❝the secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.❞

-socrates, philosopher

♛

I'M KNOWN FOR BEING a chaotic driver, which is probably why they put me in the front seat.  Raven has often told me I always go faster than necessary and swerve way too much. However, since Kane's vague message is nagging my brain, I shoot double-time.

"Oh, my God," Bellamy grunts as I slam on the brakes, shooting forward and back into his seat due to the belt. Ignoring him, I cut off the ignition and leap out of the car.

"I think you caused me permanent brain damage!" Monty exclaims from the back with an undertone of pain in his voice.

"You'll get over it," I call to him. Then, to Bellamy as he gets out of the Rover, I ask, "Is that why you wanted me to come? So I'd get us here faster?"

He nods in confirmation and straps his rifle over his shoulder. I shrug and walk alongside him into the wide tunnel we stopped outside of, the shadows swallowing us whole.

"You were right about Jasper, okay?" Monty says to him after catching up with us. "Is that what you want me to say?"

"Quiet," Bellamy simply orders back. "Keep your eyes peeled. I could've said no."

"He's getting worse, isn't he?" Monty continues wearily. "I mean, getting drunk every night is one thing, but smiling with a knife to your throat... that's next-level damaged."

"It's PTSD, Monty," I remind him calmly. "I think we're all a little next-level damaged."

We slow down once the tunnel opens up into forest ground again. Though it may have led to a metropolis or road in the past, it's now blocked off by a large chunk of forest that starts only a few meters from the end. Kane appears from the brush with someone in tow. He's covering them too much for me to see who it is.

"Who's he with?" Monty wonders quietly.

Kane moves to the side, allowing his companion to be visible. I'm not sure how to feel about seeing her. Her fierce features, threatening grip on the sword at her side, and ruler-straight posture never fail to instill a chill in me.

"Indra," Bellamy replies.

Indra. A bringer of good news or bad?

Monty raises his eyebrows in alarm. "That's Indra?"

"He must've told her we broke the truce," Bellamy sighs, then says to Kane, "Sir, before you say anything, there was a good reason--"

Kane holds his hand up to stop him. He appears older than he did three months ago, with a graying beard covering his chin and more creases on his face due to stress. "We'll deal with that later. This is about Clarke."

My heart does a violent lurch in my chest. When I speak, my voice is high-pitched. "What?"

"She's being hunted," Indra informs us. I feel my breath hitch in my throat, worry consuming me. I hope she's okay; if not, I don't know what I'd do.

"By who?" Monty questions. His eyes are widened now, brow creased with concern and a little bit of dread.

"By everyone."

Since Indra has never ridden in a car before, Monty drives this time. She tenses and jumps at every bump we drive over. Her face is a mix of alarm and nerves though she tries her best to disguise it with a blank expression.

Kane chuckles from beside me after another hard bump that causes the Rover to rattle. "I'm still getting used to it myself."

"Sir, we're almost out of range," Monty informs him. "Are you sure you don't want to tell the Chancellor?"

"I'm sure," he confirms. "I don't want to worry Abby until we know something."

"We know there's a kill order," Bellamy adds helpfully, making my breath hitch again. He addresses Indra next. "Your people are big on those."

"It's not a kill order," Indra corrects matter-of-factly. "It's a bounty. Clarke's a symbol. She's known as Wanheda- the Commander of Death."

I sit up straighter and almost hit my head on the ceiling as a result. The Ice Nation warriors had thought we were looking for Wanheda, but I would never have guessed they meant Clarke.

"Those Ice Nation guys we killed asked about Wanheda," Bellamy remembers.

"What do they want with Clarke?" I ask Indra nervously.

"My people believe that when you kill someone, you get their power," Indra answers. "Kill Wanheda, and you command death."

"She's just one girl," Kane argues in disbelief.

Indra looks at him blankly. "So is the Commander. What Clarke did at Mount Weather weakened her. The Ice Nation is embolded; their queen wants Clarke's power. If her people believe she has it, she'll break the coalition and start a war. I can't let that happen."

What Clarke did at Mount Weather. Those words hit me harder than any other. What Clarke did. Not what Bellamy, Clarke, Monty, and I did. Once again, the blame seems to rest on only her shoulders. I bite my lip and duck my head down in an effort to conceal the punch to my gut.

