"We're telling the truth, Bellamy." The repeated words have become a sort of desperate plea. I don't blame his hesitancy; Bellamy wishes to believe his sister has good in her. Truthfully, so do I. Nevertheless, I want to run back down there with him now, to prove the verity in my words.
"I know a lot of shit has gone on," Bellamy glances around the cafeteria, careful to keep his voice low as this level is more full during the designated meal time. Not that there is much food to eat. I've heard mutterings - confusion amidst Wonkru - at their missing 'usual meal'. However when I asked, they assumed it would become dinner again. One meal a day if we choose to stay in the bunker. All of their information has led to my own perplexion which I fear will never be settled. "But I know Octavia wouldn't approve of that human testing," Bellamy says.
"Desperation has a way of making people do the unimaginable," Clarke mutters under her breath. The comment is a helpful addition for my sake, but evidently not Bellamy's sanity as a glaze coats his eyes.
"Honestly, it doesn't matter who created the lab," Monty mutters.
"He's right," I agree sternly. "If those parasites are weaponised and sent into the Valley - everyone we love who is there will be dead," I emphasise. I am grateful that Clarke and Madi are here... but Raven? My mother? They will perish. "Then all of us will be dead as the invasive species will infect the land, making it uninhabitable," I explain. Monty nods his head subconsciously. My sister bites her tongue as her stare evidently zones out into the distance.
Bellamy groans; his hand combing through his hair. "If Octavia knows, she won't listen to me," he admits simply. I regard where Bellamy's eyes land after they depart from me. "We need help," he states.
Indra sits with a group of people. "And who will she listen to?" I question strategically. Monty shakes his head as if eliminating himself as an option.
"Honestly?" Bellamy wonders. Clarke equally shifts backwards in her seat, removing herself. "You," Bellamy decides. His head bows slightly in my direction. I would smile, if not for the sight I glimpsed behind those locked doors.
My chair squeaks when I stand. "Be diplomatic," my sister advises me. I offer her a pursed-lipped expression before my steps take me away from the trio.
The chatter in this area quiets slightly as my footsteps resound in the space. "Indra," I say, stopping near their table. "A moment of your time?" The four people with her stare at me; their brows furrow as if I am interrupting their peace. No one moves. "Privately," I add, pormpting them to leave.
Each head turns towards Indra who nods once. Only then to they leave us. I twist my neck in order to glimpse Monty leaving our table. Clarke and Bellamy both remain seated and watching. "What?" I hear Indra say impatiently. I turn around, coming to take a seat directly across from her. Indra's body twists in order to see Bellamy and Clarke. The pair immediately look away as if not trying to overhear. "Do your scheming friends want to join in on our conversation?" Indra questions causally.
The smirk on Indra's face causes me to smile. Then I remember the weight of the situation and the expression quickly falls. "Would Cooper ever do anything without Octavia's approval?" I inquire.
"Only if she got mine first," she explains. Indra leans closer to me as her brows crease. "But since I don't know what the hell you're on about, it is hard to say," she mutters shortly after.
I'm glad that Indra doesn't know about the worms. Well, she may be lying to me to sustain our friendship and her leader's plan, but I trust this woman. "Cooper has brought back the worms," I tell Indra. Her eyes widen, just for a moment, but it is enough for me to see that she is telling the truth. If Indra isn't involved, then this is Octavai's territory. "In the old lab," I clarify, "she is breeding them..." my words trail off as the image enters my mind. "Human testing."
Indra leans back away from me once more. "Why would she do that?" Indra wonders. She thinks that I'm lying?
"I don't know," I retort matter-of-factly. Monty and I have already brainstormed what their uses could be. Ultimately, it is evidently a factor that will give her an advantage in this potential war. Nevertheless, Shallow Valley is far from here. Cooper would need to plan how to deliver the worms and Monty's hypothesis is that human bodies could work as packages. "I am thankful that you don't know about it," I say pointedly to Indra. "Equally I was hoping for some clarity," I add as an afterthought.
