𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 | the 100

35 | Payback

"Do you want to kill him?"

‧ ✩ ｡ ✭ ° ☆ ･ _______ ･ ☆ ° ✭ ｡ ✩ ‧

Amber isn't sure whether it's her dislike for the blonde woman on the guard, Byrne, or if it's the obligation she feels to protect Ago that keeps her from revealing anything important when she is questioned. She should want some retribution for what Brina put her through, something that will let her put what happened behind her. But she pretends not to remember where their cabin was located. Byrne doesn't bother hiding her frustration.

Dr. Jackson isn't present when Amber returns to the medical tent, but a woman with light-brown hair and a clipboard in her hand looks up when Amber enters. She has stressed but kind eyes.

"Amber Hale?" she asks. At Amber's nod, she waves her over to sit on an empty hospital bed. "This should be quick. I just want to do a check-up since you were never properly discharged. I'm Dr. Griffin."

"Griffin?" Amber repeats just as she slumps down on the bed. "So, you're Clarke's mother."

"Yes." Griffin leans her head curiously. "I am."

"I spoke to you, a couple of times actually, but I was the one who helped your daughter with the surgery on Finn Collins a couple weeks ago."

"Amber, of course," Griffin says, now with considerate recognition. "What other times have we spoken?"

She wants to cower away, but she can't pretend like she hasn't said anything now. Besides, the punishment for her failures is that she has to live with them.

"I was a medical apprentice for a year and a half," she admits.

Griffin nods thoughtfully while she begins looking over Amber's bandages.

"Why did you quit?"

"I didn't." Amber swallows. Griffin is too occupied to notice her shame and fear. She tries to force herself to admit what happened, to reveal how wretched she actually is, but all she gets out is, "I was arrested."

Griffin meets her eyes for a moment, then goes back to work.

"Well, thank you for helping Clarke," she says, ignoring the obvious question that hangs in the air. "I could tell that surgery wasn't easy for her."

"I barely helped. Clarke is strong."

"She's strong... I know," Griffin agrees, but she does it with burdened worry, like her own words were actually meant for herself.

"I heard a group went out to look for the others. I'm sure they'll find her." Amber smiles supportively, but it fades as she thinks of how she is stuck in camp, doing nothing, while people are risking their lives to get the others home. "I just wish I could help."

"They headed east."

Amber blinks. "What?"

Griffin throws a cautious glance around the tent, but the only two patients within earshot both seem to be asleep. Satisfied, Griffin turns back to Amber.

"It's too dangerous to wander into the forest without reason, but just in case you wanted to know, they headed east." Griffin looks at her vehemently.

That's all she really needs. When Amber is cleared, Byrne gives two guards to accompany her into the forest, keeping her promise of letting her scout the perimeter for Hound. Apparently there's been at least one sighting of a horse nearby, but Amber starts where she last saw him. The ground is flattened where she fell off his back, then spaced hoofprints lead further into the forest. The two guards trail behind her, guns drawn, and she trusts them to keep their focus on the trees enough to let her eyes scan the ground.