The Ground : Part One

twenty-five : don't leave me

Bellamy is talking to Clarke at the dropship. I'm talking with Raven and a few other girls.

"Dude, your eyes! Nobody touch him." I turn and see multiple people freaking out about a guy with blood running down his face. Several people are puking and coughing up blood. I see a guy point a gun at the people with symptoms.

"Hey! Put your gun down!" I yell and walk over.

"Calm down!" Bellamy puts his hands up when the guy points the gun at him.

"Put the gun down! Put your gun down!" Finn is yelling attempting to calm the guy down, which isn't working.

Multiple gunshots fire. The guy's attention is diverted, so I snatch the gun from his hands, giving him a dirty look.

"This is exactly what the grounders want! Can't you see that? They don't have to kill us if we kill each other first!" Clarke is holding the gun that just fired.

"They won't have to kill us if we all get the virus! Get back in the dropship!" Someone is yelling at Clarke.

"Not to state the obvious, but your quarantine isn't working." Bellamy says as I walk over to him and Clarke. I put the gun in his hands.

"That guy doesn't need a gun anymore." I point to the boy I took the weapon from.

Clarke starts to fall and Finn rushes over to catch her.

"Finn, don't touch her!" Raven yells, attempting to stop him from running over. Octavia walks in the makeshift gates.

"There is no cure... But the grounders don't use the sickness to kill." She stops beside me.

"Really? Tell that to them. I warned you about seeing that grounder again." Bellamy scolds her.

"Yeah? Well, I have a warning for you, too. The Grounders are coming... and they're attacking at first light." She walks to Finn. "Come on. I'll help you get Clarke into the dropship." She puts Clarke's arm across her shoulder.

~later~

I have a cloth tied around my face while I help with the infected people. I hear another guy coming in the dropship coughing. I walk out and see Bellamy. I quickly walk over to where some people just laid him down.

"Bellamy?" I squat down.

"Hey, big brother." Octavia squats beside me. He looks between the two of us.

"I'm scared." He admits with fear in his eyes.

"I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." Octavia starts wiping his face.

"That's what I said the day you were born." He leans back.

"I know. You told me that, like, a thousand times." She smiles down at him, causing him to smile back.

"I'm glad you're here. Bri-" He starts, but I cut him off because I know exactly what's he's going to say.

"Before you say anything, I'm not going anywhere." Octavia gets up and walks away for a bit.

"I was going to tell you not to leave me." He leans back as I take his hand in mine.

"Never." I sigh and let a silent tear run down my face. I know that at any second this disease could take Bellamy's life.

He drifts off to sleep, so I lay down and try to do the same.

"I can not believe you." Mom scolds me.

"You act like it was my fault!" I defend my side of the story. "I didn't mean for this to happen! I was just protecting myself."

"By sending someone to the hospital wing?!" She screams.

"What would you be saying if I was the one in the hospital? Right about now you should be thanking Bellamy because if he didn't teach me how to take care of myself, I would be the one hurt." I prove to her that Bellamy isn't a bad influence. I've never understood why she doesn't trust the Blake's. I mean, she's great friends with Aurora.

"Does he even know about this?" She motions to my face.

"No." I stand up and walk to the mirror. I have a small bruise on my jaw, and my lip is split.

"What was the fight even about?" She asks and stands behind me.

"He started saying stuff about you and our family." I touch my lip.

"What kind of stuff?" She asks while getting a wet rag.

"Like we were all messed up in the head, and that we needed mental help." I let her wipe my lip.

Someone knocks on the door right before Mom starts to say something.

"Come in!" She yells and the door opens. We both know who it is.

"What happened to you?!" He rushes over and looks at my face then down at my knuckles.

"Bell, I'm fine." I reassure him while he looks me over.

"I've got to get back to work. Briar, no more fights." Mom walks out the door.

"With who?" He a picks up the wet rag Mom was using and wipes my knuckles.

"Some guy was talking about Mom and Dad, so I punched him and he got mad." I explain.

"Where is he now?" Bellamy looks up at me.

"The hospital wing." A smirk slides on my face. Bellamy smiles.

"Get away from me." I open my eyes to see Murphy trying to hand Bellamy a cup of water.

"Bellamy, you're sick, okay? I'm just trying to help. Here." Murphy tries to hand the water to him again.

"When I get better, if you're still here-" Bellamy threatens.

"Here." Clarke hands Bellamy a cup of water. He takes it and drinks out of it.

"You feeling better?" He drinks the water.

"Yeah." She shifts on her feet.

"That's good. You seen Octavia?" He asks the both of us.

I shake my head. "I just woke up."

"She was up all night helping people. Murphy gave her a break." I look at Bellamy when Clarke finishes.

"Don't tell me you trust him now."

She gives him a look. "Trust? No. I do believe in second chances, though."

"It's almost dawn. Better get everyone inside. If we lock the doors, maybe the Grounders will think we're not home." Bellamy stands up.

"Not everyone is sick." Clarke objects.

"Sick is better than dead." Bellamy starts to walk outside.

"You don't think Jasper and Finn are going to pull it off." Clarke accuses.

"Do you?" He turns and looks at her.

"I'll get everyone inside." She walks outside.