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S E V E N T E E N | THE IMPORTANCE OF READING A MAP

As Carter worked intently on taking apart the broken wristband, a sudden rush overcame her and left her confused at the sudden U-Turn her life had seemed to take.

She wasn't a so-called 'model citizen' on the Ark, but she followed the rules-- sometimes-- and even though she had adopted the habit of disappointing her father on a regular basis, she wasn't a bad person. She just had issues with being told what to do.

When she was on the Ark, she wished for something adventurous to happen. Anything would have sufficed. She just wanted to know she was living for a purpose and not just for the sake of existing.

Although, being on a planet full of undiscovered secrets and a danger around every corner wasn't exactly what she had in mind...

Carter considered it a good thing, though. Being on Earth did give her a purpose. Sure, it wasn't without its downside, but it was a hell of a lot better than the Ark. The U-Turn her life decided to take, was probably the best thing to ever happen to her.

Earth had molded Carter into a better person. She was more aware, more focused. She wasn't as vulnerable as before. Even with Raven and Finn by her side, Carter often felt alone. Like she was just an isolated figure with no real future. But on Earth, so was part of a group. Yes, they were criminals, but that was their title on the Ark. Down on the ground, everyone was the same and everyone treated each other with the level of respect they deserved.

A few days ago, Carter witnessed a guy convicted of murder hugging and consoling a girl who was crying because she missed her parents.

That was all the conviction she would ever need. She was part of their group, there was no point isolating herself because of the grief she felt for Charlotte's death. She had a whole bunch of people she could turn to, which is more than she ever had on the Ark. And on Earth, she did have a future. They all did.

Survival.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone think as hard as you." Carter's eyes widened at the sound of the voice and she jumped, startled. Her head shot up to see Monty smirking at her and her face scrunched into a glare.

"An announcement of your arrival would have been nice." She murmured, glancing back down at the tiny fragments of wristband.

"That was my announcement," Monty shrugged unapologetically. He looked down at the little progress Carter had made on the wristband and quirked eyebrow. "You're still working on that thing? I thought we agreed it was useless."

Carter sighed and looked back up. "Yeah, but I needed something to keep me busy. I have strict orders to not go after Finn and Clarke until they've been gone for an hour." She explained with a small hint of bitterness. She hated being out of the loop. "How long as if been anyway?"

"You have been waiting for a total of..." Murphy looked down at his watch and then back up Carter. "Thirty-five minutes."

"Dammit," Carter exhaled dramatically. Outside of the drop ship, it had gotten lighter where the morning sun had began it's slow rise, Carter noted. She thought she had been waiting for longer than an hour. Not thirty-freaking-five minutes. "Do you know what? Screw it. I'm going, I've never listened to what Finn told me to do before, I sure as hell ain't gonna start now."

Carter pushed the chair back and darted her way towards the water system in one of the tents outside the drop ship. Her mind was only focusing on finding that pod from the Ark. Her curiosity had eaten too much of the logical part of her brain and she was desperate to finding out what the Ark had sent them. She went through a small list in her mind of what they needed. Food? There was a large chance that it was food. Medicine? Carter thought there was a possibility although they were already tight when it came to medication on the Ark anyway. Weapons? Definitely not. Radio? Yes. There had to be a radio.

"Woah Carter, wait!" Monty rushed into the tent Carter was in. He watched as she filled up a bottle with water and hurriedly stuffed it into her backpack. "Are you going on your own?"

"Yes." Carter nodded once, walking past her friend and out into the camp. There was a small part where they kept their food, it wasn't much, just some things some of the camp had managed to pick off bushes and trees.

"You can't be serious?" Was what Monty replied with, jogging to catch up with Carter. She paid him no mind and hoisted the pack onto her shoulder before she began to walk towards the exit of camp. "Carter can you just wait! Please!"

With a hesitant sigh, Carter came to a halt and turned to Monty with a raised eyebrow.  "What?"

