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Chapter 3: The ground
🕑 Added 2025-10-02 14:34:09 +0000 UTCJason walked back toward Clarke, who was crouched near Wells, examining his swollen ankle with careful hands. He leaned down slightly, his voice low but steady.
"When are we heading for Mount Weather?"
Clarke looked up briefly, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. "Right now. And… thank you, for standing up for Wells earlier."
Jason shrugged, as if it was nothing. "Don't mention it." Finn strolled over then, pipe slung lazily against his shoulder. "So when's the big hike? I'm itching to move."
Jason spoke before Clarke could answer, tone practical.
"Now. But let's be smart, five or six of us can carry more than just three. Supplies for a hundred isn't something you sling over your shoulder and call it a day."
Finn nodded thoughtfully. "Got it." He spun around and clapped both Monty and Jasper on the shoulders. "Congratulations, boys. You've been drafted." Then he looked back at Jason and Clarke with a smirk. "Five of us. Happy?"
"Sounds like a party," Octavia chimed in suddenly, jogging over with a mischievous grin. "Make it six."
Bellamy appeared immediately, hand closing around her arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Going for a walk," Octavia shot back, eyes sliding deliberately toward Jason. Jason watched the exchange, amused. Finn was trying and failing to flirt with Octavia, and Bellamy looked like he was about to pop a vein. Jason let his mind wander instead, turning over deductions about his enhanced body.
Radiation was practically Meaningless. His system was too efficient with its cell regeneration, toxin filtering, durability far beyond the rest of the group. Acid fog, poisons, even irradiated food. The things that might kill the others would barely scratch him now and that felt euphoric.
Nature was cruel but it always adapted, and so had he. Unlike them, Jason didn't need to worry about the silent killers of this planet.
Still… he frowned. 'What exactly happens here in the show? I remember something about Octavia and a grounder, but… dammit. Why can't I remember? My brain should be sharper now. So Why—'
His thoughts derailed at Octavia's voice.
"Hey, move it, sexy." Jason blinked back into focus, catching Clarke giving him a look from the side. "Hey, guys, would you try to keep up?" Clarke called from ahead.
Jason smirked. "Clarke, it's our first time in a forest. You can't expect us not to get distracted."
"Yeah, Clarke. How do you block all this out?" Finn added, spinning around once.
Clarke's tone turned matter-of-fact. "Simple. I wonder why we haven't seen any animals. Maybe because there are none. Or maybe we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us. Sure is pretty, though."
"There are animals," Jason countered calmly.
Clarke stopped, giving him a sharp look. "How do you know?"
"Because nature always finds a way. It adapts. Besides…" Jason gestured ahead, voice dipping slightly. "There's one right there."
The group followed his gaze, expressions puzzled. Jason moved forward silently, crouching and raising a fist to signal them to stop. In a small clearing, a stag grazed quietly.
Monty's eyes went wide. "Where—?"
Before Jason could hush him, Finn stepped forward and snap! His foot broke a branch.
The stag lifted its head, revealing a grotesquely mutated face, half bone and twisted flesh.
Everyone recoiled in horror. Jason's lips curled in faint disgust. "There's your animal. Could be dinner too, if you don't mind the face."
The stag bolted, vanishing into the forest. They pressed on. Conversation picked up again, this time softer, cautious.
"Jasper," Jason said after a while, "what's the deal with you and Monty?" Jasper grinned, jerking his thumb at Monty. "Oh, we've been friends forever. My parents are chemists, his family grows all the meds on the Ark."
Jason nodded and glanced at Octavia, opening his mouth, but she cut him off with a smirk. "What? You wanna know my story? Being born." He raised an eyebrow at her. She tried to jog ahead, but he caught her forearm and pulled her gently back.
"No. I already know your story. Sixteen years hidden away. That takes strength. And it's not your fault." Her smirk faltered. "How?"
Jason shrugged. "It's not exactly a secret. But it's also not something that should've happened. You don't have to hide anymore, not here. On Earth, you're free."
'Well… not entirely, he thought grimly, but no need to tell her that.'
Octavia's eyes softened, just for a moment. Then the group walked in silence until Finn broke it. "Why today? Why after 97 years?"
Octavia laughed bitterly. "Who cares? I was rotting in a cell. Now I'm spinning in a forest." She stuck close to Jason, much to Clarke's silent annoyance.
Monty started guessing about satellites until Clarke finally cut in, her voice sharp. "It wasn't a satellite. The Ark is dying."
The weight of her words hung heavy. Clarke laid it all out: three months of life support left, her father's discovery, the council's silence, her mother's betrayal, Wells' part in it.
By the end, Monty and Jasper were pale, Finn restless, Octavia furious.
"Then don't take off your wristbands," Clarke finished.
"Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all," Octavia spat before storming ahead.
Jason sighed. "Wow. Cold. Most of them are innocent, Octavia. But sure, float them all." His words went unheard, she was already stripping her pants off by the lake.
Jason frowned. 'Wait. Something happens here, doesn't it?'
"Octavia! What the hell are you doing?" Clarke shouted. Octavia turned, winked at Jason, and dove into the lake. The others cheered, already pulling at their clothes.
Jason's instincts screamed. "Wait! Nobody get in the water."
He scanned the lake and then he saw something in it. Movement. Something slicing through the water with speed. His gut dropped. 'Shit. River snake'.
"Octavia, get out! Now!" Jason roared.
The others froze as the massive, scaled serpent surged toward her. Octavia, paralyzed in fear, barely moved. Jason didn't waste another second as he snatched a thick branch from the ground and hurled it with all his enhanced strength. The makeshift spear tore through the air like a missile, streaking toward the beast.
He didn't wait to see the result. With a single step, Jason dove into the lake.
