❝ 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸
𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀
𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

"Hey, there they are!"

I watch from afar as Pike, Bellamy, Hannah and the other seven return from their massacre. They are covered in blood which makes me sick to my stomach, knowing they've just slaughtered hundreds of people who didn't do anything wrong.

Octavia runs up to her brother in worry and I stay rooted in my spot next to a fuming Nova. The younger Blake tries to talk to Bellamy but he completely brushes her off, not giving her the light of day.

"Lock it up" I hear Pike demand as he enters camp last.

The gates are immediately closed without argument and Pike steps a top a platform.

"Everybody, listen up!" He announces, getting everyone's attention "24 hours ago you elected me your chancellor. Every action I've taken since and every action I will take will be to achieve one sacred goal. The creation of a self-sustaining, prosperous, and safe Arkadia"

People begin cheering and I clench my jaw, balling my fists up in pure rage.

"This morning on a muddy field our people paid tribute to those who have been taken from us by sending a message to the grounders. This land is ours now!" He declares and the crowd cheers louder "Resist, and you will be met by force. Fight, and you will be greeted by death!"

"Today is a new beginning. Mark it down, remember it, just like the Grounders will remember it!" He finishes, walking through the cheering crowd.

Bellamy and the rest of his followers walk in tow with the man, their heads held high as though they're proud of the bloodshed they've caused and it makes me sick.

I make eye contact with the freckle faced boy as he passes me and I shoot him a fierce glare, restraining myself from slapping him and causing a scene. He puts his head down and passes without a word.

"They're not even wounded" Nova points out "Ten against 300 and there's no wounded. How is that possible?"

"Ava" I hear a voice get my attention and I turn my head to see Kane stood with Octavia "Will you walk with us?"

I nod my head and gently tug Nova along with me, neither of the two complaining about my decision. We start walking through the halls of Arkadia and Kane glances at Octavia.

"Is it true you tried to leave camp to see Indra yesterday?" He asks her.

"Look, don't you have more important things to worry about than me sneaking out of camp?" Octavia scoffs.

We step behind a doorway made of dangling red strips of plastic and he looks between the three of us.

"As it turns out, that's why you're here. Indra signaled. She wants to meet. I'd go myself but Pike's watching everything I do now" Kane explains to us as he hands us our gear.

"You want us to go see Indra?" Octavia questions.

"I need you to" He counters.

"I'm in, but how do we get out? The gate is armed with-" Octavia is cut off when Kane pulls away paneling, exposing a passageway.

I smile widely, sharing a relieved expression with both Octavia and Nova.

"Crawl space, door in twenty feet drops you outside the camp wall. You get out there, you find out what the hell happened and you report back here. Can you do that?" He asks us as we all climb into the crawl space.

"I was born for this" Octavia grins.

"You can trust us" I assure the man.

"I do" He replies.

"Marcus Kane, report to the chancellor's office. Marcus Kane to the chancellor's office" A voice over the PA announces.

He gives us an encouraging smile and closes the panel behind us. The three of us do exactly as Kane directed us to do and just like he said, we find ourselves outside the camp's walls. We race through the forest as fast as our legs will take us, nearing the grounders campsite.

I reach the clearing first and I stop dead, bile rising up my throat as my heart drops to my stomach. Octavia and Nova pause at either side of me in complete horror at the sight before us.

Almost three hundred dead bodies lay slaughtered, blood staining the clearing and the smell of rotting corpses making my eyes water as we make our way through the piles of the dead.

"How could they do this?" I breathe out in disbelief.

"This is a nightmare" Octavia adds.

"This is war" Nova corrects.

We reach the tent and enter to see Clarke tending to Indra's wounds while Lexa stares off in anger.

"The bleeding's stopped. We need to get you something for the pain" Clarke declares before her eyes find us "Guys? Where's Kane?"

"He sent us" Octavia answers bluntly before crossing the tent with Nova to kneel beside Indra "Indra, thank God"

"You shouldn't be here" Indra warns Nova.

"I had to make sure you were okay" Nova replies.

Indra's eye flit to Lexa who nods firmly, letting her know that it is okay before Indra pulls Nova into her arms tightly.

"How did this happen?" Lexa demands.

Octavia and Nova stand out of respect and turn to Lexa but the woman's eyes are on me.

"Kane lost the election to Pike. The man is delusional and now he's Chancellor too" I explain.

"Everything's different" Octavia adds.

Clarke stands too and Lexa glares at her in rage.

"Your people voted for this?" The brunette snaps.

"No. No, I don't believe that" Clarke argues.

"What do you know, Clarke? You haven't been here" Octavia retorts.

"Listen to me. The grounder army is going to be here in less than a day. I need to see Bellamy" Clarke tells us.

"Bellamy was a part of this. He's with Pike. What makes you think he'll help us?" Octavia protests.

"He saved Indra's life" Clarke says before looking to Lexa and Indra "If what the girls are saying is true, then Pike trusts him. If I can get to him, he can get to Pike"

"Good luck with that, blondie" I scoff.

"You can't just walk through the gates, Clarke. You've been living with their enemy" Lexa objects "If it were me, I'd kill you on the spot"

"We can get her in" Octavia states.