Chapter Three
it's been about two days since Bellamy and the others had brought home Jasper. And in the two days, I barely left the dropship. Leaving only to forage and only when Clarke all but forced me too. She hadn't been too happy to see that Monty, Octavia and I were missing our wristbands. Or that Bellamy had traded the meat from the mutated panther for wristbands.
Every time Jasper cried out in pain, my heart broke all the more. All I could do was hold his hand and offer what little comfort I could. But not everyone was as understanding. From below us, I could hear everyone complaining, telling Jasper to be quiet or to go back to sleep. Did they not understand how much pain Jasper was in?
"Don't listen to them, Jas, okay?" I told him, giving his hand a squeeze. "You're gonna be just fine, kay?" My grip only tightened when someone from downstairs suggested that Jasper could just hurry up and die.
"I'm gonna get clean water," Clarke told us as she grabbed her bag and stood. "You guys keep an eye on him." I only nodded as Monty came to sit in her spot.
"If they don't stop talking shit, I'm gonna lose it," I told Monty.
"You couldn't hurt a fly, Seren, and we all know it" he laughed weakly.
"Maybe not" I chuckled. "But if I finally snap, at least you'll know why," I told him, wiping some of the sweat and dirt from Jasper's brow.
We lapsed into silence after that. Thankfully, the people on the first floor stopped complaining as loudly. But I could still hear hushed whispers floating up to us through the hatch. Ignoring them, I spoke mostly to Jasper, assuring him that as soon as he felt better, I was gonna find him a crop and the three of us was going to smoke until we couldn't move. I knew that there had to be wild pot plants around here, I just had to find them.
Morning came sooner than I had expected. The entire night I had taken vigil, watching over Jasper until I could hear the faint sound of birds just outside of the dropship. Clarke had come and gone throughout the night, checking on Jasper and catching a little bit of sleep herself. Once again, a few hours after sunrise, the blonde had kicked me out of the upper level.
Everyone was mulling about camp, minding their own business. Over at the out edges, I could see Murphy and Bellamy throwing knives at a tree. I had to hold back a laugh when Murphy's improvised knife bounced off fo the tree.
"We searched a half-mile all directions" I heard Atom speak. "No sign of Trina or Pascal." I recognized the names, but barely. No one has seen them in a day or two. Slowly, I made my way towards the small cluster. If they were going to go looking for the couple again when I was going too, I needed to keep busy.
"Visit your special tree while you were out there?" Murphy taunted as he walked passed the other boy to get his knife.
"Atom took his punishment. Let it go" Bellamy spoke. A part of me wanted to know what he was talking about, but the other didn't want to get involved.
"Could be grounders" Atom redirected the conversation.
"Yea," Murphy drawled. "Or they could be in pound town. Lot of that going around recently" he said.
Seeing Octavia, I walked over and gave the girl a hug while she cleaned off her hands. "Any idea what they're talking about?" she asked me.
"Weird boy drama?" I suggested with a shrug. When Octavia sent a smile over to Atom, and he all but blew her off. I had a feeling as to what had happened, what Bellamy meant by 'punishment.' "I don't know, I think they might be heading back out to look for Trina and Pascal. I'll let you know." And with that I walked over to where the boys stood, standing near the incline and leaning against the same tree that Bellamy and Murphy had been using for target practice.
"Morale will go up when I find them food" Bellamy told the guys, sparing me a glance. I simply grinned and waggled my fingers at him. Over the last few days, I had learned that teasing Bellamy Blake was really fun.
"What do we say when they ask about Trina and Pascal?" Mbege asked. Kinda funny how the two creepiest d-bags in the entire camp had the initials of J.M. and they were best friends.
"Now? Nothing. It's possible they're just lost." Bellamy shrugged. I agreed with him, why make it a problem when it wasn't? It would be easy for anyone of us to get lost around here, not everything had to do with the grounders. "We'll keep an eye out for them when we go out hunting."
"I'm coming with you," I told Bellamy. Thankfully the other guys didn't make any snide remarks. I was barely holding it all in right now, and if either of the Johns said anything I would have snapped.
"No you're not" Bellamy shook his head, giving me that look that said he meant business.
Good thing it didn't work on me. "Too bad you're not the boss of me" I grinned, folding my arms over my chest.