A beeping from the radar catches Monty's attention. "Welcome to Sector Seven. Where to now?"

"If she's here, she'll need supplies," Indra answers. "We'll start at the trading posts."

--

For the first time in ages, I'm not plagued with nightmares while I sleep. Instead I find myself dreaming of nothing. The black void is peaceful compared to the horrors that usually lurk behind my eyelids.

I wake to a gentle jostling on my head. Slowly, my eyes open to reveal Indra sitting stiffly across from me with her eyes on the floor. My head is leaning against Kane's shoulder, but I don't remember falling asleep. I blink away the fog clouding my mind and sit up. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Kane says softly, loading his handgun. "Bellamy told me you haven't been getting much sleep. Just thought I'd let you know we're close."

He hands the gun to Indra, who eyes it wearily before shaking her head. A few seconds later, Monty slams so hard on the breaks that I fall off the bench and onto the floor at Indra's feet. Spikes of pain shoot up my backside and cause me to wince as I heave myself back onto my seat.

"Good thing you woke me up, huh?" I ask Kane sarcastically.

A tree is blocking our path, cleanly spread across the dirt. The Rover idles just a foot away from it, headlights barely illuminating the trunk from how dark it is.

"We have to move it," Monty says breathlessly.

"Wait," Indra stops Bellamy before he can climb out. "It's been cut down."

My eyes drift to the end of the trunk. She's right- it seems to be sliced cleanly. This is no coincidence.

"We don't know that," Bellamy dismisses as he crawls into the back and pops up through the hatch in the top. Barely seconds later, a deep rumbling causes the ground to shake. He ducks back into the Rover for cover as another tree thuds to the ground on the other side of us. My arms instinctively wrap around him to pull him close to me, heart hammering.

"We do now," Indra states impassively. I exhale a rush of air from my lungs and loosen my grip on Bellamy. He places a hand on top of mine. "And now we wait."

Three hours later, and there's no sign of the people who locked us between the logs. The fear has subsided into weariness by now. The dark has turned back into early morning, illuminating the forest in a dewy glow.

"It's been three hours," Bellamy complains. "What are they waiting for? Even with the light, I can't see anyone."

"I say we make a run for it," Monty suggests.

"I'm with Monty," I agree with a sigh.

"No," Kane protests quietly, peeking through the back window with Bellamy and I. "That's what they want us to do."

"The boy is right," Indra argues. She has her knife clenched tightly in her hand. "They can wait longer than we can."

"Okay, Bellamy," Kane finally concedes. "Get in the turret, and you cover us. Once we get to that ridge over there, we cover you."

"Copy that." Bellamy zips up his jacket. "Run fast."

He stands up halfway and opens the hatch, lifting himself out of it. Not even two seconds later, he announces blankly, "They're here."

"Everybody out or the boy dies," an unfamiliar voice threatens from above. I automatically aim my rifle upward. A shout escapes my lips as Bellamy is yanked upward faster than I can blink and disappears through the hatch.

"Hey, hey!" Kane shouts. "Okay! We're coming out. Don't hurt him."

I toss my rifle onto the floor and make sure the pocket holding my dropship knife is securely zipped. Then, after sucking in a breath, I start to open the door. It barely moves before someone on the other side yanks it open and hauls me out by my arms. They roughly toss me to the ground and put their knee to my back so I can't move. My cheek is pressed firmly to the dirt; when I open my eyes, I see Kane beside me.

"All targets secure!" a female's voice exclaims.

"I found it," the same person who took Bellamy reports.

"It's mine," Monty growls. "Give it back!"

I feel the edge of a blade graze the back of my neck. My blood goes cold in my veins, the pressure on my back increasing. It gets harder to breathe as my chest is pushed further into the dirt.

"Monty, let it go!" Bellamy orders desperately.

"Monty?" the female questions slowly. My eyebrows crease in confusion, but I can't see much of what's going on aside from Kane and the trees.

"Mom?"

Surprise fills me. The pressure against my neck lifts a fraction, so I can actually lift my head up. One of the Grounders lifts their mask to reveal a middle-aged Asian woman with a narrow face. She gasps in relief and pulls Monty into a tight hug.

"Holy shit," someone mutters. "Bryan, get off her."

