Haunted || Octavia Blake || 1 ||

19: G r o u n d e r s!

XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia and Finn lead a search party for Raven's radio so they can warn the Ark of their impending destruction. In the meanwhile, Octavia, not able to control her feelings, hurries away from the group. However, she ends up in more trouble than she first thought when she suffers a fall and blacks out].

Light. Just a flicker of faint light. A touch of an orange flame. It burned my eyes, pierced my vision and caused my head to incessantly pound.

A soft moan escaped my lips as I struggled to bring my mind back from the brink of unconsciousness. Pain escalated through my body as a wave of recollection flooded over me. I was falling. I was hitting everything in my path. I couldn't stop.

I forced my eyes to open. I forced myself to turn my head. I forced my mind to take in my surroundings.

I was lying on the cool dirt of an earthen floor. On every side I was surrounded by high rocky walls hinged with hues of grey and green. The room was small, cramped and stuffy; overloaded with shelves that were stacked with weaponry and jewellery. The place was dark, very dark, save for one single candle that glowed from it's position in a polished iron candle-stick.

Wait ... what? An earthen floor? A dank room? A candle?

I wasn't in the drop-ship.

With a horrified gasp, I lurched straight up into a sitting position. My breath came out in small panicked puffs.

"Oh my god! Where am I?" I whispered to myself.

A sharp pain began twisting my side and I had to clap a hand over my mouth to stop myself from crying out loud. I glanced down at my battered and bruised body. All the minor cuts I had received seemed to be covered in some sort of thick gauzy liquid. However, as I lifted my tattered shirt, I took notice of the large wad of cotton bandages wrapped around my waist. A deep red stain lined the edge of the white material.

I inhaled sharply as I dropped my shirt and took in my surroundings once again. Someone had found me. Someone had helped me.

And if they weren't any of the one hundred, then who were they?

I shook my head, trying to shake myself out of the stunned stupor that I'd fallen into. Biting my lip to stop myself from yelping out in pain, I slowly, carefully, pulled myself to my feet.

I sniffled and wiped at my nose with the back of my grubby hand as I glanced around. Crates. Wooden crates. Crates that held ... weapons. I needed something to defend myself with in case whoever saved me decided to turn nasty.

Wrapping an arm around my sore side, I staggered clumsily over to where the crates were lining the far wall. I shifted through one of them before securing two small knives. I stuffed one of them into my belt and clutched the other tightly in my hand.

It was time to do a little exploring.

I snatched the candle from it's mounted place up in the wall before warily venturing out from the small earthen dug-out that I'd been placed in. I looked every which way as a lump began to form in the back of my throat. A series of dark, rocky tunnels wound its way through the ground before me. They seemed to have no end.

Suddenly, I began to feel very claustrophobic. I hated how the walls and the roof seemed to be inching in on me. I hated how trapped I felt. I hated how dark and smelly this place was. In a way, it reminded me of the Ark ... or, more precisely, the floor underneath the Ark ... the place that I'd been hidden in for 16 years.

"I need to get outta here," I huffed, trying to give myself the assurance and confidence that I needed. "C'mon, Octavia, c'mon, you can do this."

I heaved a deep breath and took an unsteady step forward ... and then another ... and another ... and another.

By the time I was falling into my short-paced walk, I started feeling more sure of myself. That feeling didn't last long.

I came to an abrupt halt when I reached yet another criss-cross of tunnels with numerous exits and entrances. "Okay ... what would Mum do now?" I asked myself uncertainly as I waved my candle around before me. "Which way is out?"

Just that second, a loud resounding BANG cut through the air. I jumped in fright as I scurried around a nearby corner for cover.

Loud footsteps pounded throughout the tunnels and the low growl of male voices bounced off the dank walls.

The noises drew closer and closer and closer. Whoever was coming was going to go straight past me!

I screwed my eyes shut as I heard the intimidating sounds grow nearer and nearer.

It was too late to run now ... If I was spotted, I was as good as dead.

I pressed myself flat against the wall and held my breath, covering my candle with one hand as they passed me.

A low rumble of voices reached my ears but I couldn't understand a that was being said. The words weren't spoken in English, they were in some other foreign language that I had never heard before.

Slowly, with baited breath, I poked my head around the corner of the wall to gaze after the figures of the intruders. I frowned in confusion and squinted as I tried to get a closer look.

There seemed to be two people, presumably men from the above-average height they were showing. But even though their backs were turned to me, I could tell that they were both huge, brutal and intimidating. They wore cloaks of fur lined with bones around their shoulders. Heavy metal armour graced their chests, arms and legs. Huge hideous spears, each tipped with bright coloured paint and jangling with a set of skulls, were clenched in their leathery, scarred hands. Their hair was masses of thick, tightly plaited braids decorated with feathers and thread.

I gulped as I realised who they were: Grounders.

I was really glad that I had woken up when I had.

As soon as they were out of sight, I wasted no time to getting to my feet and sprinting down the tunnel from which they had just came. All the pain that I'd previously been feeling was forgotten. The one thing I felt now was a fear, a persisting fear that taunted me. I had to get outta there! I had to get back to the drop-ship .... to Bellamy! If I didn't, I'd die.

No one's dying today, I pressed my lips into a thin, hard line as I pressed on. C'mon, just a little further, Octavia. Just go around this bend. You can do it!

Suddenly, a shrill gasp of horror escaped me and I skidded to a halt.

For there, right in front of me, holding two razor-sharp swords, was the large, burly figure of a grounder!

Gif: Octavia as she tries to escape from the underground tunnels. (PSST. Sorry this chapter was a little boring).

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