There was a small, orange fire lit in camp. Most people were sat around it. Waiting.

I was nervously pacing up and down, checking everything on my gun was working. It was a huge worry of mine that when the time came, something would go wrong with my weapon. Call it paranoia, if you must.

Eventually, Bellamy came to my side. Neither of us said anything, we just stood in silence. But for some reason, his presence comforted me.

After what seemed like hours of intense waiting, drums started to ring out in the distance. War drums.

"They're here." Someone breathed out. I swallowed thickly, my hands beginning to shake with nerves.

Bellamy's eyes met mine and he nodded at me. "You ready?"

All I could manage was a nod of my head. He placed his hand on my shoulder, guiding me to the tunnel. The two of us ducked underneath it and made our way to our posts. I stepped into position, shifting my gun and looking through the scope.

"Where's Octavia?" Bellamy asked. I glanced over, noticing her missing presence.

"She left 5 minutes ago," Miller replied. "Didn't say where to. She thinks she's a damn samurai."

"You see anything?" I questioned.

"No," Monroe answered from behind me. "What the hell are they waiting for?"

"The longer they wait, the better," Bellamy explained, his voice still so calm despite the situation at hand. "This is about buying time for Raven."

"I see them. They're moving!" Someone exclaimed over the walkie talkie. "I count two, three. No wait, there's more. I don't know, man. There's too many of them."

Gunfire rang out in the distance, startling all of us. The sound jolted through my body, and I suddenly felt sick.

"Who was that?" Bellamy demanded.

"Sterling, I think," Miller replied. "South foxhole."

Bellamy grabbed the walkie talkie. "South foxhole! South foxhole, report now."

More gunfire sounded before Sterling replied. "Yeah, yeah. We're ok. They didn't attack. It's like- it's like shooting at ghosts."

"There!" Monroe exclaimed. "I see them!"

I noticed a figure sliding through the trees and everyone immediately started to shoot. I aimed, my finger brushing the trigger. But then I paused. The grounders weren't advancing. They just kept moving through the trees.

We were wasting bullets.

"Wait! Stop!" I grabbed the walkie from Bellamy's pocket, much to his confusion, and pressed the button. "Don't shoot! They're trying to lower our defences so when they attack, we'll be out of bullets. You got that?"

"Stop! Stop!" Bellamy ordered Miller and Monroe. "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Eventually the shooting died down and came to a close. "Reload. Now."

"Those were our last clips," Miller answered, causing me to groan.

"We should- we should fall back," Monroe stated nervously.

"No. If this position falls, they'll walk right to the front door," Bellamy stated. He picked up the device again. "Everyone, Billie's right. Make sure you don't fire unless they're attacking."

And so, for a while, we just watched the grounders run through the trees. The occasional shot rang out here and there, until suddenly, there was a loud explosion that silenced everyone.

"Raven, our mines actually worked!"
Jasper exclaimed through the walkie talkie.

"Jasper, we need you in the dropship right now," I heard Clarke reply, cutting his celebration short.

Bellamy picked up the walkie. "Negative. We can't give up the west woods."

"The west woods are mined, Bellamy," Clarke pointed out. "The grounders just figured that out. Jasper, get in here."

I turned to Bellamy. "Let him go. It's obviously important."

Bellamy held my stare for a moment before eventually giving in. Everyone moved back to their posts, as did I. Yells soon started to erupt around us and soon enough, the grounders were coming out from every direction. My hand tensed around the gun, my heart pounding in fear.

"Here they come!" Miller yelled in warning, positioning himself to get a good shot.

I looked through my own scope as one of the grounders ran into my vision. It felt like I had all the time in the world to make this shot, like everything had just stopped for me.

And then I pressed the trigger.

Jolting back to reality, I looked up in shock, watching as the grounder fell to the floor. I choked out a breath, realising what I'd done.

I'd killed someone.

One press of the trigger and they'd lost their life.

My hands shook as I reached for the gun again. I knew that I was doing this for the sole purpose to kill; they were going to wipe all of us out and I had to fight against that. This wasn't just for me, but for all those other people in the camp. But even though I knew that, I'd never imagined myself killing someone.  Ever.

I'd now lost a part of me that I couldn't get back. How could I live with myself now that I had stripped someone else of their life?

The grounders began to come towards our foxhole and Miller and Monroe started to fall back. Bellamy stood his ground, shooting a grounder in the head as soon as he appeared.

I wanted to run. That is all I wanted to do. I was terrified. My fight or flight response was to run. But then I remembered what Bellamy had told Charlotte. Fear gets you killed.
So I stood my ground too, no prepared to leave Bellamy's side. No matter what happened.

"Bellamy!" Miller yelled, just as an arrow from one of the grounders lodged in his shoulder.

Another grounder then grabbed Bellamy, slamming him against the trunk of a tree. He fell to the floor as the grounder wrapped his hands around his throat. I aimed my gun straight away, but it was completely knocked out of my hands. I barely had time to glance over before a grounder knocked me down.

