Chapter 40

~~~~~~~~unedited~~~~~~~~

Liam

Thoughts and 'what ifs?' cloud Liam's mind as he desperately searches camp for Addison through the swarms of terryified delinquents. His hands clasp together behind his head and continues to scan every face his eyes can lock onto; but no such luck.

"No, no, no..." he mumbles under his breath, bringing his hands back to his sides. "Come on, Addison... where are you?"

The thought of asking Raven crosses Liam's mind, but he immediately shoots it down. He doesn't want to risk getting her sick by him just simply being in the dropship with the sick. Dawson was already sick, and he didn't want that list getting any longer. He curses under his breath and presses his lips in a frustrated line before marching back to the dropship. He jogs up the ramp and swipes the tarp covering out of his way.

"You shouldn't be—"

"We've got a problem," he cuts Clarke off, his voice full of urgency as she glances his way from the boy she's tending to.

Clarke drapes a damp rag across the sick boy's forehead. "What do you mean we have a problem?" her voice is hoarse as she slowly gets to her feet, using the dropship's wall for support. "Where's Addison?" she turns to face Liam, blue eyes half shut and full of exhaustion, as he shoots Dawson a worried look.

He sighs, turning his attention away from him, and to Clarke. "Yeah, that's the problem..." he shrugs, "she's not here."

Clarke sighs heavily, rubbing her forehead with the back of her left hand. Her lips press together in thought, before she comes up with her next words. "Have you checked—"

"She wasn't at her post and I can't find Octavia."

"That's because I already sent her to Lincoln," Clarke breathes out, walking across the dropship to a young auburn-haired girl, who looks worse than the boy she was previously tending to.

A stressful sigh escapes Liam's lips. "Does Octavia know that she's missing?" he finally asks.

Clarke shakes her head, kneeling beside the girl. "No," she wrings a wet rag that lays in a bowl of water near her before dabbing it around her pale face. "Just keep looking and ask Raven to help you, but don't get too close. You could still get sick," she instructs, and with that, Liam is quick to leave, with the mission of finding Addison still being his first priority.

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Addison

A loud crack echos throughout the silence that surrounds her in the forest. She bends down and picks up another rock, tossing it at the same tree she threw the previous one at with a frustrated grunt.

She absolutely despises the person she's become on Earth—a fragile and weak shadow of her former self. It didn't dawn on her until this morning when she awoke in Octavia's tent and saw the familiar, sadden look on the Blake's face she gives Addison when the brunette is in her distressed state after being traumatized.

On the Ark, she was never this scared and traumatized girl. In some ways, she misses life on the Ark, before her mother was sick, when all she had to worry about was passing school. She misses the old Addison and how carefree and giggly she was.

She knows there's no one to blame but herself for letting her become the weak girl she sees herself as. Every event she's been present for, it only ever ended badly and had scarred her mentally, and sometimes even physically. She never wanted to be that person to cry at every little thing, but every little thing seems to always trigger something she tried to keep hidden and buried deep down.

Addison sighs heavily, her left hand gripping onto the leather gun strap on her left shoulder as she continues to toss rocks at trees and pick at passing ferns and other plant life she passes. When she finally reaches camp, her brows furrow as she warily enters, the sounds of coughing and puking hitting her ears. Delinquents rush around camp, some paler than others, but each one holds a scared and fearsome expression.

"Addison!" she snaps her head in the direction of the voice, noticing how Raven keeps a far distance from her when she stops mid jog. "Thank god . . . Liam and I have been looking everywhere for you."

"Raven?" Addison inches towards her, but the eldest brunette is quick to outstretch a hand in a stopping motion that has Addison immediately stopping in her tracks. "What's wrong?"

Raven elaborates as best as she can, explaining the strange sickness Murphy brought from the Grounders. "Clarke needs to examine you in the dropship."

Addison slowly nods in understanding and trails a good distance behind Raven with her rifle hanging comfortably from her shoulder. Her hand tightens around the strap in nervousness as a path parts for her and Raven.

