CHAPTER THREE: earth kills

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DEARLIN GRIFFIN FEELS USELESS AS HE HEARS THE PAINED MOANS AND GROANING COMING FROM JASPER JORDAN. The boy had been sweating with a fever and pain he was in. It was challenging to take care of and heal him with the minimal and basic necessities to heal the boy.

"His pulse is 380," Clarke says, disappointed and worried.

"Is he even gonna-" Dearlin stops himself from finishing the question, seeing Monty in the corner. "Is he even gonna," he repeats, trying to think of a different way to end the question. "be able to walk? What if the spear went through his spine?"

Idiot. That's not better. Dearlin thought to himself. But, being locked in a cell for all of his life, his people skills were shit.

"Go back to sleep!" A voice yelled.

"Quiet!" Another yelled.

"If you don't shut up, I'll drag you out to the grounders!" Dearlin threatened back at the voices. 

"Don't listen to them," Clarke speaks simultaneously.  "You're going to make it through this, okay? Promise."

"Can he just die already?" Someone questioned.

"I'm gonna get clean water. Keep an eye on him." Clarke ordered as she exited the dropship.

Jasper continues moaning. Dearlin wiped the sweat from Jasper's face, trying to help the boy as much as possible. He didn't know as much as his sister; he barely knew anything besides the basics.
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Dearlin had stayed with Jasper, unsure what would happen to the boy if he left him alone. After all, there were multiple murderers in the camp.  

It was morning. Clarke was still taking care of Jasper's wounds.

"The Grounders cauterized the wound. Saved his life," Clarke explained.

"Saved his life so they could string him up for live bait. Garden of Eden, this ain't," Finn speaks.

"This is infected. He could be septic. Any progress on using the wristbands to contact the Ark? Monty?"

"That would be a firm no," Monty says after a second.

"My mother would know what to do."

Wells had climbed up the ladder. "How's he doing?"

"How does it look like he's doing, Wells?" Clarke snapped.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help."

"Can I talk to you," Dearlin questioned to Wells. It had been not easy to find a moment to talk to the other.

"Right. You want to help?" Clarke asked Wells. "Hold him down."

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Monty asked.

Jasper continued to moan in pain. Wells, Finn, and Dearlin moved forward, holding the boy down.  Only, as Clarke had heated the knife, then pressed it to his wound. Jasper began to try and struggle out of the three's grip.
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Jasper was screaming in pain.

"Hold him still," Clarke demanded. "I need to cut away the infected flesh."

Jasper passed out. Octavia Blake had run into the drop ship. "Stop it! You're killing him."

"She's trying to save his life," Finn tells her.

"She can't." Bellamy Blake walked up.

Wells stands up to Bellamy. "Back off."

"We didn't drag him through miles of woods just to let him die," Clarke tells the older one.

"Kid's a goner. If you can't see that, you're deluded. He's making people crazy." Bellamy replied.

"Sorry if Jasper's an inconvenience to you, but this isn't the Ark. Down here, every life matters." Clarke snapped.

"Take a look at him. He's a lost cause."

"No one's fucking asking you," Dearlin snapped, angry.  The older one seriously annoyed him.

Clarke turned to the younger Blake.  "Octavia, I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, there's hope."

"This isn't about hope, and it's about guts. You don't have the guts to make the hard choices. I do. He's been like this for three days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself," Bellamy turns to leave. He paused. "Octavia, let's go."

Octavia had taken the wet cloth, gently wiping Jasper's forehead. "I'm staying here."

Bellamy climbed down the ladder.

Monty glared in his direction. "Power-hungry, self-serving jackass. He doesn't care about anyone but himself." Monty looks at Octavia. "No offense."

"Yeah. Bellamy is all that. But he also happens to be right." Finn says.
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Dearlin felt as if there was something entirely and utterly wrong.  He had gone to talk (threaten) Bellamy.  "Bellamy Blake!" He called out, especially since it seemed as if the other was ignoring him.

Dearlin called out for him twice already.

"Bellamy mother-fucking Blake! Asshole!" Dearlin yelled as he reached out, turning the other to face him.

"Prince-"

"What the fuck was that? You are going to kill Jasper because he's in pain?"

"He's going to die. He's making everyone crazy."

"Who the fuck said that you were in charge? You are not an actual guard, so you can't fucking tell us what to do.  You are not going anywhere, Jasper."