"Fine" he relented. "But you stay with me at all times."
"Yes'sir" I rolled my eyes. "If we're lucky I can find some indica and you can calm the fuck down." Bellamy simply shook his head and let out a scoff of a laugh. "See you boys in a bit" I added before heading back to the dropship to check on Jasper one last time.
Things weren't any better upstairs. According to Clarke, the grounders had cauterized Jaspers chest, saving his life. But it was still infected, and Jasper had gone sceptic. When she said that, Monty instantly stopped what he was doing and looked over to where Clarke was sitting with Jasper.
"Any progress on using the wristbands to contact the Ark?" the blonde asked, just as Wells came up the ladder. "Monty!" she continued when my best friend didn't answer right away.
"That would be a firm no" Monty sighed in aggravation. I was silent, even as Clarke snapped at the boy who was supposed to be her best friend. I understood that she was stressed and way out of her league right now, but Wells was just trying to help. Clarke had her reasons for having issues with Wells, I got that. But right now we needed to work on Jasper. When I said as much, Clarke just sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"You want to help? Hold him down" she ordered. Without asking questions, both Finn and Wells held onto the Jaspers legs, holding him in place while Clarke grabbed a knife.
"We're not gonna like this, are we?" Monty asked as soon as my face blanched. I had a feeling as to what Clarke was going to do, and my stomach turned at the thought.
"I-I'm gonna go outside" I stammered before standing on uneasy feet and climbing down the ladder.
I saw Octavia and Atom down on the first level, but I didn't stop to say hi. Keeping my head down, I all but ran out of the door we had made out of a parachute. It wasn't even a minute later when Octavia came running passed me and into the large tent Bellamy had set up. Curious, I followed after her. I didn't even make it to the tent when I heard Octavia's voice. "Next time you go on a power trip, leave me out of it."
It was Jaspers scream that had me stop. And once again, Octavia was rushing passed me. Only this time it was to check on our friend. Bellamy was right behind her, he gave me a questioning look, silently asking me if I was going to follow them to the second level of the dropship. But I just shook my head. I knew what was happening up there, and just hearing it was bad enough.
We left camp not too long later. True to my word, I stuck close to Bellamy while the others spread out. Utilizing the things we had learned in our Earth Skills classes up on the Ark, we easily found the tracks of what I assumed was a pig. Boar more than likely. Briefly, I wondered if the pig would be mutated like the deer or the panther, but I quickly pushed that thought aside. Mutated was better than nothing at all. It was even better than the soy cubes they passed off as food on the Ark.
We finally convened when we caught up to the hog and I held my breath. Everything that I had ever read about these things said that they would and could charge at a moments notice. Instantly Bellamy hushed the boys to his left, stating that the kill was his. Rolling my eyes, I swung out my hand in the universal 'by-all-means' gesture.
Only, just as he was about to throw his ax, the sound of a branch snapping came from behind. On instinct, Bellamy whipped around and sent the ax flying into a tree. Less than an arm's length away from a little blonde girl. The noise also caused the hog to scamper away, so the guys Bellamy had brought with us started after it with whoops and yells.
"Son of a bitch" I hissed as Bellamy and I walked over to the little girl.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked, clearly shocked that he had almost killed the kid. If his ax had hit just a little to the right...
"Charlotte" she answered.
"I almost killed you" Bellamy all but snapped, yanking his self-made ax from the tree.
"Why aren't you back at camp, kid?" I sighed, rubbing my forehead.
"Well, what with that guy who was dying" she stammered, instantly my expression dropped into a glare. "I just... I couldn't listen anymore." Charlotte had the common sense to not hold my gaze. It wasn't unknown in the camp that Jasper and Monty were my best friends.
"There's grounders out here" Atom spoke. "It's too dangerous for a little girl."
"I'm not a little girl" Charlotte denied.
I couldn't help but agree. Yea there were grounders out here in the woods. Yea we had inexperienced, 'trigger-happy', hunters. And yea, Charlotte was still just a kid. But on the ground, anything could happen, and it wouldn't be a bad thing for her to learn how to defend herself.
"OK, then..." Bellamy agreed with a smile. "But you can't hunt without a weapon," he told her before pulling out his spare knife. "Ever killed something before?" he asked her, but the girl simply shook her head. "Who knows? Maybe you're good at it."
