The First On The Ground

Spacewalker

(AUGUST POV)

That night some grounders escorted Clarke and me back to camp.
"Hold your fire! They're back! Open the gate," Bellamy called out as he saw us approaching the camp.
"Power up the gates. Roll-out positions. Stay ready," Byrne orders. The gates open before Clarke and I walk inside. The grounders stay outside the gate.
"You okay?" Finn asks as he runs up to Clarke.
"Shut the gate," I order quickly, knowing that Finn did not need to be seen by the grounders.
"You can't be out here," Clarke says she pulls Finn away from the gate. Abby walks up and hugs Clarke. Bellamy wraps an arm around me before pressing a kiss to my temple.
"What did she say? Is there a chance for a truce?" Abby asks after she and Clarke pull apart.
"Yes," Clarke answers as I nod. Clarke looks downcasted. My gaze flickers from her to Finn.
"What's wrong?" Finn asks.
"They want you," Clarke answers as she finally looks at Finn.
"If we want a truce, we have to give them Finn," I explain.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven asks as she had joined us a few minutes ago.
"That's their offer," Clarke answers.
"That's not an offer," Raven argues.
"It's punishment. For what happened at the village. Blood for blood," Finn explains and I nod in agreement.
"That's insane," Bellamy states.
"If we refuse?" Abby asks.
"They attack," I answer her.
"Say we give him up! Get rid of him," The crowd of people around us says.
"Easy, people," Byrne orders.
"Give him to the Grounders," A guy says as he walks forward.
"Back off!" Raven yells as she shoves the guy back.
"Hey, Raven, Raven. Raven, listen to me," I say as I grab my friend by the shoulders making her look at me. "Nothing is gonna happen to him. I promise, okay?" Raven nods as Bellamy shoves the guy back away from us because he had walked forward again.
"I'm not dying for him. Spacewalker burned 3 months of oxygen from the Ark. He should've floated a long time ago. Throw him out!" Another guy yells.
"Back off!" Raven says as she punches this guy.
"Stop, Raven!" Byrne orders as she grabs Raven's arm. Raven turns around and punches her which knocks her back. Two guards then grab Raven.
"Let me go," Raven yells as the two guards drag her away. Finn gets away from the crowd while Bellamy, Clarke and I head to a quiet area to figure out what we were going to do.
"Hey. We're reinforcing all defenses. Doubles on the perimeter. No one's getting past that wire," Bellamy explains we walk over to Finn, who was sitting with Murphy.
"I'll see where they're thin," Finn says as he stands.
"No. You should head inside. B corridor will be easier to defend if it comes to that," I explain while Clarke and Bellamy nod in agreement.
"I'm not gonna hide," Finn argues.
"Right now, we have to think about keeping you safe," Clarke says.
"I'm gonna talk to Lincoln to see if he knows more than what he has told me in the past," I explain. Bellamy nods in agreement that I should.
"Come on. Finn," Bellamy says before he and Finn walk away to the station.
"Hey. Any orders for me, princess and grounder?" Murphy asks as Clarke and I go to walk away.
"Stay away from me," Clarke orders as she turns to face him.
"Just trying to be helpful," Murphy states.
"You were with him at the village," I say as I turn to face him with a glare.
"I tried to stop him," Murphy says.
"Not hard enough," Clarke states before we turn again.
"You know, you want to start blaming people, Clarke? He was out there looking for you," Murphy says before we walk away. Clarke and I then go to med-bay where Lincoln and Octavia are at.
"Hang on. He's not a Reaper anymore. He doesn't need to be restrained," I say as I walk in and see his cuffs.
"Yes, I do," Lincoln argues.
"Just tell us. Is there a way to make peace?" Abby asks as she also joined Clarke and me.
"Did she leave riders behind?" Lincoln asks.
"Two just outside the gate," Abby answers as I nod.
"They're waiting for Finn. You don't have much time to decide," Lincoln explains.
"She can't expect us to just hand over one of our own people. Would she do that?" Octavia says.
"She wouldn't let the rest of her people die to protect a murderer. If you don't do this, she will kill everyone in this camp," Lincoln explains.
"There has to be something else that we can offer," Abby says.
"Finn took 18 lives. The commander's offering to take just one in return. Take the deal," Lincoln says. I don't speak because I understand that there is no other way. Even though he may be my friend and means a lot to Raven and Clarke, he still has to pay the consequences.
"How can you say that? Finn was the first person to come to you to offer peace. He's your friend," Clarke asks.
