CHAPTER ONE
i had no chance to prepare
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𝐀 mop of snowy hair hidden in the evergreens swayed ever so slightly with the strong warm breeze that washed over the trees. There she perched upon a sturdy branch up on a tall tree, near an opening where a dead tree sat in the middle, with a young boy attached to the tree for display. He was wounded, but she didn't know who he was. The girl has no position to do something about it unless she knows them.
First rule of the apocalypse.
The thick brown vines held him tight on the tree, and from what she could gather━someone took him to act as bait or maybe worse. Knowing the other Grounders around the area, she already expected a lot of unexpected and dangerous plans from them. Their minds work almost the same.
Almost. Elliot had noticed the surrounding traps hidden in plain sight earlier. Hence, she decided it would be better not to intrude or do something about it. Besides, she didn't know him. It was a huge risk. He could be the enemy. Or he could see her as the enemy.
But then again, how did she end up there if he was the enemy? She found herself straying around longer than she'd liked. His pained cries probably drew her towards him, and now she watched in silence for what was about to come.
Elliot had always been the curious one since she was young, and sometimes she just couldn't help but help someone even when her guts told her otherwise. And maybe one day, that would be her greatest downfall. Hopefully, not.
All of sudden, the sound of gruff voices and feet hustling over the grasses made her cautious.
She shifted with her nimble feet upon a branch of A tree, turning to face where the sound had come from. Her red hood covered most of her unusually light hair although a few strands still peeked out on the front. A red-brown mask covered half of her face. The sunlight that escaped between the leaves of the tree she was on made her blue eye look icier. Cold even.
Elliot watched with a lack of reaction when the blond girl almost fell on the pit trap with spikes underneath. Luckily for her, one of them caught her wrist. She couldn't help but notice how the first guy who caught the girl seemed to hesitate for a second. Like he was contemplating whether to drop her or not.
If the others didn't hoist her up, he probably would've let her go. Probably. She would never know. But she was sure he definitely thought about it but then decided it was a little too cruel for him to do.
They all helped to bring her up to safety, and for a moment, the group just breathed in silence, realizing how dangerous the ground really was. It didn't faze her. They should have expected that already. It was too obvious even from how far she was from the sight of their friend tied up around the tree.
Or maybe not. Because they didn't seem to know what the hell they just got themselves into.
The blond girl seemed to have forgotten about her near-death experience as she ordered two of her companions to start cutting and tearing off the vines to free their friend on the dead tree. She and the other two stayed around to guard without truly knowing what kind of danger lurks around them.
The Grounder pursed her lips, feeling the scar on the left corner of her lips squish each other almost uncomfortably. Her face contorted into a tight grimace. But as always, she merely ignored it like it wasn't there. Averting her attention elsewhere, a large black animal with hungry green eyes and a sharp set of teeth suddenly appeared around the wilting shrub near the tall one with olive skin. Her eye narrowed.
"Grounders?" He questioned, sounding a little unsure. His voice was deep with a slight rasp and a gruff tone. As if he was always angry, or simply wanted to assert his dominance over the younger group of people.
Elliot looked at him with her good eye, jaw clenching in focus as she gripped her bow in her calloused hand. He seemed to be the leader of the group. But then again, the blond girl had this look of natural authority on her face and it showed from the way she just moved. Almost like she'd seen it and adapted it from someone else. She was a natural leader.
She took her attention back to where the ravenous animal was hiding from the group's eyesight. The wild animal approached slowly like a predator preparing to maul its prey. Then it suddenly charged towards them almost as fast as the speed of light.
Out of pure instinct, Elliot brought up her makeshift bow and loaded it with an arrow. Her aim was clear, and it followed the predator smoothly. But she didn't release the arrow. At least not yet.
"Bellamy, gun!" The girl panicked. Her voice was tinted with familiar fear and shock from seeing the strange animal for the first time in her life.
The female Grounder was about to shoot the animal when one of them had beaten her to it. A gunshot so loud echoed throughout the wide forest, startling a few birds as they flew towards the horizon out of the trees. It didn't end there. The gunshot was followed by another one and another one and continued until the black cougar fell dead on the grassland.
