𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

53. the escape

Clarke and I huddled together as we inched away from the group of them that were beginning to crowd us. They stared at us like we were fresh meat, quite frankly we were.

"Oh no." Clarke cried as the two of us backed into one of the rock walls. My chest was rising and falling rapidly with each breath as the Reapers inched closer to us. I knew this was it, we were done.

One of the Reapers was so close to me I could feel his breath on my face, one more second and he would have been basically on top of me. Clarke grabbed onto my hand and gave it a tight squeeze, almost like a final goodbye.

But for once it seemed like the odds were in our favour as a loud ringing began sounding off throughout the tunnel. The Reapers immediately retracted as they clamped their hands over their ears, letting out screams of pain.

Clarke and I shared wide eyed looks as we watched the scene unfold in front of us. Three men dressed in hazmat suits came flying around the corner, holding flashlights and some kind of blue light producing the noise.

"Get the hell away from them!" they yelled at the Reapers, who were already beginning to retreat.

"Clarke Griffin, Avery Collins, you're coming with us." One of them men declared, their flashlights pointed directly at us.

I swallowed hard as I pushed myself further into the wall, not wanting to go with these men at all. Clearly Clarke didn't either as she turned and tried to bolt, two of the men chased after her as the other grabbed a hold of me.

"Come on." he muttered as he took a hold of my arm.

I tried to pull back against him but he grabbed my other arm, making it hard for me to move, "Come on Avery, please don't do this."

As he continued speaking I began to recognize his voice. Although it was slightly muffled, I knew it was him.

"Landen." I whispered in shock as he began to pull me towards where the other men had captured Clarke and was currently trying to get her to stop resisting. "You don't have to do this, please. Just let me go. I need to find my brother and friends, I need-"

Landen shook his head, "I can't do that, Avery."

"We saw everything!" Clarke announced as we were pulled closer and closer towards the entrance, "We know what you're doing to them."

One of the other man replied, "That's why you're going in the harvest chamber with them."

My heart dropped as I tried to pull away, "Landen." I cried quietly, "Don't do this do us. You're better than this-"

Landen tightened his grip on me, "You don't know anything about me."

I felt like I was going to hyperventilate as the third man leaned forward, pressing a button on a key pad before speaking into it, "Alpha Delta Two, we have reached the intake. We have two prisoners in custody."

It was at this time that Clarke and I both began looking around, hoping that there was some way we could escape.

A voice came through the speak, "Your mission was to bring back all of them. The outside cannot leave this Mountain. Alpha Delta One is coming out now."

Before any other Mountain Men came out, someone else entered the scene. With a loud scream Anya came practically flying in from somewhere behind us. She attacked the third man as Clarke took care of the one holding onto her. Landen and I both stood frozen, neither os us wanting to make a move.

"Their masks!" Clarke yelled to Anya as she ripped the protective mask from the man who was holding her.

The man began to scream as the outside air hit his face. Anya mirrored Clarke's actions, doing the same to the third man.

It was at this time that Landen tried to pull me towards him, "Let's go!" he shouted.

"I found a way out!" Anya called to Clarke, who was just beginning to notice I was struggling.

The blonde began racing towards Landen and I, "Avery-"

I knew what she was going to do, she was going to take Landen's mask off, potentially killing him. As much as I hated him right now, I didn't want him to die. He was a kid, like us and probably didn't have much choice in what he had to do.

"No!" I yelled, putting my hand out to stop her. Both Clarke and Landen were confused by my actions, so I took the opportunity to send my elbow into the bottom of Landen's jaw. He let out a grunt of pain as he released me.

Clarke grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind her and Anya. Just as we started running the sound of the door opening and several pairs of footsteps echoed in the tunnel.

"We have to hurry." I pointed out as we continued running.

Anya nodded as she quickly glanced behind us, "We're almost there."

And sure enough we were almost there, as moments later we came to a halt. The sunlight felt warm on my skin as we approached the exit, but when we did, I realized that our way out was almost as deadly as if we were to stay.

We were standing at the top of a huge waterfall, so high that if we fell the wrong way, it might just kill us. To make matter worse, neither Clarke or I really knew how to swim.

"There has to be another way." Clarke hoped.

Anya shook her head, "There's not." she answered, just as the sound of the guards behind us filled my ears.

I stared down at the water below, chills running up my spin as the Mountain Men called out to us, "Come on girls, you don't have to do this. You have no place else to go."

The three of us shared a lot, before all of us looked back down at the water. With one final glance, Anya flung herself forward, plunging down towards the water. I took a step backwards as my eyes widened, "Oh my God." I whispered as Clarke screamed her name in shock.

The men spoke from behind us, "We don't have to kill you girls. It doesn't have to end like this."

Clarke and I shared a look, "What are we going to do?" I whispered, my eyes flashing to the water.

"Just surrender!" the man called.

Clarke slowly set the weapon down that she had stolen in our earlier confrontation, "Just trust me." she whispered, as she slowly raised her hands.

"Hands up, Avery!" one of the men called.

I did as he said, slowly raising my hands to either side of my head. Clarke began walking towards them, and I gave her a confused look. What in the world was she-

"Now!" she yelled, as she spun around and came barrelling back towards the edge, in one quick movement, she threw herself off the ledge, into the water below.

I was stunned as I stood frozen in place. I knew that the best thing for me to do was to turn and follow right after Clarke, but truth be told I was terrified.

"Come on, Avery." The voice was now Landen's. He had recovered from my hit and was making his way to the front of the group, his hand held out in front of him like a sign of assurance, "Just come back with us. I won't let them hurt you."

I slowly began backing up towards the edge, "You're lying."

Landen mumbled something to one of the other men as he inched closer to me, "Remember when we first met? I told you that you could trust me and that's still true, Avery."

He must of thought that I was really dumb. There was no way I believed a single word that came out of his mouth.

I was almost at the edge now, "How will you protect me if I come back?" I had to play into his game just a little.

Landen was practically close enough to grab me at this point, "You can stay with me, I'll keep you safe, I promise."

I could feel the air from the waterfall behind me. I turned my head slightly to gage where I had to jump, this was it.

Commotion rang out from behind me, "She's jumping, shoot her!"

The loud bang of a gun rang out as Landen rushed towards me, but it was too late. I had already thrown my body off the ledge. The wind was harsh as it nipped at my skin as I fell downward. After seconds of falling the water came into clear view causing me to close my eyes, and prepare for impact.