CHAPTER FOUR
don't try to push your luck
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𝐁ellamy along with a few other guys went back to the cave where they found Octavia even through the storm. He was adamant to prove something. For everyone's sake or that was just what he thought. The rain fell continuously on the forest ground, soaking everything on its will, making their trek muddy and wet. Thunder rumbled across the dark sky, like some kind of deadly beat.
Bellamy shone his flashlight on the male Grounder on the ground and beckoned for the others to come near. They hesitated for a second, out of fear that he might spring up and stab them, too. But once their leader sent them a glare, the men quickly obliged.
Jasper pursed his lips and rushed towards the other unconscious Grounder. But before he could even get near or even touch her, Bellamy called out his name with a gruff tone.
"Go help them with the other Grounder," Bellamy ordered.
Jasper briefly looked at him, confusion etched on his face, but he reluctantly did what he ordered him to do. Then Bellamy approached the unconscious woman and crouched down beside her. His hand reached over her face, although it wavered above there for a few seconds as if he was afraid his hand would burn if he touched her face.
He suddenly withdrew his hand when one of his men approached him. Miller looked uneasy. "We should go."
"I'll get that," One of the male delinquents scoffed as he marched towards them. But before he could reach her, Bellamy abruptly stood up and faced the boy with his larger frame.
"I got her," Bellamy said firmly, a stoic expression on his grime-covered face. The boy immediately backed down, knowing he couldn't really fight with him. And even if he wanted to, Bellamy would probably beat his face to a pulp.
"Alright!" Jasper said with a little tint of humor but none of them were in the mood to smile. "Let's go before the storm gets worse."
All of sudden, the Grounder sprung up on her feet. All flashlights turned to her, most of them looking really terrified out of their minds at the sight of this angel-devil thing in front of them. Her eye twitched, feeling the fresh blood on her face coming from her head, covering her tanned skin with a gruesome dark red.
Everybody froze. The silence was deafening but the thunderous storm covered for it. Her eye fell on her assailant. Jasper looked like he was about to piss his pants off from her long hard stare. As soon as her eye flickered towards him, they turned to the only man in the cave who returned her gaze with the same kind of hardness in them.
Almost like they'd seen half of the world's cruelty but they continue to be good people toward others. At least better than the worst of the worst. Although nowadays, it can be hard to differentiate the monsters from the people roaming the Earth.
As soon as the first guy charged, Elliot hastily grabbed a wooden staff lying on the ground, smacking him in the head, which made him fall to the ground, groaning loudly. A few others charged at her, but they barely touched her from how nimble she was on her feet, hitting them on places they didn't even know were there.
When the threat lessened, Elliot turned to Lincoln's unconscious body. Her brows furrowed, noticing that he was in a very bad predicament. And the guys she fought off purposely without hurting them too seriously were already on their feet and zoning on her like she was the last prey on Earth.
Elliot clenched her jaw, gripping the staff in her hands, her knuckles turning white. She was fine with facing them off but she would never leave a brother behind. That's the one thing they'd agreed on. Nobody leaves each other behind.
But as she quickly studied their situation━she realized in defeat that there was no way she could get to him and try to drag him out of the cave without getting herself killed. She may be a killer, but they had the numbers and the upper hand. She could barely make out her surroundings, knowing she had a very bad concussion from getting hit in the head probably five times in a row.
With a silent curse in her mind, Elliot broke the staff in two with her knees and made a run to the exit. She went to fight off the guys guarding the entrance of the cave. And in the darkness of the gloomy night, the Grounder found herself blending with the shadows like she was born with them.
Bellamy barely spoke a word, and he only continued breathing when she disappeared into the darkness. His men looked to him for orders, but it was like something had struck him on the spot.
"Bellamy." Miller approached. He had a deep glare on his face, glancing back and forth at where the Grounder had run off. "We could go after━"
"No," Bellamy breathed. He composed himself, clenching his fists before looking at his henchmen. His voice was hard as he spoke: "Let her go. We got what we needed."
Reluctantly, a few of the hundred nodded, and they eventually left the cave carrying the unconscious Grounder.
For a second, he thought about the female Grounder that had escaped. Shivers went down his spine. Suddenly he felt cautious like he had a feeling she was somewhere lurking around them. Hiding in the trees, basking in the darkness, unbeknownst to them. She could spring up anytime and kill them with her bare hands.
But as they arrived at the dropship, Bellamy finally felt a little at ease.
The angel-devil thing had not come back to seek revenge.
Elliot had silently followed them from the cavern to the dropship. Nobody had noticed her. A good thing. Her wounds remained like a stubborn itch that she couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how much she scratched the surface. Except this time, she actually tried to patch them up with a little natural healing and some poultice but it barely did something to the pain inside of her.
