CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

THE SMOOTH METAL OF THE TRIGGER felt strange under her finger, even still after she had learned the basics of how to operate the gun. With a swift movement of her finger, she pulled it and a loud crack echoed. If the Grounders did come back, she wanted to be ready for it. And there was no way she would be if she didn't do any practicing.

The bullet pierced through the hastily made target and she quietly commended herself for actually making it on the target that time. Taylor had not been so lucky every single other time. But it was a learning process, and oh was she determined.

The morale of camp had been lifted somewhat with the arrival of Unity Day. Finn had not exactly approved of her practicing shooting considering the occasion, but she quickly reminded him that he didn't approve of the day itself. She had to admire how much he strived for peace, but this was one of those times where she didn't particularly agree with him.

"Guns on Unity Day? I'm shocked," a sudden voice commented from behind her. Just as the words entered her ear, she pulled the trigger once again and made it closer to the center of the target. She smiled and shrugged with nonchalance, proud that the distraction hadn't impacted her shooting.

"You're starting to sound like Finn," she told Bellamy, not looking back as she already knew who was behind her. It had taken her until just then to realize that the sky was transitioning into the night, the orange glow surrounding them in a haze.

"Then I should stop talking," he replied with a grin she couldn't see, still focused on aiming her gun toward the center of the target in front of her. "You're shooting too low, too far to the left." His fingers brushed on her arm and adjusted her aim slightly. She took in a sharp breath and focused in, pulling the trigger. This time she very nearly made it in the center, closer than she had gotten the entire time.

Lowering the gun, she turned around to face him with a full-blown smile. And she would admit, that felt good after all of the troubles that they had faced. "Seriously, take a break. You've been going non stop lately," he said, gesturing to the festivities that were now beginning around camp, some already heavily enjoying Monty's freshly made 'unity juice'.

"All right. But you have to promise to do the same," Taylor told him and he nodded with a smile. Even though Finn had been talking about how the whole idea of Unity Day was wrong, she couldn't remember the last time everyone around her had smiled this much.

Leaving Bellamy to his own devices, she locked up her gun where they had decided to keep them. A guard, of course, was posted there all hours of the day just as people were posted on watch. She, Bellamy, and Clarke had decided that this would be the best way to handle the guns.

After a few hours, when she was only halfway into her second drink — she thought it would be wise to go easy — Clarke approached her with a lightened, but still grim, look. "Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt —" she began, but Taylor set down her drink on the nearest surface and shook her head.

"What's up?" she inquired, knowing that something was up and her relaxing break was now coming to an end.

"Finn set up a meeting with the Grounders," Clarke started with a touch of exasperation evident in her features. Taylor probably looked the same, more shocked, even, but she let Clarke go on. "And he wants you to be there. I think you should come too."

Slowly, she nodded and processed the information that she was just given. "Yeah, okay. I'll go. No way we can stop him, right?" she responded. Clarke laughed slightly in agreement and told her to go wait outside of the gates and not to tell Finn that she was asking Bellamy to follow behind them with guns. To a meeting in which they had agreed they wouldn't bring weapons. It was shaping up to be quite the success already.

Finn was standing alone at the gate, giving her a small smile when he saw that she had agreed to come with. "I'm glad you came," he said. "I know Clarke doesn't agree. I thought you might be willing to give it a shot."

"I really hope that this doesn't end up getting us killed," she responded grimly, her arms wrapped tightly around herself now that the fire was further away and the cold night had begun to hug her unwelcomingly. "I think...it could be a step in the right direction. But we have to tread carefully."

"Careful's my middle name," he assured jokingly, Taylor shaking her head in reply. His eyes drifted behind her and lit up slightly and she turned to find Clarke approaching. "All ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," Clarke said, gesturing for him to lead the way to where the meeting would be taking place. Taylor glanced at her and raised her eyebrows to which Clarke nodded; it was set — Bellamy would be following closely behind them.

Where they were going seemed like it was familiar, but she really couldn't tell. The woods looked different in the dark and she hadn't explored the woods as much as Finn had since they had gotten there.

"I'd love it if you were right about this," Clarke began, breaking the silence, "but did you ever consider it might be a trap?"

"Yep, but since it's Unity Day I decided to have hope instead," he answered. Taylor scoffed lightly, Finn casting a glance back at her.

"How very optimistic of you," she muttered and he simply shrugged. To think, it was the same guy that had been going on about what a lie the entire celebration was and how it wasn't truly about unity.

A dip in the ground caused him to stumble roughly and grab his side with a wince. "Let me have a look at that," Clarke hurried out as Finn slowed to a stop and started to unzip his jacket in order for her to get a better look.

Taylor stood in front of them and watched as Clarke examined the wound, her eyes eventually drifting up to Finn, who had already been looking at her in a certain sort of way the entire time. They looked like that for a few seconds too long, Taylor clearing her throat loudly. Their eyes snapped to her, Clarke seemingly breaking from whatever had come over them and rolled his shirt down.

"Seriously, Finn, you're putting a lot of faith in a guy who stuck a knife in you," Clarke chastised while Finn simply raised his eyebrows playfully.

"And you're sounding more and more like Bellamy," he retorted almost disapprovingly.

"I'm just trying to keep us alive," she defended. Finn zipped his jacket up quickly and nodded.

"So am I."

__________

By the time they had reached the meeting place, an old concrete bridge that seemed rather sturdy despite the years of wear and tear, morning had broken across the sky and light was fully surrounding them.