I have lost Indra's attation as her gaze flicks around the room. Indra's eyes finally come back to my figure. "Show me," she instructs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indra instructed Isaac to retrieve both Octavia and Cooper to meet her down there. I told Clarke that I wanted to check on Madi during these next steps in case they blow up. My sister and Bellamy reminded me that neither of them know where to go without Monty - who has left us. Thus, Clarke is going to find Madi whilst Bellamy, Indra and I headed down to the lab. We managed to get in with Indra's key; an item that she has had but never thought to use it on this random room - why would she?
"Your fight is over, Tarik, from Shallow Valley Clan," Indra says gently. It was hard to watch the same mortified expression latch onto both Bellamy and Indra's features when we first entered the room. She presses a button on the side of the chamber. My eyes linger on the blinking red light signifying how oxygen will be readily lost. Tarik - who remains unconscious - will have a much more peaceful death through suffocation.
"I'm sorry," Bellamy mutters side along to me.
I twist to look up at him. "What do you mean?" I wonder quietly.
He shakes his head slowly. "I trust you," Bellamy says. Indra turns and watches our conversation from where she stands near the testing area. "I'm sorry I didn't immediately believe-"
"No," I interrupt Bellamy. His mouth stays parted as if he still wants to utter all the apologies I see written in his eyes. "I wouldn't believe me either," I admit. My gaze returns to the sights of this room. It's barbaric. Inhumane. I haven't seen anything like this in years.
The echo of a hatch steals my attention. Bellamy, Indra and I all turn to watch Octavia and Cooper as they walk inside. I note how Isaac did not come down with them. "What the hell are they doing here, Indra?" Cooper is the first to speak - biting the question in our direction - as their steps halt meters away.
"You wanted to see me?" Octavia asks. My eyes narrow on her form. She has walked into this room and now poses a question entirely nonchalant? I feel Bellamy's stare burn into my figure and chose to face him. His sister knows.
"You knew about this?" Indra retorts with a pang of betrayal coating her tone.
"Of course I knew about this," Octavia states simply. "It was my idea." I feel the moment that Bellamy's posture truly shifts, his confident aura diminishing. "We're up against an army with superior firepower and every geographic advantage," Octavia explains as if it excuses her actions.
"They only moved in a week ago," I scoff. "Clarke and I know the land better seeing as we lived there for six years," I emphasise the timeframe. Bellamy remains quiet as his sister walks closer towards the three of us.
"Not the point," Octavia says, shutting down my input. "This," her left hand raises to gesture throughout the room,"is how we overcome the disadvantage."
I don't control the way my face contorts once more. "What happens when your 'solution' destroys the land that you're fighting for?" I demand. Bellamy chuffs - the first sound I have heard from him in a while - and I regard how Indra merely shakes her head. The motion is not in defiance of my words, but disappointment for Octavia.
"Actually I ran some tests," Cooper adds to the conversation. "The worms cannot survive in a lush environment for more than a few days so that means we simply give them long enough to kill everyone before we get there," she rambles. A dread settles heavy in my chest. We have seen this play out before; to live without appreciation for what a life is worth. I refuse to go back to the violence of war, not when it is avoidable.
"Are we really having this conversation?" Bellamy utters, his voice low. "Our friends are there - people we love," he stresses. At the final word Bellamy's gaze flickers over to me. My friend, too. My mother.
"Acceptable losses," Octavia mutters. Her stare trails back down to the floor, then over to our position. Octavia's eyes narrow on us as she glances between Indra and the chamber. "Cooper, check the worms," she orders. Both Octavia and Cooper approach us, but instead of stopping once more, Cooper continues to go past. "How many innocent lives have you sacrificed?" Octavia questions of me. "And your sister, Wanheda," she spits and I am glad that Clarke is not here right now.
