─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

FOLLOWING THE MAP WAS A JOB GIVEN TO FINN, WHO LED THE GROUP THROUGH THE WOODS WITHOUT STOPPING FOR A BREAK ONCE. June thought since leaving Camp Jaha that the one person she couldn't trust here was Murphy, but her brown eyes never left the back of Finn's head. She kept picturing the dead grounder back at the bunker, the one he had no mercy on. She had known Finn since they landed, and he's always been the first one to stop fights that broke out. He even was the first to try for a peace treaty, despite it going horribly wrong. June never thought she'd see him shoot a man they held captive because he might escape.

The thin trees shifted through the whistle of the wind. It offers no coolness due to the hot sunlight radiating down on them. June had still kept her jacket on, not hot enough, but Murphy seemed to be. He had been behind her, alongside Monroe and Sterling, panting with sweat shining on his forehead and damping his hair. "Everyone, eyes peeled," Bellamy announced. "We're in grounder territory."

"Everything is grounder territory, alright?" Murphy snapped breathlessly, coming to a stop. June paused, her hair flying to the other side as she looked at him over her shoulder. "I can't keep running. We don't even know if the guy Finn killed was telling the truth!" June hated it, but she couldn't help but agree. She sent a helpless look to Bellamy.

Meanwhile, Finn marched past them. He grabbed Murphy by the upper arm, hauling him forward with a shove. "Keep moving," he ordered with no emotion.

"We can give him a minute," Bellamy cut in, holding a hand up.

"No, we can't!" Finn shouted in protest. "You heard what the grounder said. They'll outlive their usefulness," he quoted.

A dark look crosses Bellamy's face. "I heard what he said when you had a gun to his head," he fires back. June's eyes flicker to Finn, waiting for an explanation. He hadn't said a word their entire journey, only continuing like nothing had happened.

Finn's eyes squint with an expression of disbelief. "Look, you think I wanted to do that?" He questioned. "He would have told his people we're coming, and by the time we got there, our people would be dead. Maybe that's something you can live with, but I can't!" His voice raised. June remained quiet, letting the argument continue, knowing she couldn't choose a side. They both had points, but she felt guilty knowing it was possible they didn't have a choice.

"Hey!" Bellamy brought his hand to Finn's shoulder, stopping him from walking past. "You did what you think you had to do, but you are not yourself right now. And I can't be out here with another loose canon."

"Guys." A new voice speaking up catches June's attention. She snaps her head to the side, seeing that Monroe had wandered off a few feet from them. She shortly jogs across the trail, catching up with the others, but stumbled to another stop. Eyes widening, June's jaw fell open, observing the sight with shock. There's one human body that definitely doesn't look like a grounder is hidden in the tall grass, his black jacket with The Ark's symbol stitched on the arm showing prominently, but he's not the only one. June can tell by the smell.

Gun cocked, Bellamy took the lead. "Fall in," he commanded. June follows, noticing the smell grow so much more rancid as they walk. She labeled it as rotting flesh when they delved deeper, only seeing more bodies strewn everywhere. Scrap metal accompanies the corpses, sticking out of the ground, and causing June to step over more carefully. She's sick at the sight but swallows it like a lump in her throat. There's nothing they can do for them now, but it didn't stop her from wondering how they got here.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Murphy breaks the silence, closely looking at another male they pass.

"The Ark," June answered, voice slightly wavering. She clears her throat, nodding in the direction of the body. "Look at his jacket. It's one of the guards."

With another close scan, Murphy sees June's right. She doesn't look back as she follows the trail, passing more scrap and the deceased, but doesn't walk for long. They come to a complete dead end, her boots close to the edge of a cliff. But that's not what catches her off guard. The hole is deep, and that's due to the station of The Ark landing in a very deep crash. It's smoking still like the fire was just recently dimmed. June's gasp is stuck, her mouth agape, struggling to find what to say.

Murphy does. He lets out a low whistle before commenting; "That's a rough landing." He was blunt about it, much to June's dismay, finding it disrespectful.

"There's nothing we can do for these people," Bellamy mumbled, shaking his head. "We got to go." June knew he was right. She let out a small sigh, taking another scan at the wreckage before she spun on her heels. She hated to leave, but all they could do afterward is deliver the news to their people at Camp Jaha. It only takes June a few steps before she stops again, hearing a faint, high-pitched noise of pain.

"Wait." June looked in every direction. "Did you guys hear that?"

A bit agitated, Finn didn't stop. "I didn't hear anything."

"Hey, hey, someone's down here!" Sterling called out. June turned back around to see that he was crouched at the edge, peering down. She frowned, quickly joining him, careful and steady as to not fall over.

Sterling was right. June couldn't see much as first, but there was definitely someone hanging onto a branch for dear life, dangling. "Hey!" She exclaimed. "Up here!" The person's head fell back, finally showing her features. She had tan skin, blue gloves going up to her elbows, and dark puppy-like eyes hidden beneath dry blood caked over her face.

"Please help me!" The girl sobs, her voice hoarse like she's been crying for hours, terrified from her position.

"Mel?" Sterling asked in surprise as she calls for help again.

From where they've joined June and Sterling, Murphy eyed him. "You know her?" He questioned.

"Shut up, Murphy, she's my friend," Sterling replied, panic evident in his tone. "We have to do something!"

