❝𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿
𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲
𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀
𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

I sit next to Clarke who is currently having an angry staring competition with Anya. Yes, Anya.

They found us hanging and we have been captured and tied up once again.

I've accepted the fact we've been caught but Clarke is still furiously trying to find ways to escape.

The horses start whining and stamping their hoofs, making me feel very uneasy.

"Your left flank is vulnerable" I hear a man say and Anya's men all get ready for a fight which tells me they're not big fans of this guy.

"My archers are in the trees with orders to kill anyone hostile" Anya states.

"You're not hostile, are you, Tristan?" She asks the man as he gets closer.

He walks up to Clarke and I, the blonde backing away but I look up at the man in confusion.

"So this is who's beating you?" Tristan asks, his eyes never leaving Clarke and I.

"Who the fuck are you?" I spit.

"I'm the man sent to slaughter your people" He snarls and my heart sinks.

"The Commander sent you?" Anya asks, not sounding pleased at all.

"Your unit is mine now" Tristan says, walking up to the woman.

"My rangers are hungry. They're at the river. Go feed them!" Tristan barks and all the grounders jump into action.

"We march on the invaders' camp at first light" He announces.

"I'll make quick work of what you failed to do" He sneers at Anya.

"Starting with these two" He adds, pulling out his knife.

Clarke pulls me back but I push her behind me in a protective stance, not prepared to let another friend die today.

"Anya, look. Over there!" A man shouts.

"A signal fire!" Anya shouts and I see the fire in the distance.

"Reapers" Tristan elaborates, making me gulp in fear.

Nova warned me about the reapers

"Let them know we see it! I'll send my fastest rider to warn the Commander" Anya says.

"No. There is no time. Kill the prisoners. Get to the river" Tristan demands before walking away.

A grounder walks up to Anya and she looks at him.

"Is the boy dead?" She asks and the grounder nods.

"Finn" Clarke whispers and tears well up in my eyes again.

"Good. Kill the girl, then catch up" She orders the grounder.

She walks up to us and unchains me, throwing the chains onto the ground at my feet.

"I swore to leave you unharmed, so go" Anya tells me and I look at Clarke who furiously nods.

"Run!" She snaps me.

"Clarke" I choke out in protest and she glares at me fiercely.

"Get the hell out of here" She demands firmly "Now, Ava!"

I glance at Anya who hands me my bow and quiver before I throw my quiver over my head, dashing into the forest and not looking back.

I run as fast as my legs can carry me and hope to God I don't run into any reapers. Shame burns in my gut, creeping up my spine as I sprint through the woods away from the blonde girl that i've left behind.

More than an hour of running through pitch black woods I find myself at the very familiar waterfall.

A weak smile grows on my face and I race towards camp, my legs moving with speed caused by the adrenaline pumping through my blood. Camp comes into view and I let out a relieved sigh.

Suddenly I hear a gunshot and the tree beside me is shot, causing me to drop down to a crouch.

"Grounders!" Someone screams and I dart behind the tree.

"Where?!" Another voice yells.

"It was right there!" The first voice shouts in desperation.

"You idiot. Bellamy is going to be furious!" The second voice scolds the first.

As I stand listening, I realise that I recognise the quarrelling voices and relief floods my system.

"Harper? Fox?!" I call out.

"Ava?!" They shriek.

I show myself and they look at me wide eyed from their posts.

"Open the gates! It's Ava!" Harper screams.

The gates abruptly open and I make my way inside, feeling relieved to see the place but my worry for Clarke nags at me like a splinter in the back of my mind.

"Ava?" I hear a voice and turn my head to see Bellamy who looks at me in shock.

"Bell!" I gasp, running to him and throwing my arms around his neck.

He hugs me tight and I feel my eyes water.

"Where's Finn? And Clarke?" He asks, holding me out at arms length.

"They took Finn away, he's dead. Clarke will probably be dead by now too" I tell him, the pain hurting my chest.

He looks at me and I see guilt in his eyes, causing my worry to triple.

"Why are you looking at me like that? What happened?" I question and he opens his mouth to speak but I'm crushed in another hug.

"Oh, my God! I thought you were dead!" Octavia gasps and I laugh weakly.

"I'm too stubborn to die" I tell the girl, hugging her back as tightly as I can.

