Ready, Aim, Fire

Chapter Thirteen

My ears ring as I push Lexa off of me. Ash rains down on me and around me, and the tears running down my face cause it to stick to me. I hear mumbled words as the ringing continues in my ears. I watch as a horse runs away from the blast area, its mane and tail on fire. "Brego?" I call out, tears continuing to stream down my face as I shakingly get to my feet. I rip the shaw off my head and pull Bellamy's jacket from my shoulders. The horse runs right up to me. "Whoa!" I yell, and, amazingly, the panicked horse comes to a stop. I quickly begin beating out the flames on the horse with the jacket and the shaw.

My ears are still slightly ringing as I see Lexa run past me towards her village. Oh, now she's worried about her people. I grab onto Brego's mane and walk the both of us towards where Lexa disappeared behind some trees. We break through the trees and onto a trail, and I see Lexa pulling at Clarke, away from the the village. My eyes widen as anger fills my veins. "You coward!" I yell, causing both Clarke and Lexa to turn to me. "How could you just let this happen? There are people that I care about in the village, you two just ran away without saying anything!"

Tears continue to stream down my face as Lexa lets go of Clarke's shoulders and straightened her own, glaring at me. "What about Bellamy? If we warned them, then the Mountain Men would have know that we had an inside man, and Bellamy would be dead." Lexa says, but I just shake my head. "Bellamy wouldn't want all these people to die for him. Especially his sister."

At the mention of Octavia, Clarke's eyes widen, and she turns back towards the village. "I could have warned them.I could have saved them." Lexa gives her last glare towards me before turning her attention back to Clarke. "If they see us, they'll strike again." Clarke turns back to me, and I can see the guilt in her eyes before Lexa turns her back towards her. "Victory stands on the back of sacrifice."

I glare at the Commander before letting go of Brego's mane and shrugging Bellamy's jacket back on. I storm my way towards Lexa, and I notice how she tenses up and places her hand on her sword. "The people who sacrifice their lives should have that choice, not you." I all but growl before walking past my sister and Lexa. "Carter, where are you going?" I hear Lexa call out from behind me, but I don't turn around as I call back. "To make sure there are no more sacrifices!"

With that, I break out into a sprint towards the heat and the shouting.

"I need bandages!" I hear a familiar voice and immediate run towards it. It seems like I wasn't the only one. My mother comes running up while slinging her bag off her shoulder. "Nyko!" The Grounder turns towards me as he drops the body he was dragging gently onto the ground, support her head on his lap. My mom and I kneel down on either side of him, my mom pulling bandages from her bag and me looking on with wide eyes.

"It's no use." Nyko says, and both mine and my mom's head snap up to his face. "She's still alive." She says, and Nyko gives her a sympathetic look. "We save those who can be saved." He sets the woman's head down and gets up, walking away and searching for someone else who is hurt. My chin trembles as my mother whispers that she's sorry before following after the Grounder healer. I grab the woman's hand in my own. "Yu gonplei ste odon."

"Carter!" I turn my head and see Lincoln standing on top of a pile of twisted metal and concrete. "Lincoln!" I gently lay the woman's hand back on the ground before getting to my feet and running towards him. As I stand in front of the pile he climbs down, sending a few pieces tumbling down to the ground. "Lincoln, be careful. It's not stable." My eyes widen at the other familiar voice. "Octavia!"

I all but tackle the younger Blake to the ground and crush her in a hug. "Thank God you're okay." She hugs me back, but Lincoln's voice cuts our embrace short. "They're down there." He says, groaning under the effort of trying to move a huge piece of concrete. "Do you hear someone?" My mother calls from behind me as I move to help Lincoln. Octavia runs over to my mom as Lincoln and I flip the piece to the side and reveal a familiar face. "Indra!" I gasp, leaning down to press my fingers to the pulse point on her neck. I feel a pulse and a sigh of relief makes my chest feel lighter. One less life lost. "She's alive!"