I fell to the ground, grabbing the gun and swinging it up underneath the grounder's chin. He stumbled back and I scrambled up to get in a position to shoot him. I aimed for his head but changed my mind at the last minute, shooting him in the leg instead.

I turned backwards, watching as Octavia appeared to help her brother up. I breathed out in relief, until Octavia stumbled forwards, an arrow sticking out of her shoulder.

"You're hit!" Bellamy exclaimed. "Miller fall back!" He ordered, before turning back to Octavia. "Can you walk?" She nodded but fell as she tried to move forwards. Bellamy grabbed her, lifting her up. "O. Hey. Hold on to me. Let me get you behind that wall."

"I saw-" someone's voice came through the walkie talkie but Bellamy cut them off.

"Stand your ground," He ordered. "If  they take the gate, we're all dead."

I let out a frustrated groan, weighing out my own options. Bellamy wanted me here, but Clarke had made it clear earlier that she wanted me with her too. In the end, I went with Bellamy. But in all honesty, I now knew we weren't going to be able to hold the Grounders off. So I decided to ignore Bellamy's command and head back to camp. I had to help initiate plan B before it was too late.

"They've broken through!" A voice proclaimed over the walkie talkie. "There's hundreds of them! They're heading for the gate! Game over, man!"

I ran faster, darting into camp just as the gates closed. Miller was perched on the ledge, looking very anxious. "There's too many! Everybody to the dropship now!" He yelled.

"No!" Clarke exclaimed as she headed over. "Gunners, stay at your posts. The rest of you, inside. Come on, move."

Everyone made a mad dash to the dropship until a sudden explosion rippled through the air. My head snapped up in the direction of the sky, where a large ball of fire was descending. I stood beside Clarke, who was watching with wide eyes.

"Is that from the Ark?" I frowned.

"That is the Ark."

Gaping up at the sky, I watched as the ark broke into dozens of smaller pieces and cascaded down to the ground. The sound of the grounders starting to attack the gate caught my attention again. Suddenly, animal sounds ricocheted through the air. One of the grounders then exclaimed, "Reapers!"

And I realised that this was what would buy us time. "Clarke-" I started.

"Get everyone to the dropship," She instructed, glancing around the camp. "Now!"

I stepped forwards, raising my voice. "Everybody but the gunners to the dropship now!"

Groups of people came rushing over and I ushered everyone inside, leaving just me, Clarke and a couple of other gunners outside.

"Billie," Clarke turned to me, her eyes burning with sincerity. "Go with them."

"Hell no," I shook my head firmly. "I'm staying out here."

"I need you to go in there and check on Raven and Jasper," she said, a hint of impatience in her tone of voice.

"Clarke-" I countered, standing my ground. But I could see the look in her eyes. Maybe I would be better help in the dropship.

"Billie!"

The two of us stared at each other for a moment before I nodded and jogged inside. It was chaos, frantic people were everywhere. I made a beeline towards Raven, who didn't appear to be moving.

"Shit. Raven?" I asked, placing my fingers on her neck, to check her pulse. "Raven?" She was unresponsive, but she was breathing.

Clarke and Finn burst inside and I waved them over. Clarke's slightly shaking hands steadied as she injected a serum into Raven, which was supposed to slow down any internal bleeding.

"Clarke!" Miller shouted as he stepped over, holding his shoulder and wincing in pain. "They're taking down the gate!"

"Good," Jasper popped his head up from the latch, a triumphant smile on his face. "Because I did it. I think."

A loud crash sounded from outside and Miller stormed towards the door, exclaiming, "I'm closing that door!"

"Wait!" I stood up, making my voice heard. "Bellamy's not back yet! And we've still got other people out there!"

I pushed past Miller, grabbing my gun and stepping off the dropship. If they were closing those doors, I wasn't going to be inside without my friends. I aimed my rifle and took a deep breath as my finger brushed the trigger. There were so many grounders, and they were advancing towards us. Squeezing my eyes shut briefly, I released the breath I was holding and shot at every single grounder in my line of vision.

My actions made me feel sick to my stomach, but I was doing it to survive. I was doing it so our people could survive. It was us or them, that was how it was going to be.

"There he is!" I heard Finn shout from behind me. I looked over in the direction Finn was pointing to see Bellamy appearing from a tunnel. 

"He's never gonna make it," Clarke mumbled, before raising her voice. "Bellamy, run!"

Then I realised it was just Bellamy there. No Octavia. A breath hitched in my throat and my heart completely fell. We'd lost Octavia because of the grounders. We were losing people because of them.

Another group of grounders came through the walls and I lifted up my gun again. This time, I barely paused as my finger touched the trigger and I fired at as many of them as I could, angry tears beginning to cloud my vision.

If it wasn't vengeance for what happened to Octavia, it was because I had to give Bellamy time.

After I moved the gun down, I glanced over to my left, noticing a grounder punching Bellamy over and over. I turned to Clarke and Finn who were watching in horror.

