Not All Fun and Games

Chapter 49

"I'm gonna go to bed," I tell Bellamy after a little while.
"I'll join."
We find an empty spot and lay out our sleeping bags.
"I'll be right back," says Bellamy and he walks into the woods before I can ask where he's going. He comes back a minute later with a small pile of moss in his hands. "For our heads," he explains.
We lie down, using the moss like thin pillows. Bellamy's arms are around me, adding extra warmth. Within a few minutes, they loosen. He must be asleep. If it weren't for my troubling thoughts, I'd be asleep too. But I can't get my mind off of the grounders. Most of Camp is lying down now, sleeping or trying to. About 10 people are still by the fire, on watch duty. Two of them include Kaytee and Murphy.
"Hey, Clarke," Kaytee greets me when I sit next to her. "Can't sleep?"
"Ya. I'm being paranoid."
"Worrying about the grounders?"
"You guessed it," I sigh.
"So am I," she says. She leans over and whispers:"Somehow, Murphy is being less paranoid than me. I'm wondering if someone slipped something into his water bottle."
I laugh, looking over at him. He's smiling up at the sky.
"Hey John," she says, waking him from his daze. "You okay?"
He looks confused. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Murphy looks back up at the sky and then at the trees. "It's really nice out here. I haven't spent much time in the forest since-" his voice is cut off by a whizzing sound. I don't have the time to shout a warning before he is hit in the shoulder by an arrow. His eyes widen in fear and Kaytee screams.
Others start to scream as arrows fly by, everyone awake now.
"Grounders!" someone yells. People start to run in every direction. Others lie flat on the ground, pulling their sleeping bags over their heads.
My eyes search for Bellamy, but he's gone. Where the hell did he go? I can feel myself beginning to panic.
"Clarke, come on!" Kaytee yells. She's dragging Murphy behind a thick tree. I follow her because I can't think of what else to do.
"I need to help them," I tell her. "You stay her, I'll go."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Cl-" I ignore her and head toward the others. I don't care if it's not a good idea. We've lost enough kids.
"Come on!" I gesture to a group of younger kids, who look terrified. A few of them have been hit. "Come with me! Hurry!"
Most of them run towards me, but two of them stay. One is hovering over the other, who is lying on the ground with an arrow pierced in her stomach. By the looks of it, it's deep. Hot tears well up in my eyes. She's not going to make it.
"Leave her," I shout to the boy holding the wounded girl. "You have to."
He looks at me, his eyes frantic, and then back at the girl. He stands up, but instead of running, he starts to drag the girl across the ground towards us.
"You don't have time!" I yell helplessly. There's no point, she's probably already gone. "You need to-" suddenly, the boy is thrown backwards. He lands on his back, his eyes closed. There's a long, sharp spear sticking out of his neck. One of the boys beside me starts to scream.
I don't have time to stay and comfort these poor kids. I need to find Bellamy and stop this attack.
I run in the direction from which the arrows and spears are coming, hidden by the trees and the dark.
I find Octavia with Jasper and Monty, the three of them crouching behind a boulder.
"Clarke! You're okay," sighs Octavia.
"Where's Bellamy?" We say in unison.
"I thought he was with you," Octavia says, her eyes wide.
"No. I think he might be trying to find the attackers." Bellamy is always playing the hero. What if he does something really stupid? He's a skilled hunter and he's incredibly strong, but he's no match for the grounders.
"That's what we were about to do," Octavia says with a determined expression.
"Do you even know where they are?"
"I think I saw one in the trees," says Monty. "We don't know how many there are, but-" he stops.
"What?" I ask. "What's wrong?"
"Why is it so quiet all of a sudden?" He asks. He's right, I can't hear anymore movement or screaming.
"Let's go," I whisper and head towards the clearing.
For a moment, I only see a few people behind trees or lying on the ground. But then I notice that they're all looking at something. Bellamy.
His hair is sticky with blood and his eyes are barely open. It looks like he could lose consciousness at any moment. A tall man is holding him so that he's still standing up, and he's holding a knife to Bellamy's throat. In front of his is Sonthia, the grounder we met last time, the woman who wanted to kill us.
"Clarke, stop!" yells Jasper as I take off running towards Bellamy and Sonthia. I'm not thinking straight, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Bellamy doesn't die.
"So we meet again," sneers Sonthia. Her friend who isn't holding Bellamy is standing behind her, holding a bow with an arrow pointing at my chest.
"Let him go," I demand.
Bellamy raises his head to look at me. It looks like they hit him on the head with something. He looks so vulnerable and... scared. I just want to hug him, kiss him. Tell him it's okay.
"What do you want?" I ask calmly. I need to be smart with what I say. "We made peace with your commander. We're on our way to Polis to live there."
Sonthia's taunting grin evaporates. "Live there? You are not welcome on our land."
"Yes, we are. You can come with us to speak with Tuscany," I reason. "She will tell you that we have a peace treaty now. Your people have agreed to welcome us in their village."
"Those are not my people," she spits. "And I do not care what they have agreed to. I am no longer under the heda's* command." The edges of her lips curl up as she smiles evilly, and suddenly I'm afraid. My sudden burst of courage that I got when I first saw Bellamy is long gone. I tremble like a scared child as Sonthia turns to face the man holding Bellamy. "Kill him."

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*For those who don't know, "heda" means commander is Trigedasleng, the grounder language.*

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A/N: Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I'll try to write a lot during the break. This book is actually almost done. I think I'll start up another one once this one is finished. I'm thinking maybe I'll make one that's a mix of The Hunger Games and The 100. What do you think? Anyway, Happy Hollidays everyone!
-Haley