Before you start reading, I want you to read Chapter 25 again. There's something I changed there that would probably break your heart. It's between Wells and Raven. So I'm sorry for those who are upset about that. But I hope you still enjoy my story anyway.
Hours earlier before Murphy's attack, Clarke woke up and saw that she was surrounded by grounders, hands bound again. She rose up to her knees staring down at Anya who was quietly warming her hands over a small fire. It was a brutal stare, making clear her hatred for the woman. She wondered at what point she had become so different. On the Ark, even in prison, she wasn't like this. Clarke wasn't this menacing and ferocious. It seemed that the Earth made them all more savage.
The horses just outside of the firelight gave a skittish squeal when a hooked nose man appeared out of the woods, startling Anya's men.
"Your left flank is vulnerable." His sharp eyes sunk into Anya's as he jumped down to be level with her.
"My archers are in the trees with orders to shoot anyone hostile. You're not hostile, are you Tristan?" The almost gentle ribbing came from Anya with a hint of irritation. He smirked at her before turning to stare at Clarke.
The sneer on his face, pulled his lips tight. "This is who's beating you?"
Clarke crept backwards away from the men, suddenly very concerned for her own safety. Looking up at him in defiance, Clarke sneered back at him. "And who are you?"
He spit at her feet as he crouched down in front of her. Lowering his hostile voice, he said, "I'm the man sent to slaughter your people."
Clarke eyed his hand creeping toward his side, when Anya's outraged voice caught both of their attention. "The commander sent you?"
He grunted at her, standing up and turning back towards her. "Your unit is mine now." He then turned towards Anya's men. "My rangers are at the river and they are hungry. Go feed them." Once the men did as that were told, he turned back at Anya.
"We march on the invaders' camp at first light. I'll make quick work of what you failed to do. Starting with this one."
Before Tristan could make a move to turn back toward Clarke, one of Anya's warriors drew their attention to a fire off in the distance. According to Anya and Tristan's frantic words it was a signal fire that there were reapers in the area and though she had no idea what reapers were, she knew that she should be frightened. Anya had them light a beacon that Clarke hadn't noticed before to let the other group know that they'd seen the warning. Anya told Tristan that she would send her fastest rider to warn the commander.
"There is no time Anya." Tristan turned to the man who'd just stepped into the light. "Kill the prisoner then get to the river."
From across the fire where Anya was tucking away more weapons, Anya looked up long enough to ask if Finn was dead. When the grounder nodded in the affirmative, Clarke's breath was ripped out of her. The grounder nodded at whatever instructions were issued but Clarke couldn't tell what those were over the sound of her harsh breathing.
The masked warrior yanked the rope around her arms so hard that Clarke was pulled up off the ground, over her feet, only to fall back to the ground hitting her head against the hard-packed ground. As she was drug away from the fire, her vision flickered in and out of focus. The man must have gotten tired of pulling her at some point because she was draped over the back of a horse before the man mounted up behind her.
When her eyes finally focused again, they were riding into the glow of the signal fire she'd seen in the distance from her place near Anya. He pulled the horse up to a quick stop before dismounting and pulling her down. He pulled a knife out of a sheath at his side, brandishing it in her direction. She stepped back only for him to grab her hands and yank them back towards him. She stopped struggling when he slipped the knife in the knots of rope by her wrists. She looked up at him in confusion before a flash of movement behind his shoulder caught her eye.
Pulling the binds from her hands she watched the person get closer before realizing it was Finn. In a flash of movement, she took off around the stoic warrior to run into Finn's arms. "Oh, my God, Finn. I don't understand how -"
He tenderly brushed Clarke's hair away from her face. "Lincoln saved my life. He killed one of his own people to do it."
Clarke looked back just as Lincoln pulled his mask off, pulling away from Finn's arms. His hand fell to her lower back following her movements with a gentle press of his hand. Clarke met Finn's eyes over her shoulder briefly before turning her eyes back to Lincoln. "Signal fire? That was you?"
He nodded before his quiet voice said. "We needed a distraction."
