CHAPTER FOUR

"He get's sassy when he's emotionally traumatized."  

***

I haven't moved this much in like, my entire life. We were all sprinting through the woods, jumping over stray roots and praying that none of us would get shanked. 

 I kept muttering a colorful array of curse words as we ran. I kept one hand firmly on Monty's, basically dragging him along. My lungs were burning from my overall lack of athletic experience, and I could feel the gravity pressing down on my shoulders; as if willing me to trip. 

I guess his foot caught on a root, because we both went sprawling on the uneven forest floor. I rolled once, spitting a leaf from my mouth, before scrambling to get back up. Monty was frozen, staring at the ground and trembling. 

 "Come on!" I hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking him up, before almost dropping him again at what met my eyes. It was a... skull. I think. 

 "What the hell is that?" I demanded as Clarke caught up with us and sucked in a breath. "I-I mean, who? Is that a person?" 

 "Not who." Clarke corrected, giving me a wide-eyed look. "What." 

 I doubled over to try and catch my breath. "We are so screwed." Octavia mumbled. 

 A sharp scream pierced through the air, making me jump and almost fall over again. Jasper. He was alive.  

 "Jasper." I whispered, taking another deep breath and turning to run in the opposite direction. My feet hit the ground hard, and I was sure I was making a crap-ton of noise, but it didn't really matter. Jasper was alive. The spear didn't hit his heart, or any other organ you need to survive. 

 "Nate!" Clarke appeared in front of me, making me run into her, but stop running nevertheless.

"Get the hell out of my way." I growled, narrowing my eyes at the blonde. Clarke may be able to ruin my life, but I won't let her leave Jasper to die. 

 She seemed to sense my defiance, wincing. "Just... stay out of the tree's."  

 I nodded, and together, we all crouched down behind a cluster of bushes, I was already grimacing, just waiting for a spear to come out of nowhere and kill me. 

 "We was right there." Finn pointed. It was true. The body was gone, leaving the Mount Weather sign on the ground. They took him. Those little assholes took Jasper. 

 "They took him." Monty muttered. We shared another look. 

Jasper was alive.

But certainly not for long.

 ***

The hike back to camp felt like it took decades. Monty and I were basically walking for each other, and with the weight of that we could be speared at any moment, and that our best friend could be dead, it was a miracle I didn't fall over.

 Camp didn't seem to be doing much better. 

 I instantly rolled my eyes when I saw Well's standing there with a knife to Murphy's throat. I was too tired for this shit. First day on Earth = not a success. 

"Wells!" Clarke snapped. "Let him go."  

 The boy obliged almost immediately, shoving Murphy to the ground. The latter jumped up, lunging at the Chancellor's son. I let go of Monty, jumping down a small hill and almost twisting my ankle, brushing my hands off on my pants as my heart thumped erratically in my chest. I couldn't get the image of Jasper getting speared out of my mind, it kept replaying; as if it was permanently painted on the back of my eyelids. 

 "Murphy! Enough!" Bellamy's annoyingly sexy voice scolded. He turned and caught sight of his sister's limp, disregarding whatever fight-club he had started, and rushing over. "Octavia? What happened?" 

 "Where's the food?" Some kid asked, and I shot him a look, feeling my lip curl.

 "Oh, we hid it in the forest for a dramatic reveal party." I grinned sarcastically, before scoffing and pushing past Bellamy, who watched me with a confused look in his eyes. "Where do you think it is, dipshit?"

 Monty grimaced, "Sorry, he get's sassy when he's emotionally traumatized." 

 "We didn't make it to Mount Weather." Finn voiced the obvious, while I sat down on a log and glared at the ground. Wind tostled my hair, the unfamiliar sensation sending goosebumps rising up and down my arms as I swallowed. When I pictured coming to Earth, I am pretty sure this is the exact opposite of what I expected to happen. 

 "We were attacked." Clarke explained to the gathering crowd. Someone sat next to me, and I didn't need to look up to know it was Monty. 

 "Attacked? By what?" Wells asked, and I scoffed.

 "Funnily enough, it was a swarm of butterflies." I drawled, speaking before I could tell myself not too. "Real scary, Jaha, be lucky you weren't there."

 "Shut up, Nathaniel!" The boy shot back, his eyes never leaving Clarke.

 "Ohh full name, I'm super intimidated." 

 Clarke stepped between Wells and I's little conversation. That kid annoys me to no end, we hadn't gotten along ever since we were kids. He was always the perfect example of a kid from Alpha Station. While I was... not. 

 "Turns out when the last man came back from the Ark, he wasn't the last Grounder." Finn explained, his voiced laced with nerves.  

 "It's true, everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is, radiation won't kill us." 

 I, not wanting these guys to get their hopes up, pitched in. "Bad news is, the Grounders will." 

