Chapter 1:
Clarke
The distant sound of the fire crackling was the only sound Clarke could hear as she
cleaned Murphy's wounds. The grounders had tortured him so badly, she wondered how
he was even able to move at all. Everyone - including Murphy - had long ago fallen
asleep. She hadn't been able to sleep since she'd seen Finn and Raven disappear into
their tent, hand in hand. She wished that Finn had told her about Raven before they had
slept together, because maybe then she wouldn't feel so terrible every time she looked
at Raven. "What are you doing?" Bellamy asked as he entered the drop ship.
She sighed inwardly, she didn't feel like speaking to anyone right now, least of all him. "I'm just cleaning his wounds, the grounders beat him up pretty badly." she said curtly,
and returned to her previous task. Without a second's hesitation, Bellamy took two
strides and kneeled down next to her. "They beat him up just to use him as a weapon," he said, but the disdain in his voice was clear, "he can't stay here, Clarke." "He helped us
with rounding up the sick!" she argued, but he wasn't having it. "He's the one who
brought the virus in, and let's not forget about what he did to Charlotte," he said, and
she jerked. "What about what I did to Charlotte, I don't see you punishing me?" she said, but
thought about the way she punished herself every time she remembered the little girl. "You weren't the one holding a knife to your throat, Clarke. He didn't think of you, and
he didn't think of her, so I won't be thinking about him when I shove a knife through his
chest." he said, and she grabbed his forearm, to keep him from lunging at Murphy. "Look,
we all know what he did, but everyone deserves a second chance. You of all people
should know that." she said, and he looked at her, then to her hand on his arm and back
to her.
She let go of him and continued to clean Murphy's cuts. Bellamy was so silent that
she had forgotten he was there until he spoke again. "What are you doing up this late
anyway?" he asked, his tone a little less harsh as he spoke to her. "I could ask you the
same question," she shot back, as she stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans. His
face turned annoyed and she knew it could only mean one thing. "Octavia snuck out
again," he said, with an frustrated sigh. "But I thought Lincoln left?" she asked, remembering the way Octavia had stormed
past them, her hair furiously whipping behind her as she pushed past them and reported
the news that the grounder that had once been their prisoner had disappeared without
a trace. "That's not going to stop her from looking for him, now is it?" he said, and for
the first time she noticed the backpack slung across his left shoulder, and the battle ax in
his hand. "What are you going to do if you find them in a compromising position, kill him?"
she asked, and watched the dimples barely appear in his cheeks. "I've been debating it
for a while." he said, his smile turning almost playful and she laughed a little. "And don't
think I didn't notice the way you changed the subject," he said, and she rolled her eyes, "does this have anything to do with Pretty Boy and his little Bird?" "This has nothing to
do with Finn." she said, stopping to face him, even though she had to tilt her chin to look
straight into his face. "I think it has everything to do with him, Princess." he said, raising an eyebrow at
her; they were now standing in the middle of camp, next to the dying fire. "So what," she
said, a bit too loudly and softened her voice, "so what if this is about Finn, it doesn't
matter anymore? What happened shouldn't have happened, end of story...and why am I
even telling you this?" she asked, and his smile spread a little wider. They stayed like that
for a while, until he cleared his throat and she looked down at the tips of her boots. "I'm heading out," he said, and saluted her and he began walking towards the wall's
exit. As she watched him walk away, she called out, "Good luck with that." Right before
he could step outside of the camp, and stopped and turned to look at her. "Unless you
want to come with me?" he asked. She was a little surprised by the offer, but not
completely sure if she would say no. She remembered the look on Finn's face when her
and Bellamy had come back from their supply trip as something close to friends.
Shaking her head slightly at the thought of Finn, she returned to the present
conversation. "Are you sure, I won't be slowing you down, will I?" she asked, and he
shook his head. She hesitated for a few more second before she nodded, "Let me get my
bag." Turning, she ran back to the drop ship and picked up her own backpack and filled it
with a few supplies - a blanket, food, and a knife that she had no idea how to use - before slinging it over her shoulders and following Bellamy to the wall. "Let's go." she said, and the left, starting into the forest and plunging into the
darkness.
