CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
( death sentence )
SEPT 25, 2149
DAY THIRTEEN ON THE GROUND
GAME OF SURVIVAL
━━━ RUELLE
" are we the hunters,
or are we the prey? "
"EIGHT U.S. PRESIDENTS WERE BORN RIGHT HERE IN VIRGINIA. That was more than any other state in America! George Washington was born here, Thomas Jefferson was born here, James Madison and James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson."
Jasper hummed lightly in acknowledgment to show Dakota he was listening- even though he wasn't- who had been quietly blathering on for nearly twenty minutes about Virginia's history to him.
It was daylight now, sunshine trickling through the virescent beauty surrounding them; their narrow path of hell having merely spilled them back out into the thick woods after having marched all night. Their chances for locating and safely retrieving Octavia were growing slimmer and slimmer; barely having anything left to follow.
"I got nothing. We lost the trail." Finn sighed, walking at the front of the group with Bellamy; everyone's eyes scanning the forest floor for anything signaling they were going in the right direction.
"Keep looking." Bellamy adjured, desperation nipping at his tone.
"Wondering around aimlessly isn't the way to find your sister, we should backtrack." Finn concluded after another few seconds, turning to the Blake boy; who resolutely snapped a response.
"I'm not going back!"
Dakota halted when she spotted something tiny blending with the dried leaves at her feet, titling her head to the side like a lost puppy before kneeling down next to it.
"Hey, guys. Here!" she called softly, no one hesitating to rush over to her; huddling closely around the dark-haired girl to observe whatever she had found.
She knitted her brows, gently grabbing onto the small tuffet of cedar-hued fur to lift it closer to her focused eyes; studying her discovery intently. A dense, sticky paste instantly bound the shabby fleece to her skin, not even letting up when Dakota vigorously shook her hand; the pelage piece now stuck to her fingers. Her eyes widened in realization of what this meant.
"Grounders are near." she determined, her words leaving as a shaky breath.
"Some random animal hair tells you that?" Bellamy raised his brows doubtfully, hands on his knees as he leaned forward to look.
"It's not random animal hair. There's some kind of adhesive on this." she shook her head in deep concentration, eyes not leaving her find; now using her free hand to try to pick off the fur that had been glued onto her fingers with the tacky substance.
"Damn, you're as good a tracker as Spacewalker." Monroe smiled, glancing in interest from behind her.
"Okay, but why does that mean grounders are near?" Diggs inquired in confusion.
"They wear this fur, and this glue is fresh, still wet." she informed them, revisiting the image of what she had seen that night near the cliff in her mind.
Her ebony eyes darted urgently up to the earth once again, her hand as clean as she would get it without water; searching the woods for signs of life as her heartbeat began to increase. No one was taking this as seriously as she was yet.
"How would you know what they we-"
"Hey, where's John?" Roma's nervous voice cut through Bellamy's question; the air growing suddenly thick around them.
Now they were taking it seriously.
Dakota sprung to her feet, everyone's heads birling around in detailed alertness; their gazes flickering rapidly throughout the pines in desperate hopes of spotting him.
"I just saw him a second ago." Jasper breathed, swaying anxiously on his feet where he tensely stood; gripping tightly to the weapon in his hand.
"Spread out. He couldn't have gotten that far." Bellamy directed, remaining composed and calm to keep the group from allowing panic to override their logic; knowing the hazardous results of that scenario.
They began to do as they were told, Dakota only managing to take a few steps before an unexpected weight came crashing down on top of her without warning; her legs buckling helplessly as the heavy object pummeled her unforgivingly into the earth. A sharp pain ricocheted through her skull as her head was slammed directly into the jagged end of a twisting tree root, face shoved into the dirt while her whole body instantly ached from the massive blow; the girl feeling her skin split against the stem. Whatever had fallen on top of her was still sprawled across her body; something warm and stout.
"Ah, that's a concussion." she croaked hoarsely, a couple weak coughs following as she took a rugged gasp for oxygen; the breath having been entirely knocked from her lungs at the astounding impact. While her statement was truthful- her eyes squeezed tightly shut in discomfort- she had spoken the words in attempts of a joke; but the breathless and immensely pained sound of her rasping voice did not set everyone else at ease like she had wanted it to.
Immediately, Bellamy, Finn, and Monroe were dragging the mystery object off of her as Jasper fell to her side; Dakota's gasps still occurring as she felt the mass lifted from her body, only then able to breathe freely again.
