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chapter two.
wanheda was not alone.
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Once the trees become closer together and Monty's tracker beeps louder, signaling they're closer to the fallen station, Bellamy decided to finish their mission on foot. June positions her gun at her hip, taking a deep breath before hopping out of the rover after Miller. Her boots meet the cold ground, a white frost crunching as she strolls forward. She doesn't know what she expects when she glances around. June doesn't often leave Arkadia, struggling to get past her emotions tipping over an already full rim. She knows it's because of Mount Weather, but as soon as she thinks of the bunker, she pushes the thought out of her head.
"These woods must be the border," Bellamy announced.
"So, where's all the ice?" Jasper questioned sarcastically once hopping out of the rover.
After tying her horse to a tree, Octavia joins them, on edge. "Much farther north," she answers. "Azgeda stretches for one thousand miles."
Eagerly pushing past them, Monty starts bounding to the woods. "Good thing we only have to go two hundred meters," he adds.
"Wait!" June exclaimed, rushing after him and catching him by the arm. "We're at a border, Monty," she reminds him.
Bellamy nods. "Slow it down," he warns before changing into his leadership tone. "Remember rules of engagement are non-lethal force. Tight formation on my command." He looks over his shoulder. "Raven, you stay in the rover."
Offended, Raven shoots him a scowl as she leaves the driver's side of the rover and joins them. "Yeah, right."
"We need every gun we've got," Octavia informs her brother. June knows she's right. She doesn't know much about the clans, only pieces learned from Lincoln who shares information about the twelve clans he believed could be one. They are well feared, bloodthirsty warriors that are more violent than Trikru. June was glad she's never encountered someone from Azgeda, but she has a hunch they were about to soon if they want to help Farm Station.
A wild beeping comes from Monty's device. "They're coming!" He tells them. "One hundred twenty meters... One hundred ten..." He tries to walk further, only to be stopped by Bellamy, making him frown. "They're our people. What are you doing?"
"We hope they're our people," Bellamy corrected. Octavia reaches to pull out her sword as heavy steps approach, and Bellamy holds up one hand, the other clutching his gun. "On my command."
June can see that Bellamy was right when horses burst through the trees. On their backs are three people who are definitely not their people. They wear armor, animal fur peeking out, and white masks of paint covering their faces along with a black color around their eyes. Bellamy straightens at the sight. "Ice Nation?" He asks in a whisper to his sister.
"Yes. White war paint," Octavia confirmed. She puts her sword back in its sheath and holds her hand up in surrender before warning them. "Stay calm." It's much easier to say than do, but June takes a deep breath, lowering her gun but putting her finger on the trigger.
"Chon yu bilaik?" One of them demands. (Who are you?) June is glad she understands their native language more, despite struggling with a few words at the courtesy of being taught by Octavia and Lincoln.
"Skaikru," Octavia calls back calmly. "Ste lufa osir kru au." (Sky people. Looking for our people.)
The one behind the leader shares a dark look with the third. "Ste lufa Wanheda au," he sneers. (Looking for the Commander of death.)
"They think we're looking for Wanheda," Octavia mumbled to them. June's forehead creased, having never heard the term before.
"Who's that?" Bellamy questioned.
"I don't know," Octavia whispers back nervously as the one in lead slides off his horse and storms toward them.
"The light." Monty's words cause June to follow his gaze to the man. She sees a type of leather chain hanging from his neck, a contraption over his armor blinking red, hanging at the end. "That's the beacon."
Before June can process what Monty says or decide what to do, Jasper chooses instead. He walks quickly, none of them able to grab them in time as he crosses the line between them and the three who pick up their weapons. "Hey, get back here!" Bellamy demanded, falling deaf to Jasper's ears.
"Jasper!" Octavia hisses, reaching and attempting to grab his hood, only to be shoved away.
"It's okay," Jasper stated. "I got this."
