CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

"Is walking illegal now?" 

***

"Dear God-" I muttered, when my feet stumbled for the millionth time since we have gotten here. 

"You know, Nathaniel, it is handy to step over the roots when you come to them." 

 Octavia snickered at Phia's words, the two looking like scary Grounder cousins with their braids and clothing. "He'd trip even if there wasn't any roots."

 I gave her a sarcastic grin, not knowing how I feel about Phia and Octavia actually getting along. They seem to have similar liking's... making fun of me. Bellamy was silent, although his lips were pulled in a tight smirk, and his curls were hanging in front of his face. 

 "According to Clarke, there were buildings everywhere here before the bombs." He explained, his hand reaching up and pushing me back when I almost tripped again. I blushed, muttered a quiet "thanks," and wondering how I can move so quietly when I want too, but when I'm not thinking a shift in the wind can send me sprawling.  "I'm guessing one of them has access to the bunkers, so we're looking for ruins, anything man-made, okay?" 

I gave him the 'okay' signal with my fingers, and adjusted the hat that Raven had stolen for me on my head. I like hats, they conceal how terrible my hair is, and this one matches my jacket. Octavia said something to Phia that made her laugh, and they veered off in a different direction. 

 "Hey, Masteron! Blake!" 

 I rolled my eyes without meaning too, and rotated my neck so I could glance at the guard who called. It was 'officer' Scott. I knew that because one time on the Ark I kept stealing his pens until it slowly drove him crazy. "Let's go, right now." 

 These guys are so annoying. They treat us like we are children who need babysitting, purposely forgetting that they didn't think we were kids when they sent us down to die. I also think it is hilarious that there is three guards sent here, mainly for the sole purpose of watching us. That signifies that they know we're not stupid, at least. 

 "We're not under your command, anymore." Bellamy crossed his arms, and I gave Scott a sarcastic grin. 

 "Unless you have forgotten."

 Scott's nostril's flared, "don't make me do this the hard way." 

 "I'm sorry," I held my hands up in an effort to annoy him further, "but in-case there is a new law I don't know about, we're just walking, and that is not illegal." 

 "Plus, forty-seven of our people are prisoners in that mountain," Bellamy's voice sounded much more authoritative than Scott's, and I could tell it made him uncomfortable.  

 "That is why we're out here-"  

 "Actually, you're out here to find the other Ark stations," I crossed my arms indignantly, "we're here to find our friends." 

 "You guys-" Octavia cut in to our one-sided argument, her gaze fixated on the ground. I glanced down, and almost jumped on Bellamy's back when I saw beetles, hundreds of them, scuttling past us in a swarm. Phia looked over at me, her expression neutral, while I was sure mine was coiled into one of disgust. 

 "What are they doing?" The officer asked, walking so close I just had to slip the pen out of his pocket. 

 It was Bellamy who answered, "running." 

 That one word triggered a shift in the atmosphere, and my skin prickled. No, itched. I brought my hand to cover my arm, as my eyes began watering, and my throat burned. Like a... chemical reaction.  I gasped, "It's acid fog!" 

 As soon as the words left my lips, the yellow smoke came into view, triggering a light panic. Bellamy yelled at everyone to deploy their tents, and I dropped onto my knees to help Bellamy unravel the fabric. The smoke was rapidly closing in, and I coughed once to try and expel my lungs of the stale air. I turned my head, watching the two Grounder-cousins kneeling down by a rock instead of helping out with a tent. 

 "Octavia! Phia! Get back here!" I shouted, and the two turned back toward me in perfect unison. 

 "Nate, there is something in there!" Octavia yelled, and Phia nodded once, not worried in the slightest that there was deadly fog coming toward us right now. 

 "Maybe it is those ruins." 

 Phia turned to tug on the door, apparently finding a handle. She closed her eyes, groaning as she strained her muscles. The door didn't open, it must be rusted shut. I scrambled to my feet, grabbing on to the handle and helping her pull, my eyes watering.  

 The door creaked, and then swung open. 

