A/N: Here's a way longer chapter because I love you guys. I may not have proofread this one because I wanted to get it out fast. So, if my punctuation, wording or spelling is kinda off, you know why & i'll get that fixed up eventually!

Thanks for understanding hehe, enjoy.

Chapter 4

Her waist burned as she strained her body, running as fast as she could from only god knows what, or who.

In front of her, Monty tripped and fell, she selfishly ran ahead taking the lead as the others quickly helped him up. She glanced back once, but calling herself a fool for feeling a slight twinge of guilt as she saw the care the other teenagers displayed towards Monty quickly brought her back to her reality. However, as she got rid of the miniscule amount of guilt she felt for being selfish, she realized the prominent reason they stopped. Amber slowed her running and turned back once more, Clarke held a blackened skull. Amber's distance from the others prevented her from hearing what they were saying, however, though she stood far away, it was far enough to still hear a vague scream originating from where Jasper's body was left behind. Dropping the skull, Clarke was the first to run, and everybody—including Amber—followed.

He saved my life I guess I'll save his, Amber thought; besides, I can't remember the way back to the dropship.

The group slowed with Finn's commands to stay under the trees, they breathlessly looked at the place where Jasper's body once was. Amber's chest pounded and her waist ached. Her brows furrowed, if they wanted to kill him he'd be dead already.

"They took him." The blonde said breathlessly.

"You can stop this." Wells argued against John's doings, his face contorted in disgust.

"Stop this?" Bellamy smirked, his eyes drifting to where John and some girl scrambled after Wells had pushed them, "I'm just getting started."

Suddenly, but not surprisingly, John's fist flew into Wells' jaw, the boy continued to land blows in the chancellor's son's torso, it took a second, but Wells finally hit back.

A rough fight ensued, Bellamy Blake watched as the chaos unfolded. Teenagers and kids alike surrounded, the audience chanting encouraging words.

The boys tumbled over again and again, Wells finally was able to straddle Murphy, punching the boys face once, then grabbing his jacket, he slammed his head into the dirt ground below. With one final, hard and definite hit to Murphy's face, Wells stood, walking over to Bellamy ignoring the bruises forming on his torso and aching knuckles.

"Don't you see you can't control this?" Wells pleaded, while Murphy behind him rolled over, grabbing his weapon he didn't think to use before then.

"You're dead." Murphy taunted behind the boy, earning him to turn around. However, Bellamy stopped before John could get any closer, his thick tan arm blocking him.

"Wait," Blake paused, lifting his hand to reveal a knife of his own, "fair fight." He nodded, throwing the weapon at Wells' feet.

Wells seemed almost hesitant; his head turned nervously, his eyes darted around as he thought about what to do. But, once he saw Murphy's mischievous grin, he finally picked the knife up.

Murphy attempted to land the first jab, missing that time, he tried again.

Wells went for Murphy's face, but the boy was too quick, John managed to slice Wells' arm, earning a grunt but no whimper.

Murphy growled like a beast with it's prey. "This is for my father—" He snarled, going in to attack Wells once more. Though, this time, Wells was prepared. The chancellor's son swung Murphy, managing to gain the upper hand, flipping him, landing John in a head lock, with a knife to his neck. Both boys were breathless, Murphy stopped, as he was not willing to die so soon.

"Wells!" Clarke jogged down the hill, "let him go!" She demanded. Finn and Amber behind her. Wells let John drop to the ground with a thud.

Amber's mouth thinned out, her face began to redden and her jaw was clenched. Her brother stood and lunged for Wells, but Bellamy Blake intervened immediately. Before she could realize what she was doing, she did what John was about to do. No one saw it coming, so no one stopped her.

Her fist flew, docking straight at Wells' upper lip and nose. The absolute strength of the punch knocked Wells, stumbling back, in shock he clutched his nose that began to pour blood. She hit him again though in his ribs, softer this time, but still enough to knock the wind out of his lungs. Amber huffed, shaking out her frenzied hand, deciding not to strike again, not because Bellamy Blake was about to pull her back, but because she wasn't in the mood for a fight on her second day free. She stepped closer, only an inch away from Wells, her eyes shot daggers into his, knowing he wasn't going to hit back. He let go of his nose and stared down at her. Her hands gripped the collars of the boy's jacket.

"Try touching my brother again. Next time I won't let you off so easy." Amber growled, one of her fingers jabbing Wells' chest. He was taken aback by the fact that John was her brother. In fact everybody was. She pushed him back hastily, and started to walk backwards but she ran into a hard surface. Turning around she was met with a chest, looking up at the face it belonged to, her golden eyes met brown ones. "Is there a problem?" Amber spat, not stepping away from the boy, or man, in front of her.

