● Twenty Five ●

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"So where's Bellamy?" Octavia asked, spear in hand.

After, Alfie and I left Bellamy, we went and found Octavia and asked if she wanted to join our hunting party. We only had to ask once for her to jump up and join us.

We trekked amongst the trees, light steps, searching for any meaty animal to cross our paths.

"Probably with Raven."

"Raven?" Vi stared at me sceptically, her eyes glimmering confusion. "Why would he be with her? She hates him."

"He said, she was going to leave camp which couldn't happen because we need her."

I didn't need her. The simple sound of her name got me more perturbed and sent a drowsy exasperation straight to my head.

"Oh. She has done a lot since coming down. Fixing the radio; the flares; the bomb. . ."

"Making bullets," I finished. I turned to Vi while massaging my temples, "I was probably overly harsh to your brother."

She shrugged, "He needs putting in his place sometimes."

"It's kinda cool seeing somebody argue back to Bellamy and not get in trouble." Alfie grinned from beside me.

"What about me?" Vi laughed at the youngster.

"You're his sister. It doesn't count."

Vi gestured to me. "She's pretty much his girlfriend."

Alfie's head snapped in my direction. His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out. "You mean you're not dating?" He exclaimed.

I didn't know how to respond as I found myself tripping over my sentences. "I uh- um. Well, I guess- um." I cleared my throat. "I guess not, if he has to ask me out for it to be an official label."

Vi was quick to point a stern finger at Alfie. "Don't get any ideas." The bright smile on her face showed she wasn't serious in warning him off.

"I'm not. I think Bellamy's pretty cool. I want to be more like him."

Octavia glanced at Alfie in distaste. "Why?" She murmured the next part, only I seemed to hear it, "He's a jerk most of the time."

I gasped quietly and thwacked her arm. Octavia only laughed.

"Well, he's a pretty decent leader for a start. He's confident; he's like a trained soldier, I want to be able to fight like him. He cares but he's tough, and he's got an almost-girlfriend and cool friends." Alfie rambled with a blinding smile and twinkling eyes. I could see just from his face that he idolised Bellamy. It was really endearing to see.

Octavia on the other hand, "I think I'm gonna throw up."

"I think it will pass," I laughed at Vi and bumped our shoulders together.

"Let's just go catch some food."

"I'll leave the killing to you two."

Alfie addressed me, "Eden, are you okay? You look a bit pale."

"Better than yesterday. I was told I looked as translucent as a ghost, so pale is definitely a step up."

Alfie laughed, but Vi didn't.

I sighed, "I'm fine, I just didn't sleep much."

●▪︎●

The three of us delinquents had been roaming the woods for over two hours now. The sky now dimmed.

Alfie held three limp rabbits by their floppy ears and a squirrel looking meerkat creature that we found flying between trees. As I voiced before, I left the killing to Vi who seemed like a natural hunter, and Alfie. I did the tracking and baiting out the prey.

I'd grown so tired after the first hour. My eyes had begun to really sting, my head felt light and heavy, and I was finding it difficult to lift my feet as we trudged through the forest. I had stumbled and fell slicing my hand on my knife. Vi wrapped it up for me. Once I got back to my feet I had stumbled again and fallen onto Alfie. Two groups had swept passed cheering about the load of prey they'd caught, so seeing that Vi decided we'd take a break so I could get my head together.

Now, we were heading back to camp like Alfie suggested, because the day was drifting into a darkening dusk quite quickly. He took the lead, Octavia walked beside me, both of them sparing me floating glances as if I'd just wither away into the gloom like scattered ashes.

I grimaced at the feel of puffy skin around my eyes.

"Do you ever wonder what makeup was like? Or pretty, colourful clothes? Or what having a pet was like?" I glanced at Octavia. "The world must have been pretty amazing until it got fucked up."

"I always wanted a red princess dress and a pretty tiara," Octavia grinned. "I wanted to be the princess of something, so that I felt like I belonged and was wanted."

"You belong here with us as my best friend. Some people are just assholes, but I've always got your back."

"Thanks, Eden."

Alfie turned to us with a thoughtful expression. "I always wanted a pet dog. Do you think there are wild dogs out there?"

"Maybe wolves," I answered.

