Fearless (Bellamy Blake - Book 1)

Chapter 99

Running through the woods in the dark with an arm in a sling and people trying to kill you really puts things into perspective. For a start, I realised that I really don't ever think things through properly, and shit always happens because of that. This situation is a prime example of that.

The nervous pounding of my heart as I constantly darted my eyes around ahead of me keeps my focus off of the stabbing pain emitting from my arm. Surprisingly, the thought of turning around and sprinting as fast as I could back to camp didn't even cross my mind once, the only reason being that Raven will die if Finn and I don't come back with the medicine she needs for her gunshot wound.

It's why we're both silent as we run side by side, why we're quite literally risking our lives out here...because we would do anything for that girl.

A sharp snap of a twig causes Finn to halt, his left arm flying out to stop me. My body collides with it and I grab him in response, standing as still as possible and trying to breathe as slow and shallow as I can, afraid that who or whatever was out there could hear.

"What was that?" I whisper.

Finn shakes his head at me in response, not knowing what to say.

My heart pounds in my chest and I pray as hard as I can that it's anything but a Grounder. An Animal. Our imagination. The wind. Anything but a Grounder.

I take my axe from it's place at my belt, mentally thanking Octavia for handing it back to me, and see Finn grip tight onto a knife. Even if it isn't a Grounder, we're so screwed.

"Maybe we sh-"

An intricately carved metal weapon cuts off Finn's words, and is lodged into a tree trunk mere feet from where we stand. Mentally, I scream in shock and fear. Physically, my body slumps out a breath of relief that it missed.

Before I know it, a large figure cries out as it barrels towards us, axe in hand. Finn and I react quickly, jumping out of the way before getting into a stance to fight.

Finn jumps forward, knife in hand as he tries to stab and slash out at the Grounder scout.

"Chris, get out of here!" He yells back at me.

"What?" I ask hopelessly. He expects me to just leave him here?!

Ignoring Finn's order, I tighten the grip on my axe and swing it at the Grounder when he isn't looking, catching us both off guard. The blade sticks into the thick animal fur covering his back, but doesn't go deep enough to wound him and I stagger, the weight of the axe throwing my suddenly unbalanced body off.

The Grounder quickly swings around, his own axe cutting through the air at a speed so fast I barely move out of the way in time. My back hits a tree and I grunt at the sudden pain, watching with wide eyes as the Grounder pulls his arm back to swing his axe at me.

I'm once again wishing I had a gun on me. Before the Grounder can attack, Finn's head has appeared behind and he plunges his knife into the side of the Grounder's neck. Blood clots out and pours down the Grounder. First he falls to his knees, then onto his side on the leaves below.

"I told you to run," Finn says breathlessly, a hard look on his face.

"I wasn't just gonna leave you here, Finn." I say to him, astounded that he would think that lowly of me.