Bellamy didn't respond, his eyes looked down at her waist, dried blood decorated the bottom left hem of her tank top, and her left wrist was bandaged by grey fabric, matching that of the shirt hanging out her back pocket, also stained with dirt, grime and blood.

"Where's the food?" Blake asked, not directing his question at the girl in front of him but the group she came with. Besides, she was looking at her brother's beaten face anyway.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather." Finn stated matter-of-factly.

"What the hell happened out there?" Bellamy asked, Murphy finally locked eyes with his sister. They both assessed each other's injuries, nodding to each other, acknowledging that they were both all right.

"We were attacked." Clarke responded, her face showing signs of fear.

"Attacked?" Wells' heart rate accelerated instantly, thinking through all possible scenarios, "By what?"

"Not what." Finn said, "Who." He breathed, "Turns out that the last man from the ground that died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder."

John looked at Amber for confirmation, and she nodded her head once more, walking towards her brother. Turning so she stood beside him, the two looked intimidating, to say the least. Bellamy Blake glanced over once, eyeing the two, still in shock that he was not the only one with a sibling on the ground, and of all people, it was the rogue and unpredictable John Murphy. And he, like everyone at the camp knew just how dangerous Murphy's sister was. Blake decided that though he welcomed chaos, this girl should be watched.

"Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong." Clarke exclaimed to the growing group of teenagers. "There are people here. Survivors." She continued, "The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"Bad news is the grounders will." Finn said what Amber was thinking.

"Not if I kill them first." Amber whispered unobtrusively to Murphy, earning a quiet snort from her brother, they both giggled for a moment, earning themselves concerned glares from the group.

Wells looked around at the group who returned from the trek, "Where's the kid with the goggles?"

"Jasper was hit." Clarkes voice softened, "They took him." She looked down solemnly but was distracted by something absent on Wells' wrist. She grabbed his arm, "Where's your wristband?"

Wells shrugged her hands off, looking up at Bellamy, "Ask him."

"How many?" She demanded an answer from Blake. But it was Amber's brother who responded.

"24 and counting." John smirked, Amber looked down at her right wrist, the same hand with knuckles beginning to bruise. A clunky mechanical bracelet encapsulated her wrist, she absentmindedly rubbed at it as she tuned back into the conversation.

"You idiots." The blonde whispered, shaking her head. "Life support on the Ark is failing. That's why they brought us down here! They need to know the ground is survivable again and we need their help against whoever is out there." She raised her voice so it could reach the whole crowd, "If you take off your wristbands you're not just killing them, you're killing us."

Amber glanced to her brother who didn't seem convinced. She didn't know where to stand in this.

"Don't listen to her. She's one of the privileged." Bellamy broadcasted, Amber did prior question why her brother seemed to obey him, but it was clear now that this Blake was a leader. "When they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same? We can take care of ourselves. That wristband on your arm—" Amber looked down at her wrist again, furrowing her brows, "it makes you a prisoner. We are not prisoners anymore. They say they'll forgive your crimes, I say you're not criminals."

"Yeah bullshit." Amber muttered under her breath inattentively, so quiet her brother couldn't hear.

"You're fighters. Survivors. The grounders should worry about us." Bellamy finished; a roar from the crowd gathered had let Clarke know that it was Blake's way. Amber watched as Clarke stormed off, Monty beside her.

Amber wasn't so sure she wanted to be a follower. She would not abide by neither Bellamy nor Clarke's rules, or lack thereof. Her brother's her priority, and if he is going to be Blake's second then so be it, but Amber would not do the same.

Bellamy dabbed at Octavia's wound, she make sounds of discomfort but he continued.

"What the hell was it?"

"I don't know. The others said it looked like a giant snake." Octavia said truthfully, knowing the full extent of the condescending her brother would soon give her.

"You could've been killed." Bellamy was serious, looking at his sister with love, care and concern.

"She would've been if Jasper didn't jump in to pull her out." Clarke walked towards the siblings, Wells behind her.

"And if Amber didn't attempt suicide to distract the thing." Octavia reminded, it was almost as if Clarke didn't want to admit that such a bad person could do a good thing. Bellamy looked at Octavia with a puzzling expression, he couldn't believe such a girl would do a thing as heroic as that. "You guys leaving? I'm coming too—"

"No, no. No way—" Bellamy stood before his sister could, stopping her.

