chapter twenty-five | the village & hunter
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"I count 26," Finn reported as he and Murphy, both armed with rifles, scouted the grounder village before them. Hunter sat nearby, her gaze fixed on the village. Rain poured down, and the bandages on Hunter's hand were soaked, stained by her own blood.

"I've got 28," Murphy added. "These people don't look like warriors, Finn. And there are children and elderly. There's nothing significant here that could hold our friends," Murphy glanced at Hunter.

"They could be underground," Hunter said, her gaze never leaving the village. Finn turned to look at her.

"We'll wait until dark, then we'll go in," Finn decided.

"We go in? We don't even know if our people are here," Murphy protested, looking at Finn.

"They're here, or they were when that grounder took Clarke's watch," Hunter chimed in, her voice determined.

"What if we're too late, huh? They're probably already dead. We need to—" Murphy's words were cut off when Finn grabbed his shoulder.

"Take it easy," Finn urged.

"How much ammo do we have?" Finn asked. Hunter was about to respond but stopped herself, knowing that her determination wouldn't let her leave without finding her friends.

"I think I liked you better as a peacemaker," Murphy remarked.

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Nightfall arrived, and Murphy, Hunter, and Finn infiltrated the village. Hunter grabbed a log, using it as a torch. "What are you doing? This wasn't part of your plan," Murphy whispered.

"We're changing the plan," Hunter replied as she made her way to a shack containing their supplies. She threw the torch inside, igniting it. The trio quickly moved to cover. The grounders sounded a bell and attempted to extinguish the fire.

"A distraction? Not bad," Murphy smirked.

"Let's go," Finn ordered, leading the way. Murphy got momentarily distracted and nearly ran into a grounder, but Hunter grabbed his arm and pulled him in, saving him from detection. He looked at her before they both got up and sneaked to the other side of the camp. Thinking they were safe, they began moving again, but a grounder spotted them and called for help.

Murphy knocked the grounder unconscious with his rifle. "We need to run!" He reached for Hunter's hand, but she pulled away.

"We can't! They'll kill our people," she argued. Finn rushed over and grabbed the grounder, pushing his rifle against the man's head.

"They'll kill us!" Murphy pleaded.

Hunter drew her handgun, and they walked over to the group of grounders. Finn fired his rifle into the air. "Who's in charge here?" he called out. When no one responded, he pressed the grounder leader to his knees. "I'll ask again, who's in charge?"

A grounder stepped forward, and Hunter aimed her gun at him. "Our leader isn't here. You can deal with me," he offered.

"Nobody has to get hurt; we just want our people back," Hunter spoke.

"We don't have your people," the grounder leader said.

"Then you won't mind if we look around," Finn said coldly, pushing the grounder back to his group before moving away.

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Daylight broke, and Murphy managed to gather all the grounders and place them in a pen. He watched over them as Finn and Hunter continued searching for any evidence of their friends.

Hunter peered behind a shack and froze. She stared at a wall covered with jackets and clothes that belonged to their friends. She moved closer and placed her hand on the clothing. "F-Finn," she called out. "Finn!"

Finn hurried over and also stopped in his tracks. He picked up a jacket and examined it.

"Find something?" Murphy shouted. "Finn! Are you alright? Finn, answer me!" A grounder teenager attempted to stand, but Murphy ordered him to sit back down.

Hunter felt her chest tighten as she continued staring at the jackets, her hand trembling as she gripped her holstered gun. Finn watched her, concern in his eyes. She knew one thing for certain: their friends had been here.

Finn noticed the fear in her eyes shift to anger, and before she could react, he grabbed the jacket, ran over to the pen, and jumped the fence, showing the jacket to the grounder leader. "What have you done with them?" he demanded, raising his gun.

"Hey! Hey! Finn, come on!" Murphy urged.

"Their clothes are here!" Finn exclaimed. "They were here!" He raised his gun again.

"Finn!" Murphy called out.

Hunter managed to ground herself and moved closer to where they were. She stood in front of Finn. "Finn," she spoke softly, placing a hand on his gun. "Please." He looked at her, nodded, and stepped back.

Hunter could feel anger surging through her, and she knew that if they didn't leave now, she was afraid of what she might do. But she also knew that if they didn't find their friends immediately, they would die.

"Look, just because their clothes are here doesn't mean anything," Murphy reasoned.

"He told us our friends are here. Why would he do that?" Hunter asked.

"The guy with one eye? Maybe because you had a gun to his head, Riley," Murphy shook his head.

"The man with one eye," the grounder leader piped up. Hunter aimed her gun at him. "You saw Delano," he said as he stood up, holding his hands up. "He's a snake, a thief. He and his men were cast out. You are his revenge."

Hunter looked at Finn and then at Murphy. "It makes sense, Hunter. We need to go. Okay?" Murphy started to move. "Now! Rylee, we need to go!" Murphy grabbed her shoulder.

She felt disoriented, her gun still trained on the group of grounders as she moved.

One of the grounders attempted to escape, and Hunter felt rage boiling within her. She pulled the trigger, and the grounder fell. She staggered forward, and Finn watched her face, witnessing the fear and anger consuming her.

"He was just trying to get away!" the leader protested.

Hunter's hand shook as she kept her gun aimed at him, her breath trembling, her heart racing.

Murphy grabbed her arm. "Come on."

The grounder teenager got up and started to chase after Hunter. Finn stepped in and raised his rifle, shooting the pursuer.

"Finn!" Murphy yelled.

Hunter fell into a panic attack, unable to breathe, her vision blurred. All she could hear was screaming and gunshots.

"Rylee! We need to go!" Murphy grabbed her arm, and she staggered back. Murphy tried to grab Finn, but he couldn't stop shooting. Murphy screamed for him to stop.

Hunter took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and saw Finn. Tears streamed down her face.

"No," she grabbed his arm. "Look at me. Look at me!" She cried, but he kept shooting.

She looked down and saw her friends' jackets. Panic engulfed her, and next thing she knew, she was standing in front of Finn, but he didn't see her.

He fired at her, and all three bullets passed through her shoulder. She looked at him and fell to her knees.

"Rylee!" Murphy yelled.

Everything seemed to slow down, Finn dropped his gun as he saw her face. Murphy ran over to her and caught her as she fell. She lost consciousness, her gun slipping from her hand.

Tears welled up in Murphy's eyes as he saw the blood gushing from her shoulder and her pale, unconscious face. Finn tried to approach her, but Murphy pushed him away. "Don't you touch her!" he yelled through tears.

Finn couldn't believe what he was witnessing, so he staggered back. Clarke, Bellamy, and Octavia appeared on a nearby hill. Clarke rushed over, avoiding Finn, and knelt down next to Hunter.

"What do I do?" Murphy cried.

Clarke tore a piece of fabric from his shirt and tied it around Hunter's shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "She needs to get back to the Ark, now," she urged.

Murphy lifted Hunter, cradling her in his arms, and he ran. Finn stood there in shock, while Clarke walked up to him, shaking her head. "We need to go."

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- I told you it was gonna be intense eeeee