❝you don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope.❞

-katniss everdeen, the hunger games

♛

GROUNDER APPAREL IS VERY heavy. Lincoln had us dress in it before we left Tondc, and I feel strange in the many garments that pull my body down until I feel like I'm being sucked into the earth itself.

But there's a plus: Bellamy looks hot in it. I think it's the armor and fingerless gloves that make me unable to stop staring.

Lincoln slides down a steep slope of soil to get to the deer he just speared. The dead animal is stuck to the ground from it, the weapon sliced cleanly through its side. While he kneels to inspect it, I find myself looking around in every direction as if I expect someone to be right behind us.

Clarke's words are still echoing in my head. I was being weak. Good luck. I had hugged everyone goodbye before I left - except Kane, whom I gave a handshake because we aren't really there yet - and it felt wrong that she wasn't there. Like there was a chunk of me missing.

When I look down, Lincoln is smearing his face with the deer's blood, rubbing it all around his mouth, chin, and neck. I feel a bit squeamish knowing I'll probably have to do the same.

Bellamy kneels beside Lincoln and pulls me down with him so I can hear. "Okay. So we make it to the intake door without any of the real Reapers seeing us. What happens then?"

It had been Lincoln's idea to disguise ourselves as Reapers, of course. The thought wouldn't even have crossed my mind if we were going solo. Having him around was like a blessing, even if he was being uncharacteristically quiet since we were headed to the place he hated the most.

"I kill everyone, and you two slip inside," Lincoln deadpans.

Ah, yes. A...very blunt blessing.

"Limestone," Lincoln says. I grab it from one of the many pockets of my black jacket and hand the small pouch to him. He dips his fingers inside until they're covered in white, smearing it diagonally across his face from where his hairline would be to the left side of his jawline. Then, he closes the pouch back up and stands. "Let's go. We have a lot more ground to cover before dark."

"No deer blood for me?" I question beneath my breath before getting to my feet as well. Then, loud enough for him to hear, I say, "We should probably know what's after the intake door."

"They remove your clothes," Lincoln replies. "Blast you with boiling water, then douse you with something that burns even worse. And then we were sorted. The others were tagged 'harvest.' I was tagged 'Cerberus,' turned into a Reaper."

I feel a chill go down my spine. It sounds like we're in for a real treat at Casa de Mount Weather.

"Cerberus," Bellamy repeats. "The three-headed dog that guards the underworld."

I smile at him, while Lincoln just gives him a questioning look. It's so cute when he geeks out about Greek myths and history.

"My mom read mythology to us all the time," he explains. "Octavia loved it." Lincoln blows air through his mouth and smiles. "You're good for her. You made her strong."

"She was already strong," Lincoln replies, and I notice he isn't smiling anymore.

Bellamy stops walking, causing me to stop short. "Bell?"

"Hey, uh, I need to ask you something," he says to Lincoln. When he turns around to signal he's listening, Bellamy continues. "You protected my sister before you even knew her. Why?"

Lincoln turns fully around and walks slowly toward Bellamy, jabbing his spear in the ground at their feet while he thinks of an answer. "When I was a boy, I saw a ship fall from the sky. Like Raven's. The man inside was hurt, his body broken. I couldn't get him out."

"Suicide by Earth," I inform him, trying my hardest not to imagine my mother falling from the Ark. The image invades my mind anyway. When Bellamy gives me a quizzical look, probably wondering how I know, I shrug. "My mom may have mentioned something once."

"I brought him food, water," Lincoln continues. "I didn't speak the enemy's language yet. So I couldn't understand him, but I wanted to. So on the third day, I told my father." There's a pause as the pain reflects in his eyes. "He made me kill him. The world's been trying to turn me into a monster for as long as I can remember. Let's keep moving."

I'm not sure if Lincoln is exactly fond of Bellamy, but he doesn't seem as stiff around me. He even attempts to teach me some Trigedasleng, picking up where Octavia left off.

"I can say about three full sentences," I tell him. "Maybe four."

"Is 'Yu gonplei ste odon' one of them?" he asks sarcastically- he knows I can understand that one for how many times they've said it.

I fake a gasp. "How did you know? But yeah, that's one. Then there's 'Ai laik Falon kom Skaikru' - thanks, Octavia - and 'Chin yu bilaik?' Oh, and I know 'Heda.'"

"You've got a lot to learn," he sighs and shakes his head. "You practically know nothing."

"Practically," I stress his word. "At least it isn't actually nothing." I pause. "Hey, can you teach me swears?"

