Harlai has spent two years in the dusty Skybox and she's ready to get out in either two ways: death or liberty.
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"HEY, YOU KNOW WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW?" Finn asked as they all carefully walked down a steep hill in the forest. "Why send us down today after ninety seven years? What changed?"
"Who cares? I'm just glad they did. I woke up in a rotting cell, and now," Octavia said, stopping as she grabbed a tree and spun around it, "I'm in a spinning forest."
"Maybe they found something on a satellite, you know, like an old weather satellite or-" Monty tried to figure out what had happened, but Clarke cut him off.
"It wasn't a satellite. The Ark is dying. At the current population level, there's roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone." Clarke ripped off the bandaid, making everyone stop and look at her, but she just walked past them.
"Maybe if they floated all the cheaters on The Ark, they'd have five." Harlai mumbled as she walked past Monty and Jasper, who always seemed connected at the hip.
"So that was the secret they locked you up to keep, why they kept you in solitary, floated your old man?" Finn asked her as he rose his eyebrows. Could he be anymore blunt?
"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public, anyway, then Wells..."
"What, turned in your dad?" Monty asked Clarke from the back of the group.
Clarke paused as she walked and she shook it off. "Anyway, the guard showed up before we could." Her lips pressed together in a tight line as she looked up at Finn. "That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk."
"Well, if we all die, at least they grabbed up some more time for themselves." Harlai said as she kicked a small stone, watching as it bounced off their path and down a slope.
"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked with a concerned expression, but this time Clarke didn't answer.
"Good." Octavia responded to the silence as she jumped off a small ridge in their path and she walked ahead. "After what they did to me, I say float them all."
"You don't mean that!" Jasper said as he walked after her, Clake watching Octavia with a look.
Monty stayed behind, but Harlai decided to go after them with a solemn look. She wanted nothing more than for her mother to live, but she hoped to God that if they killed anyone, it was her father. He deserved that at least.
When everyone caught up with Jasper and Octavia, their eyes widened as Jasper said, "Oh, damn, I love Earth" with a goofy grin.
There Octavia was on some rocks by the river as she pulled her pants down. Harlai laughed to herself as Clarke's mouth dropped wide open.
