Radioactive

Chapter Three

Octavia, Jasper, Monty, Finn, and I are walking in a little huddle while Clarke is walking way ahead of us. "I gotta know what you two did to get busted." Finn says, breaking the silence that has settled between our group. I shake my head at Finn, a smirk blooming on my lips at his curiosity. I look over to left at Monty as he laughs a little before answering. "Sumac isn't the only herb in the garden." He says, his eye alight with mischief. "If you know what I mean." I laugh at him, stepping over a root. "Someone forgot to replace what we took." Jasper says sourly, glaring in Monty's direction. I can see the same spark of mischief in Jasper's eyes. "I've apologized like a thousand times." Monty says, looking a little frustrated. I roll my eyes at the two's banter and look up and smile at Finn.

"How about you Octavia?" Jasper asks, interrupting any laughter. "What they get you for?" I cringe as Jasper asks the question. I watch the girl out of the corner of my eye and see her stiffen. Her eyes grow big and scared but return to normal within seconds and seem hard and cold. "Being born." She says monotonically. She then walks faster, leaving the four of us behind. "So not game." Monty says, trying to break the tension.

I look up at Finn. He is already looking at me and shaking his head. He is giving me his 'Don't even think about it' look. I grab his arm anyway and make him stop walking, causing Jasper and Monty to walk past us. Jasper turns around, giving me a concerned look, but I just smile at him. He turns back around and keeps walking with Monty. I open my mouth to tell Finn what I'm thinking when he interrupts me. "I already know what you're thinking, and my answer is I don't know and I don't care." He says, looking anywhere but at me.

In the past, whenever I brought up the topic of why I was arrested, Finn would always shut down and avoid the conversation. I roll my eyes. "But Finn, I could be a second child. I could have family somewhere on the Ark. I could have parents, a sister, or even a brother." I say, getting excited at the thought of having an actual family. "Carter, it doesn't matter!" He says, raising his voice. "I am the only family you have now, and I am the one who is taking care of you." He says, making my eyes widen. "Finn, I just want to.." I whisper, but get interrupted once again. "I know, you just want to know. You want to know about your family who never came to visit you, who never held you while you cried, who never told you it was okay after a bad dream, who was never there for you." He says in a sarcastic manner. I look down at the ground, trying to contain the anger rising in my chest. "You don't understand Finn." I whisper, looking back up into his eyes. He just rolls his eyes and stomps off into the woods after the others.

Tears spring into my eyes as my shoulders sag. He doesn't know what it is like to have absolutely no one looking out for you. Eleven years I was in a cell completely by myself, and I don't even know why. I wipe under my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket and walk in the direction the others went. I see them all crouching behind a large bush. I crouch down next to Jasper and look into the clearing. In the middle is a deer grazing on the grass. "No animals, huh?" I hear Finn say. He then stands up and starts walking towards the deer. With his third or so step, he steps on a twig, causing the crack to ripple throughout the previously quiet clearing. The deer turned it head towards us, well heads. There is a collective gasp as the two headed deer turns towards Finn, raising its ears, then runs off into the woods. We all sit there in shock for a few seconds before Clarke decides to take charge, again. "C'mon." She says, looking at Finn with an 'I told you so' look. "We need to get to Mount Weather."

All six of us begin walking again. I walk next to Octavia, trying to avoid walking next to Finn incase he is still angry at me. "So," she says. "What did you do to get down here?" I look at her. Despite her being a couple years younger than me, she was still taller and more gorgeous than I could ever hope to be. I look back down at my feet. "Probably the same as you." I say, not looking up from my boots. "Probably?" She asks, sounding confused but curious. "Just drop it." I snap, looking back up at her. I regret it when I see the hurt flash in her eyes. I sigh and then walk faster, catching up to Clarke. We walk in silence. Finn starts shouting nonsense about why they chose today to send us down here, but I tune him out as I take in everything around me.