THEY WERE ALL LOWERING BELLAMY DOWN THE CLIFF. They had constructed a rope made out of seatbelt for the most part since they were the most secure things they could find. They had tied as many as they could together and then wrapped it around the Blake boy like a belt around his waist.
"All right. Ease it out slowly," he told the four. They nodded and slowly began to release the rope, always making sure that they had at least one hand on it at all times. As he was lowered, he kept reassuring Mel until he finally reached her. "I'm almost there. It's ok. I got you. I got you. Just put your arms around me."
"I can't," Ivy heard her whimper, the echo a bit louder that the sound of her friends grunting and groaning, trying to keep the rope steady as they held it. One slip-up could cause the whole thing to go south. They needed Bellamy, and they could not let either him or Mel die.
After a moment of convincing her that she was strong and could do this, he finally got her to grab onto him on the promise that the 'rope' was stable and would not break. He called up to the group, "I got her! Pull us up!"
"Don't you worry, Bellamy," Murphy assured him through gritted teeth. "I won't drop you."
"You're not helping, asshole," Ivy told him, causing him to look at her with furrowed eyebrows and an offended expression, wondering why the hell she hated him so much.
Finn rolled his eyes at the two arguing, and before Murphy could protest, he cut in, "Just pull, Murphy." John scoffed when he was the one getting yelled at when he was just trying to show Bellamy that he was trustworthy. Ivy made it into a big deal.
"Aah!" the cockroach exclaimed moments later. Ivy was confused when she fell to the ground, but then she realized that the belts had snapped/ She looked up with a panicked expression to see that Murphy was holding the end attached to Bellamy with one arm, and no one else was with him. "Come on! A little help!"
"What the hell is happening up there?" Bellamy shouted angrily as the other three scrambled to assist Murphy. Ivy got in between Finn and Murphy, and they were practically on the ground because of how hard they were pulling.
The Bishop girl gasped when she felt a sudden pain shoot through her side. It was not that bad, but it was unexpected. She looked down to see that her shirt was torn, and there was a small gash running across her abdomen. She furrowed her eyebrows until she saw arrows landing all around them. Monroe declared, "Grounders!"
"Monroe, cover us. Go!" Ivy told her, and she released one arm to throw the girl a gun as she scrambled up to catch it and start firing.
Bellamy spoke again, confirming that he and Mel were still on the rope, even though it was pretty obvious judging by the three teenagers yanking the rope with all of their strength. "How many are there?"
"We can't see 'em!" Finn answered, and he glanced back at Monroe, who was just kind of firing aimlessly into the distance, not sure where the hell the Grounders were. He examined where the arrows were coming from before informing her, "In the trees! In the trees! Aim for the trees!"
"No, no, no!" the girl with the gun shrieked, and the redheaded girl glanced back to see her groaning on the ground with an arrow stuck in her leg.
Bellamy was yelling, and Ivy was not sure whether or not he was speaking to Mel or the people on the rope. It was probably both, but she could only make out a few phrases because of everything happening — the pulling, the arrows, the gunshot, it was all too much. "Just hang on."
"We're gonna need to cut her loose," Murphy grunted out, and before either of the people in front of him responded, he yelled down to the boy dangling over the cliff, which was kind of cruel when Mel was right there and could hear perfectly well. "Bellamy, you got to cut her loose!"
"No way!"
They all looked back when they heard a loud horn sound echo throughout the clearing. It was very familiar, and Ivy suddenly recalled what it was associated with. "Acid fog."
"Monroe, get back on the rope!" Finn ordered, no longer concerned with the arrows flying at them because they grounders would retreat as well if acid fog was coming. However, they needed to get Bellamy and Mel up before the fog came for them and killed them all. Ivy recalled Atom's screams and how they had to put him out of his misery when he got caught in the green mist.
They finally successfully pulled Bellamy and Mel, at least far enough that they could climb the few feet left. Mel collapsed on top of Finn, who was breathing heavily and laying down because of the exhaustion. She sobbed out. "Thank you. Thank you."
Bellamy sat down next to the redheaded girl, and she could see his flustered face slightly below all of the blood, bruises, and dirt. He looked over to Murphy who was still holding the seat belt, and he nodded at him, letting him know that he did good. He then furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the cut on the girl's side through the giant hole in her shirt.
"I'm fine. It's just a graze," she assured him when she noticed him staring. She was honestly more worried about the shirt because it was the only clothing she had. She prayed that they had more at the camp that would fit her. He nodded with a relieved sigh that she was okay and that they had made it.
