Esperança 》B. Blake

1.06

"Hey, how do we know this is the right way?" Murphy spoke up, kicking up rocks around him.

"We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker," Bellamy responded with an arm discreetly ready to catch the clumsy girl who walked beside him. 

"It's called "cutting sign." Fourth-year Earth Skills. He's good." Wells corrected, rolling his eyes.

Roseline rubbed her head and stepped around sneaky root that had escaped the confinements of the soiled earth. "C'mon, guys. Please don't argue again. My brain is too fried already."

"Do you wanna keep it down, or should I paint targets on your backs?" Finn hissed, his eyes being drawn toward a broken branch. Crouching down, he found what appeared to be more blood scattered on pebbles.

A distant moan tore their attention away from the blood and to the trees in front of them. Roseline took a step closer to Bellamy, the hairs on the back of her neck sticking up.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy said, gripping his metal knife tighter. 

"Please don't let us die," Roseline murmured to the invisible stars above them, holding Jasper's goggles firmly in her hands before stuffing them into her bag.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun," Clarke suggested before creeping toward the groaning sounds. 

They made it to a small clearing with wild bushes covering the area. In the center was an old oak of some sort, Roseline wasn't sure, with bright green moss covering it. What horrified them the most was a shirtless Jasper tied up in the tree. his arms were held above his head, and his chest and face were covered in dried blood. Even from a distance, she could tell that the pain he was enduring was excruciating.

Roseline called out for the boy and walked forward. The others followed her surprisingly quick pace as she tried to get Jasper to respond.

"Jasper! Hey, Jas--" Roseline was cut short from the hole she had fallen into. At the bottom were wooden spikes that would have definitely killed her had Bellamy not grabbed her arm before completely plunging. 

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, bringing her back up to the surface. Roseline's eyes were wide with fear, but she still nodded, taking another glance at the booby trap. The others surrounded her and made sure she was okay before looking back up at Jasper, who seemed to be too caught up in the pain to focus on his saviors.

"We need to get him down," Clarke said, scanning the area.

"I'll climb up there and cut him down," Finn volunteered, navigating around the giant hole. Wells offered to help, but Finn told him to stay with Clarke , and keep an eye on Bellamy, who narrowed his eyes. Finn then told Murphy to help instead.

"I'll help too," Roseline stepped up and matched their steps to maneuver around the trap. Finn hesitated, but then nodded and handed her a knife of her own. She set it in her pocket, and climbed up to Jasper's side, finding an area to start cutting the vines that entangled his limbs.

"There's a poultice on his wound," Clarke leaned forward, inspecting Jasper's spear hit.

"Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" Wells frowned.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch likes its dinner breathing," Bellamy wondered. Chills ran down Roseline's back as she sliced the vines.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us," Finn added on. Her heart was caught in her throat.

"Maybe you guys should stop suggesting stuff before I throw up," Roseline squeaked, leaning her arm against a branch to steady herself. Finn cleared his throat and made his way up the tree with Murphy on his heels. The boys kept him upright while Roseline went around to cut all the vines and leaves off of his body. Her hand was starting to cramp up, but seeing Clarke's worried looks, she pushed on.

"Hurry up," Finn urged softly. 

"I'm working on it," the girl grumbled back.

"Be careful," Clarke called up, her eyes still wild with distress. A low growl echoed across the clearing, causing everyone to freeze up.

"Oh, God, what was that?" Roseline whispered, whipping her head around to try and spot the thing that made noise.

"Grounders?" Bellamy speculated, his voice faint and soft with fear, which was unusual for him.

Another menacing growl unfolded from the bushes, only this time louder. Then, from the shadows emerged a large muscular beast with a glossy pitch black coat of fur. It took a low stance, and Roseline had read enough books to know exactly what came next. The cat snarled and bolted, and the target was none other than Bellamy Blake. 

"Bellamy, gun!" Clarke cried out. He reached for his waistband, only to find it was no longer there. Shots suddenly erupted from Wells, who now had the handgun. He shot five rounds, the last one finally hitting the creature. It roared before falling over into the overgrown bushes. None of them could see it anymore, and Roseline watched Bellamy take a few steps closer to see it it really was dead.

She saw the leaves quiver, and the beast lunged out for the oblivious man.

"Bellamy, no!"Roseline felt the words leave her lips before she realized it. Another shot rang out, and this time they all saw the beast fall to its end, twitching in the process. Wells dropped the empty gun to the ground, his hands shaking. Bellamy checked for a pulse, and when he relaxed his shoulders, relief washed over Roseline like a tidal wave. Her heart was beating at the speed of light, but all she could focus on was that Bellamy was still alive.

She gazed up at the sky. "Thank you."

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A/N: i really enjoyed writing this chapter, and i hope you guys enjoyed reading it!! also thank you for 200 reads!! it means a lot!!

anyways happy reading!

-kate