I woke up from a well-deserved nap to the sound of gunshots. I shot up in my bed, the covers slipping from my body as I got up, wincing at the sting in my thigh. A man tried to stop me from leaving the infirmary, but I pushed past him and left the makeshift tent.
I had grabbed my bow on the way and I nocked an arrow, limping as fast as I could to the entrance of Camp Jaha. My father had just arrived with members of the guard.
'There!' a man said, gun held tightly in one hand as he pointed at the woods with the other. 'They were right there!'
'Does anyone see anything?' A blond guard I didn't know asked. Byrne, I think her name was.
'Who was there?' my father asked frantically. 'How many? What did they look like?'
'I don't know,' the man answered. 'I'm sure I saw someone move.'
'And you opened fire?' Abby said, eyes widening. 'That could've been the kids!'
She shot forward but my father grabbed her before she could leave camp.
'We sweep the woods,' he told her, before turning to the man. 'In the meantime, who issued you that weapon?'
'I did, sir,' Byrne admitted.
My father, anger in his eyes, ripped the gun out of the man's hands.
'From now on, only members of the guard get guns,' he said to Byrne before turning to the crowd. 'Unauthorized use of firearms will be punishable as a felony under the Exodus Charter. Is that clear?'
The crowd murmured their assent, some less enthusiastic than others. I watched as the guards split into teams of three and went out to the woods, guns at the ready. I was almost vibrating with anticipation. I knew the chance that these were my friends was slim at best, but I couldn't help but hope. What I wouldn't give to see Amara again, or Clarke. Or maybe it was Octavia, healed from her battle wounds.
Thinking about Octavia brought my thoughts to her brother, who was still locked up within Alpha Station. With Murphy, no less. I had tried to visit, but my father had told every guard on the premises not to let me within ten feet of the cells.
The more time passed, the more tired I grew of his overcontrolling nature. I had thought he would be different on Earth, but for now, I saw no difference between the Marcus Kane I had known on the Ark and the one that was with me on the ground. But just because my father hadn't changed…didn't mean I hadn't. I wouldn't let him walk over me, not anymore.
I sat down on a metal crate, waiting for the guards to return with impatience. After some time, my father sat next to me, sighing.
'It's not easy being in charge, is it?' I asked.
'Someone needs to do it.'
'But does it need to be you?'
He shot me a strange look and I held up my hands.
'I'm not trying to start a fight, I promise. I'm just curious. Why you?'
'I'm the Vice-Chancellor and the Exodus Charter dictates that the highest person in the hierarchy takes command until an election can be organized.'
I hummed. It sounded like bullshit to me, but I knew telling him this wouldn't help. I tried a more tactful approach.
'You realize your Exodus Charter won't last, right? You'll have to bend the rules at one point.'
'Is this about the Blake kid?'
'Not only. It's about you believing the law fixes everything. It doesn't. Most of the time, it messes things up. But I did want to talk to you about Bellamy. How long are you going to keep him locked up?'
'Until he's no longer a threat to others.'
'He isn't. He's never been a threat to anyone but Murphy, and Murphy deserves to die.'
My father frowned, looking at me with a dismayed expression.
'Deserved it? Y/N, he's a kid.'
'A kid who drove a twelve-year-old girl to suicide, shot Raven, tried to hang Bellamy and was planning to kill me. But yeah, keep believing he's harmless.'
My father started protesting, but he was interrupting by a scream coming from the infirmary. I shivered. Abby had started operating Raven, without any anaesthesia. From what I'd heard, she had a very low chance of survival. I wasn't the praying type, but if there was any higher power in the world, I begged them to save her. Not only because Raven was valuable, an incredibly talented engineer. But because she was my friend, and I couldn't lose anyone else.
The guards trickled back in from the woods, empty-handed. They had found no trace of anyone and I felt disappointment wash over me. But then, we heard a scream. It wasn't Raven, but a man, the sound coming from deep in the woods. I didn't think. I just acted.
Grabbing my bow, I started running for the woods. My leg was burning, but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared and Abby's stitches held despite the sharp movements. My father was yelling my name behind me, thundering footsteps telling me the guards had run out too, but I didn't slow down. I didn't even turn back.
I entered the woods and nocked an arrow, crouching down. I couldn't hear anything, not with the ruckus the others made as they neared me. I followed the screams, leaping across fallen branches and roots effortlessly. I had missed the woods. I was in my element there.
Finally, I climbed up a ridge and just as my father and the guards caught up to me, I saw it. Three guards were crucified to the trunk of a tree, covered in cuts and bruises. The two on the side also had spears impaled in them. Next to me, my father and the others were horrified, paralyzed by the gruesome sight.
