Grounders

Chapter 10

"I'm going out to gather supplies. We're running low on medical things," Lincoln nods and tosses me a pack we always kept on hand in case we went out. I caught it in my free hand and went out in my thin leather and cloth clothes. My furs leaned on the wall and my swords were sheathed onto my back and stuck out over my shoulders. The I glanced at the tattoos and slung the bag onto my shoulder. He nodded at me and I quickly jogged out of the cave and towards the hot spots of certain herbs and ointments. I kept my guard up though, making sure to eye each spot I stopped at. I filled viles with herbs and dirt then stopping at the river to gather some water. "You know," I started standing up. "If you wanted to talk you didn't have to follow me."

He chuckled, his feet crunched rocks underneath as he walked closer to me. I turned my body to face the freckled man who's grown attached, "Well, you seemed so focused I didn't want to say anything. I just came out to gather water."

I nodded and let him do so while I counted the herbs I needed before sighing and pushing it onto my back again. I jogged off without Bellamy realizing and headed back to the cave. "I got Clarke a meeting with Anja." I nearly dropped the bag heading that. "And you..." this time I did drop the bag. He immediately recoiled when I started to shout profanities. Once I calmed down Lincoln sighed, "No weapons. Octavia and Clarke are meeting us here after their Unity Day." Unity day? He chuckled at my confused face and grabbed the bag, setting it on the desk.
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"I thought you said no weapons." Clarke glowered towards the swords on my back. Finn eyes me with a cautious and questioning eyes.

"I don't listen." I tell her with a smirk then face the bridge as three horses approached, each one holding a blade of some sort. "And neither do they." Anja jumped off and then walked forward. I copied her actions with a confident walk. "How many do you have perched in the trees?"

"Ten, like you would've posted." Our eyes stayed on each other's as we stood only a foot away. Silence filled the area, until Clarke decided to walk over and grab my arm as a warning. I pulled her wrist off of me, "Why did you betray us?"

"Because I did what was right. They aren't bad people. Besides You needed me more than I needed you." She jumped forward and grabbed my collar pulling me close to her face. I smirked at her angered face but she shoved me back to my feet anyways. Clarke then tried to reason her own way, that didn't work.

"Clarke Run!" All of us whipped around and watched Jasper shoot towards the trees. I unsheathed my blade and threw back my leg and kicked away Clarke while I blocked the blade of Anja.

She and I clashed weapons, "Wait!" She held up Her hand and everything froze. "If I go with you, will you let them go free?"

"No! James!" Lincoln shouted from behind me, struggling against someone who held him back.

"What? What's going on?!" Clarke asked frantically. No one answered her as Anja nodded and sheathed her weapons. "James!"

I tossed my weapons to the ground and let the men shackle my arms together in tight bounds. Shouts of desperation rang through the air. Lincoln sobbed out words and hoped for me to fight, but I didn't. I let them throw me onto a horse and ride away. Bellamy's tears were the last things to hit the ground before I left never to be seen again.
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I screamed out of pain and agony, giving up on having pride in myself. People slashed my body repeatedly. They take breaks and let me recover before jumping right back at it. I breathed heavily and let out a bloody breath, choking on whatever was coming up. They backed off and someone untied my arms from the post and I fell limp into the blood stained mud. My arms are yanked in a hard motion and I grunted at the sudden touch. My legs dragged behind me, limp and unable to move. My vision was clear as day though, the guards weaved in and out of corridors, occasionally smacking me into a wall. I'm suddenly shoved into a cell with another person but I didn't speak or move. "Are you dead?" The scratchy voice asked poking my shoulder.

I grunted and opened up my eyes, "Yeah..." I grunted out, sounding more like a man than the woman I am. My breathing became hard and heavy as I pushed my weight off the floor so I leaned on a wall. My eyes looked at the boy, Murphy. Banished way back. Tortured and scared. I looked at my body and sighed, only to gasp for air again. I started ripping up my shirt in hope of keeping my weak body together. He didn't look any better.

"What'd you do to get tortured?" He joked to me. I chuckled and then coughed up some blood then groaned right after. Murphy jumped over to me and used some of his shirt to wipe off the excess blood.

"I turned myself in to save my friends. I don't even know if they think of me as a friend." I smiled at the end, my eyes squinting at the light that shined in. "What about you?" I managed to choke out.

He dropped beside me, "I exist." I know what happened. "I got banished from camp and the grounders got to me." I sighed and rested my head onto his shoulder, he laid his on my head. "My names John Murphy."

He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers, "James."

"I like it."

"Yeah." I paused and closed my eyes, "Me to."