"It's okay," I told her, finally dropping the almost-glare. "I've never killed anything before either. I'm sure we could figure it out."
I don't know how long we were wandering around the woods for. But the hog was long gone and there was no way we would find it again. So, since Charlotte didn't make it to her mandatory Earth Skills classes, Bellamy and I did what we could to teach her what we knew. Though Bellamy told her about hunting and weapons and tracking, I told her about plants. Which ones were edible, and which ones were poison, she had even picked a few medicinal herbs for herself.
Charlotte didn't even need to be told to stick with us, she just did. Which was good.
"What are you doing?" the girl asked when she saw me carve my initials into a nearby tree trunk.
"Well, the way I see it, anything could get rid of our footprints between now and when we decide to head back. So, just in case, I'm leaving a trail. Kinda like that old story."
"Smart" Bellamy nodded.
"I'm more than a pretty face, Bellamy Blake" I joked as I made note of a set of caves not too far away. We walked in silence for a little while longer before a strong and familiar scent reached my nose. "Oh, no way" I whispered before turning to Bellamy. "I'm gonna go ahead a little," I told him. "I think there are some plants around here that will definitely help at camp."
"That indica you were telling me about?" he asked, giving me a knowing smile. "Go on just try to stay within shouting distance, ok?"
"You got it, bossman" I winked before I all but skipped through the underbrush.
Finding the plants was actually pretty easy. And as I started clipping the 'flowers', I made a mental note to come back and grab one of the younger plants so that I could re-plant them closer to camp. Once I had a fair amount, I started back towards Bellamy and Charlotte. As soon as I saw him, I opened my mouth for a playful comment but was stopped short by the sound of a horn blowing through the trees. Followed almost instantly by a wicked looking yellow fog.
In the distance, I could hear some of the guys that Bellamy had brought on the hunt screaming in pain. The fog was fast moving and was coming for us quickly. Instantly, we took off back towards camp, hoping to outrun the mist.
"Come on!" Bellamy called out, as the two of us took Charlotte's hand. "There are caves this way."
It didn't take us long to reach the caves I had noticed before. Quickly, Charlotte entered first and just as Bellamy pushed me inside, I heard Atom call his name. Bellamy wanted to go after the guy but was stopped by the thick fog. Grabbing hold of Bellamy's sleeve, I pulled him into the cave with me and Charlotte.
For the next few hours or so, we sat in silence. Charlotte taking up the space between Bellamy and me, though she had quickly fallen asleep.
"You know" I sighed, moving closer to Bellamy so that I didn't wake up Charlotte. "It's always been me, Monty and Jas. Every memory I have, there's my guys. I know that it's not like how it is with you and Octavia, but...it's the closest I got." I told him.
"Yea, I can see that" Bellamy tried, and failed, to fight off a playful smirk. "I'm glad she has you" he added.
"Honestly, I don't know how we even became friends" I chuckled, tilting my head back so that it was resting on the cool stone wall of the cave. "All I did before that first day was help her in the forced Earth Skills classes they gave us before the drop."
"Still though..." I felt Bellamy's shoulder brush mine as he shrugged. "She needed a friend, a real friend."
"I think I needed it too" I shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I'd go to hell for my boys, but like I said...it's always been us." We were quiet for a few beats, just soaking in the heat that was being generated by the three bodies in the cave. "Is that why you've been less of a dick towards me these last few days? Cuz I'm friends with Octavia?"
"Not really" Bellamy chuckled. "That was how it's started, but it's not like that anymore" he shook his head.
"Hmmm good to know" I sighed thoughtfully as I closed my eyes and shifted my body so that I was resting against his shoulder. "I'm using you as a pillow and you have no choice in the matter," I told him, barely fighting off a yawn.
Bellamy simply chuckled before shifting so that my head was on his chest instead. "Get some sleep, Seren."
I don't even think I was sleeping for a full twenty minutes before I was being woken up. At some point in the night, Bellamy and I had laid down, and when Charlotte screamed the two of us jolted upwards.
The poor girl seemed to be having a nightmare. "Charlotte, wake up," Bellamy told her, sleep leaving his voice little by little.
"I'm sorry" the girl whimpered.
"Don't be" I yawned. "Does it happen often?" I asked her, leaning forward so that I could see her better. But Charlotte simply sighed, not making eye contact with either of us.
