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E I G H T E E N | REVELATIONS IN A RIVER

By the time they had got back to camp (Finn and Bellamy rightfully ignored Carter's attempts with the directions,) and got all the people they needed, it was already midday. Carter didn't really know where the time went giving that she was up and out of camp by the crack of dawn. Quite literally.

The yellow sumlight filtered through the thick trees and down onto the dirt path that at least two dozen teens were strolling down. Clarke suggested only taking a few of the Hundred so the camp wasn't left completely vulnerable.

Bellamy was the one in the lead, considering he was the only one to know the location of the radio. Clarke and Finn were somewhere in the middle of the search group, talking in hushed tones, the former of the two looked less than pleased. And then Carter and Raven were at the back, walking behind a few of the stragglers. The air was light with mindless chatter as the Hundred pursued their trek through the forest. . Most of them had never truly left the walls of camp, so they spent most of their time marvelling at the beauty Earth had to offer.

Even though, to Carter, it was just trees. And every tree looked the same.

There was a companionable silence between Raven and Carter. They were both just happy to be reunited again. Growing up, Finn, Raven and Carter were near on inseparable. They acted as each other's rocks-- kept each other grounded-- Raven more than the other two. Her mother may as well of abandoned her, she hardly ever fed Raven and showed her little to no affection. Carter had only been friends with the young mechanic for a few months when she noticed just how under-malnourished Raven was. When Finn confronted her, both Carter and him decided to share their rations with the girl. That was all Raven needed to know they weren't the kind of friends that were temporary.

They were her salvation.

It was the same with Carter. Whenever her father had upset her by accident or she couldn't stand to be around him, she would always run to either Raven or Finn's (not that it made much difference, they lived right next to each other) and without a second of a doubt, her two closet friends were there for her.

A week was the longest they went without seeing each other, even when Finn was in prison.

"He misses you, you know." Raven suddenly spoke, slicing through their silence like a sharp knife.

"Huh?" Carter hummed something unintelligible, still half lost in her thoughts.

"Your father," Raven elaborated. That was enough to snap Carter back into reality, her full attention focused on her childhood friend as she continued. "He misses you."

"Are we thinking about the same man?" Carter quirked an eyebrow. "My father doesn't know the meaning of the word 'miss', you should know that."

"I thought so too. Turns out, Kane does have a weak spot," Raven nudged Carter's shoulder in a playful manner. "You."

"... H-How do you know that?"

Raven shrugged. "Doesn't take a genius, Carter. You could just see it on his face. He was devistated when he found out you were on the ground."

A moment of silence fell over the two as Carter mulled over the information Raven had given her. So he did miss her. She had asked herself that question every day since the second they landed, Does he miss me? Sure, it was a normal response for a father to miss their daughter, especially in Carter's situation. But those dads weren't Kane. The man best known for his lack of emotion.

Just knowing that he actually missed her was enough to send Carter into an ear-splitting smile and her mood had raised, restoring her hope that was beginning to dwindle.

"Speaking of which," Raven continued, turning her head towards Carter. "You said earlier someone threatened you, which is why you were on the drop ship. Who was it?"

Carter bit her lip for a fraction of a second before sighing. She couldn't tell Raven, even if she desperately wanted to. She definitely couldn't tell her after hearing her father was capable of human emotion and did care for her, it just made her more determined to make sure Shumway didn't touch him. "Raven, I-"

"- Okay we're here!" A loud voice boomed over the chattering crowd, thankfully interrupting the coversation between Raven and Carter. "I threw the radio in the river, so it may already be too late-"

"- But we still try!" Carter didn't have to see Clarke to know the voice belonged to her. Please no more speeches, please no more speeches... Carter chanted in her head. It seemed like giving speeches was a favorite thing of Clarke's. "That radio is the only way we can contact the Ark, without it, three-hundred innocent lives will be at risk! The Council are planning on killing them to save oxygen. These people could be your friends, your family! We need to let the Ark know that Earth is survivable." She paused for a moment to make sure she had everyone's attention. "We can't waste anytime, we should search the entire length of the river. It's possible the radio could have been taken by a current downstream. Go in pairs though, we need to remember that we're not the only one's down here." As Clarke concluded her speech, the group murmured an agreement and began to disperse, walking towards the wide, shallow river.

