Into The Woods- Bellamy Blake

Chapter 67

They'd been walking for days. Ember was about ready to give up, and so was Clarke. There was nothing for them, they'd decided. They kept walking and walking, exhaustion starting to get to them, and both hungry. They'd had a bit of food, Ember had taken the bugs off the rover and Clarke had Ember eat them all to keep the baby with calories.

The problem with that was Clarke hadn't eaten anything in days. They were currently climbing a hill they couldn't see over. They knew if there was still nothing after they reached the top, then there was basically no hope.

Thankfully though, once they reached the top they realized that there was a full area that hadn't been hit by the radiation. She could see the other side of it that had been affected, but the little valley was untouched. "It's beautiful," Ember muttered, staring at it with wide eyes. "Clarke, do you realize what this means?" Her voice cracked from the lack of water she'd had

Clarke nodded quickly. Before she could reply, she watched as a crow flew over and landed on the dead tree in front of them. They didn't move as they watched it land. Ember raised her foot up and grabbed the knife slipped into her boot. In a swift motion, she threw the knife at it, catching it off guard and killing it.

"Let's go eat," Ember said, moving over and grabbing the bird.

~~~

They'd barely stepped into the trees before gathering branches and starting a fire. They cooked the bird as soon as they could, devouring it as soon as they believed it was cooked fully. Ember moaned as she took her first bite. "I forgot how much I love fresh meat,"

"Doesn't compare to the first meal we had on the ground, but it's a close second," Clarke replied. They hadn't found water yet, but the meal was enough to give them the energy they craved to continue.

After eating, Ember stomped the fire out and then they continued to explore their new sanctuary. They walked down a path. "This was Shallow Valley clan territory," Ember said, stopping and kneeling down to smell the flowers. "Nico, the nineteenth commander was from here."

They continued to follow the path, Ember spewing facts out about the clan that she knew for Clarke. She had the Flame to tell her all of this, and she could tell Clarke was interested in the history of it so she continued to talk.

Her history lesson came to an end though as they came to a large lake, and they ran over to the water, cupping it in their hands and drinking out of it. After taking a drink, Ember started to take off her clothes. "What are you doing?" Clarke asked.

"It's been months since I've washed my body. I'm taking a bath. You gonna join me?"

Clarke didn't even reply, only started to take off her clothes as well. Ember jumped into the water. It started off shallow, but she could tell it got deep enough that she'd have to know how to swim. Maybe she'd learn, they had the time at least.

Ember ducked down, sinking her head into the water. She pushed her hair back with her hands. "I didn't realize how much I needed this," Ember told Clarke as her friend slowly got into the water.

It was cold, a nice contrast to the hot air. Ember splashed Clarke with water, getting the upper half of her body wet. "Just get in, Griffin. No snake is gonna come out and bite us this time."

Clarke rolled her eyes but went out into the water anyways. "You say that now..."

"If a snake comes, then I'll take back my words. Until then, there's no snake." She pointed at a few fish swimming around in the water. "They wouldn't be here if it was."

"We can survive here," Clarke said.

Ember nodded quickly, smiling brightly. "Welcome home, Clarke. It took us a while, but we've done it."