"What are you scared of?" Bellamy asked her softly. "You know what. It doesn't matter" he continued when the little girl didn't answer. "The only thing that matters is what you do about it."
I understood what Bellamy was getting at, however, Charlotte didn't. "But...I'm asleep," she said.
"Fears are fears" Bellamy shrugged. "Slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep."
"Yeah, but... how?"
"You can't afford to be weak," he said.
Before Bellamy could continue, I finally spoke up. "He's right. Down here's different, it's not like the Ark. Weakness could mean death, fear could mean death" I added.
No one spoke for a few moments, with a yawn, I leaned against Bellamy once again. He may not have been my favorite person. And I was fairly certain that he had threatened Jaspers life before we went on our hunting trip. But right now...I was seeing the guy I assumed Bellamy was before the drop. This Bellamy was Octavia's big brother, not an uncaring jackass. I'm sure Clarke and the others wouldn't agree.
"Let me see that knife I gave you," Bellamy told her. Doing as he said, Charlotte pulled out the small knife she had been given earlier and handed it to Bellamy. "Now, when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say, 'screw you, I'm not afraid.'" With that, he handed the blade back to the girl. Quietly, Charlotte repeated the words. Then again with more conviction. "Slay your demons, kid" Bellamy stated, moving so that we could lay back down. "Then you'll be able to sleep."
The next time I woke up, I was alone on the stone floor. Charlotte was still asleep, and Bellamy must have gone to see if that weird fog was gone.
"Bellamy?" I called out, my voice riddled with sleep. Rubbing my eyes, I turned and saw daylight peeking through the mouth of the cave. A moment later, Bellamy came back and side and nodded. "Come on, Charlotte," I said, shaking the girl awake. "Time to get up."
It took her a minute, but sure enough, Charlotte's eyes flickered open. Slowly the three of us made our way out of the cave. "Anybody out here?" Bellamy called out. "Jones!" In the distance, we could hear Jones respond.
As it turns out, the others had the same idea as Bellamy, ride out the weird fog in one of the caves. "What the hell was that?" Jones asked.
"I don't know" Bellamy shrugged before realizing that someone was missing. "Where's Atom?" he asked.
Slowly we moved through the area, both on the lookout for Atom and for the marks I had made in the trees. I should have been keeping a closer eye on Charlotte because the next thing I knew, her scream was piercing the silence of the forest. "Shit" I cursed before taking off in her general direction with Bellamy right behind me.
It wasn't until we caught up with the little girl that my stomach turned. Sure enough, Atom was laying on the forest floor, covered in burns and pus-filled soars. This must be the effect of the fog, it was poisonous. Almost like acid.
"Son of a bitch. Atom" Bellamy cursed as he went over to where the boy lay. I stayed behind, trying to get Charlotte to avert her gaze. Not that it was working. From where I stood, I could tell that Atom was trying to tell Bellamy something, but I was too far away to make out what it was. Not even a minute later, we were joined by the rest of our hunting party. As soon as Charlotte started moving forwards, I tried to grab her hand and stop her. But my grip wasn't strong enough and she simply shook me off.
It was when Charlotte handed Bellamy her knife that I realized what Atom had been saying. He was begging for death. After a moment, Bellamy looked to the rest of us. "Go back to camp," he said. Instantly the other three teens did as Bellamy said and started back towards camp, I bit my lip and watched them go before turning back towards Bellamy and Charlotte. "Seren, take Charlotte with you."
Charlotte wanted to argue, I could tell. So instead, I walked over to her and grabbed her much smaller hand in mine. "Come on, Charlotte," I said softly. "We can wait for Bellamy right over there. You don't need to see this" I added. Slowly, Charlotte nodded and started to turn away from the scene.
I didn't know Bellamy Blake all that well. But I knew that he would have a hard time with this. Anyone would. So before I started to lead Charlotte away, I simply squeezed his shoulder, hoping that a little moral support would go a long way. He wasn't murdering Atom, he was saving him. Putting the boy out of his misery, taking away his suffering.
The next thing I knew, Clarke was there. Giving her a nod, I turned and walked with Charlotte just beyond the trees to wait for Bellamy. If my eyes weren't closed to fight off the tears, then I would have noticed the little girl watching the whole time.
