CHAPTER NINETEEN
( recipe for disaster )
SEPT 25, 2149
DAY THIRTEEN ON THE GROUND
THE SUPPOSED PATHWAY THREAD THROUGH THE ENDLESS TREES, BELLAMY VALOROUSLY leading the way as he kept his hell-bent eyes trained onto the grounder they were stealthily stalking and his arms hooked securely under Dakota's knees; carrying her on his back through the verdant forest.
The second she had taken one tiny step in the direction of their target after they had left the tent's pitiful shelter, her wobbling legs had jarred her to the side; too dizzy to travel in a straight line anymore. Without any guff at his command- and never being one to turn down a piggy-back ride- she had bit back a pained groan as she hoisted herself onto him; plopping her chin down onto his shoulder in exhaustion as his grip fastened determinedly to her. Twenty minutes later her limp head still lolled on his shoulder, tipped infirmly on its side and moving slightly along with the bounce of his stride as she tried to hold onto him through her utter lack of strength; the bleeding from her wound having thankfully ceased.
Every few minutes she would lose consciousness and her arms would begin to unintentionally slip from around his chest, Bellamy always keeping her responsive by tapping her calf or boosting her up further onto his back. The pressure he felt was encumbering on his chest like a dead weight. He was harassed by his own mind incessantly about how he somehow needed to manage rescuing his sister and getting Dakota to Clarke soon. He had tried vehemently to get the four other members of the beaten down and battered search party to retreat back to camp while he stayed the course, but the Thompson girl had refused to leave him alone in such a perilous scene and Jasper had assured him he wouldn't be back at the drop ship until Octavia was with him.
Like clockwork, Dakota's hands- one stained ruby red- unclasped from in-front of his chest and her body began to slowly slide down his back; Bellamy preforming his usual practices to remind her to hold on. This time however, patting her leg and giving her a gentle bump up didn't re-invigorate her at all; his standard method not acting as a needed stimulus. He furrowed his brows in alarm.
"Dakota?"
"Hmm?" she hummed groggily, wrapping her arms back around him without ever opening her eyes; only the sound of his voice working this time. Bellamy now wondered if talking was exclusively how to keep her awake.
"What are you thinking about?"
Dakota mused over his question in silence for a lengthy interval of time. The truthful answer would've been that between her insensible moments, when her mind was even cogent enough, she was thinking about Roma, Diggs, and John. How a mere 20 minutes ago the mangled bodies still lying somewhere far behind them in the woods had held souls. They'd been capable of feeling love and grief and shock and joy, the things that made them human. Capable of laughing and playing and making mistakes and sometimes being mischievous. Now they were capable of nothing; now they were nothing.
But that was not the answer she wanted to give to Bellamy. His heart was bound with hulking chains of unassailable fear over his sister's possible state, and she had seen it in his eyes when he turned to face them after discovering Roma's lifeless body that he had bestowed all responsibility for every bad thing that had happened today upon himself. He was placing undeserving blame on himself for the three lives that had been lost, and with the anxiety surging through his veins over Octavia, being honest of what she was actually ruminating on was not an option. So she lied. A lie that she hoped could distract him from his guilt and worry even if only for a few blissful moments, knowing well of his passion for the subject thanks to multiple conversations with Octavia back on the Ark.
"Koalemos."
She couldn't see the humored smile that tugged at his lips, but she could hear the small chuckle that passed them.
"The god of stupidity." Bellamy observed, his tone a little lighter.
"With absolutely no purpose whatsoever." she confirmed to him, her voice wearied.
It didn't surprise Bellamy that she was well-versed in the realm of mythology; the girl seemed to practically absorb every ounce of the galaxy's knowledge in her brain. He couldn't tell if it was annoying or endearing that she was so much smarter than everyone else. There was a beat before he spoke again.
"You know Fallon kind of reminds me of Lyssa?"
A chortle spilled from her lips, so breathy and spent it just sounded like an extra heavy pant.
"She reminds me of Medusa."
"Oh, because she's a terrifying monster?" he joshed, arching a brow.
"Because she's misunderstood." Dakota responded simply, his small smirk disappearing.
Bellamy knew the real story of Gorgon Medusa. Before she was cursed to being a weapon just through her gaze, Medusa was a woman who had been assaulted by Poseidon in goddess Athena's temple. Upon the startling discovery, Athena had wrongly blamed Medusa for the attack and turned her into the monster everyone knew her for; serpent-headed with eyes that turned anyone she looked at into stone. Medusa, not wanting to hurt anyone with the power she'd been anathematized with, fled to a remote cave to shelter herself for the sake of other's safety until she was captured by Perseus and her severed head was used as a vicious weapon. It was a sad story, and apparently, that's what Dakota thought of Fallon.