"Kota, Kota, Kota, hey are you okay?" the Jordan boy's loud and panic-stricken words were slightly distorted in her ears; the girl cautiously peeking one eye open to stare up at his mildly blurred image, the sun's light seeming much harsher than before.
"Yeah, I'm good." she softly groaned, relying heavily on the help of him pulling her up into a sitting position as she winced sharply.
"You sure?"
"Positive." she insisted in a strained tone, taking the step to fully open both of her eyes; Finn and Bellamy crouching down in front of her. The Blake boy placed a thumb on her chin and ever-so-slightly moved her face to the side, all of them studying a specific point on her head; Dakota ignoring the way it made her almost blush.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Jasper continued in alarm, Dakota swatting his hand away, though in actuality she genuinely could not discern the number of fingers he was flashing; not a great sign.
"What was-" she slowly turned her head to the side to see what immobile object had attacked her, and though blood usually did the opposite, right now it caused her to become immediately awake; now lucid as ever as her eyes widened in horror.
John's lifeless body was straggled on the dirt, throat slit and eyes wide open; crimson blood staining the ground beneath him just like Atom's had that day in the woods, jacket dyed permanently red with the devilish liquid. The bone-chilling gore inflicted an efflux of sickness that stretched far beyond the physical components of horror; the image surely burned into her mind for the rest of eternity. The knowledge that his bloody corpse had just been on top of her made her hackles raise.
Dakota flew into a panic, scrambling frenetically away as her chest heaved up and down; barely noticing the tiny stream of her own blood that had begun to trickle down her face from the gnarly gash in her head. Sobs were stuck in her throat along with the prospect of words; nothing coming out besides her empty gasps of terror. Still on her bottom, she scooted hysterically backwards until she hit a tree that forced her to stop; wild distraught burning in her ebony irises as she tore them briskly away from John.
"They use the trees." Finn breathed, anxiously glancing skyward.
"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary." Diggs declared.
"Now can we go back?" Roma looked to Bellamy in great concern; the boy pulling Dakota up from the ground with Jasper's help, grasping onto her arms to steady her while she swayed on her feet; her head wound substantial enough to make the world spin around her.
"You okay? You can stand?" Jasper confirmed again, Dakota nodding lightly; though she immediately regretted the act of moving her head in that manner.
"Here." Finn quickly grabbed a square of cloth from his bag, passing it off to Bellamy as he hurriedly gave it to Dakota.
"Put that here." Bellamy instructed, lifting her hand to the bleeding abrasion on her head; pressing his own hand over hers as he aided in applying the needed pressure. The girl sharply inhaled in pain as she closed her eyes momentarily again. Only Jasper's next agitated proclamation shifted their attention.
"There. Right there." he pointed to the outline of a grounder in the near distance; the person decked out in fur- just like Dakota had somehow known- with a large weapon in hand and ready to strike.
Dakota's eyes darted open once again, knowing she had to push past her pounding heart and throbbing head- push past John's dead body beside them- to stay alive.
"Another one." Diggs shakily voiced, his eyes on a different part of the forest.
Multiple silhouettes were along the tree lines, fleeting flashes of movement and shadowy figures coming into view; they were vastly outnumbered.
"We should run." Finn breathed, everyone exchanging panicked looks.
"Can you-" Jasper didn't even have time to finish asking Dakota if she could run; sparks practically flying from the soles of her shoes as she took off unhesitatingly.
The answer likely would've been no, she couldn't run with her head's current state, but the heavy mixture of intense fear and adrenaline coursing like drugs through her veins managed to do the trick.
"Come on!" she hollered urgently, everyone breaking into a desperate sprint alongside her.
They hared unceasingly through the forest, pushing their bodies as fast as they could go and testing their own personal limits of speed as the grounders drew nearer; racing alongside them. Their hearts hammered in their chests, the group sweating vigorously through their coats despite the cold weather. If they weren't lying to themselves, none of them would ever believe they could possibly out-run the experienced people easily chasing them. But yet they tried, minutes passing that felt like eternity.