"He massacred my village. Some of the dead were my friends, too," Lincoln answers.
"But that wasn't Finn. You know that's not who he is," Clarke argues and I rest a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
"It is now," Lincoln states.
"We've all got a monster inside of us, Clarke, and we're all responsible for what it does when we let it out," I tell her sadly.
"What will they do to him?" Abby asks.
"Fire. Because he killed the innocent, it starts with fire," Lincoln answers and I shiver because I already know the rest, since Lincoln had told me before.
"Starts?" Clarke asks shocked.
"They'll take his hands. His tongue, his eyes. And anyone who grieves will have a turn with the knife. At sunrise, the commander will end it with her sword. But I've never known anyone to survive until the sword. He killed 18, he will suffer the pain of 18 deaths. Then we can have peace," Lincoln explains. Clarke quickly went to find Finn while Abby went to deal with Raven.
"Thank you for the information," I tell Lincoln as I give his hand a squeeze. I then walk past Octavia and place my hand on her shoulder in comfort before giving her a small smile. I then walk out of the station to find Bellamy. I find him walking along the fence on patrol and join him.
"Jus drien jus daun." The grounders in the distance start to shout. They are shouting that blood must have blood. Bellamy and I make our way to the entrance of the station where Clarke and Finn are standing. Clarke makes Finn go inside the station. I stand by Bellamy a few feet away from Clarke, who is joined by Abby by the door.
"They're trying to scare us," Bellamy states.
"I think we should pull back and go inside the station," Abby says.
"No. We need to prove we're not afraid," I explain as I look back at Abby.
"What if I am?" Abby asks Clarke.
"Fake it," Clarke answers.
"Open the gate," Abby orders as she walks towards the gate followed by Bellamy, Clarke, and me.
"Where's the boy?" One of the grounders asks Abby. Bellamy, Clarke, and I stopped a few feet behind Abby.
"We're not giving him up. We're ready to fight if that's what it comes to," Abby answers in a strong voice before the grounders ride away.
"Watch the woods! Watch for movement!" Bellamy orders the guards in the lookouts.
"Bellamy. August," Clarke says as she points to movement in the tree line.
"Movement on the tree line!" A guard shouts.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" A voice I never thought I would hear again says. Marcus Kane, my father, was alive.
"Oh my god," I gasp out as Kane keeps walking closer to camp. Bellamy grabs my hand before giving it a comforting squeeze.
"Marcus," Abby says as he stops in front of her.
"Chancellor," Kane says with a smile.
"I was afraid that I wouldn't see you again," Abby says.
"I had those fears myself. It's good to see this place again," Kane explains. Clarke walks forward and Bellamy goes to follow while still holding my hand. I stay frozen to my spot. Bellamy turns and gives me a confused look. I shake my head no before releasing his hand.
"Can't be out in the open. We need to get somewhere safe," Bellamy says as he walks forward before glancing back at me worriedly.
"It's safe for the moment," Kane says before taking notice of Bellamy's glance. "Aug, you're here. You're alive." Kane walks over to me before grabbing my face while looking me over. It takes everything in my very being not to jerk away from him. The man that did not want his own daughter but now wants to act like a father. Where was he when I needed him? "I thought you were dead."
"I'll never go down without a fight. I could say the same for you though," I say bluntly.
"I missed you," Kane says before trying to pull me into a hug. I back up before nodding my head towards Abby. He looks to Abby before back to me and gives me a nod of understanding. "Come on. We need to talk. I managed to buy us a bit of time."
"All right, close it up! Let's go!" A guard orders as we all walk away from the gate. Kane and Abby walk away with Bellamy and me not far behind. Kane and Abby make sure that we are not part of the meeting. Bellamy and I wait outside the doors and it is not long before Raven joins us.
"What's happening?" Raven asks as Abby walks out of the room where she was with Kane.
"You were in there a long time," Bellamy states as we step in front of her because she had just kept walking.
"There was a lot to talk about," Abby says before trying to walk away again.
"Well, what's going on?" Raven asks as she stands in front of Abby.
"There was a lot to talk about," Abby repeats before trying to walk away once again.
"Hey. We are not turning him over to the Grounders," Bellamy says as he stands in front of Abby.
"Step aside now. We're all trying to find a way out of this," Abby orders before she walks away.
"They're gonna give him up," Bellamy states. None of us liking how Abby was acting.
"I'm going to talk to Kane," I state before walking away and into the room where Kane is. "What's going on?"