The only light they had was the moonlight, and thankfully it was a full moon that
shone brightly. Even with this, Clarke seemed to find herself tripping on uneven parts of
the ground, but she never fell. This made her wonder how Bellamy - who was a few
paces ahead of her - seemed as if he could see through the darkness. "How do you know
if we're going the right way?" she asked, wondering how long they had been out here. It
felt like an extremely long time - like hours - or maybe it was just because she was
running on almost zero sleep for the last few days. "He usually leaves flowers behind for her to follow, I followed her out here that night
with..." he let his sentence trail off, and for that she was thankfully. "So this was my first
guess, I'm hoping to find footprints or something." he said, and as if it were rolling off
him in waves, she could feel his anxiety mixed with frustration. "At least you know she's
safe," Clarke said, almost tripping again, "he'd never let anything happen to her." She
didn't like the idea of Octavia running off with a grounder, but she was a hell of a lot
safer than the rest of them. "It's not him I'm worried about anymore. Since the bridge, we've been on high alert
for grounder attacks, and with her sneaking out so late, what's stopping them from
taking her. Yes, Lincoln can protect her, but he's just one to how many of them? I don't
trust those odds." he said, and she admired him a little more. They walked further in
silence, not speaking, just tracking until it felt like her legs were so stiff that she almost
fell over, had he not caught her before she could face-plant into the dirt. "Come on, Princess, there's a lake just up ahead, we can have some water as you
can rest." he said, and she forced herself to get up and follow him.
He was right though,because not a while later they were sitting by the lake and she was gathering water in a
flask. Rolling her jeans up, until they were above her knees, she placed her legs in the
water and sighed contently. Without thinking, she closed her eyes and asked him, "What's it like to have a sibling?" It was something that she had always secretly
wondered about. The closest thing to a sibling she ever had was Wells, and he was gone
now.
He made a noise in the back of his throat as he sat down next to her on the rock, but
didn't place his feet in the water. "It's kind of like having a piece of yourself that's
completely different to who you are, a part you can't control. It kind of frustrates you,
but you do all you can to protect it, keep it safe, because you don't have anything else.
There's not a time I don't remember Octavia, my life ended and began the day she was
born." he leaned back, and looked up at the sky.
They stayed like that, until she felt like it was time they had to start moving again. "C'mon, let's get moving." she said, getting up and rolling down her jeans and lacing up
her boots. He stood up and grabbed both of their backpacks, before handing hers over.
They started walking, and didn't stop until they heard a crack and stopped short, looking
at each other sharply as if wondering if they had both heard it, which they had. Their
was a soft whoosh of air, as an arrow whizzed past her head.
They both instinctively dropped to the ground, covering their heads. "We have to
get out of here!" he called to her, and she moved to a squatting position, and carefully
made her way over to him, while managing to dodge the arrows heading her way. They
both ducked behind a large tree and tried to make a run for it, but arrows were flying
and hitting just a few centimeters away from their ankles. They needed a way out, and
they needed it now.
Looking around frantically, she realized the only way they would be able to make it
out alive. "Bellamy, we have to climb." she said, pointing to a low hanging branch. He
looked at her and then at the branch. "If I go first and fall, I'll crush you!" he said, but she
was already pushing him away. "Then don't fall!" she said, and didn't give him time to
reply as she shoved him at the tree. He started climbing and she was about to follow,
when as arrow whizzed past her arm and she quickly hide behind the trunk. "Clarke, come on!" Bellamy called, his hand outstretched to pull her up as he
hovered over her head. She quickly grabbed it and began to climb behind him, and
instinctively jerked as arrows hit the trunk. Bellamy was already on the highest branch,
the dark leaves acting as camouflage. She stopped on the branch bellow him, where her
face was angled with his chest. "When need to see where they're coming from." he said,
looking out at the trees.
The attack had seized, but that didn't mean the grounders were done with them,
just looking for a new point of attack. Clarke riskily stuck herself out around the branch,
and before Bellamy could pull her back, arrows came flying at her head. She ducked and
pressed her back against the trunk, breathing heavily. "What the hell are you doing?!" he
whisper-shouted, but she ignored him. "There's about three of them, one in the tree
directly opposite us, another just north-east and the other is somewhere on the west
side."Do you have any weapons?" he asked her. "I have a knife in my bag," she said. "Doyou have any idea how to throw a knife?" he asked, but he looked like he already knew
the answer to that question, and cursed softly. "Don't worry, I know what to do," she
said, and began climbing down when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and held
her there. "What the hell to you think you're doing?" he asked, his tone calm but his
eyes worried. "I'm being the bait." she said, simply and tried to climb down again, but he
pulled her back up. "Are you insane?" he asked, and she shook her head.
