CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

"Well... this isn't ideal." 

***

As soon as I had stepped inside of the room, Harper had been shoved roughly into my arms, and the doors slid shut. I stood there for a few seconds, trying to process my surroundings, waiting for Cage Wallace to start speaking over a com station about death or something. 

 Alas, it was silent. 

 "Well..." I couldn't think of anything to say that would describe just how batshit crazy this situation was. I awkwardly tugged at my collar. "This isn't ideal." 

 It was silent for a few more seconds, before everyone began talking at once. Monty rushed forward and jumped into my arms, the overlapping voices seeming to fade away as I clung onto the smaller boy as tight as I could without crushing him. It seems like it has been decades since I have last seen Monty... I kind of can't believe that he is okay. 

 "I thought I was dead, and then I was like: 'Wow! I'm dead!' but then I wasn't so I was like, 'what the hell? I'm not dead!" He blurted out, a huge smile jumping onto his face. He was bouncing slightly, and I laughed. 

 "I pulled a knife out of the Grounder who stabbed me, and we're friends now!" 

 "I ate chocolate cake!" 

 "Finn went rouge and killed a bunch of people!" 

 "I almost got drilled for my bone marrow!" 

 My mouth dropped open, my heart suddenly dropping to the pits of my stomach. "What?" 

 The room went silent, and Monty grimaced at his wording, muttered quietly under his breath, "I win." 

 I turned around in a full circle, looking at all of the ashen faces of my former camp-mates. "Someone explain, please." I requested, taking the tie off of my neck and tugging at it anxiously. "And then someone explain why the hell they took my clothes." 

 Jasper stepped forward as if to speak, but was, again, shoved to the side by the small brunette. Fox walked right up to me, and crossed her arms over her chest. "We were kidnapped from the Drop Ship, and then we were brought here and told we were safe... Clarke was the one who found out that they were using the Grounder's blood as medicine, and then Jasper's girlfriend told him." 

 "Hold up!" Jasper stepped forward, not getting within hitting distance of Fox. "She is not my girlfriend." 

 "Yeah, and Nate is straight," she shot back, rolling her eyes. I turned to raise my eyebrows at Monty, giving him a perplexed look and wondering when Fox got so sassy. "Anyways-" she flipped her hair over her shoulder, "apparently doctor Tsing-the psycho lady in-charge of medical-found a way that they could go out in the radiation by harvesting our bone marrow and injecting it into their bloodstream... they locked us in here." 

 I widened my eyes at the girl, who looked to me with a small smile. "We thought you died in the explosion..." she explained, surprising me by jumping forward and squeezing me into a tight hug. Fox was so small that I could lift her feet off of the ground without even realizing it, and let's be honest, I'm no giant.  "I'm glad you're okay," she whispered, her voice muffled by my shirt.

 I laughed lightly, leaning my head on hers, "right back at you." I pulled away, and looked over Fox's head to give everyone in the room a sharp look. "How often do they come for someone new?" 

"Every few hours." Miller shrugged, also looking kind of stupid in his new clothes. "They bring guards, every time." 

 "Who went last?" 

 "After Jasper got Monty? Well, Harper obviously, and then Levi." 

 Levi... I am sorry to say I don't know who the hell that is.

 Miller obviously sensed my confusion, and leaned his head to the side, "blond guy who needs a hair cut." 

 I nodded, for some reason that very poor decision spiking my memory. Levi was in charge of drying meat in the camp. I gave my name-buddy a coy grin, "got it." 

 "You've been here for a day already," Jasper said, his voice holding an authoritative tone that made my eyebrows fly up. "Cage told us he had someone... we all just assumed it was Clarke." 

 I feel like I should have been more concerned about being asleep for a whole day, but considering the fact that it didn't even cover all of the rest I missed, and the fact that I didn't have any nightmares, I'll take it with a smile. "Nah, Clarke is hopefully somewhere safe now..." I glanced out of the small window that lead to the hallway outside. 

 "Hopefully." 

 ***

 "Okay, so y'all remember Finn?" 

 "Boo!" Fox yelled from the crowd, holding up two thumbs down. I fought back a smile, coughing into my elbow. The small girl received some looks, but she just smiled innocently. 

"He was apparently with Bellamy when the Drop Ship blew up," I began. If the guards walked in to the dorm right now, they would be experiencing a very odd scene. I was standing on top of one of the single beds, and the delinquents  were crowded around, anxious to hear what happened while they were inside of the Mountain. I felt like a very weird, well-dressed teacher. "I was with Phia-the girl who slashed my stomach open." 

 "Didn't that kill you?" Some random boy from the corner of the room shouted, and I snapped my fingers and pointing in his general direction. 

 "Yes, my friend, yes she did... but we're cool now, because I pulled a knife out of her stomach and she agreed to stop trying to murder me!" I  pumped my fist, and Fox took the liberty to dramatically clap. "So yeah, that's nice. We found Bellamy and Finn tied to the back of a horse, and then I almost ran into said horse. Monroe and Sterling ran out of the woods screaming like lunatics, and Kane emerged from the woods like some sort of old prince." 

 "So they did get down?" Another unknown voice-no wait, I think that was Fox's friend Sarah-called out, and I nodded. 

 "Uh huh, their good! Well, actually, not Factory station, they kinda got blown up..." I cleared my throat awkwardly, wishing that I left that part out. Nobody began crying, which I am taking as a good sign, so I continued, not letting that super depressing information soak in. "Uh, anyway... they have a camp, 'Camp Jaha', which in my opinion is a stupid-ass name, since Jaha isn't even dead, and he sucks as much as usual-" 

 "Preach!" 

 I flashed Fox a grin and a thumbs-up. Her commentary is what I live for. "-The whole 'chancellor' thing is kind of confusing, since first it was Kane, and then Abby..." I lightly shook my head, my soft hair ticking my forehead. "I don't know guys, the adults are all annoying." 

 A murmur of agreement came from the teenagers gathered around me. I nodded in satisfaction, it was oddly comforting knowing that these guys agree with me on at least that. It felt weird, being listened too.

 "So, back to Finn-" 

 "Boo!" 

 "Thank you, Fox, and that was a very accurate representation of said boy. He went rouge, as I said, and killed eighteen Grounders... now he is wanted so he can die painfully, but as far as I know he is still alive." I took a deep breath, raking my eyes over all of the confused teens staring back at me. "Oh, and I got arrested for beating up Murphy." 

 "Murphy?" Someone whined in a very loud voice, "that asshole is still alive?" 

 "Yeah, he's like invincible, it's super annoying." 

 Before anyone could ask anymore questions, the sound of the door grinding open made all of the delinquent's heads shoot toward the entrance. A woman was walking in, flanked on either sides by guards pointing huge guns at us. 

 Monty jumped up and grabbed my arm, pulling me down, as everyone else scrambled to their feet and stood in a protective formation. The woman's dark eyes carefully analyzed each and every one of us, before slowly skidding to a stop. 

 "Him." She said simply, and the guards rushed forward, heading right to me. 

A/N: Poor Nate... but let's be honest, you gotta love Fox. 

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