"Maybe bears," Vi replied.

Alfie groaned dissatisfied with our responses, it was funny and cute.

"Who do you hang out with in camp, Alfie?" Octavia asked.

He shrugged, "Mostly the younger boys and a couple of girls; sometimes other shooters and guards." His casual demeanour broke with a grin when he continued, "I hang out a lot with my girlfriend: Serayah."

"Oh! I know her!" I commented. "She's so beautiful and she seemed nice when I spoke to her."

"She is so beautiful," he smiled in a daze. "Her eyes are this amazing golden brown."

"Young love," I teased and pinched his cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah. Leave me alone."

"Wait. . ." Vi squinted at Alfie. "Are you blushing?" She teased and pinched his other cheek.

Alfie looked down and rushed forward a few steps.

We kept giggling and joking around which helped take my mind off the constant hum of a headache and the fatigued ache through my body.

In about ten minutes we reached the walls of camp where Alfie slowed to walk beside us. We walked in, other groups were handing in dead meat and hanging around.

"I'll take the animals over." Vi took the food and headed over to where she'd probably stay and lend a hand.

"You should get Clarke to check your hand."

"It's just a scratch. I can handle it." It didn't really hurt and I had definitely felt worse pain.

"Hey!"

Our heads shot up to Bellamy who jogged over.

Alfie took a second to look at Bellamy then gestured off somewhere. "I'm gonna go find my girlfriend. I'll leave you two to it."

I gave a small wave then looked back to Bellamy. "Hey. Did you manage to keep her here?"

"Who?" Bellamy's brows dipped. His mind seemed elsewhere, and whatever his thoughts were on appeared to worry and daze him a little bit.

"Raven," I deadpanned. "Did you make sure she stayed?"

"Right. Yes. She finished the radios, so now we can communicate with each other from anywhere."

I nodded at the good news. Don't get me wrong, it was great we could communicate now but I still couldn't help but linger on the fact Bellamy didn't have to stay with the girl I didn't like.

Speak of the devil― I spotted Raven over Bellamy's shoulder.

"Bellamy!" She hollered. "I need to talk to you."

Bellamy looked at Raven, when he returned back to me he looked a little bit alarmed or my exhausted eyes imagined it. "Eden―" The tone of his voice made me stop him dead in his tracks.

"Go. It might be important."

I passed Bellamy and headed towards the grave site just outside of camp.

"You should keep an eye on him." Murphy's narcissistic voice drew my eyes to his figure hacking away at some of the new meat.

"Worry about yourself, Murphy." I bit out.

"Likewise." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and strode away. My strides became slow and turned to a shuffle before I dropped myself to the floor beside Callum's grave.

I lay sprawled staring at the sky and feeling myself breathe. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep a clear mind and think rationally.

My skin felt heated and this swell of anxiety grew in my head. My nerves felt like they were quivering and sending agitated sparks from nerve to nerve making my limbs bounce and fidget constantly. A jarring, restlessness tap danced beneath my skin and made my hairs stand on edge.

I didn't speak for a long while.

The wind whistled between the leaves adorning the trees, and gently rustled the undergrowth.

For a second, I thought I heard Callum's voice and glanced at the dirt over his body. I was being crazy, because he wasn't there.

"I miss you, Cal. Everything is driving me insane. I need you to be here and just be a blunt jerk telling me to sort myself out." I huffed out a breath. "I'm making myself crazy."

I rolled on to my side to face his grave.

"I'm really sorry about everything. I feel like every time somebody learns the truth about something I did they end up dead. Charlotte knew that Orion took the blame for my mum being floated, she also knew I killed a guard. We both found out the guard was Kieron's brother, then you found out why I'd killed him. Now your dead.

I didn't even tell anybody that Murphy killed Kieron and Zaden, now he's walking around all smug with this mischievous look in his eyes.

I think I'm a pathological liar. It wouldn't surprise me anymore."

I ran a hand through my hair and sat up.

"I shouldn't even be telling you these things. It's too depressing. How about the next time I come to you I'll tell you we won against the Grounders? That would be happy news."

Footsteps pounded the ground getting louder in my direction. I pushed up to my feet and drew my knife.