Bellamy had a feeling the Walsh girl was ill-tempered long before the sudden death of her step-father, not convinced that's what had turned her so bitter. The key difference between the 17 year old and the mythological, snake-haired woman was that Medusa did everything in her power to still protect the public; Fallon goes out of her way to make people's lives miserable. Maybe it was cruel, but he saw Fallon as no more than a hateful heart with no chance of redemption; rotten to her very core. But the Blake boy knew that Dakota didn't see her in that light. Dakota saw someone good who was badly hurt and horribly misguided somewhere along the way. The two just viewed the situation entirely different.
Her eyes fluttered painfully open when she felt him come to an abrupt halt, hearing the quiet footsteps of Monroe, Finn, and Jasper stop behind them as well.
"What is it?" she whispered, not lifting her head to look.
"He's going into a cave." Bellamy growled, anger returning to his voice when he re-focused on the grounder; his muscles tensing greatly.
They tip-toed as silently as they knew how over to the cavernous hollow of the earth once the mystery man dressed in fur and leather had entered, peering cautiously inside with wide eyes; finding nothing but a deep, dark passageway further into the chamber.
"I bet she's in there." Jasper breathed quaveringly with a vast intensity, though determination could be heard shining through his fright.
Bellamy's eyes darkened as he stared inside the tenebrous entrance, his heart speeding up in both apprehension and fury; itching to charge inside.
"Can you stand?" he questioned, his gaze remaining fixated straight ahead.
"Yeah." Dakota answered, though she wasn't actually confident she could; wincing soundlessly as he gently lowered her to the ground, the painful throbbing in her head ten times worse when she had to move it.
Jasper and Finn were steadying her as her toes touched the earth again, her feet soon planted back on the ground as she slowly removed her arms from around Bellamy so he could retreat from the crouched positioned he had been in to help her down. Almost immediately he was tearing his axe back out of his waistband, gripping to the weapon so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Trying to suppress the fright in his own heart, Bellamy glimpsed over his shoulder to notice Dakota's resolute yet disquieted irises trained onto the path ahead; tentatively nudging her behind him.
Instantly she took it upon herself to scoot even closer up against him, naturally pressing into his side. Her fingers gripped nervously at the sleeve of his coat for stability through her dizziness; Bellamy taking slower steps to ensure she could stay nestled against him. They heedfully began into the cave.
Everyone froze momentarily in fear when they heard a noise just beyond their next turn in the narrow, rocky tunnel; a similar sound to chains being rattled. Only then did it seem to occur to Dakota just how insane what they were doing actually was, the girl's eyes widening in the sheer darkness of their surroundings. Bellamy sucked in a deep breath before rounding the corner; axe raised and ready to strike.
"Bellamy?"
The curly-haired Blake was blocking her view, but Dakota did not have to see to instantly know who the voice belonged to; the warmly familiar sound causing a hefty breath of relief to rush from her lips.
"Octavia!" he exclaimed, not hesitating to dash the few feet between them; falling to his knees beside his sister.
Everyone else hurriedly filed inside, their sweaty faces sparkling like glitter in the dim environs. The dingy cave was littered with various antlers, weapons, and objects. So many of the earth's secrets seemed to be hidden right here.
"Get the key." she heaved urgently, Bellamy's hands fumbling frantically for the silver appliance on the ground; giving it a quick puff to brush off the dust and dirt before jamming it into the lock.
"Monroe! Watch the entrance!" he ordered from where he was crouched.
The second he had Octavia unchained, she was tackling her brother in a tight embrace; letting out a sigh of alleviation so huge it exited her lips as a groan. He immediately flung his arms around her in return, pulling his sister up with him as he rose to his feet; closing his eyes in utter relief.
"It's okay, you're okay." he breathed, though it sounded much more like a reassurance for himself than it was for her; still clinging tightly to her with no interest in letting go soon.
After meeting Octavia on the Ark and hearing how she spoke of Bellamy, Dakota had wondered if 'sibling love' was a totally different brand than friendship. Not more or less, but just different; the way the love of a parent for their child supposedly differed from any other kind of adoration. In the Sky Box, she pondered over the fact that her love for Fox- who she considered to be like her little sister- felt oddly more protective than her love for anyone else, and at the time had chalked it up to the young girl being the only one she saw day in and day out. But once she had gotten to earth and gained the chance to watch Bellamy's insane level of protectiveness over his own sister, she realized her love for Fox did indeed have some hint of sibling-ship to it. Even now as the Blakes reminded her of the thought, she wished to go back to the drop ship and see the 15 year old girl; hug her and make sure she was doing alright.
Finally Octavia pulled away from her older brother, laughing breathily in a mixture of great glee and relief when she saw Jasper and Dakota grinning at her like idiots.
