing Murphy has."

"How is that even possible?" Bellamy grumbled loudly. "I haven't been anywhere near him!"

Clarke shook her head. "Maybe not but you could have been near someone who was a carrier of the disease. Here, sit down."

Bellamy groaned and slumped limply onto a nearby chair. "Great. Just great."

"Oi, wait, do you hear that?" Raven questioned as she held out a hand to silence us.

"Hear what?" I snapped, frustration, worry and sadness seeping through my tone.

The moment the words left my mouth, my ears picked up the faint sounds of war cries, accompanied by the rolling beats of drums.

Oh no.

"They're here," Jasper swallowed, staring fearfully at each of us in turn.

"Well?" Monty piped up impatiently. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this damn bomb to that bridge before they reach it!"

"That's the point, Monty," Raven clenched her jaw. "Bellamy was going to take the shot. Obviously, he can't now, so whose gonna take his place?"

Everyone glanced sideways at everyone else, no one particularly willing to step up to the task.

Although my mind was screaming otherwise, my heart told me that it was the right thing to do. These were my people. I had to do my part to save them.

"Me," I stammered out uncertainly.

Everyone turned and looked at me expectantly.

"Yeah ... me," I repeated, my voice growing stronger with each syllable. "I'll do it. I'll take the shot."

Gif: Octavia as she sees Raven's hydrazine.

XX