❝life is either a great adventure or nothing.❞

-helen keller, political activist

♛

WHEN WE MAKE IT back to the dropship landing, I start helping Clarke decide where we need to go. She uses a metal ruler from her pocket and a piece of charcoal to map out land sites we know are there by our view from the drop-off. Her strokes are the careful ones that only an artist could have. I wonder if her cell was covered in pictures the same way mine was filled with words.

There's a prickling sensation at my back that signals that someone is coming up behind us. I look up to see Wells Jaha, the Chancellor's son and also Clarke's lifelong friend. He's taller than me, with a built but lean frame. His dark skin is already a bit slick with sweat and his hair is fashioned in the same closely-cropped way it's always been. I've never been close with him due to my criminal record, but he's always been kind to me.

"We got problems," he reports with a sigh. "The communication system is dead. I went to the roof; a dozen panels are missing. Heat fried the wires."

Clarke's face falls in disappointment. "Well, all that matters right now is getting to Mount Weather. See? Look." She turns the map around and points to a red circle on the map. "This is us." She uses the ruler to trace over the straight line that connects to another circle on a mountain. "This is where we need to get to if we want to survive."

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Wells questions, clearly impressed. Clarke's eyelids flutter shut and she doesn't answer. He nods in understanding, his voice losing its sense of wonder. "Your father."

Clarke's mood seems to have darkened, but I'm not sure why. Aside from me, Wells is Clarke's best friend. So why is there visible tension between them?

"It'll be treacherous, no doubt," I speak up upon noticing that neither of them wants to talk to the other. "We have no idea of what exactly lies between here and where we need to go. There could be animals we've only heard about in books, and many things we don't know how to deal with. We need to be prepared."

Wells looks at me, recognition filling his dark brown eyes. "Fallon?"

I smile weakly at him, unsure of what to say. Hi, the reason I avoided you all my life was because I'm a criminal?  Somehow, that doesn't seem like the right way to hit off after two years of separation.

I decide to reply with a simple, "In the flesh. Hey, Wells."

He opens his mouth, about to speak again, but a different voice punctures the silence. "Ah, cool, a map."

I turn around to see a familiar, nerdy-looking boy with goggles pushed over his messy raven hair. His large brown eyes are filled with excitement as they flicker between Clarke and I. I recognize him from my Earth Skills class while in prison, but I never caught his name. "They got a bar in this town? I'll buy you two ladies a beer."

I crack a smile, but Wells uses an arm to shove the boy back with a glower. "You mind?"

"Woah—" Goggles starts to protest, but another male's voice cuts him off.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hands off of him." There's a group of about nine boys behind a short, mousy-haired male with a very long nose. My mind clicks with recognition– John Murphy, a boy from that God-forsaken class. "He's with us."

Judging by Goggles' perplexed face, I doubt he's 'with them', but doesn't say anything. His dark eyes are widened so greatly that they appear to overpower his face. He's very pale and tall, with a thin, wiry build.

"Relax. We're just trying to figure out where we are," Wells explains calmly as he puts his hands up in defense. He knows that he's not very well-liked among most of the convicts due to his dad being the Chancellor who locked all of these kids up. 

"We're on the ground." Octavia's brother – Bellamy? – says from a few yards away. "That not good enough for you?"

"We need to find Mount Weather." Wells starts walking toward where Bellamy's group is. Clarke and I glance at one another, both of us feeling the shift in the air. We silently agree to follow closely behind Wells in case a fight breaks out. "You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

"Screw your father," Octavia sneers, her lip curling in distaste. "What, you think you're in charge here, you and your little princess?"

This is not the Octavia I met on the dropship. This Octavia has come face-to-face with someone that reminds her of her most haunting nightmare. I know because I've worn the look myself.

"Do you think we care who's in charge?" Clarke asks, eyebrows raised in exasperation. "We need to get to Mount Weather! Not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get and the harder this will be."

"Not to mention that inside of that mountain are supplies we'll need," I add. "Medical treatment, clothes, shelter, and more. We won't last without any of it."

Clarke pipes in. "We're looking at a twenty-mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now."

"I got a better idea," Bellamy says coldly, eyes narrowed. "You two" – he motions to Wells and Clarke – "go. Find it for us. Let the Privileged to the hard work for a change."

"Yeah!" Many people shout in agreement. I feel uneasy— I've never had so many people put against me before.

