❝ 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗹𝘆
𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁
𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱
𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

My eyes peel open and all I see is blinding white.

am I dead?

I shield my eyes from the bright lights with my arm as my eyes start to adjust to the brightness and I pull myself up to see I'm laying in a hospital like bed.

The whole room is completely white, other than a painting hung up on the wall. I push the blanket off me and see I'm wearing short white shorts and a white tank top.

who the fuck changed me?

I drag myself out of the bed and walk my way to the door. I yank on the handle but it doesn't budge making my anxiety spike.

My gaze drifts to the small circular window in the door and all I see is a corridor full of rooms.

My feet take me over to the painting and I find myself studying it carefully. The painter has done a great job of getting all the little details right, from the thousands of stars in the sky to the trees in the darkness and the mountains in the distance.

My mind drifts to what had happened before we closed the drop ship and I slide down the wall, hugging my knees to my chest. A numb feeling spreads across my body and I can't even will myself to cry.

Finn and Bellamy are dead

Octavia is missing, probably dead too

Raven is dying

I drop my head to my knees and take in a deep breath, hoping to feel something but it doesn't work.

The sound of the door opening makes me perk up and I see a girl at the door with a stern look on her face.

"Follow me" She orders.

I scramble to my feet and chase after the fast walking girl.

"Where am I?" I question curiously.

"Mount Weather" She replies shortly.

The girl opens a door and I follow her inside to see Clarke stood talking to an older looking man with two men stood behind him protectively.

"Clarke!" I gasp and her head snaps to me.

I rush towards the girl and she throws her arms around me.

"Ava" She sighs in relief as I hug her.

We part and I see that she's covered in blood with a dressing on her arm.

"What happened to you? Did they do this? I'll kill them" I threaten, shooting at glare at the men.

"No, Ava! I did it myself" Clarke snaps, grabbing my arm.

"I'm sorry. You and Jasper are all I have left" I admit and she smiles softly.

"It's okay" She assures me.

"Such a young warrior you are, Ava. I've heard much about you from your people" The old man tells me.

"Who the fuck are you?" I demand and he chuckles.

"Dante Wallace" He introduces himself, holding out his hand.

I look down at his hand but nod instead of taking it, not trusting the old man one bit.

"Ava Steele" I reply, crossing my arms over my chest.

Before I can ask the man about our people, Clarke speaks up.

"How many of us did you capture?" She asks.

"Forty eight, including you two" Dante answers "But Clarke, you've got it wrong. You're not prisoners. We saved you"

"Well, in that case, you won't mind if we leave" Clarke retorts and Dante looks puzzled as to why we'd want to leave.

"If there are forty eight of us here, we still have people out there" Clarke elaborates.

"The patrol brought in everyone they could find" Dante tells us.

"Wait, the Ark" I tell Clarke who nods.

"It came down last night" I add to Dante.

"We saw it. There were multiple crash sites over a hundred square miles. If there were survivors, we will bring them in too. You have my word" He assures us.

"I want to see our people" Clarke demands.

"Of course you do. I would too" Dante replies and turns around.

Two men wheel over a large case and I share a confused glance with Clarke. They open the case in front of us and it is full of a multitude of different clothing items.

"Sweet" I comment.

"Change and meet me in the hall" Dante smiles.

"Come on. Let's go. Let's give the girls some privacy" He adds as him and his men leave.

Clarke begins looking over the jewellery while I open the drawers to find jeans making me grin widely.

I pull out a pair of black fitted cargo pants and slip off the white shorts before slipping into them, smiling when they fit me perfectly.

I hear a snap behind me as I'm admiring my new cargos and turn to see Clarke has snapped a heel off one of the high heels.

"Smart" I give her an impressed nod and she flashes me a smile.

I find a tight navy blue crop top that has thin rope like straps and lace around the bottom.

"Jackpot" I chime happily, pulling off the white tank top and swapping it for the blue top.

I pull on a pair of black combat boots and a white zipped hoodie that I leave unzipped. Clarke throws on some clothes and hides the heel up her sleeve slyly.

As we walk through Mount Weather I pull my blonde waves back into a messy ponytail leaving my bangs out due to the fact they don't reach the hair tie.

Clarke pushes open a large metal door and I follow by her side, the two of us walking in step with one another.

"Okay. Just take care of it" Dante says to his men.

"Sorry about the noise" He tells us with a big smile as we approach him.

"Hydroelectric power from Philpott Dam. Fresh water from our own underground reservoir. Fresh food from our hydroponic farm" Dante tells us as we walk on each side of him.

"I don't understand. You're on the ground. You know it's survivable. Why would you stay here?" Clarke asks.

"It's not survivable for us" Dante replies.

"The grounders seem to have managed" I say with a shrug.

"Natural selection works. The grounders who couldn't survive in the radiation didn't. Those who could passed on their DNA. For better or for worse here, we never went through that process" Dante explains.

"Well, neither did we. We've been on the ground now for..." Clarke drawls off.

"Solar radiation" The girl quickly realises.

"Very good. Your DNA ran the same gauntlet as the grounders. Only because radiation levels in space are even higher, your ability to metabolise that radiation is even stronger. Truth be told, our scientists were blown away by the efficiency of your systems. If not for that, your friends would still be upstairs in quarantine" Dante tells the two of us and then we come to a stop.

A metal door opens and Dante gestures for us to go inside.

"Please" He says.

Two guards enter the lift and Clarke follows them. Dante looks at me expectantly and I huff, following her inside. The doors start to shut but Dante puts out his hand, stopping them.

"First, give me the heel" He states and I internally groan.

Clarke pulls the heel out her sleeve and reluctantly passes it to the old man. He takes it carefully and looks between us.

"You're not fighting for your life anymore, girls" He declares.

"You've made it. Welcome to Mount Weather" He adds, smiling widely.

The doors shut and the lift starts moving. Clarke and I share a frustrated look and the lift comes to a stop.

The guards escort us out and we exit the lift, turning a corner to hear a woman babbling on about some packet.

Clarke and I make our way towards a big group of people I recognise is our people.

"Ava! Clarke!" I hear someone gasp and then I'm tackled into a hug.

I pull them back at arms length and my eyes widen when I see who it is.

"Monty!" I shriek, yanking him into a hug.

He squeezes me tight and I let out a relieved sigh, happy to see my friend. He lets me go and Jasper is the next to crush me in a tight hug.

"Finn and Bellamy?" I hear Clarke ask hopefully and my heart flutters with a small sliver of hope.

"Clarke, they... they didn't make it" Jasper says softly and all the hope left inside me disintegrates as my heart shatters into a million pieces.

it's real, they're gone

"We don't know that" Clarke argues but I ignore her.

"Where's Raven?" I question.

Both boys look down in sadness and I feel like screaming but all I do is nod understandingly, my chest aching in pain.

"Welcome Clarke and Ava" A woman says and I look at her curiously.

"If you have any questions, I'm Keenan" She tells us, handing us each a folder.

I open up the folder to see the first thing in it is a map for Mount Weather. I glance at Clarke who has a thoughtful look on her face.

if she does anything stupid without me I will not be a happy camper