"It's dangerous out there! You of all people should know that." Monty exclaimed, maintaining Carter's even stare. Her face was emotionless and it only left him feeling uncomfortable.

"So?"

"So?" He repeated incredulously. "Do I have to remind you of Grounders? You know that they heard the pod land, they're gonna be all over the crash site. Carter, you're going to be on your own, an easy target."

Carter pursed her lips and averted her eyes away from her friend. She knew he had a point, but she just didn't care. "If there was a bigger group, we'd be creating too much attention. I'm better on my own."

"You don-"

"- Please Monty, I need to go and find out what's in that pod... Look, you can stand there and argue your point to you have no more breath left, but either way I'm going, whether you like it or not." Carter's tone was firm and left no room for argument. Monty studied her for a few moments before sighing.

"Wait here," He held up an index finger and quickly jogged towards the tent Bellamy and his crew usually went to discuss things. When he came back, there was a rolled up, tatted piece of paper in his hands. He smiled weakly and handed her what he went to retrieve. Upon noticing the frown on her face, Monty quickly explained what he gave her. "It's a map. They are basically a smaller, birds-eye view of-"

"-I know what a map is Monty." Carter looked up with a mocking smile. "But why did you give it to me?"

"Um, to help you navigate your way through the woods?" He shrugged. "But when you're back, you've gotta stick it back in that tent. Don't ask me why, but Bellamy gets pissy if you touch it. It's not even his, it's Clarke's-- and I'm rambling, aren't I?" Carter nodded her head. "Go on, go. Before anyone else realizes you've disappeared."

"Thanks, Monty." Carter sent her friend a half-smile, holding up the map with appreciation. Monty shrugged in response and Carter took the opportunity to turn on her heel and leave the camp, her eyes glued to the map she tried to figure out where she was and where she needed to be.

                             ***

'You are not weakened by sentiment.' The Chancellor's words echoed repetitively through Kane's mind, haunting him. Was he not weakened by sentiment?  Was that why he was so accepting that his daughter could possibly be dead?

Kane shook away the last thought as quick as it came. He refused to think about Carter, dead. He had always hoped that he would die far before Carter would. Jaha never realized just how much sentiment weakened Kane. Nobody did. And he planned on keeping it that way. Kane already had so much on his mind, and now he had been informed by Chancellor Jaha that he is supposed to take over and become Chancellor.

How was he supposed to lead the people of the Ark when he couldn't even look after his own daughter?

"Sir, are you okay?" Kane looked up to see Commander Shumway looking back at him. Though the question was supposed to be one of concern, Kane noticed Shumway was only asking out of curiosity and not because he actually cared.

"I'm fine." Came Kane's stoic reply. He had no time to converse with the Commander, and he couldn't care less about what he wanted.

"I was just wondering, what are we going to do about one Bellamy Blake?"

Kane looked up again. The Commander loomed over him, but only because Kane was sat down and Shumway remained stood. "What can we do, Commander? As you have said, he's on the ground and completely out of our reach. Now, unless you have anything productive to say, I suggest you leave."

"Okay, sir." Shumway shied away and left Kane alone once again, with only his dark thoughts as company. Once the man was gone, Kane frowned. Every time he and the Commander spoke, a weird feeling stirred deep in Kane's stomach and he felt the need to be on guard. It was like he couldn't trust Shumway, even though the man had given him no reason not to.

There was just something that wasn't right with him.

                          ***

Carter learned quickly that her map skills were terrible.

At one point, she stood at the edge of a steep cliff and frowned. The map said that this was where a creek should be, yet all she could see was the top's of many, many trees. And all the while she thought she was going North, it turned out she was going East. How? Not even she knew.

It felt like she was walking through the depths of the forrest forever, it didn't help that she had no sense of keeping track of time either. When the trees began to thin out, she thought she was close but then they only thickened again; crushing her hopes. She swore that the forrest of taunting her.

