𝟐.𝟐𝟎

───── 「BRIGHT IDEA」 ─────

     We had managed to find a way out –Monty, Jasper, Maya, and me– trying to take them to safety once I realized the Grounders had betrayed us, not expecting anyone to be at the other side of that door, let alone my sister. But I was so grateful, so happy to see her after having feared for so long that she might have... gotten hurt. I enjoyed reunions as much as the next person, but I had to cut it short because we were running out of time.

- "I'm sorry to ruin the reunion but where is your army?" –I rushed them before facing Clarke and my sister- "And where's Sam?"

- "Gone, just like yours." –Clarke confessed and sighed- "Please, tell me you have a plan."

- "Not really."

- "You know who'd have a plan?" –Octavia interrupted us with an eyebrow raised as Clarke went stiff- "Sam would. Where is my sister, Clarke? You've been avoiding telling me about her since you came in. I need to know."

Wait, what's going on.

- "Is she okay?" –I tried to sound calm but inside I was afraid something had happened to her- "Please, tell me she didn't blow up with the missile."

- "No, we both survived that." –Octavia soothed my worries- "After that, I came to the tunnels with Indra and she stayed at the door with Sheda." –I gave her a questioning look- "One of Lexa's warriors, nothing you should worry about." –she smiled at me.

- "Then, where is she?" –I faced Clarke- "We all know Sam would never turn her back on us."

- "After Lexa let Emerson go and just before she sounded the retreat and everyone left..." –Clarke paused as if the next thing she was going to say burnt her tongue- "...she... she followed Emerson inside."

- "What?"

- "I couldn't stop her!" -Clarke gave me an apologetic look- "I thought she would have found you by now, but seeing she's not with you... maybe Emerson saw her follow him inside and caught her..."

- "No." –Octavia's voice was strong- "Sam's too clever for that; I'm sure she's fine."

- "How can you know?" –Clarke questioned almost annoyed- "We have no way of communicating with her."

- "She's my sister; if she were dead, I'd know and so would you." –Octavia touched my chest defiantly- "Sam is alive."

- "Why did she follow him inside instead of coming here with you?" –I faced Clarke.

- "Sam's an extremely impulsive person. When everything went down, none of us there knew what to do and Sam did what she thought was best."

- "How is going straight into the slaughterhouse the best choice? I know Sam wants to save everyone, but that sounds extreme even for her."

- "Bellamy," –Clarke sighed- "I'm sure she'd like to tell you herself."

- "Tell me what."

- "She went in for you." –Octavia breathed out.

- "No." –I shook my head in denial- "That can't be. She could have waited."

- "She said she wasn't going to risk it." -I glanced back at Clarke, not managing to make sense of any of it; I couldn't believe Sam had willingly walked into hell to look for me; she couldn't... she shouldn't have- "When Sam told Sheda she was going in, he told her to wait until we figured another way in but she refused. She said she was not going to wait and risk losing you."

My jaw could have probably hit the floor if it weren't attached to the rest of my skull; I was the reason Sam could be dead by now.

- "This is my fault. She's going to get hurt because of me." –I murmured turning around, ready to go inside the Mountain to find her- "I have to find her. I can't... I need to find her."

- "Bellamy, wait." –Octavia stopped me- "We need a plan."

- "I have a plan: find Sam before they do and get her out of here."

- "Bellamy, I know how you feel about Sam and the urge you're feeling to go after her without one, but you can't do that; we need a real strategy that won't get you killed."

- "I have to find her, she's in there because of me, O... I can't leave her alone... I..."

- "Don't do this to yourself. You know Sam, she's a daredevil; no one could have stopped her from going in, not even you."

- "Octavia, she went inside to find me." -I emphasized the last word- "I'm the reason she could be dead by now and if she is I'll never forgive myself..."

- "Love is a complicated thing, isn't it?" –O smiled patting my back- "You and I both know Sam's ways. Sure, she's impulsive, reckless, and stubborn, but she won't go down without a fight, a big one most likely. She's probably around, checking where everyone is, punching some guards..."

- "But what if..."

- "I refuse to think she's going to die without you both getting together. I haven't been rooting for you two since we landed for it to end like this." –Octavia gave me a soft smile- "Not happening, big brother. Besides, I found a sister and she's not getting rid of me that easily."

I appreciated O's optimism but I still couldn't get rid of the guilt that was eating me alive. I can't lose her, I... I have to find her...

- "I'm sure she's fine." –Maya's voice caught my attention- "If she's just like Jasper described her, she'll be fine."

- "You're not supposed to go around telling people what I tell you about them, you know?" –Jasper chuckled making us all smile- "So, what's the plan?"

- "We need to talk to Dante." -I tried to think rationally- "Maya says he's in quarantine."

We soon devised a plan, everyone walking back inside the mountain. I had just one thing in my mind: Sam. I had to find her, even if that was the last thing I did.

