Hit Me //Bellarke//

Chapter 8

Clarke had stepped outside for air one night when she heard high pitched screams. Running to the source of the noise she found a young girl, no older than twelve, who was holding her head rocking back and forth in her sleep. She gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and she shot awake."Shhhh," Clarke cooed, rubbing circles on her bony back. The girl had a round face, with light hair tied in two messy braids. "Nightmares," she said her breaths still heavy. "I'm sorry."

"We don't need to apologize for the things that scare us."

Her eyes darted up to Clarke's for a moment, so young and innocent, but then darted back to the ground beneath them. "My name is Clarke, what's yours?"
"Charlotte," she replied.
"Do you want to talk about your nightmares?"
Charlotte gulped but then sat up straighter with a nod. "On the ark my parents were floated a...an...and I watched as they were sucked into space and there was nothing I could do but scream and cry. I still remember their faces and I remember the chancellor when he pulled the latch."

Clarke had heard about this girl before, one of the youngest members of lockup. She had managed to assault two guards not even six months after her parents deaths.
"Memories can be a sadistic thing huh? My parents were floated too and it still hurts, too much to handle at times but I'm ok now, just like I'm sure you'll be."

She didn't bother to tell the girl that only her father had been floated while her mother had been murdered and the council passed it by as a suicide, not when a sad smile crossed her soft face.

***

In the morning when Clarke went to check on Jasper she found Monty and Octavia still there leaning on the wall and sprawled out on the floor, their eyelids closed.
She was quiet when she checked his wounds, biting her lip at the heat radiating from his forehead. She changed his bandages but stopped to notice the green poultice that the grounders had put on his wounds. It was obviously a plant of some kind and smelt salty.
"Seaweed," a voice said.

Clarke flung around to see Wells standing by the ladder. "I read about it on the ark," he continued. "It has healing properties and is good for warding off infections."
"I've read about it too," she said softly. Looking back at Jasper's pale face, his dark hair matted with sweat she sighed, "We're going to need more of this."
"Do you know what it looks like? Where to find it?"
"Yes I've seen it before by ponds," she looked over to the two sleeping teens. "Monty, Octavia."

They snapped awake immediately rushing over and looking at Jasper. "How was he through the night?" she asked.
Octavia grimaced. "More spasms and he's been groaning more... Clarke he's in pain." Octavia's usually strong facade had faltered and her features were placid with worry.

"I'm going to go get something that the grounders used to help him," Clarke gripped her shoulders. "Watch over him while I'm gone. I won't let him die, I promise."
Octavia looked down but nodded before grabbing Monty and returning to his side.

She went over to Wells. "Stay here and don't let anyone come up. If they try to hurt him, you use your knife and you cut them down, understood?"
"Yes mam," he said accepting her look of authority.
That was something she missed about Wells. He never questioned her and he understood her. He was everything a best friend was supposed to be.
Blocking any further thoughts about her past, Clarke stepped down the ladder without a second thought.

***

Grabbing her bag, Clarke practically ran to the boundary lines of camp, hoping that she could slip away unnoticed. She dodged the teens helping with constructing a camp wall and kept her head down but there was someone who had managed to spot her head of blonde hair amongst the crowd. A hand tightly grabbed her wrist and she yelped turning around.
'The King' stood in front of her, eyes dark and brows raised.
"And just what do you think you are doing princess?"