But I was used to the Grounder's brutality, and their fear tactics didn't work on me anymore. I walked up to the dead guards without flinching and that's when I noticed the one in the middle was still breathing.
'Hey, this one's alive!' I shouted.
The guards rushed forward and as they cut him down, I examined the tracks.
'There were five of them,' I said to my father. 'Four of them were carrying the guards, the fifth scouting ahead. There's not a lot of blood. The two that are dead were killed somewhere else.'
My father didn't reply and I turned, frowning. He was staring at me with a horrified expression on his face. It was as if he didn't recognize me, and I realized what was the problem. He had expected me to be just as shocked as him, if not more. And that made me livid.
'You still don't understand,' I began harshly. 'You didn't just send us to the ground, Dad, you sent us to Hell. We have seen things more horrifying than you could ever imagine. We have suffered, we have lost, we have grieved. You keep looking at me and expecting to see your daughter, the kid who played hide and seek on Tesla station and begged for bedtime stories. That kid is dead. You killed her when you let them put on me the dropship.'
'Y/N, I never-'
'I don't care. You failed me so many times before. Don't make that mistake again. Let Bellamy go, and send out a search party for our friends. They're my people and I won't abandon them. I will go after them, one way or another. I'd rather do it with your help.'
'You will not leave this camp, nor will anyone else.'
'Will you lock me up again?'
'I might.'
My father was breathing heavily and so was I, fury making me blind. How dare he? How dare he look at me this way, when all I was doing was whatever I had to in order to survive. Furious, I stalked out and went back to camp. He didn't try to stop me, or even offer to have a guard accompany me.
Monroe and Sterling saw me and I gestured at them to follow me.
'What happened?' Monroe asked.
'Grounders, trying to scare us. And it worked. My father won't send out a search party.'
'So, what do we do?'
'We find a way to sneak out, with Bellamy and Finn. Any news from Raven?'
'She survived the surgery, but her leg's messed up. If we do this, she'll have to stay behind.'
She would hate this, I knew it, but what choice did we have? We needed to move fast and I was sure Raven would understand. Suddenly, we heard footsteps come towards us. Had someone heard us? To my relief, it was only Finn.
'Planning an escape, uh?' he said. 'Good thing you're not the only one.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Abby and some guard will help us sneak out, and give us weapons. We just have to get Bellamy.'
That was all I needed to hear. We waited until dark and came up with a plan to distract the guards. Sterling, who was one of the best actors I'd ever seen, started crying hysterically. He ran to the guards, screaming about Grounders attacking. The two men didn't hesitate and ran out as we laughed, hidden behind some crates. As Sterling and Monroe kept watch, Finn and I entered the cell. I immediately went to Bellamy and smiled as his eyes widened.
'Someone ordered a knight in shining armour?' I asked with a smirk.
'What the hell are you doing?'
'Get up,' Finn said. 'We're going after our friends.'
He broke the binding around Bellamy's hands and I helped him up. But as we went to leave, Murphy started protesting loudly.
'Hey, whoa, wait. What about me?'
Ignoring Finn and I shaking our heads, Bellamy cut the bindings tying Murphy to the pole, but left his hands secured together. He lifted him to his feet, shoving him harshly forward.
'He's coming with us.'
'No way,' Finn protested.
'He's been to the Grounders' camp.'
'He's right,' Murphy added. 'I can take you there.'
Bellamy shot me a pleading look and I nodded. Despite how much I hated Murphy, there was no denying his knowledge would be invaluable if Grounders had taken our friends. We snuck out of camp, our escape surprisingly easy.
'You don't think anyone saw us?' Bellamy asked.
'Shh, keep it down,' Finn replied as he led the group into the woods.
Soon after, a torch shone in my face and Abby appeared, along with a guard. Bellamy was tense next to me, until he realized they weren't here to stop us. On the contrary.
'You're late,' Abby said.
'Bellamy decided to bring company,' Finn explained.
'He's the only person that's been in their camp.'
Abby nodded and handed a gun to Finn, along with some bullets. He put it safely in the waistline of his pants as the guard gave Bellamy a rifle.
'Here,' he said. 'Find my son. His name is Nathan Miller.'
Bellamy and I exchanged a look. The last time I had seen Miller, he had an arrow sticking through his shoulder. I hoped he'd made it to the dropship.
'Bring them home,' Abby said.
'We will,' I promised and hesitated before continuing. 'If my dad finds out you helped us…tell him I'm sorry.'
Abby nodded, and we left them, going deeper into the woods. We were going to save our friends, or die trying. The Grounders had better watch out.