"This doesn't concern you," Kane says with a wave of his hand like a father would do to a nosey child.
"Yes, it does. Finn is my friend. So like hell it doesn't concern me. I'll ask again, what is happening?" I say as I give him a glare.
"There was a lot to talk about," Kane says repeating what Abby had said.
"Don't you dare spout the same bull shit that Abby did. For once in your damn life tell me the truth," I yell at him.
"I am your father and you will not talk to me that way," Kane yells back at me.
"Oh, now you want to be my father. Where were you after mom died? Where were you all of my life?" I question him and he doesn't attempt to answer quickly enough for my liking. "You sent me to the ground. So don't pretend you care or that you're a father. I'm not a kid or a teenager that you can boss around. I'm 20 years old for goodness sakes. I may have your last name but that doesn't make you a father. The day you act like a father is the day I will treat you with respect, Marcus." I watch as so many emotions cross Kane's face as he thinks about all that I said. I roll my eyes and head for the door.
"Fine," Kane says making me turn back to him. Maybe just maybe he is trying to be the father that I want him to be. "Abby doesn't know what to do. I want to talk with the commander to set up a deal to where we can put Finn on trial. At least that way he won't suffer as bad."
"It won't work," I say as I shake my head at his idea. "Jus drien jus daun."
"What does that mean?" Kane asks intrigued that I know the grounder language.
"Blood must have blood," I answer before I walk out of the room. I then go find Bellamy.
"We need to get Finn out of here," Bellamy states as I walk up to him.
"Why?" I ask.
"Abby's turned on him," Bellamy answers as we walk.
"You truly believe that?" I ask him, especially after what Kane just told me.
"Yeah, I do," Bellamy answers while giving me a sad look.
"Okay. Let's do it," I say as I nod my head. We find Finn and Clarke sitting together in a hallway.
"Finn. You need to get out of here," Bellamy says as we walk up to them.
"Where would he go?" Clarke asks.
"The dropship," I answer her.
"No! You know that this is the safest place for him right now," Clarke argues.
"It isn't if they're turning on him," I argue.
"We can protect him at the dropship until we figure this thing out. Grab your gear and meet at Raven's gate in 5. She's already working on cutting the power to the fence," Bellamy explains.
"Okay, but nobody's coming with me," Finn agrees.
"That isn't up for discussion," I say as I roll my eyes.
"We are surrounded by Grounders," Clarke states worriedly.
"If we split up, we take the low ground, we'll make it through. We'll meet at the dropship," Bellamy explains.
"There he is. You are gonna get us killed," The guy that Raven punched says as he goes towards Finn with a pipe but Bellamy hits him in the stomach with his gun.
"Anyone else?" Bellamy asks the few men that were behind the guy.
"August and Bellamy's right. We have to go," Clarke says quickly before she and Finn take off through the station before Bellamy and I follow. Bellamy, Finn, Clarke, Raven and I meet up at Raven's gate. Bellamy goes first by himself. About five minutes later, Raven and I follow. I didn't want Raven going alone because of her leg. Then Finn and Clarke would go separately. Raven and I reach the dropship and find Bellamy inside. Raven went back outside to watch for Finn.
"Still no sign of them," Raven says as she walks in about ten minutes later.
"Where are they?" Bellamy wanders out loud.
"We shouldn't have split up," Raven says as I hear footsteps coming.
"Someone's coming," I whisper as I unsheathe my sword which makes Bellamy raise his gun.
"Ooh, hey, hey, hey," Murphy says as he comes through the tarp and sees the weapons raised.
"Murphy," Bellamy states bluntly as Raven lowers Bellamy's gun.
"What are you doing here?" I asked annoyed.
"I believe I was invited," Murphy explains as he looks over at Raven.
"I thought we could use an extra gun," Raven says with a shrug of her shoulders. I have a feeling that she is up to something.
"Might be a good idea," Bellamy says and I sheathe my sword.
"Finn should've been right behind you," Raven says worriedly.
"Don't worry. The spacewalker's gonna be fine," Murphy says as he walks further into the dropship. Not long later Finn comes in carrying Clarke.
"What happened? Finn?" I question him as I notice blood on Clarke's head.
"I don't know!" Finn says panicked.
"What happened?" I ask a little more calmly.
"A Grounder hit her on the head," Finn answers quickly.
"Put her here," Murphy orders after he cleared off a bed.
"I need a bandage. A rag. Anything," I say quickly as I look at Clarke's head to find it still bleeding.
"Got it. Here," Murphy says as he walks away before coming back and handing me a rag.