Despite this, I chuckle humorlessly. "That's funny. You think that two people can carry enough supplies for nearly a hundred? We all need to go. It's the only way we'll be able to collect as much as we need if we want to survive until the next dropship comes."

"She's right," Wells agrees with a nod. "We all need to go."

Suddenly, he's shoved forward by Murphy, who has a cruel smile on his face. "Look at this, everybody— the Chancellor of Earth."

"How interesting," I hum, "because a few seconds ago, that guy was trying to make rules and no one cared." I find myself pointing to Bellamy, who tilts his head with a glare. 

"Look," Murphy spits, turning to me, "I don't have a bone to pick with you, so stay out of this, because you don't want one."

Everything happens too quickly for me to muster a reply. Murphy pushes Wells to the ground and I hear a crunch from his ankle the instant he hits the soil. He is in no position to fight, I can tell that just by looking at him. His leg is obviously hurting him from the way he clenches his fists and grunts in pain as he struggles to stand. This isn't a fair fight at all.

Murphy beckons him forward, his face set in a mocking smile. He's enjoying making fun of Wells; it's sick. "Come on, come on."

Not even a second later, Finn jumps down from a ledge on the dropship, landing between the two with a thud of his feet on the ground. The crowd's roars die down while everyone watches curiously. The air is tenser than it's ever been since we landed.

"Kid's got one leg," Finn breathes, nodding to Wells as he glares at Murphy. "How about you wait until it's a fair fight?"

Octavia steps up to Finn confidently. "Hey, Spacewalker." He turns around to see her smiling flirtatiously at him. "Rescue me next."

Scattered laughs come from the assembly as Murphy leaves the fight and Clarke steps forward. She immediately starts assisting Wells, who is sitting with his back against the dropship, wincing in pain.

"Fallon, come help me with this," she says. I kneel down, but before I can do anything, Finn interrupts.

"So, Mount Weather," he begins casually, coming up behind us. "When do we leave?"

Clarke stands. So much for helping her friend. "Right now." She turns to Wells. "We'll be back tomorrow with food."

"How are the three of you gonna carry enough for a hundred?" Wells asks, breathless while his confused gaze sweeps across us.

Finn looks around for a second before grabbing Goggles and his Asian friend by the shoulders, leading them toward us. They both wear similar expressions of confusion on their faces. Finn smirks. "Five of us. Can we go now?"

"Sounds like a party!" Octavia marches up to us with her arms swinging more than necessary. It's probably another one of her methods of catching Finn's attention. "Make it six."

Bellamy taps her shoulder, eyebrows pinched together. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

Octavia pays him little attention and shakes him off. She appears a bit embarrassed that her brother is interfering. "Going for a walk."

A crease forms between Clarke's brows as her eyes catch sight of something. "Hey, were you trying to take this off?" She lifts up Finn's wrist where the wristband is, revealing scratch marks on the metal.

He shrugs indifferently. "Yeah. So?"

"So? Your wristband sends your vital signs to the Ark," I say in disbelief, wondering why anyone would want to take theirs off. It would mean devastation to the Council, his family, and the Ark itself. "Take it off and you're presumed dead."

"Should I care?" he asks.

"Well, I don't know, do you want the people you love to think you're dead?" Clarke questions sharply, eyebrows raised. "Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."

That shuts Finn up. He looks at the ground in shame, and Clarke releases her tight grip on his wrist.

"Okay," I sigh, noticing that he and everyone around us understands the point. "Now we can go."

Finn leads our group as we journey out of the landing site and into the woods, following the line Clarke drew on the map. The dropship had landed in a sort of clearing. As soon as we break into the line of trees to the ship's left, we're surrounded by vibrant plants on both sides. My hand sticks out to let the soft edges of leaves graze along my fingertips. A tickle jolts up my arm, a small smile lifting my lips at the sensation. 

I could stay there forever, enjoying the true beauty of plants, but I'm already lagging. Instead, I jog to catch up with Goggles and his adorable Asian friend. "So, what are your names?"

"I'm Jasper, and that's Monty," Goggles replies with a lopsided smile. "What 'bout you?"

"Fallon," I answer, then immediately become mystified by a patch of deep blue wildflowers we pass. The colors fascinate me and make me wonder what my cell would have looked like if I had access to paint. 

Monty notices this and smiles a bit, pointing to the blossoms. "Those are called Texas Bluebonnets."

Though I'm confused as to how he knows this, I don't question it. Slowing down, I hesitantly reach out to the stem. "Can I...pick it?"

