Wounds [Bellamy Blake]

Come Back For Me [Chapter 22]

                A foghorn sounded, echoing through the entire forest. It blew three or four times, though I didn’t stick around to count. The minute the dragging had stopped, I reached down and hacked at the wire again, my hatchet finally breaking through the damn thing. I looked meekly at my wound, touching it gently with my dirt stained fingers. A gasped, pulling my hand back as the pain singed through the fresh wound. It was too bloody to remove the wire; my fingers would slip and fumble all over. I needed tweezers or something similar to pull that out. Then I would need to cauterize the wound.

                I tried to stand, but I couldn’t put any weight onto my foot. Using the trees for support, I sauntered slowly though the forest, my eyes peeled for any other traps that might end, this time, in the end of my life. I spotted Diggs’s body once again and sighed; there would be no funeral for him as the chances of us prying him off of there in one piece was slim.

                Up ahead I saw four recognizable heads and felt happiness course through me. I couldn’t run to catch up with what was left of the rescue party, and I was afraid that shouting would get me noticed by Grounders. It occurred to me then that this group was my best chance at surviving; I couldn’t walk far on my own, and I was surely to lose enough blood to pass out sooner or later. Plus, the Grounders already knew we were here, so shouting wasn’t going to get me killed, not anymore that not yelling would.

                “Bellamy!” I shouted.

                Finn turned first, and then Bellamy spotted me. Within an instant, they came running towards me. Monroe and Jasper stayed behind, packing up what looked like a tarp. Bellamy reached me first, tucking his body underneath my arm and holding me up so my lame foot wasn’t touching the ground.

                “Ava,” Bellamy breathed, “I thought I had lost you.”

                “I thought I was a goner too!” I said.

                We walked over to Jasper and Monroe.

                “Roma?” I asked.

                Bellamy shook his head.

                “Look,” Finn said, “They’re coming back.”

                There was a single Grounder up ahead, running through the forest, though it looked as though he was alone.

                “We should follow him; he doesn’t see us.” Bellamy said.

                “What if it’s a trap?”

                “It’s our only chance in finding Octavia. He knows where she is.” Bellamy growled.

                “What do you plan to do? Kill him?” I asked.

                “No.” He replied as we began following the Grounder, “Catch him, find out where Octavia is, and then kill him.”

                We rushed after the Grounder, following him; he didn’t seem to notice our presence and I wondered if it was a trap. He was alone, that was confirmed, but the Grounders were very smart as I had been led to believe. The forest seem to go on forever, and it was again beginning to get dark. My bones ached as Bellamy helped drag me along. I tried walking at one point, but my foot was completely useless. I could only hope that no infection would get in before we got back to camp, where Clarke could help me remove the wire that was cutting off circulation to my foot.

                “Hey, I think I found something.” Finn said up ahead.

                I could feel Bellamy tense up, wanting to rush ahead and see, but having me weighing him down.           

                “Leave me.” I said, “Just come back for me.”

                Bellamy hesitated, and then lowered me down so that I was sitting against a large tree. I was out in the open and unsafe, especially since we were in Grounder territory, but there was no way I was going to go any further. The terrain up ahead looked nasty, and from the looks of it, Finn and Jasper were opening a hatch; going underground meant not coming back up, not with my foot.

                I tucked myself in, bringing my knees up and studying my ankle with the dim light that still remained. As Bellamy, Monroe, Finn and Jasper disappeared into the little underground cave, I felt like holding my breath until they came out; my nerves were shot and pain was overtaking the adrenaline that I had earlier. Wincing as I touched my wound, I leaned back against the tree with a heavy and disappointed sigh; I was just slowing everyone down.

                From the corner of my eye, I spotted a Grounder and nearly gasped, but held my tongue. If he spotted me, he would surely kill me and I only had a small hatchet to protect myself with. He opened the hatch and climbed down where everyone had just gone. My heart hammered hard in my chest, pressing against my upper ribs.

                “Shit, shit… Bellamy get out of there.” I whispered.

                 I had been lucky enough not to be noticed by the Grounder, but there was nothing I could do to warn those who were in the cave. Though it had only been one Grounder, and one against four would almost always turn out in the favour of the four. However, the Grounders had already skillfully planned how to kill two of us today by only use of the forest. I tucked my good foot underneath me and pushed myself to a stand, using the tree to hold myself.

                Hobbling closer to the underground cave, I tried to hear for anything or anyone. How deep did it go? How long was it? Was it a dead end? Was Octavia in there? So many questions were eating away at me, and I had no way of finding the answers except by waiting.

                I didn’t have to wait long, as Octavia crawled up through the hatch, Jasper behind her helping her out. I waited nervously, seeing who else was going to come out. Hobbling over, I looked at Jasper with wide, desperate eyes. He nodded, confirming to me that everyone was alive, but there was a sadness in his eyes. Next came Roma, dragging out Finn who had a devious wound; a small dagger between two ribs.

                Bellamy came out last with a dead look in his eyes that I could see even in the darkness that ensued. He pulled himself out from the hatch; Jasper ran over to help. To nearly each healthy person, there was a wounded one; getting back to camp was going to be a tedious task if we did make it alive. I looked at Bellamy, wondering what he had done to the Grounder that had followed them in there, but averted my gaze instead; I would have killed to save my sibling and friends, so I didn’t blame him. 

Thanks for reading lovelies! Message, comments and votes and you will be greatly adored!