Shameless ~ Bellamy Blake

5~ Roller Coaster Ride

The sleep wasn't good, but it was sleep. It was giving my feet a rest for a couple hours. 

Dawn hit before I wanted it to, and before I knew it I was standing next to the rest of the group at the edge of the river's gorge watching, nervously, as Finn tests out the strength of the rope we managed to build out of vines and sticks. It was our only way across. Either that or try to out-swim the giant river snake. None of us can swim. 

Finn looks to Jasper. "You're an evil genius, you know that."

"You wanted to go first." I shout. "Now stop stalling." I laugh

"Just hold onto the apogee and you'll be fine." Jasper tells Finn.

"Apogee? You mean the Indians?" Finn asks.

"Apogee not Apache." Jasper says sarcastically.

"He knows." Clarke rolls his eyes. "Today, Finn."

"Aye, Aye, Captain." Finn turns to the rest of us. "See ya on the other side."

With that he launches, swinging down, then out over the river, letting go at the apogee, flying untethered the last twenty feet, before sticking the landing on the far bank. For a moment, no one moves, then Finn spins around to face us, thrusting his arms in the air, "WE ARE THE APOGEE!!"

We all yell "APOGEE!" back at him before I take my step up to go next. 

I grab the "rope" and wrap my fingers around it, gripping it with all my might. I ran backwards, stopped, then ran full speed ahead at the cliff's edge. When my foot met the last bit of gravel, I jumped high up in the air. The rope swung my over and I screamed like a child on a roller coaster, loving every minute of feeling the cool breeze in my hair and no care in the world. Just as my rope met the peak of its journey I let go, tumbling in mid air towards the ground. I hit the gravel of the other side and jumped up, amazed with myself. I had the biggest smile on my face and turned towards the rest of the group.

"APOGEE!" I yelled. 

"APOGEE!" They yelled back. 

Within minutes, every one of us were standing on the opposite side of the river, a clear sense of pride on all of our faces. 

Clearly, the journey had changed us, bonded us. We are no longer prisoners. No longer separated by which station we come from. We are friends. More. A team. 

"Let's go find those supplies!" Clarke shouts, happily at the rest of us. 

As we turn for the ruins of Mount Weather, Octavia is the first to notice that there's something hanging from the trees all around us. She reaches up and pulls down an apple. The realization that we're standing in an over-sized orchard fills me with even more joy and wonder. Octavia takes the first bite of fruit in a hundred years. Jasper grabs the fruit from Octavia and takes a bite. 

"You've got to try this!" Jasper says in awe, passing me the fruit. Just as Jasper places the apple in my hand a spear explodes into Jasper's chest, pinning him to the tree at his back, leaving him upright. 

So sudden that, for a moment, it's as if none of us understands what we're looking at. 

I'm the first to scream, bringing everyone back to reality. My wide, terror-filled eyes shoot back across the river as we all take cover behind an outcropping of rocks. No one is there. But someone was. Someone who didn't come down on the dropship. Someone who grew up here, learned to throw a spear, to kill. 

Finally, the words drip like poison from my mouth,

"We're not alone."