Fears on Fire

Chapter Twenty-two

The morning dew laid upon the bushes and grass among the forest where we walked. The clouds covered the sky, making the forest more mysterious and eerie than it already was. Luckily, the cold air made the walk to Mount Weather less hot. I didn't really hear any birds in the distance, I only heard the slight whistle of the wind. The heavy coat I was required to wear kept the wind from making me chilly, I kept my hair down so it covered my shoulders. Bellamy and Lincoln walked ahead of me as I trailed behind.

Our Grounder friend hopped down a hill, Bellamy followed after him. I held onto a root to help lower myself down the hill. Lincoln discovered an animal carcass. He grabbed his knife and cut the lamb, her pressed his two fingers on the side of the lamb. Our friend dipped his two fingers into the blood then slid the blood on either side of his cheek.

"Gross," I commented, recoiling from the smell. Lincoln wiped the excess blood on the sleeve of his jacket. "So we make it to the intake door without any of the real Reapers seeing us. What happens then?" Bellamy asked, kneeling beside the animal. I walked over and stood behind him as I waited for Lincoln to answer his question. Lincoln wiped the excess blood on the sleeve of his leather jacket.

"I kill everyone, and you two slip inside," Lincoln replied, looking up from the lamb. "Limestone," he said, putting a hand out. I pulled out the small velvet bag out of my jacket pocket. I passed it to Lincoln, he opened the top of the bag and dipped his fingers into the limestone.

He pressed the powder on either side of his face, creating two thick white lines. "Let's go," Lincoln said, standing up from the ground. He brushed the dirt and leaves off of his pants. He picked up the bag beside him and passed it to me. I caught it and slipped it into my pocket. "We have a lot of ground to cover before dark," Lincoln said, walking passed Bellamy and I.

****

The sun tried to peek through the dark grey clouds, I could see little patches of the suns glow. Tops of the trees swayed as we continued to walked through the forest. I strolled beside Bellamy as Lincoln walked in front of us. My shoulder brushed against Bellamy's while we walked. "We need to know what happens after the intake door," I said, looking up from the ground. "They remove your clothes," Lincoln answered, "Blast you with boiling water, then douse you with something that burns even worse." My eyes widened at the thought of the process. "Oh," I said, "That's- That's really comforting." Lincoln turned his head to look at me, he sighed. "And then were sorted," he added, "The others tagged 'Harvest'. I was tagged 'Cerberus,' turned into a Reaper."

"Cerberus," Bellamy said, "Three-headed dog that guards the underworld. My mom read me mythology to us all the time, Octavia loved it." I looked over at him and smiled, he glanced at me and smiled as well. There was a long pause between the three of us. Lincoln continued to walk in front.

"You're good for her," Bellamy said, "You made her strong."

Lincoln stared ahead, not turning his head. The memory of Octavia before all this happened popped into my head. "She was already strong," Lincoln replied. Bellamy and I stopped walking as Lincoln stopped amid the patch of grass. He sighed and turned around to look at the two of us. "You protected my sister," Bellamy said, then glanced at me. "And Y/N, before you even knew them," he continued, "Why?" Lincoln changed his gaze from the ground to me. I gave him a small smile, waiting for him to continue talking.

"When I was a boy," Lincoln resumed, "I saw a ship fall from the sky, like Ravens. The man inside was hurt, his body was broken. I couldn't get him out." I kept my arms at my side, I looked up from the ground. "Suicide by Earth," I said, "My best friend's father was a part of the guard. She used to tell me stories about it, we never knew if they were true or not." Bellamy looked at me as I spoke.