Eyes closed. Face painted red. Blood trickled from John's neck and seeped into the earth. He lay sprawled awkwardly, body twisted.

"They use the trees," Finn muttered.

All of us circled his body scanning the area. My eyes flickered to the canopy above us not noticing any bodies- any Grounders. Everything seemed normal.

"I don't see anything," I mumbled.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary," Diggs' voice held a calm sense of panic which planted seeds of panic in everybody else.

Roma started cracking first. "Now, can we go back?"

"There. Right there." Jasper drew my eyes to a dark figure amongst the trees to our right. I bit my lip.

"Another one."

"We need to go," I urged.

My leg bounced with anticipation as nobody moved. The figures disappeared and reappeared. No one moved. They disappeared again, and Finn whispered.

"We should run."

With no idea where we were heading, we surged forward. The forest couldn't go on forever, but it was still massive. Mud flicked up from our boots as we pushed ourselves to sprint and weave through the condensing trees. Every time we went one way a Grounder appeared. It was like a game.

"What are we gonna do? They keep heading us off!"

"Just keep running!"

At some point we'd have to stop, if not for us then for Jasper, who I could see struggling.

"I can't run much longer!"

I fell into step with Jasper in case he needed help.

"Jasper, we're going to have to stop," I breathed.

"No. Not yet."

"Jasper-"

The group ahead stopped. "I'm sick of running, anyway," Bellamy stated.

"What are you doing?" Finn approached him.

"This isn't the time to be cocky, Bellamy." I scolded.

"They know where she is."

"What are you gonna do? Politely ask them where Octavia is. That will go down well."

I heard Roma screaming for Diggs and turned to see her run off. I closed my eyes knowing we were about to chase after her.

A contraption came into view, it looked as though it had swung out from the tree and buried into Diggs with its spikes. Blood poured from his mouth, his eyes still open. Despite seeing this, Roma ran off again screaming as if she were on fire.

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

My eyes darted around listening to Jasper, but no Grounders caught my eye.

"Where'd they go?" I questioned on edge.

"After Roma."

Bellamy took off running followed by Finn. I urged Jasper to run ahead of me so that he wouldn't fall behind. Too focused on the screams bouncing around up ahead, I took no notice of anything around me. A ghost of a scream wisped past my lips as the world tilted. I tumbled to the floor in a heap. Unable to catch my breath, hands flipped me over and a fist collided with my cheek.

My world spun off its axis, my mind reeling at the powerful hit. It took me a moment to get my eyes focused again.

"Get off me you bastard!" I screeched dragging my knee up to his crotch. I scrambled to my feet and took off running in any direction with much heavier breaths.

"Eden!" Jasper hollered.

"Jasper!"

Caught off guard, I halted. A different Grounder stood in front of me. Dark face paint smeared over his face and the thick clothing he wore made him look huge.

"Why is it always me," I whined quietly.

"Eden!" Bellamy's voice boomed through the trees. My eyes widened hearing him call out for me. In my moment of distraction, a Grounder came up behind me and twisted my arm up behind my back.

I wailed out in pain feeling as though my arm was ready to snap like a measly twig. The one in front of me unsheathed a dagger which glinted evilly in the light. He approached quick, but my boot lifted unexpectedly to kick the weapon from his hand then connect with his face. My arm ached at its sudden release, but my freedom was long lived as I was thrown to the floor again.

With all the adrenaline rushing through me, action took forefront in my mind. I scrambled for the fallen knife. As I was dragged back by my ankle, I swung the blade around and let it connect with whatever flesh it could sink into. I ignored the audible choking.

I swivelled ready to face the last Grounder. His blazing eyes captured mine ready to retaliate for his friend's death. I jumped up grabbing his friend's sword and swung it at him.

"Silly girl," he laughed.

He swung at me, I barely got out of the way. He delivered another hit to my cheek which sent me crumbling down. I could hear the other's yells much closer this time. The Grounder lifted me up in a choke hold. He ripped the sword out of my hand but with my other I plunged the dagger Bellamy made me into his chest. I fell and watched as another blade embedded itself in his stomach.

I flopped to the floor grateful for Bellamy's throwing skills. "I love you, Bellamy," I huffed out quietly.