A figure was already standing on it and once their feet hit the stone, a frown settled itself on Taylor's face. "So that's how you set this up," Clarke realized, looking between Octavia and Finn. Octavia looked disfavored at her words. "You helped him escape, didn't you?"

"I trust him, Clarke," she said in a genuine, earnest tone. Taylor just let out a disbelieving sigh, not even because of Octavia's connection with the Grounder, but because how exactly was it that Finn knew about any of this before she did?

"There's a lot of that going around," Clarke commented cynically, giving Finn a look. Rustling sounded from the other side of the bridge where their vision was obscured by the trees. "Someone's coming."

A figure broke out from the foliage into a jog, and Taylor recognized it as the Grounder that they had kept captive. Sudden guilt rolled through her in waves, but her thoughts were interrupted by Clarke nudging her in the side. Catching sight of where Clarke had wanted her to look, she saw movement below the bridge in the far trees where three figures were coming into sight. Their backup had arrived successfully, which made her feel slightly better.

She looked up to find Octavia embracing the Grounder in a tight hug, smiling at him once they let go and giving him a meaningful look. There appeared to be much more than trust going on between the two. Clarke began to back away cautiously once his gaze reached her, but Finn caught her by the hand before she could get any further.

Increasingly loud thumping sounds came from the other side of the bridge and Taylor's eyes widened in shock when the creatures finally arrived at the base of it. "Oh my god," Clarke let out with a bright smile. "Horses."

The amazement of the incredible creatures ceased when the three made their way up to Octavia and Lincoln when they saw what the two Grounders beside the one in the center were holding. "Hey, we said no weapons!" Finn exclaimed, looking at the Grounder, Lincoln, in shock.

"I was told there wouldn't be," he responded, looking just as surprised as Finn was probably feeling. It would have made her more upset had they not already brought weapons of their own.

"It's too late now," Clarke dismissed, Taylor presuming that she had the same thoughts as her about the situation. All they could do now was hope that the meeting went well and there would be no need for weapons.

Clarke and Finn exchanged a glance before taking a few steps forward. Lincoln put his hand on Finn's chest and shook his head, telling him, "She goes alone."

She assured him that she would be fine and it was time to do better, exchanging a nod with Taylor before walking down to the other side. The woman who was in the middle of the two other Grounders dismounted from her horse and began to do the same as Clarke.

It seemed daunting, and Taylor couldn't even imagine what was going through Clarke's mind in that moment. This was when she began to feel slightly more nervous about everything. When they met in the middle and Clarke offered the woman her hand, it felt like two ridiculously different worlds colliding. And when the woman didn't do anything, it felt like colliding and then exploding in a whirlwind of fiery thunder.

"This is starting to feel not so hopeful," Taylor mumbled after the conversation had been going for a bit and things seemed to be getting more tense with every growing second. The minutes ticked on and she stood there almost frozen in time on the bridge with Finn, Octavia, and Lincoln.

"CLARKE WATCH OUT!" an echoing voice pierced through the air, everything going at about a million miles an hour from that point forward. Jasper had begun shooting at Grounders left and right, Raven and Bellamy right behind them. She felt Finn push her back out of the way and shout for Clarke.

He ran right into the gunfire and arrows that flew through the air, the two running back to where the others were located frantically. Lincoln grunted from beside her and Octavia fretted over the fact that he had been hit. He brushed it off and there was little time to worry about it by the time Clarke and Finn made it to the end of the bridge.

"Okay, run, don't stop until you get behind your walls," Lincoln told them, Taylor scrambling up from the ground frantically and grabbing hold of Octavia when he pushed her in their direction. "Go! Take her!"

"Lincoln, no!" Octavia screeched, despite his protests for her to leave. Taylor yanked her forward again beside Clarke and they were running. It was deja vu hitting her now, the same fear she felt every time that they had to run or hide.

They merged with the others that had followed them and soon enough they were a group that dashed back to camp together. Taylor could barely tell who was beside her or behind her, only focused on Octavia in front of her.

By the time they returned to camp, which was the same as they had left it conducting business as usual, it had become dark again. It didn't feel to her as though it had been a whole day, but then again, she wasn't counting. Everyone camp to a halt at the gates, breathing heavily and leaning over to catch their breath.

"You got something to say?" Bellamy snapped at Finn, who had begun to glare at Bellamy since the moment they had come to a stop.

"Yeah! I told you no guns!" Finn yelled, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"I told you we couldn't trust the Grounders! I was right," Clarke argued with a knowing face, Taylor looking at them all as they fought, still catching her breath.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" Raven questioned accusingly, sounding hurt and nearly betrayed by the fact that Finn hadn't clued her in.

"I tried but you were too busy making bullets for your gun!"

"You're lucky she brought that!" Bellamy defended. "They came there to kill you, Finn."

"You don't know that, Jasper fired the first shot!" he retorted in an even louder tone.

"Stop it," Taylor objected finally, figuring that the discussion had gone far enough and didn't need to escalate any further than it already had.

"You ruined everything," Octavia finally chimed in, addressing Jasper directly.

"I saved you!" he called after Octavia, now wearing an incredulous look. He scoffed before shaking his head and mumbling, "You're welcome," before storming off.

"Well if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now," Finn interjected, looking at all of them with an indicting look. "You didn't have to trust the Grounders, you just had to trust me."

"We can't trust each other if we play the blame game like this," Taylor snapped, clearly none of them having listened to her earlier when she told them to quit the fighting. "Grow up, or else we're going to have bigger problems than just the Grounders."

There was no way that they could win a war with the Grounders if they were at war with each other.