"Stop, Jasper!" June exclaimed through gritted teeth, unsure what the hell he was trying to prove. He ignores her too, even when the Azgeda warriors raise their bows and arrows.
Bellamy desperately called to Octavia. "Tell them we observe the Commander's truce, do it now!"
"Osir gouba ogonzaun kom Heda in!" Octavia tries to explain in a shout. (We observe the Commander's truce!)
This seems to stop them briefly. They lower their bows, eyes flickering to one another to speak without words. That is, until Jasper approaches the one in lead. He narrows his eyes at him before ripping the beacon off, making the leather chain break. "This belongs to us," Jasper declared, holding it up to his face bravely.
Suddenly, Jasper is yanked back and the warrior rips out a knife before pushing it to his neck. June's eyes widen as he hoarsely shouts; "Weron Wanheda kamp raun?!" (Where's Wanheda?!)
"Breik em au!" Bellamy ordered back. (Let him go!)
"Beja!" June begs. "Osir nou na bash yu op!" (Please! We mean you no harm!)
"Osir nou get in chon daunde bilaik!" Octavia shouts. (We don't know who that is!) "Beja, oso na sis choda au, nami!" (Please, we can help each other!)
He doesn't seem to care in any way for their pleads. He doesn't react, not until Jasper starts laughing. June is horrified he finds it funny that there is a knife at his neck. The grounder lets out a snarl. "Yo vout in dison ste leyos?" (You think this is funny?) He starts to slide the blade across Jasper's neck, making him sputter as blood slides out of the freshly open wound.
June doesn't hesitate in lifting her gun again. She points it to the grounders behind the man in lead, firing shots alongside Miller, Raven, and Monty. One by one, they slide off their horses and fall to the ground. "Hold your fire!" Bellamy shouts wildly, holding his hand up to stop them.
The one who tried to kill Jasper stops, shocked, making Octavia pull her sword out and call out. "Jasper, get down!"
The wounded boy complies, hand cupping his neck as he drops to the ground. Octavia spins in a circle, flinging her sword at the attacker. He grunts in pain as the blade embeds into his chest, slowly sinking to his knees before crumpling and becoming still. June lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding, a ringing in her ears from all the noise and adrenaline still buzzing through her body.
It was Monty rushing by her that makes June snap out of her daze. Her knees wobble as she hurries after him, crouching next to Jasper. "Oh my God," she gasps, hands flying to cover his own, feeling a wetness stain her skin.
"I had him," Jasper coughed out, a scowl appearing as soon as June touches him. "I don't need your help," he spits poisonously.
Hurt, June blinks a few times before shaking her head, her blonde ponytail swinging. She doesn't let go, and he doesn't fight her off as Monty cuts in. "What the hell were you thinking?" He demanded.
"We got the beacon," Jasper muttered. "Didn't we?"
June swallows, trying to get the image of him laughing with a knife at his throat as she helps lift him. "We need a first aid kit!" She instructs, pressing down on Jasper's hands harder, leading him to the rover.
"Got it!" Miller responded, popping out of the rover and opening it. He pulls out a roll of gauze and quickly hands it to her.
June's hands are slick with Jasper's blood as she presses it onto Jasper's neck. Her hands shake with nerve as he stills, head turned so he doesn't have to look at her as she secures it with medical tape. "He needs to get to medical," June stated. Jasper practically flings himself away with a cringe, away from her.
Nodding from his position at the radio inside the rover, Bellamy holds the speaker up to his mouth and speaks into it. "We had to shoot three Ice Nation Scouts. Culvert, Sector Four. Copy. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"When you get here," June hears Kane's voice reply. "Over and out."
"Sector Four?" Raven repeated. "Why's Kane so far outside the wall?"
Bellamy ignored her question and pointed to Octavia. "Take him home!"
"I'm fine," Jasper grumbled, holding his throat again. "Thank you for asking."
