As some kind of band aid for not getting a new epsiode last night, you recieve a new chapter. I know, it's not as good as a 4x06 but it's a start
Another hard week ahead of us until we get to see the babes on screen again, so keep me a little happy with some reviews please?
You already know how I feel about you giving me feedback but I still have to express my grattitude every time: YOU ARE AWESOME! THANK YOU!
Even though Clarke could feel her heart pound against the inside of her rib cage, the adrenaline rushing through her veins suppressed the fear. Instead she felt awake, it was weird but for this kind of situation it was good. With Bellamy a few steps ahead, they entered the apartment next door and Bellamy shot.
Clarke couldn't see who or rather what he hit. Her eyes focused on Charlotte. She was hovering underneath one of the chairs in the kitchen, her hands pressed over her ears. Although she couldn't see neither Monty nor Jasper, she dived down and kneeled down in front of Charlotte, just noticing the high number of Walkers present out of the corner of her eye. "Hey." She tried to sound clam and reassuring. "Hey Charlotte!"
"They killed Jasper! They killed him!" Clarke could feel her blood freeze and she swallowed hard. "Jasper's dead…" She cried but Clarke tried to stay calm. This couldn't be happening. Jasper couldn't be dead. No way, he just couldn't be…
"Clarke!" Bellamy's voice urged her to keep going, as she heard him fire his gun again and again, trying to hold of the other Walkers.
"Come on, we need to go." She grabbed Charlotte's arm and the girl stumbled to her feet, clinging onto the blonde one. She looked over at Bellamy and wished she could just tell him what Charlotte had just told her but there was no time.
"Run!" Bellamy growled and Clarke nodded, tugging on Charlotte's hand, heading for the door. Charlotte's hand felt sweaty but Clarke tried to focus on something else. Their way out, for example. Not on the fact that Jasper was dead. That he was gone. And just because of something so stupid like Charlotte not listening to them. A loud non-human growl sounded just when they were about to round the corner and a huge Walker came trotting around it. His lifeless eyes staring at them and Clarke jumped backwards, missing his punch by a few inches. She stumbled to the ground, taking Charlotte down with her and groaned when pain shot through her body.
"Clarke! Gun! Gun!" She could hear Bellamy's scream from behind and started fumbling for her weapon. Where the hell was it? The thing came closer again and Clarke tried to push Charlotte backwards, away from it. "No…" She had to find the gun and she had to shoot. She had to save Charlotte's life and her own. Just when her fingers closed around the cold metal of the gun, two shots already sounded through the night.
At first Clarke was sure Bellamy must have fired them but Charlotte's gasp made her follow the girl's eyes. Monty and Jasper, covered in blood from head to toe, were standing in the doorway to the room on their right. Jasper was alive and well, as it seemed. While she was still staring at the men, Bellamy's arms suddenly embraced her from behind and pulled her up to her feet. "We need to get away from here!" His voice was urgent.
He was right. She had no time to wonder how Jasper was still alive or why Charlotte had thought he was dead. They all just nodded in agreement and Clarke grabbed Charlotte's hand again. Barely out of the front door, they had to stop short again. Two more Walkers came shambling up the stairs. Monty raised his gun but Bellamy stopped him. "No more waste of ammo! We move further up and try to lose them!"
Clarke didn't like that plan too much. Who knew what could be awaiting them? But there was no time to argue so she just started to moving again, pulling Charlotte up the stairs with her. "I know these kind of houses!" Monty panted. "We used… to live in one… as well…"
"Is that good or bad?" Bellamy asked.
"At the very top… there should be a door… leading to the roof… and other one… leading into the stairwell of the… of the house right next to this one…"
Bellamy nodded. "Very good! We'll use that!"
Clarke just wished the top would come sooner than it seemed because she noticed that she had to push Charlotte more and more than she was actually running and out of some apartments really weird noises could be heard. It was just a matter of time and she was very aware of that.
"Come on, we can do this!" She tried to push Charlotte but she was not the only one noticing that it was hard for her to keep up.
"I have a plan!" Bellamy suddenly announced and stopped dead.