     Following Emerson inside Mount Weather could have been ranked as the worst idea I had had yet, which was saying a lot coming from me, but I wasn't about to leave my friends to die who knew how because of this group of idiotic people. Once I went in, I saw Emerson going down some stairs as two guards remained next to them, talking to each other, not really paying attention to the Grounders leaving, probably because they were all too beaten up to stand a fight. My best chance was to hide from them until they closed the door and so that's what I did.

- "They are all out now. Let's close this up, we have another mission and we need to suit up."

One of them said and moved towards the door as the other started going down the stairs and I saw my chance. Once the first guard closed the door and turned around, I popped up from my hideout and walked carefully behind him until I was close enough to cover his mouth with one of my hands and slit his throat with the knife I had in the other; I quickly took his weapons and hid his body, letting it fall and make a sound once it hit the ground, so that, hopefully, the other guy would come back up, making it easier for me to get him.

- "Reynold, what happened? Did you drink too much before coming up and fell?" –the other guard came up the stairs with a laugh- "Where are you? We don't have time for games, we have things..."

As he was talking, he approached both the body and me and, once he saw his dead companion, he tried to reach for his radio but I jumped behind him fast enough, stabbing him on his lower back. He fell to the ground and tried to take the radio, again.

- "I think I'll take that."

I caught his radio as he tried to fight back, already bleeding out, but I decided to put him out of his misery faster, so I stabbed him in the heart and he stopped moving once and for all. I took my time to make sure I got all his weapons and ammunition, just in case; although it wasn't much at all. When I was sure I had everything and that there was no one else there, I made my way to the stairs and started going down thinking of Clarke's map and everything I had heard about the Mountain. I was pretty sure my friends should be in level 5 but there was no way I could just walk in right through the door.

Come on, let's think for a second. There have to be air vents or a trash disposal system I can use to get through the levels, I think Bellamy used those. I knew the only level people from the mountain could be was Level 5, the only one that hadn't been radiated, so I got down until I saw a door that read "Level 4" and walked right through it. That was offensively easy; but if all the work I have to do is like this, I'm not complaining.

I walked around Level 4, not finding the bloody trash thing, but I did find an elevator. I stopped in front of it to think for a second and chose to open the doors lightly to see if it would trigger any alarms to go off; luckily, it didn't. The things I do for these people. Once I had managed to get the doors to open enough for me to pass by them, I placed one of the guard's rifles in between them to force them to stay open while I carefully moved inside the elevator's shaft. I looked up and down to check where the actual elevator was, finding it exactly below me. Of course. That better not collapse once I'm inside or set off any alarms, I didn't come this far to get caught. I climbed down to the elevator and lightly opened the small door on its ceiling to get inside, only to find a body rooting inside. Gross. She was wearing a white coat, she was probably the doctor.

Wait a second, if the doctor's dead, whose killing my friends now? Yeah, sure they have more doctors, but are they all in on it? I would seriously hope not.

     After leaving Octavia with Jasper to help Maya get to Level 5, Monty, Bellamy, and I made our way to Level 3 where Dante was being held in quarantine. Back to where we started. We entered his room, whose walls were covered in different pieces of art, and he stood up as soon as he heard us come in.

- "Hello, Clarke."

- "Sir, we need your help again." –Bellamy spoke on my left.

- "It's okay." –Monty spoke from my right- "I took out the camera from the junction box in the hall. We can talk freely."

- "No one's watching anyway." –Dante was quick to answer- "Thanks to you, they're all on Level 5."

- "You're not." –I spoke knowing what it meant.

- "I'm not."

- "Please, we don't have much time." –Bellamy rushed us- "We need a way to get all our people out without killing everyone."

- "He's not gonna help us." –I spoke seeing the expression on his face.

- "You cut the power risking the lives of everyone in this mountain, my people; even the ones who helped you."

- "We knew they'd be safe on Level 5." –I walked up to him, standing now directly in front of him- "We've made sure not to destroy the turbines so you could repair them. We're the good guys here, not you."

- "Tell me, if we released your people and theirs, what would have happened to mine?"

I turned to look at Monty, avoiding Dante.

- "Can you get us into the command center? We need to see what's happening on Level 5."

- "No problem."

- "Let's go then." –Bellamy moved to Dante and pushed him to walk in front of him- "You're gonna help us whether you like it or not."

     I looked at the elevator's panel that seemed to still be working. Should I just push the button to open the doors or should I open them manually? Do these things make a noise when they open? I guess we're about to find out. I left the hatch door on the elevator's ceiling open in case I needed to go back fast, although I hoped it wouldn't come to it. I placed my ear on the elevator's closed door to see if I could hear anything. A lot of voices but they seemed to be decently far away from there. Wait, footsteps. I was almost certain they weren't coming to take the elevator but still, I held my breath as they approached me.

- "Sir, there's something wrong. Reynold and Paxton are missing."

- "Didn't they go with Emerson to get the rest of the Ark people?"

Wait, what? How long have I been down here?

- "No, sir. They didn't make it. Emerson says he last saw them when he came back in."

- "Did any of the kids escape?"

- "No, sir. A couple of guys and I could put on some suits and go check the first level."

- "Do it fast."

- "Yes, sir."

