Hopeless - (Bellamy Blake - Book 2)

Chapter 17.

Murphy and I manage to get Finn out of the pen, leaving the Grounders where they are, and talk quietly amongst ourselves about what we've found out.

The discussion isn't going well.

"Look," Murphy begins, "just because their clothes are here, doesn't mean anything."

"That Grounder lied to us. He sent us on a wild chase." I say.

"He told us our friends were here." Finn replies. "Why would he do that?"

"What the guy with one eye? Maybe because you had a gun to his head, Finn."

"He's right." I say. "He probably—"

"A man with one eye?"

We all turn, Finn raising his gun, when the Grounder leader speaks up. He raises his hands and slowly gets to his feet at the sight of the gun, Finn walking over to him.

"You saw Delano." He explains. "A snake. A thief. He and his men were cast out. You are his revenge."

The three us stare at him, dumbfounded. Well, shit.

"It makes sense, Finn." Murphy says quietly. "Okay, we need to go. Now."

I nod as Murphy walks away. "He's right. Come on, this was a mistake."

"Now, Finn." Murphy hits his arm when Finn doesn't move. "We need to go."

Finn slowly turns and walks away with us, but commotion from the Grounders has Finn spinning back around.

"Finn, no!" I yell, trying to reach out and grab him, but it's no use.

Bullets fly out from his rifle, drowning out my voice and making me jump out of my skin...and when it stops, one of the Grounders lies in the mud, unmoving.

The villagers cry out in dismay and grief, and even my hand flies to my mouth in shock.

"He was just trying to get away!" The leader shouts, his voice thick.

I take a step back, my hands shaking. "W-We need to leave. Now."

Murphy grabs Finn by the arm, "Come on."

My head turns to the side when the kid at the front of the group grabs the gate of the pen and jumps over, starting to run.

"Wait-"

I jump when Finn turns to face him and pulls the trigger, bullets flying out of the rifle and finding their mark in the kid's chest.
Murphy also jumps in shock and knocks into me, I grapple to hold his arm as we watch the kid fall to the ground.

Oh no. Finn—

"Finn!" Murphy shouts, but it's no use.

The Grounders are screaming and trying to run, either to their loved ones, or away from us.

"Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod." I rush out, running a hand over my forehead. "Finn, Finn come on. We need to go, we can go right now. Come on!"

I try to run to him, to grab him, but Murphy pushes me back.

"Carter! Carter, go. Go, get out of here! Finn! FINN!"

"Finn, come on." I ignore Murphy and rush to Finn's other side, trying to reach him despite how far inside himself he's gone. "Please, let's just leave!"

I try to pull on his arm, try to pull and drag him back, but he won't budge.

"Finn! Look at me! We need to go now!"

A woman breaks free of the pen, running, but it's too late. Finn shoots her down.

"Finn," I'm sobbing now, my hands clutching my hair, his arms, flailing around in disbelief.

The sound of gunfire doesn't cease, he doesn't stop. He just keeps shooting and shooting and shooting. Bile rises up my throat.

A few days ago, Finn hadn't killed anyone, he was a peacemaker set on saving as many lives as possible, not taking them.

A few days ago, he knew where Clarke was.

"FINN!" Murphy continues to try and grab him, to stop him.

"FINN, STOP!" I scream at him, pushing him as hard as I can. "Please, just stop!"

He keeps spinning, keeps firing at anything and anyone, and that's when I scream for an entirely different reason.