CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Let's see how many of you payed attention in Earth skills." 

 ***

 We have only been walking for twenty minutes when the group slowed to a stop. I realized a second too late and almost smacked into the back of Monroe, who just so happened to be walking right in front of me. Bellamy reached out and grabbed my arm at the last second, and I flashed him a small smile of thanks. 

 I craned my neck, understanding that Octavia is at the front, and relaxed. I am glad Octavia is leading the group, as she probably could tell when something is going wrong. 

 Maybe that is why we stopped. 

 Before I could say anything, there was a dull thunk from the front of the group, followed by a series of sharp gasps, making me grip my gun so tight my knuckles turned white. It was Jasper that jerked everyone from their frozen state, with two syllables, drawn out to the point it was almost comical. 

 "Grounders!" 

 I was almost knocked over again in the frenzy of screaming campers as everyone tried to get back to camp all at once. I stumbled, but managed to catch my footing. Most people's coordination has improved since coming to Earth, mine got way worse. 

 I managed to catch myself, turning and sprinting in the direction of camp, dodging around campers and trying to push to the front, apologizing quickly when I accidentally hit someone with my rifle. I got to the gates, huffing and doubling over to take a second to catch my breath. I reached over to grab the rope and pulled the heavy doors open, giving everyone a chance to run back in. I darted through and jumped up so I could peer over the edge of the wall and direct my gun to the woods. There was no movement once the last of the campers filed through, and Bellamy popped up beside me, gazing through the scope of his gun near the same spot I was looking. 

 "It's still," I muttered, as Clarke came up behind me and squinted into the forest. Her eyebrows furrowed, "something isn't right." She mumbled, and I nodded in agreement, turning so I could trade a look with Bellamy. 

 "Lincoln said the scouts would be the first to arrive." Clarke turned, dropping to the ground next to Octavia and Jasper. The girl's face was stony, her arms crossed. She looked like an entirely different person than the girl who chased butterflies when we first got here. 

 "If it's just scouts we can fight our way out... that's what Lincoln would do." 

 "We're done doing what that Grounder would do," Bellamy retaliated as we lowered our weapons and dropped to the ground, I dusted off my pants, running a nervous hand through my hair. "We tried it and now Drew is dead," he narrowed his eyes, "you wanna be next?"

 "That Grounder saved our lives countless times," Finn shot back, annoyance lacing his tone.  He turned back to Clarke, obviously done dealing with Bellamy, "I'm with Octavia... for all we know there could be one scout out there." 

 "One scout with freakishly good aim-" I added my input quickly, pointing out the obvious. "That one scout could still pick us off unless we find where they're stationed." 

 "Clarke, we can still do this-" Octavia pressed, although Clarke and Bellamy were both staring at me. I raised my hands in the air, wondering if I did something wrong. 

 "What?" 

 "It's your call, Sunshine." Bellamy smirked slightly, making me bite my lip. "Go and get picked out in the open, or stand here and fight." 

 I stared at him for a second, running through this scenario in my mind. They wanted me to make the decision that could kill us all, or save us all. I could feel the weight of the world bare on my shoulders, my hand drifting to my belt to gently brush my fingers over the hilt of the knife. The knife that had previously belonged to a Grounder. They can miss... they can fail. 

 "Let's see how many of you payed attention in Earth Skills." I smirked, crossing my arms and peering into the forest. "You guys know how much Pike loved teaching us fighting techniques." 

 Bellamy leaned his head to the side, clamping his lips together in an effort to keep a smile from spreading across his face. I felt a hot feeling slide through my chest, but I smiled back, hope swelling in my stomach. 

 Maybe we can win this. 

"Looks like you got your fight," Clarke said, giving me a hard, calculating look. It was a look I was familiar with, one that said, 'I hope you're right, but I think you're wrong' 

For once in my life, I want to prove Clarke wrong. 

 "Gunners to your posts!" I yelled, raising my voice to be heard over all of the commotion in the camp, "this is what we have been preparing for! Kill them before they kill us! Use the tunnels to get in and out... from now on the gates stay closed!" 

 I swung my gun into my front hand and turned to Bellamy, "good luck, Blake."

 He stared down at me, looking torn. His eyes flashed up and down for a solid minute, before he finally responded, "you did good, Sunshine. Maybe next time we go hunting you can actually help." 

 I laughed, shaking my head slightly, "I don't know about that." 

 Bellamy shook his head, resting his hand on my shoulder, "I do," he slipped a small knife from his pocket and handed it to me, I laughed airily, looking up at Bellamy and raising my eyebrows. 

 "I don't know how much good that'll be against Grounders." 

 "Well, it's mine," he cocked his head, smiling softly, "and I'm expecting it back." 

I pursed my lips, nodding and slipping it into the waistband of my pants, "thanks, Blake... you will." 

  "I better," Bellamy pulled his hand away, looking over his gun, "if not I might just have to beat you up." 

  I laughed, angling my head so I could get one last look at the sky, before turning and staring right into Bellamy's eyes in one last burning gaze. 

 "I'd like to see you try." 

 And then I was gone. 

 ***

 For a while, everything was quiet, just the whistle of the wind and the quiet static of the walkie-talkies. 

 And then the drums started. 

 A low, rhythmical  thump that seemed to get steadily closer and closer. War drums, the sound of the battle in the Grounders eyes. 

The sound of grade A creepiness in my eyes. 

