Redemption {B.B}

II- twenty-two

"Everybody! Eyes peeled. We're in grounder territory." Bellamy ordered the group following behind him. "Everything is grounder territory, all right?" Murphy breathed out, "I can't keep running."

Natalia groaned, wobbling a little on her leg. She had left Calida with Ivar, not wanting her to get hurt in the aftermath of Finn's decisions. But she was definitely feeling the consequences when her leg started burning in pain.

"We don't even know if the guy Finn killed is telling the truth!" Finn walked up, grasping Murphy's shoulder. "Keep moving."

"We can give them a minute."

"No, we can't." Finn argued, "Didn't you hear the grounder? 'They'll outlive their usefulness."

Bellamy looked down to Natalia as she rested on a rock, rubbing her leg where it bent at the knee. "That's what he said when you were holding a gun to his head." Finn scoffed.

"You heard Nat. She's been in their camps. She knows. Maybe he was lying just to save his life!" Bellamy continued, pushing Finn further in the other direction. "Look, you think I wanted to do that?!"

"You seemed pretty content about it." Nat snapped, standing up with the help of Monroe. Her leg was getting worse. She knew she would never be able to fully walk right again. But compared to Raven, she got off easy.

"He would've told his people we were coming! And by the time we got there, our people would've been dead." Everyone listened as Finn argued with Bellamy.

"Maybe that's something you can live with, but I can't!" Finn tried to push past Bellamy, just as he pushed him back. "I know you did what you thought you had to do. But you are not yourself right now and I cannot be out here with another loose cannon!" Bellamy looked to Murphy.

"You guys..." Monroe altered, raising her rifle. Bellamy turned as did everyone else, seeing flies buzzing around dozens of dead bodies spread around the field.

"Fall in." Bellamy breathed out, looking back at Nat for a moment to check if she was okay. She nodded, pulling the bow tighter in her hold.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Murphy questioned, looking at the littered bodies.

"From the Ark," Bellamy stated, holding his gun tighter.

The group walked further, looking over the edge of a cliff. "That's a rough landing." Murphy scratched his nose as everyone looked at the scene before them. A piece of the Ark, left smoking as it had crashed into the earth.

"There's nothing we can do for these people," Bellamy stated, walking away. "We gotta go." Suddenly the group stopped, hearing a noise coming from over the cliff.

"Did you hear that?" Murphy asked, leaning a little further over.

"There's someone down there," Nat said, pointing to a woman holding onto a tree. "Hey!" Bellamy shouted, making the brunette woman's head snap up. "Up here!"

"Please help me!!" She cried, holding onto the tree branch protruding the rock wall.

"Mel?" Sterling questioned, earning a confused look from everyone. "You know her?" Murphy asked.

"Help me!!"

"Shut up Murphy. She's my friend we have to help her!" Finn pulled Bellamy aside as Natalia watched them interact, not being able to make out what they were saying.

"Help me!!" The woman, Mel, cried again. "Sterling, please!!"

"We can't stop." Nat heard Finn whisper as she came up behind him.

"We already did." The two boys turned to her. "Now get your head out of your ass and help us."

"We have a rope," Bellamy argued, making Finn shake his head.

"You saw her. She'll never be able to hold onto it. We'd have to lower somebody-"

"I'll do it." Natalia offered, making Bellamy turn to her a little too quickly.

"No!" Finn held up his hand, "It'll take the time that we don't have." The two watched Bellamy as he thought it over.

"I hate it as much as you but our friends-"

"I know! I know, okay." Bellamy nodded, holding up his hands.

"Just hold on!" Sterling shouted, "Just hold on, Mel!!"

Finn shook his head, "We'll come back for her."

Nat saw Bellamy considering it, "Who knows if she'll be alive by then?!" She shouted. "The small rock she's standing on could break. She could dehydrate. She could bleed out from unknown injuries. She could-"

"Okay, I understand," Finn stated, glaring at the redhead.

"No, I don't think you do understand." Nat shoved a finger into Finn's chest. "Our friends aren't at that camp. I know that." She pointed to herself. "But I know we have the tools and strength to save this woman. So for fuck sake, get your shit together and pull the damn rope."

Finn scoffed, pulling Bellamy aside once again, both of them taking their eyes off of Natalia. Monroe fastened the rope around her body, Murphy wearily helping her lower herself down and off the cliff.

"Wait, Nat!!" Bellamy shouted, not being quick enough as she was already over the jagged edge. "Well, it looks like we're taking that break after all, huh," Murphy spoke, looking down at his ex-girlfriend.

_

Natalia scaled the cliff, holding onto the thin rope as she tried not to look down. "I'm almost there!!" She called out, reaching the scared girl. "Once I have her, pull us up!"

"I'd say she's heard one too many of your motivational speeches." Murphy looked to Bellamy, "But then again. She's not hearing much of what you have to say lately." Bellamy grabbed Murphy by his jacket, backing him up.

"If she dies. I will beat the living hell out of you. And no one will stop me from throwing you over this cliff myself." Murphy raised his hands as Bellamy let go.

Finn attempted to place a hand on Bellamy's shoulder but he only shook it off. "Don't think that doesn't apply to you."

The rope started to loosen on the trunk it was tied to. Natalia lowered herself a little more as she was now level with Mel.

"Give me your hand." Nat reached out, softly grasping onto the woman's trembling palm. "it's okay. I'm gonna get you safely back up there." Right as their hands touched, the rock below Mel gave out, earning a scream from both of them. Mel held onto the branch as her legs dangled dangerously over the minimum hundred feet drop.

Natalia closed her eyes, gripping the rope tighter. Not knowing it was close to giving away above. Bellamy jumped forward, wanting so much to be in Natalia's position at the moment. The redhead finally found a footing as she reached her hand over again, "I got you." Mel reached out, crying as Nat grasped the crying woman's palm once again. "You're alright." Nat nodded. The woman grabbed her hand, Natalia pulling both of their bodies together.

"Alright! Pull us up!!" She felt the rope start to be raised as she kept a tight grip on the crying woman. A few strained minutes later, Natalia was finally able to push Mel to the top. The woman cried, falling onto the surface of the ground. Natalia was only a few feet away when suddenly the rope snapped. Sterling attempted to catch it from above.

"Natalia!!" Bellamy shouted.

Yet instead, the force of the rope made Sterling fly over the side of the cliff, falling to his death. Nat screamed in terror. She thought it was her last moment alive. She would never get to hug Bellamy again. She would never see her best friend, Octavia, again. She would never build a relationship with her mother, or Clarke. She would die, not in a fight with a grounder army. But trying to save a stranger on the side of a cliff.

Yet suddenly she felt the rush of the fall stop. The rope had caught on the tree. The same one that was majorly unstable and willing to fall any second.