The walk back to camp was done with a solemn silence. By the time we made it, the fires were already going and the delinquents were putting up a type of fence, or wall around the camp. Silently, while Clarke told Finn to get her hot water for Jaspers medicine, I walked with my head down to the dropship. I barely heard Bellamy tell one of his lackeys to get Clarke whatever she needed.
But when Octavia came out of our shelter, I stopped short. I opened my mouth but no words came out. They had been in a weird place, because of Bellamy, but Octavia really liked Atom. This would absolutely crush her. Clarke had tried to stop her...but it was too late, she had seen the other bring in Atom's covered body. Wiping away some stray tears, I watched as Octavia pulled Atom's jacket away from his face.
"There's nothing I could do" Bellamy tried telling her, but Octavia would hear nothing of it. Snapping at her brother before rushing away with tears in her eyes. With that, I walked back into the dropship to see how my best friends were doing.
When I made it up to the second level, I wasn't surprised to hear Jasper still letting out small groans of pain. Monty was sitting vigil, keeping a watchful eye on the hatch. I've known him long enough to know that he was on the defensive. Something had happened while I had been trapped in the cave with Bellamy and Charlotte.
"Murphy tried to kill Jasper" Monty told me the second he saw that it was me and not a would-be assassin.
"I think I found some oleander near here, I could totally poison him," I said with no hesitation.
Thankfully I got a small chuckle from my best friend. "Yea, but everyone would know it was you," he told me. "You hate Murphy and you know more about plants than anyone here."
"Yea your probably right" I nodded as we both sat beside our sick friend and waited for Clarke. Thankfully Clarke, Finn, and Octavia all came upstairs no too long after that with seaweed tea. "Hey Jas" I whispered when he started to resist Clarke, even though he was mostly unconscious. "I found something really awesome today and I won't share if you don't drink your tea," I told him, taking his hand in my right hand while I wiped a stray tear with my left. Thankfully, Jasper took my bribe and drank down the hot tea.
"I'm really sorry about Atom" Clarke spoke, looking at Octavia. I really wanted to hit her, now was not the time. Even though I didn't know her all that well, I could tell that Octavia Blake was more likely to lash out when she was hurting. And she was hurting really bad right now.
"I guess we're gonna have to get used to people dying down here, aren't we?" Octavia asked before leaning over Jasper. "But not you. You hear me?" she whispered. "Seren even got you a good present for when you feel better" she added, sending me a watery smile.
"So you're not allowed to die," I told him, squeezing his hand once more.
Clarke left us to go find Wells a little while later. So, the four of us left Jasper to rest and went over to the other side of the second level. And when Finn pulled a dusty bottle from his pocket, my eyes lit up for the first time all night. I had been chewing on some stems from the pot plants, but the hundred-year-old booze was definitely what I really needed right now.
"Smooth" Monty coughed, taking another small swig before handing the bottle to me.
"Smoother than anything you've made," I told him, I took a long draw from the bottle and handed it over to Octavia with a cough.
"Disgusting" she swallowed with a grimace. "I love it" she added before handing it back to Finn.
"Can I, uh, get a hit of that?"
And I swear my heart all but stopped as my mouth nearly hit the floor.
"Jasper!" I squeaked as we all rushed over to his side.
"Let's start with the soft stuff," Finn told him with a smile as he grabbed a sealed bag we've been using as a water bottle. "Welcome back, buddy."
"Was that a dream or did I get speared?" Japer asked.
It was then that Clarke finally joined us. "You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it," she told him with a smile.
"My savior!" Jas called out playfully, causing me to giggle just a little through my (very happy) tears.
"Thank you for not dying," the blonde told him. "I don't think I could have taken that today" she added. I knew, of course, what Clarke had done in the woods. And I think that if Jasper had died, then I think that would have broken her just as much as the rest of us.
"I'll try not to die tomorrow, too, if that's cool" he joked as Octavia took his hand. "Oh, hello" he smiled, causing all of us to chuckle. "I didn't dream that Seren found plants, right?" he asked.
"No, buddy" I smiled. "No, I really did find a huge crop and brought some back just for you."
It was then that Jasper fell back asleep. By morning, hopefully, he would be able to sit up and talk with us. But for now, his being even just a little bit better was enough.