 "Nate," a soft whisper broke the sound of the drums, and Octavia slowly crawled over, her hair falling in a wave behind her back, and her face anxious, but set. "I need your help." 

 "What's up?" I whispered back, adjusting the magazine in my rifle, and tapping my fingers. Octavia stiffened, glancing behind us at Miller, who was staring through the scope of his gun at the trees. 

 "I need to get out of here." 

 My back straightened, and I turned to give Octavia an incredulous look, thinking off all of the ways Bellamy would hurt me if I told him I let his little sister run into the middle of a war ground unprotected. "You're dreaming." 

 "I need to get to Lincoln," she hissed, her voice taking on a new dangerous tint that made the hair on my arms stand straight up. "He could be in trouble." 

 "I'll be the one in trouble if I help you leave here," I bit my lip, glancing over at Miller nervously. "And Miller's holding a big-ass gun so I really don't want to make him mad." 

 "You have a gun too!" She hissed, smacking my arm lightly, "I just need you to get me a gun, okay? Then I'll have something." 

 I raked my eyes over the foxhole. Everyone in here had some form of a gun... but they are all either holding them, or have them pressed against their shoulders, I grimaced, but still, if Octavia was leaving camp, she had to have a gun, or she was good as dead anyway. 

 No offense, O. 

 "Fine," I stood up silently, making a note of all the tripping hazards around us, and positioned my gun so it was pointing forward. Octavia stood up after me, her eyes wide. I slung my gun off of my shoulder and outstretched it toward the girl in front of me. 

 "What? No, you need that!" 

 "You can cover both of us," I whispered, "because I'm coming with you." 

"You can't-" 

 I made a 'shut up' motion with my hand, and jerked my head in the direction of all of the gunners. Her lips tightened into a tight line, but she grabbed the gun nevertheless. 

 I gestured for her to follow me, and as soon as we were out of sight, broke into a run, letting Octavia lead the way. 

 Before long, the sound of gunshots and battle-cries filled the space we had just left. I didn't mean too, but my legs slowed, and I came to a stop, the pounding in my head having nothing to do with the running. 

 "Nate-" 

 "We have to go back-" I tried, but Octavia shook her head, the grip she had on her gun tightening considerably. It looked so weird to see such a small girl with such a big weapon. "No. We've come way too far to go back now." 

 "I-I have too," I turned, thinking of all the people were left back there, I heard a loud, female, scream and my entire body seized. 

 "Nathan!" Octavia barked, stepping forward until the gun was the only thing keeping her from jabbing her finger into my stomach, "don't you want to find my brother? Don't you want to make sure Clarke is okay?" 

 My expression was pained as I glanced behind me into the dark woods, where I could still hear gunshots and grunting. "Octavia, I-" 

 "You're not the guy who jumped into the lake to save me anymore!" Her voice rose, "you can't be that guy all the time, or you will die! So come on, because we left to do something and goddamn-it we-"

 Her voice was cut off when a familiar yell came from the direction we were moving in. We both froze, giving each other identical looks of worry. 

 "Was that Bellamy?" 

 I didn't answer, I just ran. 

 The sounds of slashing and gunshots were getting closer with each footstep, until we were right on top of them. Octavia slung the gun off of her shoulder and began shooting, while I grabbed the knife from my belt and slashed at a Grounder that got too close, ducking under an obnoxiously long sword. 

 Octavia disappeared somewhere in the mix, but that wasn't my main problem at the moment, as a hard kick to my side sent me stumbling, almost tripping, but not quite. 

 Guess who it was? 

 "Hello, Sky-Boy." Phia grinned, her teeth looking almost as daunting as her sword. She swung it around like she was trying to annoy me. I vaguely heard a voice tell me to run, but I couldn't, not when she already thought I was a loser. 

 "Hello," I responded, and her eyes flickered down to the knife in my hand, Phia jerked her head to the side, down to narrow her eyes at my knife. "I see you found my knife?" 

 I blanched, "your knife?" I repeated, not sure if I heard right the first time. Phia miss-aimed? She tried to kill me for the third time in like, a week? 

 What a bitch. 

 "Why do you need a knife when you have a huge sword?" I asked, holding it out a little more in front of me, the Grounders surrounding didn't attack, like they were waiting. A stab of fear went up my chest when I didn't see the Blake siblings anywhere. 

 Phia didn't answer, instead, she lunged forward and swung at me. I yelped like a kicked puppy, swinging my own blade wildly and managing to knock hers away. It was the most skill I have ever produced, and I knew she was only using five percent of her ability. 

 I was sweating bullets, and my hair stuck to my head at awkward angles, although the girl in front of me looked like killing a bunch of teenagers was something she could do in her sleep. She twirled the knife around in her hands and swung at my head, making me duck and jerk to the side to avoid being stabbed again. 

 "Do you always poison your knives, or was I a special case?" I asked as she circled me like a wolf, I tried to hide how scared I was by a sarcastic comment. 

 "You are a special case," she quirked her lips in a sinister smile, "the first Sky-Person who has ever faced me and lived. You don't understand though, no matter what you can do, you will never be able to best me." 

 I was expecting this to go on longer, so I had a full speech prepared, but before I could say anything, a deafening roar came from the tunnels, and a second later, Finn Collin's ran out, his hair flying wildly behind him like his flag of truce. Behind him, a hoard of barking, yelling people that looked exactly like Grounders followed, crashing into the group that surrounded me.

 I didn't think, I just ran as fast as my legs could take me in the direction I saw Bellamy last.