The knee on my back lifts. Before I can get up by myself, a hand is held out to me. Thinking it's Bellamy, I accept and allow them to pull me to my feet. Instead I'm face-to-face with an unfamiliar Grounder mask when I look up.

"Klir ai of!" I exclaim, yanking my arm back. However, their grip stays firm as they remove the mask and my anger morphs into complete shock. A beat of silence passes before I can speak. "Caleb?"

I did not expect to see my ex-boyfriend ever again. He looks slightly the same as when I last saw him when he was seventeen though some changes have occurred as he got older. Now, at twenty, his features are more pronounced. His skin appears washed out in the bright light. The sun glints off of his slightly oily black hair. Not to mention he's taller than Bellamy is, standing at above six feet.

He lifts one half of his mouth in a nervous grin. "Hi?"

"Hi," I breathe out in surprise. My eyes are probably the size of small planets, jaw practically unhinged.

Bellamy steps forward with his gaze on Caleb. "Who is this?"

I realize Caleb's arm is still gripping onto mine and shake myself from his hold in embarrassment. My hand subconciously reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "Um, Bellamy, this is Caleb Jones. Caleb, Bellamy Blake."

Caleb's green eyes flicker with recognition. "I've seen you before. You were a guard, right?"

"Yeah," Bellamy replies sourly at the mention of that. "Was."

"Where's dad?" Monty asks his mom, having looked around at everyone else and not found him.

Mrs. Green's expression deflates. "Your father didn't make it".

Monty's body stills in shock as she reaches forward to hug him again. Sorrow wells in my chest- if anyone deserves to have both parents on the ground, it's Monty.

"How many of you are there?" Kane asks Charles Pike, my old Earth Skills teacher. Oh, how great it is seeing him again. My stomach churns at the reminder of the last memory of him I have- when he beat Murphy up 'as a lesson.'

"Sixty-three," he replies. "The rest are camped in the mountains north of here. Grounder killers, one and all, am I right?"

"Hoo-rah!" the rest of Farm Station cheers in agreement. I stiffen and turn toward Indra, finding her expression unreadable as always.

"Shit," I mumble under my breath. The last time we were in contact with the Ark, the Grounders and Sky People kept trying to kill each other, so it's not that big of a surprise that we have this misunderstanding. Still, I can feel the tension thickening.

Bellamy approaches Kane and Pike, saying something to them I can't hear. Just standing near Caleb after almost three years of not seeing him is plain awkward. It doesn't help that we ended on such a sour note.

But there's something different about him, and it's not just his more mature appearance. The boy I dated would probably have tried to declare dominance over Bellamy. However, he had handled it with kindness. Maybe I really had missed a lot while in prison.

"Hey, Fallon, Connor!" Bellamy calls. "Help us push this tree out of the way."

"It's Caleb," he corrects in a slight tone of confusion.

"Whatever," Bellamy mutters before turning toward the trunk again. I snort and make my way over to the tree. Placing both hands on it and using the balls of my feet to balance myself, I wait for the signal. "On three! One, two, three!"

I feel my arms strain with the effort to push. It's a good thing being a guard helped to build up my muscle, because I'm definitely stronger than I had been before it. Sweat begins to dot my hairline and I wish I had brought something to tie my hair back.

It takes multiple pushes to get the tree off the road so we can drive. By the end, my breathing is slightly uneven and face flushed. I stand up and dust my hands off.

"Okay!" Bellamy calls. "It's time to go."

"Monty, give him the coordinates to Akadia," Kane orders.

"Yeah," Monty murmurs in a sigh. Before he can walk to Pike, I reach out and take his arm gently.

"Hey." I pull him into a hug and tightly wrap my arms around him. His back is slightly shuddering from how desperately he's trying to hold it together. "I know."

He pulls back and gives me a thankful nod. I pat his shoulder before sending him off toward Pike. My breath comes out slowly when Bellamy stops beside me.

"You think he'll be okay?" I ask him in a concerned tone.

"Yeah," Bellamy replies with a nod. "Monty's a tough kid."

That much is true. But how tough can you be before you break?

----

I WAS SO EXCITED TO PUBLISH THIS CALEB IS MY SMOL SON I WILL ROOT FOR HIM TILL I DIE AND THEN START A FANCLUB IN THE AFTERLIFE

-kristyn

TRANSLATIONS:

Klir ai of!: Let me go!