"Hold her head," I order Bellamy since he has kneeled beside me. He holds her head like I ordered. "Clarke, can you hear me? Clarke." Clarke flutters her eyes open. "You're gonna be fine. You just need to rest." Clarke's eyes close again.
"Hey. It's just a bump on the head. Clarke's gonna be okay," Raven says and I look to see her talking to Finn. "Are you?" Finn doesn't answer. "We'll figure this out."
"That's what she said. Right before I almost got her killed," Finn says before he rushes outside with Raven following. I look at Bellamy and Murphy.
"I got this. You two go keep a lookout. Murphy takes the back," I say before Murphy nods and walks off. I take Bellamy's place at Clarke's head. Bellamy squeezes my shoulder before walking outside. Raven comes back into the dropship.
"Why don't you take a break? Get some air," Raven says as she kneels by Clarke's head and my side. I nod before walking out of the dropship and over to Bellamy. I notice Finn go back into the dropship. About five minutes later I hear the sound of a lot of footsteps heading in our direction.
"We got company!" I yell as I start to see grounders.
"Get out here," Bellamy orders as Murphy comes around front. Raven, Finn, and Clarke come out of the dropship.
"Get down. Grounders. We're surrounded," I explain to them quickly. They all get back into the dropship. Bellamy, me, and Murphy make our way back to the dropship, never letting our backs face the grounders.
"They're not moving any closer," Murphy says as he, Bellamy, and I peek around the trap.
"Staying out of range," Bellamy states.
"Probably waiting until it's dark," I say as we turn to the others.
"If we hit them now, at least we'd take them by surprise," Murphy explains.
"We don't even know how many of them are out there," Clarke argues.
"I'm not hearing any better ideas, Clarke," Murphy says.
"We'll give them something," Raven says with a glint in her eye. I guess my feeling was right.
"All they want is Finn," Bellamy states shocked.
"Finn wasn't the only one at the village," Raven explains as she looks over at Murphy.
"What are you talking about?" Clarke asks confused.
"Raven, hold on," Bellamy says as he understands what she is saying.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Raven, I came here to protect him. You were the one who wanted me to come. You..." Murphy says as he also gets it. "That's why you asked me to come along."
"Enough Grounders saw him at the village. They'd believe he was the shooter," Raven explains.
"Sick bitch," Murphy curses.
"Raven, you don't mean this," I tell her as I put a hand on her shoulder. As much as I don't like Murphy, he nor Finn deserves this punishment. Raven quickly shrugs my hand off.
"You know what they do to people," Bellamy says, clearly thinking the same as I was.
"They want a murderer, we'll give them one," Raven says angrily as she raises her gun at Murphy. "Drop your gun."
"Go to hell, Raven," Murphy says as he steps towards the end of Raven's gun.
"Put it down, Raven. Like it or not, he's one of us," Clarke says.
"I said drop it," Raven says as she ignores Clarke.
"Stop! Stop!" Finn says as he lowers Raven's gun. "We're not doing this. They've got us surrounded. The only thing we can do is stay. And defend this place." Finn looks over at Bellamy and me.
"I'm with you," Bellamy says.
"Me too," I agree.
"Murphy?" Finn says getting Murphy's attention.
"Yeah," Murphy answers.
"Go upstairs. Watch the rear. I'll take the lower level," Finn says before looking at Clarke, Raven, Bellamy, and me. "You four, take the front gate. That's the plan. All right?" Murphy goes up the ladder while Bellamy goes outside.
"Hey. We got this," Raven says as she hugs Finn.
"May we meet again," Finn says as he hugs her back.
"We will," Raven says as she pulls back.
"Yeah," Finn says halfheartedly. I get this feeling that he is up to something. Raven walks outside and Finn opens the lower level. "Be careful." Finn looks over at Clarke.
"You, too," Clarke says before she walks outside.
"Let's go, spacewalker," I say as I walk over to him and hop down to the lower level.
"I told you to go to the front gate," Finn says as he also hops down.
"It's funny that you think I'm that stupid. You're gonna run. Sorry, spacewalker but Raven's my best friend and you're her family so I'm not going to let you get yourself killed," I explain as I look at him before I walk over to the loose panel to lift it that way we could look outside.
"I'm sorry," Finn says as I turn to face him again but I am met with the butt of his gun connecting with my face. Finn knocks me down with the hit. I look up as Finn opens the panel before running. I grab my head and feel it wet. I pull my hand back to find my strange black blood. I quickly climb back up to the upper level before heading to the entrance of the dropship as fast as I can.
