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Mount Weather was huge. The walk to the elevator felt as though it went on forever. Her head was slightly spinning and she tried to keep herself on her feet. She needed to sit down or eat something after they had taken her blood. Maybe they had taken more than she thought.

She walked into it after President Wallace and stood uncomfortably next to the wall furthest from him and the guards that were there as well. He pressed the button for the fifth floor and the doors slid closed.

The elevator ride was silent. Aleta shifted slightly on her feet, her eyes remaining on the back of Dante's head. She kept herself alert in case something were to happen. She looked over at the closest guard. His gun was strapped to his side. He was only a few steps away from her. Maybe she could reach him quick enough to grab the gun. Maybe—

The elevator dinged as it reached the fifth floor. The doors slid open again and Dante walked out. Two of the guards followed and Aleta went out after. The third guard exited last, keeping his eyes trained on Aleta. "The fifth level is where we have our mess hall, kitchens, a library, a school, and residences, which is where you friends are now," Dante informed her. She nodded her head as she followed behind him, even though he couldn't see her.

They reached double doors and a blonde woman stood there, waiting for them. She wore a smile on her lips. "Hi there. You must be Aleta, I'm Keenan," she introduced before holding out a blue folder. Aleta cautiously took it. "In this folder you'll find all sorts of information about Mount Weather. And if you have any questions, you can come to me. I'm always around," Keenan said.

"Thank you, Keenan. You may go now," Dante told her. Keenan nodded her head and walked past them. Dante motioned toward the door and a guard opened it. As soon as the doors opened, all conversations stopped and all eyes were on Aleta. She felt overwhelmed with relief as she saw their faces.

"Aleta?" A familiar voice questioned. Aleta smiled at Clarke who charged toward her, embracing her in a tight hug. The others began to crowd around the two. "Thank God you're okay," the blonde muttered. Aleta smiled and the two pulled away. The next person to hug her was Jasper, his hug tighter than Clarke's. "Hi, Jasper," Aleta greeted. "Hey," he whispered. They pulled away and that's when she spotted Monty.

"Monty?" She questioned before pulling him into her. "Oh my God," she said before pulling away. "Have you been here this whole time?" She asked and he nodded. She pulled him into another hug. Then she hugged Harper and Fox and everyone else.

"Raven. Is she here?" Aleta asked. The looks that she was given answered her question. Her face fell and she took a breath. "Wh-what about Bellamy? And, and Finn?" She asked. Hope began to swell in her chest. "Aleta, they're gone," Jasper said. "Jasper I told you, we don't know that," Clarke chastised. The hope that she felt began to dissipate. If they weren't here, then they probably hadn't made it.

No. She couldn't think like that. They were alive. They had to be.

They walked over to the beds and Aleta sat down in one of them. They began to catch her up on what she missed. It wasn't much. She was only about two days behind them all. Why they had kept her unconscious for longer was a mystery to her. She didn't believe that disease bullshit. If her blood was going to kill her, wouldn't it have killed her already? She supposed it depended.

By the time they were done, it was time for dinner. Aleta followed them all out of the residence hall and to the mess hall. There were already people there, other Mountain Men talking, eating, and enjoying each other's company. They all looked so happy. She wished she could be that happy.

"We need to get out of here," Clarke whispered to her as they sat down at a table full of food. Jasper heard her and sighed. "Not this again, Clarke. Aleta just got here, let her experience all of this for herself," he said. He then looked at Aleta, "You'll like it here. Try the food, it's good."

Aleta looked at the food in front of her. She then picked up a plate and began piling food onto it. Clarke looked at her incredulously. "I'm hungry, Clarke. I just got blood drawn out of me, against my will, and need to replenish myself," she told the blonde. "Wait, what? They were draining your blood?" Clarke asked in confusion. Monty and Jasper looked at each other. "Yeah," Aleta said as she continued to serve herself food. The other delinquents within hearing distance looked at her.

"Did they say why?" Harper asked. Aleta stopped what she was doing momentarily and looked at her. "This woman, I think she's a doctor, said something about my blood being dangerous to my health or something and they were trying to figure out a way to reverse the effects," Aleta answered. "And you believe her?" Clarke questioned. "I don't know," Aleta responded. Clarke looked at Jasper, "See. They were taking her blood and most likely testing it for some other purpose than the reason that they gave Aleta. You don't think that's suspicious?"

"It's a little suspicious," Monty said, looking over at Jasper. Aleta began eating the food on her plate, moaning in delight of how good it tasted. They all look at her. "I'm hungry," she repeated, drawing out her words. "And I kind of agree with Clarke. They're weird and I don't trust them," she added. "Thank you," Clarke said. "But, I also agree with Jasper. Maybe we should just give them a chance," Aleta continued.

"What?" The blonde asked. "They haven't killed us. They haven't hurt us. The weirdest thing they did was take some of my blood and I made sure that whatever samples they were trying to collect weren't viable. They're nice and they're letting us stay here, where it's safe. I don't know, we should just test it out for a bit. Dante said we could leave if we wanted," Aleta continued.

In all honesty, she was tired. Tired of running for her life. Tired of fighting to survive. Tired of watching people die. She didn't feel safe out there in the woods. At least in Mount Weather, there were no grounders trying to kill them. And she wanted to be able to not be on high alert all the time, even if she was still skeptical of this place.

"Dante is lying. I tried to escape two days ago. They're keeping us prisoner. They don't want us to leave," the blonde informed. "You tried to escape?" Aleta questioned. "I don't trust them or believe what they say. I-I have to get out. Jasper talked me out of it but I still think we should leave," Clarke responded. Aleta sighed and stared at the plate in front of her. She didn't know what to do or say.

