Thank you all so much for the follows and favourites! It made me so happy! As a surprise I have chapter 4 finished! I hope you enjoy it, it's a but angsty so be prepared! Thank you again for reading and continuing to follow my story. ^_^
Octavia jumped up after the ground had stopped shaking trying to regain her balance and find a way to get back through the entrance that was now completely covered by rocks, mud, and dirt. Yes they had had their differences but Clarke was still important to her and having her trapped in a tunnel when the ground was shaking was not an end she had in mind for anyone. She heard some shouts and looked up to find Bellamy, Lincoln, and a few of the others rushing down to make sure she was okay. As Bellamy wrapped her in a tight hug he tried not to focus on the gaping hole that had been filled with loose dirt when there was no sign of Clarke. Slowly he released his sister so that Lincoln could finally reunite with her before looking over the mouth of the cave as his heart began to beat more and more quickly. Too much had fallen, there would be no way to guarantee that the structure inside would be sound for them to go back through either way.
Wick approached carefully with a dismal look on his face shaking his head slowly as he carried Raven with him.
"What happened?" Bellamy demanded his voice strong though his emotions wavering every which way.
"It looks like a fail safe was triggered. There where plates and sensors put in place around crucial points. It was probably intended to take us down from the inside out but whoever triggered it did it too late. We got everyone out that I could see. From the few glances I got inside there's no way to go back in. Everything has shifted and with the acid fog I would worry about containment. If there's a breach it could ruin everything, including penetrate into the ground and then that brings in a whole new set of problems." Wick continued on finally reaching them and setting Raven down for a minute. As Wick stepped closer to Bellamy Octavia went to step over to Raven, speaking quietly with the girl while checking her wounds.
Octavia wondered who would be the first to ask the question, and how long it would take. She knew Bellamy had his suspicions but they hadn't been confirmed, he had been happy that she had made it. It was Raven who voiced the concern that they were all thinking about.
"Wick you said everyone that you could see. But Clarke was with Octavia down here. Octavia, where is Clarke?" Raven had gently stopped Octavia's hand before she tightened the wrap around her leg.
"If I had to guess I would say somewhere in there, trapped." Octavia shook her head and continued on before she could get barraged by questions from everyone. "We were doubling back to make sure we had all of our people out. The Reapers that we neutralized when we went in there were gone. They must have fled when they heard the warnings when everything happened I don't know. We had moved farther apart to try and cover more ground, I was standing closer to the mouth of the cave and she was farther in. I was about to turn around when everything started shaking and I fell." Octavia shook her head trying to clear away the growing worry; she was worried for her friend. This was her fault, she had strayed too far. The group remained quiet for some time all considering their friend's fate.
Clarke's eyes opened slowly in the darkness, trying to feel her way around to identify where she was. She felt the coolness of loose dirt all around her and noted she had fallen in a shallow hole. It couldn't have been more than a three or four feet deep. She could barely see the outline of the support beams just above her. The darkness swirled around her, Clarke tried to shut her eyes to stop the dizziness but it only made it worse. Her hand flew to her head hoping the extra stability would help to ease the dizziness but instead of support Clarke was faced with a sticky substance flowing down the left side of her face. Drawing her hand away she rubbed her fingers together trying to judge how much the wound was bleeding. She remembered that head wounds tended to bleed more. Ripping a part of her shirt she tried to wipe away the blood. Thankfully the cut was small, nothing too worrisome. Clarke moved her deft hands down and over her body checking for any more injuries. She was starting to calm down when her fingers reached the bottom of her ribcage. There was a long cut, about six inches in length if she was correct. It stretched on the right side of her torso from her rib cage down to her hip. It wasn't a clean cut, the edges felt jagged and Clarke could tell that there was shrapnel. If she were to hazard a guess she would say that the splintered piece of wood by her side was the cause. Clarke removed her outer coat before tearing more of her shirt to shreds. She would have to create bandages if she didn't want to bleed out.