An uneasiness stirs in the pit of her stomach as she eyes each kid that holds a gun. How they hold their weapons extra tight and closer to their chests, pupils dilated so wide she could barely make out the colour of their eyes. She walks way around Raven, still keeping a good distance in case she is sick, and makes brief eye-contact with her before she breaks it and walks up the ramp, but not before catching the start of a pile of bodies to the right of the ramp. One boy, she internally tells herself with a sad sigh.

Swiping the tarp covering, she enters the dropship. Her nose wrinkles in disgust, the strong smell of blood and other body fluids hitting her nose in a huge wave.

All of the sick delinquents are pale, with blood streaks near their eye's and on their chin's from their lips, while some had streaks from their eyes and nose that went down their cheeks from laying down. Dark circles cover each of their eyes, making them appear a lot paler than their true skin tone.

"Addison . . ."

She snaps her head to the weak call she instantly recognizes. "Clarke?" worry filled her voice as she takes note on how Clarke looks much worse than everyone else.

"Don't get too close," she croaked in exhaustion. "You could get sick," Addison listens, staying put near the exit as Clarke raises a rag up to her mouth and nose, and inches towards the brunette. She flicks the handheld flashlight on, voice muffling through the rag. "Open."

Addison complies and lets Clarke do her examination, until a girl starts to puke.

"Stay there," Clarke demanded, and rushes to the girl.

Addison uses all the restraint she has to not help, her worrisome eyes wacthing as Clarke tends to the poor girl. The girl then turns over and starts to seize that quickly stops before her body stills.

Two boys then come over and lift her. "Addison, get outside." Clarke says urgently, and she does.

She exits quickly and stands near the edge, Clarke exiting soon after and stops near the tarp covering. Two boys exit with the girl and put her with the boy's body Addison saw just before she went inside the dropship.

"Alright. Show's over," Bellamy states from below. "Get back to your posts," he orders, all of the delinquents spreading out to their designated areas and chores.

Addison sighs, glancing at Clarke. "Where do you want me?"

"In here. You can stay in the upper level with the ones that aren't symptomatic yet, since you were with Octavia," her last reply as Addison's brows furrowing, but Bellamy's voice soon breaks her confusion.

"You got enough food in there? Water?" he asks.

"Yeah. Some medicine might be nice," Clarke responds with her usual Clarke Griffin sarcasm.

Addison cracks a small smile as she stays in her spot, awaiting to follow Clarke in, while Bellamy smiles, too. "I'll see what I can do," he responded softly.

Addison sees Clarke move in her peripherals, and spins to follow after her, but stops in her tracks when Clarke does at Bellamy's question.

"Octavia, you okay?"

Addison turns her body halfway and glances down at Bellamy, who moves to come inside the dropship of sick people. "Bellamy, wait . . ." Clarke is quick to stop him. "She's not here."

Addison couldn't be more than happy that Octavia isn't in camp when this sickness is spreading like wildfire. The little she's seen and how fast the girl died was enough to have Addison scared for the people she cares about. Seeing Clarke in this state was bad enough, and if it was Liam, Octavia or even Raven she saw sick in the dropship, she would loose her mind. Even Dawson, who she hopes isn't stuck in there with whatever Murphy brought.

"I sent her to see Lincoln," Clarke tells Bellamy. "Look, if there's a cure, he has it. I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't let her go."

His jaw clenches. "If anything happens to her, you and me are gonna have problems." he states, voice hard, before he turns on his heels and marches away.

"Bellamy..." he continues marching away, ignoring Clarke's calls. "Bellamy!"

"Clarke," Addison calls softly, glancing up at the blonde girl. "It's no use."

Clarke sighs in defeat. "I know..."

"Come on," the brunette nods to the dropship, gripping onto the strap of her rifle once again, and starts to follow after Clarke again, until shouting hits their ears.

"Nobody touch him!"

Someone pulls the action back on their rifle. Addison hears and does the same, readying her own in case it gets ugly.

"Get to the dropship, now!" Bellamy yells, backing after from a boy, as does everyone else, and points to the dropship.

