Lose A Little To Save A Lot ↭ Bellamy Blake

five

"It's all clear!" Bellamy called out to Charlotte and I, helping us out of the cave. I was still wearing his jacket, but it wasn't helping my burnt arm as much as it did earlier. I winced when I moved it awkwardly, and Bellamy looked at me with a worried look. "We'll get you back to the dropship, how is it?"

"It's pretty bad," I told him honestly. He frowned slightly before the sound of someone calling out to us made him perk up.

"Anybody out here? Jones?" Bellamy yelled, hoping to find one of his own men.

"We're here!" I heard Jones call out. I saw three boys emerge from the trees, but I didn't see Atom. I waited as Bellamy talked to Jones, seeing if he would show up.

"Lost you in the stew, where'd you go?" Bellamy asked him.

"Made it to a cave down there," Jones answered back. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Bellamy said, "but Zen's injured and we need to get her back right away." The three boys nodded before walking off, and Bellamy ushered Charlotte and I to follow him. We only walked a few minutes before I heard Charlotte scream. "Stay here," Bellamy said to me. I didn't listen, though. I followed him, and found my way to Charlotte. Her eyes were wide with fear. I looked in her direction, and I saw Bellamy knelt down next to Atom, who had burns and blisters covering his whole body. I gasped; that's how I would've ended up if Bellamy didn't save me.

I walked over to the other side of Atom, looking up at Bellamy. He looked me right in the eye, trembling slightly. Beads of sweat were falling from his face, and an upset look was spread across.

"K-kill me," I heard Atom choke out. I took a good look at him for the first time. The fog had made him blind, his pupils were white. He was struggling to breathe, and I nearly lost it. This would be the second killing I've witnessed, fourth including the two from the dropship landing. "I can't breathe," Atom managed to say. I ran my hand along his face, trying to calm him down. I took another look at Bellamy, who seemed in worse shape than I did. A knife was in his hand, but it didn't budge. He couldn't move.

"Don't be afraid," I heard Charlotte say. She hadn't moved from the spot where I found her.

"Go back to camp," Bellamy said to her, "you too, Zen." I shook my head at him. I wasn't going to leave him in a state like this. I heard Charlotte scuffle away, and I peered back down at the knife. I gently took it from Bellamy's hand, gripping it in my own. I wasn't going to make him do this.

"I'm going to help you, Atom, alright?" I whispered to him, pushing his hair back from behind his face.

"Th-thank... you, Zen," he said, closing his eyes. I held back tears as I started singing a song my parents would always listen to.

"It's alright to cry, even my dad does sometimes..."

I aligned the knife with Atom's neck, gently piercing his skin.

"Don't wipe your eyes, tears remind you you're alive..."

I stuck the knife in a bit further, feeling a tad bit of relief wash through me. I was halfway done.

"It's alright to say that death's the only thing you haven't tried..."

The knife was now fully lodged in Atom's neck, all that was visible like the handle. Just like when I killed the panther. This was nothing like that, though. This made me break down inside.

"But just for tonight, hold on..."

When Atom's pulse stopped, I pulled the knife out. I looked down at the blood on my hand, a quiet sob coming out of my mouth. This was the first person I've killed, hands on. I knew this was what Atom wanted, though. He knew that he wouldn't make it if we tried to heal him. It wouldn't have worked.