"Hey, Griffin!" Carter hollered, nudging her way past a few people to reach the blond in the front. Clarke quirked an eyebrow at the use of her last name but said nothing, instead she waited for Carter to carry on. "You're gonna be my pair and you have no say in it, now come on."

                                ***

"Okay. You've been scowling at the water for ages now," Carter sighed, straightening herself up. "What's up?"

Clarke blinked a few times before realizing Carter was talking to her. She quickly covered up her scowl with an unconvincing smile. "Nothing. I'm good."

"Oh come on Clarke, you don't have to lie to me." Carter sent her a pointed look with her hand on her hip. Clarke couldn't help but notice that Carter seemed a lot more upbeat than before. "I thought we were friends."

"We are friends." Clarke insisted, looking at Carter with sincerity. The two delved into a silence that wasn't awkward nor comfortable and Carter pursed her lips expectantly, causing Clarke to ask the question that was bubbling in her mind. "I have to ask, did you know Finn was dating Raven?"

"Why wouldn't I? They've been together since we were kids. It kind of grossed me out," Carter mused before frowning. "Wait, you didn't know?"

"No. Finn never mentioned a girlfriend," Clarke shook her head. She studied Carter's emotionless expression for a moment before leaning in and confiding in her friend. "If I knew he was with Raven, I never would have slept with him."

Clarke slept with Finn...?

Woah, what?!

Carter's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She was left completely dumbfounded by that statement. "H-hang on, let me just get my head around this... you two slept together as in slept together?"

"We had sex." Clarke nodded, her tone was a mere whisper and her expression was guilty.

Within a matter of seconds, Carter went from confused and shell-shocked to seething. He lied to her. When she asked him, to his face if he had told Clarke about Raven he said yes. The bastard actually lied to her. "Oh I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch!" She spat out venomously, her whole demeanour turned rigid. Just as she was about to walk straight up to Finn and confront him in front of everyone, Clarke grabbed her shoulder.

"What are you doing to do?" She asked frantically with wide eyes.

"He lied to you, Clarke. He lied to me." Carter couldn't keep the bitterness out of her words. She was unable to even muster how she felt. Betrayal came close. Why lie to her? Carter didn't know. "You give me one good reason why I shouldn't go over there and kick his ass."

"Because you're better than that." Clarke replied without missing a beat. "He isn't worth it. It's safe to say, I've learned my lesson and I really don't want Raven hating me for this. Please don't do anything stupid, Carter."

Carter looked between Clarke's pleading face and over to where Finn and Raven stood. Raven deserved to know the truth and Finn deserved a punch, but Carter didn't want to betray the trust that Clarke had in her. Reluctantly, Carter swallowed some of the anger she felt and nodded her head slowly at Clarke, who in turn relaxed.

"Thank you." Clarke breathed with a small, yet grateful smile.

"I'm saying something to him though. I'll make sure Raven isn't there, but it's not fair, Clarke. Her boyfriend just cheated on her after a little over ten days of not seeing her." Carter spoke in a determined, steady voice. Clarke furrowed her eyebrows as she processed Carter's words. With a sigh, she nodded her head reluctantly.

"Okay."

The two resumed in their searching, the silence was colder than before and neither girls knew what to make of it. They both felt betrayed by Finn, but for very different reasons. In all of their friendship, Finn never once lied to Carter and she couldn't make out why he would start now. She let out a long sigh of frustration and stood up straight again.

"We've been here for hours now," Carter stated, looking around at all the other camp members who were knee deep in water, in search for a radio. "I don't think we're gonna find it."

"You sound like Bellamy," Clarke retorted, there was a hint of humor in her voice and Carter cocked her head to the side. She never thought Clarke was capable of joking... "We'll find it, Carter. It couldn't have gotten far."

"Unless the Grounders took it."

"How would they know Bellamy threw it? And would they even know what a radio is?"

"Hell if I know. But I don't think we can afford on underestimating them." Carter shrugged. As is off instinct, she scanned the treeline cautiously, looking for anything that looked suspicious.