"Fallon--" Bellamy cuts in.

"Jok yu," Lincoln interrupts.

"Oh, hell yes." I store the phrase in my brain. "I'm getting so tired of 'Float yourself.'"

"Wait," Bellamy says more harshly, causing us to stop. "The parking garage where we found you" - he points to our left - "is north, that way."

Lincoln tilts his head. "There's a mine entrance closer to where the Reapers hand us over. We'll go into the underworld when we have to. Not before."

He turns back around and starts walking a little faster. Instead of following right behind him, I wait for Bellamy.

"You don't think something's off?" Bellamy questions in a whisper close to my ear. He asks it so quickly it's basically just a breath of air.

"Relax, Bell," I tell him. "Lincoln knows this area better than we do. Or, better than you do."

Bellamy raises his eyebrows. "Me?"

"I did go there once," I remind him. "First day on Earth, giant river monster, Jasper speared in the chest. Good times."

"No need for the sarcasm, Amazon."

"You love it."

I kiss his cheek and sprint past him, then smack myself in the face.

--

I feel like Lincoln's slave or pet with how I'm being pulled along by a collar made of rope. There's a skinny log balanced on my shoulders, my arms beginning to ache from holding it up for so long. Lincoln tugs on the rope a little too harshly sometimes if one of us falls behind.

A slight rain is falling, just barely visible if I were to stand still. It's freezing and makes my hair wet. At least Octavia braided it out of my face in Grounder style; she said it would help complete the look and prevent any suspicion if someone were to find us.

It's beginning to get dark when we reach the entrance to the tunnel. I swallow thickly before sharing a glance with Bellamy. We both nod in sync.

"Come on," Bellamy urges Lincoln just above a whisper. "Let's do this."

Lincoln takes a deep breath before slowly leading us inside, and the darkness swallows me whole.

Except the darkness is just for the beginning. As we walk, it steadily gets lighter until I no longer have to squint to see. Mine and Bellamy's logs stop bumping into each other once we can actually see where we're going. The entire walk through the tunnel, Lincoln is quiet. Silent.

Soon enough, we walk in front of him, which makes us both turn around in confusion.

"Why are we stopping?" Bellamy questions. My eyes follow Lincoln's to see a tiny glass bottle with a tiny bit of bright red liquid inside of it- the Reaper serum. He crushes it with his boot, causing the soft sound of glass shattering.

"Lincoln, are you alright?" I ask quietly.

"As soon as they open the intake doors, we attack," Lincoln commands in a low voice, ignoring my question. "Do not let it close. Once they're all dead, you two go in. I'll make it look like you escaped." He takes a deep breath. "Once you're inside--"

"We know," Bellamy cuts in, looking away toward our destination.

The muffled sound of shouting from behind us catches my attention. Firelight flickers from around the bend we just went around.

"Another raider party." Hurriedly, Lincoln lifts the rope from over my head and begins untying my hands from the log as quickly as possible. My eyes widen in both alarm and confusion at what he's doing.

"Hey--" I try to protest, but Bellamy beats me to it.

"What are you doing?" he demands.

"We have to go back," Lincoln answers as he sets my log aside and begins working on Bellamy's hands. "Fallon, help me."

I do, but slowly because I'm not quite catching his drift. "Why are we going back?"

"Three, maybe four," he informs me without answering my question. "We can fight our way through."

"We'll never get a better chance," Bellamy insists, shaking his head at me. I stop pretending to untie his ropes and instead squeeze his hand through them.

"I thought I could do this, but I can't," Lincoln says beneath his breath. "Okay? It's over."

"It can't be," I fight back, understanding why he doesn't want to go on, but also wanting to continue by myself if it comes down to it. "I did not come all this way just to be so close and turn around. Please, let us go if you have to."

"We can join them!" Bellamy suggests desperately. "Listen to me. When they bring out the Red, you grab it, and you run like hell. The Reapers will go nuts, the Grounders will run, and the Mountain Men will deal with it. No one will be looking for a Grounder running into the mountain."

"I said no!" Lincoln exclaims in a growl, taking Bellamy's log with both hands and flinging it off of him before I can react. I duck toward the ground to prevent it from hitting my head. Bellamy grunts as he pushes Lincoln in the chest.

"Fight back!" he demands in a low whisper, eyes full of desperation. "They'll think we're trying to escape." He glances down at me. "You'll have to help, Fallon."