"Finn!" Clarke calls out as I walk out of the dropship to see the grounders drag Finn away. Bellamy quickly runs over to me as I stumble.
"Your blood is black," Bellamy says as he looks at my wound.
"Don't worry about it. We have bigger things to worry about," I say as I wave him off. Clarke walks over as we head back into the dropship. Clarke starts cleaning my wound.
"How did that happen?" Raven asks as she walks up.
"It doesn't matter," I answer not wanting Raven and Clarke to get mad about Finn.
"August, tell us," Bellamy says as he puts a hand on my shoulder. I sigh.
"It was Finn. I followed him into the lower level because I had a bad feeling. He said 'I'm sorry' and I turned around to the butt end of his gun connecting to my face," I explain and Raven walks away. Clarke just shakes her head before running her hand through her hair.
"We need to get back to camp," Clarke says before walking outside. Bellamy squeezes my shoulder before we follow her outside. That night the grounders moved closer to the camp. All of the people of the Ark were standing behind their fence watching the grounders. The grounders put a post in the ground. I stand beside Raven with Abby on her other side. Clarke stood between Abby and Kane with Bellamy on Kane's other side.
"What is that?" Raven asks as we look at the post.
"It's for Finn. They want us to watch," I answer her as I put a comforting hand on her shoulder. It seems all we've been doing here lately is comforting each other. This is a cruel, cruel world.
"We're gonna get him. We'll get in close and we'll hit them hard," Bellamy explains from where he stands beside Kane.
"Son there's thousands of them," Kane says and if it wasn't the fact that this was a life or death situation, I would have laughed at him calling Bellamy 'son'. "Even if we could kill hundreds, they'd still wipe out this camp and your friend would still die."
"We have to try," Bellamy argues.
"Abby," Raven says as she turns to Abby. "Abby, we have to do something."
"No, Raven," Abby says. Clarke then walks away with me following. Bellamy and Raven follow us. Bellamy catches up to Clarke and Raven catches up to me. I watch as Clarke takes off her pack and grabs her gun. I realize that she plans to go to the grounders. I won't let her go alone. I take my sword off my back and all of my knives off. I leave my sias since no one knows that they are there.
"Take this," Clarke says as she hands Bellamy her things and I hand my things to Raven.
"What are you doing?" Bellamy asks Clarke as he takes her stuff.
"I'm gonna talk to the commander," Clarke answers.
"What else do you have to say?" Bellamy asks her as if she was crazy.
"I don't know. I don't know," Clarke answers as she finally stops walking.
"Clarke. Give me your hand," Raven says as she takes Clarke's hand and slides one of my knives up her sleeve. "If she won't let him go, kill her. Things'll go crazy, and we'll grab you and Finn. Clarke. You have to help him. I owe him my life."
"I'm going with you," I tell Clarke.
"No..." Bellamy goes to protest.
"Bell, don't," I tell him sternly. Clarke and I walk out the gate and to the grounders.
"We're here to talk to your commander," Clarke says as Indra holds out her spear. Clarke walks up to the spear to the point where it cuts her. "Let us through."
"Let them pass," Lexa orders as she walks out of her tent. Indra moves her spear before Clarke and I walk over to Lexa. "You bleed for nothing. You cannot stop this."
"No. Only you can," I argue as some grounders tie Finn to the post.
"Show our people how powerful you are. Show them you can be merciful. Show them you're not a savage," Clarke begs.
"We are what we are," Lexa states bluntly.
"Then I'm a killer. I burned 300 of your people. I slit a man's throat and watched him die. I'm soaked in Grounder blood. Take me," Clarke argues.
"But Finn is guilty," Lexa states.
"No. He did it for me. He did it for me," Clarke cries.
"Then he dies for you," Lexa says coldly.
"Can I say goodbye?" Clarke asks and Lexa nods her head. Clarke runs over to Finn. Clarke kisses then hugs him. When she pulls away Finn's head stays hanging down and a blood spot can be seen on his shirt. The grounders go to attack Clarke.
"It is done," Lexa calls out and the grounders stop.
"Noooooo! Noooooooo! Noooooo!" Raven's broken screams fill the night as she falls but Bellamy catches her and holds her. I'm glad that he is there for my friend since I am not. I walk over to Clarke and take the knife from her hand before throwing it on the ground. I then pull Clarke inside Lexa's tent to get her away from the angry grounders and from our people's judging stares.