Finn's excited voice sounded closer to Clarke's ear than she had been expecting. "I'd say it worked."
The three of them turned to look back across the distance Clarke and Lincoln had just traversed, just in time to see fire get doused, sending a stream of smoky steam up in the air behind it. Lincoln inhaled sharply. "Not well enough."
"What does that mean?" Finn asked.
Lincoln's tense eyes cut back towards Clarke. "It means Anya knows Clarke is not dead."
He hurried back over to the horse that had been standing patiently on the edge of their clearing. He turned the horse in the opposite direction before sending it off on the path in front of him with a quick swat to its hind end. "We need to hurry. Let's hope they follow the horse."
Clarke watched him, knowing that Anya was not going to be stupid enough to follow the tracks of the horse that now carried no passengers. "What do we do now?"
Strapping on the last weapon, he'd pulled from the horse's tack onto his back he turned to appraise her. "Now we run. Come on. It's right up here."
Lincoln turned and ran without a backward glance spared for Finn or her. He darted around trees as Clarke and Finn struggled to keep him in their field of vision. He finally stopped at a narrow opening just barely big enough for him to squeeze his bulky frame through.
"What is it?" Finn asked as he heaved, gasping breaths through his teeth.
Barely winded, though loaded with tension, Lincoln replied, "Someplace they won't follow."
"Wait," Clarke said. "Where does it lead?"
"Everywhere." Lincoln looked over his shoulder at the sound of rustling that was getting closer. "There's a tunnel to your camp. If we make it through, we should get there before Tristan. Go. Go!"
He shoved her and Finn through the opening and just as they started running, Clarke heard the whoosh of an arrow echo off the tunnel walls before a thick sound of it meeting flesh and Lincoln's grunt of pain. She slowed down wanting to check on him, but he just waved her forward until they rounded a corner and could no longer see the opening they'd just come through.
"You were right. They didn't follow us." Finn noted.
"Reapers use these tunnels." Lincoln grunted. "Tristan wouldn't risk running into them."
Finn came to a full stop turning to look at the tanned man who'd just saved their lives. "What the hell's a reaper?"
A shudder ran through Lincoln. "Pray you never find out. We have to keep moving." He turned to leave, and a hand dropped to his side.
Clarke's eyes turned to stare at the man who wanted to press forward. Holding up her hand to stop him in his tracks. "Let me look at that before we move again." She rolled up his shirt to see if there was an exit wound on the other side of his body.
He shook his head as he hands Finn the torch. "I've fought battles with worse wounds than this."
He started to move forward again until Clarke laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. Lowering her voice to be as soothing as she could make it. "We're not in a battle right now."
"Technically, we are." Finn stated.
Clarke looked up from Lincoln's stomach and met his eyes.
"Why are you helping us?" She asked.
"This can't just be about Octavia." Finn stated his opinion quietly.
He stood resolute in his silence. In fact, he looked a bit insulted that they asked. While Lincoln's reasoning was seriously important, They weren't going to decline his help right now. They didn't know how to get back to camp from here, but Lincoln did.
"Fine," Clarke said. "Don't tell us. Give me your knife." Clarke took Lincoln's knife from its sheath without his consent. "Heat the blade." She handed Finn the knife.
He putted the blade into the fire, knowing what Clarke was doing.
Turning back to the injured man in front of her she said, "You might wanna bite down on something."
Lincoln scoffed at her. "You people are so soft. If you don't learn to be more-" She cut off whatever he was going to say by shoving the arrow the rest of the way through his side, causing him to suck in a sharp breath. Snapping the head of the arrow off, she pulled the shaft back out through the entry hole.
He stared down at Clarke with the same soft eyes she'd looked into on the bridge where they failed to make peace. "What my people are doing to yours is wrong." Clarke grabbed the cherry red blade from Finn's outstretched hand, pressing it to the hole in the front side of his abdomen with a quiet hiss. After a few seconds, Clarke removed the knife. If you left it too long, the blade could stick to the skin. That would be bad.
