Secrecy (Hosie)

Note: Okay, I'm sure you all know by now that I can only keep my story lighthearted and happy for so long before I dive back into the darker topics and plot lines...

The next few chapters are a little rough, so this is your little content/trigger warning.

Hope you all enjoy...

———

"Okay, there's gonna be guards all over the place, so just...follow my lead—"

Clarke advises, just as Hope walks right past him and through the side entrance to the Triad facility in Fort Valley, Georgia.

She immediate attracts the attention of two guards, who run in her direction, reaching to their hips to draw their weapons.

But Hope is faster, grabbing their arms and twisting them backwards, kneeing one of the guys in the face, sending him to the ground, and using the momentum to swing her leg around the other guy's shoulders, using her leg strength to restrict his windpipe until he collapses to the ground, and she returns to her feet, eerily admiring her work.

"Not my first rodeo, Clark-y."

Lizzie jokes, seeing her sister's jaw slack, "I think Josie wants to go next, Hope."

Josie scoffs, though her cheeks become dusted with a pink tint as she shoves Lizzie's shoulder, and Alaric rolls his eyes at his daughters' antics while MG struggles to contain his amusement.

Cleo only steps over the body of the first guard, heading in Hope's direction halfway down the hall.

Clarke clears his throat with a nod, "Okay, I guess your way works too."

———

They fight—well, Hope fights—through any remaining guards, until they reach the vault door, where the Malivore pit surely lies on the other side.

Hope easily breaks through the door, seeing the pool of black mud on the other side.

She walks over to the railing while everyone else stays by the entrance.

Hope lets out a breath, one that she didn't even realize she was holding in.

She can't believe that all this time, she's been so afraid of this.

A pit of black goo.

She's faced much worse. Much scarier.

It isn't so intimidating now.

The moment is interrupted, very annoyingly, by Clarke dragging a chair into the room, making a screeching noise echo until he stops next to Hope, setting two large buckets on either side and gesturing to Hope, while the others only look at them with nothing but confusion in their expressions.

Hope reaches into her pocket, pulling out a knife and opening up the blade.

The others start to step forward to stop or question Hope, but someone else beats them all to it.

"Woah, woah, hold on—" Josie hurries over to Hope, "What are you doing?"

Hope sighs.

She knew the others would never agree to this if they knew the whole plan.

She knew they'd be worried.

But she's out of other options.

"Jo, it's not as bad as it looks, okay? We just need my blood—"

"No, absolutely not—I knew we shouldn't have trusted him—"

"Hey, standing right here."
Clarke gestures to himself, but Josie completely ignores his presence.