Fallen

Chapter Sixteen: The Body

Ash lays on her stomach, reading a comic Maya has lent her. It is so odd feeling the actual pages of the comic and not just the tablet she use to read from. People celebrate as Miller walks in, done with surgeries. Maya walks over and places a couple more comics on the bunk.

"How is that one?" she asks.

"Interesting," Ash responds. "The fact that Superman killed his pregnant wife unknowingly is fucked up."

"I bet," she chuckles. "I didn't really read comics, but my mom did when she was younger apparently."

"Well I appreciate it."

An alarm goes off and Maya starts heading to the door. Clarke stops her, asking what is going on.

"There is a medical emergency."

Ash quickly swings herself off the top bunk, heading over to them. Jasper, Ash, and Clarke follow Maya to the hospital wing. The medics are putting on hazmat suits. 

"It's too dangerous for us to go straight in," Dr. Tsing states.

"Not for me," Clarke states, stealing Maya's card. She swipes into the hall and takes off. Ash lets out a huff in annoyance before her and Jasper follows. People in the protective gear pushes a man by. The poor man on the gurney is covered in blisters from radiation. Clarke stops by a body bag, smoothing it out.

"Look," she orders the two. "That is clearly a bullet wound. That means they know where our people are."

"Maybe they just found them and before they could talk, they were shot," Ash says, trying to calm her down. "You know as well as I how trigger friendly people can get."

"Or it could be by the Grounders," Jasper tells her, though they all know that would be impossible. The medic team rushes them out and Clarke gives Maya back her card. 

"I'm going to talk to the president," Clarke states before stomping off.

"I'll make sure she doesn't get us kicked out," Ash mutters before following the blonde. She catches up in time to get in the elevator with her. The two stand there as it goes down.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" Clarke asks.

"I think you are dealing with trauma from what we have gone through," Ash informs her. "And you are trying to look out for us. But you maybe trying to uncover something that isn't there."

The doors open.

"Or maybe there is."

Clarke grabs her hand and pull her down the hall. Eventually they end up at the president's office. The president is an older man with greying hair and is thin. Another gentleman is there. He has dark brown hair and is pale from lack of sunlight. The two have the same brown eyes.

"Clarke," President Wallace says, standing up to greet them. "And I haven't had the pleasure to meet you?"

"Ash," she introduces herself.

"Dante. And this is my son, Cage." The younger man nods his head. "Now how can I help you two today?"

"There is a man that was killed by a bullet," Clarke bluntly states. "Grounders don't use guns."

"Let's go investigate," Dante states. He goes and opens the door. The two cautiously follow him down to the medical ward. Once they get to the doors, Dante puts on a hazmat suit. He swipes them in and the three walk down the halls. They find Dr. Tsing opening the body bag in one of the rooms.

"Hello," she smiles at them. "How can I help you, Mr. President?"

"Clarke and Ash thought they saw a bullet wound," he informs her. "Do you mind if you allow us to look at the body?"

"Of course," she responds. She fully moves the bag so they can see the killing wound clearly. It looks like a wound caused by an arrow.

"Did he have the usual uniform under the suit?" Ash asks, recalling they typically have bullet vests on.

"He did," Tsing responds. "The force was enough to pierce through it." She rolls the body to show his back. "You can see where it was pushed through in the field."

"Do you have the arrow?" Clarke asks. Dr. Tsing hands over a plastic bag with a bloody arrow on it. It is unbroken and the feathers are still in good condition.

"Thank you," Ash tells them, grabbing Clarke's arm. "That is all we need to see. So sorry for bothering y'all."

She drags Clarke out of the medical hall and straight to Level Five. On the way back, they pass the injured soldier from before, but this time with no scars or burns. He's talking to anther about how great the treatment was. They stop though as the two girls pass them.

"You know just as well as I all of that was off," Clarke whispers towards her as they enter the empty bunk room.

"Obviously," Ash responds. "But we can't let the know we're suspicious. Otherwise it could get dangerous very quickly."

"So what do you suggest we do?"

Ash glances towards the clock on the wall, then back at Clarke.

"For now, we join our friends for dinner and pretend we believe in the propaganda."

Laying low could also give them the chance to find out the truth about everything. If these people wanted them dead, why would they save their lives? But also, why are they lying to them? She exits and goes to get dinner.

"You can do that," Clarke mutters. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this."