Monty nods in confirmation, making his shiny black hair fall slightly into his eyes. "Go ahead; they won't hurt you."

I smile and break off the flower from its stem, bringing it to my nose and taking a deep breath. The scent is sweet and refreshing, better than anything I've ever inhaled in my life.

Jasper takes hold of my arm gently, causing me to look up at him. "Yes, we're aware that the flowers are pretty. Now let's go before we lose the group."

Looking up, I notice that Clarke is already way at the front and Octavia has also passed us. I tuck the flower in the pocket of my jacket and hurry to catch up with everyone else.

Hours pass until I finally make it to the front, where Clarke occasionally glances at the map in her hands as she walks. Her right wrist doesn't have any jewelry on it besides the wristband, sending warning bells to my brain.

"Did you remember the procedure?" I ask. Clarke nods and reaches into her bra, pulling out the bracelet I made for her thirteenth birthday. I grin. "See? I told you they'd never reach in there."

Clarke nods to my wrist. "What about you?"

I look sadly at the ground and bite my lip. "They took it." I hear her sigh heavily. "I'm sorry, Clarke. I thought I could get it back-"

"It's fine," she mutters, clearly disappointed but trying to hide it. "I understand."

A few seconds of silence pass before I speak again. "Hey, Clarke?"

"Yeah?"

I reach into my pocket and pull out the bracelet with a sly smile. "Just kidding."

Clarke's eyes widen a bit and she lets out a surprised laugh, slapping me lightly on the shoulder. "You had me fooled! How'd you get it back?"

"A guard handcuffed me," I explain as Clarke slides her bracelet on her own wrist. "I reached into his pocket and grabbed it back. He didn't even notice. It's broken, but I can fix it with some twine."

She grins, eyes gleaming– a sign she's impressed. "You've gotten better."

More time flies by as we trek through the forest. Before I know it, the trail goes slim and passes right through a beautiful patch of purple flowers. As I walk alongside Octavia, we slow down to admire them. Finn picks a flower and tucks it behind her ear. She smiles shyly at him as he brushes the hair out of her face.

Jasper punches Monty's shoulder. "That, my friend, is game."

Monty points to the flower in Octavia's hair. "That, my friend" – he picks one of them – "is poison sumac."

The smile immediately drops from Octavia's face as she hurries to brush the flower out of her hair. "What? It is?"

"The flowers aren't poisonous," Monty explains lightly with a hint of amusement at her reaction. "They're medicinal. Calming, actually." He casually pops the flower into his mouth.

"How does it taste?" I ask teasingly.

He chews and swallows it before replying, "Like a flower."

"His family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark," Jasper informs, leading to me realizing that Monty does, in fact, not have a weird flower fetish.

"Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?" Clarke asks from ahead, sounding annoyed with the delay. I notice that she hasn't lost her tendency to be a bit bossy. She's always had a get stuff done first, play later sort of mentality, whereas I have always wondered why we can't do both at the same time. 

"Come on, Clarke," Finn groans. "How do you block all this out?"

"Well, it's simple." Clarke looks troubled. "I wonder, 'why haven't we seen any animals?' Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us." She pauses as our faces fall. "Sure is pretty, though. Come on."

I wish she would stop being so uptight. We're on Earth— we want to have fun. I'm not sure how long Clarke was in prison, or why she was even there in the first place, but I do know that two years of seeing the same four walls gave me an unquenchable thirst for adventure. Now I'm getting it. And no one is stopping me.

When she turns around and continues walking, Octavia mutters, "Someone should slip her some poison sumac."

Jasper snorts. I roll my eyes but a smile plays on my lips.

"I gotta know what you three did to get busted," Finn says after a moment of peaceful silence.

"Sumac's not the only herb in the garden," Monty replies, "if you know what I mean."

"Someone forgot to replace what we took," Jasper blames with a pointed look at his friend.

"Someone has apologized like a thousand times," Monty counters, rolling his eyes.

Finn glances back at me. "Fallon?"

I sigh. "Ever since I was nine, I had been stealing to help support my family. At first it was little things– food, water, and soap. But soon I began taking things for sport." I hold up the broken bracelet. "Stole all the supplies I needed to make me and Clarke matching bracelets when I was twelve. Fastest hands in the whole Ark."

Finn scoffs at the last part. "Doubt that."

I raise an eyebrow, accepting his words as a challenge. "Wanna bet?"

"What about you, Octavia? What'd they get you for?" Jasper asks as a change of subject.