Finn stood up slowly, pointing out. "We have to take cover from the fog."
"Bellamy," came a familiar voice, and Ivy and the Blake boy looked up to see the happy face of Octavia standing about twenty yards away from them. The Bishop girl breathed out in disbelief. She had not seen her since during the battle, when she was hurt, and Lincoln took her away. She was pretty sure she was not going to see her for a while.
Bellamy shook his head with a chuckle once his eyes met his sister's, and he stood up slowly as Ivy and Murphy did the same, groaning because their arms felt like noodles. "No, we don't."
"She blew the horn," Murphy said in realization, and when Ivy stumbled a little bit, he grabbed her arm and stabilized her. She just glared at him for a second before shooting him a very slight smile and wrenching her arm away. He grinned and took that as a win.
The siblings ran to each other and embraced, clinging to each other desperately. As soon as they pulled apart, the Blake girl sprinted right over to the Bishop girl and hugged her as well. Ivy was a little shocked since she really did not think she was that close with the girl, but she hugged back with a small smile.
Octavia was helping Monroe with ehr wound while her brother was putting a sling around Mel's arm. She had gone through a lot, and Abby was going to have to take a good look at her when she got back to camp. Monrow spoke to the girl attaching a tourniquet to her leg, "Thank God you came when you did."
"I was going back to camp when I heard shots."
"Nice foghorn," Murphy said, leaning over from where he was sitting next to the redheaded girl who was cleaning up her gash. He raised his eyebrows as he picked up the horn and examined it, remembering who it originally belonged to. "What happened to your boyfriend?"
Octavia swiftly slapped his hand away, causing him to drop the object and glared at him. She shook her head, and it was obvious that she was trying to hold back tears. Something must have happened to Lincoln. "He's gone."
"Hey. I'm sorry, O," Bellamy told her with a sigh before turning to Finn. Ivy stood up to join them in their conversation as the others did as well, knowing that they had to leave pretty soon. "Octavia says the arrow might be poisoned. I have to take them home."
"I know," Finn responded, and he dug through his pack and took out a piece of paper, handing it over. It was the map that that Grounder had drawn. Did he not need it anymore? He must be giving it to them so that they could find their way back.
"Ivy, you coming with me?" the Blake man asked, and everyone looked at her as she nodded. Finn could handle finding the camp on his own until they could find a time to head back and meet them. He just needed to get there and make sure the group was there, and then the others could come meet him and help him get them out. "I'll meet you as soon as I can."
He nodded, walking away. "I know."
"Parting, such sweet sorrow, right?" Murphy breathed out with a small smile as he passed Bellamy and the others and began walking after Finn.
Bellamy raised his eyebrows at the boy, wondering what he was doing. The Blake man had agreed to let him come, but he was not letting him go with Finn and end up getting them killed or just running away again. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Come on. Bellamy, you know if I go with you, they'll just lock me up again," he argued, and he had a point. That was probably what was going to happen to all of them when they got back, or maybe their health might be more important than them being locked up for something that really was not even that bad.
Ivy reached down and grabbed one of the guns and glanced at Bellamy. He nodded, and she tossed the gun at John's chest. He caught it and looked up at her, surprised. She just shrugged and looked at him with something other than complete and utter contempt. "You did good today, Murphy. Watch his back."
"You got it, V," he replied, shooting finger guns at her. She furrowed her eyebrows, and he explained, "Get it, like Ivy."
"You call me that again, and I'll cut your tongue out," she informed him with a completely straight face. She was not very fond of the idea of John freaking Murphy giving her his own nickname. It suggested that they were friends. They were not friends. She just hated him slightly less than she did before.
He waved at her with a smile. "Bye."
"Die," she responded with a very obviously fake grin as she scrunched her nose exaggeratedly. She really regretted saying that he did good today and giving him the gun instead of just using it on him.
Murphy smirked, finding yet another way to get under her skin. He was having way too much fun with it, too, which made her even mer mad. "Look at you, all rhymey. You're a poet and you didn't even know it."
"All right. That's enough. Beat it, Murphy," Bellamy ordered before Ivy lunged at the boy and strangled him. He was lucky he was getting to go at all. He could have just been forced to go with them and then been locked up or even worse — floated. He turned to Octavia with a sigh. "I can get them home without you."
"Of course, you can't. Let's go."