"What?" Clarke came to a stumbling halt right in front of him. "What are you doing?"
"I have no time to explain! But I'm going to need another gun!" Without questioning him, Jasper handed him his and nodded. "Good! You just keep going, we'll meet up again at the car!"
"Bellamy…" Clarke started.
"Don't worry, Princess. Take care of them." He winked at her, which was inappropriate concerning the situation but he didn't leave her a choice, he turned right on his heel and headed for the first door, leading into one of the apartments.
"Come on, Clarke!" Jasper urged her. With a heavy heart, Clarke turned away from where Bellamy had disappeared and started running up the stairs again.
"How many more stairs?" Charlotte asked, out of breath.
"We should have to go up about three more levels!" Monty answered.
Clarke took a deep breath. "We can do this! Come on!" They turned the next corner and ran up the stairs of that one. Whatever Bellamy had planned, it seemed to have worked because the noises of the Walkers following them were gone. Clarke prayed that he was fine too though. She had a bad feeling that Bellamy didn't care about himself too much if he knew there were other people's life at stake too, especially children.
Just when they passed one of the next doors, it flung open, almost knocking them over. Charlotte screamed but Clarke prevented her from falling. "Hurry!" She still screamed at Monty and Jasper.
They nodded and immediately picked up their pace. In fact they managed to reach the top in less time than Clarke had anticipated, with the Walkers breathing down their necks. Monty reached for the door handle and turned it, to the left and to the right but nothing happened. Clarke swallowed. "Monty…"
"I… I don't know… usually these doors just open…"
Clarke cursed and pushed Charlotte behind her, while checking their surroundings. They were caged. There was no other way out, it was either the door or back down the stairs, where the Walkers were coming for them. She could feel Charlotte digging her nails into her sides and made a face. She had no choice and reached for her gun. Somehow they needed to defend themselves. She raised the gun and tried to take aim which was harder than expected. It was dark and her hand was shaking. Monty next to her mimicked her movement and pulled the trigger. Once again, nothing happened. "Oh my God…" He breathed and stepped back. "It's empty…"
Clarke bit her lip, pressing her back against the door, while trying to shield Charlotte. This couldn't be happening. "Clarke…" Monty gasped. The Walkers were coming closer and closer. She had to do something. She raised her second arm to try and steady her shaking arm. Without giving herself more time to think, she pulled the trigger. And missed. Damnit! Her breathing was way too heavy. Her hands were shaking way too hard. The Walkers were coming way too close.
"Got it!" Jasper screamed. The door opened and Clarke fell backwards when it gave in. Crashing onto the pebbles on the ground, feeling them dig into her skin. She hissed but reacted fast, so she kicked the door close and looked around. The sun had come up by now and made it easier to see.
"Over there!" Monty pointed at the door on the opposite side of the roof. "Go!" Clarke stumbled back to her feet and hurried over to the girl to help her back up on her feet. The door behind them burst open. Clarke's heart started racing again, it was an up and down, between feeling totally numb and detached to feeling way too nervous and shaky. The first Walker let out a scream and reached for them.
"No!" Clarke kicked its arm which only seemed to make it more furious. She pulled her away from the Walker.
"The door is closed…" Jasper voice made her stop and look at him. "What?!"
"It's locked..." Monty confirmed. The blonde girl gasped before looking back at the Walkers that were now coming towards them. Clarke walked over to the edge to look down but there was no way they were going to survive jumping. Her mind started racing. What could they do? Even if she was a better shot than before, her bullets would never suffice to get rid of the six, seven Walkers making their way towards them. There was nowhere to run and no way to safe them. No! There had to be a way! She knew Bellamy would kill her when he found out something happened to Charlotte, in case she would survive. Monty and Jasper were still working on the door, obviously not wanting to accept their situation. But if that wouldn't work…
"Clarke…" Charlotte whined, adjusting her grip on the older girl.
