Chapter 9

The whole camp went out to the river to find the radio. But it was no use. It was ruined. When they arrived back at camp, there was a piece of paper folded in four pinned on the wall with a small knife. On it were two words: "To Bellamy"

He snatched the paper and opened it.

"A map?" Clarke said over his shoulder. "What for?"

"The Grounders took Jane and Octavia."

"What? Why didn't you say so?"

"You were quite busy with Raven and the radio. And I had no idea where to look. Searching these woods would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"I'm sorry," Clarke said. "I didn't know."

"Hey, there's something written on the bottom," Finn pointed out.

"Come alone and unarmed" Bellamy read. "Like hell I will," he spat out. He tucked the paper in his pocket. "Alright, everybody, listen up." The camp gathered around him. "Everybody at their posts. There are Grounders out there. I'll be gone for a day or two, probably, so Miller's in charge while I'm gone." Everyone nodded and when to their posts. "Atom," Bellamy said. "You keep an eye on Murphy. I don't really trust him to obey to Miller." Atom nodded. "Jasper, Monty, Clarke, and Finn, you're with me."

"What about me?" Raven asked.

"You just came out of a pod from the Ark. You need to rest," Bellamy said.

"Start working on the radio," Clarke said. "Actually, Monty, you're staying with Raven for that. Jasper, Finn, and I are going to backup Bellamy."

Monty nodded and showed Raven the dropship and what they had already scavenged.

"I'll go alone," Bellamy said, "and you follow. A mile behind me."

"We need to copy the map," Clarke said.

"We don't have time for that. I'll mark the way as I go."

"Fine. Let's go," Finn said. Bellamy nodded and went off in the woods, following the map. He got lost a couple times during his trip. But by the middle of the afternoon he was met by two Grounders who jumped him, blindfolded him and tied his hands together. Bellamy knew that this was probably his only chance at seeing Jane again, so he didn't fight them. The only thing that posed a problem was that he couldn't mark his way for the three others who were following him. He tripped on purpose and fell to the ground. Before the two men could carry him back up, he drew an X in the dirt. Finn would see it.

After what felt like an eternity to him, they finally stopped and took off his blindfold. It was dark, now. There was a large fire in the middle of the Grounders' camp, and he was momentarily blinded by it.

"Bellamy!" a voice he knew well called out and smashed against him. She wrapped his arms around him, but his hands were still tied together in the front. He buried his face in her neck.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" There was anguish dripping from his voice.

"I'm fine, Bell, I'm fine. Did you come alone?" she whispered.

"Something like that," he whispered back. "What's going on?"

"Okay, that's enough!" a tall broad man said, ripping Jane away from Bellamy. One of the two men who brought Bellamy in kicked him behind his legs so he would be on his knees. A black woman with a fierce tattooed and scarred face walked out of the biggest hut of the camp.

"I'm Indra," she said with a slight accent. "And we want you no harm."

"Like hell you don't," Bellamy growled. "You hit me in the head and you took Jane!" he barked out.

"Necessary," the woman called Indra said. "You wouldn't have let us take her if we've had asked nicely," she said sarcastically.

"Of course not."

"That's what I thought," she said, examining her blade. Just then, a baby's cry resonated throughout the camp.

"Jane, where's Octavia?" Bellamy had a hard time not giving in to panic and started fighting himself out of the two men's grasp on his shoulders. A woman came out with the baby and gave it to Jane.

"It's alright, Bell. Just listen to what Indra has to say," she pleaded.

Bellamy didn't have any choice, so he listened.

"You landed in Trikru's territory," she started. "One of my warriors wanted to have all of you killed the moment you arrived. But I sent this man," she pointed to the one that had separated Jane and Bellamy, "to see who you were. When Lincoln reported that you had a mother and baby in your midst, I stopped my Warrior, Anya, and ordered to have Jane and the Baby brought to me. And Lincoln did."

"But why?" Bellamy said. "Why do you need a mother and her baby? It doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, but it does," Indra said. "You see, out babies have trouble to come. But we value them above everything else. We train our sons to be Warriors and our daughters to be Leaders." She paused. "Let us help this mother and her child."

Bellamy glared at Indra. He didn't know if he could trust her. "What's in it for you if you help us?"

Indra let out a single chuckle. "Spoken like a true leader. I like that." She looked at him long and hard. "We become allies. We are going to be facing the same enemies: the Mountainmen and the Reapers. You have men and weapons, and we need men and weapons. If we are attacked, you come help us. And if you are attacked, we will come help you."

Bellamy stood on his feet. "How would we know? We're a day's walk from each other."

