Strength in Numbers
Bellamy:
I woke up in a large white room. A bright light placed right above me, burning into my eyes. I tried to move, but I was tied down. My body was in a pain that echoed throughout me. I couldn't see my injuries but I could feel them.
The restraints dug deep into my skin as I tried to pull away. But soon I relaxed, if I wanted Clarke and everyone else to be okay I had to be here. I had to bear the burden so they didn't have to. I took a deep breath trying to distract myself from the pain coursing through my body.
A loud creek fills the room as a door opens. I can't see anything, but I can feel someone looking at me. A woman in a hazmat suit stood above me. She looked about the same age as Clarke. Dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes. She looked like a porcelain doll. Her eyes focused on me. She stood there staring at me.
I tilted my head to one side as I took in the look in her eyes. Concern? "What do you want from me?"
She slowly moved her gloved hand to my cheek. She caressed my face. "I want your leader. I want to know what you know. I want to know how you survived."
My heart began to beat harder and faster. She wanted Clarke. "I am our leader." I kept my face firm, strong. Hoping she wouldn't find the lack of confidence in my voice. "If that's all you wanted, why did you keep us as your prisoners? Why did you try to kidnap one of us? Why did you attack us?"
She let it all sink in. I could see her face fill with curiosity. Her brows furrowed as she continued to scan my face. "We kept you as prisoners so we could test if Earth was survivable by sending you out first. We monitored you all closely to see if you faced any radiation poisoning. You seem to be perfectly fine. We needed to take you so we could test if you had any components in your blood that we didn't." Her eyes were wide. They were hungry. I felt chills go down my spine, she made me feel uncomfortable.
The door opened once again. The woman standing above me jumped as footsteps made their way towards us. The woman stiffened as a man stood next to her. He was older. His hair a mix of grey and black. He looked a lot like the woman, but much older. He stood there grinning down at me.
"Set up the tray, if we want to get anything out of him we're going to need him alive." His voice was dark. I lay there helpless, incapable of defending myself. But I had to get through this for my people, for Clarke.
I spent the next few hours slipping in and out of consciousness as they worked to fix my injuries. Some injuries were worse than others. I felt every move they made. They cut into my stomach trying to repair my internal injuries.
I woke up again when I heard them yelling. "THERE'S A BLEEDER. FIND IT," yelled the woman.
The man frantically stuck his fingers inside my stomach digging through my insides. "I CAN'T FIND IT." His eyes filled with fear. I was vital to their survival, they needed me. "I found it, apply pressure and suction while I stitch it up," he breathed a sigh of relief.
A loud vacuum like noise filled the room as the woman gained control of my bleeding. After the stitches held in tight, they continued to close me up. Both of their faces were filled with relief.
They whipped off their gloves before ripping off their blood covered surgical gowns and their face masks. The woman rushed to wash her hands before she sat up beside me.
She laid her hand on my chest. "We almost lost you, but everything should be fine now. Get some rest for now, we'll come back to check on you later." She gave me a smile before walking away.
I was left alone lying on my bed still bound against the bed. I missed Clarke. It should have been her patching me up. She should have been her patching me up. Getting mad at me for putting myself in such a dangerous situation. Then sitting next to me until I fell asleep, playing with my hair. She would have checked up on me every hour to make sure I wasn't infected, to change my dressings. I needed her. I slowly fell asleep as the pain took over my body.
I abruptly woke up to a bucket of water being splashed against my face. The cool water running down my body. I was sitting up tied to a chair in a prison like room. Ropes ripped into my ankles, knees, arms, and chest. I couldn't move at all.
A man stood in front of me a grin plastered across his face. He was tall, wide shoulders, strong arms. He had dark hair, blue eyes. I sat there scanning my surroundings. My body was numb, I couldn't see beyond the man. My vision was heavily blurred.
"Rise and shine sweetheart!" The man stood in front of me with his arms crossed in front of him, his face full of amusement. "Now tell me Bellamy. How many of you are there?" I sat there remaining quiet. If I stayed quiet long enough he'd give up and leave. "Not going to talk huh?"
I remembered back to when we had taken Lincoln for information, we continued to torture him until he got away. He was much stronger than I am. Even the day he was executed he was fearless.
