The 100: As Long as You're With Me

Serpent River

This chapter is dedicated to Kajan17. Thank you for being so wonderfully patient and supportive!

Clarke heard Bellamy urgently whispering her name repeatedly, but it took her a minute to wake herself up. "What?" she grumbled, lifting her head off his shoulder.

"We need to move. They're close." She was wide awake in a heartbeat.

"Where?" He pointed into the trees to each of the dark figures that were combing the woods, getting closer. Bellamy put a finger to his lips and slowly got to his feet. He stayed crouched low and motioned for Clarke to do the same. They tried to sneak away, but one of the Grounders caught sight of them and shouted to the others. Clarke and Bellamy bolted, all caution thrown to the wind. The Grounders gave chase.

Clarke's heart soared with joy as she began to recognize the woods. It plummeted just as quickly. "Bellamy, what if they don't stop chasing us when we reach camp?"

"I counted only four of them. They wouldn't dare attack with so few numbers. We will have time to prepare if they decided to return with more." He was right. They wouldn't attack the camp.

Clarke was confused when she saw the trees began to thin ahead. But then she saw the glimmer of light dancing on water. "Shit," she gasped, her pace slowing.

"What are you doing?" Bellamy shouted at her. They came out of the trees and stood on the bank of the gushing river. "Oh,"

"We were too busy putting distance between us and the Grounders. We didn't think about running back the way they brought me so we could have avoided this altogether."

"Do we face the four Grounders or the man-eating serpents?" The looked at each other and made the same decision.

"Man-eating serpents," They were upstream where the river flowed much faster and the current was strong, but Clarke doubted that would prevent the serpents from swimming up here. The one she encountered their first day on Earth was huge and strong. It could swim through the waters here no problem.

Bellamy and Clarke stepped into the river and tried to push their way through to the other side as fast as they could. But the water made it difficult and they didn't move very fast at all. When Clarke slipped, Bellamy grabbed her hand so the river wouldn't drag her down. Hearing an excited shout, both Bellamy and Clarke looked back and saw the Grounders standing on the bank, watching their progress. One was pointing at something they couldn't see farther down the river. The blood drained from Clarke's face.

"Go, go, go!" she screamed, pushing Bellamy forward. They tried to go faster, but it just made them slip and fall more. They couldn't see where the serpent was, but they knew it was close, waiting for its chance to pick one of them off. Somehow Bellamy made it to the opposite bank and he let go of Clarke just for a moment to pull himself out of the water. Clarke grabbed at a rock to keep herself from floating away.

A jaw clamped down on her leg and razor sharp teeth dug into her skin. She screamed in agony and kicked out at the serpent. It let go, but she knew it wasn't done with her yet. The water was cold and she was losing a lot of blood. Together, it caused her leg to go numb. It wouldn't be able to support her as she tried to take the last few large steps to Bellamy and the bank.

"Come on, Clarke. You can do it!" Bellamy tried to encourage her.

"I can't." Bellamy lay down on his stomach and pushed himself over the edge of the bank as far as he could without falling in. He reached out for her. Clarke tried to take his outstretched hand, but there were still a few inches between them.

"You've got to meet me the rest of the way." Using all the strength she had, Clarke used the rock to push herself closer to him. He grabbed her wrist and tugged her, pushing himself away from the edge of the bank with his other hand.

"Bellamy," Clarke cried as she felt the water churn near her. "It's back!" Bellamy pulled harder and she touched the bank. That's when the arrows began to fly at them. "Don't let go," she begged. Bellamy had only seen Clarke this afraid once before. They were in a very similar situation. She had fallen into a Grounder trap. It was a pit filled with spikes. He had caught her hand and she hung there, literally hanging between life and death. But then he wanted the Ark to think she was dead even if that meant she had to actually die. She knew this. Her life was in his hands and she knew that he was one split decision away from letting her go.

There was not a chance of him even thinking of letting her go this time and she understood this, but she was afraid her hand would slip. "I won't let go." he promised. He grabbed her other arm with his free hand and began to pull her out of the river. But then an arrow buried itself in his shoulder. He let go.

"Bellamy!" Clarke screamed before plunging into the icy depths of the river. She flailed, desperately trying to find something to anchor her, but the rock she had used before was just out of her reach and the river took her away.

Bellamy lunged to grab Clarke again despite the pain of the arrow grinding against bone. She was already gone and his hands only closed around water. "Clarke!" He roared louder than the river, frantically searching for a glimpse of her. He didn't even notice that the arrows had stopped coming and the Grounders had slipped silently back into the trees.

Clarke tumbled through the water, the serpent wrapped tightly around her waist, trying to drown her. Her fingers grazed the sandy bottom and miraculously closed around a stone with a sharp point. The serpent tightened around her and her ribs protested. Without wasting another second, she stabbed the serpent repeatedly with the stone. A cloud of warmth spread out from the creature and she knew she had wounded it. She kept hacking until it finally let go. She reached the surface and gulped down the air. Black spots danced before her eyes as her brain spun with the sudden rush of oxygen. The river was slower here so she was easily able to make it to the bank and there she collapsed, weak and tired. The last thing she thought of was the pain and the horror etched on Bellamy's face as he let her go.