She then did the same to the entry wound. Lincoln once again made little noise despite the hot blade pressed against his skin.
Lincoln huffed and lowered his shirt with the first aid process complete.
"Thank you," Lincoln said honestly.
"Don't mention it," Clarke returned. "Now let's get the hell out of this cave."
The three of them hurried through the tunnels as quickly as they could, Lincoln checking the map in his book periodically. She hoped the twist and turns he followed were leading them closer to their people. After at least an hour of traveling through the dark tunnels Lincoln stopped their forward progress with a press of his finger to his lips.
"Reapers," he whispered when the sound of grunting carried towards Clarke's ears.
Finn's shocked whisper back was loud compared to the soft voice Lincoln had used. "This can't be the only way. Check the map."
A grave face met her eyes as he answered. "If you want to get home before Tristan slaughters your people, this is the only way."
They moved silently towards the mouth of the tunnel they needed to take, peering over Lincoln's shoulder she saw carts parked on a track. The shriek of a person, met her ears as Finn pointed out the carts were filled with human bodies.
"What the fuck is this?" Clarke asked in a hushed tone. Lincoln's solemn eyes locked with hers but he did not deign to give the obvious answer.
He did however shove the map in her hands telling them that the tunnel off to the right of where the reapers stood gathered would lead them to the woods near their camp. When Finn questioned what he was going to do, Lincoln told them he was going to save them one more time. "I'm gonna lead them away. Wait until they follow me, then run."
Clarke laid her hand on his shoulder as he started to rise from his crouch. "Wait a second. If they catch you, they'll kill you."
He shrugged her hand off his shoulder. "Worry about yourselves. Most of Tristan's rangers will be at your gate by daybreak, but he'll send riders ahead, scouts. All of you have to be gone before they arrive."
"Gone," she asked, her voice steadier than she thought it would be. "Where are we supposed to go?"
His eyes appraised her for a moment. "In my book, there's a map. Chart course to the eastern sea. There's a clan there, led by a woman called Luna, a friend. Tell her I sent you."
Before Lincoln got up from his crouching position, Finn grabbed his arm. "Thank you." He said, honestly.
"Just Octavia out of here." Lincoln answered.
Lincoln moved out from behind the wall and ran quietly towards an unsuspecting Reaper with way too many piercings. The Reaper turned, sensing something amiss, but his throat was slashed mercilessly. Instantly, the shouting and beating stopped as all the other Reapers turned their attention to Lincoln.
Lincoln turned and ran, the Reapers chasing him whooping and hollering the whole way. Finn and Clarke hoped Lincoln would be alright. It would really suck if he died for this.
One of the grotesque humanoid creatures remained behind to guard their bounty it seemed, so Clarke and Finn slunk around close to the wall of the tunnel. Her eyes were glued to the bodies in the cart until one of what she had thought was a dead body turned its eyes to meet hers.
Her gasp brought the attention of the reaper to them. Grunting, it scurried in their direction, only to fall upon Finn. The disfigured form in front of them barely looked human as it strangled Finn. His hand reached out to grasp a rock, Finn brought it down upon the reaper's skull. The sharp thunk of the rock meeting thick bone pulled Clarke's eyes away from the cart. The second hit from Finn caved the skull in causing blood to seep from the reaper's nose onto Finn's jacket before the reaper sunk down, limp on top of Finn.
Finn shoved the reaper aside before he grabbed her hand dragging Clarke's dazed barely focused body behind him. He tugged the book from Clarke's hands checking the map again. "This doesn't look right."
Clarke grabbed his hand, "What the hell was that back there?"
Her chest started heaving with a panic attack. Her eyes darted every which way until Finn's hands reached up to cup her cheeks. He softly called her name. She tried to slow her breathing but all that came out was a stuttered question about what they'd seen.
Once she was finally able to breathe again, she said. "I swear to God, the more we learn about this place, the less we know."