"How did you find me?!" she scoffed in amazement, speedily limping over to them and tossing her arms around the lanky boy; who beamed widely and immediately hugged her back.
"Followed him." Jasper gestured his head to the grounder lying unconscious on his side, Dakota just now becoming aware of his presence; having been so hyper-fixated on Octavia.
The pain surging through Dakota's skull intensified to a virtually unbearable amount when the Blake girl backed away from Jasper and yanked her into an embrace so tight it felt almost aggressive; her wobbly legs barely supporting her weight, dizziness increasing at Octavia's unintentional harm.
"Woah, woah." Jasper breathed a nervous chuckle, quickly placing a hand on Dakota's shoulder beside him to help steady her.
"O, be careful with her." Bellamy shot her a quick warning, knowing his little sister was just eager to hug her best friend.
Seriousness spread across her face as she hurriedly pulled away, still grasping onto Dakota's arms and gasping when she actually took a clear look at her. There was a humongous gash in the side of her forehead and half of her face was crisped with dried blood; the girl teetering lightly back and forth on her feet, completely unstable. She didn't seem to mind though, she was happily smiling at Octavia still; even though there were easily noticeable undertones of severe pain.
"What the hell happened to you?" she shook her head, gently brushing a piece of Dakota's sweaty hair from the uninjured side of her face; her bun having long disappeared with all of the crazy running they'd done. And from when she fell down that hill.
"Just a little bump on the noggin." she dismissed playfully, though the weakness in her voice was a little startling to Octavia.
"Did he do this to you?" she raised her brows angrily, gesturing to the man at their feet, who Finn was crouched down next to observing quizzically.
"No, no, I-" Dakota paused when she finally glanced over to the grounder, an unexpected look of realization washing over her features as her lips parted in surprise.
"What is it?" Bellamy asked, watching as her suddenly wide eyes scrutinized the stranger's features; Octavia still clutching onto her arms as she took a few shaky steps towards him.
"I know him." she abruptly announced, the whole group doing a double take. Her statement was loud, as if the discovery had zapped her enervation into oblivion for a brief moment; everyone was stunned to silence for a beat.
"Umm... what?" Jasper eventually spoke up, sheer befuddlement never having been so prominent in someone's voice before.
"You know him?" Bellamy jarred his head forward, over-articulating his words to confirm he had heard her correctly.
"I know him!" she repeated again, smiling briefly as if this were a positive uncovering.
"Explain." Finn breathed, glancing up to her; brows knitted in utter confusion.
"I-I mean I don't know him know him, but I've met him before!"
"How hard did you hit your head?" Octavia groaned, half-joking around and half legitimately-worried; also itching to leave this wretched cave.
"When?" Bellamy interrogated, entirely serious; everyone staring at her in severe perplexity.
"That night when everyone..." she trailed off for a moment, swallowing and growing more solemn as if the memory were upsetting.
"A couple nights ago with Murphy a-and with Charlotte, It took me forever to get to you guys because I was with him. I followed Murphy's group through the woods from afar and by the time you all had gotten to the cliff-side I accidentally ran into him."
"And you didn't bother to tell anyone this? That you actually saw a grounder face to face?" Bellamy questioned.
When was I supposed to, she wanted to say. When I caught up with everyone and Charlotte had just killed herself, or when everyone was racing each other to find the pod and make the flares to save 300 people that died anyway? But Dakota knew better than to bring any of that up, nor did she want to; that wasn't the point she was eager to get across.
"He let me go, he didn't hurt me at all."
"Yeah, me neither." Octavia nodded in agreement.
"But we should go, now. Before he wakes up."
"He's not gonna wake up." Bellamy declared, seizing one of the man's long, sharp spears from the wall.
"Bellamy, stop. He didn't hurt me, or Dakota! Let's just go!" Octavia exclaimed, trying to block her brother's path; failing miserably as he simply maneuvered himself past her.
"He doesn't have to die. Don't do something you're gonna regret, please." Dakota panted tiredly, leaning into Jasper's side; who had his arm looped securely around his friend to help her stand.
"They started this. Finn, move." Bellamy persisted coldly, planting his feet firmly into the ground and aiming the large, wooden weapon towards the Collins boy's back; a clear shot at the grounder's heart as soon as the 17 year old was out of his way.
"Fog horn." Finn breathed in fascination, running his fingers along the smooth surface of a hand-crafted horn; tiny symbols etched into its surface.
Dakota blinked, and that was all it had taken.
A mere inadvertent flicker of her eyelids that was natural to every breathing creature had come and gone, and in the millisecond it had taken for her vision to return, Finn was lying on his back with a dagger sticking out of his stomach; the armed grounder on his feet.