Just then, Carter heard the sloshing of water as someone approached them and turned to see Finn. A dangerous glare hardened her face. Clarke sent Carter a warning look, asking Carter to stay quiet.

"I'm just gonna go over there," She murmured, her hands gesturing in the direction away from Finn and not waiting for an answer. Finn noticed the sudden hostility that Carter directed towards him, but stayed quiet. Carter walked away from the other two and surpressed the urge to groan.

Not only did she just find out her best friend was a deceptive, cheating son of a bitch, but her socks were cold and wet too. Her eyes drifted to where Bellamy was crouched on the riverbank. He hadn't once gotten into the water, so his feet were more than likely dry. Carter's eyes narrowed in envy. She couldn't stand wet socks.

"Hey, you're Carter, right?" A sudden feminine voice snapped Carter out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a girl quirking her eyebrow at her. Carter had seen her around camp but had never spoken to her. She was a little smaller than Carter and had long, light brown hair with light green eyes. "Councillor Kane's kid?" The girl elaborated.

"Who's asking?" Carter studied the girl.

"Kara." The girl replied simply. Her name sounded familiar, but Carter couldn't quite place it. "Kara Renolds."

"Oh, well hey." Carter smiled somewhat awkwardly. Alarm bells were definitely ringing in her head and she couldn't figure out why. Well, she is a criminal and dad just so happens to be in charge of the legal justice system, She inwardly reminded herself

"So, I've gotta ask, how did someone like you end up down here?" Kara asked.

"I have a really bad habit of running my mouth when I really shouldn't," Carter shrugged vaguely. She was beginning to get so used to people asking why she was on the ground, her response was almost automatic. "What about you?"

Kara's expression darkened slightly, sparking Carter's interest. "Doing my job."

Okay. This girl was vaguer than Carter was. "What was your job?" Carter asked before she could keep a leash on her words.

"I was a guard." Carter frowned at the answer. Kara couldn't have been much older than seventeen. For her to be a guard at a younger age meant she was a real kickass kind of girl. The skills needed to be a guard weren't easy to acquire.

"Holy shit, you were young for a guard." Carter mused.

Kara's eyebrows rose in surpise. "Do you really not know who I am or what I've done?"

"No," Carter shook her head slowly, slightly confused. "Am I supposed to know?"

"No-- no, there's just been rumors about me, that's all." Kara shrugged. That would explain why Carter thought her name sounded familair.

"I'm not the kind of person to listen to rumors." Carter stated nonanchantly. She may not listen to rumors, but she definitely wanted to know the rumor behind the brunette stood in front of her. There was a hard look in her eyes that just ignited Carter's curiosity.

"Hey, I found it!" A voice hollered, ultimately ending the conversation between the two girls. Carter looked up to see a boy holding up the black radio, an element of smugness was in his face. Everyone stopped their searching.

Carter jogged through the water over to where Clarke, Finn, Bellamy, Raven and a few others were, Kara wasn't far behind her. Raven inspected the radio with a deep frown. Water drizzled rapidly from underneath it.

"Can you fix it?" Clarke asked with anticipation.

"Maybe," Raven answered, not looking away from the radio. "But it will take half a day just to dry the components just to see what's broken." She looked up at Carter. "You got any bright ideas?"

"I think I can get a way to speed the drying process up, but that will still take too long." Carter shrugged apologetically.

"Like I said, it's too late." Bellamy spoke up grimly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Do you have any idea of what you did? Do you even care?!" Clarke seethed, storming right up to Bellamy, her face contorted with anger.

"You asked me to help. I helped." Bellamy defended nonchalantly.

"Three-hundred people are going to die today, because of you!"

"Hold up," Raven interjected. "We don't have to talk to the Ark, we've just got to let them know we're down here, right?"

"Yeah, but how do we do that? We have no radio." Finn furrowed his eyebrows. Raven and Carter shared knowing looks, both coming to the same conclusions and they both simultaneously gave each other an ear-splitting smile.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Raven grinned.

"Oh yeah," Carter nodded. "You, Raven Reyes, are a genius." The others frowned in confusion at the cryptic conversation between the two friends, not understanding what they had planned.