"Please can I just find this freaking pod?" She groaned lowly. Her feet ached from the constant walking, one hurt more than the other. She was beginning to regret not asking for company, even Steven and his oh-so-annoying chatter would have sufficed. It was shocking at how much she actually relied on socializing. She didn't like being alone in the woods, it just seemed tp heighten the level of creepiness.

"Hey Shooter! Where's my radio?"

That voice. Carter knew it like she knew her own. She came to an immediate halt and looked around. Her eyes wide and her ears listening for even the faintest of sounds.

"Where is it?!"

A gasp slipped Carter's mouth. She definitely knew that voice.

Raven.

Reality quickly caught up with her and she frowned. How would Raven be on Earth? Great. So I'm going crazy, Carter inwardly sighed. Just then, another voice sounded and that was all Carter needed before she sprinted in the direction of the voices, she had no idea whether it was her imagination or if they were real, either way she intended to find out.

Her feet thudded softly against the ground and she pushed harder, swerving around a tree as she did.

When she rounded the corner, her feet stumbled to a stop and her eyes widened even more at the scene in front of her. No one had noticed her presence just yet and before she could stop herself, the words tumbled from her lips in a confused anger. "What the fuck is going on?!"

Upon hearing her voice, all four people snapped their heads in her direction, each with their own expression. Clarke looked midly relieved that there was someone else to defuse the ever growing tension, Finn could only blink at her in surprise.

The other two figures were up by one of the trees. Both had knives at each other's throats.

"Carter?" The one pressed against the tree choked out. Carter flickered her eyes to the person and her breath caught in her throat.

"Raven?" She frowned, unable to connect the dots. She then looked to the other person; Bellamy. He was looking at Carter with shock, but his knife was still firm by Raven's neck. There was an intensity in Carter's eyes that made Bellamy lower his weapon and take a step back.

Finn was shocked by the sudden change in the atmosphere. The tension seemed to dissolve and even Bellamy stayed quiet as Carter ran down to meet her best friend.

Raven pushed herself off the tree and met Carter half way and they envaloped each other in a bone-crushing hug. "Thank god you're okay," Raven whispered as she pulled away. They both looked at each other with a knowing glint in there eyes. They both suddenly broke out in a series of various ways to high-five eachother, almost in a practiced sequence. Their 'secret handhshake'.

Clarke watched with wonderment and looked to Finn with confusion. "It's a thing they made up when we were kids. I never could quite get the hang of it." He explained and Clarke nodded once in acknowledgment. She still didn't want to talk to Finn, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep the hurt and betrayal out of her voice.

Carter and Raven finished their little greeting with a fist-pump and Carter couldn't hold back a chuckle. "We've still got it." Raven laughed in agreement and an odd silence quickly took over, causing Carter to frown at them all. Suddenly overwhelmed with confusion. She turned to Bellamy with a raised eyebrow. "Can I ask why you had a knife to her throat and vice versa?"

When Bellamy looked down and refused to answer, Clarke decided to answer the girl instead. "We just found out that Bellamy shot the Chancellor." Carter looked up at Clarke with an element of shock. Did he tell them? She then turned her attention to Bellamy and sent him a meaningful look, silently asking how they managed to find out.

"Jaha deserved to die." Was Bellamy's reasoning. Carter frowned and her jaw turned slack.

"Hold up, you told me you didn't shoot-to-kill...?" An array of emotions crossed Carter's face as her voice turned venomous. Bellamy noticed the deep look of betrayal in her eyes and he inwardly winced.

"I didn-" He was about to reason with the sassy blond, but someone interjected before he could.

"- Wait, you knew?" Finn looked at Carter, his eyebrows turned down in a confused frown. "You knew what he did and you didn't say anything?"

Dammit Carter, She inwardly facepalmed herself, wishing to take her words back. "Okay, I know it looks really bad, but there was damn good reason I couldn't tell you, Finn."

"Oh yeah? What?" His voice was firm and cold. Carter grimaced.