The brunette looks into the crowd, catching sight of Raven's red bomber jacket and Liam's tall figure near, but not too near. A girl falls into the crowd, Addison's eyes widening as her figure's caught by three boys. "Raven! Liam!" Addison shouts in worry as the girl sputters out blood, and that's when havoc broke loose. Several of them scream and yell inaudible words, and everyone that has a firearm, has their barrels pointed at the sick, them too shouting and threatening.

Addison's attention gets diverted when Clarke snatches her rifle from her hands and aims it up before she pulls the trigger, sending three rounds into the sky. The commotion stops as all attention gets diverted to Clarke. She calmly walks down the ramp, passing Addison as she speaks. "This is exactly what the Grounders want. Don't you see that?" she inches closer to the frightened delinquents, Addison's rifle still pointed up to the sky. "They don't have to kill us if we kill each other first."

The safety being taken off a rifle sounds as a boy steps from the crowd, aiming his rifle directly at Clarke. "They won't have to kill us if we all catch the virus. Get back in the damn dropship!"

In one swift motion, Addison is marching forward the same time she draws the 9mm from her waistband. She flicks the safety off and lays her finger on the trigger, taking aim at the boy with daring eyes as she comes from his left. "I don't think so," her heavy accent states lowly.

Bellamy immediately comes from the other side of the boy and pushes the gun down to the ground before he shoves the butt of it into his face. The boy stumbles back, a cry of pain slipping his lips as he goes to a knee and holds his face. Addison relaxes and flicks the safety the 9mm off, tucking it back in her waistband.

"Not to state the obvious..." Bellamy starts, glancing up at Clarke. "But your quartantine isn't working."

"Yeah..." the brunette mutters under her breath, catching Liam's worrisome eyes in the crowd.

Addison whips her head around when she hears her rifle hit the ground from Clarke's hands, Finn's figure being quick to rush pass the brunette to catch Clarke.

"Finn, don't touch her!" Raven warns, but it was too late.

Finn had already scooped Clarke up in his arms bridle-style, looking down at her in worry. "Hey, let me go. I'm okay," Clarke tells Finn as Addison rushes to her side. "Addison, don't...you could get sick, too."

Addison ignores her and rests her hand on the girl's forehead as Finn responds to Clarke. "You're not okay," he says softly.

"Finn," Addison mutters, glancing up at him. "She's burning up."

"Octavia will come back with a cure," Clarke quietly breaks the silence that passes between them while Addison continues to feel the girl's cheeks with a creased forehead.

"There is no cure..." Octavia informs from somewhere in the crowd with heavy breaths, before she appears in front. She and Addison make brief eye-contact before she looks at the others, raising her voice. "But the Grounders don't use the sickness to kill."

"Really? Tell that to them," Bellamy points at the two bodies laying beside the ramp of the dropship. "I warned you about seeing that Grounder again," he tells her lowly, clearly pissed off.

Octavia clenches her jaw, titling her head ever so slightly as if to challenge her brother. "Yeah? Well, I have a warning for you, too." She glances around at the delinquents once again. "The Grounders are coming... and they attack at first light."

Murmuring fills camp, their voices on even more edge and Addison's heart thumping much more rapidly against her ribs.

Addison shakes her head and focuses on the matter at hands— Clarke. She turns back to her and feels her face that's gotten warmer. "We need to get her inside," she instructs Finn.

Octavia joins Addison's side and points to the dropship, flickering her eyes to Finn. "Come on. I'll help you get Clarke into the dropship."

Finn immediately starts towards the ramp. Addison follows after until a hand clasps around her wrist that has her looking over her shoulder. "Not you." Octavia practically orders.

"Not a chance, Blake." Addison brings her arm back to her side, keeping their eyes locked, before she goes up the ramp. She hears Octavia's soft sigh as she swipes the tarp, passing multiple coughing delinquents, and makes a b-like for Clarke on the other side.

Finn has her laid in a hammock, Murphy standing near with watchful eyes. Addison lays a hand on the ladder the end of the hammock's tied to, catching part of their conversation. "—stop you from coming in here?"

"Get better," Finn answers simply, getting her more comfortable.

