005.
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"Mags?" Bellamy's head tilted, wondering what she was doing on her own. Magnolia rolled her eyes— the two weren't on the best terms, especially because of all the reckless choices the boy had been deciding.
"In the flesh," Maggie commented. Of course he had to choose that cave— of course. "Was it just the two of you out there?"
"There are a few others," the little girl answered, making Bellamy look at the ground. Magnolia's eyes widened towards Bellamy— he left them out there?
The teenager was quick to rush out of the cave, only to feel the Blake boy grab a hold of her forearm, making her wince from his narrow grip on the bite. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To get them," Maggie stated the obvious, pulling her arm away with a grimace.
"They found shelter," Bellamy told her, "There are multiple other caves. You can't go out there, we need you back at the drop ship."
Magnolia couldn't help but scoff. "You know, that's the second time you've said that. Yet, every time I try to do what's right you defy me."
The small child shuffled awkwardly, standing to the side as the two disputed. At the same time, both of them remembered that she was there, listening to it all.
"I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" Maggie sat on a rock, extending out a gentle hand. "Maggie."
"Charlotte," she shyly replied, hesitatingly shaking hands.
The three remained in relative silence, soon concluding that the fog wasn't going to pass for a while, and sleeping there was the most logical option.
△▽△
"No!" a voice squealed in the middle of the night, urgently jolting both Bellamy and Maggie awake. With a quick glance at each other, the two realized it belonged to Charlotte, seemingly having a nightmare.
"Charlotte, wake up," Bellamy shook the girl lightly, resting his hands on her knees that were covered by his jacket as a makeshift blanket.
Upon noticing the two of us staring at her with concern, she cowered into the crevice of the rock, embarrassed. "I'm sorry," her little voice spoke, making Maggie's heart hurt.
"Does it happen often? What are you scared of?" Bellamy questioned as she let out a nervous sigh, not answering his question. "You know what? It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you do about it."
Both of the girls watched the boy's knowing expression, wondering what he was referring to. "But— I'm asleep," Charlotte noted.
Bellamy shook his head. "Fears are fears. Slay your demons when you're awake, and they won't be there to get you when you sleep."
"Yeah, but how?" the blonde inquired, still not catching onto what he was saying.
"You can't afford to be weak," his eyes drifted, glaring at the two of them. "Down here, weakness is death. Fear is death." A moment passed, the three just flickering their gazes at one another. "Lemme see that knife I gave you." Maggie's immediate reaction in her mind was: You gave Charlotte what?
With a skeptical glint her eyes, she took out a small knife from her belt loop and handed it to Bellamy. He held it firmly, almost as if it were a two-foot-long sword, as opposed to a puny blade. "Now when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and say: 'screw you, I'm not afraid.'"
He handed the knife to Magnolia, who gripped onto it with such strength that it made the veins pop out of her wrists and her arm slightly shake. It was a bit childish, but what could she do? Charlotte in fact was a child. "Screw you, I'm not afraid," the girl let out as an example, then allowing Charlotte to copy her actions.
She limply held the knife— if one of them were to attempt to swat it out of her hand, they easily could. "Screw you, I'm not afraid," Charlotte fiddled with the knife, unsure of how to place her fingers around the weapon. Naturally, Bellamy and Magnolia exchanged looks, both knowing she could do much better. A tiny smile peeked out from the corner of his mouth as he tilted his head at Charlotte.
Maggie, as gently as possible, adjusted the positioning of the child's hand wrapped around the knife so that it was being held with an importance. Charlotte watched as she did so, as well as the small nod signaling to do it again. "Screw you, I'm not afraid."
"There you go," Gray brushed the stray flyaways out of her face as Bellamy grinned.
"Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep," he proudly spoke, accomplishing the goal at hand.
Maggie couldn't help but ask herself if that was the same boy that was taking charge of the hundred. She saw him in a different light that evening; it was the side to him that she knew deep down was in fact in there.
The girl picked the skin around her nails with that thought, unable to sleep.
"Havin' trouble slaying your demons, Mags?" Bellamy asked, making her look up, only to see that he was also having trouble returning to a slumber too.
She laughed at his remark, "I could ask you the same question there, Bellamy."
"What do you mean?" he inquired, unable to make out most of the girl's distinct features. It almost felt as if he were speaking into nothingness.
"You know, you should really heed your own advice," Maggie brought her legs into her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "She's a little girl, she's allowed to be afraid. Fear makes you human."
"Not down here she isn't," Bellamy persisted, still not budging to render his original opinion.
"Now lemme ask you this then," Magnolia smiled to herself, pulling another trick out of her sleeve, "Say everyone on the Ark comes down, you mean to tell me that you wouldn't be scared?"
Maggie was met with only silence following her question that, clearly, tested the boy. He sat there, contemplating the best way to go about it.
With a deep sigh, he finally responded, "You're good Mags, I'll give you that."
"Still doesn't answer my question," she snapped back quickly, the hint of a facetious tone underlying her, quite serious, inquiries. She wasn't cocky, but she didn't need Bellamy saying something about the girl that had already been established ages ago. "Seriously. What is it that you're trying to escape? Can't be much worse than me."
