At last

Chapter Fifty Nine

Clarke's point of view

I listened to the soft metallic clanking sounds of the Shell creeping down the ladder of the guard tower, palming the handle of my hunting knife. A quiet crunch of dirt from the other side of the wall told me that it was now on the ground, and I shrank back into the tall patch of grass that lined the outside of the wall, where I had taken cover.
I had to lure the Shell to the narrow gap in the wall that I was positioned next to. I chose one of the larger stones that Bellamy had tossed down to me, sticking out my right arm to angle the shot. I flicked my arm and the stone rocketed out of my hand and into the wall opposite of the one I was hidden behind, the wall to the left of the gap. The dull 'thump' of the rock against the wall drew the sound of footsteps increasingly nearer to the gap in the wall. I tightened my grip around my knife's handle.
The Shell's plated body appeared from the gap right beside me, turning its back on me to aim its rifle in the opposite direction, exposing its weak spot to me. I locked my gaze on the exposed wiring at the nape of its neck and silently rushed the Shell, plunging my knife into the wires.
The machine let out an electronic hiss and its legs buckled. I grasped its chest, supporting it as it sank to the ground to silence its fall. Only when the Shell was completely silent did I release it from my grip, pulling my hunting knife out of the nape of its neck. Light blue liquid poured out from the wound like blood.
I was about to move on when I spotted a small red dot flashing on the machine's smoothly plated chest. I paused, furrowing my brows. The Shell was definitely dead; what could it mean?
I suddenly realized that Bellamy was still watching me, waiting for me to take out the man that was patrolling the abandoned buildings on our side of camp. I needed to get moving.
I gave a quick nod to where I knew Bellamy was covering me from the ridge and stepped over the Shell's body to slip inside the ruins of Arkadia. I took cover behind the bottom of the guard tower, scanning what was left of some of the old housing units to see where my next target was. Sure enough, he was still walking in between the buildings, pausing every now and then to scan his surroundings.
As he disappeared behind one of the buildings closest to my position, I shuffled out from behind the guard tower to take cover behind an outer wall of the same unit that I could still hear the man walking around. I quickly fished out the last stone that Bellamy had given me and threw it a few metres in front of me to lure the patroller closer. Once he appeared around the corner, I quickly took aim and threw my hunting knife. I watched as the blade hit its mark, embedding in the back of the man's head. Silently, he toppled to the ground.
I crept up to the body and braced my hand on the side of his head, forcefully pulling my knife out. I aimed my rifle at the ground, clicking its flashlight on and off again to signal to Bellamy that it was safe to come down from the ridge.
I made my way to one of the buildings that was closest to the fire, crouching against the inner wall and peering out from the large gap in the house caused by the collapsed part of the roof.
I watched as Bellamy took his place in a building about 50 yards away. We locked gazes and he pointed to himself, signalling that he was going to go first.
He disappeared from view and I heard the sound of two hard objects hitting each other, making a faint tapping noise. Looking back towards the fire in the middle of the camp, I watched as the Eligius people took notice.
"What was that?" A young woman's voice sounded from the suited figure closest to Bellamy's position.
The group quieted for a moment, listening for the tapping. Bellamy fell silent.
After a few seconds, a woman sitting at the opposite side of the fire shrugged. "I don't hear anything."
At the same moment, Bellamy started tapping again, stopping at the same time the woman stopped talking.
The first woman sat up straighter. "There it is again! Listen!"
A few more moments of silence.
The second woman spoke up again. "I think you've finally cracked, Liv."
Again, Bellamy tapped in time with her voice.
The first woman raised her voice in indignation. "I'm still hearing it!"
"It's probably just an animal, Olive. It's not a big deal," A man sitting close to her shook his head dismissively, Bellamy softly tapping again.
Seemingly fed up, Olive jumped up from where she was sitting. "Well, it's annoying me. I'm gonna check it out."
The second woman rolled her eyes as Olive walked away, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she droned, "Our saviour, the bunny slayer."
One of the two Shells in the group chided her. "It's her first mission, Monika. Of course she's on edge."
I heard Monika snort in response as I focused my attention on Olive, who was disappearing behind the wall of the building that Bellamy was in. I waited for a few moments, hearing only silence.
After what felt like an eternity, Bellamy appeared again in the window and I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding. I pointed at myself and he nodded. It was my turn.
I looked around the room for something I could use to attract their attention. The only thing I could spot was the large pieces of debris from the collapsed roof. I chose a piece that I could wrap my hand around and tugged it loose.
And with that piece came the entire roof.
I dove out the nearest window, crying out in shock and pain as a loose shard of glass sliced my hip. I scrambled to another building and sprawled on the ground behind one of the outer walls, the thunderous roar of the caving roof echoing in my ears. I stared in shock at the crumbled remains of the building as the dust settled, panting and grasping at the cut on my hip.
The panicked outcries of the Eligius people brought me back from my shocked trance.
"Holy shit!"
"What the hell was that?!"
"Olive?"
"That was too far away to be her, dumbass."
"I saw a blonde run behind that building there. She wasn't wearing a suit. I reckon it was her."
"One of those savages from down south, no doubt."
"Get down, she might not be alone."
"Let's check it out."
I looked around the wall, searching for a way in the building. The wall was completely solid, which was just my luck. The increasing noise of metallic footsteps told me that at least the two Shells around the fire were advancing on my position. If I moved anywhere else, I would be spotted. I gripped my rifle.
"We know you're here. You have nowhere else to go. Come out with your hands up!" One of the Shells ordered.
My mind was still racing when two gunshots rang through the air, followed by the sound of two heavy thuds and shocked exclamations from the campfire. More gunshots echoed into the night.
I hauled myself to a crouched position, wincing at the pain in my hip, and stuck my head and my rifle around the building. The two Shells were heaped only a few metres away from me, and the Eligius people were hunched behind the rubble pieces they'd been sitting on only moments before. Two of them were shooting in Bellamy's direction, and the last in the direction of Monty and Harper.
I took out one of the men firing at Bellamy's building, watching through my scope as the other two fell as well.
Miller's voice crackled over the radio in my pocket. "Is everyone okay?"
"We're all good here," Harper responded.
I had slumped back against the wall and was slipping the radio out of my pocket to answer when Bellamy's shadowed figure appeared from around the corner. His frantic gaze landed on me and he let out a gasp of relief, scrambling over to me and collapsing to his knees in front of me.
"Clarke! Are you okay?" His eyes were wide, his gloved hands desperately travelling up my arms and over my sides, pausing when I flinched away from him as his fingers touched my cut. He pulled his hand back took in the black blood on his glove. "You're hurt." His words were a mere breath.
"It's just a scratch, I don't think it's very deep," I reassured him. "I'm fine, Bell."
He sucked in another breath, his words flowing rapidly again. "When I saw that building go down, I was sure you were crushed. I heard you scream..." He trailed off, shaking his head and looking at the collapsed building only a couple metres away.
I grabbed his cheeks in my palms and turned his face back towards me, caressing his cheekbones with my thumbs. "I'm fine," I repeated in a whisper. "I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere."
His breathing quieted, and he pulled off his gloves before quickly tangling his fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck and pulling me closer. He pressed his lips against mine tenderly, leaving them there for a few moments and then pulling back to rest his forehead against mine. "I told you to be careful," he scolded softly.
I responded in equal softness. "I was."
He opened his eyes to gaze into mine. "You call almost being crushed by a building careful?" He rumbled.
"Buildings have it out for me." I indignantly murmured, earning me a humorous huff and a smile from Bellamy.
Suddenly I realized Miller's voice had been continuously crackling over the radio. "Bellamy and Clarke, are you okay?" He emphasized his words in annoyance.
I let out a sigh, trying to pull away to answer the radio, but Bellamy kept my forehead against his.
"Just don't do it again, okay? I can't lose you."
I nodded and then nuzzled my nose against his, our lips brushing as I spoke lowly, "I'll make this up to you."
He hummed. "You better."
I pulled away after one last kiss to finally answer Miller. "We're fine. I have a scratch, but it isn't too bad."
"Good. You can treat that at the rover. It seems like they put everything they found here inside of it, but we should still make sure we've got everything. Monty, Harper, you two take the Ark. Bellamy, you and I will do a sweep of the supply sheds out here. Clarke, since you're hurt, you can rest in the rover. Clear?"
Everyone gave their "clear"s, and we set off.
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Bellamy's point of view

