[CHAPTER NINE]
[live bate]
"Hey how do we know this is the right way?"
After previously splitting off, Clarke and Finn had found a trail of blood and Jasper's goggles. Reconvening, the group now trodded behind the spacewalker who led the way, taking moments to crouch down and asses the ground and his surroundings before proceeding on.
"We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker." Atlas wasn't sure what to make of Finn. From what he could tell, his morals were just as flimsy as his own. He didn't know what he wanted, what he was doing or where he stood, but that didn't stop him from thinking he was above everybody else. "It's called cutting sign. Fourth-year earth skills. He's good."
"That's cute Wells. You keep track of all of his grades or-?" A dirty look sent by the chancellors son made Atlas send him a tight smile, sarcastic and patronising. It was easy to piss of Wells Jaha, Atlas had discovered that quickly, and he took so much joy from doing so. "You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" Instinctively, Atlas and Murphy shared a tired look, rolling their eyes at the spacewalker's attitude. However, there wasn't enough time to bite back, as a disgruntled groan pierced through the shrubbery, sending a shiver up each teens spine. "What the hell was that?"
"Now would be a good time to take out that gun."
The group, for once in sync, move quietly to follow the sound. The pained screams are obviously coming from Jasper Jordan, it was a miracle that he was alive, but it was very obvious he was in a lot of pain. Atlas, despite running towards the front of the pack felt sick to his stomach. He lived for small bursts of enthusiasm and excitement that often came from dangerous situations - but this was different. He was scared that when they found Jasper there'd be an army of grounders waiting to tear them limb from limb.
Clarke and Atlas, side by side burst through the cleaning, halting immediately. "Oh my god... Jasper." At Clarke's exclamation, the two teens looked at one another, weary, before moving forward as the rest of the group joined them from behind. The sight in front of them was enough to make a grown man queasy. Jasper had been tied with his arms above his head, his shirt stripped from his body- revealing his blood injury in the centre of his chest. Crimson droplets dribbled across his bare body, mixing in with sweat and presumably tears.
Atlas' face is scrunched into a mix of fear and disgust, his gut twisting and turning as he took in the sight of the poor boy. His eyes and nose scrunched tightly, his lip trembling. He doesn't have enough time to process the sick feeling rising in his throat before he feels a burning sensation climb up to his shoulder. In an instant, Clarke had taken a misstep and nearly plummeted to her death within a deep pit filled with wooden pikes. Luckily for her, Atlas had been close enough for her to cling on to, she grasped onto his hand desperately as the boy let out a painful grunt, processing what was going on. He had been pulled to the ground, his chest pressed flat against the grass as his arms and head lay dangling over the hole.
"Shit!" He exclaimed. The boy sloppily reached for the girl with his free hand, grabbing onto her jacket and trying his best to hike her up, but he wasn't strong enough on his own. "I got you! Don't let go!" He wasn't sure if his words, or screams, were any condolence for Clarke, but he couldn't help from continuing to yell words of encouragement. He tightly gripped onto her hand, his face turning red and every muscle in his body was screaming at him. But his instinct to protect and assure Clarke was much louder than his aching bones. He felt the sweat building up in his and the girls palms, and it felt like time had slowed down as he watched her slip ever so slightly. Everything was silent and his only focus was on the teenager that clung onto his arm.
A rush of panicked demands and hands gripping onto his jacket made him flinch, but Atlas was quick to ease once he had registered it was the group of boys that had rushed to the two blondes, pulling Clarke onto the flat surface. The Grey boy tumbled back, landing on his backside in a thud, his best friend clutching his shoulder tightly, both of them breathing heavily.
Finn was quick to lift Clarke onto her feet, giving her a once over and checking for injuries. "Clarke are you okay?" It seemed the girl had recovered in an instant, like her life wasn't in danger meer moments before. She quickly brushed herself off and regained her composure, her gazed fixed firmly on Jasper. "Yeah... We need to get him down." Clarke, followed by Finn, Wells and Bellamy stalked closer to Jasper, now more carefully.
John Murphy extended a hand out to his friend who was still on the ground, breath's raged. Atlas gratefully took his friends hand, pulling himself off the ground to stand. "You good man?"
"Never better." His response was airy, but the duo were quick to join the rest of the group, simply wanting to grab Jasper and get the hell out of there.
Clarke inspected the barely conscious boy before them. "There's a poultice on his wound."
"Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?"
Atlas had to admit he was quite lost in this conversation. He had no clue what a poultice was, or why it even mattered. He was always a shoot first, ask questions later type, so he began to get a little antsy with all the questions and the lack of actions.
