Down to Earth (A 100 Fanfiction)

Chapter 22 - The Village

"Hey, Kane!" Murphy called out.

Roman looked over just in time to see a flask hurtling towards him. He managed to catch it, glancing back at Murphy with a raised eyebrow.

"Thought you might be thirsty," Murphy said, raising his hands. "We have been walking the entire night after all."

Roman looked at the flask once again. His throat was so dry that he was finding it very hard to swallow. So, having something to drink didn't sound too bad in his opinion. He opened the lid of the flask and took a long sip. The cool water cleansed his throat and he felt refreshed. 

"Thanks," he said, handing the flask back to Murphy.

"Finn, want some water?" Murphy asked the boy walking a few feet ahead of them. 

"No," Finn replied bluntly, not even looking back at them. 

"Sheesh, and I thought Roman was the icy one," Murphy muttered.

"Finn, you need to drink some water," Roman said, ignoring Murphy. "And you haven't eaten any of your rations."

"I'll eat when we find the others."

Roman sighed. Finn was beginning to look worse and worse every day. His hair was disheveled, his face looked gaunt. There were dark bags under his eyes - since he insisted on not stopping for rest - and they were also filled with some sort of darkness. A darkness that had started ever since they left on this search party. That was why he was holding on tightly to his rifle and never putting it down. 

"What if we don't find them?" Murphy said. "What if that Grounder lied to us? They could be dead and rotting. We shouldn't be trusting one Grounder who - "

"Listen, cockroach," Finn snapped harshly, turning around and glowering at him. "I know you don't really care about anyone other than yourself! But you're only here because we took you as our hostage! So don't you go acting like you're part of the team when the only thing you've done for us is nearly killing Bellamy and Jasper! Keep your mouth shut and come on!" Finn's angry glare moved to Roman. "And you, I thought you would've cared more about finding Clarke. All you care about is being Mr. Nice Guy!"

 Roman clenched his jaw, his eye narrowing. Anger was boiling inside of him like a hot furnace. He felt like he was going to burst. And that outburst was going to turn into him giving Finn a piece of his mind. Show him how much he "didn't care" - 

Wait ... what am I even thinking?

Roman inhaled deeply and let out a deep sigh, pushing his anger into a small box inside of himself. He wasn't going to let himself get angry. The last thing their group needed was to turn against each other. And besides, someone had to be the sane one in this situation. 

He took out his notebook and looked down at the map. They were very close to a certain rock formation - a statue of a man sitting on a chair.

Isn't that the Lincoln Memorial? How the heck did it survive the radiation?

"We're about twelve hours from the Lincoln Memorial," Roman said calmly, closing his notebook and placing it back in his pocket. He looked at Finn with cold eyes. "If we carry on going East, we should get there. Then we're just a couple of miles from the village. Shall we continue?"

Roman pushed past him so that he was leading their small trio. He looked up at the night sky. He always did love looking at it. He loved how dark the sky the stars and moon were their only guide. 

The pathway they had discovered and were now walking beside was starting to become more visible like it had been walked on frequently. They must be heading in the right direction. He was relieved that once they arrived at the village, Finn would calm down slightly. They would find the delinquents. They would find Clarke. Everything would be fine.