 "Come on!" I yelled, feeling tears prick at my eyes from the air. Octavia ran into the door, a guard following after. Bellamy ushered me inside yet, and although the damp air allowed me to breath properly, my throat still burned. 

 I wiped furiously at my face as Phia walked in, doing the same. Apparently no matter how tough you are, your eyes still water from deadly acidic precipitation. 

I heard loud, agonizing screaming from outside, but I couldn't force my eyes open loud enough to see who was outside. The door swung shut, encasing us in darkness as everyone tried to expel whatever poison had gotten into their system.  

 "Hey, are you okay?" Bellamy asked, running over and placing one hand on either of my arms as I furiously blinked the pain away from my eyes. I nodded to my best extent, brutally reminded of the first time we had seen the acid fog. Hiding in a cave with Charlotte. 

 Who's dead. 

 Finding Atom. 

 Who's also dead. 

 "Yeah, yeah I'm fine," I gasped, looking up to make sure there were no burn marks on Bellamy's face. It was a little hard, considering how dark this place was. "Are you?" 

 He gave me a shaky, relieved smile, "Yeah, I'm good."  

 "Well I'm not!" Phia suddenly snapped, her sharp voice cutting into the silence of this room like a blade, "what the hell was that?" 

 "What do you mean?" Bellamy asked, and I didn't need to clearly see his face to know that his eyebrows were drawing together. "You've never seen the acid fog before?" 

 Phia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, the knife that hung from her waist glinting like a tooth. "Do I look like I've seen it before?" 

 I frowned. Phia has never seen acid fog before? That means that it isn't just an aftermath of radiation... that it's not totally random. 

 Scott's voice spoke up, and I unconsciously felt for his pen in my pocket. Some habits never die I guess. "We can discuss this later." He whispered, clicking a flashlight on, and sending a beam of light around the room. Bellamy passed me one, and I mimicked the action. 

 We were in a room made almost completely of dark stone, columns connecting the ground to the roof, and ancient looking vehicles parked neatly in spaces, rotting slowly and covered in grime. I frowned, but apparently Phia knew what this room was. 

"Room kom foutaim," and from the small lessons I have been getting from her during the past few days, all I could understand was 'room of.' She caught my perplexed expression, and explained. "Room of the past.. it was a parking garage." 

 The sound of Octavia drawing her sword made me mentally flash-back to when the girl in front of me did the same, and I tensed... how did I get to the point in my life that I trust someone who literally killed me before? 

I don't know, but that doesn't mean that I am going to stop. 

 "More like a tomb." Octavia said, and I grimaced, wondering if she could have picked a creepier way to say that. The sound of rodents scurrying around in the corner made my hair stand on edge, and I flicked my knife out of my sheath, despite knowing that there were probably far worse things than rats in this creepy garage. 

 Bellamy turned to Scott, who was looking at Octavia with weary eyes. "Look, I'm sorry about your man." He said, but didn't give Scott much time to respond, "but we need to find that access door to Mount Weather." 

 He moved to turn away, but Scott shook his head, coming to his senses, and began to follow him, "hey not so fast-" 

 I thought he was going to tell Bellamy that he should go with his other guard, but instead, he surprised me by holding out a shiny shotgun that he had un-clipped from his belt. "We split up." 

 There was a long pause, which Bellamy used to accept the gun and give the officer a coy smile. 

 "Be safe." 

 I pursed my lips, looking up at the guard, "right back at you." 

 We turned and disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving the two guards behind, with only a few old flashlights, and a bunch of steel weaponry to keep us safe. I wasn't too concerned though... this place was abandoned. 

 Well... hopefully. 

A/N: (I have Nate his hat because all of the Cole Sprouse gifs he's always wearing that goddamn hat.)

 I'm sorry if this was bad, but I really had to get it out! I also have a very firm plan for Nate going to Mount Weather, so get excited (and possibly sad) for that!

 Thank you for reading, and please keep voting and commenting!

 (And take a moment out of your day to appreciate my beautiful Grounder bad-ass)

Have a lovely day/night!