Her brain stuttered, wondering if her head injury had finally gotten the better of her and if the scene playing out before her was nothing more than a hallucination caused by some internalized fear. But soon Octavia was cradling Finn's head in her lap as blood bloomed rapidly across his chest, and Bellamy was being pinned to the ground with the spear that had been in his hands seconds ago aimed at his own body; his arms shaking violently as he used every ounce of strength to hold onto the weapon and keep it from plunging into his throat. That told her it wasn't some sort of wretched nightmare her concussed mind had dreamt up.
"Stop! That's my brother!" Octavia cried out desperately, praying silently to herself that the man who had saved her life today wouldn't make her wish he hadn't by ending Bellamy's.
With not a single plan in mind on how to help, Dakota lunged weakly forward as if she would save the day; her heavy eyelids barely able to be peeled back enough for her to see. But before anything could be done, Jasper had already clobbered the grounder in the back of the head with a large stick he had speedily equipped himself with; their attacker's body going limp as he crashed onto the floor.
Only then did Dakota become aware of the object in her hand, glancing down in bewilderment to see her knife clenched into her palm by its handle; the shiny blade out and open. She hadn't even realized she'd unholstered it. It had come like an inherent reflex in the face of danger, and that alone made her heart race in disquietude; the girl gawking at the weapon in her hand with wide, horrified eyes for a long moment. When she looked back up, Bellamy was still lying on the floor against his back, clearly recognizing what was racing through her mind. Their panicked eyes connected for a moment before she shoved it harshly back into her waistband; they had bigger fish to fry right now.
༻✧༺
"CLARKE! WHERE'S CLARKE?!"
Jasper's dire screams tore through the stormy atmosphere as he shoved desperately at the camp's gate, gusts of wind flurrying at their legs; sweeping leaves and debris up from the dirt to dance circles around their ankles. Thunder was rolling stridently in the caliginous skies above them, opaque with leaden clouds; a recipe for disaster brewing in the weather's oncoming.
Octavia's elbow was on Jasper's shoulder, bushed as she stumbled into the entrance; having forced herself on her aching leg along with the Jordan boy's aid all the way back. Bellamy was a few feet behind the two, sweating buckets as he carried Finn's limp body in his exhausted arms; the large knife still jutting horrifyingly from his abdomen. In last place were Dakota and Monroe, the Thompson girl's arm tossed over her neck; traveling in staggering strides as her three-braided friend practically dragged her through the woods.
They had succeeded in rescuing the 16 year old Blake, but they were so battered and burnt out, success was hardly an appropriate word. Down by three and lacking strength, half of the remaining six were injured, one of them on the verge of death; it was an alarming sight for the rest of the hundred to watch them enter camp in such bad shape.
"Get Clarke, now!"
The loud yells and grunts soaring through the air made Dakota want to shriek at the pain the unbearable noise caused her head, but she wouldn't even have enough energy to.
"Hey! I'm here, what's up?" the blonde came jogging up to them, just in time to see Bellamy emerge through the wooden gate; her eyes widening in terror at Finn's state.
"Finn? Finn?! Oh my God. Oh, oh my God." she whimpered shakily, racing over to him as her heart began to pound rapidly in her ears; hurriedly pressing her fingers against his neck to check for a pulse.
"Oh my God." Raven murmured from somewhere among the gathering crowd, catching a terrifying glimpse of the life ebbing from her boyfriend.
"He's alive." Clarke announced.
"Bellamy and Dakota wouldn't let me take the knife out." Jasper informed her glumly.
"No, that was a good call. Get him in the drop ship, now. Go!" she assured them.
The second Finn had been taken from Bellamy's arms, he was turning sharply on his heel and rushing back out the gate to where Monroe was huffing and puffing with a florid face. Her arms had resorted to wrapping firmly around Dakota's waist when the girl's legs finally stopped working, trying to hold her body up.
"I got her." he quickly panted, scooping Dakota off of the ground in one swift motion; her head falling against his chest in utter exhaustion the second he did, letting her tight muscles instantly slacken in his hold.
"Thanks, guys." Dakota mumbled, closing her tired and strained eyes; Bellamy shaking his head with a light chuckle as he trotted back inside with her, Monroe right at his side.
"Never without manners, are you DK?"
She hummed as a devitalized response, not wishing to speak any longer; unable to. Somehow, the thudding of his heart brought her solace, prompting her to tuck her aching head further into his chest to focus on the comforting whooshing. She vaguely heard faraway and distorted murmurs from various voices, hearing someone call out for Clarke's help, but they all mingled beyond the point of understanding; so she listened to the sound of Bellamy's beating heart and she briskly slipped into a world of oblivion.
A/N!
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I LOVED writing episode six!! It was my fav to write so far
Have a great day/ night lovies! I can't describe how much reads + comments + votes mean to me, and how grateful I am for all of you <3
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