As soon as the rest of them left to go hunt for Octavia, Jovie slid off the table. She hissed as she put a bit too much pressure on her bad leg, gripping onto the table to steady herself. Once the pain subdued enough, she limped out of the drop ship to find something for her to do.
"Hey, Clarke said to take it easy, remember?" Monty said, rushing over to the blonde as he saw her making her way towards the gate.
"Yeah, I was just going to go help Miller guard." She said like it was no big deal, like she hadn't just barely survived getting attacked by a Grounder.
"Which requires standing... and you only have one good leg right now," he said. "You could help me sort through the nuts and berries to make portions for everyone!" Jovie rolled her eyes but smiled at the boy's attempt to get her to give in.
"No offense, Monty, but I think I'd rather stab myself in my other leg than do that," she told him. "I'm more of a hunter than a gatherer, in case you have noticed."
"C'mon, it could be fun! And it'll give us some time to bond," he joked, nudging her shoulder with his. Realizing he wasn't going to give up, she sighed.
"Only 'cause I want to steal some food in the process," she said. He laughed and nodded his head, leading the way to where they kept all the food.
"You know you probably shouldn't even really be walking on that leg in the first place," he pointed out. She shrugged. Yes, her leg felt like it was on fire each time she put too much pressure on it, but she was planning on just ignoring that. The Grounders wouldn't just give up if they got wounded like her, they would keep on fighting in battle. She would learn to push through the pain, just like they did.
"Sitting around doing nothing isn't really my style," she said.
"Yeah, I definitely got that," he said. She smirked, throwing a berry into her mouth before plopping down next to Monty. "So, what even happened?"
"I got a little... reckless," Jovie said, remembering the way she attacked that Grounder without thinking about the fact that she would actually have to fight him. Learning the way they fought was one thing, but actually having to fight was another. Besides, she had only been watching them for a couple of days or so, while they've been training their whole life. "But I got lucky too. I don't know why, but one of them stopped the other from killing me. He saved my life."
Monty stared at her in slight disbelief, as if it were impossible for the Grounders to have empathy or believe in valuing life. She couldn't blame him though. All the delinquents knew was the violence that the Grounders brought. They hadn't seen the way they have families, the way they can care for each other when sick or injured. They hadn't seen the other side of them like Jovie had. She wasn't making excuses for what the Grounders were doing, but she just realized that they were protecting their land and each other, just like the delinquents were. They were all human after all. They were just living in a fucked up world.
"How mad was Bellamy?" Monty asked. "I'm sure he was pissed." Jovie looked over at him, wondering why he was bringing this up.
"Yeah, he was pretty pissed," she said. She focused her attention back on separating the nuts and berries into separate piles, wanting to keep herself preoccupied. "But that's just because I disobeyed him. He told me not to go back out there by myself and I did anyway."
"I don't know. When Miller told him they found you how they did, he seemed really worried," Monty said. "Scared even." Jovie paused and Monty noticed. "He's rather protective over you," Monty noted, looking over at her curiously. Jovie went back to sorting, trying to act like his words didn't mean anything to her, even though she felt her stomach flutter.
"He's protective over all of us," Jovie said. "We can't afford to lose anyone." But people were always going to die. That was something they were going to learn to deal with.
"I just... I think the thought of losing you scared him," he admitted quietly.
"Monty, if there's something you want to say, then say it," Jovie said, sounding a little too defensive and aggressive than she meant to. He was beating around the bush, but she knew what he was insinuating. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it. Deep down, she would be lying if she said she didn't care a bit more for Bellamy than most of the others. But her self-protective nature made her want to shut down at the thought of it because if she was being honest, the thought of losing him scared her too.
Before Monty could answer, the sound of two boys fighting cut through the air. Jovie turned to see them throwing punches at each other. She groaned. This was the last thing she wanted to do: babysitting a bunch of dumbasses that didn't know how to control themselves. She stood up and limped over to where they were pushing each other and getting in each other's faces.
"Break it up!" She screamed. They just ignored her and although she didn't know what they were fighting about, she didn't care. "Hey, I said stop!" She pushed herself in between the two of them and glared at each. "Just because Bellamy and Clarke are gone doesn't mean you can start doing whatever the fuck you want. I don't give a shit what you two idiots were fighting about, but you better get back to work before I beat the shit out of both of you." The one on her right snickered. She turned fully to face him. "Something funny?"
"Yeah. I think it's funny that you think you could beat me up, considering you're a girl and you have one good leg right now," he spoke way too cockily.
"Dude," the other one said lowly. He must have known it was a bad idea to piss off Jovie because he took a step back. Before the boy could do or say anything else, Jovie shot her hand forward and punched him in the throat. He gasped, throwing his hands up to his throat. She swung her leg into his and knocked him on his ass.
"You want to try that again?" She growled, towering over him. Maybe that last move was stupid on her part because it made her leg thump in pain and she could feel her stitches open back up, but she never really thought about anything that she did before she did it. The boy shook his head as he laid on the ground.
Jovie turned when she saw Miller opening the gate for Clarke and Raven to get back in. She limped over to them.
"Did you get what you needed?" She asked Raven. The girl nodded her head and kept going so that she could get a start on whatever it was that she was planning on doing. It's not that Jovie felt Raven had hostility towards her, but she was definitely not in the same kind of mood she was earlier. "She okay?" She had a feeling it could have been about Finn, considering she was just out there with Clarke, but she didn't want to assume.
"You know, don't you?" Clarke asked vaguely. Jovie bit her lip and nodded, making Clarke sigh. But then she looked down and saw that blood was seeping through Jovie's pants where her wound was. "Really? I wasn't even gone long and you already opened up your stitches."
