CHAPTER FOUR
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     SHE MADE HER WAY TO WHERE OCTAVIA WAS STANDING and looking like she was trying to cover the pained expression on her face. "Come on," she said nodding to a larger log that she could sit on. Her wound hadn't been attended to since the previous day and it didn't look like Octavia had checked it since then.

     "Let's see it," Taylor pushed on after Octavia had sat down and looked at her blankly. Sighing, she rolled up her pants, revealing the bloody bandage wrapped around her leg. Bellamy approached the two with a wet piece of cloth to help, probably having seen Taylor trying to redress the wound.

     She grabbed the cloth from his hands without a word, leaving him wearing a muddled look. "What?" he asked expectantly. Taylor shook her head and raised her eyebrows.

     "What do you think?" she asked him. "I know what you're doing and I know why. Seriously?" She didn't want to be having that conversation with him, she would rather be doing anything but. Though it seemed to be something that she wouldn't be able to avoid no matter how hard she had tried.

     "Yeah, you know exactly why. They're probably going to think you helped anyway. Neither of us is supposed to be here," he defended pointedly. Taylor gave him a challenging look as she contemplated the possibility of the consequences she could face for Bellamy's actions and her own choice to accompany the criminals down to the ground.

     "What are you talking about?" Octavia grunted achingly. The two glanced at each other before looking back at Octavia and dismissing her.

     "Nothing," they both answered simultaneously. She shot Bellamy a dirty look and threw the wet cloth that she had taken from him back towards him.

     "I don't want to talk about this right now," she finalized as he caught it. The next couple of minutes were quiet, save for Octavia's sharp cries of pain that occasionally pierced through the silence as Bellamy tried to clean the wound.

     "What the hell was it?" Bellamy asked as he began to tie the wound back up as carefully as he possibly could.

     "I don't know," she replied. "The others said that it looked like a giant snake. Clarke says that it was something else that attacked Taylor." He took a glance at Taylor who was now sitting next to Octavia indignantly. Bellamy finished tying up the bandaging and looked at Octavia.

     "You could've been killed," he scolded.

     "She would have been if Jasper didn't jump in to pull her out," Clarke chimed in as she approached the three, Wells following behind her closely like some kind of lost puppy.

     "You guys leaving?" Octavia inquired as she pulled the bandage on her leg tighter as if getting ready to leave with them. "I'm coming too." Bellamy put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down slightly to prevent her from moving any further.

     "No, no way. Not again," he ordered with a sure tone.

     "You're not going to get anywhere with that leg, O," Taylor added on with a sympathetic look towards Octavia, knowing that she wanted to accompany them.

     "They're right. You're leg's just gonna slow us down," Clarke agreed. She diverted her gaze to Bellamy and said, "I'm here for you."

     Wells looked offended at the fact that Clarke was going out of her way to speak to Bellamy. "Clarke, what are you doing?" he asked, his eyes growing wide.

     "I hear you have a gun," she went on and Bellamy looked down and pulled his shirt up, revealing the gun tucked in his waistband. Taylor stood up and breathed in sharply; it was no secret among everyone else that Bellamy had a gun. That worried her like nothing else. "Good. Follow me."

     Clarke started to march away after her command and Bellamy turned around slowly, looking at her incredulously. "And why would I do that?" he inquired. She stopped abruptly and turned to face him.

     "Because you want them to follow you, and right now, they're only thinking one of us is scared," she snapped cleverly with a smug look on her face. She knew that she had struck the right nerve in order to get him to come with. Bellamy sighed and watched as she strode away.

     "Murphy, come with me," he commanded as he pulled on his jacket. "Atom? My sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?" A boy walked up from behind them and positioned himself in front of Bellamy, ready to take any command that he was given.

     "I don't need a babysitter," Octavia interrupted moodily. Taylor sighed and started off towards Clarke. She wasn't going to stand around or run away. Not this time. She was going to face what the ground was throwing at her, no matter what it took.

