trepidation |BELLAMY BLAKE| [1]

CHAPTER 16

AVERY STUCK CLOSE TO JASPER, who was also nervous about going into the forest. She couldn't blame the poor boy. He was stabbed and held hostage just a few weeks ago.

They were doing a grid search. Everyone stood in a long line, searching for clues about where Octavia might be.

"Over here!" 

Everyone ran to catch up with Mbege, who was ahead of the group. He was standing on the top of a large incline, shining his light towards the bottom, "Right there. You see it?"

Caught on a branch near the bottom was a piece of fabric, "Is that Octavia's?"

"Rope." Bellamy ordered and Diggs handed it to him,

"What are you doing?" Finn asked,

"We need the rope to get back up." Bellamy told him before tossing one end of the rope down towards where the branch was, "Flashlight."

They tied the other end of the rope to a tree before Bellamy made his way down. Everyone watched as he climbed down and observed the fabric of clothing, "It's hers. I'm going all the way down."

Jasper was next, handing Avery his torch before following Bellamy down. Avery looked over at Finn, passing on the torch, "Avery, are you sure?"

She nodded, "Yeah." The brunette girl grabbed the rope and went after Jasper.

Avery went up behind the two boys, spotting the blood on the rock and Bellamy's fingertips, "That's hers, isn't it?"

Finn jumped down behind her and kneeled beside the blood,  "Someone else was here." Bellamy stated,

"The prints are deeper going that way." Finn pointed out and looked up at Bellamy, "He was carrying her."

"If they took her, she's alive. Like when they took me." Jasper stated,

They continued deeper into the trees, following the footprints or any signs that someone had been in that area.

Avery looked over at Bellamy, "We're going to find her, Bellamy."

He looked down at her and nodded, "I know."

Finn suddenly stopped and Avery almost ran into his back. She took a step to the side and spotted the decomposed corpses displayed in front of them.

"I don't speak Grounder... But I'm pretty sure this means keep out." Finn stated, looking over at Bellamy,

"I'm outta here." Jax stated behind them before disappearing from the group,

"Yeah, me, too."

 "I'm out."

"Go back if you want." Bellamy told the group, "My sister, my responsibility."

"I'd walk into hell to find her." Jasper said before following Bellamy past all the corpses.

"I think we just did." Finn replied before looking at Avery, "You sure you want to do this?"

She nodded, making eye contact with Finn, "I have to."

Soon, night turned to day. It was easier to spot evidence that Octavia was brought through there, however, there was no evidence to spot. 

"I got nothing. We lost the trail." Finn stated,

"Keep looking."

"Wandering around aimlessly isn't the way to find your sister. We should backtrack..." Finn began,

"I'm not going back." Bellamy interrupted,

"Hey, where's John?" Roma asked,

Avery paused and looked around. She was right Mbege was gone without a trace. She swore he was right behind her.

"I just saw him a second ago." Japser said,

"Spread out. He couldn't have gotten that far." Bellamy ordered,

A body landed in front of Avery and she let out a scream. Bellamy rushed over, pulling her back as they stared at the body of Mbege. His eyes were open, lifeless, and he had a slit in his neck.

"They use the trees." Finn said,

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary." Diggs commented,

"Now can we go back?" Roma asked,

"There." Jasper pointed and Avery saw what he was looking at.

It was a Grounder.

"Another one."

"We should run." Finn whispered.

Bellamy grabbed Avery's hand and the group sprinted away from the Grounders. They had no clue where they were going.

"What are we gonna do? They keep heading us off." Diggs called out,

"Just keep running!" Finn answered, 

 "I can't run much longer!" Jasper said from the back of the group,

"I'm not stopping for him!" Diggs responded,

"I'm sick of running anyway." Bellamy said, coming to a stop and the others followed, except for Diggs.

Finn ran over to Bellamy, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"They know where she is." He answered,

"Diggs, where are you?" Roma called out, running in a random direction,

"What are they-"

"Come on!" Finn grabbed her and they followed. 

Roma let out a scream, "Wait! Roma!" They stopped when they spotted Digg's body attached to a trap of some sort, sharp metal piercing through his torso.

"Could be more." Finn stated, referring to the traps.

"They were leading us here. It's the only direction we could run in." Jasper said,

"Hey. Where'd they go?" They looked around and noticed that the Grounders had disappeared,

"After Roma." Bellamy answered, running after the girl.

They began not only searching for Octavia, but also for Roma. Avery spotted someone sticking out from a tree, "Guys, there she is."

"Roma!" Monroe whispered,

After she didn't move, Bellamy went over, followed by the remaining people in the group. Avery let out a small gasp. There was a spear sticking out from her chest.

"They're playing with us." Finn said,

Avery watched as Bellamy closed Roma's eyes, "She only came because of me."

"It's not on you, Bellamy." Avery grabbed his arm, "She could've turned back."

"They can kill us whenever they want." Finn whispered,

"Then they should get it over with!" Jasper yelled, startling everyone else. "Come on! We know you're out there! You want to kill us.." Finn ran over and tried to calm him down,

"Bellamy!" Avery turned to see where Monroe was looking to see a Grounder heading towards them. 

She tightened the grip on the knife as they were approached from all sides. Everyone raised their weapons, preparing to fight when a horn began blowing. Suddenly, the Grounders stopped and ran away.

"They're leaving." Bellamy stated,

 "That horn. What does it mean?" Jasper asked,

"Acid fog." Finn answered, reaching into his bag and grabbed fabric, unrolling it to reveal a tent,

 "We have to run." Monroe stated,

"There's no time."