A Journey Through Time and Space

Chapter 5 - 3 of 3

Clarke's POV

Lincoln. If he hadn't have died Octavia wouldn't have been so hard-hearted. I couldn't make it obvious but I could save him. He was kind-hearted and always did what was right.

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18/02/2150
1:15 am

No one would really care all too much if I visited him in the early morning. The guards wouldn't even think much of me being there, hopefully. I snuck in how Octavia had shown me. I'd heard how Lincoln had died and wanted to make sure that bullet meant nothing.

It was once again worrying how easy I could get around but I did manage to sneak Lincoln the vest. I got out of there as quickly as I could. Leaving the camp the same way I came in, I found a little nook I could sit at to make sure Lincoln lived. It was only as I was sitting down that I realised I'd hadn't slept since I woke from cryogenic sleep. I didn't really know how long ago that technically was but it was a while and I was getting tired. My eyelids were incredibly heavy and trying to slide over my eyes. I couldn't sleep yet though, I had to make sure Lincoln was safe first.

They finally came out a few hours later. 'They' were Lincoln, Pike and a few guards. I'd seen Octavia and a few others pop up slightly further away. They'd taken the same tunnel as me, apparently. Seeing Octavia watch him walk to what she believed to be his death made me realise how terrible her life had really been. She deserved better than to have been punished for being born. She deserved better than to have Bellamy breathing down her back or wrongly trying to 'protect' her. He hadn't been able to protect her in years. She wasn't just some helpless kid, Lincoln saw that when very few others did. 

I'd spent so much time thinking and admiring the girl's patience that I'd missed it. I'd heard the shot go off, it was why I turned around. I expected to see him lying on the floor but I didn't expect his head to be bleeding. He was supposed to get shot in the chest so the vest would actually do something, so much for that plan. 

I tried again. I couldn't stop myself from giving him the vest but maybe I could make sure he got out with the group. Once again the plan seemed pretty simple. I should've known by now that 'simple' didn't exactly work. I waited around the hall to the escape tunnel. I also heard more than I bargained for. 

Lincoln had always been courageous and selfless, that was the only reason Octavia was alive. My eavesdropping meant I heard his idea of sacrifice. Thinking about it, he was right, they wouldn't all get out without a search party unless someone stayed behind. I snuck out behind O to hide in the greenery as well. I needed to think. How could I save someone from a headshot with, basically, nothing but a bulletproof vest and a gun? I couldn't just shoot Pike without both revealing myself and the others. I couldn't sneak him out at night because the others would'vebeen hunted like animals and probably slaughtered. I walked silently through the forest as I just thought. How could I save him? Pike hated the grounders because of Azgeda and kept them under constant watch. Pike was the one who had played on everyone's fears and made them hate the grounders. Pike had led Bellamy into the tower with Echo the night we joined the coalition. Pike was one of the main reasons the grounders currently hated Skaikru. Maybe by just getting rid of him, I could solve several problems. 

I knew the risks but surely it would've been worth it. I'd heard the story of Monty's father's sacrifice, maybe I could convince Pike to take the risk instead somehow. It was a better idea than trying to kill him at any other time. So many more of the 100 would've died if he hadn't taught them Earth skills. Yes, maybe more of his station would've died but what were the lives of a few for the lives of the many? I couldn't sacrifice the 100's and my own chances of survival because we were the only reason everyone on the Ark wasn't dead. Without our survival, the others never would've followed us down. Would it have been better that way? Lexa was right, victory does stand on the back of sacrifice. No, the grounders wouldn't have found the Wonkru bunker without us or defeated Mount Weather.