𝐒𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 「 B. BLAKE¹」

⋅⋆ xxi.

   "Stop, Bellamy. If we kill him, they're not going to stop killing us." Cleo tried again to reason with him, but her arguments were only falling on deaf ears.

   Finn murmured something brief, but before anyone could ask him to speak up, the grounder woke up and instantly caused chaos. He stabbed a concealed blade into Finn, letting a squishy sound echo in the tight, airy space they were all in. Cleo's gasp mirrored Octavia's and they got down to Finn's side, eyeing the protruding object in his side.

   Above them, Bellamy fought with the grounder. He took a swift hit and landed on the ground next to him. While Octavia pleaded with him, Cleo leaned over Finn.

   "Finn, stay with us, okay?" She pleaded, trying to keep him alive. She couldn't watch another person die in front of her. Not today. "Stay awake, stay with us."

   Beside them, the grounder fell to the ground again. Jasper stood over him with an object and for a second, it was silent in the cave.

   "Monroe!" Cleo's scream broke the silence and Monroe came scrambling in, eye's wide at the sight in front of her. "We have to go – now! We," she stumbled on her words. "We can't move him, he can't be upright. Bellamy, you need to carry him, you're the strongest."

   For once, Bellamy didn't argue and surged forward to help lift Finn.

   "Shouldn't we take the knife out?" Jasper questioned. "It's better than walking through the woods with that in him, right?"

   "No," Bellamy groaned, straining as he lifted Finn up. "No, we have to go."

   They left the grounder in his home and exited the abode, struggling to keep Finn alive and struggling to find their way back to the dropship. The sky was beginning to turn dark again – this time with angry clouds. Thunder was heard in the distance and they began to pick up their pace, but they couldn't run, not with Bellamy lifting Finn.

   "Are you okay?" She asked, staying behind him to watch their rear. "Do you need a break?"

   He didn't respond, but she saw him shake his head.

   "Pick it up! Head west," she ordered, taking charge for probably the first time on the ground. "We can't get caught in the storm, otherwise Finn is dead."

   Jasper helped Octavia, wrapping an arm around her waist to act as a makeshift crutch. Cleo kept her hands close to Bellamy, supporting him and helping as much as she could with the weight. It seemed like hours, but they finally reached the dropship. Jasper called for Clarke before they could even open the gates.

   Once inside the walls, chaos erupted as the campers tried to see the commotion and other people helped Finn inside the dropship. All at once, it seemed like everybody was arguing – Raven very briefly with Clarke, Octavia and Bellamy – and Cleo could feel her heart beating so fast she felt like it might've exploded out of her chest.

   She left the commotion to the water tarp, scooping a hand in the bring up to her mouth. Greedily, she drank the cool water and began wiping it over her face, cooling down her burning skin. The sound of her heart in her ears began to fade and she let out an empty sob, throwing off the jacket on her torso and tossing it somewhere near them.

   The past twenty-four hours had been testing, but she supposed it hadn't even been her worst day on the ground. Her right hand reached up to wipe stray strands of hair out of her face and she squeezed her eyes shut, letting a couple of tears fall loosely. She wasn't crying from grief or from hardship – she was crying because she was done.

   She was over it – the earth, the war, the death. She wanted it all to be over.

   "You should get inside."