"We will," June says firmly. If it was her friend down there and she was in his position, she'd do everything to help them. Hell, if she was the one hanging off a cliff, she'd be desperate for help too. They couldn't just leave her there.

But Finn seems distant as he tugs Bellamy to the side, yet not far enough for June to not overhear. "We can't stop." From where she's crouched, June's head shoots up and her gaze falls into a sharp glare at him.

"This isn't a grounder, Finn," Bellamy argued. "We have a rope."

"You saw her," Finn retorted. "She'd never be able to hold on to it. We'd have to lower somebody down, it'll take time that we don't have. I hate this as much as you..."

"Screw you, Collins," June interrupted with a hard edge in her tone, not noticing Sterling asking his friend to hold on and rush for his bag. "What, we let her die because she's not Clarke?" She shoots at him pointedly, knowing the only person Finn gives a damn about at the moment is Clarke. She cares too, but she still has her humanity.

Finn shakes his head. "We'll come back for her," he says heavily.

Gritting her teeth, June has to bite back a laugh at that. She knows he's not dumb enough to believe that Mel can hang on long enough for them to retrieve their friends and return. "What, when she falls?" She snapped. "We can't just - "

Before June can finish, Bellamy cuts her off with a nod and a wave of his hand, gesturing everyone to follow. "We're movin' out!" He declared.

"No! Bellamy!" June exclaimed, grabbing the muscle of his upper arm and forcing him to stop and look at her. "You know this is wrong." Her tone dropped to a whisper.

Briefly, the pair hold a stare that speaks enough emotion between them about leaving Mel to die. It's broken when Finn is suddenly shouting; "Wait, Sterling! Hey!" June looked over Bellamy's shoulder to see Sterling sliding off the cliff's edge, a rope tied from his waist to a tree stump. As they rush to stop him, he slides down, gripping the rope to save his friend.

"Well," Murphy drawls out slowly before shooting a smug glance to Bellamy. "It looks like we're taking that break after all, huh?"

Sterling's figure turns to a blurry dot in June's vision as he drops further down to reach Mel. She's internally panicking every second, knowing this was either going to end terribly well or just flat out terrible. "I'm almost there!" Sterling's voice caries up, causing June to draw in a deep breath. "Once I have her, pull us up!"

"I'd say he's heard one too many of your motivational speeches," Murphy commented to Bellamy sarcastically.

"Shut up, Murphy," Bellamy warned, annoyed.

There's a small shriek from Mel as Sterling shouts over her, loud enough for them to hear. "I got you, okay?!" His blurry figure sways close to her, his arm outstretching. "Give me your hand!" He reassured Mel he had her again and again before a whipping sound fills the air. June is jumping to the side in surprise as something brushes her ankles, flying past them before she hears Sterling scream.

"No!" June's sob is dry as she lurched forward, stopped by Bellamy's arm throwing in front of her. She's helpless to watch her friend tumble down to his death, landing at the bottom and leaving Mel behind. Her eyes become glossy, filling with tears that wouldn't spill. She wants to stamp her boot or throw something, like a rock, frustrated and stuck in sorrow. June turns to pull herself together, seeing Monroe letting out a few soft cries with her hands held behind her head, broken at the death of her close friend.

"Mel, hold on!" Bellamy's low voice shouts to her. "Focus on me. You can do this," he said in encouragement.

Despite the far distance, June can hear Mel wails of both fear and grief. "Oh, no!"

"Yes, you can!" Bellamy says in retaliation for her protest. "You're strong!"

"I'm not strong!" Mel cries, a pause, and then; "Stubborn, maybe."

"So be stubborn a little longer," Bellamy demands, leaving no other option for her. "I'm not gonna let you die, you hear me?"

It's quiet, except for Mel's occasional cries before she caves in a soft whimper, barely audible to them. "Okay."

"We're out of rope," Finn muttered to Bellamy.

"So we make a new one," Bellamy says.

June sees Finn finally look up, anger in his eyes as he whispered in a low warning. "If anything happens to our friends when we could..." She wants to shout at him, frustrated over what just happened, but Bellamy beats her to it.

"We don't know if we can save our friends!" Their leader exclaimed. "For all we know, they may be dead already. We've all thought it!" He turns to face the rest. "But what we do know is we can save this one girl." Suddenly proud, June smiles sadly. Sterling's death was a tragedy, but they were still going to stay and save Mel.

Clearing her throat, Monroe looks at them with red, tear-stained cheeks. "Sterling was one of us," she stated. "She was his friend. I'm in."

"Me too," June agreed, her voice wavering before glancing to Bellamy. "So how do we do it?"

"We make a new rope from the wreckage," Bellamy decided. "Find wires, seat belts, anything." Murphy nodded, putting his hand on Monroe back and directing her to the field they came from in a run.

"Hold on." June hesitated following them to help so she can speak quickly to Bellamy. "She can't climb up herself, so what are we..." She trailed off as he cocks his head, giving her a look with his rough features turning soft that said it all. June's breath hitches in her throat. "Alright. You're insane."

Despite the admission that Bellamy was out of his mind and willing to risk his life as Sterling had to save Mel, Finn is narrowing his eyes at the both of them. "I hope you're right about this," he said distastefully.

Bellamy nods, a hopeful glint that June likes to see. "So do I."