     Not long after she left, she could hear the rustling of branches and the thud of boots behind her, seeing that Bellamy and Murphy had finally joined. They were talking quietly about something that she couldn't quite hear. She shot Bellamy a dirty look before facing front.

     The steps behind her became more brisk and audible. Bellamy had caught up to her despite her efforts to walk faster than him. "I don't want to hear it," she snapped angrily. Bellamy scoffed and lifted his arms and dropped them to his sides indignantly.

     "I'm doing this protect us! I'm trying to protect you," he argued earnestly. She looked at him blankly and sighed, looking in front of her and avoiding any eye contact with him instead.

     "Bellamy, looks like your girlfriend's pretty pissed off," Murphy mocked from behind them with a laugh. They both looked back at him and glared daggers for the uninvited comment.

     "Shut up Murphy," Bellamy retorted. That seemed to quiet Murphy, as he made no other comments. As Bellamy snapped at Murphy, Taylor took the opportunity to walk away and leave the two behind. Like she had told him just a few minutes before, she didn't want to hear anything that he had to say.

     She took in everything around her, searching for a distraction. The ground enough was one quite sufficient, and she had become rather proficient in distracting herself after all those years of not wanting to deal with what was happening right in front of her.

     "Hey, hold up!" Bellamy called to the entire group this time. He now had his gun pulled out and was gesturing with it as he spoke. "What's the rush? You don't survive a spear through the heart."

     "Put the gun away, Bellamy," Wells said immediately once he caught sight of him. Murphy was quick to react, grabbing Wells by his jacket and shoving him.

     "Well, why don't you do something about it, huh?" he taunted heatedly, his grudge against Wells still ever evident.

     "Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly. It doesn't mean we have time to waste," Clarke elucidated, almost completely ignoring the hostility between Murphy and Wells. She turned to continue their journey, but Bellamy grabbed her wrist before she could go much further.

     "As soon as you take that wristband off, we can go," he said with a smirk. Taylor rolled her eyes, ever more enraged at him considering the conversation that they had just had. Clarke yanked her arm out of his grasp and stepped towards him with an intimidating look on her face.

     "The only way the Ark is going to think I'm dead is if I'm dead. Got it?" Her eyebrows were raised and her fiery tone was enough to indicate that she was not going to do anything he told her to.

     "Brave princess," Bellamy gibed, the ridiculous smirk not leaving his face. There was a susurrus sound suddenly emitted from the trees and they all snapped their gazes away when they heard the voice that had accompanied it.

     "Hey, why don't you find your own nickname?" Finn questioned as he strode up to the group. "You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground. Clarke, come with me." Clarke gave Bellamy one last angry look before following Finn.

     They had been hiking for hours and Taylor felt her wound from the day previous starting to act up. A sore discomfort was starting to settle in but she figured that it would be okay since there was no fresh blood soaking the bandage. She would just have to deal with it until the ordeal was complete.

     She emerged from the trees and looked at the sight before her in awe. An undersized, calm waterfall trickled softly into a stream. The damp of the water filled the air, every breath she took being utterly clear. She felt like nothing she had ever experienced on the Ark could ever compare to that single moment.

     She spotted Clarke and Finn across the river looking down at something beside the bank. Taylor stepped into the water and traversed over rocks, dipping her feet into the water every so often. When she finally reached them she discovered that what they were observing was wet, sticky blood coating parts of the rocks.

     "Jasper..." she whispered in horror, not eager to see the kind of shape he would be in once they found him. If they ever did find him.

     The other two looked up at her as Murphy, Bellamy, and Wells emerged from the same forested area behind them. "Come on, this way," Finn spoke, attempting to follow the trail as accurately as he possibly could.

     Soon enough they were all walking in the larger group that they had begun the trek with. Finn was leading, looking down at the ground and around in the trees. The blood trail was becoming less obvious and his focused eyes were determined not to miss any sign of Jasper.

