chapter nine | octavia & a grounder attack
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Octavia had been missing for twelve hours, and Bellamy rallied most of the camp for a search party.

"Listen up, everyone. Grab a weapon," Bellamy declared, laying out an assortment of arms. "My sister has been out there, alone for twelve hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her."

The group quickly armed themselves. Hunter spotted her homemade spear and grabbed it. She noticed Jasper preparing to join and stopped him. "Hey, Jasper. You don't have to do this. You haven't left camp since we brought you back."

"Hunter, I need to do this," Jasper replied with determination.

"We need all the people we can get," Bellamy intervened. Jasper nodded, grabbed a weapon, and his wooden torch before heading out. "We need a tracker," Bellamy added, glancing at Hunter. "Finn, get out here."

When there was no response from Finn and Raven's tent, Bellamy grew impatient. "Finn, we're leaving."

"All right, I'm coming," Finn called out. As the camp prepared to depart, so did Hunter. Finn rushed out of his tent and encountered Hunter. "Hey. Hey, wait."

Hunter turned to face him, noticing his shorter hair. "Nice haircut," she remarked.

Finn sighed. "We should talk about this."

"Finn, Raven's your girlfriend. There's nothing left to talk about," Hunter said, moving to leave.

"Hey, hold on. It's true, you know I care about Raven. But you and me, we started something—"

"Something we shouldn't have," Hunter cut him off, looking down and then back at Finn.

Finn looked down as well. "Are you sure? Because I'm not."

Hunter hesitated to respond, but their conversation was interrupted by the group calling for their attention. "Guys, come here!"

Finn and Hunter approached the group, their gaze drawn to the sky. Despite appearing to be a meteor shower, it was actually a funeral: the flares had failed to work.

"We have to talk to them," Clarke asserted. "Three hundred people won't be enough. The oxygen level will just keep dropping, and if we don't tell them that they can survive down here, they'll kill more people. They have to."

"Guys," Jasper interrupted their discussion. "We gotta go, come on."

Finn looked at Raven, saying, "I gotta do this. You should stay and fix the radio, okay?"

"Fix it? The transmitter's smashed. Unless there's a parts depot down here, we're not talking to the Ark," Raven replied.

Hunter looked down. "The bunker," she said, and when Raven looked at her, Hunter continued, "I know a place you might be able to get a transmitter."

"The art supply store?" Clarke asked. Hunter nodded. "I can take Raven there. You stay here, Hunter."

"Finn, Hunter?" Jasper spoke. "We're not gonna find her without you guys."

Finn and Hunter turned to walk away. "Be careful," Finn called back.

"Hey," Raven grabbed Finn and kissed him. "I love you." Hunter took a deep breath, feeling increasingly guilty by the second. I have to tell her.

Finn paused before responding, "I love you too." He then glanced at Hunter before the group left to search for Octavia.

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The night wore on, and they eventually found a clue—a piece of Octavia's clothing near a ditch. The group continued deeper into the woods, led by Bellamy. However, they soon discovered a second set of footprints, indicating that someone had been carrying Octavia.

Their search eventually led them to a disturbing sign: bodies strung up, bones of people, and spears jutting up from the ground.

"I don't speak grounder, but I'm pretty sure this means 'keep out,'" Finn observed.

Most of the group opted to leave, unwilling to risk their lives further. Only Bellamy, Finn, Jasper, Hunter, Roma, Mebege, Monroe, and Diggs remained.

"My sister, my responsibility," Bellamy declared.

"I'd walk through hell to find her," Jasper added.

"I think we just did," Finn concluded.

"Might as well die a hero," Hunter muttered to herself.

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As night turned into day, they continued their search, but leads were scarce. Finn eventually admitted, "I got nothing. We lost the trail."

"Keep looking," Bellamy ordered.

Unbeknownst to them, grounders were stalking the Sky People. One grounder descended from a tree and snatched a deliquent.

"Wandering around aimlessly isn't going to help your sister," Hunter suggested. "We should backtrack—"

"I'm not going back," Bellamy interrupted.

"Hey," Roma said, worried. "Where's John?"

"I just saw him a second ago," Jasper mentioned.

"Spread out. He couldn't have gone far—" Bellamy began but was interrupted when a body fell from the trees. Mebege.