Finn pulled Lincoln's journal out from his jacket and began turning through the pages looking for something before he noticed the blood on he hands. He goes and kneels by the creek and washes the few droplets of blood off his hands from when he bashed the reaper's skull open and the blood splattered all over him. Clarke crouches next to him as she slipped her hand into his. Finn glanced at her before he glanced back at the blood on his hands. Finn would never wanted to do this.
"He would have killed us." Clarke said. "You did what you had to do." Finn clenched his jaw. Clarke tried her best to make Finn not think he was a monster. "We all have."
Finn then met Clarke's eyes. Finn's hands tenderly brushed her hair away from her eyes. His eyes making a slow drag from her eyes down to her lips. "I should have fought for you."
Shaking her head as best she could while his hands caged her face. She tipped her face down to stare at his chest. "Finn, don't."
"Clarke. I love you." His thumbs stroked her cheeks. "I'm in love with you."
Clarke pulled away from him, his hazel eyes were wet with emotion. When she looked back into his eyes tears were dripping down her face. "I" she paused, licking her lips before she continued. "I can't. I'm sorry Finn, you broke my heart."
Before Finn could form a response there was a loud booming explosion that shook them down to their cores.
The explosion must've gotten the hatch open as he burst up the second floor.
Jasper quickly follows him up and almost chokes on the amount of smoke. The smoke makes her vision blurry but he's still able to see that all the gunpowder is gone and there's a huge hole in the wall with a coughing Wells on the floor, with Murphy nowhere in sight. He helps him up.
"You alright?" Jasper asked him. Wells nods as he looks at Bellamy, who were staring at Murphy's blurry figure making a run for it. The boy stops briefly to search the area, then he looks up at them one last time. Wells joined beside Bellamy before Jasper steps next to Wells.
"The guy knows how to make an exit." Jasper commented, leaning against the wall.
"Should we go after him?" Wells asked after a moment of silence.
"No. The Grounders will take care of him." Bellamy was quick to shake his head.
"We're going after Clarke, Finn and Monty." Bellamy started, surprising both Wells and Jasper. "You, Raven and Jasper were right. We don't abandon our own.
"It's about time you came around." Wells smirked lightly, making Bellamy smirk in return.
"Three of us, three guns. That's it. Raven stays here to build up defences." Bellamy turned from the hole in the dropship back to the ladder. He trusted Jasper, although he trusted Wells more. "We lost a day because of this, and our gunpowder."
He looked down into the lower level and called out, "Raven!"
"Bellamy, wait..." Jasper caught up to him, "Look, I just-" He looked lost for words so he sighed and barrels into Bellamy. Hugging him to show his gratitude.
Bellamy froze while Jasper whispered "Thank you" and looked at Wells with a mix of panic and confusion.
Jasper pulled away and grinned "Long way from 'whatever the hell you want'."
Bellamy let out a breathy chuckle but Miller's voice from the walkie broke the moment "All gunners! We got movement outside the south wall!"
The trio on the second floor shared a look before they sprinted outside of the dropship.
"Wait!" Miller yelled at the gunners ready to shoot. "Hold your fire! It's Clarke and Finn! Open the gate!"
Wells waited for the teenagers to open the door and let out a sigh of relief when Clarke came into camp with Finn behind her. The Jaha kid didn't waste a second to pull his best "friend" into a bone-crushing hug. Clarke stumbled backwards a bit but wrapped her arms around the older boy's waist, letting out a sigh of relief herself.
Once they pulled away Clarke looked at the boy in front of her in confusion "Hey, we heard an explosion. What happened?"
He gripped her shoulder, with a grateful smile. "Murphy happened."
Jasper jogged towards Clarke and pulled her into a hug as well. "Thank god! Where have you been? Where's Monty?"
"Monty's gone?" Clarke asked, gaping in surprise.
Jasper didn't get a chance to panic because Finn spoke up from behind Clarke. "Clarke, we need to leave, now. All of us do. There's an army of Grounders, like you wouldn't believe, coming for us right now. We need to pack what we can and run."
"Like hell we do. We all knew this was coming." Bellamy said.
