𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

17. best friend

Our feet crunched against the forest floor as we ran in pursuit of Roma. We resisted the urge to call out for her, knowing that if we did it would only lead the Grounders right to us. I had wrapped my arm around Jasper once again, helping him keep up with the rest of the group.

It had only been a few minutes when we slowed down, Monroe pointing to a tree ahead of us, "There she is." she acknowledged, drawing my eyes to where Roma was standing, slightly hidden behind a tree so all we could see was one of her arms.

"Roma!" Monroe whispered, letting her know that it was us. When Roma didn't move we all shared a look of confusion. Bellamy took the lead, the rest of us hesitantly following behind him to see what was going on. 

As we approached, it soon became obvious why she hadn't responded to us. The large spear sticking out of her chest had rendered her unable to do so. 

I felt my heart drop as I turned my head, not wanting to look any longer. Monroe let out a small gasp as her eyes fell to the ground.

"They're playing with us." Finn announced, looking around the forest, Jasper doing the same thing, his eyes looked as wide as saucers.

I looked up just in time to see Bellamy closing Roma's eyes, a guilty look on his face, "She only came because of me." he whispered.

"They can kill us anytime they want." Finn said, trying to figure out what game the Grounders were playing here.

"Then they should GET IT OVER WITH!" Jasper began screaming, "COME ON!"

"Jasper!" I snapped as Finn and I rushed over to try and make him stop, "Jasper, stop it!" I pleaded.

"Someone shut him up!" Bellamy ordered.

But no matter what Finn or I said, Jasper's screaming had already done its damage. Within seconds, it became apparent that the Grounders had heard him. 

"They're coming!" Monroe yelled in horror.

I turned away from Jasper to see Grounders running at us from all sides. 

A small gasp fell from my lips. This was it, we were all done for now. There was no way we could make it out of here alive. 

Knowing it was our only hope of lasting as long as we could, we all moved closer to each other, backs to one another as we held on tightly to our weapons, ready to fight for as long as we could. I stayed close to my brother, my back pressed up against the back of Bellamy who was standing firm, holding his ground. 

But before they could reach us, a sudden noise filled the forest...it was some sort of horn. 

At the sound of the horn the Grounders took off running in the other direction, causing all of us to let out a small sigh of relief, "They're leaving." Bellamy observed.

"That horn," Jasper started, "What does it mean?"

"Acid fog." Finn whispered, causing my heart to drop. It was acid fog that had ambushed us that day we were hunting, the day Atom died. Bellamy and I shared a nervous look, we knew what this fog was capable of.

"We have to run." Monroe concluded, looking over at Finn who was pulling a tent from his pack.

"There's no time." he announced, fanning out the tent in front of the group of us, "Get under." he ordered, pointing to the fabric.

All of us looked at each other, unsure if a tent could protect us from the fog, "Come on, it's our only hope right now!" Finn said, sensing the hesitation among us. We did as he said, agreeing that this was our only chance at survival.