CHAPTER FOUR
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     THE LONGER THE DAY WENT ON, the more Willow itched to get outside of the small confinement of the camp. To her, after being locked up for so long, anything that restrained her felt like a prison she desperately needed to break out of.

     But she also needed to make sure that the Ark would never come down. There wasn't much for her to do on that front, since most of her fellow prisoners were taking Bellamy's speech about doing whatever the hell they wanted seriously.

     Skipping into the dropship, she thought about trying to venture out into the woods again without being interrupted. But her thoughts soon strayed from that once she saw someone already inside, not outside revelling in the chaos.

     "What are you doing?" she asked the boy, who was hunched over one of the wristbands they were assigned to wear, picking at its inner workings and attempting to hook it up to the panel in the ship.

     "Trying to get contact with the Ark," he responded absently, not seeming to truly pay attention to the fact that they had never met before. However, his response intrigued her. It was the exact thing she was aiming to stop.

     "I'm assuming that means you're failing?" Willow went on, taking a seat next to him and glancing over at all the parts he held in his hands. His fingers seemed practiced, as though he had been doing that his whole life. "This is pretty impressive, I'll give you that. And really, take that with only the highest regard — I only say that when I mean it. So I don't say it often."

     The boy laughed a little, hesitant to look up from his work and eyes still fixed on the wristband. "I'm Willow, by the way," she introduced, holding out her hand for him to shake.

     He set down the electronics gently and took her hand, shaking it with a nod. "I'm Monty," he replied. Willow grinned.

     "Well, Monty, what do you say you take a break from all this and come with me?" she offered, nodding her head towards the door of the ship. She recognized him from the group that Clarke originally left with. Maybe she could get him to change sides. "It sure is stuffy in here."

      "I really have to work on this, we need to be able to make contact," he explained, glancing down at his work for a moment nervously.

     "I'm sure an hour won't kill us all. Plus, I don't know about you, but I've been dying to see the ground in all its glory," Willow pushed on, wiggling her eyebrows and smiling even wider.

     Monty took a moment looking between her and the devices. "Only an hour," he finally said, albeit reluctantly. Willow jumped up and laughed, pumping her fist into the air playfully.

     "Hell yeah!" she exclaimed. "Let's go!"

     Wasting no time, she grabbed Monty by the hand and led him through the mess of people that occupied camp and into the woods. Taking in a deep breath, she let go once they were a decent distance in and smiled.

     "Isn't this just...everything you could've ever dreamed it would be?" she said, picking up a flower from the ground and twirling it around in her fingers happily.

     "You sound like Octavia," Monty told her, grinning a little at the thought. Willow only furrowed her eyebrows.

     "Octavawho?" she questioned, her tone lighter than it had been when she was in camp.

     "Bellamy's sister." That explained a lot. She knew he had some kind of sibling on the ground, he'd mentioned it, but she had never caught a name.

     "So, Monty, what are you in for?" Willow asked, glancing back at him as she walked further into the woods. The dirt beneath her feet was still an indescribable feeling.

     "Uh...let's just say that Jasper and I got a little creative with our herb garden," he replied in an off sort of way that made Willow snort.

     "Respectable."

     "What about you?" he questioned back, looking at her curiously while he stared at the nearby trees and plants.

     "I burned down the chancellor's office," she said nonchalantly. It was something she almost assumed most people knew at that point. But with that answer always came more questions than she wanted, so she followed up with, "It's a long story."

     There was a pause that fell upon them for a moment before Willow found herself curious again. "That Jasper guy you mentioned, he's the one who got taken, right?"

     It was still an abstract thought to her that other people had survived any of the radiation.

"Yeah," Monty confirmed solemnly.

     "Why aren't you out there? It sounds like you guys are close. I mean, committing crimes together is a very serious step in all friendships," she said, his small laugh getting a smile out of her.

     "I can't tell if you're mocking me or not," he responded, avoiding the question slightly at first. "But I think that's a feeling people must get with you. Clarke said I should stay here, work on comms. She's right, but I'm still worried."

     There was another silence. "I get it. Clarke is my best friend. If it were her I'd want to be out there," she agreed. "But I'm worried about her stupid ass right now. And the others, but sometimes can she be just..."

     She didn't finish the sentence. Willow didn't even really need to. Monty nodded and she knew that he understood. And she understood that she was probably a huge hypocrite, but that was the least of all her priorities.

     "Oh my god," she breathed, pointing to something in the distance. "Look!"

     "What? What is it?" Monty questioned frantically with a nervous edge to his words. Willow didn't quite respond, instead picking up the pace to race to whatever it was she had seen. "Willow!"

     He followed her with the same speed, stopping short when she did at the edge of the lake. It was small for a lake, and he couldn't stop thinking of the river they had come across when Jasper had been attacked.

     "Actual water," she mumbled in awe, leaning down and raking her hand across the surface. She wasted no time in taking off her clothes, leaving only her undergarments, and stepping into the water. The sensation of just her feet being submerged in it was enough to make her want more.

     Behind her, Monty looked on with wide eyes. "Willow, stop!" he exclaimed, putting his hand up and glancing at the water anxiously.

     "What?" she asked, looking around in confusion. She was already waist deep in the water, enjoying herself immensely.

     "This is exactly how Octavia got injured, and you can't swim," he pointed out, eyebrows raised in concern.

     "How about this — I stay right where I am and you come and join me," Willow proposed, splashing the water near her, an eager grin fixed on her lips.

      Monty didn't say anything for a moment. He stood there is shock before shaking his head slowly. "You gotta face your fears! There's nothing that's gonna kill me from right here, I promise. Water's way too shallow," she tried convincing. "I know you took Earth Skills too. It's fine."

     "Only for a minute," he conceded, starting to take off his jacket slowly.

     "There ya go!" Willow cheered, turning around and looking out to the rest of the small lake. "I'll even turn around for your very own privacy."

     It was beautiful, the way the water moved. The way it swayed and glittered in the sunlight. Willow only saw infinite possibilities.

     She heard Monty step into the water and shuffle over to where she was now mostly sitting in the water. It came up past her chest and she closed her eyes, inhaling the scent that only the earth could provide.

      "If we die, I blame you," Monty commented, Willow grinning at the smile he had on his face when she opened her eyes.

     "That's okay. We'll be dead anyway," she laughed, Monty leaning over to nudge her slightly for the joke. For a second she stopped herself.

     What was she doing? Manipulating this sweet boy? Trying to get him to stop from...contacting the Ark.

     "What's your story, Monty? Besides getting caught for blazing it up," she said, looking over at him seriously. "Got any family?"

     "Well there's Jasper. He's like my brother. But I have parents up there," he explained, looking up at the brilliantly blue sky. "What about you?"

     "Nobody worth mentioning," she responded immediately. She felt immensely guilty for her reasons for not wanting the Ark to come down after hearing his reasons for wanting it there. "At least not now."

     He nodded silently. And they sat like that there for a long time. Maybe an hour, just like she said it would be.

     "We should get back to camp," he said, finally grounding her back to reality.

     "Yeah. But just one more minute."