CHAPTER FOUR.

CRY OF DEATH 

( 1.03 )

ATHENA sat with Clarke in the dropship. The younger girl was measuring Jasper's pulse and from the look on her face, it wasn't good. All night Jasper had been moaning and groaning in pain. A sickly look had washed over him; a thin layer of sweat beading on his pale face.

"His pulse is 380."

"That's ridiculous. We need to contact the Ark," Athena rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was extremely tired. She hadn't been back to her tent since yesterday and her exhaustion was clear on her face.

"Can it even go that high?" Monty asked.

"It can now," Clarke responded, letting go of Jasper's hand.

Jasper groaned and shouts came from the lower level.

"Shut him up!"

"Go back to sleep!"

"Quiet!"

"Don't listen to them," Clarke whispered to the sick boy, "You're gonna make it through this, ok? Promise."

Monty glanced at him in sorrow before another person called out. "Can he just die already?"

"That's it," Athena stood and descended the ladder, "The next person to say anything about Jasper will answer to me. And trust me you won't like it." The people quietened, "Good."

She went back up the ladder just as Clarke got up, "I'm going to get clean water. Keep an eye on him."

The next morning Athena walked toward where Bellamy and Murphy were throwing knives. She was significantly bored and there was nothing really to be done around camp. The people were lazing around still feeding off the high of being on earth. On the planet, there were no adults to boss them around, no curfews, and certainly no early wake-ups.

Athena climbed the tree behind the boys and watched as Murphy failed, letting out a laugh, "You are so bad at this." The two had been letting Bellamy think that Murphy was still on his side. Instead, Murphy was reporting things to Athena, including that a few members of the hundred had been going missing in the woods. At this point, Athena had stepped back for a bit, allowing Bellamy to think that she had given up. But in reality, Athena was simply waiting for him to mess up so she could swoop in and retake her place in the camp.

"It's that damn kid, always messing with my head," he muttered, trying to cover for his failures. Athena knew he was just bad at it.

"Don't blame Jasper for your bad arm," Athena laughed.

"He's not going to last much longer. Better think of a new excuse." Bellamy said and he threw his axe. It buried itself in the tree and he looked at Murphy smugly, "That's how it's done."

Atom walked up, "We searched a half-mile in all directions. No sign of Trina or Pascal."

Athena smirked to herself. She was right, Bellamy's people were dropping like flies. Most of the girls were already over him, the fact that he was older already wearing off. Not to mention that he was an actual man-whore and fights had broken out over him. Athena had already pulled people to her side discreetly and her numbers were increasing by the day.

"Wow, Freckles. Already lost two of your followers. How sad," Athena commented.

"Visit your special tree when you were out there?" Murphy teased Atom as he walked to pick up his knife.

"Atom took his punishment, let it go," Bellamy reprimanded before he turned to Athena, "And for the record, Sunshine, they ran off." Athena scoffed, a smile tugging at her lips. Bellamy frowned. She knew something he didn't and he was determined to figure it out. He could sense her presence in the camp growing. He didn't know how but whispers of Athena circulated, and they weren't bad either, unlike the ones going around about him.

"Could be grounders." Atom confessed.

"Yeah, or they could be in Pound Town. Lots of that going around recently," Murphy added. He approached the tree Athena was sitting on and she kicked his head lightly. He rubbed it and looked up at her with an exasperated look. She sent him a heavy glare.

"Stop it," she scolded. Murphy glared back before looking back at the boys.

Bellamy shook his head and retrieved his axe from the tree.

"Look Bellamy, people are scared." Jasper groaned in the distance and Athena winced. The sound was truly guttural and echoed around the camp like a warning of death, "And that dying kid he's not helping morale around here," Atom finished.

"Morale will go up when I find them more food," Bellamy insisted.

Athena thought he was delusional for thinking that. "How? Are you going to play bait again and let a panther almost maul you?" Athena laughed, "Don't worry, baby, I'll save you," she winked at him and his jaw clenched. She chuckled at his annoyance.

"I don't see you doing any better," he snapped. Athena shrugged, not denying it. She herself was rather confused as to what to do when the camp was so down. They were all worried about the Grounders and there was nothing she could really do for that besides insisting that they should keep hope. However, she was having Monty work on getting communications back up. Athena thrived off of knowing people's secrets and at the moment, she was counting on Miller to know things. And though he knew people well, he didn't know everything about the 100.