"What about Raven, Bellamy, and Finn? Don't you want to find out if they're alive?" Clarke continued. "Of course I do, Clarke. You know I do. But I just need a little time before I can thrust myself back out into that place again," she answered. She took another bite of her food.

"If you find something that proves that they aren't who they claim to be, we'll go. We'll fight our way out if we have to," Aleta finally said to the blonde. She then addressed the others. "We all will leave," she reiterated. All of them, except for Clarke, looked reluctant. Aleta didn't say anything else as she continued eating. The food began to taste bitter on her tongue and she pushed the plate away.

"Here, try the cake. It's good," Jasper said, holding out a plate for her. Aleta eyed the plate and the chocolate cake on it before taking the cake from him. She placed the plate down in front of her and picked up a fork. She pushed the fork into the cake and pulled it out with a piece of the chocolatey dessert on it. She placed the fork into her mouth and chewed the piece of cake.

She nodded her head slightly. "It's good right?" Jasper said excitedly. "Sure," Aleta answered and he frowned. "You don't like it," he stated. "No, it's good, just, different," she replied. She took another bite of the cake. It was good, she just didn't feel all that hungry anymore. She felt uncomfortable, like she was being watched.

Aleta looked up to see Dante looking at her. She held his stare for a few moments before looking away.

••••

Many days had past since that dinner. Aleta was currently sat in the bunk underneath Clarke's, reading a play. It was called The Crucible and Aleta found it to be disturbing. A few stupid little girls accused innocent people of being witches and got them killed. It was infuriating to say the least. Aleta flipped to the next page in annoyance.

"It's not bad. Maybe they'll hang it on the walls here one day," she heard Jasper say. She looked up from her book to see him standing next to their bunk and talking to Clarke. "Miller!" Somebody called. Aleta looked over at the door and placed the book down. "Look who finally got released," Jasper said.

Aleta was onto her feet quick and running towards him. She embraced him tightly and he squeezed her back. "Good to see you too, Aleta," he muttered. She smiled and pulled away from him. "Hey," he said to Clarke as he walked over to her. "Miller. I'm glad you're ok," the blonde greeted.

"Yeah. Only took, what, 3 surgeries? I hear you're fitting right in," he said. Maya, whom Aleta had met a few days ago, was standing next to Miller. Clarke had looked at her and the girl became increasingly uncomfortable so she turned back to Nathan holding up a bottle of medicine.

"Twice a day. Don't forget. You'll be ok in a few days. Here," Maya said, handing him the pills and a bag. "Thanks," Miller replied before walking off. Aleta went with him. "So, how are you? Last I saw you were dragging me into the dropship and beating up Anya with an injured shoulder," she said. He smiled slightly, "Yeah, not my proudest moment. But, I'm good. The doctors here took really good care of me."

"I'm sure they did," Aleta said. He noticed the change in her tone and looked at her. "What is it?" He asked. "Nothing. I'm just a little weary of this place that's all," she responded. "Why? They saved my life. They saved all of our lives," he said. Aleta looked him dead in the eye, "Not all of us." His face fell slightly and before he could answer, alarms began to blare throughout the room.

Aleta looked up in confusion. "The hell?" She muttered. Maya began to quickly exit the room and Aleta went to her. "Hey," Clarke said, jumping off of the bunk and in front of Maya. "What's going on?" The blonde asked. "That signal means the surface patrol is back and someone needs medical attention. I have to go to quarantine," Maya responded before quickly pushing past Clarke and leaving the residence hall.

Clarke went to follow her but Jasper was quick to stop her. "Hey, Clarke. What are you doing?" He asked, grabbing her arm. "Maybe they found survivors. If our people are hurt, we have a right to know," she replied. "I'm pretty sure we shouldn't just go w-wandering around." But Clarke was already running out of the room.

Jasper went after her and Aleta reluctantly followed. The three ran down the corridors until they reached quarantine. A man was debriefing the medical team of what happened.

"They were attacked. One dead. He's in room two. The other took off his gloves and mask to treat him. He's still in decon, but he'll need treatment as soon as he's processed through," he was saying as the three approached. "Who attacked them?" Clarke asked him. "What are they doing here?" He asked back. Clarke turned and grabbed someone's key card before running off.

"Hey, stop! It's not safe!" The man protested. Aleta followed after Clarke. "It is for us," she told him. "Let's go, Jasper," Clarke said. The two ran through the door. "Guys, slow down! Clarke, stop pushing so hard. These people are..." he trailed off once they stopped at the body.

"Are lying to us," Clarke finished. Aleta took a closer look at the body. "That's a bullet wound.
grounders don't use guns," Clarke informed. It did look like a bullet wound. Hope began to swell in Aleta's chest again. "Unless the grounders got the guns from us," Jasper tried to reason, but even he didn't seem too sure.

"I don't think so. I think our people are alive out there," Clarke told him. She looked at Aleta who nodded in agreement. "Maybe," the dark haired girl said. Dr. Tsing entered the room clad in a hazmat suit. "Get them out of here," she said. She eyed Aleta briefly before putting her attention on the dead man on the table.

The three watched as a man with extremely severe burns from the radiation was helped into the room. Aleta stared at him for a long time before they were taken out of the room.

°°°°

The amount of people reading this book has decreased by a lot since I rewrote most of the chapters. I won't lie, it's kinda discouraging and makes me not want to continue it at all. For now, I won't unpublish this book and hope that new readers will eventually come along. For those of you that have been here since the beginning, thank you; I appreciate you so much! For any new readers, welcome; I hope you're enjoying this book. If you are please vote, it literally takes less than a second.