Dakota inevitably had fallen behind, still firmly pressing the rag against her crimson slash; which to her dismay, she could feel soaking through with blood much faster than she would've hoped. However, she felt almost grateful for the deep cut to be on her head and not anywhere else on her body; not seeming to trigger her hemophobia as long as it was out of sight. Her strained chest was aching for her to slow down- a burning ache, like it was on fire, not a subtle one- and her head was pounding painfully along in harmony. She dreadfully noticed the stars and splotches of what looked like grease stains daintily dancing in her vision; warning her that she was getting low on time before she would absolutely have to quit pelting through the woods, already battling against the darkness fighting to envelope her. Losing consciousness right now would be a death sentence.
"Let's go, let's go! What are we gonna do?! They keep heading us off!" Diggs shouted.
"Just keep running!" Finn called.
Blackness was seeping in the corner of her one eye that remained open, Dakota having been forced to squeeze the other one shut when the blood rapidly oozing down her face had utterly ruined its vision and caused it to sting unbearably. Her legs were weakening; she couldn't keep this up.
"I can't run much longer!" Jasper yelled through his erratic breaths in front of her; fumbling and nearly falling as his foot got tripped up on a weed.
"I'm not stopping for him!" Diggs declared, not slowing his stride.
Bellamy glanced over his shoulder, realizing Dakota had halted behind them. The girl's arm held herself against a tree with her head bowed, halfway doubled over.
"I'm sick of running anyway." he hissed, jaw taut; everyone else seeming to stop when he did.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Finn panted with knitted brows, lightly hitting Bellamy on the arm.
"They know where she is!" he snapped impatiently; ire suddenly becoming stronger than his fear.
"Kody, you okay?" Jasper questioned nervously.
Though their voices were nearly indistinguishable and ringing through her ears like faraway echoes, lightheadedness rolling over her like a crashing wave, Dakota managed to lift her head at the mention of her name; not missing the way everyone's eyes widened at her alarming appearance.
"Do I look pretty?" she wheezed gratingly, trying to josh around, but unable to even force the tiniest of smiles onto her features through her searing pain.
Practically half of her face was red from where she'd been bleeding so incessantly, looking like it had been plastered on as some kind of war-paint; it's magnitude staggering. Her hand was stained scarlet as she continued to hold the useless schmatte against her gushing wound; the material so drenched in blood that droplets were falling from its corners, overflowing with no room left. Bolting through the woods with unbroken velocity had greatly worsened her condition; no where near this bad ten minutes ago.
"The prettiest." Jasper let out a trembling breath, flickering her a fearful smile that was supposed to be comforting; Dakota hoping she had commanded her lips up far enough to flash him one back.
He swallowed, fighting against the lump forming in his throat. He'd been with Dakota and Monty his entire life, and the most worried he could ever recall being was when the Green boy was bed-ridden with the flu for two whole weeks. He was nine and Dakota was eleven, and even then the fear he had felt when all the other younger patients of flu season had recovered swiftly in a mere few days while Monty's immune system reacted poorly was so strong. He and Dakota had spent every waking moment with each other over the course of those 14 days, crafting him flowers out of colorful construction paper since the vegetation didn't actually exist on the Ark to drop off by his flat each morning.
He could clearly recall being so scared then, yet that did not compare to the fear he felt looking at Dakota right now; who he'd never really seen be more injured than stubbing a toe before today. But as she stood there with shaking limbs and a face covered with blood, looking like she was about to collapse onto the ground while people trying to murder them closed in, he wondered in horror how she and Monty had felt those first few days in the drop ship after he'd been speared. He had never meant to put them through that hell.
"Diggs! Where are you?" Roma suddenly cried, bolting away to search for her friend; who had somehow managed to slip away from the group unnoticed.
With a tight grip on her spare hand, Jasper tugged the dizzy Dakota behind him through the woods as everyone took off towards her. Roma's petrified, raucous caterwaul from ahead caused her to speed up a little on her feet, as if the concerning noise had heightened her senses and reminded her to push harder for a brief moment.
"Wait, Roma, stop!" Jasper shouted when they nearly caught up to her, though the teenager continued to shoot through the woods and further from them.
"There could be more!" Finn alerted, all five of the remaining group skidding to a harsh halt when they came across Diggs.
His limp body was viciously impaled on what had clearly been a trap, large metal spikes protruding from his blood-ridden back; having penetrated all the way through his sternum and insides. His eyes were wide open as blood dribbled from his mouth and nose. Though for some reason, this image was particularly disturbing; his eyes were still overwhelmed with fear. There was no peace or stillness or any form of having been set free; he'd be frozen in sheer terror for all of eternity.
