Book 1: We are grounders - The 100 (Raven Reyes x reader)

Episode 8 - Day trip

Riley and Bellamy sat in thick, oppressive silence, the dimly lit room casting eerie shadows over their weary faces. Across from them, the grounder stood bound, barely upright, his body trembling under the strain of hours spent on his feet. His face, streaked with dirt and blood, showed signs of exhaustion as if he could collapse at any moment.

Raven Reyes had worked tirelessly, rigging the tech that now flickered on the screens. Her solution allowed them to communicate with the Ark and see the people they were talking to. It made things easier, in theory. But out of the three leaders of their group, only one had used it to talk to Chancellor Thelonius Jaha—Clarke. The others had avoided it, weighed down by their own guilt or pride.

Riley Kane, tired of the stifling silence, decided to cut through the tension. "Are you ever gonna try to talk to the chancellor?" she asked, her voice steady but probing. Bellamy, seated beside her, looked stressed, his hand covering his mouth, eyes dark and distant. He was brooding, lost in his own storm of thoughts.

"Hell no," he snapped, voice rough, his hand falling from his mouth as he straightened up slightly. "I shot him, Kane. They're not gonna let that go. Ever." He coughed, clearing his throat before continuing, his gaze still fixed on the floor. "I don't see you talking to him."

Riley shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, feeling the weight of her own demons. "Yeah, because I've killed four people, Bell," she admitted quietly, her voice dropping almost to a whisper. "Three of them killed on the Ark—chancellor's men. One of them being Atom." The name hung in the air, thick with sorrow and regret.

She could still picture it vividly: returning with Finn, Clarke, and Wells, only to find Atom writhing on the ground, the acid fog burning through him, his suffering unimaginable. The memory twisted inside her.

"Look," Bellamy said, standing now, his tone softened but unyielding. "You did him a favor. You saved me a kill."

Riley didn't respond, but she knew he was right. Atom was doomed the second the acid fog hit him. Ending his life had been mercy, nothing more.

The silence returned briefly, punctuated by the sound of boots clanging against the metal ladder as Nathan Miller climbed up. He closed the hatch with a thud, his face drawn and grim. "I told Digg's mom," Miller said hoarsely, rubbing a hand over his face. "And John's dad. I've still got to talk to Roma's parents later."

"We owe you," Riley replied, her voice raw from the remnants of the sickness that had swept through them after the hurricane. The air still seemed to hold the damp chill of it, a lingering reminder of what they'd survived.

Miller sighed deeply, his frustration barely contained as he turned to glare at the grounder. "Telling all these parents that their kids were murdered by grounders... I just wish we could say we were getting some justice."

The bitterness in his voice was sharp, cutting through the tension like a knife. He crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing.

Bellamy's jaw clenched. "We're not killing him. Not yet at least."

Nate huffed in frustration, the anger bubbling over. He grabbed the paint the grounder had used before, smearing it across his face in a mockery of the fierce warrior who had once worn it. "You were a lot scarier when you had that face paint on," he muttered, his voice laced with sarcasm.

But before the words even fully left his mouth, the grounder moved with lightning speed, headbutting Nate and sending him crashing to the floor. Nate grunted in pain, the sharp sound reverberating through the room as everyone froze for a moment, shocked at the sudden burst of violence.

–––

Bellamy and Riley descended the ladder slowly, their footsteps heavy, leaving Nathan Miller behind to guard the prisoner. The metallic clang of their boots echoed in the quiet stillness of the camp. Octavia was slouched in one of the old dropship seats, her expression unreadable, lost in thought.