Wounds [Bellamy Blake]

Fight or Die [Chapter 61]

                When we were attacked, vulnerable and with our weak, it all seemed to happen so fast. I was not at the head of the group, but Octavia had stopped us as she had seen or heard something. Though, it was obvious that it was Grounders when a flat, circular type weapon slid in between one kids eyes. The blade went through his entire skull and he was dead in an instant. Panic took hold of the group as everyone began to scream; no one really knew what to do, but as the panic continued, we began to herd ourselves back towards the safety of our walls and our drop ship.

                "Gunners, to your posts!" Bellamy shouted, back in his comfort zone of controlling and leading us to war. "Use the tunnels!"

                "Clarke doesn't know the plan." I told him over the screaming.

                "Wait!" Clarke shouted, "We don't know how many Grounders are out there. That could have been just a scout."

                "If it was just a scout, we can fight our way out." Octavia seemed enthused on the idea of leaving.

                "Lincoln said to leave before the scouts came..." Clarke said, feeling defeated.

                "You saw Lincoln?"

                "Yes," Clarke replied, "He saved our lives."

                I turned to Bellamy, seeing his face had tightened, "Let's get to the west wall."

                "No, not you."

                "Bellamy." I growled throwing my hands in the air, "I can shoot my bow quite well."

                "You're better at hand to hand." He half smiled.

                "Not with this finger." I lifted my hand.

                "Alright, you're with me." He decided, "Gunners, to your posts, as I said!"

                Everyone began to scramble then, rushing towards the tunnels or climbing up the walls. I ducked into the small tunnel and scurried along until I was above the ground again. Crouching down, Bellamy pointed at the others, giving them silent direction. I spotted Monroe and swallowed nervously; my mouth was dry with fear for our lives.

                "I'll be in the tree." I told Bellamy, kissing him. As I began to climb, my hand throbbing but not as painful as my ankle wound had been, I could hear the faint sound of the walkie-talkie below. Crouching on a thick branch that would easily support my weight, I pushed aside some of the greenery and peered out into the darkness. What remained of light was disappearing quickly. Not only did this give us a huge disadvantage, our gunners were amateurs and we had no game plan aside from "shoot Grounders".

                With only twelve arrows, I had to really make mine count. Bullets went faster than arrows, so I would have to wait for a non-moving target. Not having gotten to movement with my training, I couldn't risk trying it now. Every shot had to count. Looking out into the forest, that which was beyond our walls, I spotted someone rush by. My breath hitched in my throat; was I going to be able to shoot blindly at these Grounders? If they suspected that there was an archer in the trees, it wouldn't take them long to shoot me down.

                Hiding more in the trees, I tried to listen to the walkie-talkie that was down below. Someone was shouting from the East wall, the crackle of his voice being drowned out by distant rifle shots. Up in my tree, I couldn't hear what was being said, but I noticed that those below me were cocking their rifles and pointing them out through the small wall that protected them.

                "I see them!" Monroe shouted, I was able to hear that with ease, and I would bet the Grounders could too.

                A few shots came from those below me, and I focused on the movement out in front of me. It was clear that there were many Grounders running about, but I couldn't get a clear view of them. I didn't have the confidence to shoot anything that was moving too fast. Instead, I studied their movements, trying to see what their game play was. However, the bullets being fired distracted me from my thoughts many times.

                "They're missing them." I muttered to myself. The fact that they were new shooters, I didn't expect them to hit every target, but there were some obviously good shooters out there. As I glanced down, I watched Bellamy speaking into the walkie talkie, but all I could hear was gun fire and shells hitting rocks below.

                "Wait!" Bellamy cried out, "Do not shoot when they are running laterally. They are making us waste our bullets."

                "I'm out." Monroe said.

                "Me too." Miller said. "Last clip."

                Scattered gun fire echoed through the forest now, and I realized that we were almost out of time. Everything seemed remotely still for a moment, and I could hear Clarke over the drop ship. "We need Jasper."

                "I can't spare anyone!" Bellamy declined.

                "Bellamy, I need him!" She cried, "We need more time and I can't do this without Raven."

                I wondered what she needed Jasper for, but before I had a moment to call down to ask, Bellamy had released Jasper, who was arming the other wall, we were charged at by the Grounders. I notched my bow, pulled back and wavering slightly as I was balancing on a wide branch. Curling my toes to stabilize myself, knowing I needed to be as still as a rock, I focused both eyes on an oncoming Grounder, releasing the arrow with a cool breath, just as Bjorn had showed me.

                It hit his shoulder and he looked up at the trees, but never stopped running. As they bombarded the wall, I watched helplessly as Bellamy, Miller and Monroe backed off; with no more bullets and petty hand-combat weapons, they were no match for the swarm of Grounders. I watched Miller and Monroe tear off, hopefully to warn everyone that the outer walls had been breached. Whipping another arrow into position, I aimed downwards and shot a different Grounder. It landed in the crook of his shoulder and neck. He fell to the ground, and I figured I must have hit an artery as he did not get back up.

                Deciding that I should climb down and save Bellamy, who was now underneath a Grounder who was pummelling him, I tucked my bow over my shoulder and began to descend. About half way down, I spotted a Grounder on his way up. A gasp got stuck in my throat, suffocating me for a time as I tried to scramble back up. A broken arrow protruded from his chest and I knew he was coming to get me for shooting at him. He was wounded, but far from dead.

                Grabbing my longest dagger, I stayed on a thick branch and waited until he was closer to me. His gloved hand found my boot and began to pull. Slipping on my damp tree branch, I fell down, only hanging on with one arm over a different branch. He tugged at me, but I clasped hard, shifting so that the branch was in my armpit and I had the best support. He looked up at me with black eyes and grinned.

                "I've seen you before." He smirked, "This time I'll finish the job."

I suck at writing action, I know. I'm really trying to keep all this interesting and understandable. If I haven't managed that, I am very sorry! Also, I am thinking of wrapping this story up around chapter 70 or so.