This is what Bellamy was trying to prevent when he had worried about allowing panic to override logic. Diggs was dead because he had freaked out and fled from the group by refusing to pause with the rest of them, and now Roma could very well be next as she did the same.
Dakota quickly diverted her gaze, barely staying upright as is and knowing better than to let the affect blood had on her into the mix.
"They were leading us here. It's the only direction we could run in." Jasper concluded grievously, fidgeting on his feet as his humongous eyes rapidly scanned the permitter.
"Guys... they're gone." Dakota determined, noticing the abrupt and vital absence of their attackers; her eyelids fluttering as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Where'd they go?" Finn breathed, everyone- with the exception of Dakota- whipping their heads frantically around trying to spot any movement.
"After Roma." Bellamy's eyes widened, everyone charging onwards.
Dakota finally disposed of the utterly saturated cloth on the ground as she stumbled through the forest; resorting to using nothing more than her gore-filthied hand as a compress, which ultimately hurt more and didn't really help at all. Her bleeding, very unfortunately, had yet to begin subsiding.
"There she is. Roma!" Monroe was the first to discover the girl, keeping her voice hushed as she called out to her; the five trying to maintain secrecy now that they had lost the grounder's tracks. All they could see was her shoulder peeking out from behind a tall tree.
Bellamy rushed forwards, gripping tightly to his silver axe as he traveled on swift and silent foot steps. Dakota saw the way his already rigid body tensed further when he paused; obviously seeing something she couldn't yet from where she stood. But she didn't have to see when his body language and Roma's- who had been unable to be still a few moments ago- utter lack of movement told her exactly what the coda was. She was dead too.
"No." Dakota murmured distraughtly under her breath, plodding up to view the ghastly sight; Roma's lifeless boy pinned to the tree's rough bark with a long spear.
"They're playing with us." Finn respired, scrutinizing their surroundings closely.
Bellamy reached forward, gently closing the dead girl's eyes with his trembling fingers; back turned to the others so they couldn't see the look on his features.
"She only came because of me." he whispered dejectedly.
The guilt he'd felt while growing up on the Ark getting to live a legal life while his baby sister rotted away in their metal tomb of a home just for being born had always felt nearly unbearable to him; like a constant, heavy weight on his chest constricting him from ever allowing his lungs to actually fill up all the way with air. Shooting and attempting to murder the Chancellor multiplied that by a thousand. The wristbands, the radio, Atom, and Charlotte all slowly took away his ability to breathe properly. Then he killed 300 innocent people, whose bodies he'd watched descend from the cosmos. Now, he had gotten Roma killed too. Diggs and John, and Dakota was barely standing. He regretted ever recruiting her help, regretted recruiting anyone's help; he should've gone for Octavia alone.
"Bellamy, that's not your fault." Dakota softly spoke, Finn's worried voice following after her woeful one.
"They can kill us whenever they want."
"Then they should GET IT OVER WITH! COME ON!" Jasper suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs with clenched fists, losing his sanity momentarily; Dakota flinching as Finn raced direly over to shut him up.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
"WE KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! YOU WANNA KILL US!"
"Jasper, shhh, please!" the Thompson girl pleaded weakly, defeat punching her in the gut; tears threatening to well in her eyes. Good. Maybe that would rinse out the blood in her left one.
"Bellamy!" Monroe shouted the second she spotted the first grounder reappear, several popping up quickly after that.
"I can't run anymore." Dakota whimpered, shaking her head in dismay.
"You don't have to." Bellamy huffed, grabbing her wrist and yanking her closely behind him; Dakota gripping onto the back of his coat for stability as he positioned his axe in the ready. They had just brutally killed three of his friends and kidnapped his sister, and he'd be damned if he let them get away with taking anyone else too.
"I'm scared." she whispered shakily, only loud enough for him to hear.
"Come on, where is that Dakota Thompson faith?" he panted in return, chocolate eyes frantically scanning the woods; unaware of the weak smile that tugged at her lips.
And, like magic, the same brassy horn from that day in the woods with Atom and Charlotte loudly rang out; it's noise sounding throughout the land as all the incoming grounders- armed to kill- froze immediately in their spots before pivoting on their heels and darting away.
"They're leaving." Bellamy observed in awe, watching with wide eyes as the many warriors retreated rapidly.
"That horn. What does it mean?" Jasper questioned apprehensively.
"Acid fog." Finn answered, hurriedly whipping out a large gray and red tent; the only one of them who had seemed to prepare a bag with items that were actually helpful.
