Cobwebs and Flies

Ch8• Bow and Arrows

Clarke and Octavia were running the camp while Bellamy and Atom were scavenging the woods looking for Murphy. The moral around the camp had gone severely down, people were scared, they were hungry; no one was willing to leave those walls to go hunting. They were terrified of the mountain men, and afraid that the grounders were going to attack any second now.

Raven was working on the radios, desperately trying to get them to function so they would have a safe way of communicating. Her mind was pounding, she sat down and massaged her temples, thinking. Maybe there was another way to defeat the grounders. She thought as she paced around the dropship before hitting her head on a broken piece of metal that hung down. That was when she realized she was standing in a space ship. They didn't have to fight them, they just had to lead them here, forcing them around the ship as they ignited the engine.

There was never going to be enough power or fuel to get them more than a foot in the air, but they didn't need to go anywhere, the blow from the rockets would be enough to burn them to a crisp. It was cruel, Raven knew that, but she also knew that if they did nothing, they would all be slaughtered overnight. This was their only chance at survival, she had to do this for her people.

Clarke marched toward the gate when she heard Raven's plan for she was already debating various strategies on luring the grounders into their camp. Her mind was racing when she finally had an idea: what if they tricked them into following them back thinking they have the element of surprise? She was lost in the cloud when she bumped into Octavia.

"Octavia, I'm so glad to see you."

Octavia looked disappointed in a way Clarke understood immediately. It was the same look she bore the day she watched her father get floated. "What's wrong?"

"Clarke," he took a deep breath, "I have some bad news. Finn was out exploring earlier and, well, there's no easy way to put this but I found him with an arrow in his chest."

Clarke fell to her knees, her hands cupping her wet eyes as she let the waterfall of tears drip to the ground. She knew Finn from the first day they had landed on Earth; he showed him the true beauty this world had to offer and now, he's gone.

"I'm so sorry, Clarke." She grabbed her in a tight hug and held her for a while. Her shirt was drench in her melancholy but she didn't care. She was simply there for her friend, the girl she was getting to know and the girl who had saved Jasper's life.

***

Bellamy was running fast, his feet in a blur as he dashed through the woods with Atom by his side. When they reached the spot where Murphy was last seen, they came to a halt and Bellamy kneeled down. He began expecting the ground for clues, he was a tracker down here. After learning that Octavia was being sent to the ground, he had read every book about how to survive down on Earth available. Now, he knew how to hunt, build shelter, and track enemies.

The ground revealed its secrets and Bellamy could visualize Murphy's shadow being dragged away by those men, the boy slipping in and out of consciousness. He quickly noticed the drag marks and followed the trail with his gun held tight between his fingers. It seemed like hours before they reached what looked like an underground bunker. The door was sealed shut, leaving no way for Bellamy to open it. They were going to have to find another way in.

He must have spent hours prying at the door with a makeshift crowbar but nevertheless, it was no use, the door simply wouldn't budge. He was pounding against the door and screaming while Atom was wandering nearby, trying to find another way in when he heard a sound nearby. When he turned his head, the familiar sent raised through his nostrils and made him shiver as the pink mist approached. He used his shirt in an attempt to prevent the smoke from rising into his lungs.

Bellamy heard his name and ran up the hill where he noticed Atom in a cloud of pink mist struggling to keep himself up along with one man wearing a dark green radiation suit. Bellamy aimed his gun and fired a bullet directly into the culprit's arm, watching him fall from afar. He saw that the man was twitching violently, fighting to breathe. Atom had fallen to the ground, and Bellamy waited for the mist to fade before running up to the man.

When he reached his side he could see the man's skin turn red, boils growing on his skin as it melted away to the bone. His heart stopped and the man was dead; no bullet could have done this. That's when he pieced the puzzle together: the sealed bunker, the radiation suits, they aren't immune to Earth's levels of radiation, unlike the people who survived outside or were born in space.

Bellamy took off the radiation suit, noticing the man's uniform; he was an officer. Quickly, he stole his clothes, then slipped the suit on for now he could easily pass as one of them. He had no choice but to leave Atom behind, ensuring he was well hidden in a bush. Who knew how long he could be unconscious for? So many things could happen to Murphy meanwhile, time was precious and he couldn't waste one second of it.

He used the key card to unlock the door and slipped in like a snake in the sand. He was going to find Murphy and when he does, he was going to make sure nothing bad ever happens to him again.

Just hang on, Murphy, I'm coming to get you.