At last

Chapter fourty eight

Clarke's point of view

As soon as Octavia had delivered the news to the rest of Wonkru, the bunker was live with preparations of returning to the ground once again.
Octavia selected a group of warriors to be the first ones to venture to the surface and make sure Polis was safe before the rest of the clan returned. I received word that I had been chosen as soon as I had just finished visiting Madi in Medical, and I was escorted into the crowded entrance of the bunker where the rest of the chosen were preparing along with the Commander herself.
Octavia had separated us into four squads of three warriors each. My squad - made up of myself, Bellamy, and Resha - was to secure the south side of Polis. I groaned internally when Octavia had announced who I was with, but the tactical part of me recognized the cleverness of the grouping. Octavia had noted Resha's obvious dislike for me, and after Bellamy and I's theatrics during the meeting it was clear that we were no longer on the best of terms. To win this war, we have to set aside our differences and act as a unit, and Octavia understood this.
After I had finished getting ready, I caught a glimpse of Bellamy through the crowd. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and made my way over to him, mumbling apologies as I shouldered through.
I took notice of his new lightly armoured jacket and his recently trimmed bangs that no longer got in his way whenever he looked down.
He was sitting on a bench, his head bent as he tended to his rifle. He glanced up as I approached, pausing from loading a clip into his magazine for moment when he noticed who it was. He let out a small sigh before looking back down and resuming, as if unfazed. I decided to ignore his reaction and sat on the edge of the bench beside him. Although it was barely there, I noticed his slight shift away from me.
After a few beats of uncomfortable silence, I spoke. "Thank you. For doing this."
Bellamy looked up at the softness in my tone, his eyes hard. "I didn't have much of a choice. I probably would've been dragged here if I had resisted," he muttered before fixing his gaze back on his work.
I copied his hunched posture, resting my elbows on my knees. "This is what's best for our people."
He caught the double meaning and looked back at me again, his eyes narrowed. I held his fiery glare for a few solid seconds before he shook his head and sat back against the wall, snapping the magazine into his rifle with an intensity that made me flinch.
I sat back up, my gaze lingering on the dressing on his knuckles. I carefully took a hold of his hand, moving it closer to inspect the bandaging.
Bellamy stiffened, remaining silent.
I felt his glare searing me as I moved my other hand to run my fingertips over the bandage. "Be careful with this, okay?"
He suddenly jerked his hand away when I started to entwine my fingers with his.
"I'll manage," he growled, shoving on his gloves.
I stiffened, tired of putting up with this. "I'm just trying to help."
He turned on me, snapping, "Well, I don't need your help!"
I was about to retort when a familiar voice sounded from the doorway. "No, let me go! Clarke's in here, I know she is!"
"Madi?" I called, jumping up from the bench and pushing my way through the now silent crowd.
The young nightblood was being held back by the guards in the doorway. She struggled against them even more when she saw me. "I knew you were here!"
"Let her through." I fixed my gaze on the guard who held Madi's left arm, but he wouldn't move. He instead looked past me and I followed his gaze to see the crowd parted for Octavia, whose eyes were fixed interestedly on Madi.
Octavia glanced at me before nodding at the two guards. "Let her enter."
The guards let go of Madi's arms and she immediately rushed towards me, wrapping me in an intense hug.
After a couple moments I pulled away from her, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I know you're going outside. I'm coming too."
"What? No-"
"Clarke, my wound is pretty much healed. Jackson lets me move around now, so I won't have any trouble."
"It's too dangerous, Madi."
"Come on, you trained me yourself, Clarke! I can handle myself, you know that. Let me come with you."
I was already shaking my head. "I said no."
Madi looked back at Octavia. The Commander studied her thoughtfully and, to my dismay, nodded in agreement. "We can never have too many warriors. You can come with us."
Madi grinned. "Thank you, Heda."
I whipped my glare to Octavia, who silenced my protest with a glare of her own. I wasn't backing down fully. "She's with my squad."
Her gaze flickered to Madi and then back to me. "No, she's going with me. I want to see what she can do." She looked to Madi, a rare smile on her face. "How does that sound, natblida?"
Madi gave her a wide grin, nodding determinedly before moving away to choose a rifle. The voices of the crowd rose again as the attention turned off of us and I knew that I couldn't win this argument.
I stepped closer to Octavia. "Madi almost died out there. She's still recovering from a gunshot wound. Those people are dangerous, Octavia. Please don't send her back out there."
"If you trained her like she said, then she's capable of handling herself. She's strong. Have more faith in her, Clarke." She turned away to join her squad by the stairs.
Casting one last desperate glance at Madi, I began to search for my own squad.
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My squad was the last to emerge from the bunker. I scanned the bloodstained field that we had come from a few days ago, the thick layer of fog covering the city hiding most of the field from view. I knew that we were going to have to cross it to reach the patch of forest on the other side, and I shivered.
Resha appeared at my side, her hand on the hilt of her sword as she sneered, "What's wrong, Wanheda? Afraid of a little blood?"
I glared at her. "Your clanmates were slaughtered in that field. Does that not bother you?"
Resha turned her gaze back to the field, softening momentarily. "Of course it does." She was silent for a heartbeat before toughening back up, "But a warrior must not show weakness. Weakness means death."
"You two just going to stand around and chat all day?" Bellamy's voice called out as he neared us.
"Of course not," Resha snapped.
"Then get your asses moving. We have a job to do," he growled as he walked past us and into the field, huffing as he tried to avoid getting blood on his boots.
"Now there's a strong one," Resha stated as we began to follow after him.
I gave her a look and she let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. As handsome as he is, I'm not going to go for Wanheda's mate."
I startled, correcting her. "Bellamy's not my... mate."
She snorted. "Those marks on your neck say otherwise."
"Can you two shut up? If any Eligius are out here, they'll definitely know we're coming now," Bellamy hissed, irritated. I was suddenly aware of how close he was to us and I sighed, knowing that he heard our entire conversation.
Resha opened her mouth to retort, but she knew that he was right and begrudgingly remained silent. Instead, she stared daggers into the back of his head.
This was going to be a long trip.
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