"And what do we say when they ask about Trina and Pascal?" Atom asked.

"For now? Nothing. It's possible they're just lost. We'll keep an eye out for them when we go hunting later."

"You're going hunting? I'm coming."

"No you're not," Bellamy denied. Athena glared at him heatedly. She doubted that he was actually going to catch anything by himself, instead having the rest of the group do it for him.

"Yes I am, I have better aim than Murphy," Athena replied jumping off her branch.

"Really? Why don't you show us what you've got?" Murphy handed her his knife.

"No need," she pulled a throwing knife from her boot and whipped it at the tree.

"You missed," Murphy pointed out.

"Look a bit further."

Looking past the tree he saw the knife had pierced an animal and was pinned against a tree farther away.

"Is that a bird?" Bellamy asked as he looked at it shocked.

"Yes, it's my breakfast," Athena walked up to it and pulled the knife out, "See you later at the gate."

Athena gathered her bow and shoved a few arrows in her quiver. She walked towards the group that was sitting in Bellamy's tent. He had gathered them there and was discussing tactics to catch food. "Where'd you get that?" Bellamy asked.

"I have friends in high places," Athena shrugged. Bellamy looked off to the side. He, like most wondered, whom Athena was associated. He knew very well that they called her the Queen and had heard mentions of her during his time on the Ark; however, no one ever mentioned her by name, "I suggest we go over the ridge. Clarke and Finn said they saw some deer over that way on the firs day."

"It'll take too long to get back before dark," Bellamy disagreed, "The Grounders would descend on us like moths to a flame."

"Grounders won't matter if we're starving," she countered. 

"Starving won't matter if we're dead," Bellamy replied, sarcasm dripping from the smile he shot her way.

They continued discussing areas for hunting, the two leaders bickering on where they thought would be the best place, before Octavia stormed in. "What did you do to Atom?" she asked. Bellamy looked pointedly at Murphy signalling for him to leave before whirling towards Athena.

"I'm not leaving." Bellamy rolled his eyes and stood. Athena smiled to herself at his quick submission.

"Atom's fine."

"Then why did he blow me off?" Octavia questioned. Athena looked between them as though it was a game of ping pong— a very interesting one at that. Octavia had told her earlier about her boy troubles. Atom was apparently ignoring her and Athena had found out why. So she told the girl that her brother had said something.

"Maybe he's just not interested," Bellamy shrugged.

"You can't keep everyone away from me," the girl argued.

"Atom had to learn. You disobey me you pay the price. He paid the price now we're good."

"Now I'm paying the price," Octavia corrected, "So next time you decide to go on a power trip, leave me out of it." A distant scream echoed around the camp and she quickly left.

"Come on Freckles, she's a kid. She's on the ground and she wants to have some fun," Athena spoke as they followed behind her.

"If you had a sister would you let her around a guy like Atom?" Athena stayed quiet. She knew Atom was arrested for vandalism, which was a petty crime in the grand scheme of things, and yet he seemed sweet. He seemed to care a great deal about Octavia despite knowing her for a total of four days. "Be honest Athena." It was the first time he had called her by her first name.

She chose not to respond as she walked up to the dropship. They heard Octavia call, "Stop it! You're killing him."

"She's trying to save his life," Finn corrected.

"She can't," Bellamy denied.

"Don't be an ass," Athena warned as she looked up at him.

"It's true," he shrugged.

Wells stood, "Back off."

"We didn't drag him through miles of woods just to let him die," Clarke said.

"Kid's a goner," Bellamy retorted bluntly, "If you can't see that you're deluded. He's making people crazy."

Athena rolled her eyes and muttered, "You're driving me crazy."

"Sorry if Jasper's an inconvenience to you, but this isn't The Ark. Down here every life matters," Clarke argued.

"Take a look at him he's a lost cause," Bellamy replied. They all stared down at the boy writing on the floor. Athena felt a sense of pity towards him. But she wasn't going to let him die just to relieve his pain.

"Octavia, I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, there's hope."