She saw everything until the men brought Lincoln inside that strange establishment. That's when the long hours of waiting started. And despite the harsh storm, Elliot found herself sucking it up and decided to stick around until she finds a way to get him out of the enemy's territory. That, unless, the storm doesn't cease, because truthfully, Elliot was beginning to feel lightheaded from the harsh rain.
There was barely anything to hear from where she perched upon but her sight was clear. Thankfully, the tree was strong and the wind wasn't too harsh that it could uproot one. I guess, luck was on her side tonight. Her slightly trembling hands kept a comfortable grip on the bow she held. Two swords sat on her back in a handmade sheath.
She eventually had to calm her breathing down when she realized she was going to be there for a while. Her eye winced from the rain that hit her face. She tried to keep her hood on but the wind was so strong it kept blowing it away. They should be happy she was too injured when they took Lincoln from her. Because if she wasn't, she'd probably already marched through their camp with blood soaking her skin like water already.
Yet deep inside, somewhere in the shallow crevices of her messed up mind━Elliot knew she'd probably hesitate when it came to that point. She wasn't that ruthless. At least to some. Continuously, she tried to convince herself that her humanity was still intact even though she barely looked like it.
For a second there, Elliot caught sight of a familiar freckled face when the tarp covering the front gates of the dropship flew away. Her face remained stoic, but her chest bubbled with a new kind of detestation. She had no idea what their deal was and how the guy could act as if she had never saved him once and twice. Her grip on her bow tightened.
Then there was the little sister of the guy. Octavia was clearly arguing with him. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the look on her face━the girl wasn't too happy about his brother bringing in the Grounder and taking him as their prisoner.
Elliot realized one thing. That same girl was her only hope of making sure Lincoln would be alive.
Her lips pursed in thought. As much as she tried to turn a blind eye to what was going on━Elliot understood what Lincoln was feeling. She was just the same. Only she refused to acknowledge that fact because that would mean she wasn't as bad as she always thought she was.
That seemed to be a lot worse than being the good guy. At least for a person like her. A natural-born killer with her enemies' blood soaking her fingertips. Being the bad guy was all she ever knew, and maybe that's why when started feeling things━it scared her. Because it was a weakness, and the weak would never survive down here.
When the storm had ceased and the sun had come up, Elliot found herself inching closer to their camp. The longer she stayed put doing nothing, the more excruciating it was for her. She was just outside their little camp, hiding behind the trees with her weapons attached to her body like it was her limbs. She moved quietly, her feet carefully stepping on the ground and not leaving any noise for anyone to hear.
Elliot had no plan, as stupid as that sounds. But she would rather storm into their camp and die trying to get Lincoln than stand there and do nothing and possibly live her whole life without him. She couldn't do that to Lincoln. He was her brother. They protect each other.
She strayed far enough that no one could see her but near enough to see them and hear their pointless chatters as they cleaned up the mess that the storm had left. There was no sign of Octavia, but Elliot saw the older brother that she was beginning to dislike. As usual, he had that hard look on his face like he'd never known how to smile. Bellamy was talking to the blond one, the same one from before who almost fell into the trap of spikes.
They seemed cozy now. Elliot noticed as Bellamy grabbed the girl's hand. Her attention was caught elsewhere when she heard the sound of a branch breaking behind her. She twirled around, bow in her hand as she pulled the string and loaded it with an arrow. Then she realized who it was. Her face relaxed a little. She reluctantly lowered her arms, which made Octavia sigh in relief.
"It's just me," Octavia assured her. She alarmingly looked around, realizing they needed a much safer place. "Let's talk somewhere far from here."
Elliot pursed her lips, slightly shivering from the wind. Her wet clothes did not make it any better. She narrowed her eye at her. "Why should I do that?"
"Because I need your help to get Lincoln out of the dropship."
Well, that was enough for her.
Once Elliot established they were on the same ground, she began walking the opposite way from the sky people's camp. When Elliot lifted two fingers and waved them in the air, Octavia took it as a sign to follow her deeper into the forest.
Turned out her brother wasn't at camp and that gave them a slight chance of getting Lincoln out of the dropship. Elliot mostly listened to Octavia as she rambled about information and possible plans. The younger girl wasn't sure Elliot was listening because the look on her face was too hard to read. She barely blinked━hell, Octavia only counted like six blinks the whole time she talked to her.
"This thing..." Elliot suddenly picked up a random nut on the ground that had fallen from the nearest bush."I saw your people have this. You make them eat. We wait until the sun goes down. Then we get Lincoln out."
Octavia looked confused as she took the nut from her. "Wait. I don't understand. How is this going to help us?"
"You will see." The Grounder looked relaxed this time. The first emotion she showed to her today, which was unnerving enough for them.
If there's one thing that Octavia learned about the two Grounders, was that they were strong. Hard-headed. Built like a stone. Because no matter how many times they get broken apart, they still come back up every single time. It was a mistake to even get on their wrong side. So Octavia reveled in the idea of becoming just like them.
But what Octavia Blake didn't know was that once she started, there was no going back ever again.