     "Hey, how do we know this is the right way?" Murphy interrogated in a bored tone.

     "We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker," Bellamy answered exasperatedly, clearly not believing that Finn was qualified enough for the job.

     "It's called 'cutting sign'. Fourth year Earth Skills. He's good," Wells assured stonily. It was becoming apparent that he was getting weary of the two others. Taylor herself had a few comments that she had burning at the tip of her tongue, but decided to keep them to herself.

     "You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" Finn reprimanded impatiently. His gaze drifted to a large bush and his expression shifted more seriously. One of the twigs was broken, barely hanging off of the plant. He held it up to where it would have been previously positioned before squatting next to small droplets of blood on the pebbles.

     Quietude hung over them, the only sounds being Bellamy murmuring something to Wells and the soft dribble of the stream behind them. A haunting groan echoed through the forest out of seemingly nowhere. Chills were sent down Taylor's spine.

     "What the hell was that?" Murphy asked, sounding serious for the very first time since they had embarked from camp.

     "Now would be a good time to take out that gun," Clarke told Bellamy, disregarding Murphy's question entirely. Finn led the group through the brush and they hurried in a crouch, not feeling safe enough to stand taller with the threat of danger looming over them.

     They came out in front of a large clearing with a tree in the center. Jasper was tied to it quite high up, blood and cuts covering his body. He didn't seem to be coherent as his eyes were shut and his groans were absent. Taylor wanted to throw up at the horrific sight, having greatly underestimated how serious things were in her mind when she had decided to go.

     "Jasper," Clarke breathed as he continued to moan in pain. The same fear she had felt when Jasper had been taken was returning, completely against Taylor's will. "Oh my god. Jasper?" Clarke hurried toward the tree, everyone following her closely.

     "What the hell is this?" Bellamy questioned, also sounding more serious than he had been the entire rest of the time.

     Suddenly the ground beneath Clarke cracked and she dropped down, only Bellamy's arm keeping her suspended above the pit of spikes. They seemed to be frozen in that position as Finn and Wells called out to pull her up in panicked tones; even Murphy was helping the others to pull her out.

     "You okay?" Finn asked concernedly. Clarke nodded absently as she stared down at the pit, backing away from it and getting to her feet.

     "Yeah," she confirmed breathlessly. She gave a quick glance at Bellamy before turning her gaze back to Jasper. "We need to get him down."

     "I'll climb up there and cut the vines," Finn volunteered without missing a beat, moving forward to get to the tree.

     "Yeah, yeah, I'm with you." Wells nodded along as he started to follow Finn. Finn simply shook his head and gestured to Clarke.

     "No. Stay with Clarke," he dismissed. Taylor personally thought there was no reason Clarke needed someone to watch her. There were plenty of people around and they were conscious of possible traps. His gaze fell to Bellamy, whom he nodded at. "And watch him. You, let's go."

     He signaled for Murphy to come with him and he begrudgingly followed. As the two carefully climbed the tree, hyperaware of their actions, Clarke stared up at Jasper with her eyebrows furrowed.

     "There's a poultice on his wound," she pointed out.

     "Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" Wells questioned, coming off just as confused as Clarke.

     "Maybe what they're trying to catch likes it's dinner to be breathing," Bellamy speculated. The entire live bait concept was quite frankly scaring Taylor and she suddenly felt all the more vulnerable.

     "Maybe what they're trying to catch is us," Finn offered, letting a menacing cloud of worry settle over the group. Minutes passed and they were still in the tree taking their time in cutting Jasper down. Finn ordered Murphy to hurry up as the day was growing longer and their time was growing thin.

     "Be careful!" Clarke cautioned anxiously from below. A soft growling resonated from nearby, causing Taylor to snap her head in the direction of the noise.

     "Did anyone else hear that?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the area where she thought she heard the sound coming from. There was no response to her question. It came again and this time she looked at the others to make sure she wasn't crazy or hearing things.

