Not All Fun and Games

Chapter 28

Octavia is crouched over in her tent, braiding her hair with nimble fingers as she speaks to me quietly. "Tell me again what the writing on her stomach said."
I nod, swallowing the disturbed lump caught in my throat. She's referring to the message carved into Alex's stomach by the grounders' knives.
Once I had wiped most of the blood off of her skin, I had gotten a closer look at the writing.
"It said 'RETURN, DIE'. That's all," I tell her for the second time.
It is precisely 10:14 am, and Alex is probably still asleep. I had covered every one of her gashes with the blood-absorbent seaweed that we had plucked from a lake a few weeks ago. I had also fed her painkillers, and had allowed her friends to stay with her and to hold her hand until she fell asleep and her breathing became steady. Chloe had apologized for her outbreak, and had thanked me for taking good care of her best friend.

Despite this morning's horrific events, we decided that Bellamy's birthday should go on, as long as Alex didn't need any help from those still celebrating. From Octavia's tent, her and I can hear the voices and laughs of many kids. But although they sound cheerful, I can tell they are keeping alert, nervously checking over their shoulders and shushing their friends every now and then to listen for any strange noises.

"Are they talking about the time we went looking for her in the woods?" asks Octavia, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Do you think we were right? About them not wanting us to step into their land?"
I shrug. "That makes the most sense. But how does that explain why they took Alex?" Questions pop in and out of my mind, too many at once to really ponder any. But what Chloe said keeps coming back to me. You told us the grounders only attacked when we were on their territory. Well why do you think they took Alex? It was a perfectly good question. Why would the grounders come to our camp to kidnap a girl and then, a few days later, bring her back with a message ordering us never to return to their territory? They had taken her before we even stepped onto their land. That couldn't have been why she had been kidnapped.

"I have no idea," replies Octavia, pulling me, once again, out of my daydream.
I look to the bright orange floor of the tent. The gears in my brain work hard, trying hard to click into place and make sense of the situation. But I can't seem to find any good explanation for why the grounders would take Alex.
I look back up at Octavia. "I guess the only thing we can do is wait until Alex is awake, and then ask her what happened when she was attacked," I tell her. She nods, but before she can reply, there's a tap on the wall of the tent. Octavia reaches to her left to unzip the door, and Bellamy steps steadily into the tent, careful not to damage his leg brace in any way. He hands us each a plate of rabbit and pear. "I saved you guys some."
"Thanks, Bell," says Octavia. I smile at him before taking a large, hungry bite into the rich meat.
"Man, does this beat protein paste," I say, making Octavia and her brother laugh.
"Happy birthday," she says, tapping the spot next to her with her left hand, gesturing for her brother to sit down.
But it seems as if those two words are cursed, for just as Bellamy is about to sit, an ear-shattering yelp sounds throughout the camp.