Bellamy tilted his head, which annoyed Dearlin. As the other was trying to act cute. He was annoying.  "W-"

"I swear to God, if you say whatever the hell you want, I will punch you."
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Dearlin had gone hunting, primarily to try to knock sense into Bellamy. The group was silent, careful, as they caught sight of a wild bore.

"Shh-Shh," Bellamy speaks up, bringing an arm up to make the gesture of everyone staying behind him. Or to the side of him. "She's mine." He flipped the ax in his hand.

A twig snaps behind Bellamy and the hunting party, which causes for Bellamy to throw his axe behind him, hitting a tree, narrowly missing a little girl who had stepped on the twig.

The rest of the hunting party ran after the hog that had run off.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Dearlin questions the girl.

Atom joined his and Bellamy's side.

"Who the hell are you?" Bellamy asked.

   "Charlotte." The girl answered.

   "I almost killed you. Why aren't you back at camp?"

   "Well, what with that guy who was dying, I just... I couldn't listen anymore."

Dearlin sighed. He couldn't snap at a little girl. "He's in pain. Extreme pain. Of course, he's not going to."

"Dearlin," Bellamy says.

"You are not going to tell me what to do," Dearlin snapped back at him. The way Bellamy spoke was clearly a tone that he would try to order the other to be silent.

Atom spoke up. "There's Grounders out here. It's too dangerous for a little girl."

   "I'm not little," Charlotte speaks.

"What are you? Twelve?" Dearlin questioned. "Just four-feet?"

"Okay, then..." Bellamy spoke simultaneously before he pulled out a knife and handed it to Charlotte.  "But you can't hunt without a weapon. Ever killed something before?"

Charlotte shakes her head "no" in response.

    "Who knows? Maybe you're good at it."

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"What the fuck is that?" Dearlin questioned when a heavy, yellow cloud had filled the air. But they heard someone yell out in pain.

Dearlin was suddenly tugged back, and his neckline pulled tight in his neck as he was forced back. He hat stumbled for a moment before he caught his balance and be an to run alongside Bellamy.

Bellamy was pulling Charlotte along, trying to get the girl to be faster.

"Bellamy!" Atom called out.
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The three were in a cave, sleeping but had been woken up by the sound of yelling. Or, Bellamy and Dearlin had woken up.  Charlotte had been yelling in her sleep. Immediately, the other two had turned to the girl.

"Charlotte, wake up," Bellamy started to gently shake the girl.

"I'm sorry," the girl speaks softly.

"Everyone has nightmares," Dearlin speaks, trying to calm the girl. "That happen often?"

The girl sighs.

"What are you scared of?" Bellamy questioned. "You know what?" he asked when the girl didn't say anything. "It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you about it."

"But...I'm asleep."

"Fears are fears. Slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep."

"Yeah, but...how?"

Dearlin stays silent, unsure of where Bellamy was going at the moment.

"You can't afford to be weak. Down here, weakness is death, fear is death."

"Uh," Dearlin hummed, unsure of where Bellamy was going with this. The blond-haired boy leaned closer to the dark brown-haired, older, one. "Should you really be telling a child this?"

Bellamy ignored the blond "Let me see that knife I gave you."

Charlotte hands over the knife.  Bellamy grips the knife tightly. "Now, when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say, 'screw you. I'm not afraid.'"

Bellamy hands the knife back to Charlotte. Charlotte repeats the same thing Bellamy had, gripping the knife tightly with both hands. Still, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes cast down at the knife. "Screw you. I'm not afraid."

Bellamy gives Charlotte a look, telling her she can do better. The girl takes a deep breath, tightening her grasp on the knife. This time, the words come out more confident. "Screw you. I'm not afraid."

Bellamy smiles and gently pats Charlotte. "Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep."

"How is it, that you're a total dick to literally everyone else, aside from your sister, and now this little girl?" Dearlin questions.

"Go to sleep, Dearlin," Bellamy replied.
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Bellamy had been the one to step out first. "It's all clear," he says. "Anybody out here?" he calls out. "Jones!"

"We're here!" Jones yelled back.

They followed the voice.

"Lost you in the stew, where'd you go?" Bellamy asked.

Dearlin looked around the group. Atom wasn't with them.

"Made it to a cave down there." Jones answered.

    "The hell was that?"

    "I don't know."

    "Where's Atom?" Daerlin questioned.