     "What the hell was that?" Murphy inquired from the tree. She was glad that she wasn't just imagining it but not so glad that it was actually real.

     "Grounders?" Bellamy questioned from beside her. She jumped a little at his voice, not even noticing that he had ended up there.

     A large charcoal black panther emerged from the forest, showcasing its large ivory teeth in a snarl. Her eyes widened and everyone began to back up as it started off prowling in their direction. She felt Bellamy's hand taking hold of her arm and slowly pushing her behind him.

     "Bellamy, gun!" Clarke called when the creature broke into a violent run. Bellamy looked down in search of his gun but when he felt for it at his waistband, it was no longer there. Several gunshots alerted him as to where it was; Wells was shooting rapidly at the animal as it dashed in and out of the bushes.

     There was a silence, leaving them with the mistaken thought that it was dead. A loud roar was accompanied with it pouncing out of its hiding place, headed directly for Bellamy and Taylor. He shoved her back behind him one last time as she braced for impact.

    Another gunshot sounded and the panther landed in front of the two with a sickening, lifeless thump. Taylor stared at it with her eyes still wide, horrified. Bellamy's gaze lingered on it too before he turned to Wells who had just finished clicking the empty gun.

     "Now she sees you," he said. She had no idea what that meant and was too pumped full of adrenaline to care.

     Soon after that, Murphy and Finn were able to get Jasper down from the tree and they were on the journey back to camp. Hours passed and the black night had settled upon the earth like dust. Her leg was bothering her more and more with each step she took and the haven of camp looked exceptionally amazing when they reached it.

     Jasper was taken into the dropship quickly for immediate medical attention, much to Monty's relief. Murphy and Bellamy carried in their new food source; the panther that Wells had killed. Taylor achingly made her way to the dropship before casting one last dark look at Bellamy as everyone praised him for the kill.

     The bottom floor was empty as everyone was distracted by the outside's happenings. She leaned against one of the walls on the very far end of the room, letting the day's events wash over her slowly like the waterfall that she had marveled at earlier.

     Every awful thing was bobbing to the surface and before she could stop it, her cheeks were damp and she was feeling nothing but frustrated. She felt weak crying because she was scared and because she had felt nothing else that entire day.

     Taylor pushed back against the wall and turned around, kicking it hard in frustration. This only caused more tears to flow and she sat down dejectedly. She didn't look up when she heard someone coming down the ladder, only hoping that they'd go away.

     "Hey, you okay?" a familiar voice asked her. She didn't look up or respond, still holding to the hope that Finn would just let her be. But the footsteps approaching her dashed that hope fairly quickly. "Taylor?"

     "Not really," she responded with a wavering voice. There was a small pause as she looked at her hands in thought. "What was that you said to Jasper earlier? About being afraid?"

     "I told him the trick is not fighting it," Finn responded as he took a seat down next to her.

     "And...how does that help?" She was finally looking at him now, his smile at her question bringing her some level of comfort.

     "I think that if you're too busy trying to fight it, you can't do anything about what's at hand," he elaborated. Taylor nodded slowly and looked back in front of her, focusing her eyes on one spot on the wall.

     "You know today, that's all I could feel. Fear. The need to leave everything and not deal with what was at hand. And I just...I hated feeling that. More than anything. I don't want to be afraid. I can't be afraid," she said, finishing with a whisper. She wiped her cheeks, wondering if she would regret bearing her feelings to what was virtually a complete stranger. "I'm sorry, I probably sound ridiculous right now— "

     "No," Finn interrupted reassuringly. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it consolingly. "Being brave isn't saying that you aren't afraid. It's knowing that you are and dealing with it."

     She smiled weakly. "Thanks, Finn," she said quietly as the two stood up. He smiled and exited out the front of the dropship, leaving her alone once again.

     Taylor took a deep breath and felt ready to take on the planet that she had come to all too voluntarily. She was done worrying, she was done letting fear stop her. She knew that she was going to have to start throwing caution to the wind more often.