The silence between them hung heavy after the kiss. Octavia pulled away first, her breath trembling, eyes darting up to meet his.
Jason blinked, still processing what had just happened.
"Wow, that was—"
"No," she interrupted quickly, shaking her head. "Don't say anything."
He froze, confused.
"I wanted that," she said softly, her voice laced with an odd mix of defiance and vulnerability. "That was… a thank you. For keeping me safe. I know you probably don't see me that way and why would you? You're literally the most desirable guy on the dropship right now."
Jason blinked again, thrown off. "Wait—what?"
Octavia laughed, rolling her eyes as she straightened up. "Come on, you can't pretend you don't see the looks. Half the girls up there are basically throwing themselves at you."
Jason sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, looking away, which only made her grin widen.
"At least," she said after a moment, her tone shifting into a teasing lilt, "I've got something they don't."
He looked back at her, brow raised. "And what's that?"
Her smirk deepened. "I was saved by you and I stole your first kiss on the ground."
Jason couldn't help it. He laughed a quiet, genuine sound that echoed faintly off the cave walls.
"Yeah," he said, smiling, "yeah, you did."
For a long moment, neither of them said anything. They just stood there, looking at each other in the dim light as they both moved closer again , something unspoken lingering in the space between them.
Then Octavia cleared her throat awkwardly. "Right, uh… we should get going. The others are probably looking for us."
That snapped him back to reality. He nodded quickly, forcing his focus away from her lips and toward the exit. He turned back to the boulder and began pushing. The rock scraped against stone, muscles flexing under his shirt as he shifted it aside with effort.
Behind him, Octavia muttered under her breath, "God, that is hot."
Jason smirked faintly, having caught it.
But as the morning sunlight broke through, he found himself fighting another kind of warmth, one far more dangerous. He forced his mind elsewhere, because he knew if he didn't, the rest of him would follow, and that kiss would resume. And this time… it wouldn't end.
The memory of her lips pressed against his, the brief heat of her touch, her breath mixing with his…
Jason clenched his fist hard, jaw tight. No. Stop.
He squeezed his eyes shut, growling lowly under his breath. He couldn't afford to lose focus. Not now. Not ever.
When he'd dragged her into this cave, when he'd saved her from the fog, he'd never imagined it would end like this with a kiss… ok that was a lie he's at least expected a cliche act like that but still… a spark of something he hadn't felt in a long time. Emotion like that didn't fit in this world. It was dangerous. Distracting.
So as they stepped out into the crisp morning light and began their slow jog back through the forest, Jason said little. Octavia followed close behind, silent but thoughtful, still wrapped in his jacket. He'd insisted she keep it and not just because the air was cold, but because he couldn't stand the thought of anyone seeing her in that state of undress.
Or maybe, he thought grimly, it was because he needed the distance.
He pushed through the underbrush, hyper-aware of every sound, every flicker of motion between the trees. But behind that focus, a storm churned. Of lust, confusion and guilt.
He hadn't been with anyone since his girlfriend left with months of empty nights, of shutting everyone out, of convincing himself that part of him didn't matter anymore. And now this? A kiss that shouldn't have happened but did, setting fire to the walls he'd built around himself.
'Focus on survival', he told himself. 'There'll be time for feelings later. That is of course if any of us make it that far'.
He thought of Clarke then how she looked at him sometimes, the sharpness in her voice when other girls approached. And Finn. The way she hovered between them, torn, conflicted. He'd noticed the tension days ago when she'd snapped at one of the girls flirting with him. He didn't understand it, and right now, he didn't have time to. He wasn't that dumb not to see she liked him and Finn.
He suddenly stopped mid-step, eyes narrowing as his instincts prickled. He looked to his left.
"This way," he said quietly.
Octavia followed, panting slightly but keeping up. Her stamina had improved. He noticed that much. 'Endurance training's paying off', he thought. Hasn't collapsed yet.
Then he heard something. A faint, distant sound.
"Wait."
She stopped immediately, bending slightly and resting her hands on her knees. "Not that I'm complaining," she said between breaths, "but… what's wrong?"
He raised a hand, scanning the forest. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what—"
The sound came again. Long. Low. Painful.
A groan, echoing through the trees like a dying animal.
Jason stiffened. He knew that sound. Desperation and filled with agony. It took him back to the orphanage hospital, when Deshawn had broken his arm and screamed as the nurse tried to set it. That same guttural sound of pain and surrender.