Jones shrugged.
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Charlotte let out a scream, causing the others to run towards her. There, on the ground, laid a severely wounded, brunt up Adam. His eyes pale in color, the fog had burnt and blinded him.

"Shit," Dearlin cursed.
"Son of a bitch. Atom," Bellamy says at the Sam time.

Dearlin pulled Charolette steps back, turning her face away from the dying boy. "Go back to camp." He ordered.

But, his head turned when seeing the rest of the group arrive. Charolette stepped past him.

"Go back to camp," Bellamy ordered. "Charolette, Dearlin, you to."

"Bellamy, how many times do I have to tell you? You don't order me around," Dearlin says. "Look, maybe I can get Clarke-"

"Bellamy, please," Atom gasped out, coughing.

"Clarke," Dearlin repeats the name, seeing his sister walk past him and next to Atom's side.

Clarke examines him. "I heard screams."

"Charlotte found him," Bellamy answered. "I sent her back to camp."

Clarke examined Atom, once again, the shakes her head. She takes breathe, soft voice when she speaks. "Okay. I'm gonna help you, all right?" She hums softly before gently taking the knife away from Bellamy. She continued to hum as she pressed the knife into the side of Atom's neck, and continued to him after.
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It was dark by the time they had reached the camp, Dearlin holding two of the sticks, on the front side, of the make-shift gurney they had made to carry Atom.

"Get Clarke whatever she needs," Bellamy ordered when they entered the camp, after placing his end of the gurney down.

"I better go get this grave dug," Wells whispered.

"Wait, Wells," Dearlin calls out. "I need to talk to you."

Wells sighed. "I'm sorry, Dearlin," he says, already knowing what the blond was going to say.

"It's about time," Octavia calls out as she rushed out. "They're gonna kill Jasper. Did you get the medicine?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Come on, let's go talk," Clarke tries to get the girl away from the gurney.

But, Octavia pushed pass her.

"Octavia, just stay there. Please, stay back," Bellamy sounded begging.

"Stop," Octavia says, before she pushed past him.  She removed the jacket, revealing Atom's burnt face. The rest had gasped in horror.

"There's nothing I could to," Bellamy speaks.

"Don't," Octavia ordered, holding a hand up. She brings her hand back down pulling the jacket over Atom's face.

"O, O," Bellamy begs.  "Please."

"Don't," Octavia storms off.

Dearlin goes to follow her. "You know, I'm not a fan of your brother, he's annoying, a jackass, but, there was nothing he could do to save Atom. Atom tripped, or-"

"He should have saved him," Octavia interrupted.
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They had gone to the drop ship, which is where they where holding Jasper, still. It was the safest place for them to hold the injured boy.

It was quiet. Clarke carefully lifted a metal cup of water to Jasper's lips.

"I'm really sorry about Atom." Clarke says.

Octavia    holds Jasper's head in her lap. "I guess we're gonna have to get used to people dying down here, aren't we? But not you. You hear me? You're not allowed to die."
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Clarke shouldered her brother, she said she had figured it out. That it wasn't Wells who told on their father. They found Wells digging the grave.

"Wells? I know I probably don't deserve it, but I need to know the truth." Clarke pauses. "It was our mom. Wasn't it? She's the one who told your dad."

Dearlin stared in disbelief, unable to speaks.

"I didn't want to believe it. I... I couldn't. I blamed you because my father's dead and it's my mother's fault. Isn't it? Wells... Please."

Wells spoke after a second of silence. "I knew how you would feel. I wanted to..."

"How-" Dearlin spoke, shocked. It made sense though. "Why would you take the blame?"

"To protect me. Us," Clarke answered. "So, you let me hate you?"

    "What are friends for?"

    "How can you forgive me?"

    "This is already done." Wells pulls the two into a hug, seeing how Clarke was in tears and Dearlin in shock.
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They had made their way to the drop ship. Dearlin offered to help Wells with digging the grave, but, Wells denied. Saying that he would join the other soon.

Jasper was awake. They heed him speaking as they climbed the ladder. "Was that a dream or did I get speared?"

    "You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it?" Clarke spoke.

Jasper smiled. "My savior."

    "Thank you for not dying. I don't think I could've taken that today." Clarke tells him.

    "I'll try not to die tomorrow, too, if that's cool." Jasper says, making the ground chuckle. Octavia placed a hand on his leg. Jasper smiled back at her. "Oh, hello."

Jasper fell back asleep.
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