Fears on Fire

Chapter Twenty-Four

The smell of mildew and dirt filled the air as Maya, Bellamy and I stood in the large holding area that organized thousands of paintings. Brown walls that aligned the room had scratches and dents on the concrete walls. I could feel the anxiety in the air as we awaited my sisters response from the radio messages. The square shaped hole in the brick wall that held the radio was uncovered by the painting.

Maya set the framed picture beside the hole, gripping the top of the gold rim. She grabbed the map from beside her, scanning over the paper to find a way to the vents. Bellamy leaned against the wall and held the radio in hand. I paced back and forth in a nervous manner, my hands rested on my hips. Maya watched me walk up and down the hallway.

"Y/N," she spoke, softly. I stopped walking and dropped my hands from my hips, I looked at her with raised eyebrows. "It's fine," Maya said, "You're fine." I gave her a small smile, walking over to her and Bellamy. "Ark station?" Bellamy called, "Do you read me? Anyone there?"

I stood beside Maya, playing with the strings of the bracelet. I looked at the radio then back up at Bellamy. I sighed in frustration as Clarke had not responded yet. "Come on Clarke," I muttered, tapping my foot. "You're late," Clarke spoke, "Every three hours means every three hours." I sighed in relief, closing my eyes. Bellamy looked up at me and gave me a reassuring smile. "Are you through?" he retorted.

"Have you found the source of the acid fog?" Clarke questioned. "No, that's going to have to wait," I answered. Bellamy and I looked back at Maya, she lowered her head. "What?" said Clarke, "Nothing is more important than that." I grunted at her response, shaking her head. "Our friends are," replied Bellamy, "They've started taking them from the dorm, one at a time, every few hours."

"Taking them where?" Raven inquired. "We don't know," I said, looking back up at Bell. "We tried following them, but they went to a classified level," Bellamy added, "Maya borrowed the schematics of the vent system from her boss." I huffed in annoyance, crossing my arms.

"And if that's not a bigger kick in the ass," I commented, "We're still trying to find a way in." I looked back at Maya, seeing if she had found a way in. "Anything?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. She slowly nodded her head and looked over the map. "I think I found a path, but it's going to be tight," she replied, "Here's the walkie, Raven asked for along with the two earbuds."

Maya reached into her backpack, grabbing the walkie and the earpieces. She stepped over to me and handed the devices to me. I handed Bellamy the radio, giving him an earpiece as well. He nodded slightly and turned back to the radio. "Bellamy, Y/N, you have to find them," Clarke said. "That's the plan," Bellamy said. I glanced away from the earbuds as Bellamy spoke. "If you don't, all of this is for nothing," said Clarke.

"Yeah," I sighed, "We know."

****

The same buzz of the fans was all Bellamy and I heard while we crawled through the vents. The black earbud stayed in my ear, the metal of the vents kept me cooler then I had expected. I kept the gun in my holster just incase if I needed, but I doubt that I would. Bellamy was in front of me while I was in back. We waited till Raven told us what to do next.

Bell soon stopped crawling, leaving me to stop as well. I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head. "Why'd we stop?" I inquired. "We're at the intersection," Bellamy answered, "Which way?" I sat on my knees and looked up. "We think you're close, the lab should be up ahead," Clarke replied. "Any chance you can be more specific?" I suggested, raising my eyebrows.

Bellamy and I peered at each of the passages very confused. There was a loud humming sound coming from the end of a path to the left. I turned my head to the noise and tapped Bellamy on the shoulder. We followed the sound of the drill, listening to where we needed to go. Bellamy dropped down one of the pathways and stood in front of the fan. He turned around and grabbed my hand to help me sit beside him.