Love to Hate [1]

You know the end could never come so soon.

Song: Warzone // The Wanted

Nessa's POV

I woke up to pale sunlight streaming through the opening in the foxhole and blearily rubbed my eyes, disoriented. It looked to be dawn, the trees barely more visible than they had been the night before. I wondered where the hell I was until it all came flooding back. The Grounders. The war. Bellamy. I sat up quickly and turned to see him lying shirtless on his back next to me. He looked so peaceful sleeping there, all the worry and guilt gone from his face. All I wanted to do was snuggle up to him again and forget the world. But we had a job to do. I reached over to grab my sweater and pulled it on over my tank top, then shrugged my jacket on top of that. Then I grabbed my pants and wriggled into them before lacing up my boots. Finally, I shook Bellamy awake. He blinked a few times, clearly as disoriented as I was, then smiled lazily up at me.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said, his morning voice low and husky and adorable. I smiled.

"Hey, Bell," I placed a swift kiss on his forehead before standing up. "Get dressed, the Grounders are still coming," I said grimly. I grabbed my bow and slung the quiver of arrows over my back before knocking an arrow and pointing it into the trees. 

"Shit," I heard him grumble as he pulled his shirt over his head and hastily put his jacket on before grabbing his gun. "I'm guessing nothing happened last night while we-- uh-- " I turned and saw him blushing.

"Is the fearless leader Bellamy Blake blushing?" I teased him. Then I grew serious. "No, it looks like the scouts were way ahead of the main army. But that probably means they'll be here any minute." As if on cue, we heard voices over our radio and gunshots ring out in the distance. Gunners were seeing Grounders running in and out of the trees and shooting at them. But no one seemed to be hitting anything. Seconds later I saw a dark shape hurtle through the trees ahead of us. I loosed my arrow, but the shape disappeared as quickly as it came. Another ran through the trees and Bellamy shot at it, achieving the same result as I did. More and more shapes ran in and out of the trunks as Bellamy and I took turns shooting at them. Nothing we did worked. But I noticed something strange.

"They're not attacking," I whispered to Bellamy. Then it hit me. "We need to stop shooting at them. They're just trying to draw our fire, get us to waste our ammo." Bellamy's eyes grew wide as he realized I was right. He grabbed our radio and relayed the information to all the other gunners, telling them to cease their fire unless it was a direct attack. The sound of gunshots ceased. Bellamy and I waited for the Grounders' next move with bated breath. 

"I hope Raven and Clarke have finished with the drop ship," I heard Bellamy say to himself. That was the plan all along. Give Raven enough time to rig the drop ship up so we could set off the rocket fuel and barbecue any Grounders within reach. It seemed like a good plan, the only problem was holding them off long enough and making sure we reached the drop ship before it went off.

A steady drizzle had started to fall as we crouched there waiting. Finally, we heard explosions in the distance as Raven's landmines did their job. Then, more gunshots. Suddenly, the woods ahead of us were surging with Grounders. All dressed in armor that looked like it was made from bones and wearing looks of pure murderous rage. I swallowed my fear and turned to Bellamy. I grabbed his hand. "We can do this," I said, proud of myself for keeping the waver out of my voice. "Together." He nodded his eyes filled with panic and worry, which I knew were for my safety and not his, and we turned to face the oncoming horde.

Bellamy let off a rapid volley of shots as I got five arrows off in quick succession. We managed to quell the first wave before it got too close, but two Grounders came out of the woods for each one we managed to shoot down. Soon we'd be overrun. 

"We need to get back behind the wall," Bellamy said urgently. I nodded, still firing my arrows as we backed up slowly. We turned to run to safety and I felt a weight knock me to the ground from behind. The force made the air leave my lungs and I gasped. Bellamy roared and shot at the Grounder on top of me. I felt the weight slump off of me to the side and I scrambled up. Two more Grounders had reached us by that time. One leaped on top of Bellamy, obviously seeing him as the greater threat between the two of us. I stepped forward to help him but the other one came between us, circling me. He seemed to be smiling behind his mask, obviously thinking such a small girl like me would be an easy kill. I snarled at him, drawing my knife. I hated cocky assholes who underestimated me. With a yell I launched myself at the much larger Grounder, catching him by surprise. Twisting around I managed to attach myself to his back and buried my knife deep in his throat. He let out a choke gurgle and collapsed. I wrenched my knife out and turned to help Bellamy. Panic swept through me as I saw the Grounder on top of him, choking the life from him. 

"No!" I screamed and ran forward, only to be knocked to the ground again as something solid crashed into my skull. Dazed, I looked up to see another Grounder looming over me. I tried to get up but he placed a foot on my throat and dug in with his heel. I gasped for air and struggled to push him off of me, but it was no use. I scrambled my hand across the ground for my knife and finally found it. I stabbed the Grounder in the calf with it and he released his foot with a yell. I quickly got to my feet, as the Grounder regained his composure and delivered a punch to my stomach. I doubled over but refused to go down. He brought a knee up to my face and I heard my nose crack, blood immediately flowing down my face. I reeled backwards and tried to get away. I didn't know if Bellamy was dead at this point or not. I had to help him. I saw a broken arrow at my feet and grabbed it. Hearing the Grounder approaching behind me, I feigned defeat, staying on my hands and knees. Right when he was on top of me I spun quickly and buried the arrow head in his eye. I pulled it out and stabbed him again in the chest. He finally went down. Breathing heavily, still reeling from the blows to my head, I looked frantically for Bellamy. Relief swept through me as I saw Octavia helping him up, having killed the Grounder choking him with her sword. The happy moment was ruined however, as a volley of arrows came at us and one buried itself in Octavia's thigh. She struggled to stay standing but eventually collapsed into Bellamy's arms and I rushed over.

"O, it's okay, we just have to get you behind that wall," he reassured her. I found my bow in the dirt and covered him as he carried Octavia. Her breaths came in short, ragged gasps. We made our way back to the camp. My heart sank as I saw the Grounders swarming the walls. We'd never make it to the drop ship through that. My thoughts were interrupted though as a bright light flashed across the sky. Bellamy, Octavia, and I looked up. I saw the Grounders look at the sky in awe and fear. 

"Is that from the Ark?" I heard Octavia ask.

I shook my head. "That is the Ark." They were coming to save us.