Bleeding Out

Chapter Nine

I feel absolutely nothing on the hike out of Arkadia. I don't feel angry, sad, or anything but a strong numbness. I keep my head down and walk behind octavia, not noticing how far behind I've fallen from my place next to Sinclair.

It seems like forever until we reach the cave Kane mentioned at the beginning of the walk, but it also seems to take only a few seconds. I think about nothing as I place one foot in front of the other.

I look up just as I enter the cave, noticing Octavia just in front of me, and meet wide, brown eyes. I immediately look away.

"Where's Lincoln?"

The confusion in Bellamy's voice causes me to wince as the image of Lincoln's body falling into the mud plays over and over in my head. Tears pool in my eyes as I sling my bag down next to Miller.

"Pike put a bullet in his brain." Octavia says, and I freeze at her harsh words towards her brother. A hush falls over our group as everyone seems to tense up and freeze in place. I still find myself unable to look Bellamy in the eye.

"O. O, I am so sorry." Bellay says, and I look over to the younger Blake just in time to see her lash out and punch her brother right in the face. The sound of her fist hitting his cheek echoes throughout the cave along with her grunt of frustration.

Everyone seems to take a step forward, but I can't move my feet as I watch with wide eyes. Octavia hits him two more times, the skin on her knuckles splitting along with the skin on Bellamy's face. "Octavia, that's enough." Kane speaks up from next to me.

"Kane, stay out of this." Bellamy says, looking up with a whole different kind of pain in his eyes. Octavia hits him in the face twice more before moving to hid torso. Everyone turns around as she continues to beat him. His grunts of pain cause me to move forward.

"Octavia." I say, striding towards her as she grabs the hair on the back of her brother's head and knees him in the face. "Octavia!" This time, I yell the girl's name, causing her to hesitate slightly, giving me the chance to grab her arm. "Please, stop it!" I try to pull her away from Bellamy, but her fist changes directions from her brother's face to mine.

The punch hits me square in the face, and I feel the skin split on my cheekbone, but I keep a solid grip on her arm. "Stop it!" I yell again, but she just reers back her fist and punches me again, this time with a little more force behind it, causing me to stumble back away from her. "Carter, please." I hear Bellamy beg, and I'm finally able to look at him.

Blood surrounds his mouth and covers his cheek. My chin trembles when I meet his eyes, and he nods, signalling for me to back off. Octavia lets out a yell, causing Bellamy to break our eye contact, and she punches him hard enough to send him to the cave ground. "You're dead to me."

With that, Octavia Blake storms out of the cave, and nobody stops her as she marches out into the sunlight.

I walk back over to my bag, pulling out a spare piece of cloth and pour some water onto it. I walk over to where Bellamy is still laying on his side in the dirt and wordlessly sit down in front of him. I silently clean the blood from around his mouth. When I get to the long cut on his cheek, he winces. "This will scab, but it shouldn't leave a scar." I mutter, not sure if I'm talking to him or myself.

I'm so focused on getting the small amount of bleeding to stop, I almost jump out of my skin when Bellamy places a hand on my cheek. "You're bleeding." He says, his voice a strained whisper. I meet his gaze for just a moment before looking back to his cheek. "Just another day on the Ground." I mutter, pressing the cloth to his cheek to apply pressure.

Bellamy's hand falls from my face, and I let mine fall from his. I give him a silent nod, telling him the bleeding has stopped, and stand up to walk over towards the others. We gather around a fire, and I sit next to Kane as Miller starts talking.