"Does that really matter right now, I mean look at this kid-" He raised a hand, motioning towards Jasper. "Talk about it later, dude's on borrowed time." It was a surprise to hear Atlas perk up and present some arguably good points. They all looked at the state of Jasper once more and agreed they should cut him down as quickly as possible, Finn took the lead. "I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Wells was eager to follow, already taking a step forward before being shut down. "No. Stay with Clarke. And watch them." Finn gave a dirty look in Bellamy and Atlas' direction, making the younger of the two boys scoff and raise a hand to his heart in feign offence. To be fair, he had been a bit of a loose cannon since arriving on the ground, but he did just save Clarke's life, so he wasn't going to try anything funny... who knew about Bellamy though. "You-" Finn now looked at Murphy. "Let's go."
As his friend passed him by Atlas gave him a supportive pat on the back. "Duty calls." He mumbled, Murphy shooting him an annoyed glare, obviously not wanting to put in much manual labour.
The group kept an intent eye on Finn and Murphy as they moved quickly to cut Jasper down from the branches he had been strung to. Clarke and Wells kept to themselves, talking quietly most likely about Jasper. Atlas' gaze however drifted towards Bellamy, who stood silently with his hands crossed over his chest. The blonde boys eyes were squinted, not only because of the sun trying to enter his vision, but also out of curiosity. He scratched the back of his neck and casually strolled over the the man, looking between him and Jasper as he did so.
"So uh... where'd you get a gun?"
The question had caught Bellamy off guard, but judging by Atlas' casual posture he knew it wasn't an interrogation. "I was a guard."
"I thought that was just a ruse to get on the drop ship." Atlas wasn't genuinely interested, he was just trying to fill the eery silence in the air and maybe piss Bellamy off a little. "Hey man, I'm not one to judge I just-" The blonde mop of hair ripped around quickly when a low growl pierced through the air. All conversations had ceased, each teen now stood frozen, trying to locate the oncoming threat. "What the hell was that?"
A large black animal entered the clearing, baring its teeth and stalking towards them hungrily. It was obviously looking for dinner, and it had found it. Trying his best not to trip over his own feet, Atlas took a few steps backwards, earth skills did not train him for a situation such as this. Would it be safer to make minimal noise, or making himself larger to scare it off. He could do neither, frozen, anxious, anticipating the beasts next move. "Get the gun." He hissed to the man on his left. Bellamy quickly craned his head to look at Atlas as if he had not only forgotten about their previous conversation but the weapon completely. He fumbled around the waistband of his pants, trying to reach for the weapon. Atlas watched him do so and felt his heart fall out of his ass when no gun appeared in his hand. "You lost it?!" He was furious, but the imminent threat of the animal was a far worse issue.
Having the two boys set in it's sight, the animal took a few more slow steps towards them, lowering itself into the shrubbery to hide. "Shit, shit, shit." All Atlas could do was look around, and hope to spot it, but he was completely blind. When Bellamy, amidst his own fear, turned and looked at Atlas he saw a scared boy. Not the pain in the ass, reckless criminal who wore a constant shit-eating grin; he saw a composure similar his younger sister - wide eyed, unsure, shaking with fear. So instinctually, the older boy placed his body in front of the admittedly infuriating teen, blocking him from the panthers path.
When a low and threatening growl echoed through the grass, breaths caught in each of their throats. An abundance of black fur came bounding from it's hiding spot, claws scarily visible, mouth salivating. With his head in his heads, Atlas hunched over, Bellamy stood between the boy and the panther, shutting his eyes and praying it wouldn't hurt. But three succinct gun shots rang through the air before anybody could be eaten alive. The animal screamed out, before falling limp in from of Bellamy, but it wasn't the Blake boy who had fired the shots. All eyes fell on Wells Jaha who was stood stunned, the infamous gun held outwards in his grasp. "Now she sees you."
He tentatively brought his gaze up, his mouth hung open and his chest fell and rose erratically. Atlas quickly straightened himself, and without tearing his eyes from the dead animal, he walked around the man in front of him, patting him twice on the chest. "Thanks man." Though the two words, were quick and casual, he meant it. Atlas was shocked when he felt Bellamy's figure jump in front of him amidst his fear, but he was grateful non the less.
The group kept quite for the remainder of their rescue mission. Finn and Murphy promptly untied Jasper and they had managed to put together a makeshift gurney to carry to limp boy back to camp in. Atlas and Finn carried the boy home, Clarke and Wells leading the way back, Murphy and Bellamy however had decided to wrap up the animal and bring it back to the drop ship to cook up for dinner. After a quick observation, Finn had informed the group that it was some kind of panther and would thankfully be safe to eat.
