Fallen

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Arrested Again

Ash hurries down the hallway, hoping that what she had heard was false. She pushes through the door into the medical wing. Pike and his men are gathering all the sick Grounders, yanking them out of the hospital beds. Lincoln and Abby are trying to stop them.

"What are you doing?" Ash snaps, going to help one the sick Grounders up and back into bed.

"We already don't have enough medical supplies for our own," Pike says. "So why should we be treating the enemies?"

"Enemies? These people can barely stand. They are less of a threat to our people then you."

"Stand down, Ash," Bellamy advises.

"You stand down," she snaps at him. "These are innocent people."

A guard pulls the sick Grounder from Ash while another pulls her back. Another sick Grounder is pulled to the ground and Lincoln goes to help her up. A guard tries to stop him, threatening him with a gun. Lincoln quickly reacts by knocking the gun to the side and fight back. Ash steps on the guard's foot, and elbowing him in the stomach. She breaks free before quickly turning and socking him in the face.

Someone uses a baton to strike her in the back with enough force to knock her onto her knees. A couple guards pick her up by her arms, her feet not touching the ground. Lincoln is being pinned against a wall by some guards. Images of before flash through her mind. Her heart rate starts to pick up and her breathing becomes faster and more shallow.

"Lincoln and Ash," Pike says, looking back and forth between them, "you are under arrest for treason. Take them with the others."

The guards drag them and the sick Grounders to the prison block. While they are forced to walk down the hallway, Octavia runs over.

"Lincoln," she calls. "Lincoln."

A guard stops her from getting close to him.

"Don't fight this," Lincoln tells her. Bellamy pulls her away, trying to get her to calm down. The guards push Ash into the cell with the others. She collapses by a corner of the well. The cell is locked and soon so is the door. Lincoln quickly goes over to Ash to check on her. She sits curled up in a ball. Her short, choppy hair veiling the front of her face some.

"What happened?" he asks her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she mutters.

"I saw the pain in your eyes when they were arresting us. And you stopped fighting. You usually don't."

He notices her shaky breaths as she focuses on her hands. A few tears seem to fall and land on her hand. He wraps an arm around his friend, trying to comfort her some.

"I was back there," she mutters. "I was back in the mountain. And that is no excuse for freezing up."

"I still flash back to the mountain," he tells her. "Back when all I saw was red."

"We're so fucked," she softly chuckles before looking around at the sick Grounders. "We need to do something. And Bellamy being fucking brainwashed into following Pike."

She slams her fist into the wall by her side at then end of speaking, emphasizing the last point. His brain wanders to Octavia. She has embraced the traditions of Trikru, and he worries what Pike will do. And there is no guarantee that Bellamy will stop him. Especially since he let Ash be arrested. 

A guard snaps about her causing too much noise. An alarm goes off and a person over the intercom saying there is a security breech. Lincoln gets up to pace while Ash goes to help the sick Grounders. She spoon feeds water into the mouths of those who are too sick to even move.

"Careful," she hears. Miller walks in. Like his father, he had joined the Guard. He points towards Lincoln with a smirk. "That one doesn't like to chained up." Lincoln walks up to the door of the cage and Miller meets him on the other side. He hands a vial through before lowering his voice. "This is from Abby."

"What about Octavia?"

"She's okay. Escaped with Clarke."

A small sense of relief rushes through him. Miller nods towards the other guards before leaving. Lincoln walks over to Ash, whispering the news in her ear. She keeps a straight face, not stopping her task so she doesn't alert the guards. He hands her the vial so she can administer the medicine the best she can. It's not enough but it will do for now. Until they can break out or until Pike is over thrown.

After so long, Ash sits against the wall again and glance up to the glass windows that line the top of the cell. She use to stare out these windows what feels like ages ago. Back when she was locked on the Ark and only had the stars to stare at. Now it's rain hitting the glass panes. The sight may have changed, but the feeling remains the same nonetheless.