"Being born," Octavia grumbles, walking faster so she's ahead of us. Her tone alone sends a punch to my gut. All of us were guilty of crime one way or another. But Octavia? She didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't her fault her mother gave birth to her.

"That is so not game," Monty teases Jasper, who hits him. They start repeatedly punching one another playfully. It makes me smile– it's clear they're extremely close friends.

Finn, Jasper, Monty, and I duck beside Octavia and Clarke, who are staring intently at something. Clarke puts a finger to her lips and then points to a deer grazing peacefully a little ways from us. The animal is so beautiful that I feel my eyes widen.

"No animals, huh?" Finn smiles, taking a step forward and therefore accidentally snapping a twig. The deer's neck snaps up, turns our way, and I'm horrified at what I see. Another head is protruding from the main one, looking disheveled and mutilated. A patch of revolting flesh combines the two together. We all jump back in shock.

The deer bolts away gracefully. We all share horrified glances. One thing is for sure: Earth is not what we expected.

--

"Hey, you know what I'd like to know?" Finn questions as we walk down a particularly steep slope. I'm getting annoyed by his voice and wish he would stop asking questions. "Why send us down today after ninety-seven years? What changed?"

"Who cares? I'm just glad they did," Octavia answers. "I woke up rotting in a cell" – she reaches out one hand and twirls herself around a tree – "and now I'm spinning in a forest."

What she did was obviously meant to catch Finn's eye, but he pays her no attention and walks right past her. Octavia's smile drops into a frown. I stifle my laughter behind my palm.

"Maybe they found something on a satellite," Monty surmises. "You know, like an old weather satellite or—"

"It wasn't a satellite," Clarke cuts him off with a sigh. "The Ark is dying."

I stare at her, finding it hard to believe what she's saying. "What? No."

Everyone has stopped walking after Clarke spilled. She walks through us and continues explaining. "At the current population level, there are roughly three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone."

"So that was the secret they locked you up to keep, why they kept you in solitary, floated your old man?" Finn pries, never ceasing with the thousand questions he always seems to have.

I trip over my own feet, my eyes growing to the size of small planets. Jake was floated? "What? Clarke, your dad—"

"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw," Clarke continues, interrupting me as if she doesn't want to truly think about it. "He thought the people had the right to know. The Council disagreed. My mother disagreed. They were afraid it would cause a panic. We were gonna go public anyway, when Wells..." She trails off.

"What? Turned in your dad?" Finn finishes, one eyebrow raised in questioning.

I can't believe what I'm hearing. Wells turned in Mr. Griffin? That doesn't sound anything like him. Though I never got to know him too well, Wells had always been nice to me in school. He went out of his way to help the less fortunate. He turned in Jake Griffin?

I can't help the sadness that swells in my chest. After my father was floated, Clarke's dad assumed the role for me. He stepped in to make me feel completely at home with his family, sometimes inviting my mom and I over for meals or to watch old recordings of sports games on their television. And the fact that he's gone — ripped from existence, just like my father — is painful.

"Anyway, the guard showed up before we could," Clarke explains curtly. "That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk."

I stare at the ground as I walk, still trying to wrap my head around this information. "Because we're prisoners."

Clarke shrugs. Her movements and words are clipped, something she does when she's trying to seem like she's fine when she's really anything but. "Even if we die, at least they bought themselves more time."

Monty sounds alarmed as he speaks. "They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?"

Clarke doesn't respond, but her silence is enough. The mood grows heavier until it seems like a physical weight has settled on my shoulders.

"Good." Octavia jumps down from where she has been standing on a tree stump. "After what they did to me, I say float 'em all."

Jasper rushes forward after her. "You don't mean that!"

I chase after as well, following as Octavia climbs onto a rocky cliff that overlooks a river. Jasper has stayed behind for unknown reasons.

"Wow," I gasp, staring at the water. It's almost crystal clear. The light blue color looks more than inviting- I had never floated in water before, as we were only allowed time-restricted showers on the Ark. And that was if we had enough water rations to pay for them.

"Tempting, isn't it?" Octavia grins with that same mischievous glint in her eye as Bellamy had. "Let's go for a swim. It's shallow enough, look." She points to the aquatic plants that are sticking out, their leaves moving fluidly in time with the gentle waves.

I sigh. "Fine. But if I drown, I'm taking you with me."

Octavia laughs and takes off her jacket, tossing it on the rocks. She then begins removing her pants.