"He's right. Your leg's just gonna slow us down." Clarke sympathized with Octavia but she turned to Bellamy, "I'm here for you."

"Clarke, what are you doing?" Wells quickly asked from behind her.

"I hear you have a gun."

Bellamy, in response, looked down at his hip, lifting his shirt to expose a handgun against tan skin.

"Good. Follow me." Clarke abruptly spoke, and started forward without hesitation, expecting him to follow.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you want them to follow you." Clarke looked around then back at Blake, "And right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared." Her voice hushed to a whisper, she walked away and Bellamy assumed responsibility to recruit more people for their rescue mission.

"Murphy." John looked up, "Come with me." Nodding at Blake's orders, he looked over to his sister using electrical tape she found to stick fabric over her wounded waist across the camp, after she was satisfied with her job, she reached beside her and pulled a grey worn top over the white tank. Tucking her hair behind her ears, her eyes met her brothers. Bellamy noticed John's gaze, looking to where it went, he added while turning back to his second, "Your sister, too." Murphy looked at Blake, nodding once again. Amber had already stood from her sitting position and was walking over, holding a different weapon to the one he gave her, he figured she lost the other one while doing what she did to save Octavia.

Wells walked beside Clarke, and John walked beside Blake. Once again, Amber fell back. Not because she was slow, but because she liked the quiet, and she liked to see what was going on in front of her.

"What's the rush?" Blake swung his gun as he spoke, "Nobody survives a spear through the heart."

"Put the gun away Bellamy." Wells started towards Blake, and Amber's brother got in the way instantly.

It was funny, to Amber, how quick her brother was to protect this man he only just met. She watched John beat other kids up in school, always wanting to be on top. But, here he was, beating up people for somebody else, somebody that wasn't her. She wasn't jealous her brother was paying so much attention to his newfound friend, she was just curious. She was brought up to be so independent, and John was too. It was just the way their family worked, not that Amber was ever actually considered part of the family to anyone except John, and on the small only unique occasions, her father, but that stopped once she got old enough to properly fend for herself. Fending for themselves, that's just what the Murphy's do. They do whatever they can to survive, no matter who or what is lost in the process. Maybe that's what John was doing after all, maybe by using his intimidating, and ruthless self as Blake's guard dog it was a means of staying up the ranks, meaning staying alive.

"Well, why don't you do something about it, huh?" Murphy's hand firmly pushed Wells shoulder back. They stared at eachother for a second, mutually deciding not to fight again.

"Jasper screamed when they moved him." Clarke said factually, "If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly." The blonde judgmentally looked Blake up and down, "Doesn't mean we have time to waste." She turned to walk, but Blake stopped her.

"As soon as you take this wristband off we can go." He threatened, Amber finally caught up as her walking was slower, not wanting to intrude on whatever staring contest was going on, stopping beside her brother.

"The only way the Ark is going to think I'm dead, is if I'm dead." Clarke stated, matter-of-factually. Amber brashly snorted at this, unable to resist herself. But no one else seemed to find that as amusing as she did. "Got it?"

"Brave princess." Blake commented, glaring quickly at the smirking girl next to Murphy.

"Hey, why don't you get your own nickname?" Finn called, walking through the trees towards the group, joining them. "You call this a rescue party?" He stopped, "Got to split up, cover more ground." He started forward, "Clarke, come with me." And with that they were gone, leaving Wells, Blake, Amber and her brother. Acknowledging that none of them were going to spilt up with one another, the four began their own trek as a smaller group.

Bellamy turned, eyeing Wells a fair distance behind him, and Amber even further behind. Her face was studying the trees; one of her hands tucked the hair behind her ears as she looked up at the sky through the green of the leaves. She looked like she was just taking a leisurely stroll, not like she was on mission to rescue one of their own.

He remembered the first time he saw her the other day, when she held onto her brother for the first time in what Blake assumed was years. He knew her story, she was like his sister, yet not at all. She lived under the floor too, he knew that much. When Octavia was found, Amber was too not long after. But, she wasn't just an illegal daughter. She was the most wanted person on the Ark. Yet nobody knew who she was. She didn't have a name and she didn't have a family that anyone knew of. She was nobody.

But, in actuality, out of everybody's family, she was John Murphy's. She was older than John, he could tell. She looked at him like he looked at Octavia. It wasn't John protecting Amber, it was her protecting him. She was stronger, too. Amber was small, but she was undoubtedly fierce. But, until he knew better, she was not to be trusted. Of all the criminals down on the ground with them, she was the most difficult one to fathom. No one knew her motive, no one knew who she was, they only knew what she had done. Bellamy invited her on the mission for two reasons, she could clearly fight, but also because he didn't quite know if he'd allow her to be unsupervised in a camp full of hotheaded teenagers.

