1 + 2 | EMBERS TO FIRESTORM | THE 100 | JOHN MURPHY

THIRTY TWO

T H I R T Y  T W O

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Jasper asks, his voice low as they hid beneath the thin material that was meant to protect them from the acid fog. Such a thin sheet to save their lives.

"Will this even work, Finn?" Althea asks, more curiously than accusingly.

"We'll find out," Finn replies.

Bellamy rolls his eyes. "No we won't," He says, pulling back the material and for a moment Althea wants to pull it back and shout at him, but she doesn't. "There's no fog."

"Maybe it was a false alarm," Finn suggests as they emerge.

Between the trees, a lone dark figure moves. For their size, Althea thought they should have been clumsy, but they moved without fault through the bustle of trees and bushes. If they had not already been on edge, they wouldn't have even noticed him.

"They're coming back," Bellamy says, already gritting his teeth.

"I think he's alone," Jasper observes, causing Althea to briefly glance at him.

"We should get moving whilst they're not here hunting us," Althea says, pushing her idea forward for once. Bellamy and Finn look at her, but for different reasons. Finn with surprise at her forwardness. Usually, she observed in the background and just went along with whatever Bellamy told her to do, but there she was adding in her own ideas of what they should do and for that he found a strange sense of pride. Like a brother would, he felt the urge to praise her, but he didn't. Althea sees him looking at her with the edgings of a smile. She hopes to remember that look for the rest of her life.

Bellamy, on the other hand, looked at her blankly as if her suggestion was just a rustle of leaves and pretended not to hear it. "He doesn't see us," He says. "I'm going after him."

"And what?" Finn interjects with a frown. "Kill him?"

"No," Bellamy replies as if Finn's suggestion was stupid and his plan was obvious. "Catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is, then kill him."

"How can you still be so stupid?" Althea questions more venomously than she intended to, but the point was made nevertheless.

"Excuse me?" Bellamy turns to look at her with challenge now.

"You're ridiculous, Bellamy," Althea tells him in exasperation. "I've never met anyone so driven to kill everyone around him before. You're just leading us into another trap."

"I'm going after my sister. I told you before, none of you have to come," Bellamy responds, gesturing around to the group, but his eyes never leave Althea's. He notices as they burn right back into his.

"I don't care what you said before. There are better ways to find Octavia than this." Her courage was building by the second, but so was the fire in her heart. Her lip twitches when Bellamy doesn't reply. He walks away from her, starting to go after the grounder. "But you're always right, aren't you?" She mutters under her breath, following after him with slumped shoulders and her eyes trained on the ground.

She couldn't even look at him. He was so flippant about killing the grounder and she hated that about him. No matter how many redeeming qualities he had, the way he talked about death as if it were not a demon which made Althea tick the wrong way, and if she ticked too far the wrong way there was no going back. She didn't want another incident like before.

-

They follow the grounder through the trees, walking as quietly as they could, until they come to a small opening, which he enters.

They follow behind, but Althea couldn't help but feel as if it were a bad idea going in there after him. Even if Octavia was in there, there was something about the aura of the place that made her head buzz.

Althea was barely paying enough attention to see the grounder they were following get knocked out. But in the gloom there was another. She stood with her eyes narrowed at them, stepping out she coils her hands into fists.

"You're outnumbered," Bellamy tells her, pointing his weapon at her threateningly.

"Bellamy?" Octavia's voice comes from the other side of the room, diverting Bellamy's attention. The distraction gives the other grounder chance to rush Bellamy, but Jasper's sporadic reflexes save them and knocks the grounder to the floor, where her head hits the ground and she's out cold.

Bellamy doesn't look at Jasper. He's too focused on his sister. "Octavia."

"Get the key," She tells him. He rushes over, taking the key and beginning to unlock the chains from her wrists.  "Monroe, watch the entrance." He orders, before turning back to Octavia. "You're ok, you're ok."

The sight was heart warming, but Althea couldn't help but wonder what extremes Bellamy would have gone through for her. In reflex, she squeezes Finn's hand tighter, her other hand curling around his arm. He glances at her, feeling the urge to wrap his arms around her and tell her that she was going to be ok, just like Bellamy was to Octavia, but he didn't think Althea would appreciate that as much as she would his silence.

So he turned his attention away from her, to the grounder on the floor, to the horn that hung from his belt.

Althea watches, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, as he releases her hand and moves to squat down beside the grounder man. Tentatively, he takes the horn into his hands, turning it over to get a better look. Curiosity getting the better of him, as always.

No one had anytime to react to the wakening of the grounder and the stabbing of Finn, who fell back with the blade in his flesh. Althea whimpers, sinking to his side and taking his hand in between both of her shaking ones as the others took care of the grounder. All else was non-existent to Althea. All she could focus on was someone else she cared about dying in front of her eyes with her helpless and unable to aid them.

Finn was someone she could never lose.

"You're going to be ok," She murmurs. He could barely hear her. Her voice was quick and the words blurred together, barely understandable, but she knew exactly what she was saying. "I haven't seen it, I haven't seen you die. You're going to be ok. I can't lose you too." She squeezes her eyes shut. "You're going to be ok." She says louder and slower this time.

Weakly, Finn nods his head. "I'm going to be ok, Al," He replies between laboured breaths and through the storm of pain that flooded his body like a natural disaster.

And with his words she opens her eyes, looking into his and she couldn't help but have a little bit of faith in him. He was the spacewalker. He would not be killed so easily.

-

1167 words

there was a lot of development in this chapter but also some similarities to the old althea who first came to to the ground. i hope you noticed a few.