DISCORDIA

[ 38 ] happy reunions

       "Hang on! I'm almost there!" Bellamy called. "I got you, Mel. Just put your arms around me, okay?"

       Jinny strained her muscles as the rope dipped slightly from their combined weight, threatening to pull her that much further down the steep incline. Sweat dotted her upper lip and slid down her forehead in beads, tendrils of stray dark hair sticking to the sides of her face and neck. She breathed heavily, pulling as much oxygen into her lungs as both biceps and triceps burned with continual effort.

       "I got her! Pull us up!" Bellamy eventually shouted.

       "Don't you worry, Bellamy, I won't drop ya!" Murphy said somewhere behind her.

       "You better count on it," Jinny grunted, digging her heel into the rocky terrain and tugging with all her strength. Their combined endeavour was working, and they'd almost gotten halfway back to the tree stump when Jinny suddenly felt her stomach lurch as she slid uncontrollably towards the precipice. Her feet shot off the edge and her hands gripped hold of the rope tightly as half her body dangled over the cliff. One of the seatbelts had snapped, and Murphy was hanging onto both sides, his arms stretched taut between them to offer a new link.

       "A little help!" he yelled, the veins in his neck sticking out as he let go of the end tied to the stump so he could put his weight on the one holding Bellamy and Mel suspended. Finn and Monroe quickly came to his aid, throwing their body weight onto the rope to keep it from slipping further down.

       "Jin!!" Bellamy shouted from below her and she quickly scrambled to get her legs back up to level ground. She heaved breathlessly as she crawled away from the edge, her palms scratched raw, heart hammering wildly against her chest. As she was about to grab the rope again, an arrow shot through the air and sunk into the dirt next to her hand.

       "Grounders!!" Monroe bellowed just as a rain of bolts fell from the sky.

       "Jinny!" Finn shouted, throwing her rifle towards her with one hand.

       She lunged forwards to grab it and looked into the scope, unable to find a single target through the thick canopy that shrouded their enemies. Without much choice, she opened fire at wherever she saw the spears and arrows emerge from. They were too vulnerable in their current situation, and there were far too many Grounders. A yell of pain resounded as a spear tore through Monroe's jacket, leaving a deep gash against her skin. Then a searing hot sensation pierced through Jinny's thigh and she cried out, finding a long shaft embedded there too. With gritted teeth, she took aim and filled the air with more relentless gunshots.

       The sound of a horn reverberating through the trees made her freeze in place. Acid fog. Her mind went back to Atom, blistered skin filled with pus and unseeing eyes begging her for mercy to end his life. She hadn't realised that the Grounders had fled until Murphy was calling her name.

       "Jinny, back on the rope!" Finn yelled and she regained clarity of her surroundings. Ignoring the excruciating burn in her leg, she snapped the arrow shaft in half before scrambling to find an available section of the chain to tug on. Their limbs were all over one another, kicking and struggling to haul the two upwards. Jinny tugged, squeezing her eyes closed as her feet pushed hard against the ground, drawing herself further along the rocky terrain.

       Finally, Bellamy and Mel appeared over the precipice and climbed up the rocky incline to safety. "Thank you, thank you," the girl gasped as she accidentally landed on top of Finn.