 The majority of people in the camp were staring at me, probably wondering why I have such a bad attitude. Let me stab your best friend through the chest with a spear and see how you like it.  

"Where's the kid with the goggles?" 

 There it is. 

 "Jasper was hit." Clarke explained, and I huffed, raising to my feet so I could walk over to Finn and Clarke. Sitting down was making my legs cramp, and I wanted to make sure that they didn't mess up the story too bad. "They took him." Her eyes drifted to Wells's wrist. I followed her gaze. There was no annoying band wrapped around it, just pin marks in the exposed skin. "Where's your wristband?" 

 "Ask him." 

 My eyes drifted over to Bellamy, who smirked, crossing his arms. "How many?" I had to ask. Hey, I am not exactly what you would call stupid. Most of the time at least, but I want to know if the Ark will come down, even if over half of us had 'died'. Bellamy seemed to have an awfully large ego, but maybe he had his reasoning. 

 "Twenty-four and counting." Murphy shot me a smug look. Clarke glanced over to size up my reaction, and seemed unsatisfied by my nonchalant shrug. 

"You idiots!" She hissed, and I took a step away, taken aback by the outburst. "Life support on the Ark is failing, that is why they brought us down here! They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. You take off that wristband, you're not just killing them, you're killing us." 

 "Okay, it physically pains me to say this!" I jumped in, my dark hair falling into my eyes from the wind. "But Clarke's right." I grimaced, placing a hand on my chest as if I was in physical pain. I saw Clarke roll her eyes at  my drama-queen personality, and resisted the urge to smirk. "We're just a group of stupid, irrational teenagers-" 

 Many of the group surrounding us made offended faces, although I thought I saw Bellamy smirk.

 "Don't look at me that way, you know it's true!" I snapped. "Come on, they have guns up there, experienced fighters, and things we need to survive. No matter how badass you think you are, you need food, you need water. We aren't robots for Christ's sake!" I rolled my eyes, feeling irrationally mad. "Go on, make your big counter speech." I said, turning to Bellamy. He wanted people on his side, even if his side involved dying of thirst in mere days. "But whatever you say will probably be bullshit." 

 And with that, I patted his shoulder, dished out a rather fake smirk, and stalked away. 

***

"Nate?" 

 I hummed in response, busying myself by ripping apart sticks and chucking them at the ground. Clarke, realizing I wasn't gonna kill her now that we're alone, spoke up. 

 "We're going to look for Jasper." 

 "Cool." I stood up, brushing off my pants. My green eyes bore into her icy blue ones as my default glare that resurfaced whenever Clarke was around came through. "Who's coming?" 

 "Um-" She twiddled her thumbs. "Well, me, Finn, Wells, Murphy, Bellamy, and... you I guess." 

 I scrunched my nose. It was no secret I wasn't too fond Bellamy and his sidekick. They think they can rule through force. That's how we lived on the Ark... it's shit. Especially when you were on the recieving end of the stupid rules.  

 I almost laughed thinking of it. Priviledged kids were supposed to have the best lives out of everyone, and somehow I managed to fuck that up for myself and my mother... that takes some top tier idiocy.

 "'Kay." 

The thought of my mother made me hesitate, and right as she turned, I made a split second decision, and reached out to grab her arm. "Hey." 

 She looked down, probably doing a small search for small knives or sharp objects. I rolled my eyes. "Look, uh-thanks. For, helping me out back there." 

 "Of course." 

 "This doesn't mean I forgive you." I deadpanned, turning away so I didn't have to see her face. "Just... Maybe I can eventually." 

However unlikely that may be.

Without waiting for her response, I turned to jog back into camp. The small group was already gathered, and the sun shone bright in my eyes. Bellamy and Murphy caught sight of me and shared a look. 

 I wasn't in the mood. "You look like you're about to mug me, what?" 

 Bellamy laughed, hanging his head. "Do you have a sarcastic comment for any possible sentence?" He asked, surprising me slightly. I was expecting him to make a comment about the little speech competition earlier, not my sass. 

 "Uh, yeah I wrote a book." I pursed my lips, nodding. "Super popular." 

 "A simple yes would have sufficed." Murphy muttered, his eyes fixed on the wristband that I still had. I rolled my eyes. 

 "If you're planning on holding me down and taking this off me." I held up a wrist, staring holes into their heads. "Might wanna think again." 

 "Why?" Bellamy asked, taking a step forward until we were almost face-to-face. "You gotta bodyguard that we don't know about?" 

 "No." 

 "Then how exactly are you gonna stop me?" 

 I didn't actually have a straight answer to that. What was I gonna do to stop him? If his little plan has anything to do with interfering getting Jasper... well I would kick his perfect little face into a tree. Leaving the wristband on was more of an act of defiance than it was me supporting the other side.

 "Let's just say you don't know what I was locked up for." 