Bellamy came to a skidding halt beside me and gently touched my cheek. "Are you alright?"

"I'm amazing." He smirked catching my sarcasm. "Where's Roma?" I asked scanning over the others- I noticed Jasper's skittish behaviour.

Nobody answered, Bellamy only shook his head.

"They can kill us whenever they want." Finn spoke.

"Then they should get it over with! Come on! We know you're out there! You want to kill us..." Jasper surprised even me with his sudden courageous outburst.

"Jasper!" I yelled.

"Shut him up!"

"Stop! Jasper! Stop it!"

"They're coming!" Monroe yelled. Grounder after Grounder materialised and headed straight for their targets― us. I couldn't deny that my heart was hammering against my chest, even with Bellamy's hand engulfing mine. I just about managed to fight two Grounders, which was a miracle, I couldn't do it again.

A blaring horn drowned out the panic for a few long seconds. The speeding Grounders stopped and twisted, running away as if we had never been here.

"They're leaving." Bellamy rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand.

"That horn. What does it mean?"

"Acid fog." Finn stated to Jasper. I didn't know which was worse, getting tortured by Grounders or being caught by the fog.

"We have to run."

Finn pulled out what seemed like a large piece of a parachute. "There's no time."

Adrenaline began to dissipate from my veins leaving me tired and in pain. All of us were cramped together hiding beneath the material hoping that holding down the edges would stop the fog getting to us. Bellamy lay to my right, Jasper to my left.

Bellamy's eyes focused on me, "Are you sure you're okay? You just fought off two Grounders."

"Killed two Grounders," I corrected feeling sick about it.

"I know you're a badass and all, but how did you manage that. The Grounders killed the others straight away or led them into traps." Jasper's wide eyes focused on me.

My forehead smacked onto my folded arms and I let it stay there. "I don't know. I don't even think they were actively trying to kill me. Well, at first anyway."

"Why wouldn't they?" Finn asked. I could hear the cogs in his head trying to lock into place.

"I don't kn―" I raised my head as memories of the list of our names floated to the forefront of my mind. Most of our names had been on that list. Bellamy's at the top underlined; Clarke's with a star beside it; mine crossed out; and then the others.

"What? What is it?"

"The night Murphy and I were hung, and you saw me drenched in blood. It wasn't my blood, it was a Grounder's."

"What!" Bellamy had to refrain from jumping up.

Finn urged me to carry on.

"I heard a snap in the woods and some rustling, so I went to check it out―"

"Typical," Jasper interrupted shaking his head.

"Anyway. I found a list on the floor. It had some of our names on it, which meant the Grounders had to have been watching us. They know Bellamy and Clarke are important. I think they're not killing anyone who has their name on that list― well not right away."

"Why didn't you say anything!" Bellamy pinned me with an angry look. "Where's the list?"

"He took it back. I went to tell you straight away. Kieron kept getting in my way telling me you were with Roma and that other girl, then the dropship came down and I just forgot."

Everyone remained silent taking in what I'd said. The silence turned painful and guilt started eating at me once I realised Octavia could have been taken by a Grounder who had been watching us. If only I'd focused and told them. The chance to tell Bellamy presented itself, at the pool, and I still said nothing.

"I'm really sorry, guys."

To my surprise Bellamy snaked his arm around my waist. I peeked over at him through the corner of my eyes to see his jaw unclenching. "Let's just get back to camp with my sister, in one piece."

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Jasper asked after a little bit.

Finn responded, "We'll find out."

"How do we know this is working?" came my question.

"We don't." Bellamy flipped the covers up exposing us to fresh air. Everything stayed the same. "There's no fog."

The five of us scrambled to our feet astonished by the lack of yellow fog sweeping through the forest.

"Maybe it was a false alarm."

Something black ran past in the distance. A Grounder. "They're coming back," I alerted the others getting them to look at the figure.

"I think he's alone." Jasper was right. No other Grounders were visible.

"Now can we run?" As a collective we all seemed to ignore Monroe.

"He doesn't see us. I'm going after him." I couldn't even look at Bellamy like he was insane, because I knew he'd do anything to get Octavia back. Finn, however, did look at Bellamy as if he were the most crazy person on the ground right now.

"And what? Kill him?"

