─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

UNFORTUNATELY, JUNE COULDN'T FIND ANY CLUES THAT WOULD LEAD THEM TO JASPER. But fortunately enough, Clarke and Finn had near a small lake that they had taken a dip in before bringing back water for them all. June was mostly glad they found a water source as well as spotted, wet blood and a trail. Finn had taken the lead after that, and she followed reluctantly as he made out the path left behind in a crouching position. Every now and then, she'd glance around, almost as if she expected one of the survivors to pop out of the trees and attack the wandering group.

"How do we know this is the right way?" Murphy spoke, breaking the tense silence in an irritating voice. Although his words made June stiffen and bite her tongue, he did have a point, and wandering aimlessly through the woods wouldn't help any of them, especially Jasper.

"We don't," Bellamy responded. "Spacewalkers thinks he's a tracker." Finn was hardly listening, more focused on the course they were taking.

"It's called cutting sign," Wells explained to the irked males. "Fourth-year earth skills. He's good."

Having enough, Finn finally spoke up. "You want to keep it down?" He recommended. "Or should I paint a target on your backs?"

Jamming her hands in the pockets of her jacket, June looked away from the trees and back to their direction. "You say that like you know for sure we're not being watched," she spoke her thoughts aloud. The survivors had been here longer than any of them, and in the way that they were described to her, they didn't sound so friendly.

None of them had time to consider June's guesses, as there was suddenly a loud moaning in the distance. June picked her head up, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to make it out. It didn't sound like an animal, it was more human-like but more full of pain and it definitely wasn't far away. "What the hell was that?" Murphy demanded, tightening his fists, immediately on guard.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun," Clarke said, her words shot towards Bellamy. She held her chin up, remaining brave as she took the lead and headed quickly into the direction of the groan.

June contemplated if going towards the noise was actually a good idea, considering the people left on the planet, but she remembered Jasper and tried to push down the frightened feeling long enough to catch up with the others. She jogged through long grass that led to a single open field where Clarke, who had been guiding them came to a quick halt. June couldn't figure out why until she glanced up and her eyes widened in shock, her jaw slacking open as she let out a shocked gasp. "Holy hell," she breathed out.

It was Jasper, the source of the aching groans. He was tied to a tall tree by his wrists, hanging loosely and shirtless, spotted in his own blood. "Jasper," Clarke whispered, bewildered. "Oh my god." With no thoughts on how safe this was, she began to dash forward in his direction.

"Clarke, wait!" June hissed, following more cautiously and slowly. The others were equally as careful, but Clarke was still rushing towards Jasper. "We have to be careful, or-"

Before June could finish her sentence, the step Clarke had taken had caved in. Bellamy, who had been beside her, had quickly caught her wrist before she fell all the way through. "Clarke!" June exclaimed, her heart racing as she forgot about being on alert and running forward. He wasn't moving, only gripping her wrist and letting her dangle. "Pull her up!" She lurched forward, feeling Wells right next to her as she gripped Bellamy's arm and tugged.

It took a minute of aching muscles from the weight, but the group managed to all pull Clarke up together. June waited until she was rested on the ground, trying to catch her breath after her near-death experience in a hole full of spikes before asking with a hand on Clarke's shoulder. "Are you alright?" She questioned, looking her friend up and down worriedly.

Nodding back, Clarke quickly composed herself. "Yeah. We need to get him down." She pulled herself to her feet, struggling for a moment.

Finn stopped her before she could get closer. "I'll go," he offered, already striding forward as if there weren't anymore traps. Wells attempted to follow, but he held his hand up to prevent him from accompanying him. "No, stay with Clarke." He paused to look at Bellamy wearily. "And watch him."

"I'll come help you," June stated, unafraid and not giving Finn the option to decline her presence. She paced forward, picking up the pace to get there sooner, knowing they had to hurry and get out of there quickly.

The wind felt like a nice breeze as June grasped the first branch of the tree. She pulled as hard as she could with a grunt, scraping her boots against the tree to climb upwards. She's never had experience in climbing trees, due to growing up in space, and was extremely clumsy with each motion to pull herself close enough to Jasper. Finn was beneath her, clutching a branch and on guard as if June would fall at any moment.

June could hear the ones below her conversing, but she focused more on keeping steady on a branch. She started studying the bounds woven on Jasper's wrists with squinted eyes. "Wow," she whispered, looking at the complicated knots before shaking her head and glancing towards the wounded ones face. He was clearly in a lot of pain, with his eyes rolled to the back of his head. "Hey, Jasper," she whispered, hoping he could hear her. "My name is June. I'm gonna help you get down, alright?" She assured him gently. Jasper didn't respond, and June knew she had to hurry.

"The vines are too tight, I need something to cut him down!" June called out to the ones below. Finn gestured to Murphy, who unsheathed his knife and tossed him the weapon. He held it up, holding himself onto the first branch until it was in June's reach. Once she caught it, she was pressing the blade against the vines.

"Be careful!" Clarke exclaimed, warning her. June nodded, showing she understood and managing to slice the first vine.

Suddenly, there was a deep growl in the distance. June froze, turning her head when realizing that it hadn't sounded human. "Okay, what the hell is that?!" She shouted to the others, not even bothering to remain quiet. She couldn't catch a glimpse of what was too far away for her to see. The low hum of a growl soon turned into a loud snarl, before something was darting through the tall grass. June clutched the branch next to her, feeling her feet slipping from surprise.