"Miller!" Bellamy calls over him. "Get one of their horses. Raven, since you can't ride, you're on the back. Monty, June, you're with me," he commanded. "Let's go!"
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The rover is bumpier than usual, possibly due to Bellamy's fast driving. June wonders what's so important that Kane had to say to him, but she doesn't ask, because of the tense silence weighing the three down. She knows all of them are thinking about the same person: Jasper. He's had some bad days, sure, some rougher than others, but his actions today shocked them all. June knows her instincts were to always help those in need, and protect them, but she also knows that Jasper doesn't want it. Not from her.
As the rover stops, June heaves a sigh that makes Monty furrow his brows. She slides the strap of her firearm onto her shoulder, hopping out of the passenger's seat, her boots landing with a heavy thud on the trail. "You were right about Jasper," Monty says to Bellamy as they both step out. "Okay? Is that what you want me to say?"
"Quiet. Keep your eyes peeled," Bellamy cautioned, waving for the two to follow him. "I could've said no."
"Could have done a lot of things," June remarked. "But we're all worried about Jasper."
A sad look crosses Monty's features. "He's getting worse, isn't he?" He asked before shaking his head. "I mean, getting drunk every night is one thing, but smiling with a knife to your throat? That's next level damage."
June presses her lips together tightly. Her guard is let down despite Bellamy telling them not to. "I care about him too, Monty," she said softly. "And if there is anything I could do to take his pain away, I would. But he can't even look at me."
"He doesn't hate you, June," Monty tries to reassure her.
A sad smile tugs on June's mouth. She wishes she could believe that. "Maybe he doesn't. But he's still disgusted with me." She breaks her stare with Monty and looks ahead as they enter a tunnel. "I don't blame him."
Their walk through the tunnel is filled with another silence after that. June tries to distract herself, wondering if this was a road for vehicles before the nuclear attack. It's useless to drive into now, with fallen trees covering the exit. June wonders what they're going to do for a second before a figure appears, startling her until she sees it's only Kane. He's not alone, but the shadow is too dark for her to see.
"Who's he with?" Monty wonders.
Almost like he can hear Monty, Kane steps to the side, revealing his companion. June stops in her tracks, recognizing the stone-cold features the first time she saw her in the dropship when she threatened to kill them all. "Indra," Bellamy whispered.
Indra doesn't look much different. Her dark skin is covered with armor, a long sword hanging by her side. Tattoos swirl her face, making her much more intimidating, even with just her stance. "That's Indra?" Monty asked in alarm. June slowly nodded, figuring this wasn't good news.
"He must have told her we broke the truce," Bellamy mumbled to them before addressing Kane. "Sir, before you say anything, there was a good reason - "
Kane simply holds up his hand to stop him. "I'll deal with that later." June wonders how well that discussion will go, seeing that Kane looks stressed, the color gray filling his beard and hair. "This is about Clarke."
Suddenly, the world stops around June. Goosebumps prick at her arms and she swears every memory she's ever shared with Clarke flashes in her mind in a single second. Her best friend, the one she was introduced to by Wells shortly after they met so many years ago, the same one who abandoned her, was being spoken about. They have to know something about her, but all June can muster out is; "Clarke?"
"What about her?" Bellamy questioned, his voice more pitched instead of deep.
"She's being hunted," Indra informs them.
"By who?" Monty asked, equally shocked as June and Bellamy.
"By everyone."
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The only word running in June's mind is Clarke, Clarke, Clarke. She remembered the first time she met her. The same bubbly-filled girl was now running for her life in the woods after helping her, Bellamy, and Monty massacre an entire civilization. June is still stuck in this rut as she steadies herself in the rover's seat. She can't lie and say she isn't mad at Clarke for leaving, because she is, but June could never stop caring about her.
"I'm still getting used to it myself." June looks up when Kane speaks comfortingly, seeing he's saying so to Indra. She's on the edge of her seat, clutching a handle like her life depends on it.