"This isn't about hope, it's about guts. You don't have the guts to make hard choices I do. He's been like this for three days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself." He went to leave before Athena stopped him.

"Listen you pretentious asshole. You lay one hand on him and I will make sure one of my many bullets finds itself lodged in between your eyes," she stared at him with a calm deadliness and the room quietened. Everyone looked between the two that had been engaged in a power struggle since landing.

His jaw clenched as he brushed past her and towards the ladder, "Octavia, let's go."

"I'm staying here."

He sighed and descended the ladder. Athena let out a breath in annoyance, "Tavia I love you but your brother's a dick."

"Power-hungry, self-serving jackass," Monty added, "He doesn't care about anyone but himself," he looked up at Octavia, "No offence."

Octavia shook her head. "Yeah. Bellamy is all that. But he also happens to be right," Finn spoke before getting up and leaving.

"Which reminds me I have to go hunt with the ass now," Athena groaned, "Make sure he's alive when I come back," Clarke nodded and she left also. She jogged up to Finn as she exited the dropship, "Hey, spacewalker. What would Raven say?"

"What?"

"About you thinking that a person should die? I know she wouldn't be happy."

"It doesn't matter. I'm probably never going to see Raven again," Finn shrugged.

"Don't talk so soon Finn. Karma's quite the bitch," she patted him on the back and caught up with the hunting team, "Let's go."

As they walked Athena kept her eye out for any sign of grounders. Bellamy glanced over at her a few times, questioningly. She hadn't spoken a word and to him, that was a rare thing that happened in his presence. "You're very quiet."

"Excuse me for not wanting to; one, draw attention to myself and two, scare away the animals."

"You always have something to say to me. So fire away."

Athena stopped and frowned, "What if it was Octavia? Wouldn't you want her to have a fighting chance?"

"Of course," he answered immediately.

"So how is Jasper any different? He's somebody's son. Somebody's only child. Imagine how heartbreaking it would be to hear that they're dead. It would be the same heartbreak you would feel if it was your sister," Athena explained before walking away from him.

Bellamy sighed. She was right. And he hated it so much.

The group walked for miles. They had taken Athena's advice and was going further out. It was ages before they heard even a whisper of an animal. Bellamy went to throw his axe but another noise made him throw it in the other direction. Athena quickly drew an arrow and launched it at the boar. It squeaked as it pierced its abdomen and ran away as fast as it could.

"Well go get it," Athena urged the boys that just stood around. They scampered off and she turned around. A little girl stood beside a tree, which held Bellamy's axe. She could have been no more than 14. Her blue eyes were wide as she took a glance at the axe in fear. 

"Who the hell are you?" Bellamy questioned as he walked to retrieve his axe which had been embedded into a tree.

"Charlotte," the girl answered.

"I almost killed you."

"Don't tell her that," Athena scolded as she crouched in front of her, "Why aren't you back at camp?" Charlotte looked at her.

"Well with that guy who was dying—"

"He's not dying," Athena assured.

"I just — I couldn't listen anymore," Charlotte continued.

"There's grounders out here. It's too dangerous for a little girl," Atom spoke.

"Atom. Shut up," Athena responded snappily.

"I'm not little," Charlotte argued. She glanced up at Bellamy and a smile broke out on his face.

"Ok then... but you can't hunt without a weapon," he pulled a handcrafted knife out of his pocket and gave it to her. 

Oh my God, Athena thought as she stared at him dumbfounded, Is he really that stupid? Her glare was heavy yet he didn't look at her once. 

"Ever killed something before?" Bellamy asked. Charlotte shook her head, "Who knows maybe you're good at it."

As they started walking once more, Athena walked beside Bellamy, "If she does something stupid or hurts herself I hope you know that's on you."

"Yeah I know," he replied.

A few minutes later, a loud horn broke out through the forest.

"What was that?" Charlotte asked frightfully.

That's when Athena saw it. A thick yellow fog heading their way. It was moving toward them quickly. "A warning. Run!" The group took off.

The fog grew closer and Bellamy called out, "Come on! There are caves this way." He led them towards them and they entered the cave.

"Bellamy!" A cry came.

"Atom," Athena realised.

"He'll be fine," Bellamy coughed, grabbing her by the waist and dragging her into the cave. She slung her bow and quiver off and gently put it on the ground. Bellamy breathed heavily, "Wow that shit hurts."

