Day Trip

                                    

                                          


                          




Since the day Murphy was banished and Clove had been outed for her crime on the Ark, the Coleman girl hadn't done much talking. Aside from Fox, Monty, and Jasper, hardly anybody even tried to speak to her. She had managed to befriend Miller, who couldn't care less about her killer status. Other than that, she just followed orders and did what she could to help, not wanting to piss anybody off — which was something she used to do just for fun. 
                          
"So many nuts," Fox sighed, pausing her packing to throw one in her mouth. 
                          
"Clove," Clarke came up next to the table they were packing food on. "You're next to talk to your family. Go ahead in." 
                          
"Thanks," Clove nodded, setting the stuff in her hand down, giving a look to Fox that almost resembled a smile. 
                          
After a short walk, she took a seat in front of the screen, grinning widely when she saw two faces. "Papa! Emilio!" 
                          
"Scrappy!" Emilio exclaimed, smiling ear to ear. "I've missed you so much."
                          
"I didn't know you still called her that," Clove's father, Caesar, added, chuckling. "Clove, honey, I know I was never the most affectionate father. I'm sorry I didn't tell you more how much I love you. Te amo tanto mi querida." 
                          
"Yo te quiero más. It's okay," Clove sighed. "I didn't tell you enough either. Besides, I always knew. I've always known you would do anything for me. I love you both."
                          
"Your mother would be proud," Caesar spoke softly. 
                          
"No she wouldn't. She would hate me," Clove retorted, her eyes glistening with grief. 
                          
"Don't say that, Clove," Her father berated, his amber eyes firm. "Your mother would have done anything for her family — she did do anything for her family. You did what you had to do, honey." 
                          
"Who knows where would be without you, CJ," Emilio added, tears welling in his eyes, too. "We want to be on the first dropship but..."
                          
Clove blinked rapidly, inhaling deeply and cut him off, "I get it. The privileged go first. That's okay, I don't plan on dying anytime soon so I'll be here waiting." 
                          
Caesar looked beyond the screen and nodded. "It's time for us to go, Clove. I love you. I'll see you soon." 
                          
"I love you, too," Emilio added, wiping his face. 
                          
"I love you both. Goodbye," She answered, waiting until they were offscreen to lean over and let a few silent sobs out. Chancellor Jaha came on screen and told her to go get a kid named Dax, which she did. 
                          
"How was it?" Fox inquired. When Clove only shrugged, Fox handed her some more nuts. "Here. It's Kayla and Orion's shift now, we have a break." 
                          
"Okay," Clove popped a few of the nuts into her mouth. She'd snuck a fair amount of them throughout the day as she was packing. She figured they were already being grown, it won't be too difficult to find more if a few happen to go missing. 
                          
When Fox mentioned talking to Harper, one of the many who didn't love Clove right now, the Coleman girl said they could catch up later and took a seat by herself on the edge of the dropship's door, watching the delinquents in the camp intently. 
                          
She noticed a few of them were acting funny, causing her to giggle slightly. She looked at Jasper sitting with a stick in his arms, his eyes wide and darting everywhere. Clove brought a hand up and waved to both him, and his twin who seemed to be sitting beside the real Jasper. They both waved back and Clove nodded contently. 
                          
She turned her head and jumped at what she saw. Clove's hand was covered in a thick, dark crimson. She brought both her hands in front of her and turned them over again and again, inspecting all the blood. Clove quickly looked up to see if anybody was watching her, then tried to wiped the blood on her shirt. It didn't make a difference, and that's when she noticed a trail of the very same fluid, instantly deciding it was a smart idea to follow it. 
                          
Clove's boots crushed the ground beneath her, the sound being so loud in her ears that she had to cover them with her bloody hands, smearing the scarlet all over the sides of her head and making her sticky in addition to how greasy it already was. Following the trail of blood, she stumbled upon an unconscious body and herself. 
                          
"Okay, Clove," Other Clove spoke, rubbing her shaky hands together. "You can do this. You can do this just... all you have to do is—is kill somebody." 
                          
Other Clove collapsed onto the ground, bawling as her entire body shook. "I can't do this. How can I do this? This man probably has a family... he has people who care about him." 
                          
The real Clove watched, her body frozen as the encounter happened right before her very eyes. "Do it for him, C. I know it's hard, and it's going to sit at the back of your mind for years to come, constantly weighing you down, but what other option is there?" She urged, hot droplets falling onto her dirty cheeks. 
                          
"No, you're right. I have to do it," Other Clove breathed, wiping her face. She kneeled over the unconscious body and held a knife over his throat. "Tell him I love him, okay?" 
                          
Real Clove choked as she weeped. "I-I will... I will." 
                          
Clove then screwed her eyes shut, not daring to look as her other self brought the knife to the guard's neck. Despite not having her eyes open, she still saw everything; every movement, every tear, and all the blood. Shaking her head, Clove began walking backwards, which resulted in her tripping over a rock and falling hard onto the soil, immediately feeling a sharp pain in her back.
                          
"Get up, baby spice."
                          
Clove opened her eyes and saw a two year old Clove on the ground whimpering. "Mommy?" 
                          
"Yes, Clove?" Her mother, Isis, smiled, bending down and grabbing the child's hand.
                          
"It hurts," Young Clove sniffled, rubbing her scraped knee. 
                          
"I know," Isis sympathized. "But you know what do you when you fall?" Young Clove shook her head. "When you fall, you always get up. No matter how much it hurts, my child. You get up." 
                          
Young Clove coughed and nodded, putting her hands on the ground and pushing herself off the ground. "Like that?" 
                          
"Just like that, baby spice." 
                          
Present Clove took a deep breath. "Get up, Clove," She said aloud, wincing and groaning as she tried to sit up. That's going to be sore in the morning. "Always get up." Clove reached out, gripping a tree to pull herself off the ground. 
                          
When she was all the way up, Clove cried loudly, hugging the tree, not caring that the bark was scratching up her face. She cried for a few minutes, until somebody touched her shoulder. Clove screamed a turned around, seeing Raven. 
                          
"Hi," Raven spoke. "Want to come with me?"
                          
Clove nodded and sniffed. "Yeah, I think so... Also, I think I fell on a rock."
                          
"Okay," Raven laughed. "I guess you being aware of that is a good sign. Clarke should be back soon." 
                          
"Is it just me or..." Clove trailed off, looking down. 
                          
"Or what?" 
                          
Or is there blood on my hands?