"Come on Clarke, you can do this." She tried to reassure herself as she slowly began to pull pieces of wood out of her side. She was doing it by touch and it was dark, she focused on the larger pieces that were easier to find. It was painful and Clarke nearly passed out twice before stopping. Slowly she reached for the pieces of fabric that lay across her leg before she tied the knot with shaky hands. In her mind a ticking clock started, she knew she needed to get help as soon as possible. Moving to stand, Clarke screamed in agony, dropping her hands from the walls which had served as her support to hold her leg. Moving her hands down she could feel how the bone was out of place, she wouldn't be able to walk on it without support. Sighing she rested her head against the solid wall, needing a moment or two of rest before she would try and move again.
"Bellamy! Stop!" Octavia grabbed his arm in an attempt to make him stop clawing at the dirt that only kept refilling itself.
"We have to get her out! She could be dying! She could be losing oxygen!" Bellamy's eyes widened frantically. Wick approached him carefully trying to calm him down only to have him shake him off and stepping away.
"Look, Bellamy, we have no tools. None of us have eaten properly in days and none of us have had proper sleep in longer than that. We need tools. We need food. We need sleep. We'll get back to camp and set out come sunrise." Raven spoke up leveling Bellamy with a look that spoke of the pain. Having Clarke trapped wasn't just effecting him. This affected everyone and while they all wanted to save her they had to be practical. No one from the other group was in enough shape to help, they would have to wait. They had no choice.
"Fine." His shoulders dropped making him appearing defeated as the single word fell from his lips tightly. Bellamy was not okay with leaving her behind but he recognized the need for all the things that Raven had mentioned. He would be useless without rest, food, and tools.
"Come on Bell, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get back." Octavia stood next to him, wrapping her arms around his side as the small group began to rejoin the others. Bellamy reported the news to Kane, not wanting to disturb Abby's sleep by making her worry.
The group trekked back slowly all exhausted and all silent as their thoughts frayed on the things of what had happened. They arrived during late afternoon and the few that had been left behind immediately began to work on setting up bedding and a place to eat while they filed in.
Kane approached Bellamy quietly as Sinclair took Abby into the med bay with the other's that had been harvested from. "Try and relax tonight. You'll need your wits about you tomorrow if you're going to be getting her out. Take what you need and who you need." Bellamy nodded unable to form words.
He joined the others who sat silently around the main fire before dropping his head in his hands trying to stop his racing brain. Darkness slowly began to fall and all Bellamy could think about was Clarke trapped and alone in a tunnel eight hours away. He went to bed that night with restless thoughts and really didn't get much sleep.
Clarke woke much later, she couldn't see the sun or the stars but her body told her that it had been quite some time since she had dozed off before. Her eyes opened weakly, fluttering open and shut several times before she rubbed at them, trying to wake them up enough to stay open. Moving slowly Clarke began to pull herself up, lifting herself up out of the hole while trying not to move her left leg. It didn't work and she had been in so much pain that she had to bite her lip to hold back the sound of complete anguish.
Taking a few minutes to catch her breath Clarke began to feel around the ground in hopes of finding something useful to help her find a way out. Her fingers wrapped around a smooth cylindrical object and she smiled, she knew the feel of her flashlight well. She wrapped her fingers tightly around it before pressing the button taking a deep sigh of relief when the area she was in became illuminated in the bright light.
As she surveyed the damage Clarke spotted several pieces of smaller wood that could function as a splint if only she could find something to wrap to make it stay in place. Removing her belt and the remainder of her shirt, she had a thin camisole underneath; Clarke fastened a very crude splint. Tucking the thin piece of wood in her boot and using her belt as well as several long strips of cloth Clarke tied her leg tightly, hoping it could hold for her to make the trek home.