"I shot Jaha," he blurted, seeming very anxious about it as soon as the words left his mouth. Magnolia didn't know what to expect, but that was assuredly not it. Not to mention, it came out easy; not much poking or prodding went into it.
"Hmm— not what I was expecting, Blake. Not too shabby," she went back to her usual joking manner, but was met with Bellamy's dark brown, almost black, eyes staring back at her. "So that's how you got a spot on the drop ship, huh? Be with Octavia, is that right? You turned on our loving, endearing chancellor—" She held a dramatic hand on her heart, pretending as if she was distraught. "How could you? I mean—"
"Mags." He paused her; this wasn't some game to him.
"I'm joking," she scoffed as the facade disappeared, even though that was blatantly obvious from one criminal to the other. "Bellamy— you can't screw up things for the others because you're trying to escape your own mistakes. We need people from up there, and I know that you know that."
Much like Maggie had anticipated, he didn't have an answer for her after that. But the silence was enough to prove that she was, in fact, correct. "Magnolia Gray: three. Bellamy Blake: zero. We're very alike, you know that?"
"At least I had a valid reason," Bellamy fired back, making Magnolia bothered by his quick assumptions.
"How would you know whether my reasoning was valid or not?" she objected, offense protruding through her voice. "Besides, I didn't actually kill anyone, keep that in mind. Listen," Maggie's tone softened. She, out of anyone, knew how guilt could mess with someone's head. "You're not a killer. I'm not a murderer. We've all done bad things, Bellamy. It's about how we change our ways and evolve from our mistakes."
The two sat there in silence, eyeing the vague outline of one another's figures, due to the lack of light. "I'm sorry— that was wrong of me. You know, you're not all that bad Mags," Bellamy finally said, laying back down to fall asleep.
"Took you long enough to realize that," she sighed with a grin, nuzzling herself into a ball before trying to go back to sleep.
△▽△
"Anybody out here?" Bellamy shouted into the forest after the three emerged from the cave. "Jones?"
"We're here!" a faint voice responded rather quickly, making them run towards it to find the others.
"Lost you in the stew. Where'd you go?" Bellamy inquired as three people came into the distance; Maggie only recognized Jones and Sterling.
"Made it to a cave down there," Jones pointed behind himself. "Maggie— where'd you come from? The hell was that?"
"Was out on my own beforehand," Magnolia looked to the ground, knowing very well that she shouldn't of been out by herself. Whatever the hell she wanted though. "Some kind of fog, I'm not too sure."
"Wait," Bellamy did a double-take, noticing how there was one person missing from the group. "Where's Atom?"
Seeing everyone giving blank stares towards one another was enough to make Magnolia begin searching the woods for any signs of the boy instantly. She didn't know him well— but she had seen him around with Octavia enough to know him if she saw him. Bellamy said they all made it to safety— he didn't know that; it was just some educated guess.
Everyone split up, and Maggie had Charlotte tag along with her so she wouldn't be on her own. The little girl walked a few feet ahead and soon stopped abruptly, letting out harsh, terrified screams.
"Charlotte, what's wr—" Magnolia sprinted up to the girl, only to see Atom laying on the ground. Were these the effects of the yellow fog? Good thing she hadn't stayed around to check it out the night before, or she could've ended up like the boy. "Oh god. Stay here."
Maggie carefully made her way to the boy, trying to come up with a way to help him. The girl took notice of the welts covering his skin, and the way he was panting heavily— perhaps using all his might to just breathe. His skin was all shades of red, yellow, and purple from all the marks on his body.
"Atom," she knelt down next to him, then seeing his eyes, which had a glassy, light-blue layer over the usual chocolate brown ones.
"K-k-kill m-me," he gasped, trying to get the words out, which was apparently very strenuous.
Magnolia looked down at her belt loop with a worried glance, which had the small knife she took at the drop ship resting there. With shaky breaths and even shakier hands, the girl reached for the handle of it, keeping as tight of a grip on it as possible.
"Mags." Bellamy suddenly spoke from behind her, making the girl flinch due to the nerves fogging up her mind. She couldn't bring herself to kill someone— even if he was suffering, and not to mention, going to die anyway. Her heart was too pure for it, despite everything else she could do. Killing was where the line was drawn— where her tenacious outer shell cracked.
"Kill me," Atom repeated— this time, so Bellamy could hear it for himself.
The others all faded in, crowding around the scene from a short distance. "Go back to camp!" Bellamy exclaimed, resulting in the three turning on their heels and leaving. "Charlotte, you too."
Maggie tried to adjust her grip on the weapon, but the only thing she could hear was the pounding of her own heart; it was ringing in her ears, mocking her.
"Mags, you don't have to—"
"No, I can do it," she mumbled in attempt to regain her composure. The last thing she needed was to seem weak. Bellamy could easily sense that her nerves her messing with her, which was a side she hadn't shown just yet. Was she just feeble underneath all of that bad-assery?
With her senses elevated, Magnolia was able to hear the snap of a twig from a few yards behind her. There stood Clarke to the rescue. In a split second, the blonde got on the ground on the opposing side of the two, taking in Atom's appearance. "I heard screams."