A second passed by. Monty darted into sight with wide eyes.

"Eden. You have to come back to camp. Clarke, Finn and Myles are missing. We're going to look for them."

My heart sped up knowing my friends were still out in the woods. With any luck they were just late coming back, however it was so dark already I know they would have headed back ages ago.

It's in Clarke's personality to be cautious and get everywhere on time. I remember our first day on Earth, when we tried to trek to Mount Weather, she snapped at us because we were moving at a snail's pace

And Finn, well he was an amazing tracker and seemed to know enough to be sure where they were going and how long it would be light and dark out. He couldn't get lost even if he tried.

I didn't know Myles well, but I was certain he was friends with Alfie, so I felt like I had to make sure he was okay for my new, little friend.

I stood up immediately and followed behind Monty's quick strides.

"Who's we?"

"Bellamy, you and I, then Octavia and Raven." I bristled at Raven's name. "We have radios to communicate with. We'll start off separately then join together the further out we go?"

"Is that such a good idea?"

Monty shrugged. "It's Bellamy's idea. At least if we do it this way we'll waste less time and cover more ground."

"I suppose so." My mind jumped at the thought of Grounders out there ready to pick us off one-by-one.

We got to the other side of camp where Monty handed me a radio and showed me how to use it. The others had already gone out in their respective directions, so Monty directed me on where I'd look before we split up.

Only seconds after, Monty drifted from my side into the uneasy depth of trees a sharp crackle disturbed the silence.

"Eden and I have left camp and split up." Monty's voice sounded from my radio over a tiny bit of static.

"How far out are we going? Until we get to the Grounder boundary?" I asked.

This time Bellamy's low voice filtered through in response, "No. We'll meet up in fifteen unless one of us sees something sooner. Are you okay out there?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Everything just feels menacing out here."

Subtly, my mind had already began associating the woods with the Grounders. Whenever we left camp they were there or danger loomed. Now, when I walked among the greenery, the hairs on the back of my neck stood at full attention, sending shivers down my back. I tricked myself into thinking it was purely adrenaline.

"Sounds like you're scared of the dark," Raven remarked. "A bit pathetic."

I vaguely heard Octavia reprimand her on the other side.

Raven chuckled, "It was a joke."

"There's no need to tell jokes if you're already the joke, Raven."

"Eden," Vi scolded.

"What? I'm sick of her bullsh¤t. If you don't like me, don't talk to me."

Bellamy spoke with an authoritative voice, even without him being physically present he effected our behaviour. "Both of you stop. Arguments won't help us find Finn and Clark, so Raven leave Eden alone."

It went quiet after Raven scoffed.

The occasional rasp of static filled the tense night. Eerie noises clicked and whined. Dirt scuffed at my soundless shoes, yet everything echoed loudly― too loud.

I drew my knife feeling comforted by the cool metal, it took away some vulnerability. Having Bellamy beside me would have been better, but it was enough to make me feel secure with my skills.

No clues or trails were left behind by either Finn, Clarke or Myles. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out against the environment I'd slowly acclimatized to.

I pressed the button on my radio and spoke into the device, "I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

"Same," Vi responded first.

"Let's join up." Bellamy decided. "Head west towards Octavia."

We all mumbled agreements and got moving. Everybody remained on high alert keeping an eye out for each other and keeping their ears focused on the low sounds around them.

Octavia and Raven reported finding each other first. Bellamy joined them next.

At some point, exhaustion ran over my body like a steamroller yet my mind still ran wild working overtime. I eased down between the legs of a tree and pressed my back up against the bark. I needed a minute to regain strength and control in my muscles whilst willing the pounding against my skull to ease into a dull throb at least.

"Eden? Where are you?" Bellamy questioned concerned.

"You haven't said anything for a while," Vi pointed out. "Monty? Where are you guys?"

I let Monty speak first, and took the time to peel my eyes away from the forest floor and reach for the radio.

"I thought you said you were heading west. Where are you?"

"Just keep the moon to your left, and you'll find us." Bell made it sound straight forward but the forest was huge and west was such a vague direction; we could head west and walk past each other in which case we'd be here all night.

"I'm sat by a tree. I needed to stop for a second." Getting back onto my feet played out to be more difficult than expected.