Elliot clenched her jaw and deposed her aim. They'd just probably alerted half of the Trikru warriors lurking somewhere around them. Before she could even relax━another black cougar jumped out of nowhere and sprinted toward the closest person it saw. Unfortunately for him, it was the guy she had her eye on from earlier. He shifted side to side in panic as the animal hid in the bushes.
Then it stopped moving. A tense silence washed over the air, but Elliot knew better than that after roaming the Earth for a long time.
She didn't even hesitate to raise her arms and released the arrow when the deadly animal jumped out of the bushes behind the man's back. Her eye didn't blink as her sharp arrow pierced the animal through its head at the same time the other guy with the handgun shot it like that was all he knew to do.
The animal was dead, but still, he continued to click the trigger even though there were no bullets anymore.
Elliot let out a short and shaky breath. She only calmed down when she realized none of them had noticed her and the extremely risky shot she made. She didn't waste any time running off from her hiding spot as quietly as she could, sprinting towards the caves with her light hair blowing in the wind.
But little did she know...
A pair of dark brown eyes flickered towards the faintest sound of footsteps against the fallow grass and dead twigs. And there he caught a brief sight of white and red. That was all he saw, but it was enough to baffle him to the bones. Then he looked back at the dead animal, finding an unfamiliar arrow etched deep on its middle forehead━one that none of them had obviously shot.
He didn't even open his mouth to tell. Because from the way it was shot━Bellamy just knew whoever it was, they were dangerous enough that they could get a clear and precise shot from somewhere his companions couldn't see. That fact alone made him ooze with caution and a little curiosity even knowing how dangerous it might be.
"Go get Jasper," Bellamy said. Then he cleared his throat, putting on his strong façade, to make him sound more like a leader and not just some random rebel who got into the dropship to protect his little sister. He already got over almost being attacked by a wild animal when he remembered his position among the hundred delinquents. "I'll take care of this."
He crouched down beside the dead cougar and stole a glance at the others to make sure none of them were looking. They weren't. He furtively grabbed the arrow with force. Gripping the arrow tightly in his hands, he was about to throw it away when he suddenly hesitated. His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing with indecision.
But in the end, his actions betrayed him. Bellamy hid the broken arrow in his pockets and took it with him.
Soon enough, dusk came and so did the group of delinquents and the outcast, arriving in their camp with the food. The delinquents cheered loudly once they saw the dead animal that the small team had brought. It uplifted everyone's spirit. At least for a while. They should treasure it as long as it was there because it could be gone in a flash.
It was strange for others to see Bellamy alone by himself. Off to the side, and away from the delinquents who saw him as their sort-of leader. That was an understatement. He knew that he just wanted to survive just as badly as them. He was just another person who wanted to protect someone he loved, but in order to do that, he had to gain a reputation.
The small fire he created illuminated his tawny face. His skin was slightly covered with dirt and soot. His hair was greasy and messy, as showering was a luxury ever since they got down on Earth. He didn't care about that though. Surviving had always been his priority. It was the second priority because his little sister will always be the first.
Once he cleared out that no one was around him, he grabbed the broken arrow he stashed inside his jacket. It didn't hurt him since the sharp end of the arrow broke when he forcefully grabbed it out from the animal.
He bit his lower lip from concentration as his eyes trailed over the carvings on the stem of the arrow. It was intricate. Like the owner of the arrow got bored and decided to randomly carve into it. It was another reason to make him wonder, who the hell fired this arrow? And why the hell does he even care? Questions that he should know the answer to but too stubborn to even acknowledge.
The whole thing irritated him. He was here because of his sister. Not because of some random person who shot this arrow to save his damn ass (which he was kind of grateful for, but he was never going to admit that.) Besides, it could've been a Grounder. But why would a Grounder save him if they just tried to kill one of his people?
A question that he was going to find the answer to some other time, and it sure left a dent of curiosity in his mind that led him to another sleepless night.