At last

Chapter Fifty Seven

Clarke's point of view

It was the afternoon of our second day of travelling when I finally began to recognize the landmarks - as indistinct as they were - that meant we were close to Arkadia. We were climbing the ridge that looked down on the former Skaikru camp when we noticed that something wasn't right.
"Woah, woah," Miller suddenly ordered his horse to a halt from the head of the group as he reached the top of the ridge.
"What is it?" I asked as I climbed up beside him, halting my horse. Looking down on the old camp (or what was left of it), my gaze immediately landed on what had made Miller stop.
In the fading evening light, the flickering lights of a campfire from inside of Arkadia were easy to spot. The crumbling buildings and collapsed guard towers hid the intruders from sight.
"We're not alone," Harper sighed as the others joined us atop the ridge.
"The rover," Bellamy murmured his observation from the other side of Miller.
I spotted the rover a few moments later, parked just behind what had been the front gate.
"Who is it?" Miller muttered.
"Eligius. Who else would it be?" I responded, frustrated that they had found this place before we did.
"We'll set up camp along this ridge, somewhere where the trees are thick," Bellamy instructed. "Then, we split up into three teams and stay on the ridge to see how many people are down there and to pinpoint their location. One team will go north, another will go south, the last will head east."
Miller narrowed his eyes at Bellamy's commanding tone. "Bellamy, you may have been a leader on the Ring, but Octavia put me in charge of this team. If you don't want trouble, I suggest that you let me do my job."
Bellamy's expression hardened. "I suppose you have a better plan then?" His eyebrows raised in question.
Miller silently held Bellamy's piercing stare before looking to his right at the rest of us. After a few moments he rolled his eyes, defeated, and looked back at Arkadia. "Fine, we'll go with Bellamy's strategy. Once we determine how many there are down there, we'll take them out by stealth. If one of us happens to get seen, we'll resort to guns."
§§§
After finding a safe place for the horses, we carried out the plan on foot. Bellamy and I were chosen to be the northern team ("Obviously," Harper had commented, to which I blushed and Bellamy huffed a laugh), Monty and Harper made up the southern team, and Miller went east.
I was currently on the ground on my stomach, peering through the scope of my rifle into the camp below. From the large gaps in the crumbling wall surrounding Arkadia, along with the elevation of the ridge, I could spot the intruders easily from my position.
I saw a group of six, composed of Shells and fully-suited humans, sitting on pieces of rubble around the fire in the middle of the camp. The surrounding buildings were cast in shadow, where I saw a human leisurely strolling between a few buildings that were still standing on the northern side of camp.
I reported what I saw to Bellamy, who was positioned a couple metres away from me.
"I see the same thing," he confirmed. Suddenly he pointed his rifle at the northern guard tower, which was the only guard tower still standing. "One of those Shells are in the guard tower."
I sighed, spotting it through my own scope. "We'll have to wait to take it out. We can't climb up there; we'll be in full view of the people around the campfire."
Bellamy nodded in agreement. "It won't be paying attention to what's happening in the camp. We just have to make sure that we don't attract its attention." He pulled out his radio, reporting to the other teams the number of Eligius intruders that we could see and their locations.
Monty announced what he and Harper could see as well a few moments later. Once he finished giving his description, he asked, "What do we do about the six around the campfire?"
Miller's command crackled over the radio, "We'll lure them over individually to our location, and then we'll take them down quietly. All of you, remember: we need to take whoever we can down as quickly and quietly as possible. If anyone gets spotted, we'll resort to guns. Move out on my order."
I took advantage of Miller's pause to plan our strategy with Bellamy. "I'll take out the guy in that building." I nodded to a building that the suited human had recently disappeared into. "Cover me until I'm finished, and then we'll split up to lure a few of the people around the fire to us."
"Got it. Hey, Clarke?"
The tone of Bellamy's voice drew my gaze to him. His brows were furrowed, his dark eyes searching mine desperately.
"Be careful."
I nodded, my heart straining. "You too."
At that moment, Miller's staticky voice ordered, "Move out."
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OH MY GOSH GUYS! who watched the last episode of the season!? I AM FREAKING OUT!! I am very interested to see what season six is gonna be like... but I got to say that I believe season five is my favourite season to ever watch. BUT THE ENDING THOUGH....... AHHHHHHH BELLARKE!!! YAY!!! How did you all react to the season finale? did you cry? did you smile? did you scream? ...or was that just me... ANYWAY comment what your reaction was to the season finale and what you thought of it. Thanks for reading! <3