The man stepped closer to me moving his face in front of mine. His grin washed off his face as it filled with anger. He stepped back letting out a large sigh. His fingers rolled into his palm making a fist. "Okay then, let me give you some motivation." He turned around grabbing a heavy looking paddle. He walked closer as he bounced it against his palm. "Pull him up."
Two men quickly untied me. I didn't resist as they tied me up. My arms were stretched out on both sides as my legs were tied at shoulder width. The pain from the restraints consumed me. This is what we did to Lincoln. My heart filled with regret, but I couldn't show it.
The man took a step back preparing to swing the paddle by placing it over his shoulder. I closed my eyes as I prepared myself. I had to do this. For Clarke. For my sister. For Madi. For my family.
"HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?" I held my breath waiting for it. He swung the paddle back and swung straight to my gut. The sting of the wood against my skin took my breath away. I began to breathe calmly, relaxing my body. I lifted my head back up so my eyes could meet his. I needed to show him I wouldn't break. "Nothing?" He swung back again hitting me in the side. He repeated this over and over again. I took every hit. I had been through worse.
After a few hours of being hit the woman walked in behind him. The man was instantly filled with anger, but he brushed her off dropping the paddle violently before storming out of the cell.
The woman approached me placing her hand on my chest as she looked up at me. I moved my face away trying to avoid eye contact. She lifted my shirt up taking in the new bruises that had formed around my stomach. She glided her fingers along each bruise. My body tensed under her fingers. She ran her fingers up around my face slowly caressing me. I turned my face away avoiding her touch as much as possible.
As she wrapped her hand around my neck before piercing me with a syringe. Instantly everything around me went black.
Clarke:
As the smoke began to clear up and the fire died down the view became clear. The rubble had nearly cleared aside from a few large pieces. We were close. "Monty, Murphy come help me move these pieces." I ran past the remaining fire up to the bunker. Murphy and Monty quickly joining me as I tried to lift some large pieces of cement. We quickly threw the pieces out. This was the moment of truth.
A tear fell down my cheek as I saw the door to the bunker. This was it. This was reality. I took a deep breath, opening the bunker. The lights were flickering. Fear flooded my body. "Everyone get ready. We're about to get our people back."
I quickly climbed down to the bunker, there was no sign of anyone. Just flickering lights. As I walked towards the control room I took in the mess. Papers scattered everywhere with lists and rules. Crumpled up papers all over the floor. I walked up to the intercom. If I made an announcement everyone would be out of the bunker faster.
I picked up the microphone slowly turning it on. A screech came across the speakers. It slowly died out as I tapped the top of it. I cleared my throat before speaking into the microphone. "Hello, if anyone can hear me please walk towards the bunker door. This is Clarke and it's time to bring our people back to where we belong." As I finished my announcement I walked out towards the rooms. Voices grew as I got closer.
Before I knew it, I began running. I ran straight to the infirmary, if I knew my mom at all she would be here. I stood outside the door of the infirmary. I placed my hand on the handle taking in a deep breath when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Kane. I let the tears flow as I pulled him into an embrace. He looked weaker, his hair was grey. He began shaking as I held him. I swallowed the large lump in my throat. "Where's my mom?"
He pulled away, his eyes not meeting mine. He turned and began walking down the hallway. I followed him as he stopped in front of a door. I looked at him as he stood there. I couldn't wait any longer, I burst through the door. My mom was lying in bed coughing, her eyes widened as she took me in. She was pale, her hair grew grey too, she looked weak. Weaker than Kane. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Clarke," she croaked her voice was so small. I couldn't hold back the tears as they ran down my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. I hadn't seen my mother in over 6 years. I hadn't realized how much I missed her until I was right in front of her.
"What's wrong?" I couldn't help but wonder how she had come to become so weak. My heart ached. She continued to sob as she shook her head. "Mom. Please." I wiped away her tears pulling her in for another hug.
I pulled away to give her some air. "We were running out of food, she's over worked herself and sacrificed everything to help everyone else." A familiar voice came from around me. I turned around to me rammed by Octavia. She wrapped her arms around me squeezing me as tight as she could. She was also thinner, but clearly, she had still been training. "I guess self-sacrifice is a Griffin thing." A smile spreads across her face.
