Three days later, Jasper hadn't got any better. I was by his side almost all the time. On the fourth night, he passed out again, as he had been doing over the last few days. He was constantly passing out and then waking up. Clarke and I were glad that he was unconscious for the moment. He needed as much rest as he could get. However, by the early morning, he was conscious again. He wasn't awake as such but he wasn't asleep either.

I was by his side, holding his hand tight. I had given up on sleep a little while after Jasper had started his moaning. It was loud and it reverberated through the drop ship.

I kissed his hand and watched at Clarke measured his pulse.

I looked to his face. It was contorted in agony. I felt so bad for him.

A tear leaked out of his closed eye and I wiped it away before running my fingers through his hair, hoping to sooth him. He let out another loud groan and I closed my eyes. I couldn't imagine how much pain he was in.

"Go back to sleep!" Someone yelled from downstairs.

"Just shut up!" Anther yelled. I frowned, looking down at the boy before me.

"Don't listen to them. You can make it through this. I believe in you," I whispered to him, rubbing his cheek with my thumb. I could feel Clarke watching me and I felt uncomfortable under her strong gaze.

He whined, head moving slightly.

"Can he just die already?" Someone else yelled. I stood up.

"Thats it, I'm going to kill 'em," I huffed, ready to go down that hatch and let them know who really needed to die. Clarke stopped me, hand on my chest.

"No, just ignore them," she said. I chewed my lip.

"Look, I'm going to go get some clean water. Just, just watch him," she said to me, looking down at Jasper before moving down the ladder. I did as told and sat down beside him again. I watched as Monty kept working on a way to contact the Ark and Octavia slept.

"He's going to make it," I said to Monty after I noticed him glancing at his best friend every few minutes.

"Its just hard to see him like this," he answered. I nodded, running my fingers through his hair.

We were quiet for a few more minutes and eventually Monty sighed. He stepped forward and patted my shoulder.

"You get some rest, I'll look out for him," he said. I smiled up at him gratefully.

"Thanks," I said quietly. I stood up and moved down the steps, once I was on the below level, I found an abandoned space and I lay down in it. I closed my eyes and tried not to listen to Jasper's loud pained moans or the other kids' threats.