"Don't worry…" She tried to calm her down even though she knew how ridiculous she had to sound, how ridiculous she sounded to her own ears. How could she not worry in this situation? She fumbled for her gun again. Right now that seemed like the best option, to at least have something to protect them with. Her fingers were sweaty again so they were slippery and she had an even harder time to properly hold onto the gun. One of the Walkers let out another growl and threw a punch. Clarke ducked under it, pulling Charlotte down with her. This had seemed like a smart move before but it allowed the second one to jump forward and send them to the ground.
Clarke felt another rush of pain shoot trough her when she collided with the pebbly ground, her head starting pounding where it crashed into the ground and where the Walker had touched her. The breath was knocked out of her lungs and she gasped. For a moment she was disoriented. Someone screamed and Clarke wasn't even sure who it was anymore. She couldn't tell if it was Charlotte or Monty or maybe even herself. She blinked a few times, trying to regain her senses even though everything was still turning and she wasn't sure where up and down were anymore.
"Clarke! Help me! Clarke! Please!"
Ponderously she turned around. Charlotte was lying on the ground too, crawling back towards the edge of the building, one of the Walkers right behind her. "No…" Clarke murmured. She didn't know where Bellamy was right now. Or Monty or Jasper but someone had to do something. Maybe that someone was her. She blinked again while Charlotte's screams grew more desperate. And then she saw it. The gun. The gun Bellamy had given to her. She should be thankful. Yes, she really should. She crawled forward, grabbed the handle and pulled herself up.
"Shot them! Please! Do it! Shoot them!"
Clarke raised the gun and pointed it. She could save Charlotte. This time she would save someone, not kill them. This time would be different… No… The Walker turned around. It wasn't a stranger's face anymore. Clarke's heart stopped. She blinked. It was her father. He was staring at her, his eyes empty and lifeless. He would not have wanted to live like this. Death is more dignified than that kind of existence. But could she live with that? Could she live with the knowledge that she had shot a bullet at her own father? Walker or not, he was the man who raised her and had given up everything for her. And that was how she thanked him? By ending his life? It was the right choice! Right…? Maybe it wasn't… Could she really do it again…? Could she keep on living, knowing she had shot her own father two times?
"Clarke!" The voice that broke her out of her trance wasn't as high pitched and female anymore. Instead it was dark and serious, a hint of anxiety within it too. Next thing she knew an arm closed around her hips and pulled her a few steps backwards, making her barely miss the sharp teeth aiming for her arm. She stared at the Walker one more moment, his face suddenly not her Dad's anymore but the stranger's again. When she looked over to the edge of the roof, her heart stopped. Charlotte was gone!
"It's open!" Monty screamed from behind them. Charlotte had to be with them. There was no other explanation. Bellamy dragged her towards the voice and she stumbled along. Her breath still going heavy as if she had just run up the many stairs in the building again. She couldn't help it. Her eyes flickered back to the creature once more. She just had to make sure. But every similarity she might had seen to her Dad before was gone. This was so strange. She tried to look closer but Bellamy slammed the door shot behind them, stumbling to the ground and Clarke could feel the air being pressed out of her lungs.
"Clarke!" Bellamy cursed. "What the hell?!"
She blinked when she detected the clear anger in his voice. "Why did I give you a fucking gun?! You need to use it!"
He was glaring at her but she was slowly coming back to her senses too. He knew about her father! He knew what a gun meant to her, what it could trigger! He had no right to talk to her like that! Besides, nothing happened!
"You don't understand this…" She finally just murmured and rolled off of him to get up. Even though her vision was still blurry at the edges and there were black dots, she forced herself to not show weakness. Her eyes found Monty and Jasper who were standing close to the wall, staring at the ground. The blonde girl frowned. "Where is Charlotte?"
At these words they all looked at her like she had just gone mad. "Clarke…" Monty started. "She… she jumped…"
Her hear skipped a beat and she opened her eyes wide. "What…?"
"There was no way out of this if she didn't want to turn…" He carefully continued but the girl didn't really hear what he was saying anymore. She had messed up again. Last time she took a shot and she felt like hell. This time she didn't and she wasn't sure if she wasn't even feeling worse. Without being able to say another word, she turned away and headed for the stairs. On her way down she had to hold tight onto the railing so she wouldn't fall. Tears blurring her vision even more now. Bellamy had every right to hate her now. To hate her and never talk to her again.