His stomach turned. 'No way'.
He remembered Bellamy heading out with a few others before the fog hit in the original show. One of them hadn't made it back. He couldn't recall who.
He made the connection instantly.
"Go back to camp," he said sharply, turning toward the sound. "If I'm right about this, it's not going to be pretty."
Octavia frowned, straightening. "I'm coming with you."
"Octavia—"
"I'm not expecting to see anything pretty Jason," she snapped. "Never was. Never will be."
Jason exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "Fine. Stay close."
As they moved toward the source, the forest seemed to shift around them. The morning light filtered weakly through the canopy, but it did little to chase the shadows away.
At first glance, everything looked normal with the trees swaying, the grass was green, the air still. But the silence was deafening. No birds, no insects and no life.
Jason crouched and ran his hand through the grass. The tips came away wet and sticky, tinged faintly red. He looked around. Here and there, small animal carcasses dotted the ground, their skin blistered and split, bodies half-melted where the fog had touched them.
——————-
After a few minutes of jogging he saw them.
Clarke and Bellamy kneeling on the ground beside a broken figure.
Octavia gasped. "Atom? Oh, oh my God!"
Before Jason could stop her, she sprinted forward.
"Octavia!" Bellamy's head shot up as she dropped to her knees beside him. "Hey, hey! What the hell are you doing here?"
She struggled in his grip, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Atom! Please, we can help him!"
Jason came up behind them and stopped dead.
The scene hit him like a punch.
Atom lay on his back, chest heaving shallowly, his skin or what was left of it was bubbling and raw. The smell of burned flesh was overpowering. His arms were blistered, his shirt fused to his skin, and his eyes. God, his eyes were cloudy, the corneas half-melted.
Jason swallowed hard, forcing his expression flat. He'd seen injuries before, but this… this was suffering made flesh.
Clarke was trembling, tears streaking her face, a knife shaking in her hand. Bellamy's expression was unreadable torn between fury and grief as he held his sister back.
Jason could see it clearly now. Bellamy wasn't heartless. Far from it he was afraid and beneath that, Jason saw something he hadn't expected: compassion.
'Compassion isn't a sin, you fool', he thought. 'At least you aren't a heartless bastard'.
But compassion wouldn't help Atom now.
"Kill me," Atom rasped, voice cracking, every word scraping raw from his throat. "Please… kill me…"
Jason froze. Despite having the same power as captain America, all his strength he was still just a boy. An orphan who'd never killed anything, let alone anyone.
Clarke looked at Bellamy. He couldn't do it. So she did what she thought she must.
She took the knife, her hand trembling, humming a soft, broken tune as she lifted it toward Atom's neck.
"No!" Octavia cried, struggling free. "We can save him, please no!"
Jason's hand shot out and grabbed Clarke's wrist, halting her.
Clarke looked up, startled. Octavia exhaled in relief, tears still streaming.
"We can save him, right?" she whispered desperately, looking from Bellamy to Jason.
Jason didn't answer. He just stared down at the boy.
Clarke furrowed her brows. "Jason, please… he's suffering. Let me—"
He gently pried her fingers off the hilt and took the knife from her. His voice was calm, almost soft. "You've never killed anyone before."
She blinked. "Have you?"
Jason didn't answer. Instead, he knelt beside Atom, resting a hand over the boy's chest. He could feel the faint flutter of a heartbeat and it was weak, fading, the rhythm of someone already halfway gone.
He shook his head slowly. "No," he murmured. "But someone has to."
Clarke swallowed hard and nodded, beginning to hum again, her voice trembling.
Jason's expression hardened. 'If I'm going to live in this world', he thought, 'I'll have to adapt. Do what needs to be done'.
Atom looked at him, tears cutting through the soot on his face. "Thank… you…"
Jason's jaw tightened. Then, with one swift motion, he tossed Clarke's small knife aside, drew his own, and drove it straight into Atom's skull.
The boy's body jerked once while blood poured from the open wound, flooding down his sides and staining the ground an ugly red. His eyes went wide then turned glassy and he went still.
The forest fell silent again.
Jason's hand lingered on the hilt for a moment before he pulled it free, his expression unreadable. Clarke's hum faded into silence. Octavia wept softly into Bellamy's chest.
And Jason, for the first time since landing on this damned planet, felt the weight of survival settle firmly on his shoulders.
Patreon.com/Fredozy.