Reckless- The 100 English

Chapter 24

"Stay sharp. Grounder retaliation for what happened on the bridge is coming, just a matter of when." Bellamy yells. I barely hear him. I'm just in a daze as we pass over the scorched ground, roasted human skeletons everywhere.

"Can you blame them?" Finn asks.

"No. I blame you."

"Maybe if you didn't bring guns?"

"If we didn't bring guns, we all would've been killed." Raven remarks shortly.

"It doesn't matter." I say, and they stop arguing. "They're coming and we're going to have to deal with it."

"Oh! Clarke, stop!" Raven cries out, running towards the girl. I jog over. My muscles ache with something that has nothing to do with exhaustion.

"Rocket fuel?" Clarke asks, and I look at the dark red substance.

"Hydrazine. Highly unstable in its non-solid form. If this stuff meets fire, we're all pink mist." Raven says, and she dips a rock in the liquid. "Fire in the hole!" She yells, throwing the rock. When it collides with the ground, an explosion comes out of nowhere.

"We need to clear the area." Raven tells Bellamy.

"Ok, then. We move in formation, no straggling, weapons hot! We got to get back before dark!" Bellamy orders, and the group moves out. I glance back, wondering which of the skeletons I've seen today was Abby's.

We walk back into camp as night falls.

"Bellamy!" A voice shouts, and a boy runs up. "It's Murphy, he's back. In the dropship."

Bellamy exchanges a look with me. "Okay, everyone, back to your regular jobs!" I shout, and everyone disperses.

"Where is he?" Bellamy asks as we walk into the dropship.

The crowd parts to show Murphy, nearly unrecognizable underneath the blood coating his face.

"Everyone but Connor and Derek out. Now!" Bellamy orders, and the dropship clears.

"He claims he was with the grounders. We caught him trying to sneak back into camp." Connor says.

"I wasn't sneaking. I was running from the grounders." Murphy's voice sends chills down my spine.

"Anyone see grounders?" Bellamy asks.

"Uh-uh." Connor says.

"Well, in that case..." Bellamy raises his gun.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" Finn says, stepping in front of him.

"We were clear what would happen if he came back."

"No. If he was with the grounders, then he knows things that can help us."

"Help us? We hanged him. We banished him, and now we're gonna kill him. Get the hell out of my way!"

"This time, I think Finn's right." I say, looking at Murphy, who's recoiled against the wall.

"Like hell, he is." Bellamy says as Clarke approaches Murphy. "Ree, think about Charlotte!"

"I think about her." I say shortly. "But we need every advantage over the Grounders that we can get."

"He's not lying. His fingernails were torn off. They tortured him." Clarke tells us.