❝ 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲
𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿,
𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲
𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵
𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

Pulling myself to the surface of the ground, I close the hatch behind me and start walking. My head starts to hurt and out of nowhere the trees start spinning.

My legs give out from under me and I try to crawl through the grass but my arms shake and I fall flat on the ground. I look up and my eyes water when I see two figures stood in front of me.

"Mom? Dad?" I whimper.

I push my self up and look up at them from my kneeled form.

"Hey, baby" My mom says, kneeling down in front of me.

"Mom" I sob and she wraps her arms around me.

I hug her tight and Dad kneels down, putting his arms around the both of us.

"I miss you, guys" I cry.

"Oh, God. We miss you too, pumpkin" My dad replies.

"Wait. How are you here?" I question in confusion, pulling away from them.

"What do you mean? We're your parents" My mom states as if it's only obvious they should be here.

"N-No. You're dead. How are you here right now?" I stutter, tears running down my cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. We're together and that's all that matters" My dad assures me and I find myself nodding.

"Are you really at peace?" I ask curiously, remembering the statement Finn had said after my dad died.

They look at each other with happy smiles and turn to me, nodding. I let a choked laugh escape my lips and they hold each other's hand.

"You look happier" I announce and they sigh.

"Things are easier once you're dead. No responsibilities. No hard work. Nothing. Just peaceful silence" My mom explains and I smile through my tears.

"I can't wait" I whisper and my mom furiously shakes her head, cupping my cheeks in her hands.

"No! No, you listen to me, Ava Steele" She demands in her mom voice and I look at her in confusion.

"You're going to fight, Ava. You are going to live. Promise me you'll do everything you can to survive?" She begs and I frown deeply.

"But-" I object.

"No buts! Promise me" She scolds me.

"I promise" I sigh in defeat and she smiles happily.

Her lips press against my head and she leans back again.

"So, who's the boy with the freckles?" My dad questions and I roll my eyes with a smile.

"Of course you come back to life to question me about boys" I scoff.

"He looks cute" My mom comments and I feel my cheeks heat up slightly.

"Yeah, he is" I agree.

"But he also seems like an asshole" She adds.

"Oh, he definitely is" I nod in agreement, causing us all to laugh.

"Well, what's stopping you from telling him how you feel?" She asks me.

"What are you talking about?" I pretend to be clueless and they both give me an 'are you being serious?' look.

"Don't bullshit us, Ava Steele. I can tell when you're lying" My dad states.

"Fine" I huff, rolling my eyes.

They look at me expectantly and I look down at the ground.

"I'm scared" I admit in a small voice.

"Why?" My mom wonders.

"What if he doesn't like me, Mom? What if he's just screwing around? What if he just laughs in my face? What if-" My rambling is cut off when my dad's hand lands on my shoulder.

"Pumpkin, tell me what is wrong with all of those sentences" He tells me sternly.

"What if?" I offer and he nods.

"You're too busy thinking what if he doesn't like you, but what if he does?" My dad counters maturely and I furrow my brows.

"I've never thought about it like that before" I tell him.

"Fight the fear, Ava" He echoes and I smile at the familiar statement.

"Go get em, baby" My mom agrees and my smile grows.

"Quick! Before I change my mind!" My dad shouts and I scramble to my feet.

"I love you, guys!" I rush out, kissing both their cheeks.

"We love you too" My mom replies.

I rush through the forest, tripping and slipping multiple times as my wobbly legs try to keep stable.

I turn a corner in time to see a grounder run at me and a scream slips past my lips as I'm tackled. I'm thrown to the floor and multiple more grounders come out of nowhere.

The men start kicking my body with force that makes me cry out in pain and they throw things at me.

"Stop it!" I plead.

"Please, stop!" I cry out but they don't listen, it's like they don't even hear me.

One of the younger looking grounders jumps onto me while the others pin me down and I look up at him in fear.

"I'm begging you. Let me go!" I yell, tears streaming out of my eyes like waterfalls.

The young guy starts throwing punches at me and I have no way of defending myself. My energy slowly drains out of me and I lay there on the ground, feeling lifeless as he beats the shit out of me.

I pry my tired eyes open to see him pull out a knife and hold it above me.

i'm going to die

He plunges it into my shoulder and gets off me as the others grab hold of me and lift me up. They throw me at a tree and I slump down at the roots in defeat. I cover my eyes with my arm and everything goes quiet.

My arm lowers slowly and everything becomes crystal clear as the grounders melt away right in front of me.

it's a hallucination, i'm fucking hallucinating

I drag myself out of the mud and trek through the now dark woods, looking for any sign of the duo i'd left behind in the bunker.

I stumble across a gun and I pick it up, looking it in my hand curiously. I gulp when I realise it looks just like Bellamy's one that he keeps in his waistband.

"Nothing personal" I hear a voice say and I recognise it as Dax, a boy from camp.

"Put it down, Dax!" I hear Clarke's voice and I try to get closer to the action without being seen.

"Should've stayed down there, Clarke. I tried not to kill you, but here you are, and Shumway said no witnesses" Dax says and I peak around the tree I'm hiding behind to see him and Clarke holding rifles at each other.

"What is he talking about?" Clarke asks Bellamy who is looking dazed from his place on the ground.

"Shumway set it up. He gave me the gun to shoot the Chancellor" Bellamy explains, looking around the forest.

His eyes catch me and he narrows his eyes in confusion, as if he can't really see me.

"Walk away now, and I won't kill you" Dax warns the blonde.

"Put it down" Clarke snaps.

"Your choice" Dax replies.

Before the guy can cause anymore damage, I step out from my place behind the tree and aim the small hand gun at him. I pull the trigger and the bullet hits his neck, causing the boy to fall limp to the floor.

Both Clarke and Bellamy look at me in shock but I stand tall, not flinching at the dead body laying on the ground.

"It was about time someone shut him up" I comment shakily, pasting on a fake smile.

Clarke lets out a sigh and backs up against a tree, trying to calm herself down which is understandable so I leave her to it.

I make my way over to Bellamy and hold out my hand to him, offering to help him to his feet.

"Get up, Bell" I tell him and he nods, grabbing my hand.

I pull him up and he stumbles a little, putting his hands on my shoulders. He looks at Dax with a defeated look and I grab his face, making him look at me.

"Hey, you're okay" I assure him.

"No. I'm not" He mumbles.

"My mother...If she knew what i've done, who I am- She raised me to be better, to be good...And all I do is hurt people" He chokes out, hurt written all over his face.

"I'm a monster" He sniffles and my eyes water.

"No. No, you're not" I argue, shaking my head.

"Listen to me, Bellamy Blake. You may be a complete douchebag most of the time but...but I need you. God, we all need you. Do you think any of us would have survived down here without you? You want forgiveness? Fine! I'll give you that, Bell. I forgive you, okay?" I rant and tears run down his face.

"Please don't leave. Come back to camp with me" I plead and he sniffles.

"Jaha will kill me when he comes down" Bellamy argues.

"We'll figure something out" I promise him.

"Can we figure it out later?" He whispers and I smile, nodding softly.

"Whenever you want" I assure him.

He pulls me into his arms and I close my eyes, enjoying his warm embrace. His chin lays on my head and I rub his back comfortingly knowing he needs it right now.

After a moment of just holding each other, I hear a thud and we turn to see Clarke dump two piles of guns tied to rope on the ground with a sack in her hand.

"Blankets" She elaborates, lifting up the sack and I nod in understanding.

"We better get back to camp" I declare and glance at Bellamy who nods.

Bellamy and I grab a pile of guns each and I throw them over my shoulder, following Clarke.