"With their bombs, and their guns. In my head, in my head, we are dying."
or
a mute boy with a troubled past is sent to the ground with 99 other delinquents
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The six continued their trek through the woods in silence for some time. Octavia led the pack, followed by Finn, then Ayden, Jasper, and Monty, and finally Clarke. As they walked down a hill Finn spoke up.
"Hey, you know what I'd like to know? Why send us down today after ninety seven years? What changed?" Finn posed as Ayden tripped. He rolled down the hill, missing some of the conversation before popping up and brushing himself off at the bottom. Monty sent him a glance as he caught back up, checking if he was alright and Ayden nodded in confirmation.
"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public, anyway, when Wells..." Clarke trailed off. Ayden looked to Monty, who shrugged and caught Jasper's attention for him.
"What flaw? I missed it," Ayden signed discreetly.
"The Ark has four months left of air," Jasper returned before tuning back into the conversation.
"What, turned your dad in?" Monty asked. Clarke scowled softly before continuing.
"Anyway, the guard showed up before we could. That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time," Ayden frowned at the girl's defeatist attitude.
"Hey, everything is going to be fine, we can make this thing work out," Ayden signed to Clarke who smiled softly at his encouragement.
"They're going to kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked. Ayden looked to the boy, then back to Clarke to see what she thought. His dad, though the man didn't know it, was still on the Ark, and Ayden wanted the chance to meet the man before either of them died.
"Good, after what they did to me, I say, float them all," Octavia said harshly as she overtook the rest of the group. Ayden frowned at her hostility.
"You don't mean that," Jasper responded, following her. Ayden moved after Jasper as Finn and Clarke stopped and talked for a second. Monty was hot on Ayden's heels, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ayden smiled at the kind boy.
"I'm fine, you?" Ayden signed, and Monty frowned but nodded anyway.
"Oh, damn, I love Earth," Jasper said, watching Octavia peel off her shirt. Ayden grinned, jogging up to her and noticing the flowing water beneath them.
"Wanna go for a swim?" Octavia asked, to which Ayden nodded, stripping quickly down to his boxers and nothing else before jumping in, curled up into a ball. The resulting splash was enormous, the water cool on his skin. Ayden bumped into the bottom, surfacing and realising that it wasn't all that deep. He was glad, realising that he hadn't thought about the fact that he couldn't actually swim. A splash fell in next to him, and the two of them stood with their noses beneath the water, pushing water at each other underneath it playfully, attempting to knock each other over.