"He's killing him!" I exclaimed, my voice cracking as I looked back at Bellamy once more. I couldn't stand there and do nothing. I couldn't watch more of the people I cared about die. Hastily, I swallowed my fear and turned back to face Clarke, my voice barley above a whisper. "I'm sorry."

She called out my name as I
I went to step forwards. Even if I died doing so, I had to help Bellamy. Because I knew that if I was in his position, he would do the same for me. And I could not lose him.

Before I could move any further, someone grabbed my waist, causing me to stumble backwards. I looked up to see Finn. "I got this one."

"No, Finn, No!" Clarke screamed, before I could even register what he was going to do.

I watched in shock as he fired at the grounder, who inevitably released Bellamy. I went to follow him but Clarke grabbed my wrist, digging her nails into my skin as she pulled me back. "I can't lose you too!"

Pushing through the pain barrier, I used my other hand to pull her off me. "Clarke, let me go!"

Finn dived at the grounder, who tackled him to the ground. I watched as Bellamy struggled to stand up before tackling the grounder as well.

"We can't save everybody!" Miller placed his hand on my shoulder, jolting me back into my own reality. "Let's go!"

"No," I said sternly, my eyes flickering back to Bellamy and Finn. A hand then tugged at mine and I pulled against it. "Stop!" I shrieked desperately. "Bellamy and Finn are still out there!" I shrugged out of the person's grasp, realising it was Clarke. Betrayal hit me.

"We have to go."

"No!" She pulled me back again and so did someone else, I presumed it was Miller. The two of them were making it almost impossible to fight back. "Stop!" I dug my heels into the ground, looking back over at Bellamy and Finn once more. "Bellamy!" I screamed.

He looked over and his fearful eyes locked with mine for a moment. Everything seemed to slow down until my gaze was ripped away, as Miller pushed me behind him and into the dropship, sending out one final shot.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jasper grabbed my arm, steadying me as I stumbled inside.

All hope was lost.

Clarke walked in with tears streaming down her face. With her mouth formed into a blank expression, she headed over to the lever, slowly pulling it down.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye." I choked out as I buried my head in Jasper's chest. I felt him wrap his arm around me, his hand rubbing my back comfortingly.

There was no way that Bellamy and Finn would be able to survive the explosion about to occur.

All hope was lost.

The sound of blades slicing the air caught my attention and I pulled back from Jasper, looking over to see Anya standing with two swords at her side.

I immediately aimed my gun, rage burning through me. This was all her fault. The door started to close, leaving Anya stuck inside, with guns being pointed at her left, right and centre.

"Jasper now!" Clarke commanded.

There was a small device in his hand with a switch that he flicked. I waited in anticipation, but nothing happened.
My eyes widened in fear. This was our only other plan. We were going to be caught. This is how it ends.

"No," Jasper mumbled, frantically continuing to flick the switch.

"Anya," Clarke said, realising the trouble we were about to face. "You can't win."

Anya drew the sword at Clarke but Miller slammed his gun into her, knocking her to the ground and away from Clarke. People immediately started to surge forwards.

"Stop!" Clarke exclaimed. "Get back." She pointed a finger at someone.

"She deserves to die!" Miller pulled out a dagger but Clarke grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving.

"We are not grounders."

Everybody stopped in their tracks.

My eyes flickered over to Jasper, who suddenly plunged wires into the small device. There was a moment of silence before a large explosion sounded from outside the dropship, burning everything outside to ash and dust.

~

The metallic door to the dropship fell to the ground with a crash, smoke billowing out of it.

I didn't want to move.

I watched as the crowd dispersed, people knocking into my shoulder as they headed past. Eventually, I gathered up the courage to step outside. Memories from when we first landed on earth suddenly hit me. The fresh feeling of freedom. The beautiful scenery. Now, it was the stench of the dead. The horrific scenery of flesh and bones.

I stood beside Clarke, gripping her hand like a lifeline as we headed over to the spot where we last saw Bellamy and Finn.

I didn't realise how much I cared for Bellamy. During our time here, we'd been allies, enemies, friends. But in the last few days, he'd started to mean everything to me. I'd begun to really care for him. And now, he was gone.

The smell and the sight of everything also reminded me of when we went to investigate the exodus ship. That's when I knew I'd lost mom. And now, I'd lost Bellamy.

I wanted to think that maybe he and Finn had got away before the explosion, just like I wanted to believe Octavia was still out there alive. But all of that was false hope. I felt so numb, so empty; like there was nothing left.

A sudden ball of red smoke jumped at my feet and I frowned, glancing at Clarke as two more were thrown into camp. Was it another attack from the grounders? Were they finishing us off?

I glanced back at Anya, to see if her face would give it away. But one look at her fearful expression told me that this was something else. Maybe something even more dangerous.

Smoke gathered around us, trapping us, and I gagged as the smell filled my nostrils. My whole body became weak and I dropped to the floor, where I shared a brief panicked look with Clarke. Was this the end?

It didn't take long before my vision blurred, and I fell into an impending abyss of darkness.

All hope was lost.