undertow | bellamy blake (book one)

33 | if you stay

It hadn't taken long for the delinquents to gather up all their belongings. The faster they moved out, the better chances they had of escaping the Grounders' attack. No one knew exactly where they were going, but at the moment it didn't matter. They just had to leave.

"Can she walk or not?" Finn was asking as Jovie entered to see what was happening with Raven.

"No. We have to carry her," Clarke said.

"The hell you will. I'm good to go," Raven said. That was one reason her and Jovie got along so well: they hated feeling powerless and would do whatever it took to keep on going.

"Hey, listen to me. That bullet is still inside you. If by some miracle, there's no internal bleeding, it might hold until we get somewhere safe. But you are not walking there. Is that clear?" Clarke said as she stopped Raven from standing up.

"I'll get the stretcher," Finn said before Raven could fight them on that.

"Can't run away fast enough, huh? Real brave," Bellamy commented.

"Dying in a fight you can't win isn't brave, Bellamy, it's stupid," Finn replied.

"Spoken like every coward who's ever run from a fight," Bellamy retorted. Jovie stepped in between the two.

"We don't have time for this," she snapped. "You can play the 'whose dick is bigger' game later. But for now, we need to leave." Bellamy rolled his eyes but backed down, as did Finn. Partly because she was right and partly because neither of them wanted to go against Jovie.

"Jo's right. It's time to go," Clarke said.

"If they follow?" Bellamy asked. "It's a 120-mile walk to the ocean." 120 miles that they would have to carry Raven. Jovie was starting to question whether this was the right decision after all. But then again, staying wasn't a good option either. Either way, they were pretty screwed.

"Look, we're wasting time. If he wants to stay, he can stay," Finn said.

"He's not staying," Jovie immediately cut in, shooting Bellamy a look that made him realize how serious she was being. If he thought she was going to lose him now, then he was gravely mistaken. Murphy had almost taken him from her and she wasn't going to let that happen again.

"We can't do this without you, Bellamy," Clarke added.

"What do you want me to say?" Bellamy said.

"I want you to say that you're with us. Those kids out there, they listen to you," she told him. She wasn't the only leader of this camp because he was too. They followed him first and keep doing so. That counted for something.

"They're lining up to go. They listen to you more," Bellamy said. Jovie frowned. He was getting discouraged that the delinquents looked up to Clarke more. Maybe it was true in some circumstances, but they needed both of them as leaders. That was the only way they've survived this long.

"I gave them an easy choice. But 5 minutes ago, they were willing to fight and die for you. You inspire them. I'm afraid we're gonna need that again before this day is through," Clarke said.

Jovie thought of something that was probably stupid of her to say and maybe even a bit manipulative, but she knew it would get him to go. She wasn't going to apologize for doing what she had to do to protect him.

"If you stay, I'm staying too," she said. It wasn't just something she was saying either. Bellamy knew that if it came down to it, she would stay. Jovie was never just all talk; she followed through with things. Bellamy looked over at her and frowned. Just as much as she didn't want him to die, he didn't want her to die. He had even promised her he wouldn't let her die. If he let her stay, he would be breaking that promise. So after a few seconds, he finally nodded.

"Let's go."

♛

"Okay, here we go! Keep your eyes open!" One of the delinquents screamed as he started to open the gate. Jovie walked ahead to catch up with Octavia who led the pack of delinquents, letting Bellamy and Clarke be the last ones to leave the camp. They were the ones that had made something out of nothing. They deserved to be the last ones to leave.

Octavia gave Jovie a brief smile as the two girls led the camp through the woods. They knew the territory the best and knew what the Grounders were capable of most, so it only made sense that they would lead.

After a while of walking through the woods in silence, Miller spoke up.

"You know the first thing I'm gonna do when we get to the beach?" He said. Jovie wanted to tell him to shut up for being loud, but she was also pretty curious about what he was going to say. Besides, it was a whole camp walking through the woods. If there was anyone out here, a simple conversation was not going to be the thing to alarm them of their presence.

"No. What?" One of his friends asked.

"I want to go surfing," he replied. Jovie let out a quiet snort. She doubted there would be any kind of activity like that where they were going. It was a hopeful thing for Miller to think of though.

"Quiet. Keep your eyes open," Jasper scolded them.

"No more woods. A view of the ocean. No more damn trees, just pale, blue water," Drew continued. When Jovie heard a noise in the distance, she slowed down.

"Shut up," she said this time, coming to an abrupt stop at the same time that Octavia did. The two girls looked at each other, trying to figure out what the noise was when an axe came flying out of nowhere and landed in Drew's face. Jovie jumped to the side as it barely missed her. She stared at the boy on the ground in horror.

"Grounders!" Jasper screamed, sending the delinquents into a full-blown panic. They wasted no time turning around to retreat.

"Go!" Jovie screamed, pushing the people in front of her forward. Her and Octavia were fully exposed to an attack as they were now in the back, and as much as she wanted to make sure everyone else was safe, she didn't particularly want an axe in the back of her head.

As soon as Octavia and Jovie got in, the gates were closed behind them. The first thing she did was to look around to find Bellamy. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him looking back at her before he jumped onto the post to look for any Grounders.

"Where are they?" Bellamy asked. "Why aren't they attacking?" Clarke paused before coming to the realization.

"Because we're doing exactly what they wanted us to do," she concluded.

"What are you talking about?" Bellamy asked.

"Lincoln said the scouts would be the first to arrive," she told him.

"If it's just scouts, we can fight our way out. That's what Lincoln would do," Octavia stepped forward to say up to Bellamy and Clarke.

"We're done doing what that Grounder would do. We tried it and now Drew is dead. You want to be next?" Bellamy said as he jumped down to the ground.

"That Grounder saved our lives," Finn stepped forward to say. "I agree with Octavia. For all we know, there's one scout out there."

"One scout with insanely good aim," Jasper noted. Jovie ran a hand through her hair as she thought about all the possibilities. If Clarke was right that they were doing exactly what the Grounders wanted them to do, then it might be too late. They would have to stay back and fight. But if there was only one scout, then they might have a chance at getting out of here. Either way, people were going to die.

"Clarke, we can still do this!" Octavia said.

"Looking to you, Princess. What's it gonna be? Run and get picked off out in the open, or stand and fight back?" Bellamy said, leaving the decision up to her. She was one that had made the original decision and now he was going to make her make the final one.

"Clarke. If we're still here when Tristan gets here-" Finn started.

"Lincoln said 'scouts.' More than one. He said, 'get home before the scouts arrive.' Finn, they're already here!" She said before turning to Bellamy. "Looks like you got your fight."