"If he's not sick by now, then he's probably immune. Like me," Octavia comes from behind Addison, stopping by Finn.

"You're not immune. You shouldn't be in here," Finn tells Addison.

She kneels by a bowl of water that catches her eye near Clarke, and mutters under her breath. "So I've been told."

Addison wrings water out of the rag that's in there, getting to her feet and goes back to Clarke. She dabs it on her forehead, ignoring Finn's question that's not meant for her. "Can't you tell her to get out?"

"I did, but she's too stubborn to listen." Irritation fills Octavia's quiet remark that goes over Addison's head.

Finn sighs, asking louder. "What else did Lincoln tell you?"

"That the virus doesn't last long," she says.

Addison continues to dab the damp rag around Clarke's face, tuning out the rest of their conversation, until Clarke shoots up. "They need to stay hydrated," she rasps out.

Finn pushes her back down as Addison tosses the damp rag back into the water with a small sigh. "You need to stay hydrated."

"And you need to get out," Octavia implores Addison once again as she comes from behind Finn with a cup of water.

"Octavia's right..." Clarke gets out after a sip before Addison can argue.

"You're in no state to dictate me, Clarke."

"At least stay in one of the upper levels. Away from us."

"Yeah...this is no fun..." Dawson croaks from behind Addison, coughing up blood before he spits it in a larger puddle near him.

"Dawson..." she trails off, leaving Clarke's side and rushes to his side. He continues heaving up blood, muttering protests that go ignored.

Addison kneels down beside him, a sadden expression covering her features. "Get out of here..." he breathes out hoarsely.

"I'm not leaving," she says firmly.

"Here," Octavia kneels beside Addison, bringing a full cup of water to Dawson's lips, while Addison rakes her fingers through his blonde locks.

He coughs softly, laying his head back to the makeshift pillow, while Octavia removes the cup from his lips.

"Murphy's gonna help me take care of them." Octavia informs.

Addison nods, continuing to soothe Dawson to a quick sleep. "Where's Finn?"

"He thinks he knows a way to slow the Grounders down. Until most of us are better," she stares at Addison's hand that rakes Dawson's hair. "You really shouldn't—"

"Clarke and Dawson are sick. I can help you take care of them," she keeps her eyes focused on Dawson's slow and steady breathing, indicating that he's fallen asleep.

"I promise that I'll take care of him, but you have to leave. Please," Octavia's whispers filled with desperation that the brunette easily picks up on.

She flickers her eyes to Octavia. "But,

you are in here with them."

Octavia doesn't miss a beat, "I'm immune."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Addison sighs out, removing her fingers from Dawson's hair as she averts her eyes to his sickly pale face. "Maybe being with you all last night will delay—"

"The Grounders will be attacking by then."

Addison sighs—she knows what the smart move is, but she can't bare to do it, yet somehow, she found the willpower and gave in.

Addison slowly nods in agreement, "You win," she whispers.

Addison rakes her fingers through Dawson's hair one last time before she gets to her feet, and starts towards the exit. A hand grasps her wrist and spins her around. "Hey," she looks up at Octavia and can't help but flicker her eyes to her lips, memories of their kiss in the woods surfacing. It was like she was living the moment all over again.

The electricity Addison had felt when Octavia's hands were on her, how good they felt on her skin, and the softness of Octavia's lips moving against her own... it was a memory she visits more times than she cares to admit. It was the best day of her life, but it was always one of the days she regrets most. She regrets letting Octavia go to Lincoln, even though she could see the hesitation from Octavia from the decision.

Addison hates how they've never gotten a chance to talk about that day, but in their defence, shit's hit the fan. And fast. The thing she hates most, is how Octavia acts like nothing happened, and in turn, Addison does the same.

"If you feel any of the symptoms, come straight here. Got it?" Octavia's voice has Addison snapping her eyes away from her lips and to her worrisome green eyes.

"I will," her short answer has Octavia nodding.

Just before Addison brings her arm out of Octavia's iron grip, she caught her doing the same thing she had done that has her heart racing— those green eyes flickering to her lips.

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