It was a long day of searching throughout the supply sheds. It would have gone quicker but Miller insisted that we had to go through every small section of each supply shed, which made it take twice as long as it should have took.
It feels nice to finally stretch out and rest my body. And it is even more better to be back with Clarke... It made it hard to concentrate all day knowing she was hurt. She said it was just a small scratch, but the possibilities of it becoming infected are high. And an infection can lead to worse possibilities.
Standing up from my comfortable position with a sigh, I begin to make my way over to Clarke.
"How you feeling?" I ask.
She rolls her eyes with the smallest grin plastered on her face. "I'm fine Bell."
"Okay... But make sure you tell me if you feel funny... do you have a headache? Nausea? Oh how about-"
"Bellamy!" She yelled over me, slapping my chest. "I said I'm fine. Now shut up and come here," she yells, slapping the bare space next to her.
Snickering, I sit down beside her.
"I just want to make sure you are okay..."
"And I love you for that, but I'm fine Bell. I'll tell you if I feel any different."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Good," I smile, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her against me.
Humming in agreement, she lays her head down on my chest.
Feeling comfortable, I slowly close my eyes, feeling tiredness grow upon me.
"Bell?"
"Yes princess?" I respond sleepily.
I wait for a response but I am instead greeted by a hand on my head shoving me down.
Gasping my back hits the ground and Clarke falls on top of me. She begins laughing as I look up to see Harper standing over us. "Wake up," She snickers.
"Go float yourself," I groan under my breath.
Directing my gaze back to Clarke I realize she had been staring into my eyes the entire time.
"You okay?"
Pausing, a smile spreads on her face. "I'm just perfect."
Watching her smile, I can't help but feel mine grow with hers.
Then, looking at her lips, I quickly lean in, placing mine against hers.
"I love you so much," she whispers through the kiss.
"I love you more," I respond.
Then pulling away, I quickly gaze around to see if there was anyone around. After realizing we are alone, I grab her and quickly switch positions with her, me on top and her on the bottom.
Giggling, she grabs my shoulders and pulls me back down, our lips meeting again. I begin rubbing my hand up and down her forearm, my fingers gently brushing against her skin.
Then taking a breath, I move my legs from her sides, and lay down next to her, taking her hand in mine.
"I love you Bell," she smiles and she scoots closer to me.
"I love you more".