"Bell," Octavia called. "It's not safe."
"Like hell it's not." Bellamy gestured to the crowd gathering around them. "We still have until nightfall to prepare."
"Besides," Wells backed Bellamy up instead of Clarke. That's something he didn't see happening. "Where would we go? Where would we be safer than behind these walls?"
"There's an ocean to the east. People there will help us." Finn said, making Octavia snap her attention to him and ask "You saw Lincoln."
"Yeah." Finn nodded and Bellamy couldn't help but scoff at what he was saying "You expect us to trust a grounder?"
Bellamy bathes in the silence. He turns to look around, "This is our home now," Bellamy capitalized on the silence. "We built this from nothing with our bare hands! Our dead are buried behind that wall in this ground! Our ground!"
The crowd began to react powerfully to Bellamy's words. It was like watching an outstanding orator.
"The grounders think they can take that away," Bellamy said. "They think that because we came from the sky, we don't belong here. But they're yet to realize one very important fact: we are on the ground now." Bellamy paused for dramatic effect. "And that means we are grounders!"
The crowd cheered, fueling his fire.
"Grounders with guns!" Some kid shouted from the back.
"Damn right!" Bellamy said really finding his groove now. "I say let 'em come!"
"And besides," Wells jumped in once again. "What happens when we go out there with no food, no reliable water, and limited weaponry?" Wells asked. "What happens when we can't find this ocean? What happens when we're out there with no shelter and no bullets and the grounders show up?"
Wells took his pause as well. He let the crowd consider for a moment the seriousness of the situation.
"We all die," Wells clenched his jaw.
"I know you might be scared," Wells said, his voice rising in volume. "But don't be. We'll make it through. Just like we always have. Just like we always will."
He paused again and the entire camp felt goosebumps around their skin.
"We can do this," Wells imparted to the crowd. "We have time to get ready, and then we give 'em hell!"
The crowd erupted in cheers for Wells' words.
"Nobody can make us leave!" Wells continued. "We're strong! And if we lose…" Wells trailed off quietly and finished his own speech softly but emotionally. "Then we're bringing them down with us."
People began to cock their rifles and whoop and holler. Wells couldn't help but smile at that. When he first got on the ground, people treated him like shit. Like he didn't belonged there. They just never listened to him. Hell, even Clarke said he shouldn't have came here, all because of what his father had done. But now, everyone had started to realize that Wells wasn't anything like his father. He wasn't the jerk like his father was. Bellamy realized that, and the camp had realized that. But Murphy didn't. They were all cheering and agreeing with Wells himself. He'd earned their respect.
He could feel Bellamy's smirk behind him before Clarke spoke up. "Bellamy and Wells are right. If we leave, we may never find a place as safe as this. And god knows, in this world? We could be faced with something even worse tomorrow. But that doesn't change the simple fact... That if we stay here, we will die tonight!"
"So pack your things." She spins around slowly, "Just take what you can carry. Now."
The crowd disperses, following her orders. When she was done with her speech, Clarke turned towards Bell and Wells with an apologetic look.
"You can't be serious." Wells said, shaking his head.
"I am." Clarke said, biting her lip "If we stay here we die."
"But at least we die fighting." Bellamy was quick to shoot back and he was ready to keep arguing when Raven's' weak voice caught her attention. They see Raven circle around from the dropship, a hand on her hip. The blood seeping through her fingers can only be the work of one John Murphy.
They rushed towards her, Finn and Jasper following right behind them
"What happened?" Clarke asked.
"Murphy shot them." Jasper told her, noticing blood on Raven's in her side.
Finn swiftly took Raven into his arms and The Griffin hurriedly ordered Finn "Get her onto the dropship."
Wells grabbed her wrist, pulling her to face him. "Leaving is a mistake," he said lowly.
"They all agree with me, Wells."
"Crowds make mistakes, just ask Murphy." He gives her a sharp look. "Leaders do what they think is right."
Clarke slips her wrist out of his hand and gives it a squeeze. "Thats exactly what I'm doing."
To be continued...