Eventually, I managed to drown them out and fall into a light sleep plagued with dreams of panthers.

~~~~

"Alex," I heard a voice call. I groaned and swatted at them with my wounded arm. I hissed, sitting up and looking at the bandages. Shit, there was blood on them. The wound must have re-opened.

"Alex, we need your help upstairs."

I looked at the person in front of me and was surprised to see Clarke kneeling before me. She looked at my arm for a moment and then stood up.

"I'll look at your arm in a minute," she promised. I nodded and stood up as well, following her upstairs.

Unsurprisingly, Jasper was still moaning in pain. I frowned.

Monty looked worried, watching Jasper intently. Finn and Wells were standing in the background.

"Alex, Wells, hold him down," she said, standing over him. I nodded, moving forward and holding his arm down. Wells took ahold of one of his legs and tightened his grip. Finn gripped the other. I looked up at Clarke as she placed a knife into the small fire beside her.

"Oh, I am not going to like this, am I?" Monty asked, standing up now.

As we waited for the blade to get hot enough, I felt fear creep into my bones. What if Jasper doesn't make it? We went to all that trouble to get him back. He can't die.

Clarke looked at the blade and then pulled it out of the fire. It was a hot orange colour and I gritted my teeth, feeling sorry for Jasper for what was about to happen.

"I'm sorry but we have to do this," she said in Jasper's ear. He whimpered and I looked away as she lowered the blade to his skin.

He screamed, back arching and limbs starting to shake. I held him down as hard as I could. God only knows how much this must hurt.

"Hold him still, I need to cut away the infected flesh," Clarke hissed, pressing the knife to the wound.

Suddenly, a tear rolled down his cheek and his head lolled to the side, his eyes rolling back. I felt my stomach lurch. Clarke raised her hand and pressed it to his neck. She sighed with relief.

"He's still alive," she said. I et out a nervous chuckle, pressing a kiss to his sweaty hand.

"Stop it! You're killing him!" Octavia yelled, appearing from the stairs.

"She's saving his life," I said, looking at her.

"She can't, can you princess? The kid is a goner," another voice said. I looked up to see Bellamy standing next to the stairs. Wells stood up.

"Back off."

"Look Bellamy, we didn't drag him all through those fucking woods to let him die," I hissed. He clenched his jaw and balled his fist for a moment before loosening it.

"He's going to die, and if you can't see that then you're deluded."

"The fuck would you know?" I glared.

"He's making people crazy," he said, looking with distaste down at him.

"Sorry if Jasper is an inconvenience to you but this isn't the damn Ark. Down here, every life matters," Clarke spoke up, sweat beading on her brow.

"Take a look at him, he's a lost cause," Bellamy huffed.

Its true that he didn't look the best at the moment but we knew he was going to get worse before he got better.

"Alex, Octavia, I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, theres hope," Clarke said. I nodded.

"This isn't about hope. Its about guts. Its about having to make the hard decisions, which obviously you can't do. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself," he threatened, walking back to the ladder. He paused, arm on one of the rungs.

"Octavia, lets go."

"I'm staying here," she said, not looking at him. I watched as he made his way down. He gave me a second glance before disappearing completely.

"Power-hungry, self-serving jackass. He doesn't care about anyone but himself," Monty whispered lowly, looking at the ladder. He looked up at Octavia. "No offence."

She merely shrugged.

"Yeah, Bellamy is all that," Finn said, "but he also happens to be right."

I looked spat him quickly, mouth agape in shock.

"What?" I uttered, watching him carefully.

"He happens to be right. The odds of Jasper surviving this are... unfavourable. Especially down here," he said, looking from Jasper to me.

"Get out," I whispered.

"What?"

"Get out," I hissed, repeating myself again, this time looking at him in the eyes.

"Alex, look, I'm sorry but its the truth."

"You know what, its fine, I'll leave," I said, standing up and stepping over to the ladder. Clarke looked at me for a moment before going back to working on Jasper.

I glared at Finn one more time before descending down the rungs, Jasper's pained cries following me every step of the way.

Once outside, I made my way slowly over to a secluded area in the sun. I tried to forget my anger at Finn but it was hard. Bellamy wasn't right. Not by a long shot and if he thought he was then he was the one who is delusional.

Alone, I lay down, resting my head upon a mossy log. I breathed in the fresh air and welcomed the suns rays on my skin. I closed my eyes, smiling. To be perfectly honest, I could have stayed there for hours. However, duty calls at all hours and it wasn't long before I head stomping footsteps coming my way.

The smile fell from my lips as I heard Murphy's weaselly voice. "What are you doing, sweetheart?"

"Lying here, what does it look like?" I sarcastically replied, keeping my eyes closed.

"It looks like you're wasting time. Theres things to do around here and they won't get done if people like you keep slacking off."

"And what should I be doing?" I asked, sitting up to look at him.

"We're going hunting and we need more people. Usually, I would be against you coming because you're a girl but I don't care whether you live or die, so," he answered, picking underneath his nails.

"Honestly, Murphy, I couldn't care less what you think," I shrugged, lying back down.

"It wasn't a question. You're coming," he said, stepping forward and glaring down at me. "We leave in twenty."

I nodded halfheartedly and closed my eyes. Murphy spat, the vile liquid landing near my left arm.

"Pig!" I called after him.

And thats how I found myself trudging through the forest, yet again, twenty minutes later. I had made sure that Clarke changed my bandages before I left.

"I didn't expect to see you out here, sweetheart," Bellamy said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really have much choice," I said, glaring at Murphy, who was a few meters in front of us. He chuckled, watching the trees for signs of movement, axe held tight in his hand.

He wasn't wearing his "uniform" today. Instead, he had on a different jacket, this one much nicer than the other.

"You know, I really think you should rethink the whole I-have-no-friends thing," I said, following quietly. He glanced back at me.

"And why is that, sweetheart?" He was smirking, as usual and I smirked back.

"Because I know you're hiding something... and I know that you're going to need some friends to have your back when your secret gets out," I answered, watching as the smirk left his lips.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, jaw clenching and muscles tensing.

"Sure you do."

"Look, sweetheart, whatever you think you know, its wrong. If anyone here has a secret, its you. What did you do to get locked up, huh?" His eyes were glinting maliciously and now it was my turn to clench my jaw. Shit.

"See," he said, an unnatural smile making its way across his lips.

"Our records have been wiped clean, remember?"

"But has your conscience? Can you live with whatever it is you did?"

"Yes," I hissed, gripping the handle of the knife I was given tighter. "Can you?"

He merely grinned. Then, in the trees behind us, there was a rustling noise. Bellamy turned and threw his axe at it. It wedged inside the trunk of a thick tree and we heard the squealing of a boar-like animal as it scurried away, the rest of the hunting party with it.

Next to the tree stood a little girl, very young, maybe twelve or so. She looked wide-eyed at it and then back at Bellamy and I as we approached.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, obviously angered.

"Charlotte," she replied, watching as he took the axe from the tree.

"I almost killed you," he said, looking at her closely. I crossed my arms.

"Why aren't you at camp?" I spoke up as Atom, the boy who had watched over Octavia the other day appeared by Bellamy's side. I figured out his name when Octavia had been talking about him.

"Well, with that guy that was dying, I just - I couldn't listen anymore," she frowned, glancing at the ground before back up at us.

"There are Grounders out here... its not safe," I said, looking at the trees. The rest of the hunting party seemed to have long gone. Hopefully they bagged that boar. People were starting to get hungry again.

"Its not safe for you guys either. I'm not weak so don't look at me like I am," she said, glaring at me.

"Okay, then... well, you can't hunt without a weapon," Bellamy smiled, digging in his jacket pocket. A second later, his hand came out holding a small knife. He handed it to Charlotte and she took it with a small grin on her face.

"You ever killed something before?" He asked, smile still in place. She shook her head quickly.

"Well, who knows, you might be good at it."

Updated on the 26th of February, 2016.