When the others finally reached ground level, Bellamy and Monty walked over to the car, while Jasper came over to where she was sitting, on one of the little walls marking which parts of the garden belonged to which houses. "Hey Clarke… Would you mind if I take a look at your head?"
If it was only her head making her feel this dizzy and horrible, she would be grateful. "I'm fine." She lied.
Jasper made a face. "I think we both now you are not."
She rolled her eyes and looked down at her hands. Charlotte had trusted her to protect her and take care of her. Instead she was dead now. She was dead because Clarke had not been able to pull that stupid trigger. She let her die so she didn't have to shoot a stranger who had been damned the second he had turned. If she was honest, she was surprised Jasper wanted to treat her wound. Did she even deserve this?
When she didn't reply, Jasper sat down next to her, placing the first aid kid on his lap. "I found this in the car." He explained. "It might be really useful in the future…"
Clarke took a deep breath before she whispered: "It's my fault…"
"No, Clarke… This world is… it's cruel and it takes and takes and takes. That's what it does now and that's no one's fault… I mean, unless you are about to tell me you are the one who invited this virus, I don't think you can take the blame for this one…"
"I could have saved her, Jasper! If I had just…"
"No, you couldn't. Monty checked your gun. You had three bullets left. Three bullets and eight Walkers. Even if each shot would have been a fatal one, what about the other five? You couldn't have saved her…"
Clarke disagreed with him but she didn't have the energy to argue, so she shut up and instead focused on not starting to cry. The adrenaline was leaving her veins pretty fast and the numb feeling disappeared, making her feel all the dread and the pain and the horror she had suppressed throughout the whole encounter all at once.
"Okay, I'll just do it now, okay?" Jasper said while opening the kit and getting out some supplies. Clarke didn't really take any of that in. Her mind wandered back to the roof, to the little girl, to her inability. God, she… Her trail of thoughts was stopped when she felt a new wave of hot pain roll through her. Jasper had started disinfecting her wound. "I will be quick." He promised.
Clarke closed her eyes and tried to focus on his hands on her forehead, to sense and check on each step he made. Surprised at how smoothly and easy he worked with the bandages and ointment, Clarke opened her eyes again watched his hands.
"My Mom was a nurse." He explained with a half grin, when he noticed her staring.
"Oh okay…" She felt bad for not sounding more interested but compared to what other things she had done, this was probably one of the least bad ones. She barely dared to look over at the car, where Bellamy was hovering in the driver's seat, throwing daggers at them with Monty in the back seat, looking pale.
"He doesn't blame you for what happened up there, you know?" Jasper suddenly said.
Clarke blinked. "What?"
Jasper sighed. "He was simply really worried about you. I mean, we all were. This creature almost sank its teeth into your skin and you were just standing there, staring at it like it was one of the seven world wonders. I just thought you should know… He is upset and that's why he is mad…"
Clarke could hardly believe his words. A child had died because of her. As far as it concerned Bellamy there was probably nothing worse. "I doubt it…" She admitted when Jasper finished bandaging her up.
"Trust me." He simply said. "What about your other wounds?"
"They're fine, really."
Even though Jasper didn't look too convinced, he let it go and got up again. "Okay, let's head back then. I'm sure Bellamy won't appreciate it if we lose any more time."
"No, I guess not."
The two of them walked back to the car and Clarke found herself almost wishing that Jasper would take the passenger's seat but of course he didn't. So that didn't leave her any choice but to climb in next to Bellamy. As soon as her door was closed, he started the engine. "We won't waste any more time from now on." He announced, his voice hard and cold. "We will only stop to get food and use the bathroom twice a day. I want to be back in Brooks in two days."
He didn't say another word to her or so much as looked at her or acknowledged her presence in any way. All he did was stare straight ahead and chase the car down the lane. Never would she have imagined that being ignored by Bellamy Blake would bother her so much but here she was, apparently nothing but air to him and that simply added up to her already feeling like total crap.