never ; b blake

chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: THAT IS SO NOT GAME

"We're on the ground. That not good enough for you?"

My head whipped from where I stood in the middle of the dirt to the crowd that was beginning to form around Wells, the chancellors son, and Clarke Griffin.

"We have to get to Mount Weather," Wells said, stepping towards the guard. "You heard my fathers message. That has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father," Octavia Blake said. She'd been like me. Just... luckier. Sure, she'd been hidden under the floor for sixteen years until she was caught. But at least her dad didn't turn her in when she was born to save his own ass.

"What? You think you're in charge here? You and your little princess?" she challenged.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke started.

I accidentally toned out the rest of her speech by looking at the plants around me. Everything was so amazing. It was hard to process how the two of them were already stressed out after a couple minutes being placed on Earth.

After explaining that we all need to go, a guard stepped forward with a hard expression. His hair was slicked back and he had a smug frown on his tan face a he said, "I got a better idea. How bout you two go. Find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change."

And then I mentally slapped myself.

Duh, the guard from before.

The crowd erupted in 'yeah's.

I was about to step in, saying something about how dumb you'd have to be to think that two people can carry all that food, but Wells spoke up. "You're not listening. We all need to go."

Then, someone — John Murphy — shoved him from behind, saying, "Look at this, everybody. Chancellor Of Earth."

I rolled my eyes.

"Think this is funny?" Wells told him.

Murphy swiftly kicked Wells ankle, sending him to the ground, his face scrunching up in pain. I took this as my opportunity to step in front of Murphy. I looked at him in the eyes and said, "Come on, Murphy. We all know you're a dick, so just let the kid be?"

He crossed his arms and scoffed. "I'm not afraid to hit a girl, Carson."

I took a step back, holding my fists up, and smiled sweetly. "Okay, Murph. Let's see what you got."

As Murphy was about to take a swing, or worse, Spacewalker came falling from the sky, which was ironic.

He landed on the dirt, facing Murphy. "Come on, Murphy. It's two against one. Come back when it's a fair fight."

"Hey, Spacewalker," Octavia stepped into the circle. "Rescue me next," she said in an unbelievingly flirty tone.

The crowd laughed.

As the circle around the scene dispersed, my eyes caught up on the guard and Octavia. I assumed that the guard was her brother, since I could see a few similar features and, well, she was known for having a sibling.

I walked towards Clarke and Wells, where Spacewalker was now talking to them.

"I'm here to go on the quest," I said, smiling and walking towards the small group.

"How are you three gonna carry enough food for a hundred?" Wells asked, kind of rhetorically.

Finn turned around and grabbed the hood of two boys, turning them around and patting their backs. "Five of us, can we go now?" He said.

Goggle Boy and his friend nodded as Finn patted their shoulders.

"Sounds like a party," Octavia smirked. "Make it six."

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" the guard said, grabbing her shoulder.

"Going for a walk."

"Hey, were you trying to take this off?" Clarke asked Finn, grabbing his wrist.

"Yeah. So?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"So this wristband transmits your vital signs to the ark. Take it off and they'll think you're dead," Clarke said sternly.

"Should I care?"

"Well, I don't know," she said sarcastically. "Do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."

I noticed the guard tense next to me, so I looked up, to see a thoughtful look on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows as the party began to move. "What's up with you?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he grumbled, walking away from me.

"What's your name?" I called after him.

He turned around with narrowed eyes and said, "Bellamy."

I nodded. If I'm going to survive down here, I should at least know the names of people I like and people I dislike.

Such as Bellamy.

—

Throughout our trek, I talked with who I got to know as Monty and Jasper. Pretty hilarious kids, if you ask me.

"You know, todays my birthday," I told them, a smile on my face.

"Wow!" Jasper scoffed amusedly. "Best birthday gift I can imagine."

I snorted. "Yeah. I thought I was going to die today, actually."

"So you're eighteen?" Monty asked me.

I nodded.

"Happy birthday, Carson," Finn — the spacewalker — smirked.

My smile widened.

While we passed pretty purple flowers, Finn plucked one and put it behind Octavia's ear, causing me to raise my eyebrows. "Now that, my friend, is game," Jasper whispered to us. I rolled my eyes.

"That, my friend, is poison sumac," Monty said.

Octavia immediately swatted it away from her hair. "What? It is?"

I tried to stifle a laugh at the girl.

"The flowers aren't poisonous. They're medicinal, calming, actually," Monty explained, holding the flower up.

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper told us, though I could barely comprehend the word pharmaceuticals.

"Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?" Clarke called from ahead of us.

"How do you even know where we're going?" I asked her.

"A map," she told me, as if it were obvious. "Guys, I wonder why we haven't seen any animals. Maybe there are none. Maybe, we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty, though. Come on." We began following her again, a bit spooked at what she had told us.

"Someone should slip her some poison sumac," Octavia mumbled, causing me to laugh but elbow her side.

When we continued walking, I said, "Jasper, Monty, what did you guys get caught for?"

"Sumacs not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean," Monty said, causing me to snort.

"Someone forgot to place what we took," Jasper accused. 

"Someone's apologized, like, a thousand times."

"How bout you, Octavia? What'd they get you for?" Jasper asked her.

Uh.

"Being born," She grumbled, hurrying ahead of us.

"That is so not game."