The group rushed over, fear consuming them. "They use the trees," Finn observed, looking up.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary," Diggs lamented.

"Now can we go back?" Roma inquired.

The grounders surrounded the Sky People, taunting them with menacing stances and raised spears.

"We should run," Hunter suggested.

In seconds, they all sprinted away. Finn stayed close to Hunter, ensuring her safety as they fled.

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 They ran for a considerable time until Bellamy finally stopped. "I'm sick of running anyway."

"Hey—" Finn began.

"They know where she is," Bellamy asserted.

The grounders caught up with them, already having taken another of their group—a boy with a shaved haircut. He was killed by a trip wire and multiple spears to the chest. Roma chased after him, trying to find him. Not long after, they found Diggs, but Roma was killed and pinned to a tree with a spear.

Bellamy approached her, saying, "She only came because of me," as he gently closed her eyes.

"They can kill us whenever they want," Hunter acknowledged.

"Then they should get it over with!" Jasper shouted. Finn and Hunter rushed over. "Come on! We know you're out there!"

"Jasper!" Hunter grabbed him and hushed him.

"Bellamy!" Monroe cried out, signaling the presence of more grounders. This was short-lived, as a horn was sounded, causing the remaining grounders to retreat.

"That horn. What does it mean?" Jasper asked.

"Acid fog," Finn stated as he began dismantling his tent. The group rushed inside the tent as quickly as they could.

"How long are we supposed to wait?"

"How do we know it's working?"

"Is your skin burning?"

"We'll find out,"

"No, we won't," Bellamy opened the tent, but there was no fog.

"Maybe it was a false alarm?" Finn speculated. A lone grounder emerged, sprinting in an unfamiliar direction.

"I think he's alone," Hunter whispered.

"He doesn't see us. I'm going after him," Bellamy declared.

"And what? Kill him?" Finn inquired.

"No. Capture him. Make him reveal where Octavia is. Then, if needed, deal with him," Bellamy stated as he walked away.

"How can we be sure he's not leading us into another trap?" Jasper voiced his concern.

"We can't," Hunter replied, and she joined Bellamy in pursuit.

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They followed the grounder into a dimly lit and chilly cave. Bellamy cautiously led the group inside. Faint sounds of rattling chains and loud thuds filled the cave.

Bellamy entered first and discovered Octavia trying to unchain herself, with an unconscious grounder lying nearby. "Octavia?"

"Bellamy?" Octavia sighed with relief. Bellamy quickly unchained her.

"Monroe, watch the entrance." Bellamy and Octavia embraced, sharing a moment of relief. Octavia noticed Hunter and Jasper smiling at her.

"How did you find me?" Octavia walked over and hugged Jasper.

"We followed him," Hunter gestured toward the unconscious grounder. Octavia looked over and hugged Hunter tightly.

"We should go before he wakes up," Octavia suggested.

"He's not going to wake up," Bellamy grabbed Hunter's spear.

"Bellamy, stop. He didn't hurt me. Let's just go," Octavia attempted to reason with him. Finn knelt down beside the unconscious grounder, and Hunter did the same.

Finn noticed a horn with symbols on it. "Fog horn."

Within an instant, the grounder regained consciousness, grabbed a knife, and stabbed Finn, causing him to fall on top of Hunter.

"No! Finn!" Hunter held onto Finn while watching Bellamy and the grounder engage in a fight. Jasper knocked out the grounder, and they rushed Finn back to camp.

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"Clarke! Where's Clarke?" Jasper yelled as they reached the camp. Clarke hurried over.

"Hey. I'm here, what's up?" Clarke asked, looking at Jasper.

Hunter and Bellamy carried Finn into the dropship. "Finn?" Clarke rushed over to him, checked his pulse, and stated, "he's alive."

"Hunter wouldn't let me take the knife out," Jasper explained.

"No, that was a good call," Clarke replied, rushing to treat Finn. "Get him in the dropship, now. Go!"

Four boys carried Finn into the drop ship. Raven rushed over to Clarke and Hunter. "Clarke! Can you save him?" She asked with concern.

"No. Not me, I need my mother. I need to talk to her," Clarke responded.

"There's still no radio," Raven sobbed in frustration.

"Raven! Fix it. Go!" Hunter ordered.

A storm was approaching, and Hunter was about to discover how far she was willing to go to save someone she loved.

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