"Do you need one of us to come to you?"

"She's not a princess."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm fine, Vi. I don't think I'm that far anyway," I lied.

"Hurry up," she pressed.

Sweeping through the dark took some time. Unsure whether to blame it on disorientation or my lack of speed, I didn't find the group, Bellamy found me.

Bellamy had ended up behind me and scared the life out of me. My knife ended up soaring past his head and lamely clanged against the bark of a tree before dropping to the ground.

My eyes bulged at the close proximity of the blade to Bell's handsome face.

"Woah! You still need to work on your knife throwing." Bell handed me back the blade he crafted me.

"I could have taken your eye out!"

"You didn't though." Bell stepped toe-to-toe with me and placed his hands on my shoulders slowly dragging his hands down my arms. Pleasant shivers ran up my back. "I'm not sure if I should be happy you didn't hit me or upset your aim was off."

"Have you turned crazy?" I exclaimed. "You should be happy."

Bellamy's laugh eased the tension that sprinted back and forth through my body. "Eden, you don't have to be so worked up." He caught me off guard when his lips briefly brushed over mine. "Just take a breath."

"Sorry. You just scared the shit out of me." It took a second for me to completely take in that Bellamy stood tall caressing my arm. I thought Monty and I were going to meet the others who were already together.

Our eye contact broke as Bell looked down at our joined hands. He held up my left hand and inspected the makeshift bandage with a questioning eye.

"What happened?"

"I fell and cut myself earlier today. No big deal. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I came to find you. O thought it would be best if I found you and brought you to them before focusing on Monty."

I hummed with sarcastic eyes. "Vi thought that or you thought that?"

"A little bit of both," he said coolly letting me know it was mostly him.

I chose not to comment on it, instead appreciating how much Bellamy cared even if it was overbearing sometimes. Plus, exhaustion kept me from irrationally jumping at the chance to form an argument.

"Let's hurry up and get to the other two. Monty can't be that far away now."

I turned to leave, but Bellamy yanked me back by our joined hands.

"Wait."

"What's wrong now?"

"I didn't mean to upset you today. And I'm sorry I did. For being too overwhelmingly protective; making you feel like I don't take into account your feelings; and seeming like I've been choosing Raven over you. I just care about you a lot, so forgive me?"

Stunned into silence, what happened to the Bellamy Blake that rarely apologised?

I bit my lip to stop a childish half-smile.

"I'll take that sly smile as an 'I've already forgiven you'."

My lips were smoothly enveloped by soft, greedy lips. One of his hands left a heated trail from my cheek to my hip where he edged his fingers under my top and squeezed my waist.

I flinched into his hard body and gasped at the sensation of his cool fingertips.

"Bellamy, we're supposed to be looking for our friends," I murmured against his lips not truly wanting to break the kiss.

"I know but they can wait one minute. We just need a moment."

"One minute." I asserted.

My lips moved against his again and the moment he deepened our caresses, and his tongue touched mine, my mind melted.

We may have been distracted by each other for more than a minute. Eventually,  we did quickly get to Octavia and Raven, then start communicating with Monty.

"Is anyone else hearing this signal?" Monty had been mentioning some weird signal for the last five minutes and I became worried that he wasn't even focusing on getting to us.

"Just keep your eyes open," Raven spoke to him.

"I think it's the same thing we heard in the black box."

"Damn it, Monty, pay attention," Bellamy snapped. "Do you see anything? Report."

The low sound of leaves rustling against each other caused my focus to switch from Bellamy's tense stance to our surroundings. The sound came again from some bushes close by. Raven heard it too, because she moved forward to the sound.

"Oh, my God. There's someone in the bushes."

"Myles?"

Myles was the kid that teamed up with Clarke and Finn to go hunting. At hearing Vi say his name I rushed forward.

The young boy lay disorientated on the floor, slightly pale.

"Myles, what happened? Where are they? Clarke and Finn, where are they?" Raven shot questions desperately.

"Stop firing questions at him," I directed to Raven annoyed. I gave Myles a second and then asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Grounders took them." Myles struggled to grind out the words.

"Take it easy. We have to get him back to camp."

"Bell, what about Clarke and Finn?"

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