I know this is a shorter chapter, but a lot happens in it :)
Ground Zero
Chapter 3 - Mistakes were made
"We're being followed," Bellamy said.
His ominous words hung in the air. Clarke kept silent and observed their surroundings, her eyes alert. He was glad that she hadn't tried to refute his statement. It wasn't that he'd seen someone following them precisely. It was more of a gut feeling. He'd been enough times in the woods by now to sense when something was amiss. There was a sudden quiet, birds would stop chirping and the forest would still itself, as if in waiting.
Then he saw it, the dark edge of an arrow among the bushes. Instinctively he seized Clarke's forearm and shouted, "Run!"
His hand stayed on her as they both sprinted through the trees. The other held the rifle. Maybe he should have used it, but they had no inkling of their enemy's numbers or intentions. Plus he didn't want to repeat Finn's mistake. After several minutes of running, he heard Clarke start to breathe heavily but she didn't slow down, pushing herself. They heard footsteps behind them but only saw glimpses of shadows, until everything was silent again.
Bellamy finally stopped, and Clarke with him. "You think we've lost them?" she asked warily.
"I doubt that. Maybe they were just scouts." He was still searching for signs of the Grounders, his face hard and focused.
"Isn't it strange that —"
"Look out!" He shouted. At the same time and without a second thought, he pushed Clarke behind him and placed himself on the path of the incoming arrow. The moment he felt the pointy end pierce his right shoulder, and the agonizing pain that closely followed, he berated himself for being a stupid fool. Then he couldn't prevent the grunt that came out of his mouth. He could already feel the burning sensation of poison entering his blood as he fell to the ground, dropping the rifle and closing his hand around the wooden shaft, still embedded in his skin.
At first disoriented by the situation – it'd only happened in a few seconds –, Clarke instantly knelt beside him and yelled, "Bellamy!" It was odd, he thought, her being so concerned about him. He only ever saw that look on her face when she was worried about everyone else. Like the professional she was, she was already checking his injury. "This is serious, Bellamy, it barely missed your heart. We need to get out of here so I can have a better look, come on."
She was in full medic mode when she should have been looking out for Grounders. "It's too late, I can already feel the poison seeping in and since Lincoln's gone we don't have any antidote left. You need to go, Clarke. Warn the others."
"No way I'm leaving you to die. Not again."
Bellamy took her hand and looked her in the eyes, feeling both frustrated and a bit glad that she didn't want to leave him behind. "Clarke, listen to me. We don't know what they're after. It could only be retaliation for Finn's actions or just plain war. But the most important thing right now is that one of us survives to tell our people. So I'm not asking, I'm telling you, GO!" The last word was a bark.
But she held on to him, picking up the rifle then trying to get him up, half dragging him. "I don't care about the antidote or lack thereof. We'll find a solution, we always do. We're going back together or we're not going back at all."
Was there ever someone as stubborn as this fair-headed princess?
But as they both got up to start running again, they were suddenly surrounded by twenty or so Grounders with armed bows pointing right at them. One large man with braided dark blond hair and tribal tattoos on his cheeks took a step forward and chuckled darkly, "Looks like it's our lucky day, guys. We've just caught the King and Queen of the Sky people."
Then he pulled the arrow out of Bellamy's shoulder.
They had been thrown in some obscure room with three concrete walls and a simple door with metal bars. They weren't even tied up, as if they didn't pose any threats. But Clarke had escaped from more than one prison. This was their first mistake.
Before she could plan their breakout however, she had a more urgent issue to deal with. Bellamy. He was currently lying on his side, barely moving. Getting to the Grounders' encampment had been tough on him. Clarke had tried supporting him along the way, putting a hand on his shoulder to try and stop the bleeding. But his weight was too much for her and they'd both stumbled a few times. Fortunately, these men seemed to want them alive. For now.
She rolled Bellamy on his back and tore his shirt to examine the entry wound. It had stopped bleeding so that was good, but the little veins around it had started to turn blue so that was bad. She felt his forehead. His skin was feverish. Without any equipment or antidote, she had very limited resources. Feeling helpless, she used some of the water the Grounders had left in the cell to clean the injury. Then used the rest of Bellamy's shirt to bandage his shoulder.
Sitting next to him, her head between her legs, her mind went overload. All she needed was the antidote. If, as she believed, they didn't intend to kill them, why hadn't they given him the antidote already? What was the point? They had much more value as living hostages. She'd pleaded with the guards to give it to her, but they'd just ignored her.
What could she do? What the hell could she do to save him?
She heard Bellamy groan next to her and immediately went to his side. His eyes were opened but glazed, as if in a dream. "Bellamy," she called. "Bellamy, can you hear me?"
He turned his head in her direction. "Clarke, is that you?" He whispered, "I can't see anything." His voice cracked.
Generally, Clarke wasn't one to use curses. But right now all she could think of was "fuck". Not knowing what else to do, she positioned herself so that his head was on her lap. Gently, she stroked his dark hair. It was coarse and dirty, but she didn't care. "Shh, it's okay," she soothed. "It's going to be okay."
Bellamy shuddered while her fingers rubbed his head. "It's what you said to Atom before —" He left the rest unsaid. Not able to contain her fear anymore, Clarke felt the tears rolling down her cheeks and dropping on his own.
"I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry." She was a failure.
Bellamy lifted his left arm and wiped her cheek delicately. "Don't worry, Princess. You did everything you could."
That gesture seemed to sap all his strength and he quickly fell unconscious again. Clarke let her tears flow, feeling the grip of despair and loss taking a hold over her. Usually, she managed to remain stoic in these kinds of situations. But this was Bellamy... She couldn't lose him. Then, the pain turned into something else. Anger. A rage that she felt deep in her every bone. Her eyes rose to the door.
The Grounders had hurt one of her most precious friends. That was their second mistake.
So... there was some action, right ;) ? I hope I did all right with the action scenes, it's much more difficult for me since English isn't my first language...
See you soon!