"Charlotte and Mags found him," the boy explained with a nervous undertone. "I sent her back to camp."
The three glanced back down at the boy who was slowly dying. He whimpered, continuing to beg them all to put him out of his misery. Clarke desperately tried to think of a way to save him, but instead she shook her head, beckoning that there was no use. Atom was too far gone to save— certainly without the correct medical supplies.
Clarke spoke in a soft, nurturing tone as she stroked his hair back. "Okay. I'm gonna help you, alright?" Griffin was met with only pained wheezes from Atom as she exhaled deeply, taking the knife from Magnolia's hand. Pressing her lips together, she hummed a melody, jabbing the knife into his neck with ease. The three criminals eyed one another as the blood oozed out, causing him to go silent, and his heart to stop beating fully.
It was horrific— completely sinister, even if their morals were good. If someone told Maggie that she'd be dealing with this on Earth for the rest of her life, she might've just chosen to get floated instead.
Maggie glared at his open neck wound with a blank expression— they couldn't have done anything else. Atom was pining for death to get rid of the suffering. She wasn't shedding a tear, but if she were the one to do it, that would've ruined her. As if she weren't already ruined enough.
Maggie gnawed on her cheek just thinking about Octavia's reaction to this."What about Octavia?"
The Blake sibling looked away, turning his head to the barren woods with a guilty expression on his face that nobody could see or question. "We didn't have a choice."
△▽△
Magnolia and the others knew they were nearing the camp when the orange flame from the fire was in sight. She walked alongside Finn and Clarke, wanting to get the medicine they retrieved into Jasper's system as soon as possible.
"We've gotta get to Jasper. I'll need boiled water to make the medicine," she instructed to Finn as he went to go grab it.
Just before the two were about to go treat the boy inside the drop ship, Octavia came running out. "It's about time. They're gonna kill Jasper. You got the medicine?"
"Yeah, I got it," Clarke turned the girl around, attempting to bring her into the drop ship without her seeing Atom. "Come on. Let's go talk."
Much like Maggie had expected, the girl saw her brother standing at a distance giving orders and went to go check up on him and Atom; her— boyfriend? It didn't matter who he was to Octavia— he was special to her. The two girls had their eyes fixed on the scene that was about to unfold.
"Octavia, just stay there," Bellamy held his younger sister's shoulders, "Please, stay back."
"Stop," she pushed him, going to remove the jacket covering Atom's deceased body. "Atom," a faint whisper escaped her lips, as her despondent eyes scanned the burn marks all over.
"There's nothing I could do—" Bellamy attempted to reason, but was cut off with a hand and his younger sister in tears.
"Don't," Octavia held a strong tone, but soon glanced back down at the boy and covered his face once again.
"O. O, please," the older sibling begged, but she only marched away, leaving the boy alone.
"Let's go," Clarke muttered, aiming to get Magnolia inside, but her feet were firm on the soil below as she watched Murphy and Bellamy begin to argue.
"My what? My what?" he seethed, holding Murphy by the collar.
John shoved Bellamy away in return. "Your little sister."
"Yeah, that's right. My little sister," Bellamy defended Octavia. "Got anything else you wanna say about her?"
"Nothing— sorry."
"Come on," Clarke tapped Maggie's back, and this time the two went into the drop ship.
△▽△
"Smooth," Monty managed to let out between his coughing fit, handing the bottle of alcohol to Octavia. She drank from it with a soured expression.
"Disgusting. Love it," she grimaced, passing it on to Magnolia. The rim of the bottle touched her bottom lip when a voice from behind caught her off guard.
"Can I uh— get a hit of that?" Jasper questioned, lifting his head up just enough to see his friends. The four instantly huddled around him, relieved grins on all of their faces.
Finn took water out of the bucket beside him. "Let's start with the soft stuff." He used one hand to give Jasper the cold water and the other to support his head while doing so. "Welcome back buddy."
Monty firmly gripped his best friend's hand in both of his, and Magnolia felt the familiar knot in her chest. Now of course she was overjoyed that he made it alive, but the girl would give anything to see her best friend.
"Was that a dream or did I get speared?" he rested his eyes, making a couple of them giggle.
"You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it," Clarke appeared, making a few of the teenagers' heads turn.
"My savior!" he innocently replied.
"Thank you for not dying," she sat beside him, across from everyone else. "I don't think I could've taken that today."
"I'll try not to die tomorrow too if that's cool," Jasper commented. Magnolia brushed a piece of hair from his eyes. "Hey, I don't know you!"
"That's Gray," Monty answered for the girl, his eyes meeting with hers. "She stuck up for your ass."
"Nice to meet cha'," his lips curled into a smile. "Thanks for— you know, helping me not die."
"It was my pleasure. Jasper Jordan: 1. Spear: 0."
"I like her!" He exclaimed towards his best friend. "Oh hello," he finally saw Octavia, a small blush creeping to his cheeks that were gaining their color back. He clearly had a favorite. Everyone bursted into laughter, and he soon drifted back off to sleep. It was a miracle he survived, and Maggie was eternally grateful to the mystery medicine that Clarke had retrieved.
△▽△