𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠︱monty green

xix. float yourself

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

THE SECOND RILEY STEPPED THROUGH THE OPENING HER, MONTY AND JASPER SNUCK THROUGH, SHE HEARD THE LOUD, BOOMING VOICE OF PIKE ECHOING THROUGH ARKADIA. Confused, she stumbled carefully forward, so no one would see her sneaking back in. When Riley joined the crowd surrounding him, she didn't miss how there was a small group in front of Pike with their clothing covered in blood. Her blue eyes peered up to the stage he was on, listening closely.

"Everybody, listen up!" Pike announced to the audience. "Twenty-four hours ago you elected me your chancellor."Lost, Riley shook her head. He couldn't be the chancellor, how could these people vote for him? Abby was Chancellor, or so she thought. "Every action I've taken since and every action I take will be to achieve one sacred goal. The creation of a self-sustaining, prosperous, and safe Arkadia."

Some shouted in agreement, waving their weapons in the air. Riley, however, looked disturbed. Just hours ago she cried in Monty's arms and now she had a whole new problem. "This morning on a muddy field our people paid tribute to those who have been taken from us by sending a message to the grounders. This land is ours now!"

Looking back and forth, Riley saw Bellamy covered in blood. She stomped forward, as he was one of the others, because she had wanted to know what Pike was speaking about. "What happened here?" She asked, her voice hushed, as she didn't want any attention. Something horrible happened, someone had died for Pike.

Before Bellamy could answer that question, his eyes averted to Riley's hands. The knuckles were still bloody and torn, and knowing he was staring, Riley uncomfortably shifted them out of his sight.

Pike's shouting stopped Bellamy from throwing back his own question. "Resist, and you will be met by force. Fight, and you will be greeted by death. Today is a new beginning. Mark it down, remember it, just like the grounders will remember it!" The people began cheering louder, agreeing.

Realizing she didn't need an answer, Riley's eyes widened. They killed the grounders outside the camp. Bellamy said nothing, only returning the glance, but there was a hint of guilt in his expression. "Bellamy, what'd you do?" Riley repeated, her voice low and repulsed. She still didn't trust the grounders, and didn't blame them for hating who were her people, but if there were dead bodies in the front of Arkadia, the part Riley hadn't seen when coming back, it wasn't right.

"What I did to keep my people safe." Was all Bellamy said before he was turning around and stalking off, following Pike who had stepped down, and far away from the angry scolding Riley had prepared.

-x-

One of the most helpful situations Riley found that helped clear her head and calm her was giving people medical attention. While she was gone, a small group of grounders had shown up, sick and in desperate need of help. When Riley found out from Abby, she followed her to medical in hopes it would stop her from doing what Pike said; resist and fight back. She was still finding it hard to process that Bellamy, her friend, followed him into killing innocent grounders.

After the two infamous deaths at Mount Weather, Riley would have thought Bellamy and Pike would have known better. That war wasn't the answer to any problems, and that killing people was definitely never the answer. After helping save the delinquents, she realized that she never wanted anymore people to die. Even if they weren't her people.

"Heya," Riley spoke, her voice gentle, while squatting in front of a grounder female that sat on a bed who was named Denae that hadn't spoken English. She still didn't know Trigedasleng well, but could speak enough. "Don yu.." She trailed off, forgetting the last word. (Hi, are you..) She grimaced, playing with the stethoscope in her hands.

"Ait?" Denae guessed, a weak smile on her face. (Okay?) She nodded with a short shrug, showing she still hadn't felt well enough to move but was feeling a bit better than before due to the medicine she was supplied with.

"Ai Trigedasleng ste.." Riley stopped again, waving her hand and trying to remember the last word. "Foto!" She finally exclaimed, snapping her fingers. At her eagerness to at least try, Denae smiled a bit wider and thanked her in her language. (My Trigedasleng is.. Bad!)

Before Denae could respond in the language Riley still didn't know, the doors to the medical slid open. Pike, Bellamy, and a few guards walked in. Without a word, they began to rip the blankets off the sick grounders and were pulling them out of their beds. Shocked, Riley rose and stood defensively in front of Denae when someone stepped towards her. "She's too sick to move," she spoke, warning him, as Abby asked Pike what he was doing.

"It doesn't matter," the guard retorted, starting to push back Riley but she harshly shoved his arm away with a heavy force.

"Pascal," Bellamy spoke, interrupting them with his arms crossed over his chest, besides Pike. "Let him."

Riley's head whipped to the side to face him, glaring harshly. She remembered what Monty had told Jasper when they argued. "Float yourself, Blake," she sneered, refusing to back down from either of them, and surprising Bellamy with her curse. He still looked troubled, but she hadn't cared, not after this.

The doors slid open again, and this time, Lincoln stormed in, looking angry with Jackson behind him. "Lincoln," Bellamy spoke, an apology in his tone without having to say it. "You don't want to be here right now."

Slowly, Lincoln outstretched his arm towards his people, all of which were sick. "We asked them to come here," he pointed out, completely astonished.

"We can't spare the supplies," Pike responded, calm.

The guard finally pushed past Riley's guard, the girl's small figure stumbling to the side and watching in disbelief as he grabbed Denae by her arm and forcibly sat her up. Lincoln was in another guard's face, speaking low under his breath in a threatening way while Riley stood her ground. "I said to leave her alone!" She exclaimed, angry, and stepped forward in his way.

Suddenly, Denae hit the floor from being too weak to stand. Lincoln immediately reached for her, as the guard he was face to face with moved to hit him with his gun. Lincoln quickly pushed his hand away before swinging his other hand around, punching the guard in the face and knocking him to the ground. Lincoln leaned over, grabbing him by the collar and punched him again and again, beating him.

Riley knelt down, checking to see if Denae was okay as Bellamy tried to grab Lincoln from behind. Lincoln responded by swinging his arm back and elbowing the other in the face, making him back off. Riley looked up, seeing Pike was now near the two females, but this time casually pointing a gun at Denae's head. Lincoln had turned around, stalking towards Bellamy in a threatening way and making him back up in fear.

"Lincoln, stop!" Riley exclaimed, frightened, but making the grounder stop to turn around from the urgent voice. He surrendered when seeing the gun.

"He goes with them," Pike ordered. "Take him." Two guards immediately complied, grabbing Lincoln who stiffened at the contact but didn't fight it as they forced him out of the room. Revolted, Riley looked up at the new chancellor who gazed back at her furious expression. "Sorry we had to do this the hard way," he apologized, but not sounding so sincere.

If Riley hadn't feared her for her life, she would have retaliated by shooting him the middle finger again but she knew this wasn't how she could help. She only knew Pike would have to be taken down. She knew that she wasn't alone in this and she didn't care if she had to rebel again.