This is not fair. "You will be-" Regrettful? Scarred? It doesn't matter what I'm trying to say as Octavia stomps once.
"This is no different," she sneers. "You have all," her eyes latch onto her brother, "been in situations where you want to save your people. So am I." Indra, Bellamy and I regard the girl as the words sink in for everyone.
"You killed him," Cooper says, breaking the silence. Our heads twist to see where she stands by the man's body inside.
"No," Indra retorts, stepping closer to Cooper as if to stand her ground. "You did," she spits.
I glance back at Octavia as she shifts on her toes. "Him?" She wonders softly. There is one main emotion coating her tone and that is confusion.
"Oh now this is interesting," I chime in, suddenly feeling very confident. My fingers graze over Bellamy's forearm as I turn back for Cooper's reply. I glimpse the light in his eyes; this may not be on his sister after all.
"Blodriena, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but the results were remarkable,"Cooper rapidly excuses. "The worms reproduced three times quicker in a live body and we need quantity," she explains. My mouth parts at the mortifying defense argument. "The body would be able to survive long enough for a defector to board a ship and be taken to the valley," Cooper concludes.
"Octavia you need to stop this," I blurt out. As soon as Diyoza's ship comes back in order to collect more defectors, we're screwed.
"Spare me the hypocracy- all three of you!" Octavia waves her hand infront of Bellamy, Indra and I. "Miller told me about the man you irradiated in Becca's lab," she adds, looking pointedly from the dead body in the chamber then back to me.
"O, please," Bellamy steps in, physically shifting his form to accompany the words.
"I don't want anything to happen to your friends, Bellamy," Octavia says honestly. A pitiful glaze coats her eyes and a tingle goes down my spine. "Please believe that," she urges. Ultimately, the statement is empty. Actions speak louder than words. "But this is war," Octavia straightens her back once more. "After we control the eye in the sky, we send the worms," she says. Octavia turns on her heel, her hair flowing over her shoulder. "It's time for Wonkru to go home," I hear her utter as if thinking aloud.
I spare Bellamy a look before following his sister's path. "You don't deserve that home," I make clear. Octavia's movement ceases as she hesitates turning around; contemplating whether or not this argument is worth her time. "Shallow Valley is not a place for wars and wretched human things," I emphasise.
Finally Octavia twists her body ever so slowly. "And you did deserve it?" She questions, her voice low with confidence at the jeer.
"No," I admit honestly. "But I tried to honour it - to cherish the Earth and how it saved us," I explain. My body refrains from turning back to gaze at Bellamy. His image was much nicer in that forest than the Wasteland. It is nicest of all right now and I crave its comfort. "I won't let you destroy it," I bite out, centering myself in reality.
Octavia watches me with a stern gaze. "Then you - and your sweet family - are an enemy of Wonkru," Octavia makes clear with a pained expression. "And my sweet brother," she shifts slightly in the direction of Bellamy, "truly will have no one left after all this is done," Octavia deduces. Her mask falters for one second. Yet it doesn't fill me with reassurance, no, her confidence wanes because even though she may not want to threaten me, she will kill me all the same. "So what's it going to be?" She wonders after regaining that stoic image.
I dare a step closer to Octavia, ensuring that only her and I can hear what I am going to say next. "Sometimes," I begin soft and slow, "in order to reflect on my actions, I ask myself what the people I love would think of me." I watch Octavia's eyes flick across my face in analysis as if trying to predict where this will go. "My father, my sister, Bellamy. Now even my daughter." A fear enters her expression but she masks it well. I feel my lips tug into a tight line. "If Lincoln saw all that you're doing, what would he think?" Octavia's posture turns rigid as she evidently contemplates my words. Her stiffness is an indication that this thought is not a new one, but merely one she has pushed away to the deepest parts of her soul in order to ignore.
It is easy to walk out of the room when I choose to. I do so knowing that my words held great meaning.
~~~~~