"We have to run." Monroe declared, an astounding amount of bravery in her tone.
"There's no time." the Collins boy quickly denied.
"Everyone, get under. Now."
༻✧༺
DAKOTA WAS WEDGED IN BETWEEN MONROE AND JASPER, SPRAWLED ON HER STOMACH with her elbows tucked beneath her chest, a red glow cast upon them from the colored tent; a sorry excuse of protection from the vicious cruelties of the acid fog.
The unremitting pounding in her aching head nearly drown out the sound of everyone's shallow breathing in the intimate and tight space; Dakota unsure if she was nauseous from what they'd just endured or from the fierce pain circulating throughout her skull, maybe both. Their cheeks were florid and their skin glistened with a thick layer of sweat, air stuffy and hot under the nylon taffeta tent, despite it being cold just outside. No one had spoken in almost ten minutes, everyone just waiting for something to happen and occasionally glancing over to Dakota in concern; but silence no more, Jasper decided.
"How long are we supposed to wait?" he respired shakily, eyes still wide.
"Will this even work?" Monroe whispered.
"We'll find out." Finn responded, a beat passing before Bellamy spoke sternly.
"No we won't."
With that, the Blake boy rolled the world's riskiest dice and poked his head out from under the tent; announcing to rest of the group they were in the clear before everyone else emerged after him.
"There's no fog."
Dakota winced, the light of day suddenly unbearable to her, prompting her to squeeze her eyes shut.
"Maybe it was a false alarm." Finn suggested, everyone clambering back up; Jasper and Monroe helping Dakota stand.
"They're coming back." he declared; the Thompson girl's eyes darting open at his panic-inspiring statement, despite the agony it caused her to do so.
Sure enough, the outline of a large grounder was traveling stealthily in the distance; gracefully weaving in and out of the large pines he knew like the back of his hand. Dakota narrowed her eyes in wonders if she wasn't seeing straight, which was a definite possibility with her head injury. He wasn't running towards them; he was running away from them.
"I think he's alone." Jasper murmured, not taking his eyes off the moving figure.
"Now can we run?" Monroe quietly requested.
"He doesn't see us. I'm going after him." Bellamy declared grimly.
"And what? Kill him?" Finn breathed, Dakota gulping; please say no.
"No. Catch him, make him tell me where Octavia is, then kill him."
"Wait, wait." Dakota tiredly waved her hand, her features contorted in effort; everyone turning to face her. They partially expected her to beg for them to give up and retreat to camp, but she didn't.
"I agree, we still need to get Octavia back, but killing him is not the answer." her voice was weary, smothered with unmistakable fatigue; the girl's tiny speech dragging on much longer than it normally would as she worked to keep her thoughts straight.
"If he's really by himself and this isn't some sort of trap, then we'll all easily be able to overpower him; I think. If we can calmly contain him, we might be able to show him that we mean no harm and that no one else has to die. We have the opportunity to convince him that we can all live in peace, and if we succeed, I'm sure he can convince the rest of his people too. They're stronger than us, Bellamy. Faster, smarter about the earth; they know it like they know themselves and they are clearly way better fighters. We're already getting picked off by them for just existing, and I can't see a world in which murdering one of them is going to help. We can do this, killing him is just gonna make matters worse and we can't afford that. Please."
They all blinked, taking in her meaningful words as she watched it land on their chests.
"I'm in." Finn nodded unhesitatingly.
"Me too." Monroe was the next.
The three stared pleadingly at Bellamy, knowing ultimately the decision was up to him, somehow.
His eyes drifted to the dirt, and for a moment, he truly considered joining Dakota's scheme. Her presented strategy resulted in less guilt for all of them, less death; which he knew in his heart was better. But then he looked back up, and her bloody face only added fuel to the fire of his fury; a scowl forming on his lips. His dark eyes flickered over to Jasper, who seemed to be as affected by the image, leaving him on his side.
"They slaughtered three of us, Dakota. Tried to get Jasper, tried to get you, and God only knows what they're doing to my sister as we speak. I'm killing him." his voice was harsh, but not towards her; only towards the grounders.
Dakota internally groaned, having heard the exact tone and purposeful intention in Octavia's voice countless times before. When the siblings put their minds to something, there was not one force in this world that could stop them.
Jokes on her for trying to change the mind of a Blake.
word count 4,392