"Hey, wasn't my fault," Jovie defended herself, though it kind of was. She didn't have to kick that kid, but he was being a jerk so she had to teach him a lesson.
"Come on," Clarke groaned, leading her back to where the medical supplies were in the dropship so she could stitch her back up. It didn't take long but Jovie noticed how fidgety Clarke was. Usually she had a steady hand but she seemed nervous.
"It'll be okay, you know," Jovie told her. Clarke didn't look up at her but Jovie knew she was listening. "They'll find Octavia, we'll get in contact with the Ark, and we'll survive. Together."
"You don't know that," Clarke said quietly. She was losing hope.
"I know. But I have to at least believe it's true. Otherwise, what's the point?" Jovie said. Clarke looked up at her once she finished putting a clean bandage on her leg and gave the girl a smile, even if it was slightly forced.
"Thanks, Jo," she said. She cleared her throat and sighed. "I'm gonna go see if Raven needs help."
♛
It wasn't long after that Jovie heard Jasper screaming for Clarke. She exited her tent to see them carrying in an injured Finn. She rushed over as quickly as she could, getting to them the same time that Clarke and Raven did.
"What happened?" Jovie asked as Clarke determined he was still alive.
"The Grounder that was holding Octavia captive happened," Jasper said. "Bellamy wouldn't let me take the knife out."
"No, that was a good call. Get him in the dropship now. Go!" Clarke said. They rushed him inside and Raven walked in unison with Clarke.
"Clarke, can you save him?" She asked.
"No. Not me. I need my mother. I need to talk to her," Clarke said. Raven frowned.
"There's still no radio!" She reminded her.
"Raven, fix it! Go," Clarke told her. The girl nodded her head and ran to get back to work. Finn's life depended on getting that radio working, and Jovie had a feeling Raven would get it done. After making sure they were getting to work on Finn, Jovie turned and threw her arms around Octavia.
"Are you okay?" She asked, squeezing the brunette a bit too tightly.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Octavia replied, hugging the blonde back just as tight. It hurt Jovie's ribs but she tried to ignore the pain. Jovie looked over Octavia's shoulder as they hugged and made eye contact with Bellamy. She silently gave him a look as if to ask if he was okay too and he just nodded. She wanted to ask what more about what happened but then she heard Clarke's voice again.
"Jo! I need your help!" Jovie sent the two Blake's one last glance before running into the dropship.
Finn was laying on the table with the knife lodged deeply into his stomach. Jovie didn't need to be a doctor to realize this wasn't good.
"What do you need me to do?" Jovie asked. She had little experience with medicine. She didn't think she would be able to provide much service.
"Just make sure he doesn't wake up," Clarke said as she slowly started to peel away the blood-soaked cloth to get a better look at the knife. Jovie stood near Finn's head, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. She wasn't sure if it was for him or for her. She had gotten close to Finn and she couldn't watch him die like this.
"You're gonna be okay, Spacewalker," she mumbled, even though he couldn't hear her. Meanwhile, Raven was still trying the radio over and over again in hopes of getting in contact with the Ark. It took a while but they were finally able to reach them. Clarke walked closer when she heard her mom on the other side of the radio.
"Mom, I need your help. One of our people was stabbed by a Grounder," she said.
"Clarke. This is the Chancellor. Are you saying there are survivors on the ground?" Jaha's voice interjected. Jovie wanted to yell that they didn't have time to talk about anything besides how to help Finn, but she kept her mouth quiet.
"Yes, the Earth is survivable. We're not alone," Clarke answered before getting back to the real reason they were trying to get in touch with the Ark at the moment. "Mom, he's dying. The knife is still in his chest."
"Clarke. Is my son with you?" Jaha asked. They all paused. How were they supposed to tell him that Wells was murdered? Jovie didn't like Jaha, not even a bit, but losing a child wasn't easy.
"I'm so sorry. Wells is... Wells is dead," Clarke finally said solemnly. It was quiet for a while before Abby came back on.
"I'm going to talk you through it, step by step," she told her daughter. The dropship shook as the storm continued to hit them and it made the radio cut out. Everyone was on edge, there was no doubt about that. "Clarke, we need to hurry." Octavia came running in, carrying two containers.
"Ugh. Monty's moonshine?" She asked as she opened one of them to smell the contents.
"Pretty sure no germ could survive it," Octavia noted.
"Storm's getting worse. Monroe, close the doors," Clarke ordered.
"But we still have people out there," the girl replied.
"Monty and Jasper still aren't back yet," Octavia said.
"Neither is Bellamy," Jovie called out from her spot next to Finn.
"It's okay, they'll find somewhere to ride it out," Clarke assured them before moving back over to Finn.
"One stitching needle," Raven said.
"Great, I still need something to close the wound," Clarke said. Jovie didn't feel like she was being very useful as she stood pushing the unconscious boy's hair out of his face, but it was the only way that she felt some sort of comfort.
"There's some wire on the second level. I used it for the tents," Octavia suggested.
"Stay away from the blue wires that run through the ceiling. I rigged it to the solar cells in the roof," Raven told Octavia as she began to climb upstairs. "That means they're hot! You got that?"
"Yeah, I got that." Raven walked over to Clarke and Jovie. She was visibly worried about Finn and it was understandable. They were all worried.
"Tell me you can do this," Raven said to Clarke. The blonde didn't answer and Jovie didn't find that very reassuring, but she had to have faith in Clarke. She was their only hope to getting him out of this alive.
"Hey! They're back!" One of the girls screamed from the entrance. Jovie looked over to find Bellamy and the other boys walking in, dragging an unconscious man behind them. Jovie realized she recognized him and it took her a while to figure out from where, but once she did, she gasped. He was the Grounder that saved her life.