Bleeding Out

Chapter Eleven

The drive back to Arkadia was filled with silence and tension. Every time I looked behind me, Raven is flipping through a small journal. Once we make it out of the forest and into the grassy field just beyond Arkadia, the sun rises and everyone begins talking to each other.

"Becca's journal is amazing!" Raven says, causing me to glance at her in the rearview mirror. When no one says anything, she rolls her eyes and continues talking, causing me to smile silently as I look back out in front of me. "At twenty-six, she found a pathway to access a human mind. That same year, she had to lock up Alie because her answer for what was wrong with the world was 'too many people.'" I sigh as my shoulders tense. "She was twenty-seven when it launched the bombs."

Clarke turns around next to me. "What did she write about the Flame?" She asks, and I glance back at Raven again, this time meeting Bellamy's gaze. I immediately look forward again. "Alie 2.0. She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it to not just access a human mind, but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out because it would be one of us. She would put it in herself first and altered her genes so her body would reject the implant."

"Bekka Pramheda." Clarke says, and I nod. "The first Commander." I finish off for her as she turns to me. "Did she have the black blood stuff too?" I ask Raven, speaking what I know Clarke also wants to know. She whispered everything she found out while she was in Polis on this drive, so I'm all caught up.

Lexa was accidentally shot by the Flame Keeper, Titus, in an attempt to kill Clarke and Murphy. Yeah, that one is still alive somehow. Lexa had the black blood that Becca had, which meant that she is able to keep the Flame, or Alie 2.0, at the base of her skull without it killing her.

I see Raven nod in the mirror. "Yeah." She answers, and Octavia places a hand on my shoulder. "How did you know that?" She asks, sounding confused. I smirk as I meet the younger Blake's eyes in the mirror. "Nightblood. That's where it had to have come from. Becca altered her genes with some science voodoo, and it somehow became hereditary." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"I love it when you talk all sciency." Jasper jokes from next to Raven, and I let out a short laugh, looking in the mirror to see Bellamy shooting Jasper a glare as Jasper smiles smugly at him.

"Luna has it." Clarke says, bringing us all back to the previous conversation. "That's why we have to find her. If she can access Alie 2..." Clarke trails off, and Octavia jumps right in. "She can tell us how to stop Alie 1."

"Bekka Pramheda gets her second shot at atonement." Sinclair says, speaking up for the first time in a while. I scoff. "Hell of a long time to wait." I mutter, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Get back to the mind pathway." Monty says, and I see him fingering one of the chips in his hands, looking intently at it. "If Alie uses it to upload our minds to the City of Light, then there's a chance my mom's still alive."

My heart stops, and I turn to share a sad look with Clarke. Monty not only found out that he lost his dad, but now he's lost his mom. My eyes move back to Raven, giving her a pointed look. She nods.

"That depends on your definition of 'alive.'"

The whole vehicle goes quiet at Raven's words as we all feel for Monty's loss. Bellamy decides to break the silence. "Eyes sharp. Weapons hot. We're almost home." He says, placing a hand on my right shoulder and giving it a squeeze. I sigh and press down on the gas pedal even more, causing the tires to kick up even more dirt behind us as we chase the rising sun.

Bellamy reaches over the center from the back and grabs the radio. "Miller, come in." He speaks into it, and my eyes widen when there is no response. "Harper, you there?" He speaks again, this time more desperate. "Your ride's two minutes out." He says, putting the radio back, and I'm already speeding up as he squeezes my right shoulder again.