I turn back to Bellamy and before I can ask him what's going on I hear the crackling of a radio. Bellamy pulls a walkie talkie out his belt and I hear Jasper's voice.

"Okay. Okay. It's cool" I hear the boy say slowly.

"No, it's not. You know what'll happen to me if you tell Bellamy" I hear Murphy say.

"Tell Bellamy what?" Bellamy asks the boy through the walkie talkie.

"Give me the radio, Jasper" I hear Murphy grit out.

Everything goes silent and my grip on Octavia tightens slightly in worry.

"Murphy has a gun! He killed Myles!" Jasper shouts and there's a loud clatter.

son of a bitch

"Murphy, what the hell are you doing?" Bellamy barks and we all make our way to the drop ship.

The drop ship doors start closing and I sprint towards it, leaping into the crack before it fully closes.

"Ava!" I hear the Blake siblings scream.

"Murphy! Murphy! Open the damn door!" Bellamy shouts.

"You try to be a hero! Jasper dies!" Murphy yells and I pull the cloth aside to reveal myself.

"Murphy" I say calmly and he looks at me in disbelief.

"Ava? How did you get in here?" He snaps.

"That's not important. You need to stop this" I tell him.

"They tried to kill me!" He objects.

"I know, but you can't just go around killing people. That's not justice" I try to reason with him.

"You don't understand. None of you do!" He spits angrily.

"Just open the door, Murphy. Let Jasper go" I plead.

"No" He refuses.

"Please" I beg.

"Sit down" He says calmly.

"No. Open the damn door!" I demand.

"Sit the hell down!" He screams, pointing the gun at me.

"All right" I say, holding up my hands in surrender.

"Put the bow and arrows down. Now!" He demands and I look over at Jasper in concern.

"Now, Ava!" Murphy barks.

"Okay!" I retort.

I take off my quiver and lay it down to the side with my bow before slowly walking over to where Jasper is sitting. I sit down next to the boy and check him over for injuries.

"You okay?" I ask him in concern and he nods softly.

"Are you?" He replies and I smile weakly.

"I'll survive" I say with a shrug.

"I always do" I mumble under my breath.

Murphy storms over and grabs multiple seatbelts. He gags and ties Jasper's hands together, sitting him in a chair before doing the same to me.

Tears well up in Jasper's eyes and I try to reach out to the boy but with my hands tied up all I can do is give him a reassuring nod.

He looks up at the ceiling and I close my eyes, feeling sick and tired of being tied up.

After what feels like years of sitting in silence and glancing at Jasper every so often I hear commotion outside.

"Murphy!" I hear Octavia scream.

"Murphy, if you even touch them, I swear to God! You're dead!" She threatens.

Silence takes over and I feel a foot tap mine. I look at Jasper who tries to put on a strong front and reassure me. I shoot Jasper a grateful look and he looks happy that he's made me feel better.

"Murphy, I know you can hear me. All our ammo and food is in the middle level. You know that. You're leaving us vulnerable to an attack. I can't let that happen" I hear Bellamy's voice through the radio as Murphy covers Myles' body with a sheet.

"Yeah, well, in case you haven't noticed, you're not exactly in control right now" Murphy replies to the older Blake.

"Come on, Murphy. You don't want to hurt Jasper. You don't want to hurt Ava either. You want to hurt me" Bellamy reasons.

"So what do you say? How about you trade them for me?" He asks and I thrash around, furiously trying to scream at the stupid man but it comes out muffled.

"All you have to do is let them go, and i'll take their place" Bellamy bargains.

Murphy looks at me and I shake my head, begging him no. He smirks at me and holds the walkie talkie to his mouth.

"How?" He asks.

"Simple. You open the door, I walk in, they walk out" Bellamy explains.

Murphy hesitates but puts down the walkie talkie and walks over to us. He grabs Jasper and walks over to the door.

He opens the drop ship door and Jasper looks back at me in worry.

"Just you, Bellamy! Unarmed!" Murphy screams.

"Ten seconds, or i'll put one in Jasper's leg!" He adds.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

"I'm here!" Bellamy shouts.

Bellamy appears and Murphy throws Jasper out the drop ship, shutting the door again. I thrash around again and Bellamy sees me.

"What the hell is she still doing here? We had a deal!" He snaps.

"You had a deal. I want her here" Murphy replies, pointing the gun at Bellamy.