𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

08. let's take a hunting trip

My hand, which was gripped tightly around Jasper's waist,  was still shaking, close to an hour after we had almost been attacked by that animal and I could not will it to stop.

"You okay there, Sunshine?" I turned to look at Bellamy who was walking behind me, him and Murphy carrying said animal, now dead of course.

I turned back around and nodded, not wanting him to look at my face any longer. Because the truth was, I wasn't okay...not at all. In the past two days, I had been sent down to a new planet, reunited with my twin, almost lost my best friend to a freaking sea monster, saw my new friend get speared in the chest by people who are wanting to kills us, and oh yeah, was almost ripped to shreds by a rabid animal. 

I didn't want to tell him any of that, so I gripped onto Jasper even tighter, trying to hide my tremors. "I'm fine."

Finn, who was on the other side of Jasper turned his head slightly to look at me with concern. I gave him a small shake of the head to tell him I didn't want to talk about it. 

"I see the camp!" Clarke called from up ahead. That put a little more pep in each of our steps. It was nearing dark, and most of us were starving. Not to mention, we needed to get Jasper medical attention sooner than later. 

As we reached what was to be our temporary home, someone announced our arrival. Dozens of heads turned toward us, each of them desperate to see how we made out. 

I ignored their stares, Finn and I rushing past curious faces as we made our way into the DropShip. 

Clarke, Octavia, and Monty follow closely behind us, bringing armfuls of supplies with them. We didn't have a lot, but we had enough to make-do. 

A quiet whimper came from Jasper as Finn and I gently laid him down. I felt my heart pinch at his expression. He was in horrible pain. 

Grabbing a piece of cloth, I dipped into the pot of fresh water before lightly rubbing it across Jasper's face, trying to remove the blood and grime that had built up. 

Remorse washed over me as I considered what he went through these past few hours...we never should have left him. 

"We would all be dead." Finn announced from next to me. He was reading my expression...and maybe my mind. 

"What?"

Sighing, he took the cloth from my hand and dipped it back into the water. "If we went after him earlier today, we all would have been dead. We had no choice."

"Finn's right." Clarke declared as she laid out the supplies in front of her, her eyes scanning them. "We did the right thing."

"Right thing for who?" Monty muttered, his sad eyes on his best friend. 

"For everyone." Clarke asserted, her eyes flickering back to me. "Avery, can you hold the light. We need to clean this wound."

With a small nod, I took the light, flicking it on before holding it over Jasper's wound. It looked even worse under the bright light. 

"This is going to hurt." Clarke whispered to Jasper, her hand hovering over the bloody mess on his torso. 

My spare hand reached out, gripping onto Jasper's as I gave it a tight squeeze. Octavia was positioned at Jasper's head 

My spare hand found Jasper's as I gave it a tight squeeze. "Here we go."

***

Jasper's screams that cut through the night sky still echoed through my ears as I exited the Dropship in search of food. It had taken us less than ten minutes to have Jasper fully cleaned up, but his screams of agony didn't stop there.