I take one fleeting glance at the Reaper heading my way and tackle Lincoln's legs, causing him to release Bellamy and nearly fall to the ground. He somehow grabs my middle and flips me over onto my back. I hit the rock with a pained groan, grateful that he at least didn't slam me full-force.

Even though I want to lay there for a second, I know that isn't an option. I punch Lincoln in the face repeatedly to try and break the choke hold he has on Bellamy. Even as my fist connects with his cheek and smears limestone on it, he juts his elbow out and knocks me in the windpipe. I stagger back with my hand grasping my neck. My eyes dart to the Reaper coming at us as I try to suck in air. It's not working, and my chest is closing with panic.

Lincoln eventually takes out a knife and drags me flush to his side until my cheek is pressed against Bellamy's. The knife is just inches from my neck, and even though I know he won't use it, it still makes my heart begin to thud.

"Disha da tran wan of. Emo an," Lincoln hisses with his chin at my head. I feel Bellamy's hand clamp against mine from behind us.

"Teig emo kam ran tribou-des," the Reaper replies blankly.

Lincoln stands from his crouched position, bringing both of us with him as he walks. He takes us to where he dropped our logs and turns us around so we're facing him. A slow nod from him doesn't lessen my fear at all as a cloth is lowered over my eyes, obscuring my sight.

We walk for a while longer with our new friends, the Reapers. Whichever one has me is particularly rough and enjoys kicking the backs of my calves when I move too slowly for his liking.

I assume we make it to the intake doors, because someone starts removing my clothes until I'm just in my undergarments. It makes me incredibly uncomfortable considering I'm blindfolded. Who is touching me? I wouldn't even know if I would feel better if it was Lincoln.

They force me on my knees beside someone. I hiss out of the corner of my mouth, "Bell?"

A pause. My heart continues to pound. Then, a response that's so quiet I can hardly hear it. "Yeah."

"Hoz op! Zo hon Red-de dan, den zo'n choj op!"

The blindfold is lifted from my eyes. I blink and look down to realize my entire body is shining with a thin layer of sweat. I also notice that there are three other men lined up along with Bellamy and I. Why are all of them male?

I lock eyes with Bellamy to discover he's in the same state as me. Well, this isn't how I planned to see him half-naked, but I didn't even have the energy to be embarrassed.

I glance behind me to see Lincoln standing between us. He nods. I swallow thickly and place my hand beside Bellamy's, not exactly holding it but just letting our fingers touch.

The door opens with a high-pitched beeping that turns my attention to it. An even higher noise causes the Reapers to back away, making my heart increase its pounding.

"Stay back, or you won't get your dose," a man in a hazmat suit orders as he and a few others enter. I look around to discover we haven't actually made it to the intake doors- they're actually just barely out of reach.

"First dose up," a different man announces, injecting a Reaper with the serum.

A woman in a blue hazmat suit stops in front of me, holding a clipboard. Her eyes are barely visible through the foggy plastic around her face, but I can feel her gaze analyzing me.

"Harvest," she decides, and I don't know whether or not to be glad that I'm not being made into a Reaper.

"Harvest," she says to Bellamy. Another weight gone- sort of. At least we're together.

"Next," the man for the Red announces. When Lincoln doesn't move, he becomes impatient and annoyed. "Come on. Next."

I watch in anticipation as Lincoln walks slowly up to the man holding the syringe. He looks at Bellamy and I, but doesn't kneel, and his eyes are filled with pain.

"What's the holdup?" one of the Mountain Men asks. And slowly, like a weight is physically pulling him down, Lincoln drops to his knees. I shake my head slowly in disbelief as he tilts his head to the side and the needle nears his neck. I almost have half a mind to attack them myself, but they'd probably kill me on the spot.

So all I can do it watch helplessly as the serum is injected to Lincoln, and our only hope's eyes roll back into his head before he passes out cold.

"Harvest them all." The woman waves her hand and I'm yanked up by my elbows instantly. My legs kick around, but I'm filled with too much shock to do much.

Bellamy is not so easy to take. He attempts to fight his way out, but one of the hazmat suit men hits him in the back of the head, causing him to fall forward onto the ground. I clamp my lips shut to prevent from yelling his name.

I take one last look at Lincoln before I'm taken inside and bathed in blue light.

------

and so mount weather begins

-kristyn

TRANSLATIONS:

Jok yu: Fuck you

Disha da tran wan of. Emo an: These ones tried to wander off. They're mine.

Teig emo kam ran tribou-des: Put them on the logs.

Hoz op! Zo hon Red-de dan, den zo'n choj op!: Hurry up! We get the red, then we eat!