"No. Catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is. Then kill him."

"How do we know he's not leading us to another trap?" Jasper asked thinking logically.

"We don't."

Once again, Bellamy took the lead leaving the rest of us to follow him. We moved stealthily through the overgrowth, hidden from sight. The sight of the lone grounder sparked my interest. Why was he alone? And where was he heading? From what I'd come to understand, Grounders moved in units.

We followed him to a point that led below ground. Bellamy held up his hand signalling that we were going to hang back for a minute.

"I'm gonna go first. Then you guys can follow me down."

I sighed. "Or we could all go together, so hurry up and lead the way," I hissed out impatiently.

"We're better as a group." Jasper backed me up. I smiled triumphantly at Bellamy.

Steps led down between rock walls and into a dark gloom. Fairly quickly we turned a corner and entered a small, dark cave.

"Bellamy?" Octavia's voice shocked us all.

"Octavia." Bellamy rushed to his sister. Relief washed over me as I watched the siblings reunite.

"Get the key," she ordered Bellamy, shaking the chains that bound her wrist to the wall.

"Monroe, watch the entrance." Bellamy turned back to his sister with reassuring eyes. "It's okay. You're okay."

My eyes darted around the small place. A makeshift bed sat along one wall, books and items littered around the place. Drawings lay scattered in a corner and hung up against walls. He lived here, the Grounder lived here― alone. I noticed him out cold on the floor with Finn crouched by him. I took a small step closer and studied his face.

"How did you find me?"

"Followed him."

"We should go. Now. Before he wakes up."

"Wait. He's the Grounder with the list."

"All the more reason why he shouldn't wake up," Bellamy gritted out taking hold of a spear.

"Bellamy, stop. He didn't hurt me. Let's just go."

Bellamy shook his head. "They started this. Finn. Move."

"Foghorn," Finn muttered. His hand reached out for a horn that the Grounder had on him. My eyes scanned over the Grounder one last time, but my eyes got stuck on his open ones.

"Finn!"

By the time his name left my mouth, the Grounder soared up. The unmistakable sound of a knife biting through flesh reached my ears.

"Ahh!"

Finn fell back clutching his shoulder and writhing in pain. Bellamy went for the Grounder. They scuffled. Movements were blurred into one. Bellamy ended up on the floor, the same spear he'd been holding now pointed at his neck. He grunted using all his strength to keep the serrated edge away from his flesh.

"Stop! That's my brother!"

I rushed forward to try to knock the Grounder off balance, but Jasper moved faster than me. A hard object smacked him in the back of his head making him crumple to the floor like a rag doll.

My wide eyes shot to Bellamy reassuring myself that he was fine, before I moved to Finn.

"We need to get back to camp. Now!"

●▪︎●

Jasper burst through camp first yelling for help, "Clarke! Where's Clarke? Get Clarke now."

"Hey. I'm here. What's up?" Clarke's blue eyes fell upon the boy we were hauling. "Finn. Finn? Oh, my god. Oh, oh, my god."

Most eyes in camp were now directed at us due to the commotion. Raven drew closer to get a look. "Oh, my god." She was mortified.

Clarke checked his pulse. "He's alive."

"Bellamy wouldn't let me take the knife out." Jasper explained breathlessly.

"No, that was a good call. Get him in the dropship now. Go!"

A small group of people rushed forward and took him from our hands. I watched as Jasper disappeared into the dropship with them.

"Clarke, can you save him?"

"No. Not me. I need my mother. I need to talk to her."

"There's still no radio," Raven stated.

"Raven, fix it! Go!" Clarke's panic was evident. These two girls had a thing for Finn and now they were tasked to work together to make sure he'd stay alive.

I needed a moment to breathe.

People kept dying at my hands. The longer I stayed breathing, the bloodier my hands got. I could see the continuous stream of ruby blood pouring from my tainted hands. No matter how much I cleaned them, it was always there. My mind had forged a memory bank of all the people.

I shut my eyes. On the way back from our rescue mission we passed the Grounders I killed. Their eyes were open in distress laying on a bed of blood.

I breathed out and opened my eyes. I forced my body to relax whilst pushing the detailed images to the back of my mind. Now wasn't the time to be emotional.

