Chapter 3

In Clarke's dreams it was oblivion. At first everything was just black. She felt the emptiness all around her like a deafening roar of silence. Then gun shots fired and she started to run. Her feet lagged through the empty air. With each step though, the movement became easier and easier until she was running on solid ground. Her bare feet beat through wet leaves and fallen branches.

The darkness began to fade as the gun shots became louder. Interspersed with the shots were screams that tore into the sky like piercing bolts of lightning. She moved her legs harder.

Around Clarke the scenery became more familiar. With each tree she passed she became more convinced of what she would find when she finally reached her destination. Even still, she kept running until her breath was ragged, and finally she burst out of a patch of trees. It was the Grounder camp.

Her eyes searched the scene just as they did the first time she stumbled upon the desolate place.

This time though, everyone was still alive.

Clarke sucked in a breath as she looked to the faces of those Grounders that should have been dead. The men with the dark hair twisted back into braids, and the scars burned into their bodies that serve as reminders of their bravery in battle – all upright and still breathing.

It only took her a split second to find who she was looking for. "Finn!" she cried out, recognizing the outline of the boy, poised with a gun beside the fenced-in Grounders. "Finn!"

He turned at the sound of her voice, a ghostly look in his eyes.

As Clarke raced up to Finn, he focused his attention back on the Grounders and pointed his gun at the Grounder Nyko. Nyko had his hands raised cautiously and was telling Finn about Delano. "A snake… A thief! He and his men were cast out." Nyko took a step towards Finn and said, "You are his revenge."

Clarke recognized the name of Delano. He was the one-eyed Grounder who had been found with Clarke's father's watch around his neck. Finn had shot Delano because he thought the Grounder had killed Clarke.

Just like Finn was about to do with all of those people.

Murphy was trying to convince Finn to leave and Clarke took that opportunity to dash over to the two boys. "Finn," she said again as she approached. For a brief moment their eyes met as Murphy was leading Finn away, and a hint of a smile flashed crossed his face.

Then at the edge of their vision they saw movement from the Grounders. The smile was gone as he turned back around and fired.

"Stop! I'm alive!" Clarke screamed, running to his side and trying to pull the gun from his grasp. His arms didn't budge as he continued to shoot. She tried again, tugging his face towards hers. "Finn, they didn't kill me. I'm still alive," she cried.

But she knew it was too late as she heard each of the dead bodies fall to the ground.

There was more movement to the right and Finn quickly pivoted, aiming his gun at the tree line. Then his eyes widened and he lowered the weapon to his side.

Clarke could feel the blood rushing to her head, pulse raising wildly as she looked around the camp at the fallen bodies. She felt Finn go still beside her as she looked over to the trees and saw Bellamy, Octavia, and herself emerge. Their gazes were locked onto the scene below them, shocked and horrified at the carnage.

With a shudder, Clarke quickly shut her eyes and laid down on the dirt, trying to push the image from her mind. She began to shake, first just her arms, and then her entire body as she replayed the dream over and over again in her mind. It went faster and faster, rushing by in a blur, but the events never changed. They still ended every time with a gun in Finn's hands and eighteen dead Grounders.

When she opened her eyes, she was still shaking, but she was no longer lying on the dirt of the Grounder camp. Instead she was curled up on a cot in the darkness of the tent. A sob escaped her lips as she tried to reign in the shudders.

With difficulty she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest.

"I did what I had to do. I did what I had to do," she repeated over and over, tucking her face into her knees.

After awhile when the shaking had stopped, Clarke uncurled her legs and slowly got up from the cot. She walked over to the far back corner of the tent and lifted up a piece of the fabric. She paused only for a moment, looking over her shoulder at the front entrance, before slipping out into the night air.

Quietly she snuck around the edges of the other tents, the wall of camp serving as a barrier to her right.

When she had reached her destination, she stayed out of sight and breathed in the cool air. She let it fill her lungs and calm her nerves as she rubbed her sweating palms on her cargo pants.

Clarke set her mouth in a firm line and took a step towards the opening of one of the tents. There was a shout and she froze mid step before a jar was hurled outside of the tent's walls and shattered on the ground.

"Raven, just calm down!" a man was shouting from inside.

Immediately Clarke rushed forward and ran in, just as Raven shouted back, "Don't tell me to calm down Wick!" When she spotted Clarke, she froze, arms poised to throw another jar. A small sound escaped her throat and she dropped the jar on the table. Quickly Wick went to step in between the two girls, but Raven was already past him, rushing into Clarke's arms for an embrace.

Hi everyone! So here is another update on my story... As I promised - more characters!

I'm really trying to capture the emotional impact that Finn's death is having on everyone, especially Clarke and Raven. I want to do it in the most realistic way possible and that means that they won't be getting over it quickly.

Clarke is going to put on a brave face in front of everyone else, but when she's alone she's really going to struggle with her part in Finn's death.

Who else can't wait for The 100 to return January 21st?!

As always, thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows. Let me know what you think of Chapter 3!