Taking the flashlight Clarke began to move slowly along the wall before stooping down and picking up a taller piece of iron to help her walk. Slowly Clarke used what little light she could to try and find a way out of the labyrinth of tunnels that she was lost in. By some miracle she had found an opening she could fit through. She was considerably farther down the mountain than she wanted to be and the hole was much smaller than she would prefer but she would have to take a chance at getting out if that meant shimmying her body through air-vent sized hole. Very carefully, so as not to disturb the opening any more than needed, Clarke began to move gritting her teeth tightly as the pain radiated out of from her leg. Finally out of the hole and back on the ground Clarke took several more moments to catch her breath. It would take far longer than the eight hours it would normally take at a good speed. Checking the position of the night sky Clarke could see it wasn't that far past sundown as the eastern sky was still painted with pinks and purples of twilight. Grabbing the piece of iron again Clarke began her long trek back to Camp Jaha.
When the inky blue of night turned into grey Bellamy awoke, rubbing his eyes as he tried to get his body to move. He was sore the last week had wreaked havoc on his body and now as he lay on a palate next to Octavia and Lincoln he had no desire to move. All three of them had managed to make it into the tent, if not a little closer to each other than what would be comfortable before falling asleep. None of them slept well but none of them were the kind to naturally want to talk about it. Sitting up Bellamy groaned as his muscles protested against the movement. Lincoln and Octavia stirred and both began to sit up as well. They would catch a quick bite to eat before heading out.
Clarke had moved slowly and from her watch, though she knew it didn't keep the correct time, it had been nearly twelve hours and Clarke had to sit and rest again. She had been doing this all night, walking for two hours and resting for one. She hadn't gotten as far as she had wanted but if she wasn't careful her already open wound would open further. Pulling the makeshift bandage away Clarke grimaced. It didn't look good, she really needed to get back, over her time walking blood and trickled down her side, continuing to flow and stained her pants. She stood again, knowing that if she were to fall asleep now she wouldn't wake up again. She needed to stay awake and keep moving, no matter the cost.
Taking a deep breath Clarke pushed herself up with the iron piece, holding onto the tree for support for several minutes before continuing her walk. Thankfully the path was easy to follow; she remembered it from the maps that had been drawn before the battle now followed the marks left behind by the survivors. Clarke was wobbling on her feet, having to hold onto the trees more and more as the blood loss was beginning to take its effect. She had been hyped up on adrenaline and the need to survive and so she hadn't taken awareness of the blackness that started to edge into her vision or the delusions of seeing her father again, or Finn's face, or Anya pushing her on, or Wells smiling at her encouragingly.
Clarke's breath grew heavier but as she stepped through the clearing and thought that the sight before her was the best sight she had seen since Bellamy and Octavia had returned. There, in the pale morning light stood Camp Jaha in all its glory. She watched as the guards moved along the cat walks in a synchronized rotation.
Gauging the distance, Clarke wasn't sure if she could make it. It was over three hundred yards between her and her home and she had come so far. She could do this! She could make it!
Everyone was gathering supplies without talking still drunk on sleep in the early morning hours. Raven wouldn't be able to make the trip, they had drilled into her leg and even with her brace her leg and body needed time to heal from events of the last few days. Wick would be able to come but his one arm would be useless while it was tied off in a crude sling. Octavia and Lincoln were speaking quietly by the gate while Bellamy and Wick spoke to Kane. They wouldn't be taking many people, just a small group that would be able to help. With everything they needed Bellamy, Lincoln, Wick, and Octavia moved towards the gate waiting for the commands to open it.
Clarke saw movement and heard a buzzer sound just as she was getting to the door. She doubted that they had seen her in the twilight she would have blended in with the shadows as the sun and not yet crested the horizon enough to bring light to the shadows. Clarke held her breath trying to fight off the ever encroaching dizziness. She needed to lie down, but not yet, she was almost there. Just one more moment. Just one more breath. Clarke kept repeating these like a mantra while the door swung in, taking its time before she looked up and saw four of the most important people in her life. Taking another few steps Clarke thought she could reach them if she could reach them she could live, but then her body gave in to the blackness she had been fighting for hours. She hadn't taken more than two steps when it engulfed her completely sending her into an abyss she wasn't sure she would ever wake from.
Cliffhanger I know, but no worries, I've already started work on the next chapter so hopefully I'll have it up in the next couple of days, no promises, sorry. Thank you again for taking the time to read this!
~Annika