"Sir," Monty spoke up. "We're almost out of range. Are you sure you don't want to tell the chancellor?"
Kane nods. "I'm sure," he said firmly. "I don't want to worry Abby until we know something."
"Clarke's her daughter, Kane," June said. "She should know."
"I understand," Kane replied calmly. "But not yet. I'm sure she has enough on her plate at Arkadia."
"We know there's a kill order," Bellamy adds from where he's turning the wheel. He speaks directly to Indra then. "Your people are big on those."
Even June can sense what Bellamy said was uncalled for. "It's not a kill order," Indra retorted sharply. "It's a bounty. Clarke's a symbol. She's known as Wanheda, the Commander of death."
"The Ice Nation guys we killed asked about Wanheda," Bellamy remembered. "They're looking for Clarke? Why?"
"My people believe that when you kill someone you get their power," Indra explained. "Kill Wanheda and you command death." June raised her brows slightly at that; she didn't expect the answer. Grounders always had a much different culture.
"She's just one girl," Kane commented with confusion.
"So was the Commander," Indra argued. "What Clarke did at Mount Weather weakened her. The Ice Nation emboldened. Their Queen wants Clarke's power. If her people believe she has it, she'll break the coalition and start a war. I can't let that happen."
What Clarke did at Mount Weather. Indra's words repeat to June. She wasn't alone. She wouldn't have been able to pull the lever if it wasn't for her and Monty. June feels like she was just punched in the chest, but she says nothing, only letting her head hang low. She hardly even reacts when a beeping comes from the beacon again.
"Welcome to Sector Seven," Monty announced. "Where to now?"
"If she's here, she'll need supplies. We'll start at the trading posts," Indra suggested.
Most of their drive is continued in silence, except for Indra giving Bellamy instructions to the nearest trading post which seemed to be hours away. Eventually, he gets tired and switches with Monty, taking the seat beside June. Because of her waking up screaming, she grows tired, struggling to keep her eyes open until she can't anymore, and slides into a slumber, the sounds of the rover lulling her to sleep.
But every sleep June has never lasted long. She isn't positive how long she's slept for. She jerks awake when the sound of a drill fills her ears, memories she has to relive in her dreams the cause of it. Her dream consisted of her back on the surgery table, arms, and legs strapped down, and the tight leather strap holding her neck. June feels it tighten with each second until her eyelids fly open and she gasps, her hand shooting up to claw at her neck when she feels her airway being cut off.
"Hey, hey!" A deep voice exclaimed, tight hands grabbing June's wrists to stop her before she can scratch herself. "June, breathe."
June realizes her lungs are tightening because she's holding her breath. She sucks in air, much more awake when she sees it's Bellamy's shoulder that she had fallen asleep on. His grip on her wrists loosens, letting her pull her hands away from her neck. "S-Sorry," June stammered after clearing her throat. She pretends that everyone isn't staring at her, only glancing out the window, seeing they weren't moving anymore. "Why did we stop?"
"The tree," Monty responded after a beat of silence. June takes another look to see he's right. The trunk of a large tree is blocking their path, laying on its side. "We have to move it." Bellamy stands, starting to open the hatch above them.
"Wait," Indra stops him. "It's been cut down."
"You don't know that," Bellamy protested pointedly.
June's gaze drift to the stump the tree had fallen from. It's sliced instead of broken, a perfectly clean cut. "Bellamy, hold on!" She exclaims just as he starts to pop out through the hatch.
Suddenly, a deep rumbling makes the rover shake violently. June jumps at the sound, grabbing Bellamy's jacket and yanking him back down just as another tree falls behind them. It lands on the ground loudly, trapping them and keeping the rover unable to move any further. June is panting, releasing Bellamy's jacket and looking around worriedly.
"We do now," Indra finishes.
Were they under attack? June wondered. And she has a hunch she doesn't want to know just yet.