Their return to camp caused a quick buzz, many teens swarmed around the group, ogling at Jasper as they carried him in. Monty, the boys friend, broke through the crowd - his terrified stare speaking for itself. The blonde boy looked at the frozen one, sighing heavily before meeting his gaze. "He's alive." Atlas informed, with a curt nod. If god forbid, Murphy had been injured in such a way, he didn't know how he'd act, he never wanted to feel whatever Monty might be feeling right now. The Green boy, although taken a back that is was Atlas to inform him, sent him a grateful nod, rushing quickly into the drop ship.
"C'mon, let's get him inside." Clarke instructed Finn and Atlas and they complied quickly. She had informed another delinquent that she'd need some boiled water and cloth's and they were quick to follow her orders.
Placing the boy on the ground bought Atlas some relief. They had got him to safety and now he could breath, his arms ached from the long journey and he was glad now that they could relax, even if it were just for a moment. He wasn't sure if he should say anything, surrounded by Clarke, Finn, Wells and Monty who all seemed as equally as exhausted. It was an uncomfortable silence in the air, so to excuse himself, Atlas simply nodded and sent a little smile to Clarke and Monty before quietly exiting the drop ship.
Once he had reached the bottom floor of the drop ship, Atlas had shoved his hands into his pocket, making a bee line for the exit with his eyes trained on the floor. He was shocked to hear a second pair of boots landing on the metal behind him. Turning slightly, he eased to see it was Clarke. "Atlas wait," He thought she was going to demand him to grab some materials to help Jasper, but her composure said something different. "Thank you." Is all she said. He nodded his head, and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Yeah."
"I mean it. You saved my life, helped save Jaspers too. So really, thank you."
It was foreign to Atlas, receiving any form of genuine gratitude. Since he was little, any acts of service he'd commit would be rewarded with broken glasses or strings of curses, that was if they prompted any reaction at all. Often it was just nothing, completely ignored. So for a while he stopped helping. He looked out for himself, did what he needed to do to get by, because if there's one thing that his family taught him it was that nobody else is gonna care for you except you.
"Right.. I hope you can help him."
With one final look, Clarke returned up the ladder of the drop ship and Atlas exited the metal box, the cool air hitting his face and blowing through his hair. The sight that he was met with made him falter, stood around a fire, Bellamy, Murphy and a couple of other were making the teens take off their wristbands in return for food. Given that Atlas was the first to take off his wristband, he stood in a strange place in terms of sides - but it was his own decision to take it off, no bribe or blackmail - just pure recklessness. The sick feeling in his stomach confirmed his doubts, this was wrong.
"Grey." Bellamy had noticed the conflicted looking boy and beckoned him over. He held a stick with a large chunk of meat on the end of it. "Here." The man held the stick out for the blonde to take, but he scrunched up his features. "What... you don't want anything in return for it?" Bellamy faltered, not expecting any kind of rebuttal from Atlas. He had helped take off wrist bands only a day prior, so what had changed? "You don't want it? Fine. That's another wrist band." Bellamy turned his back, walking back to the line of delinquents who waited for their food.
Atlas was conflicted, he stomach gurgled and his mouth watered - he hadn't eaten anything since they had arrived on the ground, he was starving and staring to feel physically weak. It was like his brain shut off and his feet began moving on their own. "Bellamy." He announced, prompting the man in question to turn to look at him. "Let me help. Murphy's gonna tear somebodies arm off." The older of the two could tell he did not want to help, indicative of the blonde's lack of eye contact and his hunched over figure. He looked ashamed, and for a moment Bellamy felt guilty. Seeing Atlas so defeated, and shying away was strange - he was used to seeing the extroverted firecracker starting fights and mouthing off anyone he could.
"That's the spirit."
Hesitantly, Atlas took the meat from Bellamy, but once his teeth sunk into the juicy chunk for that first bite all of his worries dwindled. He had never tasted anything quite so good, maybe that was his hunger speaking, but it was unlike anything. Chewing, he walked over to meet his friend, crouching down next to him and digging his own knife out of his pocket. Tearing these wristband's from peoples wrists was wrong, he knew that, but that didn't stop him from doing it. Murphy didn't see an issue doing so, so why should he? Bellamy seemed pleased when Atlas had agreed to help, and he'd even awarded him with dinner. So why did he feel so guilty?
Between saving Jasper, nearly getting mauled by a panther, and his interaction with Clarke - Atlas seemed to have lost his mind. He wasn't sure where he stood, he didn't know what he was doing and he sure as hell didn't know why he did anything anymore. But it was natural for Atlas to be a follower. When his parents gave up on him, he followed Murphy, looking for his approval - and now that began to carry over between Clarke and Bellamy. The pride that swelled in his chest when Clarke thanked him was embarrassingly large, but that was Atlas. The boy deprived of 'good jobs' his whole life, never appreciated, he was easily swayed because of it. Though he would never admit, Atlas was a people pleaser. That's where the loyalty came from.