silence and sound → the 100 ²

[ 011 ] blood must have blood.

— CHAPTER ELEVEN,
blood must have blood.

SILENT TEARS CASCADE DOWN RUBY'S CHEEKS. Her hands shake at her sides. She tries to fight back the sobs that want to push past her lips. The rings on her fingers feels abnormally heavy in those moments. They're reminders of who she just lost. Her ears ring with the sounds of the gunshot. The bullet that took her brother away from her.

Ruby will never be the same.

Miller and Harper walk into the cave first, their eyes downcast.

The brown eyes of Bellamy Blake cut over, watching them walk in. Bellamy continues to watch as Bryan walks in next. Then Sinclair, then it was a shaking Amara and a stony-faced Luca, Marcus follows after them, then it'sOctavia. And finally, Ruby and Ryland.

He watches the pair of best friends intensely. They both are crying. Ryland's arm is wrapped around Ruby's waist, keeping her standing. She's pale in the face.

His eyes shift back to the entrance of the cave. He waits for the final person to enter. When he doesn't, Bellamy turns back to the others. "Where's Lincoln?"

"Pike put a bullet in his brain," Octavia answers numbly.

Bellamy turns to his sister with wide eyes. Yes, he and Lincoln never had a bond like his sister shared with the man. He never had bond with Lincoln like Ruby or Amara had. But still, tears sting in his eyes.

"O. . . O, I am so sorry." He whispers.

Octavia whirls around and sends her fist across Bellamy's face. A gasp slips past Ruby's lips. She jumps at the sound of bone connecting with bone. Ryland's eyes widen. His grip on Ruby tightens.

Octavia hits her brother again and again and again. She doesn't stop.

"Octavia, that's enough." Marcus orders.

"Kane, stay out of this." Bellamy says. Blood sputters out of his mouth.

Ruby jumps again as Octavia knocks Bellamy to the ground. She gasps weakly as Octavia knees him in the face. More of his blood splatters across his dirty and bloody face.

Ruby pulls herself from Ryland's hold and stumbles out of the cave.

When she reaches the outside of it, she falls to her knees. She curls her arms around her stomach as what little food her stomach contains comes up. She dry heaves as more tears spill down her cheeks.

She feels someone grab her hair and pull it behind her ears.

When Ruby's done, she doesn't bother to stand back to her full height. The person behind her releases her hair and rubs her back soothingly. The Carson girl can't contain her cries anymore.

A heart wrenching sob breaks through her lips. She bows her head, her hair falls in her face.

"Ruby," the soft voice of Amara whispers. "Ruby. . ."

"I'm sorry." Ruby sobs. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the bomb." Amara's eyebrows furrow. "I should've. . . I should've warned you. I should've warned everyone."

For a moment, Amara thinks about what to say. She's hated Ruby for so long now. She's been so angry at her for letting nearly three hundred of her people die in TonDC.

But Ruby was only protecting her people.

"I forgive you." Amara tells her unexpectedly. Ruby turns to look at her with shocked eyes. "I forgive you, Ruby. After losing—" Amara can't say his name, "I can't lose you or Luca. You're a monster. But so am I. . . you did what you thought was right. I forgive you."