I caught on to Callum heading my way. "How was babysitting camp whilst we were gone?"

Callum huffed. Bellamy had told him to watch camp whilst we went to find Octavia, despite the fact Callum wanted to join us. "Clearly less eventful than your rescue mission. Dude, your cheek is almost as red as your hair, what happened out there?"

"A lot." I sighed dramatically, "I think word has spread that I'm a great catch amongst the Grounders, because I seem to be constantly tackled and attacked."

Callum whistled through his teeth. "Word really does spread fast. I think it's just your hair though, I doubt it could be anything else."

"Charming." I leant my head on Callum's shoulder. "I should go check on Finn." I said turning serious again.

"You should rest; you look awful. Check on him later today."

Laying down seemed like heaven right now, but I removed the thought from my head. "His injury could be really bad. I should check on him."

"I'm not going to argue with you, since I'll lose anyway."

I smiled and said goodbye. Once I stepped into the Dropship, Clarke appeared and stopped me.

"Is he alright," I asked worried.

"Honestly, no."

"Okay. Well I'm gonna go in and see him."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?"

"Tensions are hot in there. Raven is on the verge of yelling at everyone and I just need space in there to come up with something."

Despite wanting to be annoyed, I understood what Clarke was saying. I'm surprised Raven hadn't exploded and gone on a rampage that included ripping off my head for making-out with her boyfriend.

"Is your cheek alright?"

"It's okay, just aches a little. I'll see Finn later."

I found my tent and practically slithered inside feeling the night's events catching up with me. We managed to bring Octavia back unharmed, but three of us died and Finn got stabbed.

"Hey―" I jumped at Bellamy's voice. He sat beside me and held up a small square of damp material. "For your cheek."

"Does it look that bad?" I asked taking the material from his warm hand and placing the cool cloth on my cheek.

"You look like a lopsided chipmunk."

"Fu― liar, it feels normal." He almost smiled. I sat with my cheek resting on my hand with the cloth and just stared at Bellamy. "What's wrong with you?"

"I had an argument with, O. I said a few things I shouldn't have. She blamed me for everything going wrong and I got angry."

"What did you say?"

"I told her my life ended when she was born and blamed her for our mum being floated."

I bit my lip surprised their argument got that deep and spiteful. "What you've both said was wrong, but it's as clear as day to everyone that you love Octavia. I'm convinced you love her more than anything, including yourself, deep down she has to know that."

"Does she? I want to protect her, but she just hates me more and more."

"That's not true."

He didn't say anything for a while seemingly brushing the topic away. "You look tired."

"I'm sure I always look tired," I joked.

"Do you want to sleep?"

I nodded smiling politely.

"Okay." He got up, so I assumed he was leaving. Instead, he shuffled around before settling down and laying on his back.

"What are you doing?"

"Lying down. You said you were going to sleep."

I looked into his dark eyes questioning his motives. Amusement swirled in his eyes and covered his face. A cheeky smile made me roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Okay. Goodnight," I grinned and made for the exit.

Bellamy grabbed me by my waist and yanked me down beside him making me laugh. Our faces were mere inches apart. A surprising, yet nice, warmth swarmed my entire body. My skin tingled where his hand on my hip caressed my skin; being this close to Bellamy made my veins spark like live wires.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To sleep in your tent, since you want to sleep in mine."

"I want you to stay right here... with me." Bellamy closed the gap between us and kissed me.

His lips were addictive urging me to kiss back. My mind numbed in delight as his hand tightened on my waist and drew me closer. My hand fisted his shirt over his heart to keep myself somewhat grounded, because the longer I kissed Bellamy the lighter I felt. It was better than getting high on berries. I felt like I was floating...

"Bellamy," I mumbled pushing away.

He pulled away with a delicate crease between his brows, staring at me confused. "What's wrong?" His thumb brushed over my lips, but I pulled his hand away. "I don't kiss that bad, do I?" He tried to lighten the dampening mood.

"No," I muttered against my will.

"What's wrong then?"

I held my breath. How do I say I feel guilty kissing you and liking it, because I got my boyfriend floated? It sounded stupid, but it's how I felt. I had loved Orion and I didn't even get to say goodbye. Now I've started to like Bellamy guilt didn't