I turned towards my mother shaking my head, but I understood why she did it. She thought I was gone, she thought this was all her fault, she was overwhelmed. I leaned down kissing her forehead before turning back to Octavia.
"Is Bell here? How is everyone? How did you all make it?" She was filled with curiosity.
I held back the tears burning in my eyes as I shook my head at her. "We need to go get him." I sat her down as I quickly summarized our current situation. I could sense the anger in Octavia as she tried to get up, I pushed her down as I finished explaining the plan. "Now you need to tell me how many people do we have and are they ready to fight?"
Octavia abruptly stood up nodding at a man standing in the doorway. "We'll kill them all if we have to." She was filled with fury.
I turned back to Kane and my mother. "Everything will be okay, you don't need to torture yourself." I smiled. "We've made it." Kane grabbed her hand as tears filled his eyes as he looked between my mom and me. "I need to go and help everyone outside get everything together for everyone trying to get out, but I'll send some people down for you two." I gave my mom a nod as I turned on my heels to walk towards the bunker doors.
The hallways were crowded with familiar faces. As I turn the corner towards the door I see Octavia standing amongst a crowd. Everyone was focused on her. It was nice to see someone else lead for once.
A few hours pass and almost everyone is out of the bunker. The excitement that filled the air was the most beautiful thing I had seen in a while. This was it, we made it this far and we were not going to back down now. We organized everyone into two groups, a group that was going with the search party to get Bellamy and another group that was going to stay back and build up our village.
My mom's voice croaked behind me as she was being carried in on a gurney. I turned to her grabbing her hand. Madi slowly made her way towards me, her face falling as she saw my mom. She was nervous. "Mom, this is my…Madi. She's been with me for the past few years. She's my family." A smiled crossed my mom's face as she stared at Madi.
She opened her arms to let her in for a hug. Relief filled my body. "Clarke has been like a mom to me." Madi was grinning from ear to ear. I tried to fight the tears that pooled up into my eyes, but I couldn't help it. In all the years, we had spent together Madi had never directly referred to me as her mom.
Octavia joined me by my side. "Hi I'm Oct…"
She was cut off by Madi. "Octavia Blake." She wrapped her arms around Octavia catching her off guard. "Clarke has told me so much about you. So much about all of you," she said looking around at everyone.
Octavia couldn't help but smile. Her smile soon faded as she looked around at everyone rejoicing, everyone except her and Bellamy. I grabbed her hand giving her a nice squeeze. "We WILL get him back."
As everyone stood out in the empty wasteland Octavia and I stood on top of the hood of the Rover gathering everyone's attention.
"We made it," Octavia says as everyone cheers. "But our fight is not over. We have a new threat to fight." Everyone looked at one another glances were being passed on. "There are people here who think they can take our land from us. But we are going to show them that we will not go down without a fight."
Cheers filled the air. Everyone was eager to take on our next challenge. I cleared my throat as the cheering died down. "These people have bombs. We need to attack at first light before they use them." The simultaneous nods continued as I continued. "We separated you into groups, half of which will help execute this attack and half of which will help set up camp. For now, we will set camp along the river, tomorrow we will fight." The crowd cheered enthusiastically. It was relaxing to know that we weren't alone anymore.
I drove the injured to the river where we decided we'd stay the night. People were already there making fires, making weapons, setting up places to sleep. It was hard to tell the difference between the previous Grounders and Arkers. We were all one now.
Murphy and Monty set off with a hunting party to get food. We had about little over a thousand people from the bunker. A lot of hungry and eager people to take care of. Everyone was scattered around the river. The cots were reserved for the injured.
As everyone was fed and falling asleep I walked towards Madi and Raven who sat by the fire with Octavia, Miller, Monty, Murphy, Emori, and Echo. It was nice to have everyone together. The thought of Bellamy filled me. I felt so guilty. He was gone because of my carelessness. Who knew what they were doing to him?
Octavia, as if reading my thoughts moved closer to me placing her hand on my knee. "We WILL get him back." She repeated my words from earlier reassuring me of my plan. This had to work. It was the only way I would get him back.