Fallout [The 100]

37

"There they are!" Roan shouted. I sat up quick and pushed myself toward the window. On the back of the truck, two of the Azgeda warriors pushed a barrel of hydrazine toward the edge.

"They're trying to blow us up," I realized. "We can't let them waste that fuel."

Roan climbed over the seat, pushing me out of the way. "Get me as close as you can." He opened the hatch and pulled himself up on top of the rover. I watched as he leapt over onto the truck, and then I started up after him.

"Maia, what are you doing?" Bellamy shouted. "Come back!"

I ignored him and climbed on top of the rover. With both grounders distracted, neither of them noticed me. "Roan, move!" I shouted. He jumped out of the way, just in time. I landed on the truck, sword drawn, and stabbed one of the men through the stomach.

Roan dealt with the other man. I grabbed the barrel of hydrazine teetering dangerously close to the edge. The warrior swung at me, I narrowly escaped by ducking behind the barrel. Roan tackled him and I pushed the barrel back to safety.

Roan stabbed the traitor and shoved him from the truck. We came to an abrupt halt, and my feet flew out from underneath me. Roan grabbed me around the waist and kept me from falling to the ground. "That was good," he said. "Reckless, but good."

I shrugged. "What can I say? I had a great trainer."

He laughed and helped me to the ground. "We make a good team."

"We definitely do."

★ ★ ★ ★

I rode in the rover with Bellamy, while Clarke and Roan took the truck. We made it past the river; from there it wasn't far to the shoreline. Abby was supposed to send a boat to pick us up along with the hydrazine.

"What you did back there scared the shit out of me," Bellamy said. "But I have to admit, Octavia would've been proud."

I laughed quietly. "Yeah, I did feel like skairipa for a moment there. But playing peacemaker is much more up my alley."

"About that, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I know you and Roan are...friends, or whatever."

"We are, I trust him. You have every right to distrust Azgeda, I do too," I admitted. "But Roan is not his mother, and he isn't Echo. He's just doing what's best for his people, same as the rest of us."

"I'm going back to Arkadia, after we drop off the fuel," he said.

"Because of Roan?" I asked with a frown.

"Because of Octavia."

I sighed. "Bellamy-"

"I know, I know," he said, shaking his head. "It's pathetic. She hates me, but I keep going back for more."

"Before we left, she told me to stop apologizing for both of you, and she was right. Just because I've forgiven you, doesn't mean I have the right to force anyone else to. I can't keep telling you that she'll come around, because honestly, she might not. And maybe that's not a bad thing. This back and forth, it's not healthy for either of you. Ever since we got down here, she's blamed you for something. She drags you through hell, and you take it, because she's your sister."

"And I get it, I do. Octavia has always been like a sister to me," I continued. "I want things to go back to the way they were, but that is never going to happen. On the Ark, we lived in a vacuum with no choice but to love each other. Of course things were going to change on the ground."

"It isn't the same. You chose to take care of her; she wasn't your responsibility until you chose for her to be. She's always been my responsibility. Nothing can change that." He sighed. "And if the world is going to end, I can't go out with things like this between us."