"Bellamy, gun!" Clarke demanded in a shout. From what June could see, Bellamy reached towards his waist but looked around in confusion when seeing it wasn't on him anymore. June could feel her heart beating fast from her panic as the thing bolted back and forth in the grass, testing its target, before hearing continuous gunshots. She whirled her head to the side, disturbed to see that it was Wells. She's never seen him be so brutal, with every intention to kill something before it killed him.

Everything had suddenly stilled, and June hoped for a moment that maybe it was gone. She could hear how loud she was panting and feeling her fingers turn red with how tight she was gripping the branch. All she could see was a flash of black fur pouncing through the air with its claws out, directed towards Bellamy before one last shot rang in the air and the animal whined before falling towards the ground on its side. June let go out a breath she didn't know she was holding, letting her head fall forward and thump the bark of the tree.

"Is everyone okay?" June asked, loud and worried. She received a few nods, all except for Wells, who remained in place, completely paralyzed with shock of what he's done. Bellamy spoke, words that June wished she didn't understand.

"Now she sees you."

━━━━━━━━

June could hear shouts as her group fell back into their camp. Jasper had been pulled along by Wells and Finn in the parachute made, up until night had fallen over them. Meanwhile, Bellamy had tugged the animal shot, planning it to be their food. She was tired, hungry, and thirsty and breathed a sigh of relief as she neared the dropship. Jasper was carefully carried in, Monty following closely as Clarke treaded in with them, making orders for supplies she needed.

"I need boiled water and strips of cloth for bandages!"

Despite being tired, June sprung into action. She darted inside the dropship after Clarke, seeing that Jasper was carefully laid down. The sounds of the delinquents cheering behind her echoed, reminding her how hungry she was. She tried to ignore the churning in her stomach and focus on giving Jasper the needed attention.

Clarke was patting down Jasper's bloody chest carefully with the cloth June tore up for her. "Here, can you get the scratches on his face?" She requested, dipping another balled up cloth into the boiled water before gesturing it into June's direction. She nodded and crouched down, taking the cloth and with a shaking hand wiped it gently across Jasper's cheek. He barely flinched at the touch, and June could only assume he was unconscious and couldn't feel what she and Clarke were doing to his injuries.

When she was done, June tossed the cloth back into the bucket of boiled water Monty had fetched for them. Finn had approached, eyeing Clarke in a way that made her assume that he wanted to be alone with her. "I'll be outside if you need me," she told Clarke, barely giving her a chance to respond before walking out with every intention to finally eat the cooked meat.

However, when June arrived outside, her eyes widened to see that the delinquents were standing in a single-file line in front of a fire. John Murphy and John Mbege were popping wristbands off, before handing the delinquent a stick with the roasted food on it.

June looked down at her wrist, all hopes to eat crushed when knowing she'd never take her wristband off willingly. She didn't doubt the other delinquents were only taking off the bands because they were hungry as well, and it made her angry. It wasn't fair to dangle meat in front of hungry kids, only handing it over when they followed their request.

Hearing footsteps, June turned her head to see Clarke walking down the dropship door with Finn behind her. Her eyes widened when seeing the sight of rebellion, shaking her head in disbelief. "They're taking wristbands off for food? No way," she declared. "I won't do it."

"You don't have to." Courageously stepping forward, June walked towards the sticks of food pointed out of the ground and grasped one in her hand.

Before June could move, a hand tightened on her wrist, the same one that held her wristband and she glanced up to see Murphy with a dark scowl plastered on his face. "Woah, you think you play by different rules?" He questioned. "What do you think you're doing?"

Giving a mocking grin in return, June ripped her wrist out of his hand, clutching the stick tightly.

"Whatever the hell I want."

June didn't miss the way he was completely stunned by the words she threw at him, the same he's repeated so many times, before turning and walking off to find a place to eat her rations in peace.

That night, June was beginning to get the best sleep since falling to Earth. The meat June ate wasn't fulfilling, but it was enough to settle her stomach long enough for her to doze off. She was curled up against a tree, her jacket rolled up into a pillow and part of the parachute draped over her like a blanket. Soft snores whistled from her nose before she let out a short gasp when feeling a hand being pressed over her mouth, instantly waking her. June let out a muffled shriek, clawing at the arm over her and struggling, before her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw the offender.

Truthfully, June wasn't that surprised to see it was Murphy. She threw her elbow to the side, narrowly missing his chest and he scowled, pressing down harder with his hand. "Stop," he snarled, warning her to stay still. "It'll hurt for a second."

Murphy's payback.

Suddenly feeling another presence, June's head turned to the side again to see Mbege holding a metal bar in his hand. The pressure on her mouth lifted and she gritted her teeth, feeling Murphy press her down, keeping her from struggling. "Get away from me!" She shouted, uncaring if it woke anyone else while kicking her legs.

"Hurry up!" Murphy snapped to his friend, desperately using all his strength to keep the thrashing girl still enough.

Mbege grabbed June's arm, holding it outstretched on the ground before sticking the metal bar underneath her wristband. "No!" She shouted once more in protest before watching with helpless eyes as her wristband popped off her arm in one swift motion.