Athena glanced over at him. His hand was covered in red blisters and it was starting to get worse.

"It's acid," she ripped part of her shirt and shuffled forward. She retrieved a flask from his bag and poured water onto it, before dabbing it onto the wound. Bellamy groaned causing Athena to tease, "You poor baby. Not so tough now, huh?"

"Well, I did just get burned by acid, saving your ass."

"Sure."

Bellamy glanced at her. Her curly hair was falling in front of her face, making her push it over her shoulder exposing a silver chain and an outline of a heart tattoo.

"What's that?" he asked referring to the chain.

She pulled it out of her shirt, "My mother gave it to me. Apparently, my father gave it to her." Athena had never met her father. Her mother barely even talked about him but Athena never actually cared. She figured that he was probably some deadbeat asshole or probably floated for some crime. She had enough father figures in her life, Jake and Warren.

"And the tattoo?"

She chuckled, "That's also for my father, I have no clue who he is. I got it when I was 15." Despite knowing that she probably would've hated the man if she'd known who he was, 15-year-old Athena mourned the loss of the father she never had. And through true teenage rebellion, she'd snuck out one night to the black market of the Ark and gotten a tattoo, lying about her age. Her mother had been furious when she'd seen it but also understood.

"Does that bother you?" Charlotte asked asked. Honestly, Athena had forgotten she was even there. Bellamy watched her carefully as a smile spread over her face.

Athena chuckled, "God no. You should be fine for now, until Clarke sees it. She's better at the conventional stuff than I am. I'm a bit more attuned to digging around inside." She sat back against the cold cave wall.

"Thanks."

The three shuffled around for a moment. Bellamy gave Charlotte his jacket to sleep on and Athena gave hers to cover herself and the girl fell asleep quickly. Athena lay on the opposite side of the cave to Bellamy. He watched her intently as she moved ever so often, "Are you all right over there?"

"I'm fine," Athena lied.

"You're cold."

"No, I'm not."

"Get over here."

"No."

"Athena."

"Bellamy." He fixed her with a hard glare before she sighed. She stood and sat next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and she huffed, melting into his embrace, "We will never speak of this to anyone."

"Agreed."

He glanced down at her and stared. She was fiddling with the necklace. It was pretty, with silver rimming and a blue stone in the middle. Athena felt the weight of his stare and looked up at him, "Stop looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you pity me. Don't."

"You are so strange," Bellamy shook his head, "And trust me I don't pity you at all."

"I'm not strange."

"You are strange. Sleep, Thena."

"Whatever."

At some point, Athena had fallen asleep but was rudely awoken by screaming. The two adults jumped up as Charlotte continued to scream, wildly thrashing around. "Charlotte, wake up," Bellamy shook her. Athena breathed deeply, passing a hand through her matted hair. Being on the ground was not doing wonders for any of them, no one from camp had showered since they got down and Athena was desperately trying to find a workaround.

"I'm sorry," she replied quietly.

"It's ok," Athena smiled comfortingly.

"Does it happen often?" Bellamy asked. The small girl sighed, "What are you scared of? You know what? It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you do about it."

"But... I'm asleep," Charlotte responded.

"Fears are fears. Slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep."

Athena sat back and watched the situation. Her eyes flicked between the usual ass of a man and the child before her. "Yeah but... how?" Charlotte questioned.

"You can't afford to be weak. Down here weakness is death, fear is death. Let me see that knife I gave you." She took it from her pocket and Bellamy continued, "Now when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say screw you. I'm not afraid."

He gave it to her and she muttered, "Screw you. I'm not afraid." He looked at her with a look saying you can do better.

"Screw you. I'm not afraid," she said firmly.

He smiled, "Slay your demons kid. Then you'll be able to sleep." He walked back over to Athena and sat. They watched quietly as the girl dropped back to sleep.

"You're good with her. Who would think you'd be good with kids?"

"She reminds me of Octavia." Athena smiled, "Get some sleep."

"You're not going to kill me are you?" she joked. He smiled sarcastically and she closed her eyes.

The next morning Bellamy woke her up. "I hate being woken up," she grumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Deal with it, Sunshine," he replied. The three ventured out of the cave and Bellamy looked around, "Anybody out here? Jones?"