 I caught the look that flashed in his eyes as I turned away, as soon as they couldn't see my face, allowing a smile to tug at my lips, breaking into silent laughter. Oh, those guys are so naive, I love it. 

 We began our trek into the forest. It was uncomfortable, as Murphy and Bellamy now think I am a convicted murderer, plus, Wells annoys me to no end. Clarke was... Clarke, and Finn... well Finn is pretty cool. 

 "What's the rush?" Bellamy asked, jogging to fall into stride with me. "You don't survive a spear to the heart." 

 "Wanna test that theory?" I muttered, though if Bellamy heard me, he didn't let on. 

 "Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he would have died instantly." Clarke turned, her eyebrows quirking when she saw Bellamy and I walking together in harmony. "It means we don't have time to waste." 

 "Hey!" 

 Clarke turned around, and I made a big show to roll my eyes as Bellamy grabbed my wrist and held it up. "Why don't we go when Sunshine here takes off his wristband." He challenged, cocking an eyebrow as I shook my head slightly. And I thought I was dramatic. 

 Clarke gave me an expectant look, and I cleared my throat, tensing my muscles and throwing my arm back so that the hard part of my wristband smacked Bellamy in the face. He dropped my wrist, and I grinned triumphantly, snorting. Clarke nodded, turning back around. 

 "You got nerve." He growled, taking a threatening step forward. 

I copied the action, spreading my arms out, "What're you gonna do, shoot me?" 

 "Hey!" Finn, ever the peacemaker, appeared from the trees, pushing me back slightly. What a coincidence, he pushed the guy with no gun. "You all this a rescue party? We gotta split up, cover more ground. Clarke, come with me."

And then they left me with one guy who didn't like me anyway, one guy that I publicly humiliated in front of the whole camp, and one guy who I just head bashed with a wristband. 

This is gonna be fun. 

 I stuck up my middle finger at Finn's retreating back, cracking my knuckles and walking forward. Bellamy was quick to follow. 

 "Well, since you won't tell me why you're here, I'm just going to assume it's for assault." 

 Now, I swear I didn't mean to, but I burst into laughter at his remark. Almost immediately I coughed and tried to cover it up, but the damage was done. Bellamy pointed to me dramatically and sighed. "Wow, Sunshine has feelings." 

 "You know that is a really annoying nickname." 

 "Perfect for you." 

 "Shut up." 

 "As much as I am enjoying this playful banter-" Murphy cut in, "It's also making me want to shove this stick in my eye." He handed me just that, and grinned, walking ahead. I snapped the twig and flicked it aside, sighing and jogging ahead in the direction Clarke and Finn had gone. 

My boots crunched against the ground, and I frowned. Every sound seemed amplified, it was unnerving. My entire life, I was used to doing things silently; now, nature was interfering with that sense of normalty. I pushed aside a cluster of branches when I heard soft voices on the other side; evidently belonging to Finn and Clarke. I was kind of expecting them to be making out and was prepared to cry and run, but instead, I was greeted with a silent, running river. 

Wait... what? 

 Did they cross? I furrowed my eyebrows, leaning forward to get a view across. I don't see them. Anywhere. I mean, the tree's obscure most of my vision, but there is no rustling, and no-

 My thought was cut short when a firm hand on my back sent me sprawling. I yelled out, but couldn't say much before I slammed into the cold water. Almost immediately, I resurfaced, coughing, sputtering, but ready to fight whatever the hell that was. 

 Instead, I was met with the hysterical laughter of two teenagers. 

 "You assholes!" I yelled, holding a hand to my chest and taking a deep breath. My shirt was plastered onto my torso, and my hair was stuck to my forehead. Finn just hollered with laughter, and Clarke hid her face in her hands, her shoulders rising up and down. 

 "Masteron, what-" Bellamy burst through the trees, his gun level, but lowered it when he took in the scene in front of him. Finally, he began to laugh too, his cheeks turning red as I splashed Finn. 

 "Yeah, yeah, soak it all in." I raised my hands, fighting the smile that grew on my lips. "Let's all bully Nate, that's a fun game." 

 "I-I'm sorry," Clarke struggled to redeem herself. "Finn, come on, help him out." 

 "Yeah Finn." I mocked in a high-pitched voice, pushing my legs through the water, and grabbing Finn's outstretched hand. I was planning on yanking him in, but Finn was smart enough to let go as soon as I was out. I rolled my eyes, jumping to my feet. "Thanks guys." I grinned sarcastically wringing out my sopping wet shirt. "See? This is why I have trust issues." 

 "Yeah, man, I'm sorry." Finn placed his hand on my shoulder, before bursting into another round of vivacious laughter. "We- we have to cross."

 "Oh, cool I guess I'll go first." I muttered, jumping back in the water. I shook my hair out like a dog, leaving it sticking up in all directions. 

"What are you waiting for?" I asked the group, who were all still on the ground. "Let's go get Jasper!"