"I... I can't tell you." Carter sighed in defeat. She was pretty sure Shumway wouldn't take to her saying his name and then her father would most definitely in danger. Even if they were in the middle of the woods, Carter was not taking her chances. "All you need to know is that someone threatened me. You don't need to know why and you don't need to know who. Finn, if I could have told you I would. You know I would."

Finn's expression darkened. "Is this why you're own the ground? Because of this threat?"

"Yes."

"Who?" Finn's jaw tightened. "Who, Carter?"

"What did I just say? You don't need to know. I can't tell you, Finn. Just drop it." Carter matched his stare, unphased by the dangerous glower that was hidden in his eyes.

"Carte-"

"- She said drop it." Clarke interjected with a scowl. Not only could she see her new friend becoming increasingly uncomfortable under Finn's scrutiny, she also took the chance to take her own anger out on the boy who toyed with her emotions. "There was bigger things we need to deal with, I'm sure Carter has everything under control without you interfering." She grounded out towards Finn. She then looked over to Carter for back-up who merely nodded at the statement. Carter did have it under control. She had a plan. Clarke eyed Bellamy with a scowl before speaking up again. "Why did you do it?"

"Like I said, Jaha deserved to die. You all know that." Bellamy replied gruffly, suddenly catching up with the conversation. He was a little more than surprised to find out that Carter was threatened, though it made sense. The fact that she could be in danger made him uneasy for reasons he couldn't explain.

"Yeah he wasn't my favorite person either," Raven spat out somewhat bitterly. "But he's not dead."

Bellamy turned rigid, wondering if he had heard her wrong. Sure, he had aimed for Jaha's stomach so there was a higher chance he wouldn't die, but he never stuck around to find out. "What?"

"You're a lousy shot." Raven shrugged. Carter looked from Raven to Bellamy with the corners of her lips turned up. He didn't lie to her. She really didn't like the thought of being lied to, even more so with Bellamy. He held her stare as a wash of relief came over his entire body, the ghost of smile tugged at his own lips. She opened her mouth to say something, but Clarke beat her to it.

"Don't you see what this means?" She walked closer to him. "You're not a murderer. You've always done what you've had to do to protect your sister, that's who you are. And you can do it again by protecting three-hundred of your people... where's the radio?"

Bellamy pursed his lips and looked down to the floor. "It's too late."

"Show it to us." Finn offered from the back.

"I, uh, have no idea what's going on." Carter blurted, her face contorted into a frown.

"This douchebag took my radio," Raven answered, her tone still bitter. "It was the only way I could contact the Ark."

Carter turned her head towards Bellamy. "What? Why?" Her voice was more confused than angry.

"Because he was saving his own ass." Finn snorted with an eye roll. Carter ignored the rather vague answer from her friend and continued to stare at Bellamy, only interested in what he had to say.

"They would have killed me, I... they still can. But this isn't just for me, this is for all of us. If they come down, we're just gonna be locked up and you know it." He stammered slightly over his words, not knowing where to step when it came to Carter.

Her head bubbled with questions to ask him, but all she could do was nod slowly and then turn her attention towards Clarke. "And what about these three-hundred people?"

"The culling." Clarke answered grimly. "They're gonna try and save as much oxygen as they can. Even if it means three-hundred working class people are floated."

Carter pursed her lips and processed the information. She knew it was wrong, but it was the Ark, and up there what was wrong was right. She just hoped her father played no part in this 'culling' though she knew it was wishful thinking. He was most likely the one to initiate it. Her expression hardened and she turned back to Bellamy. "Where's this radio?"

"I threw it in a river, not far from where the Pod landed." He answered without missing a beat.

"Show us." Clarke instructed with a firm tone. Bellamy nodded and just as he went to continue to walk, Carter grabbed his forearm. He looked down at the girl questionably.

"We'll probably need more than five pairs of hands to scour this 'river'." She shrugged, gesturing her head in the suspected direction of camp, though she couldn't be too sure.