"We're here!" Jones called. They turned and went in the direction the voice came from.

"Lost you in the stew. Where'd you go?" Bellamy asked.

"Made it to a cave down there," the boy replied, "The hell was that?"

"I don't know. Where's Atom?" Athena asked. She remembered that the boy had called out for help and wondered if he'd made it to another cave.

Jones looked at them confused. Realisation crossed the adults' faces, "Split up," she ordered.

After a few minutes of searching, the two adults came upon nothing. A scream broke out and Athena whirled, "Charlotte. Charlotte!" The two ran in the direction of the scream and found her near a body that was convulsing in pain. His face was blistered and almost unrecognizable.

"Son of a bitch. Atom," Bellamy breathed. He knelt down beside him and Athena looked at Charlotte.

"Go back to camp." The girl's eyes were unable to tear away from the boy as the rest of the group came.

Bellamy stood and Athena and Charlotte approached him. The younger girl took the knife from her pocket and slipped it into his hand, "Don't be afraid."

"Go back to camp," Bellamy ordered the group, "Charlotte, you too." The girl walked off and Bellamy turned to Athena with an expectant look.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Bellamy knelt beside the dying boy causing him to murmur, "Kill me." Bellamy stared at him and Athena stared at Bellamy.

She sighed and took the knife from his hands, "I'll do it."

"Athena?"

Athena turned, "Clarke." The girl stared at the fallen boy in surprise. His injuries were bad and Athena knew that, "Go back to camp with the others."

"No. I heard screams. What happened?"

"Charlotte found him," Bellamy answered, "We sent her back to camp." Clarke looked him over and shook her head. Bellamy's jaw clenched.

"Ok," Clarke smiled in sympathy, "We're gonna help you, all right?"

Athena sat next to Bellamy and Clarke sat on the opposite side. Clarke began to hum a song. Athena recognised it. It was one their parents had taught them years ago. Bellamy glanced at the two as Athena quickly inserted the knife into his throat. She glanced at the knife before Bellamy took it from her carefully.

"Thank you," Bellamy whispered softly. She nodded and stood.

"We should get him back to camp. Get someone to bury him," she said. The two nodded and Bellamy ran to catch up with the group. He brought them back and they carried Atom back to camp. As they broke the treeline a person shouted that they were back and the camp gathered around.

"We've got to get back to Jasper," Clarke said to Finn. On their way back, Clarke explained that she and Finn were out looking for medicine and they'd found some in a nearby lake. Athena internalised the information and was thinking of sending a party out to track how far the lake was from camp, seeing as they could use the water for showering and drinking.

"Get Clarke whatever she needs," Bellamy ordered.

"I better go get this grave dug," Wells spoke. Octavia rushed out of the dropship.

"It's about time. They're gonna kill Jasper," she said to Clarke, "Did you get the medicine?"

"Yeah, I-I got it. Come on, let's go talk." Octavia caught sight of the body that was covered by a jacket and tried to look.

"Octavia," Athena warned.

"Octavia, just stay there. Please, stay back," Bellamy begged.

"Stop," Octavia brushed past him and lifted the jacket she gasped, "Atom." Tears trailed down her cheek.

"There's nothing I could do," Bellamy said. Athena glanced at him. She wondered why he took the fall for her.

"Don't." The girl covered him once more and stood.

"O. O, please don't," Bellamy begged. She walked past him back into the dropship.

Murphy approached the two adults, "Did you lose anyone here?" Athena asked.

"No."

"Jasper?" Bellamy asked.

"Still breathing. Barely. I tried to take him out, but your psycho little sister-" Bellamy grabbed him quickly.

"My what?"

"Your little sister."

"Yeah, that's right. My little sister. Got anything else you want to say about her?"

Murphy inhaled, "Nothing. Sorry."

Athena sighed, "Bellamy, let him go," he looked at her confused but she was already speaking orders, "Get him out of here." A few guys came to take Atom's body away to Wells had dug the other graves. She then looked around for some of her people. Once she gathered a small group she had Finn go with them to find the lake, telling them to mark the route on the trees so they could find their way back. She sighed, before walking off to the dropship to tell Octavia the truth.