Blake rotated his head back to in front of him as he stepped over a fallen log with Murphy beside him. It was beneficial having John on his side, not only because he was ruthless, but because he was the only one to know who this girl was exactly.

"Is your sister going to be a problem?" He spoke what was on his mind.

"Amber?" Murphy scratched his brow as he walked, "She's—Uh, no. No, she's not as volatile as she seems." He looked at Blake, letting him in on his knowledge, "A little reserved, unapproachable, impulsive, maybe—" He stopped his list as he realized he was supposed to be defending his sister, "But underneath it all, I think she cares a lot. She hates that she does, but yeah. I don't know, not even I can read her sometimes."

Bellamy took it all in, nodding as he processed what her brother had said.

"She's older, you know, she was meant to be floated two years ago." Murphy seemed to begin to ramble, as if to make conversation.

"They didn't know how old she was." Blake assumed, dodging another fallen log. Blake hadn't at all noticed Amber's age, a few years off his. Amber was 20, she had escaped death. If she could keep her age secret for so long to save herself, then she could keep anything from anyone, including John. Bellamy had gotten a small piece of Intel, but not enough to decide if he would trust her or not.

"Amber's a fighter, she always survives some way or another. She won't be a problem." Murphy jumped off the log he climbed on top of, winding down the unpredictable terrain.

"Hey guys, over here—quick!" A distant voice called, it belonged to Clarke. The two boys in front of the group looked at each other, beginning to jog towards the direction it came from, Wells and Amber behind them.

Amber eyed the back of Wells' head as she pranced through the forest, on the run towards Clarke. She wasn't thinking about anything particular, if anything, how hungry she was. When Wells began to slow as they made their way towards a pile of rocks that everyone else stood staring at, Amber stopped. Her eyes drifted to where everyone else was looking, blood plastered the rocks, fresh blood. There was a lot, Amber thought, if Jasper didn't die from being struck, he'd surely have bled out by now.

"How do we know this is the right way?" John asked, they'd only been walking for a short while but it seemed like they were running in circles. Amber kicked at the pebbles below her while she walked, annoying her brother but he couldn't seem to gather enough courage in him to tell her off about it.

"We don't." Bellamy answered, "Spacewalker seems to think he's a tracker."

"It's called 'cutting sign'. Fourth-year Earth skills." The Chancellor's son rolled his eyes as he cut Bellamy off, "He's good."

Finn slowed, turning his head to speak to the others, "You wanna keep it down or should I paint a target on your head?"

Amber loudly snorted, Finn glanced her way and she diverted her eyes, way to keep to yourself Amber, she cursed at herself. The light brunette watched as Finn studied the branch of a tree, and dropped down to look at the ground. A few drops of blood decorated the stones at his feet, Amber did not like where this was going.

Suddenly, as if on cue, there was a distant, and distressed, moan.

"What the hell was that?" Amber's brother questioned, though the answer was clear.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun." Clarke asserted.

They stopped jogging once they reached a clearing.

Amber's mouth dropped slightly open once she saw what was in front of her.

Among the lush, green bushes decorating the clearing was a tall, rigid and decayed tree. Strung up like a ragdoll was filthy and almost unconscious Jasper.

Murphy's sister studied the body hanging in the tree from the distance they all stood, shocked. His Adam's apple rose and fell as he choked on air, his chest showed signs of ragged breath, and his wounds were raw and red.

"Oh my god." Clarke's voice snapped everybody into action. Bellamy reached for the gun in his pants and they all started forward, Amber's eyes darting around her as she followed closely behind the blonde leader. Her golden eyes confirmed that there was no sign of life in the trees, waiting to take them out, and she was about to look back at Jasper's body when the girl inches in front of her, Clarke, fell. But, she didn't just trip. Amber stepped forwards without realizing it, and she begun to fall forward when a body pushed hers aside, sending her to the ground with a hard thud and an aching elbow. Scrambling up, she found the man who pushed her, Blake. Flaring her nostrils, she realized his quick reflexes saved her life, as much as it pained her to admit it. And there he was, holding onto Clarke's arm, saving her life too.

