Starcrossed | Bellamy Blake

4. plummeting

plummet
/ˈplʌmɪt/verb

gerund or present participle: plummeting

Fall or drop straight down at high speed.

"There was nothing and no on that could stop me from plummeting."

-

Luna.

"Everyone, eyes peeled! We're in Grounder territory."

"Everything is Grounder territory."

"Shut up Murphy."

Despite everything. Despite the sound of the gunshot reverberating through my head, despite the shadows in Finn's eyes as he walked away from the corpse and never looked back, despite the way the man had called my name, Gonaheda, and despite the fact that he would never utter a word again, I was able to smile at Bellamy and Murphy's bickering.

I suppose that made me the harsh, unyielding Grounder everyone expected me to be. A Grounder who has seen so much death that it can still smile in the wake of it. I suppose they're right.

But I will not forget that man. Not ever.

"I can't keep running!" Murphy yelled, coming to a stop in the treeline before the forest dwindled out into a clearing. "Alright? We don't even know if the guy Finn killed is telling the truth!"

That was not what Finn wanted to hear. He whirled on Muprhy, eyes wild and stalked up to him, grabbing at his arms.

"Keep moving." He ordered, but Bellamy was right with him, reaching toward Finn's arm.

"We can give him a minute." Bellamy relented but it was Finn who was harsh and unyielding as he wrenched away from Bellamy's outstretched hand.

"No we can't!" He cried. "You heard what the Grounder said, they'll outlive their usefulness."

"I heard what he said when you had a gun to his head!" Bellamy said, his voice husky, his molten brown eyes stricken.

I had to hold myself back then. From going to his side. From brushing a hand across his blood-spattered cheek. I had to resist the pull.

"You think I wanted to do that?" Finn asked, his face crumpling. I wasn't sure. "He would've told them we were coming and by the time we go there our people wold be dead." I still wasn't sure.

"Maybe that's something you can live with but I can't!" Finn didn't wait for an answer, instead he surged forward to move past, but Bellamy was intent on giving an answer and shoved him back with a frustrated growl.

"You did what you thought you had to do." He said through his teeth. "But you are not yourself right now and I can't be out here with another loose cannon." His gaze flickered to Murphy who scowled in response.

"Guys." It was the tone of Monroe's voice that made my stomach drop, that made the boys forget they were fighting and made us all notice that first body.

The first body of many.

"Fall in." Bellamy ordered, but his voice trembled.

We did as we were told moving toward the ungodly smell and into the haze of flies that had swarmed.

Skaikru. Dead Skaikru. You could tell by their clothes that they weren't of the earth and by their wounds that they had died trying to get here. As we moved through the bodies that were only growing in numbers I realised that not all of the arc had survived it's trip to the ground. That pieces of it must've broken off and not faired the landing.