"Woah, wait." I stop her by placing a hand on her arm. "What are you doing? There's like, four people behind us."

She winks. "Let's give 'em a show."

I glance back at Jasper, who's staring at Octavia like she's Aphrodite or something. Rolling my eyes, I sit on the ledge of the rocks and undress.

"Fallon, Octavia, what the hell are you doing?" Clarke demands from the edge of the forest.

"One, two, three!" Octavia and I count together before she jumps and I forcefully push myself off the ledge, shrieking as I fall into the freezing cold water. I'm submerged in the icy liquid and I love it. It's an instant wakeup call, shocking my nerves to life.

When I resurface and wipe the water from my eyes, Octavia nudges me. I catch her kneeling on the sand so everything is covered up to the bridge of her nose. I quickly copy her action. A few seconds later, the group appears on the rocks.

"We can't swim," Finn points out in confusion.

Octavia lifts her head out of the water. "No, but we can stand." She stands up, revealing that the water is just below her chest. She doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the fact that her maroon tank top is soaked and her black bra is clearly visible. In fact, I'm starting to believe that's what she wants.

I laugh and duck underwater before coming back up again, resurfacing just in time to hear Clarke say something. "Wait. There's not supposed to be a river here."

Finn smiles wryly. "Well, there is. So take off your damn clothes."

I splash Octavia. This starts an all-out war between us, both of us trying to pull the other under the water. I'm vaguely aware of Jasper and Monty hopping out of their clothes to join us. I'm filled with glee at the fact that Clarke isn't pushing us to keep moving for once— maybe she'll actually let herself enjoy this.

Until I hear something that chills me to the bone.

"Octavia, Fallon, get out of the water!" Jasper exclaims at the top of his lungs, eyes widened at something behind us. Confused, the two of us turn around and see a large ripple of water moving straight toward us. "Get out of the water now!"

I start to move away, but I'm dragged under before I can get very far. I feel sharp teeth dig into my calf and rip the skin painfully. I try screaming, thus causing me to choke because water has entered my lungs. An arm hits me painfully in the nose. I realize with a start that the thing has grabbed both me and Octavia.

For a split second my head goes above, and I take that opportunity to cough out the water. I'm pulled down again immediately after. My lungs begin to burn from lack of oxygen the longer I'm held. We're moving so quickly, yanked around by whatever creature has us, that I can't tell what's going on.

Suddenly I hear a splash from a distance away, like something has fallen into the river. The monster releases me and Octavia, but in deeper water, and we can't swim. Jasper jumps in without hesitation. He is somehow able to paddle to Octavia, grabbing her and holding her up above the water. He pulls the two of them to the shore. I flail around, trying to resurface, but it's no use. The stabbing pain in my leg and sheer terror is starting to take over.

I try to think rationally. A thought pops into my head: maybe if I move only my arms and kick my legs, I'll be able to move easier instead of wildly spazzing my limbs. I test this tactic and discover it works, but I'm moving too slowly due to my injury.

"It's coming back!" Finn exclaims. My heart leaps into my throat. I struggle to move faster but realize quickly I'm only pulling myself under. Finn reaches out and grabs my middle, pulling me up onto the shore just in the nick of time.

I gasp for air, coughing out the rest of the water from my lungs as Finn holds onto me tightly so I don't fall back in from the slippery rock. He moves me farther up onto land and examines my bleeding wound, which isn't as bad as Octavia's, but it still hurts. Fiery pain flows from the wound to the rest of my body, causing me to wince. Jagged, tiny teeth marks cut into my skin and create perfect triangle patterns.

While Clarke uses a piece of Jasper's shirt to bound Octavia's wound, Monty rips a strip off his own clothing and hands it to me to make a tourniquet. I tie it just above the bite mark to stop the bleeding. Exhausted and limbs heavy as lead, I fall back against the rocks and try to catch my breath. All I want to do is take a nap.

"Thank you," I gasp to Finn and Monty, who simply smile weakly at me.

"You're both gonna be okay," Clarke assures gently as she finishes tying the knot around Octavia's thigh.

Monty jabs Jasper in the gut playfully. "Note to self- next time, save the girl."

_______

ngl im really shipping clarke and fallon

2019 edit: i still laugh at the fact that, in the original script from the pilot, finn drops down from a tree branch and is like "here, hold this" to murphy, who takes it and is then flung into the air at the sudden leverage jsfjfwjkskf

-kristyn