The strangest thing however is that Amber's body seemed to move without thought, and suddenly, she was helping Blake pull Clarke from the trap. Her strong but small, calloused hands gripped onto Clarke's forearm, as Finn and Murphy did the same. Wells pulled Bellamy from behind, and all together Clarke was back on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Finn asked, as they all regained their breath.

"Yeah," Clarke's voice was rasping, she crawled to her feet and her mind went back to what they were there for. "We need to get him down." She affirmed.

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Finn stated, already on his way to get Jasper down.

"Yeah—yeah I'm with you." Wells began to follow Spacewalker, but he was cut off immediately.

"No. Stay with Clarke." Finn ordered, then looked at Amber's brother expectantly, "You. Let's go." Murphy did what he was told, which Amber noticed was a common occurrence nowadays.

As Finn and Murphy left to complete their task, Clarke noticed something, "There's a poultice on his wound." Directing Amber and Wells' eyes to a green patch on Jasper's torso, covering the wound of where the spear entered.

"Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" Wells questioned.

Bellamy spoke up, "Maybe what they're trying to catch likes it's dinner to be breathing."

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." Amber spoke up for the first time. Everyone turned to her, and she prepared to be put under fire. But, she wasn't. They agreed with her. She looked to the ground, catching Blake still watching her when everybody else stopped. His eyes fixated on her, she could feel it, but she chose not to bring attention to it. If she kept beating up everyone that annoyed her so far she'd be exiled before she could even swing her fist.

"Hurry up Murphy." Finn urged, feeling uneasy, like everybody else it seemed except Amber.

"Be careful!" Clarke called out from below.

Amber stood tossing and playing with her knife meters away from Bellamy Blake. With every throw of the weapon, his eyes would watch her almost as if he was waiting for her to slip up and lose a finger, but she caught it every time. Just as she caught it once more, there was a distant growl behind them. Amber's mind went while speculating what caused the noise, she gripped her knife tightly, ready to use it.

"What the hell was that?" Finn thought out loud from the tree.

"Grounders?" Blake thought, looking at the direction it came from.

Amber's stance shifted once she saw the predator. She could identify it as soon as she saw it's graceful yet intimidating body, a black panther. Rapidly, it pranced, heading towards the clearing in a speed she couldn't comprehend.

"Bellamy! Gun!" The blonde leader yelled, and Amber turned to Blake. He didn't have his gun. A abrupt sound of gunfire caused her to turn her head so fast it hurt so she could see who the gunman was.

Wells stood, both hesitation and determination on his face. He didn't know what he was doing. The first shot missed. Second shot, another miss. The panther kept sprinting. The third shot hit it's lower half, but it wasn't enough to keep the beast from circling Bellamy Blake.

It went silent, for a moment. The animal hid in the bushes closest to Blake. Amber's stance hardened, she wasn't afraid. Her ears pricked up, this time it was her reflexes that were fast. The panther leapt forward from the bushes, Amber watched only a few feet away from where Blake stood, about to be attacked. To her, everything moved in slow motion. She felt herself dive forward, clutching at Bellamy's side with one hand, pulling him down beside her. He fell to the ground, stunned, watching with wide eyes as Murphy's sister fell back near him following a gunshot, the large panther on top of her. There was no movement. For a second it looked like both the animal and Amber were dead. But, there was a loud and almost annoyed sounding grunt from below the mass of black fur. Another grunt, and the animal was shifted slightly, allowing the girl below it to breathe.

"Get—this fucker off me—" She tried to push but even her strong arms couldn't manage to get it off her. Bellamy scrambled to his feet and pushed the creature off Amber who gasped and wiped the hair out of her face, but in doing so she wiped a streak of rich red blood from her temple to her cheekbone. In the same hand she used she held a bloody knife, the same blood in which covered her once grey shirt and arms. She stood unharmed, shaking out her arms and spitting onto the dirt ground beside the animal. Blake who stood staring at her was breathless, clearly in shock. There was a thud behind them where Wells had dropped the gun, which ultimately gave Amber the chance to kill the beast. The final shot struck the panther, stopping it from thrashing at her, but it was still alive. Amber finished the job by plummeting her knife into its chest without hesitation.

Bellamy nodded to Wells, acknowledging this, with a breath he spoke a vague and questionable statement, "Now she sees you."

End of Chapter 4

A/N: Please, please review it'll make my day. Reviews are what keep me going and if I don't get many I think y'all are uninterested oops! Let me know how you feel about Bellamy & Amber's first proper chapter together, because I'll have you know there's gonna be a lot more. (Even though they haven't spoken as of yet!) Do you have any predictions? What do you think of Amber as a character?

Thanks for reading x