Well, that means they are about to find out I'm here. I need to do something now. I stood put until the footsteps left and I could only hear faded voices. I forced the elevator doors open and looked at both sides, deciding to make a right and walk away from the voices. Soon enough I heard a weird noise, like a drill, followed by a fainted scream. Oh, no. I moved closer to the sound when a door opened and I had to think fast, choosing to open a random door and hiding inside the room. I carefully looked outside through the dirty and small door's window to see two more guards walking in the direction I had come from. Now, that was a close call.

I took a deep breath and walked out to the hallway again and towards the door they had come from. The screams had ceased now as well as the drilling. I looked through that door's window and I had to blink a couple of times to make sure I wasn't dreaming: everyone was in there; from Miller to his father, Harper, Abby, and even Raven. All were chained to the walls, while two doctors removed a body from a table, carefully watched by four guards.

- "She's next." –a guard said pointing out at Raven.

No, no, no, this is not happening. I moved back from the door and checked the only gun I had to count the bullets it had: 5. This should do it; if not, I always have my blades. I took a deep breath and looked again through the window. Two guards were putting Raven down on the table while the other two kept an eye on the rest of my people. Now is as good of a time as it'll get.

I threw the door open, startling everyone inside just as I intended, everyone turning their faces to me as the two guards that weren't tying Raven up turned around to shoot me. I raised my gun, shooting them both first. The two doctors ran away through another door as soon as they saw me.

- "Where did she come from?" –a guard that had taken cover behind some cages yelled.

- "From Hell, it's Judgement's day!" –I said shooting again, hitting him in the arm.

Fuck, I don't have enough bullets to waste them like this. A mild pain made me look to my left, to see the fourth guy that I had forgotten about coming straight towards me, as a bullet brushed my left forearm.

- "Careful not to hit the girl from the Ark." -one of them shouted- "Just kill the Grounder."

I guess Sheda did a great job after all. I thought smiling to myself and shooting him in the leg.

- "You bitch!"

The guard from behind the cages had serious aim issues for he didn't seem to be able to hit me, maybe it had to do with his bleeding arm.

- "Please, no bad words in front of the kids."

I grinned and shoot him in the chest, getting rid of him. I kicked the last guard in the head to make sure he wouldn't bother me, for I had only one more bullet and I didn't know if I'd need it later.

- "Samantha, you need to leave!" –Sergeant Miller pleaded.

- "I just got rid of the guards, why would I leave?" –I said moving towards Raven, caressing her cheek- "Hey, it's okay."

- "Samantha, there are more guards in..." –Kane was talking when another voice interrupted him.

- "Get her! Now!" -I turned my face towards the double doors through which the doctors had flown and saw two more guards pointing their guns at me- "Surrender now and we won't shoot."

- "Fuck." –I looked down at Raven.

- "Go, please." –she whispered, trembling- "Sam..."

- "I promise, I'll come back for you. You're not dying while I'm here."

- "Please,"  –Raven had tears in her eyes- "save yourself."

- "Shut up and hand the gun over."

- "Suit yourself!"

I yelled shooting my last bullet at them before throwing the gun their way and running back to the elevator. I needed a new plan. A better plan. And I needed it fast because Raven's life was on the line.

     We were just outside the command center waiting for Monty to get the door open. I had hoped Sam would have come here but she was nowhere to be seen. I knew I had to keep a cool head, but I couldn't help thinking of everything that could go wrong, of not finding Sam, of not being fast enough and only getting to her to watch her die in my arms. I shut my eyes hard, trying to push those thoughts away.

- "I've told you, everyone's on Level 5."

- "I'm not looking for one of yours."

- "Bellamy, not now." –Clarke warned me- "Why aren't you there, then?"

- "After what I've done they can be free." –Dante looked at her- "I can't." –he sighed- "Deliverance comes at a cost. I bear it so they don't have to."

- "It wasn't Cage." –I confronted him- "It was your idea to make the deal with the Grounders."

Dante nodded in response just as Monty got the door open. I walked in first, to make sure there was no one there.

- "Let's get the monitors up."

- "I'm on it."

Monty was quick to get everything started and soon the screens in front of us lightened up, each showing different things.

- "We're in."

- "Is that Raven?"

She was lying down on something and all tied up to it and four guards were on the floor, most likely dead. What the fuck.

- "What happened?" –Clarke looked at Dante.

- "I don't know."

- "There!" -Monty pointed at another screen next to us where we could see someone running away from a couple of guards- "What's a Grounder doing in here? I thought they were all gone."

- "That's no Grounder." –Clarke looked up at me, but I didn't need her to tell me; I'd recognize her anywhere, no matter what clothes she wore or the paint on her face- "That's Sam."

- "I need to go help her." –I didn't hesitate, moving towards the door- "Level 5?"

- "No," -Clarke stopped me, pulling me back- "you won't get there in time and they could catch you."

- "What should I do then?" -I faced her, feeling anger running through my veins- "Stay safe here and watch her die again? I can't lose Sam, Clarke!"

- "Guys..."

Monty drew our attention back to the monitors and my heart clenched in my chest.