𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

06. finding jasper

There was an intense rushing in my ears as I stood in shock, unable to grasp what has just happened. One minute we were cheering in joy, the next we were gasping in horror. 

At one point, a hand grabbed onto me and pulled me away from the rocks. Spinning around with wide eyes, I met the terrified face of my brother who was trying to drag me away from the riverbank. "Avery, we've gotta go."

I shook my head, trying to free myself from Finn's grasp. "We can't just leave him!" I argued, my eyes staying locked on Jasper who was laying on the ground across the river, moaning in pain as the spear stuck out of his chest.

"Avery, we can't stay here. We have to go." Finn said once again, this time more forcefully. He wasn't debating this issue. 

A mangled cry fell from my lips as he finally managed to tug me away from danger. As the group of us took cover behind some rocks, I looked around at the equally as scared looks that every body else wore.

"We're not alone." Clarke whispered, her eyes wide and face pale. 

I looked around at the other four, heart hammering in my chest. "We—we have to go get him." I stuttered, stumbling over my own words. 

"It's not safe." Clarke argued instantly, giving me a firm shake of her head. 

"She's right." Finn agreed with Clarke, turning his head as some noise was heard across the river, "We have to go."

The other three numbly nodded as they took off into the forest, putting more and more distance between themselves and then river. But I couldn't move. My every nerve ending was buzzing with shock, it felt like I couldn't even move by body if I wanted to. 

 "Now!" Finn yelled, gripping onto my arm. 

I looked to him with a shake of my head. "Finn—"

"Avery, if we stay here we end up like Jasper and then we're no go for anyone, okay?" Finn reasoned as he grabbed a hold of my hand, pulling me up and dragging me after him. I hated to admit it, but my brother was right. 

With my heart still rapidly pounding in my chest, we ran through the uneven ground of the forest. The only thing I could hear was my laboured breath and the loud pounding of our feet hitting the ground.

Suddenly, Finn came to an abrupt stop in front of me as Monty tripped over something, tumbling to the ground.

 "Monty come on!" Octavia rushed as her and Finn attempted to pull him off of the ground, but he was focused on something else.

My eyes followed his, landing on a set of bones. I let out a gasp as my brother noticed them too, "Who are they?"

Clarke bent over and picked up the skull, holding it up to reveal its odd shape, "What are they?"

"We're so screwed." Octavia whispered.

I opened my mouth to say something, but before anything could come out a loud pain filled scream came from the area we had just left.

"Jasper!" Clarke gasped, "He's alive." she announced, taking off back towards the river. 

Finn was already protesting as I thoughtlessly joined Clarke in her pursuit of Jasper. If he was alive, there was really no way we could just leave him. 

"Wait!" Finn demanded as he caught up to us. He grabbed onto my arm and yanked me back before lightly doing the same to Clarke. "Stay in the trees."

My eyes frantically searched the area for Jasper, but he was nowhere to be seen. The place I had last seen him was now empty.

"He was right there." Monty exclaimed, "Where is he?"