"Fire signals," Lincoln said.

"He'll show you how to use them if you accept," Indra said.

Bellamy was silent for a moment. "Will you keep Jane here, or will she and Octavia come back with me?"

"She can come back with you." She waved at a man behind a house. "And take this with you," she said.

Bellamy's eyes widened. "A cow?"

"And her calf. He's a few days old. As long as he's with his mother, she'll make milk. Jane and Octavia will need it. As will your warriors. But don't take everything, leave some for the calf. Once he's weaned, kill him, smoke the meat, it will help you through winter."

Jane looked from Bellamy to Indra, and back to Bellamy. She didn't know about this part.

"Why are you helping us?" Bellamy said, unconvinced.

"I already told you: you have a mother and a baby, and we value them above anything else. And you have enough men to help us."

Bellamy gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, trying to think. He took a deep breath.

"Okay," he said. "We'll help in case of an attack, and you help us if necessary."

"Oh, and one more thing," she added, as if an afterthought. "When your child is old enough, we take her in and we train her to be a Leader. She'll be the first Leader not of Trikru.

Bellamy and Jane exchanged a look. He couldn't read her eyes. You don't even know if you're going to survive winter, the little voice in him said. Accept. You'll live tomorrow. "Fine."

Indra closed the space between them, her blade in her hand. She stopped in front of Bellamy – who was a couple inches taller than her – and she cut his binds. Then she cut the palm of her hand with her long knife.

"We shake it in blood. Jus drein jus daun. Blood must have blood."

He took the knife and cut his palm, too, and Indra and Bellamy shook hands.

"Allies in blood means we both have to bear the mark," Indra said. A man with a red-hot brand iron stepped up. Bellamy hesitated for a second before offering his forearm. The man burned the mark on his arm. Bellamy hissed as his skin burned under the iron. Then Indra was marked, too, and it was over.

Bellamy looked at the mark. It looked like three claws held together by a circle in the center.

"Every clan has its own brand," Indra said. "This is Trikru's brand."

Bellamy swallowed, his arm still burning. "How many clans are there?"

"Twelve. And now you are allies with one of them. The Heda comes from Trikru. So you're safe. Until the Heda dies and another clan leads us."

"The Heda?" Bellamy asked.

"The Commander."

Jane joined them, and Bellamy protectively looped his arm around her shoulders.

"Stay here for the night," Indra said. "You'll leave at first light."

Bellamy and Jane exchanged a look. What would Jasper, Finn and Clarke do if they didn't see them come out? It could ruin the alliance. "I came alone," Bellamy said. "But I couldn't stop three friends of mine to follow me here. I'm afraid they might take it the wrong way if we stay here the night."

A shadow passed in Indra's eyes. "Scout the woods," she ordered to her men, "and bring them here."

The woman who had brought Octavia to Jane showed them where they could sleep for the night, and Bellamy and Jane settled in their bed, baby Octavia in the middle of them.

"Do you really trust them?" Bellamy whispered, looking at Jane. He was on his side, running his fingers in his daughter's dark hair.

"Yeah, I think I do," she answered back, holding Octavia's tiny feet in her hands. "They didn't hurt me. All they did was give Octavia baby clothes since I didn't have any and feed us. I drank milk, Bellamy."

He chuckled. "Is it good?"

"Oh yeah. Better than recycled urine, anyway."

They both chuckled at that. Then they heard some commotion outside. They jumped out of bed to see what was going on. Four men had brought in Finn, Clarke, and Jasper. They were unharmed, but gagged and hands tied in their back. Bellamy and Clarke exchange a look.

"You can untie them," Bellamy said. "They didn't mean any harm."

"We just wanted to make sure he and Jane were okay," Clarke said, following Bellamy's lead, once she had been ungagged.

"Put them in the shed for the night," Indra ordered. "But don't untie them."

Clarke implored Bellamy with one last look and he just shook his head. He was powerless, here. "We'll talk in the morning," he said simply and went back into his hut with Jane.

"Do you think it was a good idea to tell Indra you had backup?" Jane asked.

"I'd rather tell her that so she would trust me and we didn't lose the alliance, instead of a full-blown attack at dawn from our camp." He paused. "She's right. We need each other. Whoever the Mountainmen and the Reapers are, the Grounders are afraid of them. And so should we."

I want to do a special shoutout to diamondgirl647 and DamonSalvatorelover for reviewing along tha way! and to the several guests reading this story, too! Don't forget to go vote on my profile (only 1 vote, so far...) and I'll see you tomorrow for chapter 10! Bye