She pulled the knife out of her back, and handed it to him. "All I have to do is
provide a moving target, then you'll be able to take them out, won't you?" she said, and
he argued. "But I won't let you－" she cut him off. "I'm not Octavia, Bellamy, I know
what I'm doing, and I trust you, don't let me down okay?" she asked, and he nodded,
reluctantly letting go of her wrists. She jumped down and took a deep breath, steeling
herself before she took off running.
Bellamy watched as Clarke took off running, and not seconds later the sound of
arrows being shot could be heard. Climbing higher, he saw that she was right, there was
a ground in a tree opposite to his, and firmly holding the knife if his hand, he threw it,
and watched it fly across the space between the two trees and hit the grounder straight
in the chest. He fell to the ground, and bled out, but Bellamy didn't care as he toyed with
the ax in his hand and dropped to the ground.
Clarke had been right in her diversion, they were all so focused on getting her that
they didn't notice him, as he wrapped his hands around the hilt of Clarke's knife and
pulled it out of the grounder's chest. Without hesitation, he threw it at the one in the
west side, and he fell to the grounder as well. Next he moved to the last grounder's tree
and stood under it, shifting the ax about in his hands before swinging it upwards and
letting it fly. The grounder fell seconds later with a grunt of pain, and Bellamy pulled his
ax out of the man's chest.
Leaving them all their, he took off running to find Clarke. He found her not far, lying
against the trunk of a tree, her her hand pressed to her side, just by her rib-cage. "Damn
it, Princess." he said, leaning down to look at her wound. He moved her hand away and
pushed her shirt up, but he couldn't get a clear look with all the blood around it, but he
knew it was deep. The arrow was in her hands, and it was obvious that she had pulled it
out from whatever angle it had hit her at. "Come on, we've got to get to the lake before you bleed out." he said, wrapping his
arms around her waist and carefully hoisting her up and into his arms. "It's —it's just a
flesh wound, it'll— it'll be fine." she said, but he doubted it. She was turned extremely
pale, and her lips were going blue from the her drop in body temperature. They found
themselves at the lake minutes later, and he laid her down on the rock, pushing the pack
off her shoulders, and lifting her shirt, but not high enough to see anything.
He took the flask and poured some of the water over the wound, to wash some of
the blood away so he could get a better look. The worst part was that he was starting to
panic: they had no medical supplies, the wound would more likely get infected if they
stayed out here and their was now way they would be able to make it back to camp in
time. "Clarke, Clarke wake up! You've got to stay with me, okay? Eyes on me, got that,
Princess?" he said, pouring some water onto her face.
Her eyes opened just a bit, but they were dazed and unfocused. "Come on, Princess,
I need your help with this." he said, patting her cheek softly to get her attention. She
blinked a few times, and opened her eyes wider. "You need to wrap the wound, tightly－
very tightly, but you have to clean it first. There's some iodine drops in my bag." she said,
and he immediately reached for her pack, filling the flask with water and adding two
drops of iodine to it.
He ripped the the bottom of his shirt off to act as a cloth as he wiped away the
blood around her wounds. When he was sure it was clean, he took off his jacket and
pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around her her ribs, tightly as she had said. "N-No, you'll freeze," she said, trying to push him away, but he grabbed her wrists and
stopped her. "I don't care." he said, allowing no room for argument.
Her eyes were beginning to shut, and he put his jacket back on and took the blanket
out of her back as well as the one from his and wrapped them around the both of them,
but mostly her. He moved them a little further into the shadows, and laid her down
behind her rock, before sitting down next to her and placing her head on his chest. She
was out within seconds, breathing unevenly and sometimes she'd flinch in her sleep
from the pain.
He looked down at her, and then up again at the sky. She had been right, coming out
here had been dangerous, bringing her along had been reckless and now look at them.
Lincoln would never let anything happen to Octavia, and he knew that, but he was still
trying to get used to not being the only person who kept her safe anymore. Besides that,
he realized, as he looked at Clarke again, he had others to protect as well now.